David Tracy

1 week ago | theautopian.com | David Tracy

What happens when an obsessed car enthusiast who was convinced he’d die alone meets the girl of his dreams, gets married, and has a child? Well, he finds himself both overjoyed and in a bit of a predicament, with far too many cars that…kind of don’t work for his lifestyle anymore. Why am I speaking in the third person? I have no idea, but I got zero sleep last night, so please bear with me as I talk about my current automotive dilemma now that most of my cars no longer work as daily transportation.

1 week ago | theautopian.com | David Tracy

“I wanted to show you before we seal this car up with PPF… a few of the imperfections…two horizontal surfaces (the hood and trunk-lid) are a bit of a challenge due to thinning clear-coat from sun exposure,” began my email to our brand partner XPEL. You see, I was concerned that our Merlot Red 2014 Nissan Murano Crosscabriolet may have been in too bad of shape for our campaign, which requires a test vehicle with nice paint.

1 week ago | theautopian.com | David Tracy

Yesterday I wrote an article about how my 1989 Chevy K1500 Silverado’s motor blew up. I had tried starting it, the engine revved high, and then it locked up. Thereafter, cranking the mighty 350 V8 yielded a horrible noise that sounded like internal damage. Well, last night I charged my battery, and while the Chevy still made that awful noise while cranking, it fired up! And once it was running, it sounded OK. And yet… now it’s overheating. Someone please help me understand.

1 week ago | theautopian.com | David Tracy

Things are different now that I’m married and have a child. I have to be responsible, both with my time and with my finances. So when, last night, I went to move my 1989 Chevy K1500 Silverado to the other side of the street to avoid a street sweeping ticket, only to listen to my 350 V8 blow up for no apparent reason, I was really upset. More than I would be usually. Back in my single days, if I blew up an engine, it wasn’t a major concern.

1 week ago | theautopian.com | David Tracy

Let’s all just be honest about wireless chargers in cars: most of them suck. Yes, more recently they’ve gotten better, but for far too long they were complete hot garbage. You’d throw your phone onto the pad, the charge-indicator light would blink because your phone wasn’t perfectly placed, and once you broke out your surgeon’s gloves and tweezers to precisely place your phone exactly where it needed to be, you might get 10% charge over an hour.