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CORBETT BUILDING & CORBETT HOME IN DOWNTOWN

Corbett Home was located in downtown at 5th & Taylor. As the center of the city was developing it was torn down in 1936. The Corbett building was built in 1907 on 5th Ave between Morrison & Yamhill. Henry Corbett was successful in trade and a U.S. Senator.

Posted by Star Stations LLC at 07:03 AM in portland history | Permalink | Comments (1)

August 09, 2020

WORLD ACCORDING TO LINDNER

The following story is brought to you by the new & improved “Duh.” Now available in the handy family size.

I bought this car (the green one, not the white one 🙄) 23 years ago. We’re talking nearly a quarter of a century ago. Not *quite* new, but almost. It was a dealer demo with 860 miles on the clock. I’ve always been a sports car guy, and this came as close I could get for a single dad hauling around an adolescent daughter and her giggly cohorts. I traded in my CRX Si for it. Alas, the days of two-seaters were over. Five speed stick, ragtop, non-turbo four banger... just the ticket for a midlife-crisismobile.

But it’s never handled like a true sports car. In fact, it’s always handled like a sports car wannabe... mushy, nervous front suspension, etc. But it’s been by FAR the most reliable car I’ve ever owned, so I just put up with it. In 23 years, I replaced the top, the serpentine belt, the harmonic balancer, two sets of tires and the windshield wipers twice. That’s it! For a grand total of *maybe* $2,500.00. We’re talking old faithful here.

But just for the hell of it, I asked my mechanic if he’d change the shocks for me, for something more spirited. He told me to go online, order the kind I want, and he’d install them for me. So I ordered some adjustable Bilstein struts pre-installed in new heavy-duty coil springs. I dropped off the car with the shocks in the trunk at his shop the next morning, he dropped it off in my driveway later that night.

I got in, turned the key... okay, no change so far. Then I put it in first, pulled out of the driveway and...HOLEEEEEESHEEEEIT! I love me that seat-of-the-pants sports car feeling! Where have you been all my life? 🤩

Then it hit me. This car’s had the potential all these years, but me, dumbass that I am, never bothered to push its limits. Mind you, we’re not talking Ferrari handling here, but it went from Ford LTD to poor man’s Lotus overnight. I spent the morning on one of my favorite back roads out in farming country, accelerating to 70 mph into 45 mph turns.

I may be beyond the age of dealing with a “mid-life crisis,” but damn it... If Carroll Shelby and Zora Arkus Duntov could be sports car nerds into their golden years, so can I!