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Justin Hughes

@justinhughes54.com
771 followers 366 following 1.7K posts

A shadowy flight into the dangerous world of a nerdy writer, editor, motorcycle rider, ham radio geek, former van lifer, and current all-around weirdo. Writer at Jalopnik and elsewhere. a.k.a. Smokey Da Van, Knerd Rider.

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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 01/10/2026
Facebook reminded me that today is the five-year anniversary of the beginning of my month-long Route 66 road trip. It started by picking up my brother from prison, like in the Blues Brothers. (I don't have a brother.)
My camper van parked outside Joliet Prison precisely where the Bluesmobile parked at the beginning of "The Blues Brothers"The Bluesmobile parked outside Joliet Prison at the beginning of the Blues Brothers
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 16/09/2026
What scene makes you emotional no matter how many times you’ve seen it?
Spock’s death scene in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 09/09/2026
The T: The thing preventing you from getting from point A to point B.
The T: The thing preventing you from getting from point A to point B.
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 16/06/2026
I have bunch from the Air Force museum. Is that where you were?
Air Force One in a museum
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 15/06/2026
Fun fact: The REAL Air Force One livery goes back to the Kennedy Administration. JFK and Raymond Loewy, who also designed the Studebaker Avanti, collaborated on this design.
JFK's Air Force One on display at the Pima Air and Space Museum near Tuscon, AZ
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 15/06/2026
The new livery's similarity to Trump's personal Boeing 757 is no doubt a mere coincidence.
Donald Trump's private Boeing 757, which bears a striking similarity to the new color scheme for Air Force One.
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 28/05/2026
Every day, I look through car news to find articles to write. These two were on my screen at the same time: "Ferrari aims to prove doubters wrong after divisive debut of electric Luce" "Hyundai Wants to Make Your EVs More Involving With Fake Shifts in More Cars"
"Ferrari aims to prove doubters wrong after divisive debut of electric Luce""Hyundai Wants to Make Your EVs More Involving With Fake Shifts in More Cars"
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 27/05/2026
This was my manual VW. It began life as a Jetta 1.8T Wolfsburg Edition. Then I chopped off most of the back and installed a Smyth Performance ute kit. I love how it drove, before and after the “weight reduction.”
My 2003 VW Jetta Ute, manual of course
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 08/05/2026
The average American has three friends
The fourth Doctor, Sarah Jane Smith, and Harry Sullivan from Doctor Who
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 29/04/2026
This past week, instead of working, I’ve been visiting family in New Hampshire and showing my wife where I grew up. It was fun, and I’m back now.
Me and the old train station in Wolfeboro, NH
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 08/04/2026
In my article, I wrote that this photo looks like a screen grab from a modern remake of "Space: 1999." Here's what I mean. 🙂
NASA's "The Edge of Two Worlds" photo of the moon with a cresent Earth in the background, plus an Eagle from "Space: 1999"
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 07/04/2026
I never thought I'd be living in a time like the 1960s, simultaneously marveling at moon missions and scared of nuclear war.
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 07/04/2026
Best Star Trek crew. Wrong answers only
The Thermians from Galaxy Quest. Too close to the real thing?
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 06/04/2026
And if your head explodes with dark forebodings too I’ll see you on the dark side of the moon
My TV showing the Artemis II lunar flyby, the far side of the moon, and a UFO on a poster
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 01/04/2026
I was born after Apollo ended. I never thought I’d see a live moon launch. But here we are.
Watching the Artemis II launch on TV
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 31/03/2026
I got a new house! Same location but my wife and I will be building out the interior and moving into it ourselves. The delivery process was interesting, to say the least, but all’s well that ends well, and here it sits.
Me giving my new tiny house a motorcycle escort the last few miles to avoid any wrong turns with such a big load.My tiny house on the trailer before unloadingThey used a “mule,” not to be confused with a side-by-side, to maneuver the building into positionMy new tiny house, placed just before sunset and ready to build out the interior
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 17/02/2026
I don't think even them Duke Boys could make that jump.
Google map of a 4 hour, 200 mile route from the Grand Canyon's North Rim to South Rim, vs. the route AI suggested to simply jump across the canyonView across the Grand Canyon from the South Rim to the North Rim, several miles wide
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 07/02/2026
Been playing Schedule 1. I customized my van. 😎
Screen capture from the game Schedule 1 showing a white van with “Smokey Da Van” spray painted on the side
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 24/01/2026
It’s easy to tell which cats have never seen snow before, and which has been there, done that. #catsky
Two 6-month old kittens, Zuki and Busa, sitting in a window staring outside at the snow, which they’ve never seen before.Big black cat Lister, sitting on top of a cat tower, staring outside from a distance wondering what’s the big deal. He lived in New England, knows all about snow, and doesn’t understand why it’s a big deal.
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 21/01/2026
I didn’t realize my mother-in-law’s washing machine was a Ford.
A washing machine with an EcoBoost knob
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 10/01/2026
“Homeland Security: fighting Terrorism since 1492”
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 12/12/2025
I’ve seen one of them myself, during its brief ill-advised name change to something other than the Weinermobile.
Me with the Wienermobile during its short ill-advised name change.
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 30/11/2025
Best I can do is sharing these pics. 😊
Andy Warhol BMW M1Andy Warhol BMW M1Andy Warhol BMW M1
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 30/11/2025
QOTD: Five cars you’ve seen (includes museums and shows). 1. The BMW M1 painted by Andy Warhol 2. McLaren F1 3. James Bond’s Aston Martin DB5 4. Travis Pastrana Airslayer STI 5. KITT from Knight Rider
Me posing with a KITT replica. I saw an actual screen-used car at the Petersen Museum, too.
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 20/11/2025
According to the new baby scale, this chonker weighs 14 pounds!
My black cat, Lister, sitting on top of a cat tree that’s way too small for himGadsden flag with a fat black cat instead and the text “OH LAWD HE TREADING”
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 14/11/2025
I just read an article about AI that, at the end, revealed itself to have been written by AI. Ouroboros, anyone?
Ouroboros, or a snake eating its own tail.
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 13/11/2025
It sure beats mine!
A very real picture of the aurora, but nowhere near as good as Wil Wheaton’s.
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 13/11/2025
Here’s the best #aurora picture I could get. You’re welcome.
A clear, starry sky with absolutely no aurora activity, so I scribbled it in very poorly.
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 11/11/2025
An appropriate (or inappropriate) song for today, thanks to @xkcd.com .
Alternate words to “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” implying that Gordon Lightfoot caused it so he could write a song about it
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 07/11/2025
As an American, I don’t blame you a bit. I hope one day this is all over and there’s still an America to welcome you back to.
“Save yourselves. Avoid the United States at all costs.”
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 28/10/2025
I forgot I took this picture on a ride two weeks ago. I’ve been sick most of the time since and haven’t been thinking about motorcycles, which is itself a sign that I’m sick. So here it is. #motosky
My Suzuki V-Strom 650 parked by a small lake with hills and trees
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 27/10/2025
I can’t blame you. It’s serious Star Trek IV vibes down here.
The President of the United Federation of Planets saying “Save yourselves, avoid the United States at all costs”
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 26/10/2025
USS Reliant, NCC-1864
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 17/10/2025
I'll tell you what I told @hoonofthe.day ...
2012: "This streaming is pretty good. I don't need you anymore, pal." *puts down pirate hat*
2019: Watch exclusive content here (across a bunch of streaming services) "Hello old friend!" *picks up pirate hat*
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 17/10/2025
I'll just leave this here...
2012: "This streaming is pretty good. I don't need you anymore, pal." *puts down pirate hat*
2019: Watch exclusive content here (across a bunch of streaming services) "Hello old friend!" *picks up pirate hat*
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 16/10/2025
Believe it or not, my Ford Transit has the same ten-speed automatic as the Mustang. While it does hunt for gears at times during normal driving, manual mode works great for locking it into gear for hillclimbs, descents, or any other time I want to be in control. That's what you need on the track.
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 04/10/2025
Happy CB Radio Day!
“Hey Bandit, do you know what day it is?”

