A New Style

If you read my articles from day 1, my tastes have changed dramatically when it comes to cars. When I got my first Lexus, before I even had it running right I was looking into VIP style. I had never seen anything like that before and it amazed me how nice the interiors are.

My initial inspiration was the picture above. Mind you, I haven't looked at this interior for a good year now. I had to find it again for this article. And it hit me. A lot of the things in that interior are actually things I came up with myself. Let's see the resemblance...

You know my dash and center armrest covers are recent. Well, I knew that specific VIP car had a dashboard cover but not a center armrest cover. It kind of blew my mind that someone had the same idea before and pulled it off very well.

My VIP curtains are in the mail. They have been for over a month... Coming from China. Anyway, I had just posted a picture I took of a sketch I did of something I want to do to my car. That was on my Instagram yesterday. I was saying that I am getting ready to reupholster the seats. Boom - check that off.

Actually, that car in the picture above that I am comparing this to just has very nice quality stock seats. Since mine are ripped up and I'm using a cover, I can mess around with it all I want in the sense that if I mess up... Oh well! But I am definitely doing it. I'm not dead set on what I'm going to do but I am seriously thinking of using a durable cloth. Why? Leather seats get very cold in the winter and very hot in the summer. That's also unique. And honestly, I actually like cloth. It's soft and just a preference I've had for a long time.

I want to keep a lot of the original parts of the seats. I'm going to be doing the fronts and bottoms because those are the bad parts. For your hating pleasure, here is my idea of a cloth plus leather combo.

Here, the darker parts would be the red leather while the lighter part in the middle bottom is cloth and the armrest left original. That will have a matching cover too. Foam will be added for extra comfort. 

I probably will not use the leather for stated reasons but I can't help but think it would look awesome. The idea was to use the red leather but I don't think that's going to happen. Like I said before, balance is key. I have just the right amount of red leather in the form of covers. Any more and it wouldn't fit in.

I'm turning into an interior designer... Sheesh.

The amount of ideas that have gone through my head for the back is insane. I even thought about turning the back seat into an 'L' shape like a living room set. However, blocking one door isn't a good idea. And it's a little much.

The dream is to turn the LS400 into a wagon and I'm not kidding at all. But don't expect it for years. As a wagon, I think it would have enough space to literally have two back seats facing each other.

For the front, it's important that everything is ergonomic for the driver and that every little detail is addressed (that part goes for everything). As for the back, because this was originally a car people were chauffered in, I want it to be a place where - if you wanted - you could have complete privacy, even from the driver with a curtain separating the front and back. If you're riding in the back, you also have a place to charge your phone as well as the remote control to change the LED lighting. That's in right now. Same thing with the music - you can put your playlist on.

Up to the LEDs, this was sounding like a VIP build still, right? My other issue with VIP cars is functionality. I don't want to get stuck at a speedbump that's too tall. I don't want to scrape all day long. The car performs great already so I feel like dropping it a couple inches in the front will be about it. Strangely, it's dropped a little bit in the back. That's how I got it.

The idea is to be able to go off road if the situation really requires it. Also, the idea is to have the car looking nice outside but be completely crazy inside. This way, there's a 'wow' factor that I've talked about before.

And the other thing is money. There's a reason well built VIP LS400s sell for $10,000 or more as opposed to $1,000. People put a whole lot of money into making them. You know the theme of this website so you could probably guess the idea behind this new style I accidentally created.

I've never seen a similar LS400 that wasn't VIP. I put very little money into it but by being smart and doing 90% of the work myself, it's working. The car is getting better, not worse. And right now I'm going through a really harsh financial situation yet I am able to continue working on Lexi2 because a lot of stuff is actually free.

I've written an article about this. Where do I get my leather and upholstery grade fabric? From sofas people throw out! If it's a big set, you can get enough leather to reupholster your seats completely from one junked living room set. Just clean it really well to make sure mold doesn't get a foothold (I have NEVER had a problem, even with leather that originally had mold on it - I simply used alcohol wipes to clean and kill it after letting it dry completely).

