Out with the old, in with the new

And so The Beast has been retired. With memories ranging from RACQ rescues in tropical storms, driving through golf ball hail without damage, sailing across dunes on Fraser, and escaping steam with burst coolant hoses in Gympie, Byron, Burleigh, Pottsville and other places, the end has come.

It has been replaced with Black Beauty; a 2.5 turbo Subaru Forester XT Luxury. Big enough to get my surf board in, enough cup holders to keep me in caffeine, a radio that works, moon roof, brakes, waterproof drivers compartment (compared to The Beast that is), and air conditioning.

Quite a contrast, and it's already putting a smile on my face.

Things I will be looking at is

• getting it rechipped.
• installing sat-nav
• updating or hacking a ipod input into the head unit.
• firming up the suspension
• seeing what bits I can recover from wrecked Subarus to put into this one.

Otherwise, it is an awesome and comfortable and quick car.