Stupid new limited edition toy mimics only a fraction of our power
This is Collector Car TL;DR: a weekly recap of what happened on Collector Car Feed, plus car auctions, listings, automotive news, and other things of interest to the average CCF Enjoyer.
The Videos
This Buy Here Pay Here Lot is Depressing
Mega Motors is a horrific used car lot in Texas that preys on the weak. Much to our surprise, looking at trash is kind of depressing.
What Should You Buy to Replace Your Subaru?
Today on CarTaku, multiple Subaru owners ask about second cars. One wants to have fun, one has a girlfriend who can’t stand his dusty old wagon, but at the end of the day they both have the right idea: get something that’ll run when this thing doesn’t.
The Lies Facebook Marketplace Sellers Tell
This is a Celica GT-S video disguised as general interest Facebook Marketplace hunting. The 7g hunt continues.
The News
Ferrari Revives the Gated Shifter with the New 12Cilindri Manuale
We were joking about the idea of “shift by wire” recently on a stream. Here it is. We willed this into reality. Limited to 1,499 units, this Ferrari has a fake gated shifter that serves the same function as flappy paddles.
The Stick Shift Isn’t Dead Yet: Every Manual Car You Can Still Buy In 2026
Speaking of sticks, here’s the ever-decreasing annual list of cars you can buy in America with an H pattern shifter. Spoiler: less than last year, and like last year, half of them are exotics you can’t afford.
Driving a manual could reduce dementia risk
Like the Big Brain Academy guy said a week or two back, shifting gears is probably good for your mental health. Think about that the next time a Kia K4 cuts you off doing a buck ten on the highway. That guy would be mentally stable if he had a stick shift. Big Car wants us all jokered up.
Sundown Audio Maker Systematic Audio Files Chapter 11
The sun is setting on Sundown. King Kong has left the trunk.
The 2027 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Is Officially a 200 MPH Car
The base model Corvette is capable of higher top speed than higher trims due to its lack of downforce-adding bodywork, and that top speed is pretty nasty. Good for Chevy. It’s unfortunate that their target audience, however, cannot fight dementia by rowing their own gears. The ones who need it the most will have to go without.
The Cars
Today’s “The Cars” was curated by frequent Discord Picks contributor Doctor Mutiny. This guy doesn’t get enough credit for digging up Facebook Marketplace trash, and this past week he had a bunch prepared for the stream, which we had to cancel because 3/5 of us were on vacation. So I present his picks to you here instead, in a rare all-Facebook The Cars.
First up: “Nice and/or why is this on Facebook”.
1973 Ford Mustang
Look at the rake on this fugly monster. Twenty grand asking, $24K allegedly invested in parts. Laundry list in description, runs great. For me personally, this ain’t it. But to just the right guy, maybe it’s a steal.
1982 Renault Le Car R5
I should hate this more than I do. Three lug nuts per wheel, rag top, Fr*nch, restomod gut. But those Marchal fogs really set the whole thing off and make up for almost everything. It’s like a French Cooper. The ass of this thing looks like a Tercel EZ, but aesthetically, is there anything wrong with either?
Then you see the $19,500 price tag and wonder, again, what we’re doing here. This is a museum piece.
1983 Audi UR Quattro
The OG Quattro. 20v turbo, stick of course, torsen center diff, and then the list goes on and on. The wheels are whatever but the car itself is gorgeous. Doctor Mutiny labeled this whole section of cars the “why is it on Facebook” section, and that’s a good question when you note the asking price on this bad boy is over FORTY GRAND. Get this thing on Bring A Trailer.
1986 Ferrari Testarossa
Speaking of “why”, re: Facebook Marketplace, here’s a dang Testarossa in Argento Metallic, aka silver. Arguably one of the wildest Ferrari designs of all time, of special note please observe the single side view mirror sticking straight out of the middle of the driver side A pillar. This coke rocket could have been yours for a mere $199,000, but it appears to have sold.
1987 Lotus Esprit Turbo
Speaking of coke rockets, here’s a British one. Doctor Mutiny points out the walkaround of a black car in the middle of the night, recorded in 16:9 and then presented black-barred to 9:16. They really don’t want you to see this thing. Some more absolute junk pictures follow of what looks like probably a pretty decent car with a backrooms gut.
And now, “The Weird Shit”.
1947 Crosley “A Fine Car” EV conversion
It’s an electric hotdog. Did the owner intend to paint this car exactly like a Wienermobile? Ask him.
