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Road trips. In odd, unexpected cars of dubious reliability, usually decades old, often British. They run at the start of the trip. After that, anything can happen—and frequently does. What could possi...

Tempting Fate Tours @temptingfatetours.bsky.social · 9h

OK, gang: Our next video is imminent—but we're just 51 subscribers short of the magic 1,000.

Amongst you all, are there 51 more people to subscribe to a YouTube channel on occasional road trips in odd, unexpected cars of dubious reliability, usually decades old, often British?

Tell your friends !!

Tempting Fate Tours

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Tempting Fate Tours @temptingfatetours.bsky.social · 2d

We realized we'd never introduced another member of the very diverse TFT team. Please welcome Jack The Dog.

Jack enjoys road trips, even in dubious British cars of questionable reliability. He also keeps Tom's garage free of pesky squirrels. He also sleeps more than the rest of us put together.

Black dog wearing green collar, with ears back, looking at camera inside old British car with split windscreen. He is being petted by man in glasses and grey shirt sitting in (LHD) driver's seat. Interior has a grey dashboard with red seats + door panels.

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Tempting Fate Tours @temptingfatetours.bsky.social · 13d

This pic is a metaphor, kinda, for why we're not at the #fallfailiage #lemonsrally this weekend. The car Tom + John built (not this one ... that's why it's a metaphor) wasn't actually USABLE for 1,000 miles in 3 days. ☹️

And the one @thestylusguy.bsky.social planned to use ate some valve shims. ☹️

Very battered green + multicolored 1950 Morris Minor 2-door sedan with no hood, grille, engine, or hubcaps up on a long 4-wheel trailer. The right rear tire of the Morris is flat. In the background is blue sky with clouds, and green pine trees. Other old cars can barely be seen behind the trailer.

99 Problems: 2011 Mini Cooper Clubman

Tempting Fate Tours @temptingfatetours.bsky.social · 15d

"The check engine light doubles as mood lighting. It overheats when it feels like it, the AC is broken + one of the doors hates humanity enough to barely open."

Also: British!

Everyone loves to talk about “quirky charm” when it comes to Minis, but this 2011 Clubman takes that phrase, sets it on fire, and leaves you stranded on the

dailyturismo.com

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Tempting Fate Tours @temptingfatetours.bsky.social · 15d

And we are live! Here's the second of 2 videos from our July road trip to Tennessee to run The Snake (Route 421) + hang out with fellow owners who've become friends over the years.

We include advice on how to organize your own road trip in old cars, just like ours—except totally different.

We road-tripped 10 1990s cars. Here's what you need for your own trip!

YouTube video by Tempting Fate Tours

Tempting Fate Tours @temptingfatetours.bsky.social · Sep 9

Here it is, all 65 throbbing hp from a 1971 'A' Series 1275c engine! Move aside, peasants, Tempting Fate Tours is coming through ... pending just a few wee fixes to which the entire coming weekend has been set aside.

Perhaps including a generator WITHOUT a JB-Welded lug ?? Ahem. Sigh.

Grey 1950s car with engine suspended from chain on an engine hoist, lowered into engine compartment, with bright yellow 4-blade fan showing and no grille.

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Tempting Fate Tours @temptingfatetours.bsky.social · Sep 8

What, you ask, is this rather horrible-looking thing? Oh, it's the lug on a replacement generator that @rymestom fitted to the 1971 MG Midget 1275 engine in our 72-year-old Morris.

What's the goop? Oh, the lug broke off. JB-Weld to the rescue! Will it last thru 1,000 miles of Lemons Rally? Great Q!

Metal screw lug extending from rusty casting, covered in silver goop.

Why drive obscure 1990s Japanese cars thousands of miles? Here's why!

Tempting Fate Tours @temptingfatetours.bsky.social · Sep 1

We are LIVE! Our first episode since June brings us into 2025 at last. We drove 5 obscure 1990s Japanese cars 1,500 miles round-trip, over 5 days, to hang out with other owners who are now really good friends.

This year, we brought 5 cars from the Northeast (NH, Mass, upstate NY, Long Island + PA).

YouTube video by Tempting Fate Tours

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Tempting Fate Tours @temptingfatetours.bsky.social · Sep 1

Who's this? Why, it's @highmileage.bsky.social !!

Why's he doing this? Sheer joy!

It's all 'cuz he's not only in front of no fewer than TEN Isuzu Impulses, Geminis + Styluses, plus Geo Storms, but we all just ran The Snake. He's happy to be here!

And ... oh YEAH ... video imminent. Within hours!

Man wearing sunglasses, blue shirt + flowered surfer jams with arms raised in front of row of 10 obscure 1990s Japanese cars in a parking lot, against green trees, with blue sky + white clouds above them. For the records, the cars are Isuzu Impulse, Isuzu Gemini, Isuzu Stylus, and Geo Storm models from 1990 through 1993.

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Tempting Fate Tours @temptingfatetours.bsky.social · Aug 26

(2 of 2)

PROS:
- freshly built 1275
- floorboards replaced
- clutch linkage rebuilt
- original brakes rebuilt
- gas tank rust replaced w/stainless
- interior expensively redone

We might (stress the 'might') have an adventure coming with this one. We hope to know this week ... stay tuned.

