2005 Cadillac Deville DTS land yacht, a gluttonous and unpopular fetish ride, a wolf in sheep's clothing

This will look like a stretch being posted on my blog about "humble custom and classic" vehicles, but, I assure you, with the little tweaks I did, I can argue that it meets the loose definition of "humble custom", and for me (and harder to argue) it is a modern classic.

This gracefully-aging beauty came along at the right time in the right place a little over a year ago. I had just resolved with one of my car buddies that my next car was going to be a cheap full-size, fully loaded out-of-fashion luxury-barge Cadillac (I've never owned one and needed to check that off the proverbial "list."). They sell used for pennies on the dollar compared to things like Toyota trucks, which as they age increase in value like real estate.

This car presented itself to me and it was love at first sight. I was not well versed in post-vintage Cadillacs so I didn't really know what I was looking at. But I knew I really really liked it. The color grabbed me, the beautiful gray leather interior reeled me in, and the bucket seat and floor shifter sealed the deal.
                                   
My DTS (Deville Touring Sedan)  is finished in the exquisite and understated "thunder metallic gray" complimented with chrome plated Cadillac rims and a hand-painted pinstripe.

My 1996 Harley Davidson Dyna Low Rider experience

I found this bike for sale as a trade-in at an Indian Dealer nearby. They had it bargain priced and listed on craigslist. I skeptically went to have a look. I was wanting a nimble uncluttered  Harley with twin front disk brakes and a carbureted evolution engine, and this one fit the bill. It was adorned with a windshield, saddle bags, sissy bar, and heaps of pointless add-on chrome glamour pieces. This is not to my taste, but I was able to see through all that and picture the cool simple bike that was concealed within. The sales lady talked $500 off the asking price all on her own, much to my surprise, and it was a done deal!

Day 1 departing the Indian dealer with my new/old Dyna. Note the tall windshield, sissy bar, thunder header exhaust, saddle bag supports.

2000 Audi TT Rally Cross experiment

I remember when this car was unveiled; sometime in the late 1990's one of the mucky-mucks from Audi announced that this new car was the type of car "James Dean" would have driven (much to the chagrin of the Porsche mucky-mucks, who historically owned those bragging rights). Well I have always been passively interested in this fascinating little car. This particular example, an all-wheel-drive, turbo 5-speed model presented itself to me recently for very cheap and I had to have it. I've never owned or driven an old Porsche 356 or 550 spyder (Dean's car), but when I'm hunkered down in the low slung, chopped roof cockpit of this little bomb-shell, I feel distantly connected to that piece of German sports-motoring heritage. This car in 180hp trim with a 5 speed and all wheel drive is responsive, grippy, slightly under powered, and spectacular in twisties. It is also highly modifiable and pretty simple to work on.

 My car had 199k miles on the odometer, but looked to have been well maintained, so I figured it was  at least a 50-50 chance of it not blowing up in my face...I replaced the timing belt, gave it a full tune-up, and completely rebuilt the cooling system.