I had my airbox out today on the way to replacing the dist cap and rotor, got the thing back together, and marveled at the little space there is in the engine compartment on the 850. The other side of the engine looks even more scary than the one I worked on.

I thought of the cars I have owned, and wondered what others thought about the cars they have owned.

Most innovative - '74 Mazda RX3 - I repaired the engine on this. One of the little seals at an apex got out of place and seized the rotor as it cut a swath in the rotor housing. FWIW - looked at an RX8 last week - picture of rotors/housing in adv book looks just like it did in '74. Hmm.

Least reliable - '74 Mazda RX3 - See above

Worst body rot - tie between '74 RX3 and '69 VW beetles (owned 2) We've come a long way from those days!

Most well designed/easiest to work on - '82 Datsun 280ZX turbo - Everything EXCEPT the tailpipe, which required lowering the entire rear end to replace. Get the torch out. Every time I worked on it was a pleasure (well...)

Hardest to work on - '95 850 T5

Cheapest to drive - '87 Honda Accord and '92 Honda Civic - no repairs over many miles and great mpg

Poorest quality parts - '97 VW Passat - Three window regulators on same door. Broken door handle at 20K. Secondary air pump, ign switch, coil pack (all before 60K) etc etc etc

Poorest initial quality - '92 Jeep Cherokee - Windshield started leaking at 1K miles

Most comfortable - '95 850 T5 - No competition, but this is the only sports sedan I owned.

Highest quality - Hmm, Volvo? I didn't own the car when it was new. Those Bosch parts and French ign wires look pretty impressive.

Fastest in 2nd gear - '83 Ford 5.0 Mustang - with mpg of about 15.

Stupidest purchase - '03 VW GTI

Anyone willing to identify their favorites?