Vinyl adhesive costs mere dollars as well as various other paints. For stitching, you can bend a normal needle to get a curved one. This whole style is about innovation. Finding a way to produce a quality product from scratch actually makes you so much more aware of what you can really do with your hands and essentially garbage.

I've found turn signals and headlights before. Want custom headlights? With cheap tools, you can modify a completely different headlight assembly to replace the stock one and make it look professional.

You just can not allow yourself to do something that you KNOW is TOO cheap. TOO low quality. Don't lie to yourself. Same thing with picking fabrics and stuff. Wait to get one you really want instead of using what you have because it's there. Ultimately, you're not gonna like the finished product because it's not what you wanted in the first place.

This style of building a car involves a lot of learning. Ofcourse, many people have more than the necessary skills to do all of this immediately but I think if you're going down this route, you're probably passionate about cars and relatively poor. Let's just be honest. And if you're poor, you're probably young and haven't gotten a trade yet. I learned how to work on cars mainly from the two LS400s I've owned. And not only fixing mechanical issues but I am starting to learn simple upholstery which can only go on to grow. The dream is to have a shop one day but the road is paved with a lot of learning and practice. You will grow as your car grows.

Although we try to save money, we never buy cheap parts. If something breaks, you need to get a proper replacement part. Don't ghetto-rig things and maintain the car. Being reliable saves you money in the long run because a car like the LS400 or something like a Volvo 850R or Saab 900 Turbo will reach 500,000 miles if you take care of it properly. Cars like these were built to last. (Especially the LS400 *cough*.)

This $460 Cardone A-1 Mass Airflow Sensor was found at a junkyard for $25. Sadly, it's for 1990-95 and mine is a 1996. And yes, the MAF sensors are different from year 1994 to 1995 but this still works for both. 

Really, pay attention to the fluids you put in it and everything. The car will reward you.

Anyway, I want to talk about the plans I have for stage 1. I have this build set up in stages that I can chip away at. Like the paint that's chipping. Stage 0 - and I mentioned this in previous articles - was getting the car in reliable driving condition which it is. Thank God; I really lucked out with this one. There was a chance the car had a lot more problems which doesn't seem to be the case.

Fig 1.

So here are the major things I want to do at this point. What stage 2 brings will be based on what I actually end up deciding to do in this one. I will likely be at this point for a long time. The list is long and includes;

1. Finishing the interior. In figure 1 you can see I'm experimenting with the rear seat. This seat cover is the best I've had but it's not perfect. I will be reupholstering all of the seats. That will be a style all in itself or maybe I should say that that process will truly embody the spirit of this new budget style.

The upholstery has to look professional. Everything does. But I'm going off the beaten path and I will be playing with different techniques to achieve the same end result that are actually cheaper and much easier. Look for that in the future.

2. There is an oil leak so somewhere along the line, I think I may have to change out the cam and crankshaft gaskets. The car is reliable but it does like to spill its oil... Not good.

3. The exterior will be painted by me. Again - in an older article I posted pictures of what I was able to achieve with some very basic materials. I will be repainting the entire car. It will be completely gloss white. I have to sand it down. I'm using literally cans of spray paint but it's not any spray paint. Duplicolor 2x Primer and Paint is an extremely durable and thick coating spray paint that comes in cans with which you can achieve very good results. Duplicolor Clearcoat will finish the job. Here is that picture again.

Here, I only painted that one white part of the bumper. Although it's nighttime, you can tell the paint is very smooth and has a nice gloss. It has been a few months and it's going strong. There's a few bumps in the middle somewhere but the bumper was damaged in that area and with the sun going down, I sanded it quickly to have it good enough and actually you probably can't spot it.

4. Exhaust. Ever since I had the first one, I've needed a louder exhaust system. Fortunately and unfortunately, I want a quality one with a tune after so it doesn't run like s$&# and so it sounds good. This depends on how well I do financially in the coming year. However as I type that... A year... It will happen.

