Digestible Collectible: 1983 Alfa Romeo GTV6

The sounds a car makes can elicit strong emotions for enthusiasts. Some love the guttural burble from an American V-8, each marque emitting distinct noises. Others, the fan-dominated sounds of an air-cooled Porsche. A modified straight-six, like that found in a Datsun Z, emits a wail that buckles my knees.

As a gearhead kid, these sounds were the object of my obsession. I still have a copy of “The Sounds of Sebring” in the basement, with no corresponding phonograph with which to enjoy it. While others were trying to find porn, I used my school Compuserve account to try and pirate CDs of Formula One engine notes, unsuccessfully.

Yes, I’m old. I was in high school before Netscape existed.

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  • Daniel J Cx-5 lol. It's why we have one. I love hybrids but the engine in the RAV4 is just loud and obnoxious when it fires up.
  • Oberkanone CX-5 diesel.
  • Oberkanone Autonomous cars are afraid of us.
  • Theflyersfan I always thought this gen XC90 could be compared to Mercedes' first-gen M-class. Everyone in every suburban family in every moderate-upper-class neighborhood got one and they were both a dumpster fire of quality. It's looking like Volvo finally worked out the quality issues, but that was a bad launch. And now I shall sound like every car site commenter over the last 25 years and say that Volvo all but killed their excellent line of wagons and replaced them with unreliable, overweight wagons on stilts just so some "I'll be famous on TikTok someday" mom won't be seen in a wagon or minivan dropping the rug rats off at school.
  • Theflyersfan For the stop-and-go slog when sitting on something like The 405 or The Capital Beltway, sure. It's slow and there's time to react if something goes wrong. 85 mph in Texas with lane restriping and construction coming up? Not a chance. Radar cruise control is already glitchy enough with uneven distances, lane keeping assist is so hyperactive that it's turned off, and auto-braking's sole purpose is to launch loose objects in the car forward. Put them together and what could go wrong???