iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Is the current crop of BMW designers & execs too young to have *seen* a Mitsubishi Carisma at least weekly, which doesn’t even seem probable? Van Hooydonk is Dutch, & it was built there. But Carisma lead designer Kiyoshi Honda has to be feeling pretty good right now.

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Moar Volvo 90-hp 1.8 inline-four engine use, less BMW 2.0 inline-four turbo engine use. (It's the weather, actually, in the sense that this is that narrow season when can now drive without AC).

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

🎵 "If you're gooooing to Saaan Fraaan Ciscooo." "You're going to meeet some crazy people there. 🎵

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

We're gonna look at these in the future the way we look at them today: "These Audis are like a tax on gym owners."

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I get it that this is the winter wheel & tire package (had to look up this horror), but dang, that's bleak on something that starts at $80K. I thought we were already past the black wheel era.

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

After the fuel economy standards were reset back to 1982, the 8.3-liter V8 turbodiesel doesn't seem so dumb now, does it, libruls? ::Cackling as I option the 8.3 into my Silverado HD that I use to commute 3 miles to the office::

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Bingo board for cringe #noreaster #hurricane TV coverage. Which ones am I missing? "hunker down" "batten down the hatches" "ride it out" "vowing to rebuild" "local businesses are boarding up" "city officials are urging" "this local man is" "unprecedented level of cooperation"

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Early Twitter was nice cause you could ask the Minister of Tourism of some tiny country a question & they would answer you within minutes & offer to pick you up at the airport if you wanted to come over.

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Saw something crazy the other day, no pics unforch: A working E65 7er! Hadn't seen one this year at all. I now see more JDM imports in traffic than working E65s.

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Back in *my* day we had to get an overcaffeinated staffer to spend days in CorelDraw hallucinating a Where’s Waldo-type cave with MC Escher stairs & Disneyland slides of all types, a Dunkin, & then get serious outlets to shop it around for weeks to give it credibility.

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I think we can all agree that the middle one is the most reliable of this three-car solution.

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

It’s horrifying tbh. On one hand I am glad that I remember the 30th anniversary well & still have… too many items from that time, & I love the new merch from the likes of Eaglemoss & Nacelle. But on the other hand the Huntsville convention does *not* seem that long ago.

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

@jriz.bsky.social It's such a weird day, actually remembering 1996 & Huntsville, all the 30-year celebrations & tributes on TV & in magazines. And now we have doubled that time span. Voyager is now older than TOS was at *that* point. This Soran scene sums up my feelings about the 1990s basically.

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

::squints:: Omg, is that a... coffee decanter at the bottom? And a coffee mug?

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

There's never been a moment in my lifetime when US automakers seemed more hosed than they are right now. Just bleak shit all around, & no hope on the horizon. Last time something like this was unfolding was in the 1970s when Japanese automakers were rapidly gaining market share.

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Oh yes, it’s there in the woods. A few Dutch Volvos are there too. I haven’t taken mine up there yet, need to practice longer drives a bit. www.autoweek.com/car-life/a19...

autoweek.com

Riding in a 1978 Volvo 66 GL Estate

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

The DAF museum in Vermont has a 66 wagon I went for a spin in some years ago. Tho it might not have a sedan.

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Also, imagine thinking $900k is gonna last you anywhere at all in western Yurrp (with extradition treaties) if you’re 37 with a young family.

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Lots of takeaways here, starting with the fact that crypto is a painfully obvious IC sandbox they have the keys to at all times, & some bored rando at an agency can toy with anyone’s holdings at will. But also, apparently, you can do whatever TF you want at big letter agencies while at work.

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Scariest/most depressing thing is that if we were in the year 2000 right now, we would be talking about cars from the late 1960s & 1970s. The 850 is 34 years old now. 240 exited production 33 years ago.

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

I get so excited when I spot anything from the 850/70 or 700/900 family around town. Not a ton of them left, so I know all of them by now. Weirdest thing is that 240s just barely outnumber 850s here now. It feels so strange for the 850 & 70 cars to have become this rare. 850 was my first car.

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

I was totally expecting an XJR badge out back after seeing the mesh grille & these wheels, but went “huh?”

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

I saw Lucid Pursuit open for Paul Oakenfold in Miami in 2002.

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Jag-wire XJ6 (with XJR grille) works surprisingly well in this color & with these wheels. #emaculent

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Every summer open-air festival or art show I go to now has a bunch of these in attendance.

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

20,000 leagues *under* the sea?!? In *this* economy?

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

::Judi Dench voice:: The Staffordwick Home for the Deeply Unserious.

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

::sigh:: I didn’t think it would come to this, but now we need coachbuilders & tuners like Carlsson, Lorinser, Carat Duchatelet, Binz, Trasco-Bremen, & Brabus to produce drastically toned-down grilles for factory models that won’t blind dozens of other drivers when the sun is out.

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Saw some Very Wholesome cars over the weekend. The fact that someone keeps a white Pontiac Parisienne in this condition is... I am struggling to name the millennial version of this phenomenon. It wouldn't be a Neon b/c that's slightly more of a Gen-X normcore mobile. Elder Xennial at most.

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Ok, like, I have to ask cause I wanna know: Where are these mechanics who specialize in them?

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

It’s upsetting how much I want this.

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Remember how long it took to get VW to put USB outlets into its cars, & they made it sound like it was some major engineering challenge. That was a sign in retrospect. And the USB thing happened in like 2016! Doomed-ass company. www.jalopnik.com/volkswagen-i...

jalopnik.com

Volkswagen Is Finally Giving Us Our Damn USB Ports - Jalopnik

For years VW has assumed that anyone that buys its cars uses an iPhone. That's obviously wrong. The proprietary plug VW used was a holdover from the iPod era, but now the boffins of Wolfsburg are fina...

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Just a “chef’s kiss” dealer name.

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

From now on my eyes can only process “Al Pacino” as like Artificial Intelligence Pacino.

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

Suddenly hungry for a chili cheese dog.

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

::Aldo Raine voice:: “Fee-at Beretta.”

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Amazing how much good publicity Ford bought itself with that $1.95 cookie snafu. One has to, like, step back in awe of the dedication & time that they (apparently) have for such things. Somehow also very on-brand in a 1920-30s kind of way.

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

::sigh:: Relatable. My 22-year old Jonathan “John” Deere riding mower, which I bought used, is perhaps on its last legs. Looking for a replacement while hoping it could be fixed. Turns out, new mowers now cost a lot. Local Millennial Finds Out Stuff Doesn’t Cost Like In The ‘90s.

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Just the thing for a Mexican stand-off. Anything else would have been inappropriate for that. (Does he like westerns or something?)

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Like, I am still convinced the Ferrari thing was developed by/for someone else, & they just bought the whole project & assembly line.

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awjayramey.bsky.social @awjayramey.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Briggs *and* Stratton? En esta economia?

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