5. There's very tiny details I want to fix. I want to properly run the fog light wires. I will clean the engine bay as well as paint the cover gloss white. That should stay clean...

There's many small things like I said. Maybe there's a tiny rip forming on part of the light cloth by the doors or one trim piece is loose. Those are the things I'm gonna go through. Which leads me to...

6. Cleaning the car. If you go back and look at the picture of the seat cover, the carpet is stained badly. It's embarrassing. Instead of hiding it, though, I'm showing the whole world so I have to fix it.

The thing is, I want to do a full detail. As with everything, I will be doing this myself and learning by myself. There's going to be a lot of build articles starting in 2019. But when I say clean, I mean I'm getting rid of the little bit of rust everywhere, fixing the rims, all of that stuff. Poco a poco - it means "little by little" in Peruvian, I believe. That's how they say you should drink their psychedelic Ayahuasca (that I don't condone!) to trip your nuts off.

It's kinda metaphorical if you think about it. You're drinking this potion little by little and suddenly you're blasted into this hyperdimensional space and overwhelmed but filled with ideas. I heard that's how it works anyway... In this case, I started small and I promise my readers - this car will explode. To be totally honest - this may end up being a special type of show car.

7. Upgrading it technologically. LED headlights. New center console. Auxiliary cord to plug into your phone for music. Navigation system. Honestly, anything that is worthwhile that I can do to make the car functional on a budget - meaning it's worth what I'm paying - I will do. And guys, I have innovative ideas for 90s luxury vehicles, truly. Instead of replacing your console, you can modify it to accept an auxiliary cord like I mentioned earlier and you can have a stand for your tablet that connects right to the system.

There's an idea I've been playing with that I will show soon. I want to modify a different headlight to fit the Lexus. It amazes me how some people will do a full front swap and things like this. I want my car unique. Stay tuned.

- Rokas Kirvelis

Lexi2 the Chariot: Budget Build

It's obvious this website came about as a result of my first V8 Lexus which ended up being a lemon. There's a lot more to it, however. To be quite honest, it changed my direction in life.

Lexi2... the Chariot. What other title?!

I suppose I was really looking for something I enjoy doing to start some sort of career. When I got the original Lexi, a 1995 salvage rebuilt title LS400, it was not only coming from a small wreck but it had other problems too. As a matter of fact, that car had so many problems I fixed myself that from start to finish, I went from being able to change my brakes to knowing about every system in the car.

I'm still an amateur but my skills improved ten times over and that was actually part of the goal. Only I expected to keep that car for a long time once I was done working on it. What ended up happening was totally unexpected.

The whole idea is a high quality budget build. In two cases, the dashboard and center armrest, I'm going with a cover similar to what's on the seats. The seat covers will not be staying. 

It started with one or two minor problems that turned into a few others once I fixed them and those continued to create more and more problems. By the end of it all, that car would take a good 20 seconds to make it to 30 mph and top out. When I say this was a lemon, it was a LEMON.

I had one chance to get that logo right. The cover was complete besides that... Logical huh?

Knowing that I would spend way too much money on this if I was going to continue fixing it, I started looking for another LS400. This is when I found Lexi2. I feel like it was fate. Or, actually, I was just blessed. But to make a long story short, this was a car with a couple weird problems that was being sold by a lady with a medical condition. Recently diagnosed and told she could no longer drive, she needed medicine money and didn't need the car.

I had $350 and my own car. She was asking for $900, I believe, but I shot her a quick text offering a trade plus the $350 so she could at least junk the other car and make $500. What she did was tell me I could have it and keep my car. I was astounded.

I had to have that color in the car. That cherry red leather? Beautiful.

I drove it around the Publix parking lot before it was obvious to me that the car had very weird symptoms keeping customers away. I had been watching this car for almost a month. From my previous experience with the first car, though, I knew intuitively that it had a simple misfire with a simple fix.

It would buck on you, had a rough idle where the car would shake, and other similar symptoms. New spark plugs, plug wires, fuel pump plus filter, and a little clean of the distributor caps which some had a little corrosion later, I had a smooth running car.

