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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: November 29th, 2023

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  • My first car, a 1976 Chevy Malibu, that I inherited from my Grandparents. It looked awful. Was amazingly underpowered. Handled poorly. But my biggest complaint was the butterfly valve on the carburetor. When the temperature got “cold” the valve did not contract as much as the housing around it. Consequently, the valve would stick causing a bad air-fuel ratio that would make the engine stall. I put cold in quotes above because I lived in Houston at the time and the weather is never actually cold. GM took 700 lbs of weight out of the Malibu in the two following years without making the car any smaller. The huge V8 engine only developed a nominal 160 HP (or something like that) and only managed 12mpg. The plastic pieces on the interior cracked and flaked off.

    Modern cars are so much nicer and more reliable. I almost feel grateful for that heap because it helps me appreciate the improvements we have achieved.