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6 days ago | 
hagerty.com | Matthew Anderson
Where did we leave off Part 1 of “A Falcon in Upside-Down Car Land”? I believe it was 2006. I had just moved to Australia as a study-abroad student with big dreams. My ambitious goals included amassing 14 credit hours, traveling, general cultural immersion, and executing big burnouts from the right-hand side of a locally produced four-door. In service of three of those goals, I had purchased a cheap Ford Falcon. From my first days with the Falcon, it proved to be solid transportation.
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3 weeks ago | 
hagerty.com | Matthew Anderson
Welcome back to Against All Oddities! Yes, that smell is leaking diff fluid. Maybe you’ll get used to it. With Mr. Anderson as our guide, we are embarking on a three-part series concerning the 1989 Ford Falcon he bought while studying in Australia for a semester in the mid-2000s. He would end up competing with it in time trials, earning a confederation of motorsport license, and road tripping in it with his friend around the Outback for three months.
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1 month ago | 
hagerty.com | Matthew Anderson
I can see the judgment rolling in already: “Matt, you have enough projects! Why did you buy another one? Do you hate your family, personal finances, and mental health?” No, no, no! Of course not. Allow me to explain. In the last installment of Against All Oddities, I regaled you with the story of my newly purchased blue AE82 Corolla. Initial diagnosis confirmed it needed an engine swap. Should that be a 16-valve 4A-GE? Would be great, but they all need rebuilding at this point.
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1 month ago | 
hagerty.com | Matthew Anderson
‘Twas the year 2003. My lowered 1986 Corolla on Minilites doth screeched sideways upon the snowy high school parking at third gear speeds, my visage fixed on impeding curbs, fences, and pine trees. That is, until Principal Murphy (aka Murph Dog, aka Rick Flair), his dress shoes covered in clay and slush, interrupted my drift with a fiery stare and extended arm.
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1 month ago | 
jdsupra.com | Matthew Anderson |Laura Windsor
On January 21, 2025, President Donald J. Trump issued an Executive Order entitled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” which can be found here.
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2 months ago | 
hagerty.com | Matthew Anderson
Now that we’re all back and as clean as a truck stop bathroom can get you, let’s pick up where we left off. For those who don’t get the above reference because they haven’t read Part 1 of the Roo Chaser tale, I’ll quickly recap: It was 2011. I bought an Australian Ford Falcon ute, sight unseen, from Los Angeles Craigslist, over lunch, while at work on a Wednesday in Farmington Hills, Michigan. On Friday, my co-worker Andrew and I left for LAX with plans to drive it home.
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2 months ago | 
hagerty.com | Matthew Anderson
If it were up to the devil on my shoulder, I’d never sell a single car from my fleet. The Roo Chaser—a 1984 Ford Falcon ute out of Australia—is one I truly miss, even five years later. The crapcan-with-a-bed fell victim to my pre-Germany cull, when I parted with a number of vehicles before moving abroad. The Roo Chaser was a hot rod, equally well suited to home improvement store runs as it was stop light burnouts.
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Jan 22, 2025 | 
hagerty.com | Matthew Anderson
It’s been almost a whole season since I last gave an update on my weird car storage commune, housed in 105-year-old foundry full of garbage vehicles and their enthusiastic young owners. Over the last four months, I’ve tried to make good on my resolutions to keep improvements going via a reasonable balance of DIY, paid experts, and other willing hands. Through our collective efforts, I feel like we’ve finally hit a tipping point.
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Jan 8, 2025 | 
hagerty.com | Matthew Anderson
As regular readers will have noticed by now, a new car enthusiast has appeared in our family: baby August. It’s a bit too early for him to be cutting cardboard patch panel templates with safety scissors, so for now, I’m just shooting for learning by osmosis. And he’s not the only one developing new skills; I’ve had 39 years to be selfish and am only months into unlearning most of those behaviors. It’s a daily battle between pre- and post-kid Matt’s decision-making prowess.
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Nov 27, 2024 | 
hagerty.com | Matthew Anderson
My parents recently told me about their trip to Istanbul with our extended family, during which the group hired a guide to help navigate the city. Regular Against All Oddities readers know that such a move isn’t exactly my style; my wife and I tend to embrace chaos in our travels, and not everyone enjoys roadside bartering for homemade snacks and/or directions in exchange for sh**box diagnostics.
