Autoholics

For years, the manual transmission has weathered a series of assaults against its chances for survival. The proliferation of flappy-paddles, the often superior fuel efficiency yielded by CVTs and modern computer-mediated automatics, the centrality of the automatic to advanced technologies from variable displacement to remote-start gizmos, and modern consumers' increasingly hands-off approach to driving, have each represented nails in the stick-shift's coffin. For a long time now, it's been almost a given that the manual will eventually go extinct, to the anguish of car enthusiasts everywhere.

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Matt Farah of The Smoking Tire just picked up this 1987 CRX sight unseen for $500. It has over 288,000 miles but otherwise sounds pretty solid. He needs to go retrieve it from Toronto, but when he gets it back to LA, what should he do with it? What would you do with it?

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Most of us have a stockpile of parts stashed away, often with extras of particular items that we're especially fond of hoarding. But boples_ee90's stash is exceptionally impressive. He's got multiple entire JDM front fascias, grilles, and lenses, among other treasures. Check out his collection on page 3 of his Corolla's ride page. And how about you, what car parts do you like to stock extras of?

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I object to the premise behind Jalopnik's Ten Ways To Convince Your Significant Other To Let You Buy The Car You Want--in general I think "it's better to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission." So if I had to chose one, I'd go with #5, the "bring it home unannounced" method. That said, when you have kids or share finances, things can be a bit more complicated. And if you are starting a new relationship, I think you should be up front about their little addiction at the start--will hopefully help save a bit of drama when the car hauler drops off that rusty piece of junk in your driveway. But have you ever tried to convince your significant other to let you buy a car, and if so, what method did you use?

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Rachel Veitch has owned her '64 Mercury Comet Caliente since new and has racked up over a half-million miles on it. The Merc is still going strong, and the only reason she's taking it off the road is that she has become legally blind due to macular degeneration. I love that she points out that the car has outlasted her three marriages, and she's sure as hell not leaving it to her ingrate kids: "They couldn't take care of it like I did." Yep, people come and go, but cars are forever. Full story at Yahoo.

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I admit I've always been a big fan of the FJ. Ok, I haven't even driven one. And it gets crappy gas mileage. But I like them. So I look for them on Craigslist. But the used asking prices are nuts. I think it may have the best resale value on any new vehicle. KBB put it in the #2 slot for best resale after the Wrangler, but I suspect it should be in the #1 slot simply cause of the low production numbers. Toyota built a lot of them in the first few years but they are only selling at a trickle now--just over 14,000 in North America last year. I'm sure it will be a future classic. So yeah, if I was buying new, I'd definitely consider one, even with the crap gas mileage. They are almost money in the bank. Pic from BocaChaser's Toyota FJ Cruiser ride page!

What other new cars have a high resale value? Think KBB missed any?

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