1980 Volkswagen Vanagon
This one’s a shorty in both directions, and left unfinished. The listing says “what you see is what you get”, and Dr.M. says “not much of a listing”.
1977 Toyota Celica GT
“The first photo made me think of a t-rex”. Yeah I see it. Absolute chaos priced right at $55K.
2005 Chrysler 300
Here we have an inexplicably modified 300 covered in lights. There’s a light bar on the roof and lights all over the front. Watch the video to see inside and take note of the Autozone Transformers logos affixed to each headrest. Listen carefully for the owner humming a nice little tune. Page through the pictures again and notice the nickname “Mr. Anti-Social?” on the windshield, flanked on either side by 3D devil horns protruding from the glass. Finally, read the last line in the description where the owner explains it “runs hot” after 15 minutes of driving, but otherwise drives great. Then close the listing.
1974 Kawasaki Vulcan
This is an MG Midget with a motorcycle sticking out of its ass. Dr. M: “Saddlebags in the wheel wells is an inspired choice”.
1998 Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution
SEVENTY FIVE GRAND for this thing, but GOOD GOD what a livery. Remember Mitsubishi? Remember how chad this company was until it suddenly wasn’t? Remember the Galant VR-4, the 3000GT VR-4, the Eclipse GSX, the freakin’ EVO, then the next Evo, and then that last Evo? And that’s just the stuff they let us have stateside. They kept some real fire for themselves including this monster. Again, SEVENTY FIVE THOUSAND REAL DOLLARS is a lot of damn money, and will buy you something infinitely more capable than this, but that’s not the point. MAN is this thing sick. The back looks like a Gundam or EVA. They went NUTS on this. They used to make really good televisions too. The hell happened?
The End
Fourth Time’s The Charm
I went to Discount Tire this past week for wheel balancing. This is the fourth time I’ve had them balance the wheels on the FiST since buying it. I bought the car in California and drove it to Albuquerque (shout out Netgear57, El Rey De Route 66), noting along the way that it vibrated like crazy in the front end. In Albuquerque I went to Discount and got a set of Nitto Neo Gens installed. Not my first choice, But Yokohama was either going through supply chain issues or wasn’t sure if they wanted to discontinue the V701 Fleva, which now seems to remain in stock. Anyway, they’re 280 treadwear all seasons, which is a pretty decent compromise tire for a daily driver, and beat the piss out of the General G Max trash the car came with. But, upon leaving and hopping on the highway, sure enough, still vibrating. This is the long way to say that Discount screwed me once.
Back home at the end of the long journey, I took the car back to Discount and had them balance the wheels again. They stated that both front wheels were off by two ounces or something like that, and sure enough, jumping on the highway, I found them to be pretty decently balanced. Some vibration over 80, nothing nutty. I thought this was as good as it’d get.
A few months later, or a couple weeks back from today, I noted a slow leak on one of my front tires. I took it in and they couldn’t find the source, but replaced my valve stem. In doing so, you have to break the bead and then remount the tire. Guess what? If you don’t rebalance the wheel with the tire in its new position, it’ll shake like crazy, which it proceeded to do until this past week when I took the car in for a fourth balance.
Now, this time I felt like a real Karen, because when the guy asked what I was there for, I explained his job to him. “Can you balance my wheels, but when you do, can you first remove all the old weights, and make sure the machine has been calibrated?” This is an assholish thing to ask of someone, but less so if they get it wrong more often than they get it right. I went on to explain how many times they’d failed at this, how I just need to know if the problem is incompetence or a bent wheel or something else, and getting the car balanced correctly is the first step, and I haven’t gotten there yet. He looked at me like I was a complete jackass, understandably, but then walked away, probably told the tech assigned to my car that I was an asshole, and into the garage the FiST was pulled.
And sure enough, when the car came back out, it now gets up to any speed you want without any noticeable vibration whatsoever.
Long story, low payoff, I know. I hate telling someone how to do their job. I hate being anything short of polite when I’m a customer. I don’t want spit in my food or random bolts loosened or removed from my car. But this time it worked, and it’s starting to make sense why everyone else on earth seems to be a complete dick all the time: it’s effective. Better hit rate. If you’re getting bad service, try it.
If you subscribed to the newsletter, you’d get a chance to win a Scion mix CD or some other junk in my storage unit. But look at you, reading this on the website. Anyway,
See you Soon™.
-Feed