To this day it has the same check engine code because of the corrosion. It's a random misfire code, p0130. Soon, when I stop being lazy, I'm gonna change out the caps and the code should go away. All of the symptoms are gone, at least.

Remember, I cleaned it and not even very well, but one of the distributor caps had corrosion at the contact points where the wires from the coil packs attach, actually. It makes perfect sense that it impedes the flow of electricity causing a misfire. In my case, it's minor enough to not do anything except very rarely misfire very slightly while idling cold. That's enough to set off the code. So really, I haven't messed with it because simply it isn't causing any problems but at the same time, I'm just gonna go ahead and fix that up soon. I have the caps.

At 220,000 miles, this car runs smoother than a friend's 130,000 mile 1999 LS400 - quite a feat in my eyes. I had the timing belt and water pump changed. Overall, I'm sure I'm going to get a lot of miles out of this car with very little mechanical problems.

It's sturdy. Work has been done to it, including new coil packs and shocks in the back, what looks like possibly new motor mounts, the A/C was fixed at 80,000 miles, and a few other minor things.

This is the one I'm gonna keep for as long as I can imagine. It would be stupid for me to sell it and the car is gonna be a classic one day. The price of it can only go up but truly, this is my dream car as far as a daily driver goes.

I tinted my headlights yellow and added blue fog lights in the bumper. The switch is encased in a Crown Royal bag. It's just classy.

In my humble opinion, this car was made at a time where the amount of technology in the car is perfect. Most vehicles these days have sensors upon sensors, everything is controlled by a computer, and you can't even work on some of these cars yourself. With all of these electronics, something small can go bad and your car won't run properly or at all.

This LS400 has OBDII which started in 1995 for this model and only has essential sensors. Even the 1998 to 2000 models are drive-by-wire, meaning there's a sensor connected to the gas pedal that tells the computer how much throttle you're giving it. The computer, then, opens the throttle body. I don't care how fast the computer can respond, it can never replicate the feeling of mechanically opening the throttle body by pushing the gas pedal.

With the OBDII you can read codes which makes it much easier to track down issues but like I said, the car was made when there wasn't all of these fancy electronics in cars so thankfully, it has the perfect mix.

That gave me 5 horsepower back.

I enjoy it very much. The horsepower is very nice to have. I drive pretty fast but I rarely hit the gas. To be honest, I've only done it a few times. I also did a little rally of my own at night on these dark winding streets and that was the most fun I have ever had in a car. I mean hey, I had to test it. I didn't want any weak links. At least that's my excuse. Really though, I just remember time slowing down, my side vision getting blurry, and the most euphoric rush of adrenaline.

Now I'm no stranger to things like this but I was a front wheel drive turbo junky, really. To do it in this V8 beast of a sedan was such a different experience and a total pleasure.

The car is so inspirational to me that I started a business selling used auto parts and I recently reached the same income I was getting at my previous job. It was health reasons that made me lose it but it was for the best in hindsight.

LEDs that I can change the color of, of course. I like green. It matches the gauges.

The car continues to inspire me. I have so many plans for it. Guys and gals, I really am broke hence the website. But this domino effect that started two years ago has almost brought me to a point where I can be independent simply from my own business. And all of this started with a car! An amazing car. I suppose reaching my goal of finally owning one was inspiring enough (despite how cheap these cars are) but it was more than that. It opened my mind to so many possibilities.

Total: ~$1500

- Rokas Kirvelis

Upholstery: Dashboard Cover Part 2 + Car Discussion

I'm really glad I decided to split the documenting of this project into two parts; when I was first starting including my thoughts and the finished product, giving even myself insight into how I think. I have to say, the cover came out nice too.

It's useful to have a dash cover because the sun will make your dash form a huge crack eventually. It's a problem with all LS400s. If your plastic hasn't split yet, consider a cover or wax it (Armor-All works too - hydrate it with oil).

