What do you love the look of despite it being impractical, uncomfortable, or high maintenance?
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You mean apart from myself right?
This guy lording over us that they don't hate their appearance. /s
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It was bright carpeted floors that inspired this post.
wrote last edited by [email protected]Relatively old cars. I'm not talking about antiques. I just don't want a screen or an automatic transmission in my car. Right now I need to buy a car and frankly the only ones I want are a manual-transmission BMW or a late-90's pickup. Either one would be a rather impractical choice.
I used to own a 2008 BMW 328i with a manual transmission and sport suspension. It broke down, fixing it would have cost more than it was worth, but I think I should have just paid for the repairs because at least then I would have the same car I had been driving for 14 years rather than a car with the same problems of old age but no nostalgia value. (2018 was the last year than BMW made a manual 3-series, and also coincidentally the year that backup cameras and therefore computer screens became legally required in US cars.)
Edit: I accidentally wrote that I didn't want a manual transmission. Totally wrong!
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It was bright carpeted floors that inspired this post.
Human civilization.
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Relatively old cars. I'm not talking about antiques. I just don't want a screen or an automatic transmission in my car. Right now I need to buy a car and frankly the only ones I want are a manual-transmission BMW or a late-90's pickup. Either one would be a rather impractical choice.
I used to own a 2008 BMW 328i with a manual transmission and sport suspension. It broke down, fixing it would have cost more than it was worth, but I think I should have just paid for the repairs because at least then I would have the same car I had been driving for 14 years rather than a car with the same problems of old age but no nostalgia value. (2018 was the last year than BMW made a manual 3-series, and also coincidentally the year that backup cameras and therefore computer screens became legally required in US cars.)
Edit: I accidentally wrote that I didn't want a manual transmission. Totally wrong!
I'm not sure how common they are in the US. But check if you can get your hands on a fiat panda/punto/500. Anything but the very latest models have manual options with at most an lcd for the radio. And that's it. And outside of italy there shouldn't be all the problems that accompany a model of car being that common.
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It was bright carpeted floors that inspired this post.
Lots of dog breeds with anything but the lowest of maintenance needs. I would love to have one but know the fur in my house would drive me up the wall.
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It was bright carpeted floors that inspired this post.
Shaved legs, there's literally no practical benefit and it's so much effort but even if I wear long pants just having the knowledge I haven't shaved makes me so uncomfortable.
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Relatively old cars. I'm not talking about antiques. I just don't want a screen or an automatic transmission in my car. Right now I need to buy a car and frankly the only ones I want are a manual-transmission BMW or a late-90's pickup. Either one would be a rather impractical choice.
I used to own a 2008 BMW 328i with a manual transmission and sport suspension. It broke down, fixing it would have cost more than it was worth, but I think I should have just paid for the repairs because at least then I would have the same car I had been driving for 14 years rather than a car with the same problems of old age but no nostalgia value. (2018 was the last year than BMW made a manual 3-series, and also coincidentally the year that backup cameras and therefore computer screens became legally required in US cars.)
Edit: I accidentally wrote that I didn't want a manual transmission. Totally wrong!
wrote last edited by [email protected]Maybe I’m biased, but the late 90s were just about perfect for cars. If you could get your hands on something like a Ranger or S10, it would be extremely practical. Automatic transmission, air conditioning, great fuel economy, and extremely easy to maintain and repair. And if it’s made after ‘96, it would have a OBD2 port that any modern scanner could read codes from.
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It was bright carpeted floors that inspired this post.
The PowerMac G4 Cube. Absolutely gorgeous design, arguably the best looking computer ever. Horribly impractical even for the time and especially nowadays.
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It was bright carpeted floors that inspired this post.
OP's description of bright carpeted floors reminded me of my childhood bedroom. I grew up in the '80s, but my home was built in the mid-'70s and every room was a different color. My bedroom happened to have bright orange-painted walls and thick shag carpet that was orange and yellow. When the sun shone through the window over the carpet, it almost looked like the floor was on fire at first glance.
I loved that carpet, but my parents made me replace it with a thin, ugly, dark brown carpet when I was a teenager. As an adult, I understand why. That old carpet must've been impossible to vacuum, as thick as it was.
Regarding the color scheme of the house, my parents' bedroom was light blue with a patchy blue carpet (varying patches of blue between borderline white and vibrant blue). My sister's bedroom was pale green with green carpet. The bathroom was half yellow, half light green, with yellow flower wallpaper on one wall and pale green carpet. It had a matching green toilet and green plastic shower/tub insert.
The living room was pale yellow, the dining room was a vibrant red, and the kitchen was just white walls (with some wallpaper designs in places) with dark brown wood cabinetry and white laminate countertops. The hallways and living room/dining room had a reddish-brown carpet that bleached in the sunlight and looked pale and awful by the time I was a teenager.
