This one's a twofer: for both obscure-car fans AND pretty much anyone who lived in NYC during the '80s or '90s and had access to cable TV. The Robin Byrd documentary 'Bang My Box' is wonderful. The NYC folks, especially Teh Ghez, will likely remember it all.

The most modern car in the TFT fleet (or at least the most modern car we'd show you 😁) got its usual reception. Old V8 guys ignored it. Porsche guys didn't even notice it. And the three guys under 40 went wild. It is ever such.

Quite inexplicably, this is by FAR our most popular video ever. The YouTube version (below) did okay, but the Insta one racked up > 10K views. For the first time evah! So help us understand: Why ??? Any wisdom out there? Did we inadvertently do something really right? Hashtags? Hillclimbs? ?!?!?

If you follow us on Instagram, a new video shows exactly HOW slow our journey was: in this case, climbing a steep hill with exactly 27.5 hp. It took 7 hours to do 160 miles, cruising comfortably at 40 mph ... but a blazing top speed of 48 mph on one quite long downhill stretch. HOONS, we were!

The pleasure was all ours, we assure you ... ... with all 27.5 bhp at our disposal.

We're trying to work out whether this is more or less impressive than clearing the same goal in ... a Skoda Fabia. Which the owner has ALSO done!

OK, now why didn't we ever think of that? Write the TO DO list on the windscreen! Much better than the bulletin board on the wall ... or the sheet of paper we already misplaced ... or anything else. Nice. From a Hemmings video.

OK, what do you think? IS a classic SUV the new accessory for a "hot girl"? This piece was written by a NYC reporter who focuses on "the lifestyles of the affluent + influential. Her reporting has explored the weddings of the .01%, the shopping habits of tweens + social conflict in Nantucket." Oh.

We're not wild about the car. But the color? [chef's kiss]

We tempted fate in a new + very different way: a British car, driving up the hills + through the streets of San Francisco ... with NO DRIVER. Yep, we got our first #robotaxi ride in a @waymo.bsky.social Jaguar I-Pace #EV. Watch the clip (only 40 seconds). What do you think? Would you ride in one?

Oh MY. If any amongst us want an MGF, this is definitely THE ONE. All the weak points are fixed AND the wheel is correct. Lovely.

If you wondered what it's like to drive a 67-year-old British car through French traffic, here's a short video of John doing just that on the infamous, even notorious, Minors on Tour through Normandy. Please note that his comments toward one specific French driver are made *affectionately*. Honest.

A few of us have been here multiple times, so we might have focused on different cars. But it remains a fascinating place, including dozens of prototypes for cars the dying Brit industry never had the funds, the gumption, or the will to build. In that respect, it's sad. But what a visit. (1 of 2)

Ever wondered what a squadron of 16 Morris Minors leaving base for a sortie into Normandy looks like? We have the video! #britishcars #oldcars #morrisminors #minorsontour #temptingfate

We've been touristing.

Yes, we're in the middle of another adventure!

Polishing up our transport for the weekend before venturing into The Smoke, then back out to a castle. What? Well of COURSE it's a Morris Minor. What else would it be? (Aside from a Riley, or Lagonda, or Mini Metro, or MGB-GT, or Alvis Graber, or... wait, we haven't mentioned the Graber, have we?)

Wonderful piece on Zach Merrill + his brother Tim, and the Bugeye Sprite (for Brits: Frogeye) they've owned since 1971. Wonderful restoration with lots of BMC period upgrades. Even redid a 1275 to resemble the original 948 wherever possible. Plus, we know Zach for his Minor via friends. A hero.

Meanwhile, weigh in on these "classic British" choices ... each of us here at TFT has ... THOUGHTS.

This is the 100-year anniversary for Route 66 + the now-deceased U.S. car brand Pontiac. A GM retiree is part of a group commemorating both milestones. A broken timing chain? For a 1966 Pontiac Tempest? Just part of the fun.

We ALL know someone with a similar fondness ... errr, passion ... or inner drive? Oh, hell, just say it: OBSESSION. It's just the make and/or model that varies.

VERY cool.

Not sure if I first noticed the Rover 90, which hadn't been on the road since 1969, or the wonderfully Swedish name of the guy who got it running: Hampus Granström. Fun 15-min watch. (He's got others too. TIL at least one car make fitted a combined generator-water pump. Oh.)

