Best Of MetaFilter

Photo by Lucas Hobbs on Unsplash

gentlyepigrams posted Parking Lot Map: "This map shows you how much of the downtown land of 50 major US cities is taken up by parking lots," and Parking Reform Network president Tony Jordan (twjordan on Mefi) comments to explain why "In a not insignificant way, MetaFilter is responsible for these maps!"

Gasoline by Ayolt de Roos (cc by)

ShooBoo posted Jalopnik's excellent multi-part series on the history of gasoline by Jamie Kitman

1-20-2007 1-39-51 PM_0067 by Clemson (cc by)

Vehicles what require "the knowing" to operate: Lots of great stories (and wisecracks) in nicwolff's post A few things to know before stealing my 914, including why sardonyx cannot buy a Miata, uncleozzy's friend's Car of Theseus, OHenryPacey's friend and the four seasons of the 914, and more! Vroooom! 🏎

My VW Rabbit's 10 year birthday - by the date on the sticker. 168131 miles. by wbaiv (cc by-sa)

Mefites share their old Volkswagen stories, and animal-stuck-in-house stories

Lada Niva by Hugo90- (cc by)

daniel_charms tells the story of how my father bought a car when he was a farm worker in the USSR, others share memories of their own Ladas, and languagehat offers some more detail on the process in the Soviet car-buying thread.

It's so hot the railroad tracks are buckling! But not everywhere... vacapinta asks, why are railroad tracks okay in the heat in some places but not others?

oog and others remember driving the Nullarbor Plain (including the longest straight road in Australia): "I did this mind-numbing drive in March of 2005, alone. ... I thought I was prepared..."

Final Assembly of Aero Supersports by joncallas (cc by)

On the occasion of the Toyota company founder's death, MeFi member ceribus peribus reminisces about his father's time working for Toyota and how it was different than American car manufacturers:

My Dad worked in a very senior position at TMMC for over 16 years before his retirement, so I became familiar with The Toyota Way, the Toyota Production System (yes, TPS reports), kaizen, and kanban through discussions with him and from glancing through the written materials he brought home.

NASCAR by Pranavian (cc by)

While discussing Danica Patrick qualifying first in the upcoming Daytona 500, member dejah420 recounts the demands of car racing and what it's like moving up in the racing world as a young woman:

I am a woman. I drove my first drag race when I was barely big enough to reach the pedals. I won. A lot. The majority of that because the powerhouse I was holding on to was so insanely good; not because I was a prodigy. Drag racing is all about holding on to your ride. By 16 or so, I could hold my own on dirt tracks, and won regularly enough that someone was willing to chance me driving oval.

Firefighters by AMagill (cc by)

In a question about whether or not cars on fire blow up like they do in movies, member sanka happens to be an accident investigator and clues us all in on what a car fire is really like:

What generally happens when a car is allowed to burn to completion is the tank itself will melt through (almost all are plastic tanks now), allowing the gas to escape, then ignite. It will look like a large grease fire flare up, not a boom or blow up.