There is nothing quite like a WM300. Saw one recently for $100K. They even made a couple of woodies.
There are scale models of these.
Posted on 06/14/2026 9:29:28 AM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
Two years ago, I rented a Tesla Model 3 for 1 day in order to drive it for the first time in my life and make a Tesla review from the perspective of a petrolhead. I ended up actually enjoying the driving itself, I hated the user interface, the buttonless screens and probably most of all I hated the fact that the car was constantly beeping. When I went over the speed limit, when I changed lanes without signaling, when I got too close to the edge of the road and so on. After fiddling with the screen and the menus I managed to turn off almost all the beeping sources except one. There was one beep that stayed until the end and I couldn’t do anything about it. The car would beep randomly from time to time without any associated message or warning on the screen. I returned the car without figuring out what it is. ... I was foolish enough to believe that’s a Tesla-only thing because Tesla’s are obnoxious tech-obsessed cars for tech-obsessed people who actually hate driving. I thought Toyota is an old-school car brand and there’s no way it would beep and annoy me like that. Well, I was wrong, beeping and backseat driving is not a Tesla thing, it’s now an industry thing
(Excerpt) Read more at youtu.be ...
Six speed manual transmissions are horrible because the manufacturers don't gear them properly. They should be geared like a five speed with an added sixth for higher top end.
Five speed manual transmissions just make sense.
First to get rolling.
Second to accelerate up to street speeds (25-30 mph) and downshift into to take 90 degree corners.
Third gear to drive at street speeds up to county road speeds (25-35 mph)
Fourth gear to drive county road speeds or accelerate at highway speeds (35-45 mph)
Fifth gear to drive at county road to highway speeds 45+ mph)
Instead, manufacturers take the same roadways and divide the gearing by six which is all goofy. You're either slowing down too much to take a 90 degree corner in second gear, or bogging 3rd gear while doing it. etc. etc. etc.
They've already showing in the aviation industry and railroad industry that automated systems make terrible pilots and horrific consequences when those pilots are forced to take over.
From what I receintly saw on u tube Toyotas you can’t even change your battery dealer handles every thing.
Dealers maintain every thing at enourmous prices.
—”There is an entire industry to be made on retrofitting new cars and removing their modems and computers.”
In Illinois, modifications that make a vehicle more dangerous or fail to meet baseline safety standards can result in fines and legal liability if an accident occurs
Unfortunately, my parents were from Illinois, and I returned after a few years out and about.
My wife often suggested we move, but I had a good position with top benefits and remuneration.
I had an offer in Idaho. My wife and I were avid rock and ice climbers, good, good! I met with them and almost signed.
But they expected me to show up five days or more each week!
With some planning, I could usually escape work for a few weeks...
Our son is an intense climber and our daughter worked atop cell towers and was a cell tower rescue instructor. Now both are stuck here in Illinois.
—”automated systems make terrible pilots and horrific consequences when those pilots are forced to take over.”
Rich Rebuilds, a well-known Tesla rebuilder, goes to china and drives FSD on busy Chinese streets.
A good test.Fun to watch.
And he survived!
https://youtu.be/a46Xp8FtWOg?si=QN0Y0N56NBrBeKg8
LOL
I loved the Power Wagon on Simon & Simon.
Wished there was a 1:18 die cast of it.
I’m more of a gaffer’s tape guy myself.
Tim and the rest of the Goodies were really funny.
Graeme was the favorite.
“””If you turn it off and it doesn’t warn you does it still get sent to the insurance company?”””
I am not a tech expert whatsoever, but I do know that if a computer can collect the data, it can store the data, and later report the data.
Turning off the warning signals may not stop the car’s computer from collecting, storing, and reporting the data.
There is nothing quite like a WM300. Saw one recently for $100K. They even made a couple of woodies.
There are scale models of these.
Only if there is a way to hook up to internet.
The money is going to be in designing systems totally disconnected.
In Illinois, modifications that make a vehicle more dangerous or fail to meet baseline safety standards can result in fines and legal liability if an accident occurs
......
Turning off a modem or disconnecting unwanted devices like oh tier pressure gages or GPS is not baseline safety?
Oh let’s go deeper ...Triumph TR3!
Early reports are that Full Self Driving cars are safer than regular drivers, it would be hard to argue getting drunk impaired drivers off the road, along with Seniors whose reflexes are too slow to be driving.
It's easy to argue because what you're proposing is a Fallacy of Either/Or Reasoning. "You either have computer driven cars or suffer the results of drunk drivers and seniors whose reflexes are too slow." That's right out of a marketing page from such companies that demand that taxpayers subsidize the carmakers profits.
There are plenty of other options. It would be far, far easier to build cars with controls that make it harder for such drivers to operate them - starting with a manual transmission.
As per the point of the article: "Driver aids have ruined driving." Don't make cars easier to drive, make them more difficult. You don't even need to fumble for keys anymore; now just push a button.
Keep the bad drivers in the back seat of taxi cabs or ride-sharing cars. Do not put them in the driver's seat of a semi-automated car. Because when that kid in the Philippines tries to takes over the controls and the drunk driver wins the arm-wrestling contest for the steering wheel, bad things can happen.
Related: "Waymo Exec Admits Remote Operators in Philippines Help Guide U.S. Robotaxis" (Doublespeak for remote operators in the Philippines are actually driving Waymo cars in the U.S. without a license or even an age verification).
https://eletric-vehicles.com/waymo/waymo-exec-admits-remote-operators-in-philippines-help-guide-us-robotaxis/
Yep, rental vehicles are great reminders of how annoying modern vehicles can be. Back when I was doing a lot of business travel, my main personal vehicle was a vintage 5 series BMW. That was the ultimate laid back, no drama machine. I don’t think it even had a beeper in it. If you’ve ever driven an old BMW you’ll know how relaxing the deep amber-red incandescent dash board illumination is. Coming back to it was always such a pleasure after several days of putting up with a hyper manic rental car.
Argue whatever you want, we are moving to full self driving cars and there is very little reason to stop it.
It’s a work of art, no doubt.
That stuff is out of my price range and I live in the ultra burbs so no room for that anyway.
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