Junkyard Gem: 1992 Subaru Justy Autoblog 1/23/2021 Murilee Martin
We tend to think of Subarus as outdoorsy all-wheel-drive machines lined up at your local trailheads and REI parking lots these days, but the first Subarus to sell in the United States were tiny, cheap commuter cars. Through the 1970s and into the 1980s, even as increasing numbers of Subarus got optional all-wheel drive (American-market Subarus didn t go 100% AWD until the 1996 model year), most Americans continued to think of those Pleiades-badged machines as little tin cans too small even for sex. By the early 1990s, the little Justy was the final holdout for bargain-basement Subaru econoboxes, and most of the ones I find here in Denver are the slightly-more-desirable four-wheel-drive versions. Here s a rare late-production front-wheel-drive Justy, found in a yard halfway to the Wyoming line.
Meet the evangelist for the gospel of hydrogen power
Roy Furchgott, New York Times
Dec. 29, 2020
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Mike Strizki at his home in Ringoes, N.J., Dec. 11, 2020, sitting on a hydrogen powered lawn mower which has a hydrogen tank attached to it and a solar panel on top. His passion for the planet-saving benefits of hydrogen power requires him to refine the fuel himself in his backyard. (Kat Slootsky/The New York Times)KAT SLOOTSKY/NYTShow MoreShow Less
2of9Solar panels at the home of Mike Strizki in Ringoes, N.J., Dec. 1, 2020. Strizki uses water and solar power to make hydrogen fuel. (Kat Slootsky/The New York Times)KAT SLOOTSKY/NYTShow MoreShow Less
The Gospel of Hydrogen Power
Mike Strizki powers his house and cars with hydrogen he home-brews. He is using his retirement to evangelize for the planet-saving advantages of hydrogen batteries.
Mike Strizki at his home in Ringoes, N.J. His passion for the planet-saving benefits of hydrogen power requires him to refine the fuel himself in his backyard.Credit.Kat Slootsky for The New York Times
By Roy Furchgott
Dec. 28, 2020
In December, the California Fuel Cell Partnership tallied 8,890 electric cars and 48 electric buses running on hydrogen batteries, which are refillable in minutes at any of 42 stations there. On the East Coast, the number of people who own and drive a hydrogen electric car is somewhat lower. In fact, there’s just one. His name is Mike Strizki. He is so devoted to hydrogen fuel-cell energy that he drives a Toyota Mirai even though it requires him to refine hydrogen fuel in his yard himself.
Back in the 1990s and for a couple decades after, the three-cylinder engine was seen as a bit of a joke, particularly here in North America.
In Japan and other markets, there were some cool and interesting small cars that came with tiny three-cylinder engines like the tiny Honda Beat and Suzuki Cappuccino sports cars. Here though, the vehicle most commonly associated with the three-cylinder engine was the Geo Metro a small, fuel-sipping subcompact that was one of the cheapest new cars one could buy at the time.
While the Metro served its purpose as a cheap fuel-sipper well, it often became the butt of jokes with some saying that it was the car you bought when a four-cylinder engine was just too large and powerful for you.