20 years old, no big deal.
What is really interesting to see is how automotive styling has changed in the 11 years between these two
models.
Perhaps it was the neglect of previous years, but I found myself all the more mesmerized by this automobile
in 2007. The lines are so graceful and tasteful, a familiar sight that still takes my breath away when I see it.
With my own increasing age, I'm finding it less nerve-wracking to have the car get wet and dirty. I guess I've
been so desperate to get this car on the road, I'm willing to overlook some of the headaches over keeping it clean and
dry.
And speaking of driving, although the fact of sharing road duty with 3 other cars kept the total mileage to
a fairly low amount, it was nice to see the car commuting to work as it had for so many years.
As far as projects go, while many of the important upgrades such as tires and rear shocks did not happen due
to time constraints, I did manage to score a pair of never-used GM factory subwoofers. The original on the driver's
side had dry-rotted to the point where 95% of the foam suspension had crumbled and disappeared!
With a factory fresh subwoofer in place in the driver's side and the original still somehow working fine in the
other side, I was able to once more here some clean bass without the rattling that was so easy to induce with even the
slightest amount of bass.
As luck would have it, I had my camera with me one evening as I left work. I had the spontaneous idea to
position the car more or less in the same position as it had been in when I photographed it in mid 1995.
1995
2007
1995
2007
Certainly not a perfect comparison as the lighting was completely different, but nonetheless a fun
exercise.
Nothing positive without the occasional negative... in 1996 or 1997, the intermediate pipe and catalytic converter were replaced (while keeping the original muffler). Well, there are some funky sounds coming from that area now...
It seemed like the season had just started, but it was once again time to pack things up and hibernate through
the winter season.
At 129000km it meant that the car had seen about 2000 km for 2007, close to 10 times more than in 2006!
