I am not a great wrench. I am not an amazing driver. I lack many of the skills you might associate with being even an average automotive journalist. While I’ve taken steps to improve both my abilities as a mechanic and driver, I know that these are not naturally my strengths. Instead, what I lack in capability I have to make up for in a blind willingness to make a fool of myself and write about it.
But not always. There are moments that become so embarrassingly quixotic that I can’t bring myself to type them into the CMS. At least not immediately. I feel like the statute of limitations on embarrassing myself in a press loaner is ten years, so this story is well beyond that.
Are you ready to hear about the time I decided to borrow a prototype CNG-powered dump truck for a visit to a college? Are you ready to hear about all the ways that it went wrong? Good, because I might just be ready to write about it.
If you’d like to read the rest of this article, please become a member. For less than $5 a month (Cloth Annual), you can help support this kind of rampant idiocy.
And you didn’t lose the key?
There’s a Hank Hill joke in there somewhere, I just know it…
“I am not a great wrench. I am not an amazing driver. I lack many of the skills you might associate with being even an average automotive journalist.” And, on top of that, you live in NEW YORK FREAKIN’ CITY!
Ahem. The above is precisely why the auto fan & industry space needs more people like you. It’s our own little version of DEI, the good kind. More honest viewpoints = better cars. Keep up the good work, AND the honest feedback.
Agreed! Because look, I’m not rich. Neither are my friends. Most of them are not car enthusiasts. Learning about the kinds of cars regular folks buy is a lot more interesting to me than the latest 1000hp supercar that no one will ever see or drive.
And getting input from someone like Matt is perfect, and helps me advise people when they ask for car recommendations. Skid pad grip isn’t an important metric for most cars. But learning about how they are to live with, practicality, how they handle kids and city life, is very relevant for me, the default “car guy” in my friends’ lives. Keep it up!
I did HVAC for a company that also owned a propane facility. The trucks were mid 80’s Ford 150’s with a propane conversion. Like you, poor range with even less power. These were base trucks with the 300 L6 engine. You learned not to jump out into traffic lest you piss off a bunch of other drivers. Did I mention this was in metro DFW? Don’t know if they improved with better tech, but it’s an experience I wouldn’t repeat.
My first job was at an Ace Hardware store in high school. Part of my job was filling LP gas canisters, tanks and what not. Every now and again we would get a truck that ran on LP gas come in for a fill up. They were usually fleet vehicles for a local business. Always the highlight of the day.
That’s what I call the verbal warning before family Taco night.
As big a fan as I am of the Focus Electric, many examples of which are still going strong today, the ones Ford was selling at the time had an optimistic 75 mile range and no fast charging ability, if you could even find a fast charger on the way to your destination.
Range anxiety on a vehicle you’ve no way to fuel is a big deal… Though in this case it sounds more like “Matt tries to avoid the perceived embarrassment of having to be rescued.” We’ve all been there (though usually in our own project vehicles, not a manufacturer’s!)
Our school district uses CNG buses now. I always assumed they would be underpowered compared to the old diesels but they’re pretty sprightly! And if I’m being honest, they make a pretty nice rumble at idle…
I imagine they use the 7.3L Godzilla motor, if they’re Fords.
> I owned a Merkur XR4Ti
Ignore what everybody says, you’ll always be cool for that fact alone.
Jeez Louise, Matt, I thought you were the mostly sensible one. That shot out the window when I saw this:
At this point DT is doing DT things, Torch is coding on cold cuts. Did Beau know what the hell he was getting into?
VA Note: while you and DT were in Cville I was in Richmond. That was around the time of the 900 Convertible and the 9-5 Station Wagon.
I wouldn’t say that. Your fears were based on the data you were receiving from the vehicle – hardly your fault.
Unless you just didn’t have a CNG tank gauge calibration tool handy, in which case it was totally your fault. ;-P
Yeah, I was about to say: pulling over in a loaner because you don’t want it and yourself to blow up is the smart thing to do in this situation. I’m a big fan of erring on the side of caution with potentially combustible issues.
Um aksually, the tie fighter in Star Wars lacks a hyperdrive and therefore can not enter lightspeed ;-p Hilarious tale Matt! Definitely should have borrowed the stick Fusion, I always wondered about those.
I have nothing new to add about the story that others haven’t already commented on, so I’ll comment on Speedy Ortiz instead. Major Arcana is a good album. I was introduced via the Life is Strange: Before the Storm soundtrack which is full of good stuff. That’s true of most Life is Strange games, I think.
I would have taken the ecoboost Taurus. It would have been comfortable at least.
As long as he doesn’t get claustrophobia and is comfortable using the moon and stars to navigate while backing out of a parking space
YES, such a cramped interior for such a large car! My old 300M was at least airy and open inside.
I think the designers were disappointed that they were forced to include front seats at all, because the original plan was for the center console to fill the entire space from door to door
You did the right thing. You suspected a leak, you praked it somewhere safe and de-energized it (turned it off). You were uncertain of how to be sure a CNG system is safe, which is totally reasonable!
Fascinating! You guys should do an article on those CNG Civics…
I considered buying one of those (made here in Indiana) but the home compressor units at the time seemed very troublesome.
I would not be happy about actively compressing flammable gasses in my home.
My friend had a CNG civic. He liked it a lot, aside from the reduced trunk space. It worked well for him because at the time you could fill up at any PG&E service yard and it would just get charged to his energy bill I believe at a cheap rate.
My folks’ neighbors in Idaho Falls had one of those Civics and loved it. They installed a fueling station about the size of a tall dorm fridge on the far side of their driveway, stuccoed to match the house. In practice it wasn’t too different from a home EV charging port. Seemed like a cool idea.
I’d also love to see such an article! Have had ~5 of them (Honda CNG Civic) in between myself and the friend who got me into them. The multiples are because of the CA HOV sticker weird rules. They make a great commute car IF you live where CNG stations are convenient.
Also agree that in dealing with flammable gasses, discretion is certainly the better part of valor.
Hey I was a resident at UVa hospital when you and David were there! Did you ever saw an ’85 Toyota truck, rattle-canned black that needed to be started with a trigger-style starter bypass I hid under the hood? That was me.
Since you’re all still alive, I can be sure I didn’t take care of you in the hospital.
Hah, probably!
You posted this today just to ragebait Mercedes now that she is stuck driving the CrossCab Cross Country. She’d much rather be rocking a giant dump truck on the rally.
Matt I am a member I am logged in none of the options you sent worked so I can’t read this article
Hello! Check your email, you’re logged into the wrong account.
I’ll sum up:
Young Hardigree significantly more mature than the rest of us might have been: strong self-preservation instinct, spares lives of many innocents through caution, doesn’t burn bridges.
The End…?
What?
Well, once you can read the piece, maybe it’ll make more sense. That might not have been the point of Matt’s article, but it felt to me like the punctum! (So help me, now I’m using one of Torch’s favorite word nuggets.)
“I owned a Merkur XR4Ti with a welded diff”
Seems like a waste of a good IRS.
As long as you don’t drive it on the street, or like a normal person, they’re great.
Oh I meant as compared to a welded live axle.