What was one of the main things I said I wasn't going to do? I thought that, for sure, I wasn't gonna use gold thread yet it looked so freakin' good that I did it anyway. And the result is fantastic.

I learned something about design as well. I wasn't going to use gold thread initially because there isn't any other gold in the car but because of the fact that it's in one spot, the red and gold meld perfectly into the beige interior. As a matter of fact, it looks totally natural and gives it a pop. And it does match something - the hanging scorpion right by it.

Did you catch something else I just mentioned? It's in one spot. When I started this - as you can read in part 1 - I was deciding between three options as far as if I want it just on my dash, dash and center, or most of the car.

That there gave me insight into how my creative mind works. It'll start big and eliminate things if they don't fit. And I don't lie to myself - or at least I try not to. I realized having red covers everywhere would be gaudy. In that case, and I think I mentioned this, I might as well reupholster everything.

You can see how I did the stitching from the underside. Because it's a pain using five feet of string when you're hand-sewing, it's comprised of four or five lengths of strand that connect underneath neatly.

Which brings me to the seats. I did have a look at them and they're way too far gone to be worth repairing so I'm going to just get some good ones from the junkyard eventually. Don't lie to yourself. If I did in that case... My seats would've looked like doodoo!

Forgive me as I haven't done anything with the little project I said I might have an update on. Well, I don't yet.

You know guys, it makes me a little sad that now I know I won't be reupholstering my car much. I know myself and I know I'll figure some things out but for the most part, as far as the seats, doors, and dash... They're going to stay OEM. I'm just gonna keep it clean. Krispy Klean.

I love detailing inside but I put off washing the exterior so long that my car changes tones. I know, it's nice - did you even notice the Audi R8 in the back?

I still have my carpet to consider, however. I will probably paint it like I said because it's very stained but who knows? I might do something a little crazy like replace it with shag but my wife said don't do anything like that until her car is fixed and she's on the road.

Literally, my wife said I can have a pimp car but not while I'm driving her around all the time. I'm gonna paint it purple.

Actually, I really am not but I am getting ready to completely spray paint it. In another article, I showed you guys and gals the results of a test I did. I wanted to see if I can make it look good...

Indeed, I was able to do a better job than Maaco. I've also decided the whole car is going to be white with gold rims.

And last night, actually, my neighbor asked me to paint her sister's new car (for money obviously). Learning to work on cars can lead to a career. I mean, yes it's obvious, but I started this project from the mindset of learning to do anything I can possibly do to restore the car. As long as I was even somewhat sure I could, I tried and succeeded. A huge part of the whole deal was that I wanted to teach myself.

Instead of taking it to a paint shop, I'm teaching myself to paint cars on my own. Instead of taking it to the mechanic, I've saved thousands of dollars and learned more than the value of that in skills. I learned to work on cars. That's invaluable.

I also started a business that is doing well based on cars that I'm not going to get into but my point is that if you're not sure where you're trying to go in life and you like cars, consider that as a career and learn everything you can. You don't have to wrench all day. You can reprogram ECUs, sell parts, refurbish parts, flip cars.

This honestly gave me a path in life and I'm sharing it with you guys.

What's next for me and the car? The paintjob will be done when I can find a good time but besides that, I want to possibly upgrade what I can with JDM components. What am I talking about? Simple things such as replacing my MAF sensor (the stock '95+ one) with the casing of an A-1 Cardone. While I found one with the correct sensor that I'm selling, I also found just the body of one and a '96+ MAF sensor can be unscrewed and screwed onto the Cardone shell.

As far as I can tell, the advantages lie in how it actually sits in the vehicle. It's very sturdy so it won't move, bolts onto the original holes, weighs 1.8lb (so no, it's not heavy) and what this does is the following; more even air flow resulting in better MAF readings. Simple. It also has two or three built in filters but only for bigger objects - make sure you still use a filter.

Your dash should shine like that.

Thank you all, please bookmark this website, come back again, and leave a comment if you will. I enjoy hearing from my readers.