The Survivor: Rare 1949 Morris Minor lowlight has only 19K miles

Tempting Fate Tours @temptingfatetours.bsky.social · Aug 26

This car is all @thejohnvoelcker.bsky.social's fault. Sigh, another #MorrisMinor. But this one's, ummm, interesting?

CONS:
- wrong trans for new engine (long stick from Series II, gulp)
- needs tires
- prewar rear end leaks like mad
- needs windscreens
- wiring is ... varied ... [cough]

(1 of 2)

Grey 1953 Morris Minor two-door saloon up on blocks, with bonnet open + grille panel missing, in brightly lit workshop.

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Tempting Fate Tours @temptingfatetours.bsky.social · Aug 26

We're about to post a new video, our first adventure of THIS year. To get y'all in the mood, we figured we'd reup last year's most popular video.

It's the one in which John introduces his survivor 1949 Morris Minor. There's also a cameo by local wildlife, who are NOT supposed to be in the workshop.

YouTube video by Tempting Fate Tours

100 years young: How Model Ts keep on T-icking in northern Michigan

Tempting Fate Tours @temptingfatetours.bsky.social · Aug 3

"Mary Carr Leatherman is celebrating the 100th birthday of her family’s 1925 Model T this year by going on long country drives with her sister + husband.

With its 2-speed transmission + 40-mph top speed, the Ford can be seen chugging along Charlevoix County’s two-lane roads in traffic."

Wonderful.

Henry Ford's Model T changed the world in the early 20th century, putting Detroit on the map and opening northern Michigan to generations of visitors.

www.detroitnews.com

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Tempting Fate Tours @temptingfatetours.bsky.social · Jul 29

For those of you who follow us on Instagram, here's a fantastic reel @thestylusguy.bsky.social put together that conveys this past weekend to a T.

We took TEN 30+ year old Isuzus down The Snake. Also, live music ... and beer ... BBQ ... and a whole bunch of very skilled wrenching. Until next year.

Login • Instagram

Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.

www.instagram.com

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Tempting Fate Tours @temptingfatetours.bsky.social · Jul 24

And so the next big adventure begins ...

DRIVE MORE | An Automotive Film

Tempting Fate Tours @temptingfatetours.bsky.social · Jul 19

If you only watch ONE thing tonight (yeah, we know, Friday night ... whatever), make it THIS.

YouTube video by Michigan Automotive Relic Society

roundheadlamprally1000.com

Tempting Fate Tours @temptingfatetours.bsky.social · Jul 19

From their blog:

"I took a lady I didn't know that well on the 5 hour, brutally hot drive, in an old car with no air conditioning. We are married now."

❤️

Tempting Fate Tours @temptingfatetours.bsky.social · Jul 18

OMG, OUR PEOPLE. To take part in this 1,000-km+ rally, your vehicle (or you) must have a working ... CASSETTE DECK !! We bow in respect.

Slogans:

"Drive More, Wax Less"

"You Might Not Like It"

"Type 2 Fun"

Roundheadlamprally1000

Drive More, Wax Less.

roundheadlamprally1000.com

Tempting Fate Tours @temptingfatetours.bsky.social · Jul 18

OMG, OUR PEOPLE. To take part in this 1,000-km+ rally, your vehicle (or you) must have a working ... CASSETTE DECK !! We bow in respect.

Slogans:

"Drive More, Wax Less"

"You Might Not Like It"

"Type 2 Fun"

Roundheadlamprally1000

Drive More, Wax Less.

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Tempting Fate Tours @temptingfatetours.bsky.social · Jul 15

(2 of 2) ... a 70-year-old car (NOT Tom's barn-find Traveller, a different one!) that has a somewhat newer engine. A vastly more powerful one, at that.

Which has all this gubbins on top that Tom is trying to dope out. It's all about the "Fall Fail-iage" Lemons Rally in September. Stay tuned ....

Death Camper: 1957 Cadillac Superior Coach

Tempting Fate Tours @temptingfatetours.bsky.social · Jul 15

A rare + valuable Sacred Document, this, from 1968 ... when the entire idea of any sort of emission control was utterly foreign + vaguely disturbing to a British auto industry that would collapse into bankruptcy just 7 years later.

Why have we posted this? Oh, we found ourselves with ... (1 of 2)

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Tempting Fate Tours @temptingfatetours.bsky.social · Jul 12

John: Will order fan belt + rear seal to ship directly to you; anything else we need?

Tom: I don't think so.

Tom, 90 mins later: Which translates to “yes, lots of things. I just can’t remember them ATM, or I don’t know we need it, yet.

😁

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Tempting Fate Tours @temptingfatetours.bsky.social · Jul 8

The "Death Camper". In goooooooooooooooooooold!

Originally built by Superior Coach as a hearse, this 1957 Cadillac has been reincarnated into something far more unexpected: a fully functional camper. Converte

dailyturismo.com

Tempting Fate Tours @temptingfatetours.bsky.social · Jul 8

Heh. Ze eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevillllll plan, eet ees VURKING !!

Tempting Fate Tours @temptingfatetours.bsky.social · Jul 8

Yes, zombies do bowl.

Candlepin bowling, in fact. Not the regular kind that live people do.

Also, they dance.

And, yes, this has a connection to Tempting Fate. Can you work out what it is?

[We'll send a TFT sticker to the first person who figures it out.]

"Midnight Strikes" and the zombies come out to bowl 🧟🎳

YouTube video by CLI Conservatory