The kitchen and entryway had tan laminate flooring with designs; the only non-carpeted space in the whole house. Oh! And the entryway had white walls, but the bottom 4 feet of the wall had that brown wood paneling that was everywhere in the '70s and '80s.
The first floor of my house, which was built as a separate apartment, was almost exclusively wood paneling for the walls, except the bedrooms, bathroom, and kitchen, which were just white. The carpet was an ugly tan and the kitchen and bathroom had white laminate tile floors.
My sister and her husband, who lived in our childhood home for a while, remodeled and repainted/recarpeted the whole house, but she kept the different color scheme for each room. Now my bedroom walls are tan, master bedroom is light green, her old bedroom is a bright peach color, the bathroom is a light green, the living room is light blue, and the dining room is still red.
She put tiles on the kitchen walls to bring some color to that room, laminate wood paneling on the floor for the entryway, kitchen, and dining room, white laminate tiles on the bathroom floor, and the rest of the house got an off-white/tan carpet with brownish speckles throughout it.
The first-floor apartment had all the wood paneling on the walls removed and the walls were just painted white. One wall of the living room down there was painted a dark bluish-gray by a tenant we had, and I just re-did all the carpets down there with a light blush-gray color. I added a large gray laminate square by their front door so people aren't stepping immediately onto carpet when they enter into that apartment, and my sister did an awful job with black ceramic tiles in the kitchen. I need to tear those up and replace them sometime; they're a bit uneven. The bathroom is still white laminate tiles.
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Relatively old cars. I'm not talking about antiques. I just don't want a screen or an automatic transmission in my car. Right now I need to buy a car and frankly the only ones I want are a manual-transmission BMW or a late-90's pickup. Either one would be a rather impractical choice.
I used to own a 2008 BMW 328i with a manual transmission and sport suspension. It broke down, fixing it would have cost more than it was worth, but I think I should have just paid for the repairs because at least then I would have the same car I had been driving for 14 years rather than a car with the same problems of old age but no nostalgia value. (2018 was the last year than BMW made a manual 3-series, and also coincidentally the year that backup cameras and therefore computer screens became legally required in US cars.)
Edit: I accidentally wrote that I didn't want a manual transmission. Totally wrong!
Man I have an old VW syncro from 1986, and a 93 Miata. I feel this pain so much. The only practical aspect is the fun, analog feel of driving them
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It was bright carpeted floors that inspired this post.
Bimbos. Like proper, over the top plastic ones.
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Maybe I’m biased, but the late 90s were just about perfect for cars. If you could get your hands on something like a Ranger or S10, it would be extremely practical. Automatic transmission, air conditioning, great fuel economy, and extremely easy to maintain and repair. And if it’s made after ‘96, it would have a OBD2 port that any modern scanner could read codes from.
Both of those trucks get as good as their counterpart today or worse. Great mpg is a stretch if you compare to a Maverick - hybrid or not.
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Maybe I’m biased, but the late 90s were just about perfect for cars. If you could get your hands on something like a Ranger or S10, it would be extremely practical. Automatic transmission, air conditioning, great fuel economy, and extremely easy to maintain and repair. And if it’s made after ‘96, it would have a OBD2 port that any modern scanner could read codes from.
wrote last edited by [email protected]I actually owned a 1998 S10 before I got that BMW. It was the most basic trim, with a manual transmission, a regular cab, and hand-cranked windows. That truck was a lot of fun because of how poor the traction was. I could skid around corners at 25 mph and one time I did a burnout accidentally when trying to start moving up a steep hill after stopping for a crossing guard letting a bunch of little kids across the street. I would love to have an S10 again but mine had the brakes fail in 2011 (to be fair, I had bought it used with 200k miles on it) and I wasn't comfortable driving it after that. I can't imagine how many problems it would have after 14 more years.
It's too bad that there are exactly zero options for a truck like that these days. A truck would actually be very practical for me (I live alone so I don't need passenger space but I do move big stuff sometimes) but there are no fun models that aren't already old enough to drink.
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Bimbos. Like proper, over the top plastic ones.
Honestly, I don't even like the look
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A proper race car. They are all of these things, but damn are they good looking.
wrote last edited by [email protected]Ford GT40 looks amazing. If I was gifted one I'd probably drive it once, take loads of pictures, then sell it. Otherwise it'd get stuck on the roads in my region, there are few places where I can free the horses, the maintenance cost would be a nightmare, and my experience with Ford tells me it'll have a revolving cast of issues.
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Lots of dog breeds with anything but the lowest of maintenance needs. I would love to have one but know the fur in my house would drive me up the wall.
wrote last edited by [email protected]I don't mind hair everywhere (although I wouldn't get a dog with long fur because they overheat so easily) but I don't understand how people who don't live on a ranch take care of herding breeds. Australian cattle dogs are really popular in New York City but I would never dare to get one in an apartment. It was hard enough to have a dog with a strong prey drive - he could not be off-leash anywhere without a tall fence and double-layer gates, and he would forget that he was on a leash and take off at full speed whenever he saw a squirrel. I admit I envied the people with guarding breeds a little - my sister's pit bull mix looked like a crossbreed between a crocodile and a pig but that dog just followed my sister everywhere, even indoors, leash or no leash.
