Cars I have owned.........

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Message 963900 - Posted: 16 Jan 2010, 19:59:44 UTC
Last modified: 16 Jan 2010, 20:13:23 UTC

Now that I have been condemned to driving a '92 Old shitbox.......

I thought it would be fun to remember my past rides......

'64 Olds Cutlass 2 door....factory tach...big V8, floor shift auto. Rolled it after 2 months.

'69 Buick Grand Sport.......daddy never woulda let me buy this car if he knew the motor's history. The chuff when the motor started should have given him a clue......something was not quite right here.
Blew the whole tranny and motor up in a drag race one cold winter night.

'70-72 Buick Skylarks......
Had a number of these, most with stock 350 V8's......

'67 Pontiac GTO.....
This was a one-off.....a decommissioned drag race car.
The dude who sold it to me took out the drag motor and put in a MAJOR big block....top end was not great, but torque was to die for.

'67 Pontiac Lemans station wagon......
This one was a great pretender. 230 OHC straight six/
Factory 230 CID, factory 230HP......made a lotta kids cry with this one. Overhead cam. Went to the junkyard and found a Stage 1 cam setup from a factory racer......what a hoot. Blew off a Corvette one night, and he stopped to have a look-see.

'60 thru '76 Buick Electras......
These were the grand old beasts....until Buick took the 455 out of production in '76. And then they had the balls to install the Olds 403 as a 'big motor'...
And I owned a '77 with the 403......most of the auto parts stores thought it hsd a 350 in it.....I had to tell them it was a 'K' code motor, and when I bought it, some fool had installed taper seat spark plugs.....it needed standard ring seal plugs.
I knew their weak spot....but I still managed to blow #8 rod in most of their dear old 455's. Seems that the oiling system just wasn't up to the task in getting the lube to the back of the galley thru the camshaft. Never had a piston come thru the bonnet, though. Too much iron in the way.

'85 RX7.....
This is a true love story.
One of my buds, (now passed away) got tired of his RX, and sold it to me on the cheap. I boned up and learned about the breed, and a year later, when I had fallen in love with the car, found one in Alpharetta that was needing an engine and an adoption. A bud and I flew into Atlanta to drive her home. I was earning good bucks at the time, so I took the tired motor out to pasture, and had Mazdztrix in CA build me a new motor from scratch.
Little did I know at the time, that this was a vintage, one owner, kept in a garage RX.
My mechanic buddy is still jealous of me........and tells me so every time he gets the chance.

'92 Olds Shitbox.
My current ride, if you can call it that. The wonder of this car is that it is still on the road.
Rust (it never sleeps) has crippled it's old bones.....
But the great thing is it's heart....
A 2.5l 'Iron Duke' motor that just won't quit. And will probably still be purring long after the body dies. Had 64k on the odometer when I bought it.....has about 94k on it now.....
And I would still trust it to take me to Uli's house.
"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

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Message 964256 - Posted: 18 Jan 2010, 2:04:06 UTC

In no real order before the Fords, As the Fords are in exact order as I remember them pretty well.

'84 Pontiac Fiero(My Dad liked It and so did I, I just wish I could have installed the bigger gas tank)
Chrysler K-Car(yuck, It yawed when turning)
Pontiac Le Mans(the Korean wonder, mirrors kept falling off after getting washed)
'87 Ford Mustang GT
'87 Ford Escort LX
'06 Ford Mustang GT
'99 Ford Escort ZX2
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Message 964262 - Posted: 18 Jan 2010, 2:32:51 UTC

Due to the need of a Hydraulic Lift:

1) Chevy Astro
2) GMC Safari
3) Chevy Astro


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Message 964293 - Posted: 18 Jan 2010, 4:51:16 UTC

1. 55 Chrysler New Yorker. Big iron luxury boat. I got it for $35 because is had a 427 hemi in it. My brother and I stripped about 5 tons of metal out of it. OK well maybe only 4 tons. Then we played with the carbs, installed headers and generally added as many ponies as we could. Raced it in our back yard. I was only 14 at the time and we had a big back yard.

