Curbside Classic Archives
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American Brands: GM 
American Brands: Ford 
American Brands: Chrysler 
American Brands: AMC, Jeep and All Others 
Automotive Histories and Misc. 
Asian Brands 
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Cars Of A Lifetime & Auto-Biography 
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Design 
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Tractors, Lawn Mowers, Off-Road Equipment 
RVs, Motorhomes, Trailers, Campers Privacy
About Author: mdlaughlin
Posts by mdlaughlin
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COAL: 1989 Ford Thunderbird SC Part 2 – This Time for Keeps
Posted on January 27, 2018 | 46 CommentsWe have reached a bit of a milestone with this week’s entry – this is the first car in my COAL series that I still own today. The car itself […] -
COAL: 2011 Kia Optima EX-T – Branching Out
Posted on January 20, 2018 | 26 CommentsThe Mazda6 that we acquired in late 2008 represented a bit of a departure for us, since it was not a Toyota and was a bit more interesting than the […] -
COAL: 2009 Mazda6 – Outside the Comfort Zone (But Not By Much)
Posted on January 13, 2018 | 16 CommentsI think every reader in the CC community figured out that a “Zoom-Zoom” Mazda was the follow-up car for the 2007 Camry based on my not-so-subtle hints. Some commenters expressed […] -
COAL: 2006 Subaru Outback 2.5i Limited – All-Purpose
Posted on January 6, 2018 | 20 CommentsAlthough the Acura CL was a fun car to own and drive, I missed having a used car like the Taurus that I could use for taking stuff to the […] -
COAL: 2010 Lexus HS250h – You Really Bought That?
Posted on December 30, 2017 | 27 CommentsWhen I wrapped up the 2008 Lexus ES350 a couple of weeks ago, I alluded to replacing it with a Lexus that virtually no one wanted. Several commenters quickly zeroed […] -
COAL: 2008 Lexus ES350 – Another One, Part 2
Posted on December 23, 2017 | 15 CommentsDoing the COAL series and looking back at the cars I have purchased over the past quarter century or so has given me an interesting perspective. Looking at the cars […] -
COAL: 2007 Toyota Camry CE – Another One?
Posted on December 16, 2017 | 46 CommentsI have owned a lot of cars over my driving career, and some of them have been pretty interesting. Some others…not so much. This week, unfortunately, is one of the […] -
COAL: 2003 Acura 3.2 CL Type S – My First “Collector” Car
Posted on December 9, 2017 | 18 CommentsI found having a third car (the 2000 Taurus I profiled a couple of weeks ago) to be really handy for many reasons. A four-door sedan was a great extra […] -
COAL: 2005 Lexus ES330 – A Toyota By Any Other Name
Posted on December 2, 2017 | 23 CommentsBy 2005 I was halfway between 30 and 40, and looking for a car with a more upmarket nameplate than the Toyotas and Hondas I’d been choosing in the past. […] -
COAL: 2000 Ford Taurus SE – I Don’t Need It, But…
Posted on November 25, 2017 | 38 CommentsUp until this point in my car history my wife and I were the proud owners of two cars, one for her (generally) and one for me. We did tend […] -
COAL: 2004 Nissan Maxima SE – Not a Toyota?
Posted on November 18, 2017 | 35 CommentsWith this week’s installment I will get back more to a chronological order for my car purchases. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I very much liked the […] -
COAL: 2004 Toyota Prius – An Engineer’s Car
Posted on November 11, 2017 | 49 CommentsLast week’s COAL entry on my 2003 Matrix ended with an inadvertent guessing game of sorts about the Matrix’s replacement, with at least two separate camps for the Toyota Prius […] -
COAL: 2003 Toyota Matrix XR – Much Better
Posted on November 4, 2017 | 27 CommentsAs I described last week, I soured pretty quickly on my 2002 Camry because of cost and quality issues. For whatever reasons, that particular car mistake got in my head […] -
COAL: 2002 Toyota Camry SE – Not Always The Safe Choice
Posted on October 28, 2017 | 52 CommentsAs our Tundra was coming up to the end of its lease, I had already been thinking about what was going to follow it on my side of the garage. […] -
COAL: 2002 Toyota Sienna XLE – A Van? Really?
