When I first moved to Canada (Calgary) in '83, the Javelin was still fairly common but seeing this ad made me realise I haven't seen one on the street in years. I loved the styling.

Impersonating a traffic control device, guilty as charged!

I had an '82 Alfa Spider for a few years that I bought in '93. By some twist of fate I never had a single failure to start, breakdown or electrical fire. In fact the only reason I sold it was I had bought it to try and recapture some of the magic of the '68 Fiat Spider (Deniro!) I had owned from '84 to '88. But you can't go back and that didn't work. The Fiat never stranded me either, but I did sacrifice virgin oil to the Italian auto gods on a regular basis for both cars.

What year is the Fiat?

'74 Chevy Vega, in 1978. I was proud as punch for the two whole weeks it ran. Then I went through a puddle, soaked the timing belt and the POS never ever ran again.

Less reliable than a Vega? Wow.

I also had a 1978 XS 750. My two most vivid memories would be a) trying to follow a circular painted line at 10 Kph during my test, and wobbling all over the place due to the engine being all upfront and b) being pitched over the handlebars in traffic after hitting some sand. But unlike Jim, I kept riding another eight years, until the progeny popped up. I did love that bike, though. Very smooth.

Duh! I just got it.

AND a MINI.

Yea, that brothel interior is only rivalled by Spyker.