I think I mentioned this briefly but I will be posting an update on Lexi2. Not only am I still waiting for the curtains but the vehicle is at a point now where the interior is as clean as I can get it at the moment, the car runs extremely well, and it will look amazing when I paint it soon. Stick around for that. You might see some cool stuff I never brought up. Peace!

- Rokas Kirvelis

Fun at the Salvage Yard: Part 1

The feeling I get after I pay for that $2 stamp on my hand that says I paid and walk outside to see wrecked cars all the way to the horizon is similar to going to a playground as a kid. It's a gearhead's playground. Wanna just work on motors, take them apart, and just learn? OK.

I was extremely blessed to have found an A-1 Cardone MAF sensor. What is it? Well it works for the Lexus LS400 up to 1995 (which is strange if you think about it - they had different MAF sensors in 1995 as opposed to before). It also works for the Toyota Supra, including the early 1990s (yes, the twin turbo too) and the generation before. It has an aluminum casing that actually comes stock in some first generation LS400s, I believe, but it has a special sensor by Fuji. The one you would find in a 1994 LS400 would have the LS400 MAF sensor.

Are you ready? New, it costs $460 at Rock Auto, a website known for cheap parts.

I paid $35. Now, I got extremely lucky. Don't expect to go to the yardyand boom, you got one. I just happened to get there the first day the car was put out and it had been modified. I grabbed some other things as well. When you go, look for cars like the SC400 if you need motor parts for an LS400, for example. They share the same motor.

Anyway, the junkyard. One of the many things it's good for is coming up with totally unique ideas such as using headlights from car X on car Y or trying to find ones that would fit with some fabrication. That's where a lot of fun lies and you can create some really awesome unique vehicles.

This isn't to mention that you will occasionally find jewelry under the seats. Man, I feel like I should be getting paid for my secrets! You're gonna find change for sure. I've found silver earrings.

Nowadays if I need a wheel cover or even seat covers, I'll get those from the yard too. You can get a $200 set for like $20. Even a custom fitted one. Wide rear view mirror? Coming right up. And it's all dirt cheap. Rims and the list goes on.

Thanks for reading. I'm going to make this a series because I go to junkyards a lot. It's how I make my money, actually. I sell auto parts. Now you know what I do.

Stay safe - adios!

- Rokas Kirvelis

Upholstery: Dashboard Cover Part 1

I've been dabbling in upholstery for a good half a year now. Dabbling is the key word. I've had a couple successes and a few failures. This time, you get to watch me either succeed or fall on my butt. I am creating a dashboard cover. Simple.

Except the leather I'm using is a color that doesn't match anything else in the car period yet it's so vivid, I need to try to incorporate it. I really love this color and this is real leather so I want to make use of it. Let's what I'm working with.

The materials I'm using for this project are:
- Red leather; I stripped a leather couch to get it. Leather is expensive.
- Good scissors. I'm using culinary scissors that you would cut chicken with.
- Adhesives. This time I'm experimenting with different glues instead of stitches. I'll be using super glue and vinyl adhesive as I see fit.
- Velcro. So it doesn't constantly slip off of the dashboard.
- I have a Lexus logo from the rear of a junkyard Lexus that I will incorporate.
- Sewing needles - both straight and one that I bent instead of buying a curved needle (good tip right there).
- Thread. I will be using both normal colored thread for a nice look and fishing line where it's not visible. Fishing line is super strong so it won't rip and is also hard to even see. Good for hidden stitching.
- (Maybe) A different fabric for the underside.

Because of the color issue and the fact that it doesn't match anything else in the car (except the floor LEDs that I can change the color of - I'm addicted), I need to either use it sparingly throughout the car or use it everywhere.

Two options. I stop with just the dashboard cover and possibly just a cover for the center armrest, even if that's temporary.

The other one is that I re-do the armrests on the doors, create seat covers for the front and back, include the dashboard and center armrest, as well as the rear center armrest.

There's option 2b. I can create the dashboard cover and also use a cover for both center armrests. As for the seats, I can reupholster the parts that are ripped. I'm confident I can do this - I just need to sit down in my car, look at where the holes are, and see if the parts I would be replacing would actually look good.