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Relatively old cars. I'm not talking about antiques. I just don't want a screen or an automatic transmission in my car. Right now I need to buy a car and frankly the only ones I want are a manual-transmission BMW or a late-90's pickup. Either one would be a rather impractical choice.
I used to own a 2008 BMW 328i with a manual transmission and sport suspension. It broke down, fixing it would have cost more than it was worth, but I think I should have just paid for the repairs because at least then I would have the same car I had been driving for 14 years rather than a car with the same problems of old age but no nostalgia value. (2018 was the last year than BMW made a manual 3-series, and also coincidentally the year that backup cameras and therefore computer screens became legally required in US cars.)
Edit: I accidentally wrote that I didn't want a manual transmission. Totally wrong!
I would go even older, back to the 60s-70s. Some absolutely gorgeous cars, but the thought of actually driving one puts me off. Horribly inefficient, no modern safety features or comforts. It would be little more than an expensive driveway trophy, and that's just wasteful.
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Shaved legs, there's literally no practical benefit and it's so much effort but even if I wear long pants just having the knowledge I haven't shaved makes me so uncomfortable.
Laser hair removal is a good long term solution for this.
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OP's description of bright carpeted floors reminded me of my childhood bedroom. I grew up in the '80s, but my home was built in the mid-'70s and every room was a different color. My bedroom happened to have bright orange-painted walls and thick shag carpet that was orange and yellow. When the sun shone through the window over the carpet, it almost looked like the floor was on fire at first glance.
I loved that carpet, but my parents made me replace it with a thin, ugly, dark brown carpet when I was a teenager. As an adult, I understand why. That old carpet must've been impossible to vacuum, as thick as it was.
Regarding the color scheme of the house, my parents' bedroom was light blue with a patchy blue carpet (varying patches of blue between borderline white and vibrant blue). My sister's bedroom was pale green with green carpet. The bathroom was half yellow, half light green, with yellow flower wallpaper on one wall and pale green carpet. It had a matching green toilet and green plastic shower/tub insert.
The living room was pale yellow, the dining room was a vibrant red, and the kitchen was just white walls (with some wallpaper designs in places) with dark brown wood cabinetry and white laminate countertops. The hallways and living room/dining room had a reddish-brown carpet that bleached in the sunlight and looked pale and awful by the time I was a teenager.
The kitchen and entryway had tan laminate flooring with designs; the only non-carpeted space in the whole house. Oh! And the entryway had white walls, but the bottom 4 feet of the wall had that brown wood paneling that was everywhere in the '70s and '80s.
The first floor of my house, which was built as a separate apartment, was almost exclusively wood paneling for the walls, except the bedrooms, bathroom, and kitchen, which were just white. The carpet was an ugly tan and the kitchen and bathroom had white laminate tile floors.
My sister and her husband, who lived in our childhood home for a while, remodeled and repainted/recarpeted the whole house, but she kept the different color scheme for each room. Now my bedroom walls are tan, master bedroom is light green, her old bedroom is a bright peach color, the bathroom is a light green, the living room is light blue, and the dining room is still red.
She put tiles on the kitchen walls to bring some color to that room, laminate wood paneling on the floor for the entryway, kitchen, and dining room, white laminate tiles on the bathroom floor, and the rest of the house got an off-white/tan carpet with brownish speckles throughout it.
The first-floor apartment had all the wood paneling on the walls removed and the walls were just painted white. One wall of the living room down there was painted a dark bluish-gray by a tenant we had, and I just re-did all the carpets down there with a light blush-gray color. I added a large gray laminate square by their front door so people aren't stepping immediately onto carpet when they enter into that apartment, and my sister did an awful job with black ceramic tiles in the kitchen. I need to tear those up and replace them sometime; they're a bit uneven. The bathroom is still white laminate tiles.
I love, love, love this comment! So interesting to see and read how styles have changed over time and I appreciate the detail you put into your descriptions.
This was the exact picture I was looking at as an example of how I would want one of the rooms in my dream house to look and what led to the creation of this post, haha. I would also want each room to be a different color, and I desperately want a conversation pit in my living room.
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I'm not sure how common they are in the US. But check if you can get your hands on a fiat panda/punto/500. Anything but the very latest models have manual options with at most an lcd for the radio. And that's it. And outside of italy there shouldn't be all the problems that accompany a model of car being that common.
I don’t know how recent you’re considering recent, but the Fiat 500 only came to the US in December 2010 and was the first new Fiat sold in the US since the early 1980s. The last model year sold for the normal 500 was 2019, although the L and X are still sold according to Wikipedia (I think the X is sold rebadged as a Jeep, though).
