Meet Patches, & other autopia

After many months of just calling it "the truck," the truck now has a name: Patches. It named itself this weekend. A little on the cutesy side, but it fits. There are patches on top of patches (bondo, fiberglass, and welded metal) and it's coloring is patches of primer-gray over red.

Got some more done on the roof and hood. The roof is almost ready for a couple of layers of primer and a fresh ribbon of caulk. One design quirk on these old trucks is a "gutter" around the roof that would be filled with caulk. Unfortunately, there was never a hole drilled, so water stayed in the gutter, got under the caulk and led to significant rust damage near the tops of both doors.

Because Patches and other classic/quirky cars have taken over her blog, Candice has started Rust Chronicles. Check it out.

More car stuff:

GM's downward spiral. It's hard to understate how much damage Roger Smith's "flair for public relations" did to GM.

Engineers Rule at Honda. Honda is different from all other carmakers: they're run by engineers. They've never had mass layoffs and they've never had an unprofitable year. They're the only car company that spend more on R&D than advertising (I'm looking at you, Ford and Toyota!). Soichiro Honda was one of the most brilliant engineers of the 20th Century. His son now runs Mugen. Honda exists apart because of his brilliance. One fun little fact: the Honda Del Sol was the last car he had a part in designing.

Also, looking for a Christmas gift for Mr. Gloomy Pants? Here are two ideas.