That's actually the option I like best. I really don't like seat covers, to be honest. They slide around and look cheap.

The dashboard is angled slightly so I had to cut the leather to replicate that. Here I'm using just my eyes and senses - no measurements. Ofcourse, I made sure the length is right.

Then, after doing my best to line up the leather in a way the glue wouldn't drip down, I went across the seam with some super glue. The result is in the first picture of this article.

I have enough skill now to be able to take patches of the seat off and replace them with new leather so that really appeals to me. This would be my first time reupholstering a seat. I've been reading up on it and teaching myself enough to be confident I can put this off.

But, like I said, I need to have a look at my seats now and see just how many holes there are and the location. Imagine, if you will, that the middle of the driver's seat is ripped and the middle of the passenger seat has a hole. That's ideal because the same locations are affected.

I can take out the middle leather pieces and replace them.

Now imagine if one seat had rips on the outer leather parts while the other seat had one in the middle. At that point, I would basically have to reupholster it completely because I wouldn't have the middle seat red on one side while the other seat is red on the outside. I hope that makes sense.

The 'Lexus' was too much.

I just want you guys to get an idea of how I think. This idea has been brewing in my mind for a long time, actually. That's just a sidenote. I want to tell you what went through my mind when I was trying to decide the stitching I want to use.

Initially, I was set on gold stitching because it would just look awesome but after some thinking, I had to change my mind. Like the red, I also have no gold in the car. In order for everything to match, I settled on beige and black - depending on the area. This is simply because you want a clean look. Too many colors throws everything off. My car is mostly beige inside and all of the stitching is.

That's it for part 1. I will be posting updates on this project.

You will probably see another small project I have going in the next one. Did you notice the bent piece of metal in the first picture? Come back to see what that is and what I'm doing with it. I think it's going to look nice (hint). Peace!

Audi 200: The Car That Came After the Ur-Quattro

Most car enthusiasts are aware of the infamous Group B rally. If you don't know, let's put it this way. It was so extreme that it was shut down as too many drivers were killing themselves. This was an open rally class.

The screaming banshees of cars that raced included the Lancia Stratos, Renault 5 Turbo, Citroen BX 4TC (try remembering that name without looking at it five times...), Ford RS200, and the Audi Quattro, later called the Ur-Quattro to differentiate it from similar Quattros.

In this class, manufacturers were allowed to do basically whatever they wanted to their cars. This resulted in light, aerodynamic cars pushing 500 hp. The name Quattro came from the all-wheel-drive system Audi created for these cars. A modern version of that system is still used in Audis today. That's a very quick breakdown of an automotive icon, honestly. Go on YouTube and search for something like "Group B full audio," put on your Beats by Dre (did you get your beats from Dr. Dre today yet? that's a woman-beating joke...), and crank it to full volume because baby, those engines were sweet exploding symphonies of engine noise.

Audi Ur-Quattro.

500 of these were produced for the public but the car was never produced in big numbers. However, the car that came after it was. That was the Audi 200.

The one I'm talking about was produced from 1987 to 1991. The cars had an inline-5 engine that came in quite a few variations, the main ones being a naturally aspirated version making 130hp, a turbo that made 162hp, and the cream of the crop - a 20 valve turbo pushing 220hp. That's the one you want.

The cars came in front wheel drive or all wheel drive Quattro configurations. The 20 valve, 2.2l turbocharged 200 Quattro is the successor to the Group B legend. Audi had real problems selling the car in the United States after fears of sudden acceleration problems (long story) but did well in Europe. Europeans always get the best cars, really. The Audi 100 was also sold - a similar car but more of a family sedan. Still very similar inside.

The reason this car intrigues me is because you can actually get one if you really, really want one because instead of making 500 like the Ur-Quattro, Audi made more than 50,000 Audi 200s with a good amount being the Turbo Quattro versions.

