Natalie will soon be for sale

What are you asking for? Nice car

$45K

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Sorry to hear you're selling (and too bad last year didn't work out and I didn't get a ride in Natalie! What do you play and what type of music?

I play guitar. We play blues, as much as possible, but we were in a rush to play out and are playing some rock tunes to fill out our set list.

Ultimately, we want to play the blues venues around metro Detroit.

www.telegraphblues.com
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Cool retirement gig!  We need to get you and Jack C at Tour d/Smo before Natalie finds a new home!  Isn't Ford Focus on way out of production?  That Ford Transit is a cool vehicle.  Assume you have good Ford discount to be sticking with Ford.

WOLFGANG posted:

Cool retirement gig!  We need to get you and Jack C at Tour d/Smo before Natalie finds a new home!  Isn't Ford Focus on way out of production?  That Ford Transit is a could vehicle.  Assume you have good Ford discount to be sticking with Ford.

I do have A-plan, but the Focus is out of production, so I'm looking at used, which doesn't apply.  I still want to have some fun driving.  It's a turbo-charged, 6-speed manual hot hatch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emhHXaRLHYQ 

Mustang?  Lots of storage, fun to drive and good resale.  Plus can use the A Plan. $26k base price on up to the GT500.

Everyone in Dearborn and not as much storage as I want. Plus, Mustangs, Camaros, and Corvettes are rolling speeding tickets. I’m hoping for a black one of these to fly under the radar.

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Dude.

Reconsider. You only live once.

In 5 yrs, your Beck will still shine like a new penny and still be worth what it is today. A Focus (GT or otherwise) will still just be an economy car, and yet another forgettable $10k used car trolling Motown.

The end comes to all of us...

But Stan is right on this one.  I did entertain thoughts of dumping my Speedster, after two solid 8-10 hour days of driving back from the Outer Banks.  However, I came to my senses eventually.

Bob: IM S6 posted:

The end comes to all of us...

But Stan is right on this one.  I did entertain thoughts of dumping my Speedster, after two solid 8-10 hour days of driving back from the Outer Banks.  However, I came to my senses eventually.

No, @Bob: IM S6-- in your case, selling is the right thing to do. Intermeccanica is not making the kind of cars hopeless relics like me buy any more, so all of the old dino-burners (like my car) are just useless overstock. 6-cyl outliers like your car are even worse-- sort of a white-elephant/orphan gross polluter sure to be worthless soon. 

But I'm a helpful guy, and I could get you out from under it. You'd be way, way upside down in the trade, but I'm sure I can find you a nice used GTI or something and trade you straight across.

You should definitely give me a call.

I'll top Stan's deal offering you an even up exchange,  a custom VW Beetle truck by world famous...Merklin Motor Works !  This limited offer allows for the customer to choose either grey of red-brown primer ~

Gee, guys, it's nice to have such caring friends.  I know you both have my best interests at heart.  Now I'm completely confused as to what to do.

I'll get back to/at you both - someday.  

Well, I found my new daily driver tonight.  A 2017 Focus ST with 12K miles, like new.  It has an aftermarket exhaust and waste gate that supposedly boosts the hp up to 260.

She, who must be obeyed, must sign off on the deal tomorrow (she’s not wild about the white), but I usually get my way :-)

With a little luck, she’ll be in my driveway Friday night and then I’ll need to make plans with @chines1 for the final voyage home.

I wonder how that Focus will react to BIG trucks on the freeway.

Better, I hope, than the Speedster did........

Hi Tom,  Intermittent lurker and first time poster but had to chime in.  Coming up on 20 years at Ford.  13 of those were spent at SVT/FP and I was the 'north american VI guy' for the focus ST/RS and the fiesta ST (lea was out of eu).  Too bad you can't make both work but you seem at peace with moving on.  I hope the ST treats you well.  It's a shame we're not selling them here anymore.   EU gets the new one in wagon form which would be stellar for gigs.

timo posted:

Hi Tom,  Intermittent lurker and first time poster but had to chime in.  Coming up on 20 years at Ford.  13 of those were spent at SVT/FP and I was the 'north american VI guy' for the focus ST/RS and the fiesta ST (lea was out of eu).  Too bad you can't make both work but you seem at peace with moving on.  I hope the ST treats you well.  It's a shame we're not selling them here anymore.   EU gets the new one in wagon form which would be stellar for gigs.

Was the RS as fun as it appeared to be?

I apologize for pushing off topic more - BUT why is US going to stop making cars when they could take the logical gap between a "small" car and a huge un-needed SUV.  Of course, I mean the estate or shooting brake car or station wagen.  It offers the handling, performance, and economy of a car and space of an CUV.  It is a simple add-on to a car's base structure.  I can't figure it out.  BMW and Mercedes make excellent shooting brakes that are sold in Europe but not the US.  I'm looking at a 2020 MB CLA 250 AMG G35 (302 hp from  turbo 2L four (vs std 188 hp std model).  They should be out in August time frame.   In Europe, it will be available as a Shooting Brake model. I'm hoping to do a European delivery.