2. 1971 Chevy Vega Hatchback. Hey it worked for me. It was a nice sporty looking car and did well on fuel consumption for the time. Too bad it was so poorly made.


3. 1970 Mustang Mach 1, 351c, Medium Gold Metalllic, black interior. This car was orginally owned by a police officer. He had spilled some bullets in the trunk. Every now and then I would find a 45 logged in the back somewhere. I got this car upto about 145. Did LA to Ensenada in under 2 hours. It got about 7 to 12 mpg. So it had to go when the oil embargo shot gas prices to over $1 a gallion.

4. 1962 Toyota Landcruiser. I worked cutting chirstmas trees and found a derilict wreck at a logging yard that they let me have for $65. I was told that it had been driven off a cliff into a river and that the engine was runined. Well, I drained the gas, water and oil, cleaned the carb, put in fresh gas and oil, new filters, and drove it away. Worked great for about year then I burned up the engine for good. Note: If you pop the hood and the block is glowing red, you’ve got problems. Well I did a full rebuild, I mean full body off, right down to having the frame sand blasted and repainted. It becase a beast with a Chrysler hemi for power. Just happened to have one laying around.

5. 1973 Datus Pick-up truck:

6. 1973 Fiat 128 Sport Coupe. My father and I each bought 1. Mine was yellow and his was red. This is a gutless wonder. I drove it to Washington for my first year of law school. Boy did the front wheel drive make it eazy to drive in the snow. This was not a good car to have in Spokane WA. There were not Fiat dealers and parts were impossible to get. Kept breaking the cluch cable and finally the timing belt. I even had to rebuild the transmission. The main bearing sesed. The dealer wanted over $120 for it. To me back then that was wayyyyy to much. Fiat advertised that their transmissions were made in Muncie Indiana. So I did some reseach and found that the bearing was made in LA. I went to the manufacture and boght the bearing for $12.00. Seems that the manufactuerer sold it to a distributor, who sold it to the transmission manufacturere, who sold it to a parts exporter, who sold it to Fiat, who sold it to a US parts distributor who sold it to the Fiat dealer, who sold it to the consumer. Each marked it up a little. So the $12 part ended up costing $120 unless you followed the parper trail.

7. 1978 Fiat 124 Spider

8. 1980 BMW 320i Mine was a metallic blue with blue fabric interior. I bought it in Newport Beach when I worked for the Irvine Company. I put over 780,000 miles on the car. I did rebuild the engine twice and put a lot of starter’s in the car. Live on my boat and the starter contacts kept oxidizing. Sold it to my brother in law who had it repainted and re upholstered. He totaled before the paint was dry.

9. 1986 Fiero SE : Candy Apple Read with tan interior. It was a fun car but was stolen not long after I got it.

10. 1980 Fiat Spider 2000, Black tan 2 liter soft top. I bought this when I lived in Oxnard. Thinks I paid $1,200 for it. It was a great beach car. Forgot why I sold it, probably because parts were so hard to come by. Actually sold it for more than I had paid.

11. 1988 Ford Bronco.

12. 1987 El Camino:

13. 1991 Jeep Cherokee Limited

14. 1924 Ford T - This was given to me as a gift by a client. I gave it to my dad who did a lot of work on it. I got it back when he died. Funny thing, I sold it on Ebay. The winner had owned the car for 20 years over and had sold it to the client that gave it to me. I never did learn to drive it very well.

15. 1980 Ferrari 308 GTSi: Red Tan of course.

18. 1927 Ahrens-Fox MX4 Triple Combination Pumping Engine (Fire truck)

19. 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited

20. 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited HO : My current car

21. 2002 Ford F250 : Sold it last year.

I also had a Ford Model A and another Model T but don't recall exactly when. Plus I've bought my wife a Honda CRV and her current car a 2005 Escalade.