I did a lot of thinking as to how I can best articulate to you, dear reader, how cool this car is and the conclusion I came to is this. Simply look at its predecessor's - again, the Ur-Quattro's - competition.

We have the Ford RS200, of which 500 were also built.

Ken Block's personal car. That dude is living in a dream, 'nah mean (a Damian Marley reference? I'm losing people here).

And then we have the Renault 5 Turbo, my personal favorite.

Up comes hauling a#$ up the snowy hill is the Citroen BX 4TC (sounds like a phone).

500 of those were made as well. Along with 500 Lancia Stratos, a crazy looking machine.

Each of these deserves its own article. What struck me is how mean these cars looked and they all backed it up. Anyway, I'm sure some of you are wondering.

Why did most of these manufacturers only make 500 of each car?

Group B implemented the homologation rule. I'm not sure who came up with that word either but it meant manufacturers had to make a minimum of 500 cars to be sold to the public. I guarantee you some rich guy just really wanted one of these and made it happen with that sweet cash.

So, back to the Audi 200. If you live in Europe, you should be able to get one if you have the money. It's an amazing car for the time even if you compare it to something like a 1990s 5-series BMW or Lexus LS400. Yes it looks just a little more dated but the car was just as luxurious. I know so because my grandpa had one.

Yes, it's the truth. I was a little kid at the time and I remember wanting to be in his car just because it was so comfortable. Recently I looked into what he really had and came to realize that it's as special as he kept mentioning back then. I had no idea it was fast.

I certainly wouldn't recommend getting one if you don't have plenty of spare money but if you're looking for a very interesting sedan (or wagon - the Avante, used to designate Audi's wagons to this day), it's hard to beat.

Affordable All-Around Car: 3rd Gen VW Golf

The 3rd generation Volkswagen Golf is a very good vehicle from a number of different standpoints. It's a good economy car, it can be somewhat luxurious if you get the right trim level, and it can be modified to compete on both asphalt and dirt. Golfs do very well at rallycross events.

I swear I want to make a headlight cover for the LS400 that turns the lights into two round ones. Moving on...

Ofcourse, most of us know that the good ones have the 2.8l VR6 motor which is a 6 cylinder, obviously. Its figures aren't staggering but the car is 'quick' as I like to say, especially for the 90s when this car came out.

What is a VR6 engine? Well, it's kind of like a V6 but the angle of the cylinders is greatly reduced so the top of the 'V' is very narrow. The angle is about 10.5° while a normal V6 is 60°.

The real potential now is turbocharging these engines. There are VR6 Golfs driving around with 600hp. This is part of why these cars are so versatile. You can also keep it stock, take the back seat and everything out, and do very well rally crossing in stock class.

I like the feel of the clutch and shifter. It's an easy car to drive. As a daily driver, it's reliable as long as you just maintain it. That's the obvious key but people are just lazy, I suppose.

I consider this a very good car for the above stated reasons. They also come in many different setups. You can get a two-door Golf, a four-door, a hatchback, and I think there's something else that is slipping my mind. I might just be thinking of the Cabrio which is "kind of" a Golf. It's a little fruity too... But hey. I won't judge you.

I will say that these cars are very minimalist if you get them with no options. It's a good thing for racing because a lawnmower battery will power it. Boom - weight savings. Just take out the radio.

Parts are endless and service is cheap so what more can I say? The 3rd generation Volkswagen Golf is a very good car and if I was to do it, I would give it 4 out of 5 unicorns overall. To reiterate, it's a good economy car (especially if you get a 4-cylinder), it's reliable and easy to work on, and also has a big tuning aftermarket.

Now you can pick these up for $500 sometimes. If you have $3,000 for just the car, you can definitely get a very nice, lower mileage Golf. The earlier 4th generation Golfs are also in this range but that is a different article.

Dear readers, I have a small announcement. First, Happy Holidays - I hope that they truly are happy. Let's show some love for each other. The announcement is simply that articles will not be coming out as often until this is over but they will be coming. Thanks! The website will have new stuff every two or three days again after all of this.

- Rokas Kirvelis