Dad's 2000 Mercury Grand Marquis

             

"Seriously?!" Ken is both horrified and disappointed- I just made it back from a 1,500 mile trip from Florida in this 17-foot sled and talking nonsense about how awesome it was. My father was more than happy to pass the keys over, which to his dismay led to situations where my imagination perceived the occasional highway loop on the interstate passing Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana to be an opportunity for rally-style shenanigans- just like the pros!

"I want one!" Hank is trying to be understanding, by default, before diving into conclusions about these illusions of making one of these tanks work through a corner, or somehow drift. We hold these measures of dynamic qualities to a high esteem. After all, when we say "driving" is fun, it's usually because we imagine sliding a given set of tires (Not limited to just two) and while on the brink, somehow pulling of movie stunts, often on the street.

Anyway, so about this car: A Ford 2-Valve Modular V8- love it or hate it, this engine is a perennial workhorse and capable power-plant that will be with us for a long time; the 4-speed automatic has massive gaps, but keeps noise (Though a lovely one) levels tame commensurate with low-RPM operation; six-passenger capacity "and a BIG BACKSEAT!," as the former owner, a WWII veteran finishing a half-spent cigarette, exclaimed to me with a hearty chuckle.

Taking it around the corners, the V8 growls induce a sense of urgency magnified by the awesome greenhouse in full view of the lengthy hood so comfortably housing it. Slinging this beast through a battery of otherwise ordinary, albeit curvaceous roads drew me towards my destination as if it was a crime-scene-in-progress or a newly discovered zombie spawning zone. Only the lack of a grill guard prevented me from blasting through locked scrap yard gates or working through ailing, dried out shrubs on an off-road mission to trouble.

Of course, looking at it without bias or going off of this explanation alone, an easily accessible imagination may be the key to fun in a Marquis.

This car carries its police car heritage strongly and I'll never forget a Jalopnik reader's comment that sums up the Panther's best quality so well: "Its strong sense of duty."

I still want one!

Universal Car Garage

Here are the two names I'm most familiar with- The "GXE" is on my 2002 Nissan Sentra and the Pony badge on my 1998 Mustang. For very little money, you can go very far with either of the two. I happen to have both, enjoying the differences that make front-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive, automatics and manuals, or small and big displacement engines fun to differentiate. 

Over the course of six years, we've had the chance to be around some of the cars that only Gran Turismo or Forza would provide. We've been lucky enough to actually work on some of them in real life and in our own driveways.

Enter Universal Garage: Here, we work on and cruise in all kinds of makes and models. From my B15 Sentra GXE to my good friend Ken's Nissan 350z Track-Pack, there's always something to do and someone to compete with. 

The transition from casual meet-goer to a novice autocross entrant is bound to be quirky.

But because I'm finally feeling like a true rookie I've decided to keep track of the times here, in this little writing space, to see how far we go...

The spirit we carry is that of our own garages: open for work or entertainment at anytime. 

Except for when it's 105 out in Texas again... Then I'm just inside writing.