So total is actually 25 cars. Plus a couple that I only owned for a short time because I took them in as security for a loan or fees. One was a MB Gullwing. I wish he had defaulted on paying his fees.


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Message 964309 - Posted: 18 Jan 2010, 5:43:22 UTC

I don't go through nearly as many cars as some of you folks do.

My first ride was a 1959 Willis utility wagon. 4WD and PTO Winch. Both of which got used frequently. You stand in the engine compartment when doing some repairs on this one.

A 76 Honda CB 550F Super Sport.

A 74 Honda Civic

An 88 Honda Civic Wagon

A 99 Subaru Outback.


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Message 964310 - Posted: 18 Jan 2010, 5:44:06 UTC
Last modified: 18 Jan 2010, 5:44:54 UTC

What an awesome thread !
I envy each and everyone of you.

Here in Canada winter(salt) ruins cars and it is a shame because we never get to see/own the greats of yesterday and are stuck with the bland seriousness that are todays's modern basic commuters.

All my cas were bought used.

1. 1985 Toyota Corolla SR5 two-door coupe, manual. Awesome. Could not stop playing with the retractable headlights. Surprisingly lively engine. Lost it in a crash with a gorram FORD FESTIVA when I fell asleep at the wheel. I still carry this car's shifter knob (which I preserved) in my glovebox to this day.

2. 1987 Ford Thunderbird LS, automatic steering column shifter, Red Velvet Interior. My first tango with the Ford 3.8L V-6 (boo) and my first rear-wheel drive (yaaay). Groovy taillights, Funky digital dash, Super comfy. Was a wreck when I bought it. Took the original engine with the original gaskets beyond 200 000km and lost it when it DISINTEGRATED itself on the road. Gas tank, read bumper and trunk floor fell on the road.

3. 1988 Mercury Cougar LS. Copy of previous car, only more pimp looking. Golden Brown, Tinted Glass, Dark Coverlights. Went to scrap yard to re-buy parts off my previous gorram T-Bird to fix it. Sold it due to budget constraints (3.8L ford V-6 was fubar'd on that one too).

4. 1989 Chevrolet Caprice Classic. Neaderthal technology. Everything fitted to the nearest inch. "Body by Fisher" made me chuckle everytime. Largest Master Cylinder I ever saw. Neverending trunk. Got taken off the road by the cops for mechanical concerns. Gave it to the tow-truck man to be converted for dirt oval racing.

5. 1990 Toyota 4-Runner (second-gen) SR5 V-6. Comfortable and hard working. Unstoppable and reliable. Rust got to it in a BAD way. No longer road worthy. Sold it to woodsmen who still use it for bushwhacking to this day. Mostly only the frame is left.

Current. 1996 Honda Civic CX Hatchback. Oh God. Gotta have priorities. The smallest, most basic small Honda available that year. I do NOT love this car but I appreciate and respect it. Has 200 000km on the clock. Used it this summer to haul a cord of fire wood with a trailer (!). Just wont die. Heck I dont even need to add oil between changes. NASA should use these to replace the space shuttle as they will survive anything.


Edit:
Dream Car : 1966 Grand Parisienne Station.....hmmmmmmm :)
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Message 964323 - Posted: 18 Jan 2010, 6:22:29 UTC - in response to Message 964309.  

I don't go through nearly as many cars as some of you folks do.

My first ride was a 1959 Willis utility wagon. 4WD and PTO Winch. Both of which got used frequently. You stand in the engine compartment when doing some repairs on this one.

A 76 Honda CB 550F Super Sport.

A 74 Honda Civic

An 88 Honda Civic Wagon

A 99 Subaru Outback.


76 Honda CB 550F Super Sport?

That's a Motorcycle, I know cause My first 4 cylinder bike was a 78 Suzuki GS550E and It had a Kick Start as well as an electric start too and yes I did try and kickstart It a couple times, Got It to start that way once though and only once, dang thing wasn't safe to start that way.

