Cars

My Virtual Car Museum

I love cars. Here are some from my present and past.

Currently in my garage:

A 1985 BJ60 Landcruiser, my daily driver since 2006. A fun, strong truck that I’ve run on vegetable biodiesel in the past and more recently on ultra-low carbon renewable diesel. At the 300k mile mark I swapped out the engine for more power and efficiency.

A 1969 Lancia Fulvia HF Fanalone. My dad bought this car new and raced it in Switzerland back in the early 70s. I have a bunch of trophies from his races, ranging from the Hockenheimring to a snow slalom in Arosa, which looks very fun. We used to drive it over Swiss mountain passes and to the Geneva car show when I was a kid, so it represents a part of my childhood that I still get to enjoy as an adult. More photos here and a mention here.

I used to own a red Caterham. When I sold it, I thought I could always build a new one if I missed it. It took about 10 years, and I finally did so. My 2020 white Caterham 310R is incredibly fun to drive. Quick and responsive, it feels like a go-kart at real life scale.

And some cars from my past:

Ben’s first car, a 1993 Volvo Wagon with a surprisingly hard to find manual transmission. We picked it up in Oregon and drove it home along the coast on a great, memorable drive. These old Volvos are a rare combination of being fun, practical, and classic.

We took this VW Van on a cross country trip across the US and back with the kids in the summer of 2008 – what a great trip! Here we slept in it overnight near the Badlands in South Dakota.

My former daily driver. Great for beach outings and hauling kids, bikes and servers.

A mid-80s Caterham Super 7. Very fun and very fast, pretty reliable after a bunch of work, though I never got all of the electrical gremlins figured out.

A 76 Ferrari 308 GTB that used to be my dad’s. Everyone has a car they regret selling – this is mine.

The “family Gurgel”, I painted it red (used to be army green) and learned to drive in it. It’s from Brazil and may be the most fun vehicle I’ve ever driven.

A 63 Ford Falcon, my first car purchase ($800), bought in LA when I moved to California.

The Falcon was “upgraded” to a 64 Volvo 544. One of my all-time favorite car designs.

My experiment in car exporting (I shipped these from California to Switzerland). Made a little money, but more importantly I got to drive each one for a while.

A Maserati Quattroporte. Wins the awards for best sound and best freeway cruising. Also shipped to Switzerland.

Diane and I got this 77 Cutlass Supreme on a whim from Uncle Dave and liked it so much that we used to fight over who got to drive it.

The Saab. Diane’s car when we first met. She drove and loved it for over 10 years.

The M3. My treat after selling our first startup. Had great fun racing it at Sonoma Raceway, then we had kids and I had less fun getting car seats in and out of the back.