Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 Mustang Miles.

This is not an actual photo of the Wife and me!

  

I've recently put a few miles down on both the Mustangs, the '07 and the '96.

We have been trying to arrange an appointment to get the Covid vaccine. We decided that going all the way to Fresno wasn't such a bad idea.

It was a 300 mile round trip.

Gas prices have been rising, the lowest price that I could find was 3.49 for regular.

My fleet isn't the most fuel efficient bunch, but except for the Explorer, they all get at least 20 real world mpg. 

The best is the '07 V6 Mustang, I've gotten 27 mpg. at my real world cruising speeds of 70-75 mph. 

So it was the choice. 

This was our family car for many years. It has plenty of space, especially for two. On the highway it is powerful and it tracks like it's on rails, a bit better when compared to my '96. It's much the same situation as a comparison between my old Explorer and my newer F150, the Explorer is a bit "busier" on the highway. 

I have to admit that there has been some evolution between the two models. 

I'm not an early adopter, and I don't need all the fancy new gadgets like adaptive cruise control, lane warning systems, automatic braking, even built in Nav. My Wife has her Smartphone queued up if needed! Besides, I already know the way. The only thing things that I really need are cruise control, good a/c, and a stereo "CD" player. I don't need no stinking Bluetooth!

The trip was fine, traffic was light until we were almost all the way home.

My second Mustang trip was just for pleasure. I'd been wanting to take my '96 for a nice ride to see if I still found the car to be fun and satisfactory. My plan was to put the top down and take a route that was primarily comprised of country back roads.

If you've lived in a particular area for a long time like I have, you know that it takes a bit of driving just to get out of the immediate well known area. I've been driving around the greater Bay Area now for fifty years! 

The road that connects the valley town of Gilroy, with the coastal town of Santa Cruz is SR 152. After you leave the US101 you'll pass through the heart of the city, then the narrow suburban belt. The road twists and turns through the woods as it crests the summit of Hecker Pass and Mt. Madonna. The road is a tight, curvy climb up the Eastern slope until crossing the ridge that opens to a beautiful view of the Coastal Valley and the Pacific Ocean.

I had been taking it easy on the way up, pulling over and letting impatient drivers pass by. Once over the crest I picked up the pace and had a great time safely slaloming down the hill.

I had put the top down when I left the house, the first time in many many months. I was depending on the heater to keep it comfortable. It was almost warm enough, but I really should have worn a heavier jacket. When I first became aware of sports cars back in the early 1960's, their drivers never put the tops up. There were snap on tonneau covers for the passenger compartment and heavy "car coats" worn by the drivers. Caps and gloves too.

I've had a couple of real sports cars in the past, my Z cars fit that definition in my eyes. I've never considered my Mustang to be an actual sports car, though as a convertible and as one of the smaller incarnations of the breed, it comes closer to that definition. 

However if the main criteria is whether or not the vehicle is driven for fun, and is fun to drive, then it more than makes the grade. 

After I got to Highway One I compromised by putting up the side windows. It did make a difference, although it was only in the low 60's. That's cold for us spoiled Bay Area dwellers. 

Back in the Day I when I rode my motorcycles, I would nave considered it to be good biking weather.

Once I passed the Santa Cruz Co. fairgrounds I wasn't ready to head back yet,  so I turned onto Castroville road.

Once through Castroville, I took SR156 towards Monterey. This is a high speed freeway for a distance, than it morphs into a two way coastal highway as it nears Monterey. 

I passed through Monterey then continued on to Moss Landing, the home of the big power generating plant. The tall chimneys are visible from a long way off. Then I took Dolan Road east, which becomes highway 68, almost all the way to Salinas. This road passes by the Laguna Seca Raceway. When I reached Speckles road I figured why not? I'd never been through that little town. It was a short detour.

Once I reached Salinas I got onto US 101 for the final stretch home. 

There were longer routes that I had wanted to take, like Carmel Valley Rd. I'll just save those for another time. The Monterey peninsula has a great selection of back roads, many that I've never been on, or maybe only once or twice. 

There are a lot of back road Day trips that I can put together in this area. It is a pleasant challenge to find smaller, less used roads. This reminds me of the days when I'd take off on my Honda 160 and explore. It was happiest on back roads, it wasn't the kind of bike that you would use to drone down the Interstate. 

As expected, it was generally a mellow experience. My Mustang is generally kind of a mellow machine. It just rolls along effortlessly. 

Was it the right tool for the job? Yes. It is very well suited to these types of activities.  

I don't need or want some super hot machine. Just a good sounding, fun to drive convertible. I want the convenience and relaxing nature of an automatic transmission. I'm not planning to race anyone. The car can cruise at any speed that I choose. 

It is actually just what I need and want. 

I got a bit of a kick out of this ad.

Newsflash! Tonight I listed my Jaguar XJS for sale on the Jaguar Forums. I've talked a lot about wanting to move forward, but it mostly has just been talk. I did a lot of soul searching and decided to finally put events into motion. I will make further updates on future blog posts. 

I'm curious to see what the response will be like.