Author: Greg Poggiali
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Should You Buy a Volvo C30? A Love Letter
A love letter to the Volvo C30—the compact hatch with a glass booty and the confidence to never follow the crowd. Quirky, safe, and quietly rebellious, it remains a misunderstood icon for those who wanted more from their car than…
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Top 7 Green Hooptys for Earth Day
Not all eco-friendly cars are boring beige boxes. From the featherweight Insight to the cork-trimmed MX-30, these green hoopties bring quirk, charm, and shockingly good mileage to the Earth Day spotlight—without killing your vibe or your wallet.
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How Are So Many New Car Brands Popping Up?
Why are car startups everywhere now? From Tesla to Rivian, the rise of EVs lowered the barrier to entry—and upped the hype. With slick designs, deep pockets, and tech buzz, these new players are taking swings at the old guard.…
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Confessions from the Glove Box: Submit Your Story to HOOPTY!
Welcome to Confessions from the Glove Box, a corner of HOOPTY dedicated to the dumbest, wildest, and most questionably legal automotive stories we’ve all tried to forget. Or at least not put in writing—until now. This is the place where judgment…
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The Secrets of Costco Every Car Guy Should Know
Let’s be honest: there’s a specific kind of adrenaline rush that comes from finding a 5-quart jug of synthetic motor oil nestled between a 50-pound bag of rice and a flat-screen TV. And if you know that feeling? You might…
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Lotus Traded Its Heart for a Hammer: Why the AMG Engine Swap Isn’t Sacrilege
In the beginning, Lotus made its name on lightness. Colin Chapman famously said, “Simplify, then add lightness.” But lately? It’s been more like: “Complicate, then add Germans.” The storied British marque, known for cars that handle like caffeinated go-karts and…
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What’s the Most Irrational Car Opinion You Stand By?
We all have one. That one opinion that makes fellow car people tilt their heads like a confused dog hearing a harmonica. That one hot take that would get you kicked out of Cars and Coffee if spoken too loud…
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Wrenches Down: The Rise and Stalling Out of Automotive Trade Schools
Once upon a time, a set of dirty coveralls meant you were going places. Maybe not a corner office, but certainly toward a stable, blue-collar life where torque specs and timing belts were more important than slide decks and synergy.…
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Nashville Is Becoming the Coolest Car Town in the South — Whether It Likes It or Not
An underground car scene, a booming motorsports calendar, and a flood of OEMs are turning Music City into a sleeper automotive mecca. For decades, Nashville’s biggest horsepower flex was a lifted F-150 parked sideways outside Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge. But lately,…
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Guess Who’s Been Busy: The Game That Tells You Just How Many Honda Civics It Takes to Beat a Model T
So you’re sitting on the couch, aimlessly scrolling, wondering if you’re ever going to use the deep and possibly concerning amount of automotive trivia clogging your brain. Enter: moreorless.io/game/which-car-was-built-more — the Wordle of vehicle production stats, but way more judgmental if you…
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The McMurtry Spéirling Drove Upside Down Because Gravity is for Suckers
If there was ever a car that looked like it was designed by a caffeinated 12-year-old with a working knowledge of physics and a grudge against air resistance, it’s the McMurtry Spéirling. It’s tiny. It’s electric. It sounds like a…
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Your Gear Shifter Stinks: A Love Letter to When PRNDL Actually Meant Something
Remember when shifting into drive was as simple as pushing a lever forward and feeling like Vin Diesel in your ’98 Corolla? Pepperidge Farm remembers. Unfortunately, automakers these days seem hell-bent on turning gear selection into an escape room puzzle.…
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Carbon Fiber Dreams & Insurance Nightmares: The Rise of Composite Cars
For over a century, cars have been made mostly out of one thing: steel. Sometimes aluminum. Occasionally some plastic if the bean counters got to the engineers. But in recent years, automakers have been flirting with more exotic materials—carbon fiber,…
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It’s April Fools, But Here Are Some Things We Wish Were Jokes
Ah yes, April 1st. The one day a year when car companies trot out their least funny designers and have them pretend they made a pickup truck powered by essential oils or a luxury sedan that only plays vinyl records.…
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Remember When Luxury Coupes Were Cool? The 1990s Say ‘You Bet Your CD Changer They Were’
Ah, the 1990s. A glorious era when we thought flannel was formal wear, everything needed a fax machine, and your ride wasn’t luxury unless it had at least one analog clock and more buttons than a Boeing 747. It was…