Puch Moped 50cc single cylinder 2 cycle engine
78 Honda Twin Star 185cc inline twin engine(4 cycle engine from here on)
78 Suzuki GS550E
78 Yamaha XS1000 w/shaft drive(the only shafty I ever owned)
84 Suzuki GS1150ES
86 Kawasaki Ninja 1000R(Black w/faired in turn signals, It had problems at altitude after coming up the pass as the charcoal filter always got clogged with gas and that effected the idle, Good bike otherwise, Good fun and powerful bike[see pic, It's like the one I had])

83 CB1100F Super Sport(was Red, White and Black, It has valves that are like VW Bugs) This was a one year model
85 Suzuki GS1150ES
87 Honda Hurricane 1000(in Grey)
The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's
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Message 964341 - Posted: 18 Jan 2010, 8:34:04 UTC


My first car was a Ford Fiesta 1L in 79
Fiesta XR2
Escort XR 3
Scorpio V6
Mondeo
Now i have a Mondeo V6



With each crime and every kindness we birth our future.
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Message 964343 - Posted: 18 Jan 2010, 9:21:43 UTC

I only had 3 cars so far.
1. Renault 5
2. Peugeot 205
3. Now I'm driving my 17 year old Ford Fiesta, the best car I ever had!
rOZZ
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Message 964368 - Posted: 18 Jan 2010, 14:39:52 UTC

Started with a 1970 Plymouth Duster
then a 1970 Chevy Nova
1967 VW Bug (in Germany)
1976 Plymouth Gold Duster
1969 Chevy Camaro
Datsun B210 not sure what year was given as a payment for work.
1996 Chevy pickup W/T 6 cylinder
2000 Mercedes ML 320
2004 Mercedes ML 350
2007 Chevy Pickup 3/4 ton
Official Abuser of Boinc Buttons...
And no good credit hound!
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Message 964405 - Posted: 18 Jan 2010, 17:24:05 UTC
Last modified: 18 Jan 2010, 17:34:39 UTC

Wow. All of them? Yikes.

OK, let's see....

1969 Dodge Polara 500. Land yacht. Could sleep 8 comfortably. Had a trunk that went into the next time zone. Paired with a 318 cu in engine, it was the perfect first car for a teenager. Think of a Sherman tank with a VW engine.

1969 Chevy Impala. Another land yacht. Had a decent 327 engine, but the awful Powerglide transmission.

1973 Fiat 124 Coupé CC. Traded in the monster Impala for this little cutie. Gave new meaning to the word RUST. Money pit. I was lucky to find a collector that wanted to refurbish it.

1976 Chevrolet Chevette. Yes, I actually had one. Had four hamsters under the hood.

1974 Pontiac Ventura. I picked this up in 1978 and the damn thing wouldn't die. It carried me through 2 years in the Army and college. I finally got rid of it in 1984 and it was still running.

1976 Plymouth Valiant. My father-in-law gave us this car when the transmission on the Ventura started to act up. Got me through my first job out of college.

1986 Plymouth Caravelle. First new car. I was in sales at the time, so it was a good work car.

1991 Chevy S-10 Pick up. We had just bought our house, so we did all of the landscaping using this truck. It was great. Drove it for 12 years. Sold it with 140K miles.

1993 Plymouth Voyager. Yes, for a brief period, I drove my wife's hand-me-down minivan. Mom's taxi hauls the kids, so she got the new one.

2003 Chevy Malibu. When the head gasket on the Voyager blew, I picked up this up. Sold it and bought...

2006 Dodge Charger R/T. Mid-life crisis car. Inferno Red. Hemi! 375 hp! My kids will NEVER touch this thing.

Join the PACK!
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Message 964471 - Posted: 18 Jan 2010, 23:24:51 UTC

I’ve only owned 2 cars.

A 1986 Honda Civic. I bought it about 6th hand in 1995. It died of terminal rust implosion in 2002.

