Today, November 16, is National Fast Food Day. While I generally try to avoid the stuff for health reasons, there’s one situation where I give myself á la carte blanche: road trips. Whether it’s picking up a Craigslist score, cannonballing across state lines to fetch a heavy part, or heading to a distant show, road trips not only necessitate fast food, but demands it by tradition. Plus, those processed calories taste oh so good.
What’s your favorite JNC fast food story?
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What JNC van should star in a Japanese A-Team reboot?”
This was kind of a bizarre question, which prompted some bizarre answers. We got answers that spanned everything from Tom‘s suggestion of a Suzuki Every Turbo RZ Super Multi Roof with Cappuccino engine swap to Legacy-san‘s nomination of a Toyota Mega Cruiser. But our favorite answer fell somewhere in the middle, and that was Prevacid‘s casting of a Toyota Previa:
The ideal J-Team van would no doubt be a Toyota Previa/Estima and here’s why:
1. They’re everywhere. Whether you’re hiding in the Underground of L.A. or Tokyo, they are ubiquitous enough that they can slip by authorities.
2. They’re indestructible. They can go forever with little maintenance and plenty of abuse.
3. There’s plenty of dress-up parts. VIP, street racer, family shuttle, or unlicensed handyman, the van can wear plenty of disguises. There’s even a drift Previa or two out there. Just pull into an abandoned warehouse for a modification montage.
4. They’re proven. In Breaking Bad it was the fake identity salesman’s ride of choice. In Carpool, it jumped out of a building and kept going. In Last Action Hero, bad guys attached a minigun to it.
So there you have it. The Previa does it all. Don’t you just love it when a plan comes together?
Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!
Anytime during the 90’s in our Civic EF, or my old Tercel.
Most times it was at a McDee’s asking for somthing from Burger King.
i lived in my ‘Handsome Green’ BJ42 TLC (not literally LOL) back in my senior year. Always going to the wrecking yard for parts for the project cars, or bringing team mates to the game – it was a big part of my life – and I was rarely home for meal time. I was quite adept at driving/shifting while eating a big mac. One day I was switching the EFI on my 77 Z to triple webers with my best friend at his place. This very attractive girl came out and hung out for a while as we worked, it was his sisters friend. She was actually amazing, being interested and knew what we were doing. So I threw her the keys to my TLC – here’s the acid test for any 18 year old girl. Not only could she drive my TLC with confidence, but was also good at driving it while eating as well – she came back with, I had unfamiliar feelings of utter amazement, we hit it off well. Her dad was a Maj Gen in the air force, and she moved away as fast as she impressed the hell out of me. I love Big Macs
True story:
I drive my first gen. RX-7 to work sometimes, and this time decided to get Wendy’s for lunch. While waiting in the drive-thru a guy comes to my passenger window (already rolled down) and says,”This is going to sound crazy, but I got rid of mine and a year ago and these have been in my truck ever since.” He hands me a binder of the OEM factory service manual and wiring. I was barely able to say thanks before he was gone.
Several times while pumping gas I get a “used to have one of those”, but never before or since got a “used to have one of those and here’s stuff for it.”
I had not thought about this memory for so long, but now I’m chuckling thinking about it.
Around 2007 I was driving my first Z31, a very clean 86 N/A as much as possible. My DD was a 2000 Impala LS with a dying transmission. I was a big fan of Wendy’s at the time because I had no money and Jr. Bacon Cheeseburgers were still 99 cents back then. I’d go once or twice a week and eat lunch using spare change in my car.
None of that is really relevant, but I was sitting in the drivethru on a warm day waiting to pickup my cheeseburgers and I noticed the temp gauge climbing in my car and steam quickly bellowed out of the hood. I shut down the car and when the car in front of me moved out of the way I started it back up, hit the gas and rolled to the window grabbing my food as quick as possible then hit the gas again and pulled into a close parking spot, steam again billowing out of the car. I shut the car down again and sat on the curb eating my burgers. About 30 minutes later I tried to start the car and it just would not start.
At the time I had very little mechanical knowledge so I called my friend and he picked me up and took me home. I came back later that day with some assorted tools and hopped in the car. It started right up and I drove it home. It never overheated again and ran perfectly fine until I sold it after driving it probably another 10-15k miles
While I stopped going to night races in industrial parks, I can’t tell you how many late night food trips happened in 1999 and 2000. Friday and Saturday nights were pretty much dominated by going to the Seattle street races.
My metabolism was so different back then. But Jack in a Crack was the 24hr spot in Kent/Renton.
Sometimes when we were cruising, we’d go to a Denny’s and just eat and pass out LOL.
But yeah.. Jumbo jacks with seasoned curly fries were the biz. Plus those really horrible 2 Tacos for $1. LOL.
You’re from Seattle and you didn’t go to Dick’s!?
Early this spring while most of the world was still quarantined I drove my 500HP bridgeported FC through the Popeyes drive through. Everyone in the kitchen came to the drive through window to see and hear the car. I told them to look out the window when I left because it’s an industrial area so I left trails of rubber through 1st and 2nd.