Bob - I'll keep you IM 6 warm this winter - just send it to me in NW FL for a vacation.  I'll return with a full tank of non-ethanol premium gas.

@WOLFGANG

I would love to see more station wagons/shooting brakes on offer.  We owned Volvo wagons for 40 years - still have an older manual V50 that I am keeping on the road.  They are a good size, and can haul a lot of stuff.

As you say,  not everyone wants a bloody big SUV, or some other vehicle that has an identity problem.

Yes, my car will be on its ways down there, but you'll have to take me along with it.  Winter in Florida sounds good to me.  

@Tom Blankinship

I know you are passionate about your guitar playing and excited about playing the gig circuit around Detroit.

FWIW, since you've spent a lot of time and money on getting Natalie exactly as you desired, it would be a shame to let her go. There may be other more utilitarian vehicles that better suit your current need, faster more comfortable vehicles and more sensible daily drivers. However, NONE of those will provide the gratification you get EVERYTIME you drive Natalie! NONE!! You know this is true.

There will come a point when late night gigs at smoky venues, loud crowds with cackling laughter and talking/shouting distracting from your music will get old. Every weekend or several nights a week sacrificed for playing gigs at various places, giving up family time for the sake of playing a particular gig or trendy venue eventually dims the shine of being in the spotlight.

Then there is the typical dynamic of a music group or combo. The brighter the spotlight the more likely attitudes will change. I'm sure you've experienced this already in the past bands you've played with. As the group's popularity grows, or fades, situations/personalities are sure to change. Ask me how I know. 

That being said, my personal tilt would be to keep Natalie and use a 3rd more utilitarian car (inexpensive) for your music career for a year. If things don't work out as you hoped with the music gig after 1 year, then ditch the 3rd car (unless you've gotten spoiled by its utilitarian availability). In that case, Natalie will still be in your garage to pick up where you left off, driving around sporting a huge SEG throwing out the Speedster vibe! Music is the X factor, Natalie is the constant!

You are my brutha from anutha mutha, I wish you the best in whichever direction you go! 

P.S. - I enjoy following the very talented Telegraph Blues band! 

Thanks Jim. The band isn’t the only reason that I want to move on. I don’t want to go back to having three cars and I’ve had my fun.

I’m not in the habit of making decisions that I later regret. I think I’m ready :-)

Actually, the guitar is the constant and Natalie has been a 9-year love affair :-)

I’ve often found that learning about something is most of the fun.  I have a long list of things I enjoyed learning and then moved on from, e.g. my PADI scuba certification, my black belt in Tae Kwon Do, Tennis, etc. Bowling is currently driving me nuts, but first year and one league championship down.  I’ve avoided golf and learning to fly.  Either would be a rabbit hole I’d never climb out of :-) 

My love of the guitar has never gone away.  I love playing AND learning, and will never master it.

I enjoyed the process of learning about Speedsters and I enjoyed driving, but, in Michigan, factoring in bad weather days, and impractical driving situations, I get an optimistic 5 months of drive time/year.

I recently entered a charity contest for $20 for a 1958 Corvette Fuelie. In the very unlikely event that I win that, I’ll suck it up and keep three cars ;-)

New DD is bought except for the paperwork.  2017 Focus GT, base trim, 12334 Miles. Like new with 8 hp exhaust upgrade (bringing it to 260).

Unless you really want to get the funds out of the car for another project, I would look for an older dependable car on the inexpensive and keep the speedster.   I mean hauling music equipment is not easy on any vehicle so something less exciting with 30K miles is not that expensive.  Just saying. 

 

Oops.  Focus ST.

"I would look for an older dependable car on the inexpensive and keep the speedster"

Agree - think Tom's issue is car storage of 3 in the nasty winters.  He used to send Natalie to the Beck Spa for improvements during the winter.  I think he ran out of improvements - so someone will get a really nice jump in and drive Speedster now.

But Tom - look how successful Tiny Tim was with is little guitar! It could go anywhere.  Just down size the guitar.

WOLFGANG posted:

"I would look for an older dependable car on the inexpensive and keep the speedster"

Agree - think Tom's issue is car storage of 3 in the nasty winters.  He used to send Natalie to the Beck Spa for improvements during the winter.  I think he ran out of improvements - so someone will get a really nice jump in and drive Speedster now.

But Tom - look how successful Tiny Tim was with is little guitar! It could go anywhere.  Just down size the guitar.

Imagine how much happier TT would have been if he could say, "I may play a tiny guitar but look at this bada$$ Speedster I'm driving!".

"Thanks Jim. The band isn’t the only reason that I want to move on. I don’t want to go back to having three cars and I’ve had my fun.

I’m not in the habit of making decisions that I later regret. I think I’m ready :-)

Actually, the guitar is the constant and Natalie has been a 9-year love affair :-)" - Tom

@Tom Blankinship  I know you don't take these decisions lightly! More power to you, my brutha!