- Description
- I write about things that interest me as well as I hope other humans, regardless of what our robot overlords may "think". And I take pictures of pretty much everything. You've found some of the writing. There's more to be found here: jsunma.substack.com And more pictures here: www.flickr.com/photos/sgip
![A recent article in my local paper cited statistics that roads in Massachusetts are deadlier than ever in 2021, even though the total number of crashes is down due to […]](https://www.curbsideclassic.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/road-warrior2.jpg "QOTD: How Safe Do You Feel Behind the Wheel in 2021?"){kind=small}
![During a recent bout of basement-cleaning, I came across two nearly mint copies of the legendary J.C. Whitney & Co. mail order catalog. These were from 1979 and were mixed […]](https://www.curbsideclassic.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/jc.jpg "1979 J.C.Whitney Catalog: A Reflection of Its Time – Spray-On Saves You Money Edition")
![The on-going pandemic-inspired shift to working from a home office has had a variety of impacts upon my work environment. In my “real” office, a small space in a nearby […]](https://www.curbsideclassic.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/DSC_8680.jpeg "Die-Cast COAL: A Report From The Desktop Motor Pool")
![When I happened upon this Rodeo several weeks ago, I was stopped dead in my tracks by the little truck’s audacious shininess. There was something about the Isuzu’s presence, on […]](https://www.curbsideclassic.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/IMG_4043.jpeg "Curbside Shininess: What Are They Thinking?")
![Four years ago this week (as I write this in the middle of August) it came to be that our standard fleet of two cars became three. Fortunately, the third […]](https://www.curbsideclassic.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/IMG_3757.jpeg "1976 Volvo 245 DL — Bringing Hans Home, An August Road Trip")
![OK, pan just a bit to the right from the scene at the end of my last COAL and there’s a fairly full glimpse of this week’s subject. Probably the […]](https://www.curbsideclassic.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/P1100518.jpeg "COAL: 2008 BMW 328i Sports Wagon — Coming Around Full Circle")
![For once, the pendulum didn’t swing. If you’ve been following my car history these past months, you know that I have tended to veer between successive cars that had relatively […]](https://www.curbsideclassic.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/clown.jpg "COAL: 2002 MINI Cooper S — Just Don’t Call It “Driving”")
![What’s your definition of “daily driver”? I don’t mean just the obvious such as “the car I drive every day”, but rather what characteristics do you require (or “demand” assuming […]](https://www.curbsideclassic.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/IMAGE011.jpeg "COAL: 1993 Nissan Sentra SE-R — How Do You Define Daily Driver?")
![Last week, I discussed my angst associated with owning what was largely an American car masquerading as a German car. So, when it was time to send the Rabbit out […]](https://www.curbsideclassic.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/bittebmw.jpeg "COAL: 1972 BMW Bavaria — Right Place, Wrong Time")
![It is often said that it is more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow. I’ve driven my share of slow as well as fast […]](https://www.curbsideclassic.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/vwbelchertown.jpeg "COAL: 1984 Rabbit Diesel L – Demonstration of the Practicality v. Desire Equation")
![Today’s COAL chapter focuses on the first car that was truly mine and mine alone. Having spent my early – high school – driving years behind the wheel of my […]](https://www.curbsideclassic.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/buickgrill.jpeg "COAL: 1971 Buick LeSabre – The Car for the Man Who Knows Who I Am")
![This chapter in my COAL takes a bit of a break from focusing on a specific car and instead revisits something that I wrote about in the introductory chapter – […]](https://www.curbsideclassic.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/allaboard.jpeg "COAL: Planes, Trains and Automobiles – And Ships Too")
![Full disclosure, this COAL is going to feature pictures of a lot of cars that were not my specific cars. The reason has something to do with the fact that […]](https://www.curbsideclassic.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/wwhsfiat.jpeg "COAL: 1974 Fiat 128 — Finally Behind the Wheel")
![It seems that the people in marketing at Chrysler in 1970 were somewhat on different pages when it came time to design the sales brochures. On one hand we have […]](https://www.curbsideclassic.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/1971chrysler_14.jpg "COAL: 1971 Chrysler Town and Country Wagon – Movin’ On Up")
![Last post, I went on about how my family’s 1961 Plymouth Suburban defined “car” for me as a toddler. While I stand by that assessment – based largely on recollections […]](https://www.curbsideclassic.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/simcaundertree.jpg "COAL: 1964 Simca 1000 – Big Car and Little Car")