“That’s a big 10-4”
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 03/10/2025
Kittens in my lapTigerMy black cat on the bedOrange cat on my lap in a Polaris Slingshot
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 02/10/2025
Reply with this.
Shepard Book from Firefly: “You are going to go to a very special level of hell… reserved for child molesters. And people who talk in the theatre.”
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 30/09/2025
So say we all.
There’s a reason you separate military and the police. One fights the enemies of the state. The other serves and protects the people. When the military becomes both, then the enemies of the state tend to become the people.
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 30/09/2025
Post a you from a different era
Me standing in a Chevy Caprice engine bay helping a friend replace his engine
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 23/09/2025
I’m still here. 🤷‍♂️
Groundhog Day: “Well it’s Rapture Day… again”
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 22/09/2025
Our kittens stack to take up less space.
Two kittens stacked on top of each other on my lap
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 20/09/2025
This creek usually only runs in the spring. It’s been dry for months, but a day of thunderstorms made it flow again.
Muddy water from flash flooding in what was a dry creek hours ago
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 19/09/2025
Who ya gonna call?
Sandwich police car
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 19/09/2025
Inside you there are two wolves
Two kittens on my lap
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 10/09/2025
This is the view I expect from a Testarossa.
Screenshot from 80s Outrun game
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 02/09/2025
I kept getting drawn back to Bagheera, the black jaguar at @turpentinecreek.bsky.social . He reminded me a lot of my own black cat in his behaviors. I didn’t even know there were black jaguars besides the cars! I wouldn’t want this one lying on my hood, though. 😊
Bagheera, the black jaguar
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 02/09/2025
We visited @turpentinecreek.bsky.social this past weekend. These tigers seemed to be stalking us, pacing pack and forth as we watched from just a few feet away. One even growled on occasion. It was a little scary, even though I knew they couldn’t get to us! Neat encounter, though.
A pair of tigers stalking me. Good thing there’s a strong fence!A tiger staring me down
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Justin Hughes @justinhughes54.com · 29/08/2025
I mean, it worked for me, for many of the same reason, plus an apartment fire forcing my hand…
My camper van, trailer, motorcycle, and cat in a desert sunset
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