Later that year, I went to the other end of the size spectrum and bought a 1979 Ponitac Parisienne (aka the green monster). I totalled it in a crash in 2005. (90% his fault, he was drunk and ran a red, 10% my fault, was talking on the cell and didn’t see him until it was too late.)

Since I moved to Vancouver, I find that I really don’t need a car. On the rare occasions that I absolutely need one, I rent.
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Message 964478 - Posted: 18 Jan 2010, 23:43:48 UTC

1960 Chevrolet Corvair (hey, I was 16, and I had a car!)

1963 Corvair Monza Spyder Convertible (factory turbocharged, 150hp)

1979 Malibu Station Wagon (my first new car)

1985 Chevy Cavalier Type-10 (was so good, my next car was....)

1991 Honda Prelude (in Peace-Officer High-Visibility Red, also bought new)
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Message 964483 - Posted: 19 Jan 2010, 0:12:25 UTC

'68 caprice...air ran cold....very cold. was awful lucky in that car...327 4bbl.
'68 impala...had air...couldn't tell...was awful lucky in that car...327 4bbl.
'73 olds delta royale 88...cold air...455cu.in., watching the gas gauge drop was scary...didn't stay in the car long enough for luck.
'78 datsun f10...datsun/nissan's first front wheel drive car...and it showed...1.5l...4 on the floor...
the battery was in the hatch...got awful lucky in that car.
'67 ford fairlane...the worst car i ever drove...tried not to drive it...289.
'68 vw...second worst car i ever drove..."hitler's revenge"...it had an engine?
'68 impala...had air...was awful lucky in that car...327 4bbl.
'78 impala...had air...luck is running out...305 no bbl. weak as water.
'93 honda civic...has air...gets 40mpg who needs luck?...1.6 dohc.
'08 scion xd...has air...gets 37mpg...ditto^...1.8 dohc
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Message 964485 - Posted: 19 Jan 2010, 0:21:37 UTC

A red piece of junk.
A blue piece of junk.
A green piece of junk.
A silver thing that is not junk yet, but will be by the time we drive it to death.
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Message 964495 - Posted: 19 Jan 2010, 0:48:30 UTC - in response to Message 964485.  

A red piece of junk.
A blue piece of junk.
A green piece of junk.
A silver thing that is not junk yet, but will be by the time we drive it to death.

That sounds familiar. I tend to drive them almost until they have to be towed to the junkheap.


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Message 964497 - Posted: 19 Jan 2010, 0:51:04 UTC

forgot the colors...
caprice dark blue metallic with white vinyl top...
impala chevy blue metallic
olds...a disturbing shade of green...ick!
datsun cream colored...not quite lemon yellow...
ford...green...blah
vw...white.
impala blue
impala maroon...i was a moron for buying it.
honda black
scion white



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Message 964499 - Posted: 19 Jan 2010, 0:52:26 UTC - in response to Message 964485.  

A red piece of junk.
A blue piece of junk.
A green piece of junk.
A silver thing that is not junk yet, but will be by the time we drive it to death.

Well I had a Red car that became Junk and a couple of Blue Cars that were both Junk, a green one, But no silver at least for a car, For a motorcycle sure I had a silver one, Angela Yer post made Me laugh, Thanks. :)
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Message 964504 - Posted: 19 Jan 2010, 1:03:32 UTC

I tend to drive them almost until they have to be towed to the junkheap.

That is just the point when I buy them and drive them some more!
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Message 964524 - Posted: 19 Jan 2010, 2:30:39 UTC

1980 Datsun B210- Drove till she died, friend crashed it but it still ran.

1977 Dodge Aspen- I made the mistake of thinking I could change my own oil, managed to crossthread the oil filter and blew up the motor. Reverse gear was already dead anyway.

1979 Chevrolet Caprice- Bought for $500 and drove it for about 6 years, until the car really did not want to go up hills anymore.

1997 Buick Park Avenue- Current car, just finished paying it off, still running fine. Did blow a gasket a couple of years ago from the climb up the hill everyday.

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