07 May 2019

Winter Beater

A phenomenon of winter in Minnesota was the "winter beater" which was a reliable car which you gave no shits about to endure the liberal use of salt and increased chances of accidents because of icy conditions.

Beaters were not new cars and were generally good for a couple of winters before the rust holes got so big you couldn't hold in enough heat to stave off hypothermia on your commute.

Then you sold it to a high school student... where their non-car owning friends envied their POS car!

I am thinking that Florida and much of The South is ripe to adopt this concept.

It's love-bug season.

These insect exhibitionists are hell on paint and absolutely LOVE to hover over roadways where any car going faster than 35 mph will spack into them and leave behind a smear of acidic entrails.

Acid which is now eating through the wax, clearcoat and basecoat.

So, twice a year, I think having a car whose finish is already gone to brave the love-bugs is a valid concept.
Posted by Angus McThag at 10:44
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4 comments:

  1. Ratus07 May, 2019 17:33

    They are the worst I've seen them in Central Florida since we moved up here in 2010.

    They are literally crawling on the front of the house and the cars in the driveway.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Angus McThag07 May, 2019 17:57

      I've seen them worse here than the are this year. Last year going through Alabama is the second thickest I've ever seen them.

      Thickest was going to Canavaral for a launch and that spur of 407 between the Bee Line and 95 so covered the windshield we had to pull over and clean it off twice before we got to Titusville.

      We pulled into an AutoZone to get wiper fluid and there was a charity car wash for the local cheerleaders in the parking lot. Poor girls. We donated generously.

      Delete
  2. Ratus07 May, 2019 19:06

    The only time I've been in Alabama was back in '09 on a trip to the South store in Anniston.

    Haven't driven on that road, but the section of 192 west of 95 to around St Cloud is normally bad.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beans09 May, 2019 15:51

    Love Bug populations are cyclical, and also tied into wet weather periods. Back in the 70s, they wer a serious blackout menace on I-95.

    Still... Lovebugs or living up north? I take lovebugs!

    ReplyDelete

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