Question of the Week: What’s Your Favorite Convertible Conversion?—WINNER’S UPDATE: A Practical Look

WINNER’S ANNOUNCEMENT:

We’re back to announce the winner for our Question of the Week, where our victor will accept a $25 credit for a hat or T-shirt from the BaT Gear Store and the acclaim of their peers.

Our question this week: What’s the most interesting repurposed car you’ve ever come across?

Thanks to everyone who participated! Welp, your nominations certainly ran the gamut—some expected and others not so much. So we couldn’t help but hand out two prizes this week!

Winner #1: storyteller extraordinaire @Bill_Noon received the most love this week for his nomination of a Bug. Just not that Bug, but the “Boog”—a Bugatti Type 51, that is:

WINNER’S ANNOUNCEMENT:

We’re back to announce the winner for our Question of the Week, where our winner will rest on their laurels and accept a $25 credit for a hat or T-shirt from the BaT Gear Store.

This week, we asked: What’s the biggest repair you’ve pulled off in an auto parts store parking lot?

Having to do automotive repairs in an auto parts store parking lot (or adjacent) could be considered an instance of an inconvenient situation arising in the most convenient of places. After reading everyone’s comments, we’re awarding the prize to the user whose comment stood out the most to us this week. That comment comes to us from BaT member @Jim_Rosenthal:

“Two of us changed a VW engine in the parking lot, but it wasn’t the parts store parking lot. It was the parking lot NEXT DOOR to a parts store parking lot. Because we’d fitted the engine tin wrong, one cylinder overheated and seized (this is evidently not unusual) Since neither of us had much money, and VW engines don’t weigh much, we decided to do it right there. There are many things I would not attempt now, for any amount of $$$. This is now one of them.”

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jim_rosenthal commented on Question of the Week, Pennzoil Edition: What’s the Biggest Repair You’ve Pulled Off in an Auto Parts Store Parking Lot?—WINNER’S UPDATE

WINNER’S ANNOUNCEMENT:

We’re back to announce the winner for our Question of the Week, where our winner will rest on their laurels and accept a $25 credit for a hat or T-shirt from the BaT Gear Store.

This week, we asked: What irrational car or truck is the easiest to rationalize?

Thanks to everyone who threw their hat into the ring! You certainly rationalized the irrational this week. We were certainly sold. This week, we’re awarding the prize to the nomination that most stood out to us, which came from BaT member @Wanted_Man—a first-time QotW winner! Congratulations, Wanted_Man. Check your email to claim the prize. 

“The GMC Syclone. Who doesn’t need a truck that can’t haul anything and can do 0-60 in 4.3 seconds, in the rain?”

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Wanted_Man commented on Question of the Week: What Irrational Car or Truck is the Easiest to Rationalize?—WINNER’S UPDATE

WINNER’S ANNOUNCEMENT:

We’re back to announce the winner for our Question of the Week, where our winner will receive their laurels in the form of a $25 credit for a hat or T-shirt from the BaT Gear Store.

This week, we asked: Which mini truck model would you bring back?

We’ve gathered up your responses and presented an amicus brief including your pleas for small, single-cab pickups, but these fell on deaf ears in this week’s Supreme Court hearings. Perhaps we’ll settle for double-cabs, but we’ll leave that decision to the automakers—should they ever happen to read this discussion thread in its entirety. The Datsun 620 was the most mentioned nomination, and based on that reasoning, will be dubbed this week’s winner! BaT member @da-cat was the first to it:

“Datsun Pick Up!
Early 1970’s was my favorite.
Larger cab, with small extra side glass was a plus.
🙂
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1973-datsun-620-pickup-9/“

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da-cat commented on Question of the Week: Which Mini Truck Model Would You Bring Back?—WINNER’S UPDATE

WINNER’S ANNOUNCEMENT:

We’re back to announce the winner for our Question of the Week, where our victor will accept a $25 credit for a hat or T-shirt from the BaT Gear Store and the acclaim of their peers.

Our question this week: What’s your favorite piece of automaker lore?

Thanks to everyone who wrote in! We’re leaning heavily on the People’s Choice, and this week’s winning nomination is a tale of a cash grab, in the literal sense. We’re handing the prize to BaT member @angushopper, who submitted the most-liked comment this week for the Carroll Shelby $100 Challenge:

“The Carroll Shelby $100 Challenge:
To demonstrate the raw power of his 427 Cobra, Shelby would tape a $100 bill to the dashboard and if a passenger could reach out and grab it while he launched the car under full acceleration the passenger could keep the money.
Allegedly no one was ever able to grab the bill.
I have no idea of the veracity of this story but have heard it most of my life.”

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angushopper commented on Question of the Week: What’s Your Favorite Piece of Automaker Lore?—WINNER’S UPDATE

Our compatriots over at Car and Driver tested a 427 Cobra in their November 1965 issue and noted that “[it] does accelerate and decelerate at unbelievable rates, as the figures should imply.” We’ll leave it at that. Either way, it’s a great piece of automotive lore.

Congratulations, angushopper! Be sure to check your email to claim the prize. 

Now, let’s take a look at some other popular nominations from this week’s discussion thread:

“Enzo’s dismissal of Ford during the failed merger, and noting that they made ugly little cars in an ugly factory lit a fire that we still benefit from today. The GT40 is one of my favorite cars to hear, and see in motion and at a standstill.
P.S. – I wonder what he would think of the ugly little Luce ;)”

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overlandish commented on Question of the Week: What’s Your Favorite Piece of Automaker Lore?—WINNER’S UPDATE

WINNER’S ANNOUNCEMENT:

Happy Monday! We’re back to announce the winner for our Question of the Week, where our victor will accept a $25 credit for a hat or T-shirt from the BaT Gear Store and the acclaim of their peers.

Our question was: What’s an unremarkable car or truck you now find remarkable?

Thanks to everyone who chimed in! Daily commuters, family haulers, and rugged off-roaders resoundingly filled the discussion thread, with a few enthusiast cars mixed in.

That said, finding a belated appreciation for what was once considered ordinary is inherently subjective, so this week we’re leaning heavily on the People’s Choice—the most-liked comment. That honor goes to BaT member @Wkordo for an oddball wagon:

“The 4wd Toyota Tercel wagons. What at face value is nothing more than an oddly proportioned 80’s wagon, is really a ski trip rockstar with selectable 4wd and low range. I had never looked twice at the tercels, but impulse bought one as project car on Craigslist years ago. Once I got it running I quickly realized just how cool those little oddballs are. That little car is still one of the most fun I’ve owned.”

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Wkordo commented on Question of the Week: What’s an Unremarkable Car or Truck You Now Find Remarkable?—WINNER’S UPDATE