Posted on October 21, 2017 | 28 CommentsIn the last episode, I spoke about (surprise) buying a vehicle that I ended up not liking very much. In addition, our Tundra was coming to the end of its […]
![COAL: 1989 Ford Thunderbird SC Part 2 – This Time for Keeps We have reached a bit of a milestone with this week’s entry – this is the first car in my COAL series that I still own today. The car itself […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/DSC04230.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1)
![COAL: 2011 Kia Optima EX-T – Branching Out The Mazda6 that we acquired in late 2008 represented a bit of a departure for us, since it was not a Toyota and was a bit more interesting than the […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/DSC04344.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1)
![COAL: 2009 Mazda6 – Outside the Comfort Zone (But Not By Much) I think every reader in the CC community figured out that a “Zoom-Zoom” Mazda was the follow-up car for the 2007 Camry based on my not-so-subtle hints. Some commenters expressed […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/DSC01134.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1)
![COAL: 2006 Subaru Outback 2.5i Limited – All-Purpose Although the Acura CL was a fun car to own and drive, I missed having a used car like the Taurus that I could use for taking stuff to the […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/DSC01507.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1)
![COAL: 2010 Lexus HS250h – You Really Bought That? When I wrapped up the 2008 Lexus ES350 a couple of weeks ago, I alluded to replacing it with a Lexus that virtually no one wanted. Several commenters quickly zeroed […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/DSC02812.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1)
![COAL: 2008 Lexus ES350 – Another One, Part 2 Doing the COAL series and looking back at the cars I have purchased over the past quarter century or so has given me an interesting perspective. Looking at the cars […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/DSC04092.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1)
![COAL: 2007 Toyota Camry CE – Another One? I have owned a lot of cars over my driving career, and some of them have been pretty interesting. Some others…not so much. This week, unfortunately, is one of the […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/DSC02386.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1)
![COAL: 2003 Acura 3.2 CL Type S – My First “Collector” Car I found having a third car (the 2000 Taurus I profiled a couple of weeks ago) to be really handy for many reasons. A four-door sedan was a great extra […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/DSC02047.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1)
![COAL: 2005 Lexus ES330 – A Toyota By Any Other Name By 2005 I was halfway between 30 and 40, and looking for a car with a more upmarket nameplate than the Toyotas and Hondas I’d been choosing in the past. […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/DSC01485.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1)
![COAL: 2000 Ford Taurus SE – I Don’t Need It, But… Up until this point in my car history my wife and I were the proud owners of two cars, one for her (generally) and one for me. We did tend […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/DSC01703.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1)
![COAL: 2004 Nissan Maxima SE – Not a Toyota? With this week’s installment I will get back more to a chronological order for my car purchases. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I very much liked the […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/DSC02041.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1)
![COAL: 2004 Toyota Prius – An Engineer’s Car Last week’s COAL entry on my 2003 Matrix ended with an inadvertent guessing game of sorts about the Matrix’s replacement, with at least two separate camps for the Toyota Prius […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/DSC00961.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1)
![COAL: 2003 Toyota Matrix XR – Much Better As I described last week, I soured pretty quickly on my 2002 Camry because of cost and quality issues. For whatever reasons, that particular car mistake got in my head […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/2002-Toyota-Matrix-XR-Front.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1)
![COAL: 2002 Toyota Camry SE – Not Always The Safe Choice As our Tundra was coming up to the end of its lease, I had already been thinking about what was going to follow it on my side of the garage. […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/2002-Toyota-Camry-1.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1)
![COAL: 2002 Toyota Sienna XLE – A Van? Really? In the last episode, I spoke about (surprise) buying a vehicle that I ended up not liking very much. In addition, our Tundra was coming to the end of its […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/2002-Toyota-Sienna-1.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1)


