OT: Talking Cars Tuesday: Your irrational love.
Its late on Tuesday and I'm not seeing anything, so I'll take a shot as I love this thread.
So; What car is the car that you love/have a soft spot for that you'd hate if you hadn't owned it or been around it during a special time? Maybe its that first HS car that gave you some freedom. Maybe its the car that you had one summer with a hot girlfriend or boyfriend. Maybe it was the car that caught your attention as a kid before you knew any better.
For me its a Dodge 600 Convertible.
Objectively, its a cowl shaking monster with K-car underpinnings.
Subjectively, it was the top down freedom machine my Dad owned and my brother let me tag along in on Saturday nights going to HS football games, while he listend to Led Zeppelin on the Hi-Comp radio we convinced my Dad to buy.
What is yours?
I have a Wrangler that I love but will be selling soon. Not because I want to, but I need the money to buy a truck that I will get more use out of.
My irrational car would be a Delorean. If I win the lottery that will be one of the cars I buy.
They had the Viper, the LH sedans, the cloud cars... alot of things that were either decent or actually innovative. The Prowler was among those things. I wish they'd stuck the Magnum V8 in it with a 5 speed, or at least hopped up the 2.5 to like 300hp and had a 5 speed. But For what it was it was cool.
I liked Lutz's leadership and Tom Gale's designs.
A Prowler
and a SSR
A friend of mine has a really nice one that he got from a police auction
I had a Chevy Impala that was a retired police vehicle and it still had the nicer suspension, V8 (which was shoehorned in that compartment) and other features when I managed to get my hands on it. Drove really, really nice too. I only had it for about five years though, as it developed head gasket problems - actually, I have never seen a car fail the vapor test which they use for that so dramatically.
68 Mustang, Desert Tan with burgundy interior Only Mustang I've seen to date that steering wheel moved up and to the right for leg room when door was opened from inside. Also had map lights that came in very handy for passenger mixing drinks or prepping that other stuff I did back then. Purchased it when I got back from Vietnam in '72.. Close second was '77 Cutlass with those little port windows. Inherited it in like '96 with 18,000 miles on it. White with half-vinyl roof, camel colored. Had less than 22K when I was forced to sell it in 2010 because business needed infusion of cash. I wholeheartedly agree with UM Proud, however, in his assessment of the LTD Crown Vic. Didn't know they discontinued those as well, meaning I had better hang on to my Grand Marquis for as long as I can because I know they discontinued those. After my Mustang days were done - had three of those - it was the LTD, Grand Marquis or Town Car due to suspension. Guessing only American car that can match the ride would be the Caddys. And those damn 4.6 engines will have you backing off the accelerator in less than half the distance of the normal size on ramp. This actually looks more like the GT, which mine was not.
Forgot about the fog lights Will have to use imagination for the Desert Tan, burgundy combo.
My "black ice" excuse worked in spite of my bloodshot eyes and empties which I quickly shoved in the T-top cases. Officer Friendly was, and I appreciated it. Fat lip and all.
My first car and forever my true car love
I always wanted a Grand Am too when I was in high school. Ironically, I finally did get to own one when I married my wife. She owned one and I loved driving that car. We had to sell it though right after our second child was born and upgrade to a larger vehicle.
First car that I drove when I got my license. Some highlights were jampiling 11 people in the car to make a short trip from the football stadium to the local restaurant after a HS football game and driving it into a ditch on an icy Friday evening. Here is the best picture I could find, no idea who this girl is in the picture.
Thankfully I'm no longer irrational about cars. But when I was younger, I wanted an Alfa Romeo GTV-6 in the worst way. There was an older guy in my town who drove one (when I say older, I was 14 and he was 18). He was Italian and hot, and so of course, I became obsessed with his car. His name was Gino.
1988 Suburban. An absolute tank that got me and 20 of my friends around town in high school. I'm not sure it was the best decision my parents made letting me drive it, but at 8 mpg how far could i really get.
"Hi - you may know me from Wayne's World." I drove a blue Pacer when I was very young, and loved the terrarium feel of the car. No blind spots, seemingly lots of room. At a time when having a car meant an exponential increase in freedom. Are they unreliable? Sure. Ugly? Friend, you'd best check yourself before ... .
Also, a white late 1980s Aries K car with a light blue interior. Nothing to recommend itself to me other than I was driving it the night I met my wife. She is anything but the "Aries K car" of spouses (my life's greatest blessing, along with our kids), but I always associate that car with meeting her. I was pretty confident she wasn't interested in me because of my car.
1984 Ford Bronco. Took that thing over more awful terrain than I can remember and only a couple of breakdowns in the middle of nowhere necessitating me hitchhiking to the house of a nearby rancher my Dad knew.
Having to lock the hubcaps to get into 4WD was a real treat especially when on the steep side of a hill.