Any headline like this automatically leads to mumbling + frowning from the assembled masses. And, of course, the immortal Dan Neil headline from his @wsj.com review of the first Mini Countryman ... "Hey, BMW: What Part of 'Mini' Do You Not Understand?"

Some thoughts by our @thejohnvoelcker.bsky.social on Stellantis, via his appearance on @wheelbearings.media ... for those of you who are on Insta.

Jaguar Land Rover issued a major safety recall affecting more than 170K vehicles in the U.S. The recall is one of the largest in its recent history: An electrical defect can cause a sudden + total loss of drive power + exterior lighting while the vehicle is in motion. No further comment required.

New video just posted! Something a little different today. Rather than a road trip, it's a couple of abandoned British cars deep in the Adirondack Mountains in the northern part of New York State. We're going to try to find them homes, but have a look at what we found ...

We can't even imagine what they're talking about. Never. Ever.

Indeed ... what CAN we learn from the cars of 60 years ago? Car which [cough] at least some members of the Tempting Fate Tours team may actually have carpooled in? Just sayin' ...

Are we in a Denim Recall moment ... or is that just us? Jack White + the band seem to be ...

U.S. fuel prices are up some 30 percent in the past month. So the always arcane + often bonkers @sajeevmehta.bsky.social leaned into a journey of delightful nerdism, in which he retrofitted a new-car feature to this aging truck: shutters that restrict the air flowing through the radiator grille.

An inspiring video on why old cars mean a lot of things to a lot of people ... including ones you wouldn't necessarily always expect.

To our collective + massive surprise ... this isn't nearly as bad as you might imagine hearing the description. Worth the read. Except maybe for 'Vette owners, anyhow.

A great retrospective on the XK engine, which lasted 42 years + built the Jaguar brand ... at least until its relaunch as an independent company after the BL disaster. (Didn't last as long as the BMC A-Series, from 1951 to 2000, but who's counting?) GIFT LINK!

Oh, yes. DEFINITELY Our People.

Well, damn. I have not seen the name Qvale in a very, very long time. Jeff Qvale's dad Kjell birthed the Jensen-Healey. It wasn't particularly stellar. So 4 decades later, here we are ...

Tom explains the weird, wonderful + quintessentially Italian nature of ... a cigarette lighter from an Alfa Romeo Montreal. Hint: It's not your usual push-the-button operation. It's something far more special.

Restorations, NOS parts, vehicle sales + servicing at Red Triangle. That business is the time-warp base in Kenilworth, England, of the Alvis marque. It originated via a management buyout of the automotive assets from British Leyland ... way back in 1967. (1 of 2)

Video short: If you'd rather ride in an old(-ish) British car with us than work, join John + Tom + Jack The Dog as we take the 1981 Austin Mini Metro out for a drive. "If you can't get to Olde England, go to New England ..." Mod cons: First-gear synchro, even ... silly bourgeois affectations!

Our next video short: Why Jack The Dog isn't fond of our 1981 Austin Mini Metro ... which we take on a road test through a small, quaint, picturesque New England town. Tom drives the RHD car; John gets portentous in his voiceover. (He probably meant "pretentious" ...)

[DROOL]

And here's our next video, from last weekend's adventures with the Austin Mini Metro, after we had to stop the '53 Morris Minor project for ... reasons. We weren't worried that it wouldn't start. Well, I mean, not REALLY. Much. Sort of.

If you've not been following us on Instagram, we'll dupe all the video shorts from there onto our YouTube channel. Here's what happened last weekend ...

A laudable idea. If it happens. Detroiters, this one's for you.

Three British, one German. As it should be. The modern era? Oh, SORRY, we're out of time!

From the days when a chalk-stripe suit, a properly furled brolly + a double-barreled name really COUNTED for something.

THIS !!!

Well, that's encouraging ... if it does actually happen.

The traditional way endures.

OK, so we're not all that big on Churman cars. Some of us have some, some of us have had some, and obviously they're inescapable on the roads today. [INSERT JOKE ABOUT BMW DRIVERS DISABLING TURN SIGNALS ON DELIVERY] But this is undeniably cool. I wasn't the only one imagining a 4WD 1959 Type 2 ...