Peter Vieira
Wow, you're reading this? Thanks! If you're into RC cars and I seem vaguely familiar, it's because I spent over 25 years writing and editing RC car news, reviews, and tech articles in print and online. What else, what else ... I have a degree in Film Studies (useless), most of a degree in Graphic Design (useful), and I'm married to a wonderful woman with horrible taste in men. Thanks to her, we have a terrific daughter who just earned her Journalism degree and is way, waaay more together that I was at her age. Or right now.
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Sounds like a Shitbox Showdown Challenge – help Mark buy an Oppo car. He gets stuck with the week’s reader’s choice winner.
Let me save up some money first, and then yeah, that’s not a bad idea.
I’m going to drop this here, and see who’s paying attention. After much thought/reflection, helmets will be required at OppoCross next year.
Don’t look at me, I basically never took my helmet off last weekend! 🙂
Definitely not looking at you! Your recalled helmet was indeed on every time I saw you driving on course. I, however, only wore it when I drove the UTVeo, and several people never wore one at all.
I’d expect nothing less, she’s a madwoman for sure.
Mercedes jumping stuff to death at Oppocross is just tradition now right?
SWG’s observation is right on – it’s the reason why I own a Mustang. I couldn’t afford one until 2002, but if I’d have been able to earlier, I’d absolutely have bought a fox body b/c those were the cool, obtainable cars of my childhood. Yeah, even after Vanilla Ice.
For pony cars of that era, completely true in my experience that the lower models with V6s could, as an overall package, hold their own with the V8 versions. Base Mustangs of that era ran easily within striking distance of GTs on open tracks, due to the lower weight and (overlooked) the exact same brakes as the GTs. Not to mention the 3.8 was also pretty easy to work on/a known quantity at that point.
Let’s wrench!
V6 pony car fans unite! Thanks for the share Jack!
That 3.8 “Essex” motor was a true gem – I had one in my first car (an ’84 Cougar) and loved it.
Would the oil pan and such swap to a later supercharged V6 from a Bonneville or whatever so it could be mounted longitudinally?
I’m unsure if the 3.1 V6 and the 3800 share similar motor mounts and such ; especially between longitudinal and transverse applications – a very interesting though though!
If this 3.1 V6 goes for any reason, it’s being replaced by a junkyard LS, hands down.
Thanks for reading and for the comments, Cerberus!
I’d do an LS as well, just kind of thinking out loud sort of thing if someone really preferred having a V6.
My uncle bought a new yellow 30th anniversary Mustang with the V6 as he always wanted a Mustang or Corvette. I think the yellow reflected that he drove like he was operating a school bus, but I respected that he didn’t get the V8 since the V6 was more than enough for him.
It would seem that Mercedes takes sadistic pleasure in offing vehicles? or, is it just me?
I don’t think it’s intentional. She’s just really, really enthusiastic.
I meant it in jest.
If you’re near Chicago I have an XL SA2010 helmet to donate to the cause. I just recommend you deep clean it first as I never got myself a cool suit setup until I had to get an SA2020 rated helmet…
Edit – Damn, the sweating emoji doesn’t work here.
Remember: If you have a hundred-dollar head, get a hundred-dollar helmet. (good helmets cost more than that)
That rally sounds FUN AF! Of course Ms Mercedes blew up a car.
Look for an Infiniti EX35. It’s a car platform, so it should be way more stable than the Chevy P/U, and has a very modest lift over the platform-mate G35. Also decent power and reliability.
Unfortunately, I may or may not have been the last one to lap many cars that weekend. The UTveo (as it was called) killed its clutch hydraulics during one of my laps, resulting in me trying to grab second at redline, hearing a spectacular clunk, and then oops, all neutrals!
I may or may not have set that Pontiac Grand Am on fire, driven a Ford Freestar so hard its floor collapsed and it nuked an axle, and hooned both a Trailblazer and an F-150 until their engines seized.
In fairness to me, I wasn’t trying to be a car serial killer. Most of the Oppocross cars are literal scrapheaps that we send to Valhalla before they meet their inevitable demise at a crusher.
Mercedes, always on full send! (and I’m here for it)
True, that Trailblazer had a rod knock you could head from two counties away, and the F150 had already been brought back from the dead once. And the less said about the “Van’t” the better.
Having seen the pictures of the underside of Van’t, yeah, I wouldn’t blame Mercedes for it’s death. Given the size of the rust holes in it’s frame, a decent sized pothole on the freeway would have turned it into a banana.
I’m pretty sure that could have happened to a Ford Freestar with just regular on-road use, so that’s totally fair.
Amazing.