Isolation Photo Project, Day 68: Vintage Japanese Car Lust

In 2006 after hearing my wife complain that I needed to put “her children” safely inside a more practical family man sedan, I sold my Milano Red 1994 Acura Integra GS-R with about 193,000 miles on it for $3000. That was the last time I enjoyed driving any car. The 1994 Acura Integra GS-R is now considered a classic car, and low mileage Integras sell for a “crap-ton” of money.

I was born and raised on several small islands in the British West Indies. When I was a young boy, my Uncle Clifford owned a Triumph of some kind and Dad owned a Mini Cooper, which I always think is hilarious because my Dad’s middle name is Cooper. Uncle Clifford enjoyed road trips around St. Vincent. Dad just loved driving his Mini Cooper and Volkswagen anywhere. I was in love with open top roadsters and compact cars from an early age.

In 1996 I bought a 1994 Acura Integra GS-R, a car that had been on my dream car list for several years. I named it Tetsuo after one of the characters in the 1988 Japanese animated cyberpunk action film directed by Katsuhiro Otomo. One of these recently sold on “Bring a Trailer” for $27,000. Wowza!!!

1994 Acura Integra GS-R
My 1994 Acura Integra GS-R | Circa 1996 | Pentax P3 | SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/2

But I’m not a gearhead “guy”. I have no idea what rack-in-pinion steering is, but I know what I like. I want a 1964 Honda S600 Roadster for the weekend drives around the rolling hills of Somerset and Hunterdon counties. I want a 1994 Acura Integra GS-R to pretend that I am twenty-six years old again. Sigh.

But more likely is that I may purchase a 2021 Acura TLX Type S to replace my 2006 Honda Accord EX. My kids are adults, currently in University, and I non longer have the “need” to transport “kids” in my back seat comfortably. I can get a performance car again. My wife has an Acura RDX, but the 1994 Acura Integra GS-R was the last Acura I owned. I want that sense of excitement again. I want to hear the all-new exclusive 3.0-litre V-6 Turbo engine growl.

2021 Acura TLX Type S Exterior Blue
2021 Acura TLX Type S in Apex Blue Pearl.Image © Acura of North America.

Some may question my taste in movies, but I love the "Fast and The Furious" franchise, especially the first movie, “The Fast and The Furious”. I fell in love with the flawed characters. At some point in the mid-1990s, before kids, I was actually in a car club that met regularly on the roof of the Menlo Park Mall. I quit the club when my wife pointed out that most club members were too young to drink.


My friend and former colleague from Sarnoff Corporation, Dr Rebecca Mercuri, along with Peter G. Neuman, has put together a webinar, Risks to Elections in the COVID-19 Era, on the possible effects that the global pandemic may have on voting and the United States Presidential election. Dr Mercuri is well known for her analysis and criticism of electronic voting machines. She has admitted that she delivers her absentee voting ballot to her county clerk's office when she votes.

Now, with fears of COVID-19 in the mix, many municipalities are making plans for all-paper and all-absentee voting, in the remaining primaries and for the November General Election. Yet, these methods still suffer from archaic forms of fraud and tampering that have never been properly addressed.


Today’s photograph may not qualify as art. Or maybe it does. I think it’s more documentary. I grilled chicken with shawarma seasoning for dinner this evening and drank a pint of “Landing Crew IPA” by Flounder Brewing Co.

Skol!

Submitted as part of the 100DaysToOffload project.