Rocketgirl's new rocket

[tiger1964]

(introducing a new BRZ owner...)

Well, we still have to transfer over the iconic RKTG1RL vanity plate and novelty plate frame from Goddard Space Flight Center, but Susan has a new car for the first time in a long while. The 2007 Honda S2000 is replaced by a new 2023 Subaru BRZ sports coupe (see photo below).

There were few choices in under-3000LB cars at all, especially a 2-door with enough torque to pull our two trailers — and a manual transmission. This car had it all except we would have liked a hatch in the back. There are not many BRZ’s available anywhere but we found one at a dealer only 45 miles away and it came home with us last Thursday. She is no stranger to sporty cars: (ignoring the Dodge Omni her father bought her for college…) she had two VW GTI’s, a Nissan 200SX SE-R, and an Acura RSX-S before the Honda.

So, the new toy will not only be for commuting but also be for Grand Touring duties as well, plus towing the utility trailer and the kayak (at different times of course). She’ll miss the Honda roadster and being “the blonde in a red convertible” but I know that, on nice days, she’ll simply take my Porsche Boxster. C’est la vie…

[Snoopysvet]

Very nice,
Sunbeam Tiger? How eclectic!

[bcj]

The first Omni was a sweet machine 79-83 and a VW supplied motor.
Then Chrysler started counting the beans. Oh well.

[Ultramaroon]

She's pretty! So's the car.

[tiger1964]

Not that one thinks of the BRZ as a practical car but we just came home with TWO 50LB bags of bird seed... could not have done that in a S2000.

Originally Posted by bcj

The first Omni was a sweet machine 79-83 and a VW supplied motor.

I found it a hard car to love, but she got 8 years and 108K miles out of it. Later on, I added Gas Magnum shocks, wider used K-car wheels and 175/70-13 tires, and it still didn't handle. Then again, they sold a gazillion of them...

And I didn't learn and bought a 1984 Dodge Rampage, which had most of the flaws of the Omni for obvious reasons.

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

She's pretty! So's the car.

She'll be happy to hear that! Quick photo, brand new dress right out of the package w/very stiff fabric that makes her look 20LB more. Should have laundered it first.

[Greg Erskine]

hey tiger1964,

Are those rims the standard grey? They look almost silver. The extra contrast looks good.

Mine look a lot darker.

regards
Greg

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by tiger1964

Not that one thinks of the BRZ as a practical car but we just came home with TWO 50LB bags of bird seed... could not have done that in a S2000.

anything newer than 10 years, 2 door sports car options really are limited to corvette, miata, supra, genesis coupe, 350z/370z/z, and brz/86.. quite a short list. shorter still once factoring in storage space now that the corvette is mid-engine...

i love the practicality of the car. it's small enough to toss around, and big enough for most of what i honestly need a vehicle for anyways.

Originally Posted by tiger1964

And I didn't learn and bought a 1984 Dodge Rampage, which had most of the flaws of the Omni for obvious reasons.

my dad had a rampage growing up. made a great commuter 'truck' for him. it's just too bad it's a chrysler product. i've gone down rabbit holes every once in a while looking to buy one and fix it up, but it being a 80's domestic product, and a chrysler product on top of it, rust repairs quickly outweigh even the nostalgia factor of re-building one!

the nostalgia of the rampage is really the only reason i keep watching for updates on the alpha wolf
https://www.alphamotorinc.com/wolf

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

She's pretty! So's the car.

That's the reason we don't have many female members - big, dirty, old men keep flirting with them -

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by humfrz

That's the reason we don't have many female members - big, dirty, old men keep flirting with them -

[tiger1964]

Apparently the trailer hitch I ordered is just entering production so we cannot tow; later on today the car might suffer the indignity of hauling a couple of hundred pounds of bagged gravel in the truck. Hmm, I wonder what max weight capacity is? Somewhere in the owner's manual, I am sure.

Originally Posted by Snoopysvet

Very nice, Sunbeam Tiger? How eclectic!

Thanks. And owning three 2-seat convertibles was being a bit indulgent.

Originally Posted by Greg Erskine

hey tiger1964, Are those rims the standard grey? They look almost silver. The extra contrast looks good. Mine look a lot darker.

Could be my poor photography. That was the first time, ever, that I took a photo using a cellphone (probably time to retire the 20 year old cheap digital camera). I'd call the wheel finish "gunmetal" but that does not describe it well either.

Originally Posted by soundman98

anything newer than 10 years, 2 door sports car options really are limited to corvette, miata, supra, genesis coupe, 350z/370z/z, and brz/86.. [snip] i love the practicality of the car. it's small enough to toss around, and big enough for most of what i honestly need a vehicle for anyways.

For a small hatchback, for reliability reasons we eliminated the Mini, the VW GTI (never again!) and do they even make the Fiat 500 anymore? A shame the Japanese manufacturers didn't enter that market, or that Alfa Romeo didn't import the Mito which I've only seen in magazines.

Originally Posted by soundman98

my dad had a rampage growing up. made a great commuter 'truck' for him. it's just too bad it's a chrysler product. i've gone down rabbit holes every once in a while looking to buy one and fix it up, but it being a 80's domestic product, and a chrysler product on top of it, rust repairs quickly outweigh even the nostalgia factor of re-building one!

The Rampage's horrible list of problems is what turned us to towing a trailer, and avoiding domestic vehicles, ever since. Otherwise I would have followed through on my idea of finding a wrecked GLH or GLHS to swap the engine.

Originally Posted by humfrz

That's the reason we don't have many female members - big, dirty, old men keep flirting with them -

All of the automotive groups we've joined, in-person or online, she's about the only girl present. She did well enough in TSD rallies (she drove, I navigated), however.

[Sapphireho]

Rampage, lol!

I remember my buddy's dad bought one. Day one, one of the windows fell in the door, and it wouldn't go into gear. He got rid of it right away.

[Talus1]

Originally Posted by bcj

The first Omni was a sweet machine 79-83 and a VW supplied motor.
Then Chrysler started counting the beans. Oh well.

Off-topic rant:

My lasting memory of the Omni/Horizon was when my father was looking for a new car back in 1979. He wanted one of the then-new first-gen Accord sedans. My mother thought the Accord interior was too plain - not suiting his position as a senior manager - and that they could get an Omni that was more plush and “luxurious” for the same money. (My mom wasn’t usually that vain or envious, so I’m not sure what was up with her at the time…)

I had just gotten my drivers license, so I went with them on the test drives. It was winter in Toronto and well below freezing. My father kept stalling the Omni. He finally got it going by revving the snot out of it and it seemed to be OK once he got into 2nd gear. We were all experienced with driving manual transmission cars, so it wasn’t inexperience. The same stalling happened to me when I tried driving it. It felt like I was starting in third instead of first. I actually got it going more easily by deliberately starting in second.

Apparently the dealer had washed all the cars that day and the shift linkage on that car had iced up, so that despite the lever going into what appeared to be the first gear position, the transmission was actually going into third.

We bought the Accord….

Back on topic, we just picked up my new WRBP BRZ SportTech this week and my wife really likes driving it, especially compared to my old Cayman. I’m curious how the trailer hitch works out for the OP.