Bat Mobile Mk2

[den]

My New Car: 2003 model Toyota Camry Sportiva. 2nd hand but only has 44,000 km on the clock. AU$23,500.

3 litre V6, power windows, 6-stacker CD player, climate control A/C, 4 speed auto tranny (would have preferred the 5 speed manual, but they didn't have one) fog and driving lights, rear spoiler, sports suspension. The body kit is Toyota shop standard, not tupperware added on afterwards.



I like it a lot.

Comments

[damienps.livejournal.com]

looks cool. A VD player sounds icky.

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

oops
(edit edit edit)

There.

[valkyrwench.livejournal.com]

Very nice.

[weyrdbird.livejournal.com]

Oh, that is a blokey thing!:D
Bats and other rescued wildlife will race to rehab in comfort and style!

[torakiyoshi.livejournal.com]

Good point. Batty, do you get to put lights and a siren on there for your rescue calls?

Have teh best

-=TK

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

That would be cool, but not legal. Unfortuneately

[torakiyoshi.livejournal.com]

Pfui. That's no fun at all, then.

Have teh best

-=TK

[trpeal.livejournal.com]

Sharp lookin' ride, Den!

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

I am very pleased with it.

[guruwench.livejournal.com]

Very nice. ;) I'm also quite partial to Toyotas, having had a lovely little thing for quite a few years that would still be running, I have no doubt, if the body hadn't rusted out. (It was a 1982 Tercel SR-5 hatchback.)

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

I still have my 1996 Camry. THe car yard wanted to give me $2000 as a trade-in, so I sold it to Mum for $2000. It replaces her 1979 Chrysler Sigma.

[beki.livejournal.com]

How many critters can you fit in that thing? :) Is it big enough for a few baby roo's and a couple of emus?? ;)

Nice ride :)

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

I could fit a fully grown roo in the boot, if the animal was drugged.

[somk.livejournal.com]

slick !
I'm a Nissan driver so I mostly go for big and quiet but this looks like fun to drive and still has enough doors to make it comfy and practical :D

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

This is surprisingly quiet, and quite roomy inside. And a bit sporty. I like it.

[goodluckfox.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised nobody has pointed out that you've got the steering wheel on the wrong side. :)

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

no, it's on the right side. 8)

[torakiyoshi.livejournal.com]

Exactly. Right is wrong, left is right. ;)

Have teh best

-=TK

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[jim-lane.livejournal.com]

Nice car, Den! Enjoy!

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

Not a Ford. Sorry, mate.

[jim-lane.livejournal.com]

I have no issues with Toyota cars, Den. With very few exceptions (ALL manufacturers build an occasional "dud"---) Toyota builds SOLID, FINE vehicles. (There were a few Tercels, however... *heh!*)

Camrys are some of the very BEST mid-sized cars EVER built. Period!

Sadly, Ford has built some real clunkers in recent memory, and is struggling frantically to update/upgrade its car line, after sitting on its corporate thumb for DECADES. The US version Focus was GREAT---5 years ago, but has fallen far behind the curve. The Crown Vic/Grand Marquis/Town Car line (they share frames, drive trains and---in CV/GM versions---interiors and even most sheet metal) are so stale they (IMHO) reek, and the Volvo-based 500/Montego twins were great designs...with woefully inadequate drivetrains and (for the 500) lethally bland styling---both problems to be "fixed" (we hope!) with early-release 2008 models available the first quarter of next year.

The Mustang and Fusion/Millan twins are the only Ford car lines that are doing well at the moment, while Lincoln is still spinnings its wheels as it struggles for "marketplace identity".

The new Ford Edge/Lincoln MKX twins (in production, but not yet at dealers) are (IMHO) only copies of the Lexus RX-series car-based SUVs---but NICE copies, based on a Mazda chassis. Hope they sell well, or else...

And I read late last week that Ford is once again "considering" a sporty Lincoln model, this time based on the current Mustang. They "considered" a sporty 2-seater several years ago, based on the now-defunct Thunderbird. It looked even more bland than the market-failure T-bird, and had a fold-away hard top (like the Volvo/Volkswagon/Lexus/M-B/Pontiac/etc. cars currently on the market).

I drove one of the little Scion xB "shoeboxes", and while not everybody's "ideal" car, its a GREAT little people mover, and is as popular as peanuts at a baseball game! I'm told this will be the final year for that model, though. Hope Toyota has as big a hit with the replacement! ;-D

Ciao! (And ENJOY your Camry!)

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

Apart from the Focus, the Fords you have there are not available here. The Focus and Fiesta are Euro Imports. The big seller is the Falcon, running about even with the Holden Commodore (GMH)

http://ford.com.au/range/passenger.asp

Just having a look at the FordUSA page, and I don't see any utes for sale. Lots of pick-ups, but no ute range.

http://www.ford.com.au/servlet/ContentServer?cid=1137384216525&pagename=Page&c=DFYPage

[jim-lane.livejournal.com]

Sadly, the Focus we have here is NOT the current European model, which is probably the one YOU have. Ours is virtually unchanged from when it was introduced in 2000, while the current European (and elsewhere) model is built on a version of the Mazda3 chassis, a major UPGRADE to what we have here in the States. I have a 2004 ZTW wagon, with a "one-year-only" 2.3L Mazda-designed engine and a nice German-built 5speed stick. Had a 2001 ZTS sedan (2L ZTEC/automatic) and a 2003 ZTW (same drivetrain), but when I saw that the 2004 model's vastly improved engine/tranny would NOT be carried over to the 2005 model (in fact, the sporty ZTW wagon would not even exist!) I quickly found a "left-over" 2004 model equipped like I wanted and jumped on it. It drives FAR better than the '05-6-7 2L/auto ZXW wagons I've driven, and until Ford gets off its dead ass and builds the US Focus on the Mazda3 chassis (and reverses its new decision to DROP Focus wagons from the US market entirely!) I'll probably keep driving mine. The new Edge (basically a Fusion "tall wagon") will be nice, but with a *starting* price of $25K US (around $30K equipped the way I'd want one) I won't be stepping up to the plate and swinging on one anytime in the forseeable future.

Already had an Escape (loved it!) but they don't have any more *useable* room inside than a Focus wagon, and the chassis hasn't been updated since it was introduced in 2000. Once again, Ford had a hit---and happily sat on its thumbs...

As for export-market SUVs, I don't know what Ford plans to do. I honestly don't think Ford really knows what it's going to do here in the US, much less abroad... (...sigh...)