as proof one can teach an old dog new tricks (most especially if her name is Eve Moneypenny), i've managed to acquire from the neighbour at an indecent price his old mid-90s Civic i've been watching him letsit as a sacrificial offering to the tinworm in his back yard for years;

substantially less than $1K later (over three times what i paid him and the state DMV pirates for it) and it has been on the road ever since, one-celled battery (long ago slain by winter but magically revived via trickle charger), intermittent starvation in decreasing radius turns--i.e., freeway clover leafs--and all;

my only complaint, the sheer impossibility of doing any serious motor work (belts, water pump, alternator, tensioner, etc.) without lifting the block, meaning the mechanics will smile in a few weeks when i drop her off and then return to find out the bill means i'll be helping put one of his kids through freshman year;

bought the de riguer super tuner book and was very impressed by the availability of bits to make this muskrat pick up her petticoats and ramble, and all at quite reasonable prices compared to my Detroit iron--still a Chevy man, tried and true, apple pie, red, white and blue, but my 500+ BHP tweaked Z06 views snow and salt like kryptonite;

one question--are thee any reputable garages you'd recommend in the upper mid-West area?

well, now i'll know both sides of 'Fast and Furious, Tokyo Drift' which, given the rather go-kart-like squarish geometry of the chassis and wheelbase of this rascal, can't help but be fun, when i'm not dropping birds dead out of nearby trees, firing off every passing car alarm and generally killing flies with my good 'ol trusty smallblock Chevy V8 hammer;:baseb all: