DRIVER'S SIDE DIATRIBE
By Al Vinikour     

At one time it was fairly common to develop a lung disease from working in steel mills, a coal mine or smoking heavily, living with smelly people or something as simple as driving down the highway. If anyone has ever seen movies of a cell of B-52s taking off at 20-second intervals — especially early-model D-Series — then they can visualize what the average busy highway looked like in the 1950s and 1960s.

DRIVER'S SIDE DIATRIBE
By Al Vinikour    

I spend a lot of time in traffic and being an auto writer the voices in my head tell me I am to notice those cars around me. I was sitting at a stoplight the other day and was looking at what can only have been a one-time police car. It was a ‘70s Dodge Diplomat with the tell-tale wide tires and small hub caps.

DRIVER'S SIDE DIATRIBE
By Al Vinikour   

I’m a Hosier by birth and a Michigander by choice which might explain my thinking throughout my life that there have been a lot of worthless devices some of which I never understood. Among them was my Pet Rock, my comic book collection of World War II soldiers on Pacific Islands that were inhabited by dinosaurs and my ex-wife. However, collectively none of them are more unnecessary to so many people than modern vehicles with tachometers.

DRIVER'S SIDE DIATRIBE
By Al Vinikour    

It doesn’t make any difference if a car is a sedan, crossover, coupe or convertible; if the seating capacity is listed as “5” then deduct 3. If it’s listed as “6” you can deduct 4. And if it’s shown as “4” you can legitimately deduct 2. “This has angered me for some time. You may ask, “Why, Mr. Al, does this anger you so? Let me tell you why it angers me so.

DRIVER'S SIDE DIATRIBE
By Al Vinikour     

As an automotive journalist, industry observer and all-around nudge, I’m constantly looking for things to comment on (read, “complain about”). This past week has given me all kinds of new material. This column will be on how far rear doors open. For all you Mensa applicants another way of putting it would be to wonder how close to 90 degrees that door is going to expand.

DRIVER'S SIDE DIATRIBE
By Al Vinikour    

It’s time for another chapter of “I remember…” The subject for this one is rearview mirrors. Not the ones inside your car. I’m talking about the ones outside, sometimes referred to as side mirrors.

DRIVER'S SIDE DIATRIBE
By Al Vinikour     
There are a lot of things I miss having in cars. Among them are high-performance V8s with multiple carburetion, glass- or steel- packed mufflers, four-speed manual transmissions and solid-lifter cams. But one thing I think I miss more than all those other things are vent windows.

DRIVER'S SIDE DIATRIBE
By Al Vinikour     

For most of my life I’ve been a gadget freak. Truth be told I have no idea how most of it works but just like selecting software for my computer my criterion is simple — if it’s pretty I’ll use it. Fortunately, most of the major business software (Word, Excel, etc.) fits this category so I don’t have to worry about adapting to some program that was written in Bujumbura. The same concept goes for clocks — particularly auto clocks — the only difference being how to achieve the display.

DRIVER'S SIDE DIATRIBE
By Al Vinikour      

There are few things automotive that are sleeker-looking than low-profile tires. I don’t know exactly what year they entered service but they’re used on all high-performance vehicles and a goodly number of “civilian” cars and SUVs as well. They give the appearance of a predator that’s crouching before striking out at its prey (meaning the highway) just like a lion or a tiger (or even a rabid raccoon).

DRIVER'S SIDE DIATRIBE
By Al Vinikour  

Usually I bellyache about a lot of things….and I’ve got the belly to do it, believe me. However, every once-in-a-while a group of road warriors deserves recognition and I’m just the man to do that, too. Today’s (rare) plaudits go to those Knights of the Highway and occasional blockers of the left lane – America’s truck drivers.