Had a lot of good times in one of these beauties...
granted, i converted it to 4X4, and it's only about 10 yrs old now, but a 15 passenger ford nevertheless.
Ours had a stick shift up by the steering wheel column, two separate gas tanks (for LEADED gas...yes, we eventually had to ADD bottles of lead to our fuel as everything converted to unleaded), orange-tinged hippie curtains and upholstery, bean bags strewn about (because buckling up wasn't a law yet), etc., etc. It was quite a ride. Great for road trips though.
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passed out a lot of candy to kids in that van?
... The Honda Odyssey. I hate it every time I realize there is no way that pretty woman crossing the street is checking me out. I love it for the purpose it serves (lugging around 3 children under 3).
We bought a minivan about 5 years ago. I swore I'd never own one. But our GMC Jimmy was too small, I knew we needed a 3rd row of seats. I priced some of the SUVs and I just couldn't justify spending that much $$ for something I knew my young kids were going to destroy. I didn't care about resale value because we are driving our van into the ground.
My first car. 1989 Cutlass Supreme. It was just sporty enough to get me lots of ladies. Roomy back seat, and a front seat without a console in the middle meant plenty of room should it be necessary... I had the sweetest aftermarket radio and subwoofers in that thing. It was ugly on the outside looking back, but that car had a lot of memories. Cruising to Lake Michigan, taking it up north, cruising with the music...I'd trade my car today to go back to those carefree teenage years even if it meant a crappy Oldsmobile.
I had two - 1979 and 1986. The '79 was mom's, which I drove in HS and eventually inherited. First new car was an '86. Classy and sexy.
These are not mine - just internet photos...
There was one at the Buick dealership for months that I would long for. Basically a grandparent car with blackwalls, black molding around the windows instead of chorme, different wheels, and a few T-Type badges. In retrospect, it makes absolutely NO sense, but for a 14 year old kid who begged his parents to put the tires on our LeSabre with the whitewalls facing in and blackwalls facing out, the idea that you could get a car from the factory the looked a little bit cooler was so exciting.
Rational desired car from the same era was Buick Grand National, that I know has been discussed here before.
Today, I still really want a Jeep. I've resigned myself to the fact that it would have to be an Unlimited, but I just can't quite justify spending the money on something I really don't need.
My two-door Wrangler was completely impractical for mostly city driving. Horrible mileage and a giant folding back seat dividing all cargo room. I still enjoyed taking the top off and crusing in the summer. The two-door just looks better.
My brother has owned two Wranglers, and I've had two XJ's, and they've both been rock solid despite us beating the $hit out of them. Ad hoc, I know, but the only thing that ever killed them was rust.
Now, admittedly, all our experiences are with the 4.0 liter drivetrain.
304 8 Cylinder I had to order it because no one wanted a 8 cylinder in 1981 after the gas shortage of the late 70's. I had to wait 13 of the longest weeks in my life because I insisted on a four speed standard transmission and Borg and Warner (clutch) went on strike.
After 90 day warranty ran its course, I added a full roll cage and a 3 inch lift. Stripped off any emissions to bog it down and put headers on it. The biggest problem was twisting standard drive shafts in half or blowing up universal joints.
Deuce and a quarter = Electra 225
Pillows in the back, static strips...
My oldest brother had one. Navy blue, red "Tiger Paw" tires, 4-speed manual (white cue-ball stick!), six-pack (2x3 barrel carbs), small hood scoop. I'm told that it drove like a truck (I was too young to drive it) but damn, that thing could fly!
Some day, I shall own one...
It was black, big tires, front seats the size of friggin la-z-boys. That thing would just glide down the highway.
You could put 4 golf bags in the trunk with room to spare. It finally crapped out on me in college, that was a sad day.
second in ugliness only to the AMC SST wagons of those same years, i present to thee, the chevy kingswood (representative photo). it was huge, had a 400 cu V8 and those funky rear door/window set ups. however, it could hold enough people to staff an aircraft carrier and they actually rode fairly smoothly. mom's last car before she passed, i remember having some guy and his buddies cut me off and plowing him on a rain soaked downtown detroit late night on the way home from work kingswood 1, bad driver and his car, 0.
hence the name, the dragon wagon. you didn't want to mess with it.
The back end not so much, but the somewhat recessed, slanted back quad headlights is cool!.
didn't like that grill so much. ka-pow. but literally no marks on the dragon wagon.
I am sure they would be complete crap but they seemed more obtainable than the real thing. I wanted a Porsche Speedster replica - becauae I could not afford a Corbra replica.
and even worse a Fiero Kit car! I always thought it would be cool to own a Ferrari...
Woo hoo! Looks great but is still a Fiero under the skin!
Yellow MG Midget convertible with luggage rack on the trunk. Only problem is when the weather was really hot and humid it would stall when shifting into second. Also, took about 18 turnovers to get it started in the rain. You would think the Brits would have figured out rainy/damp issues given their climate. But I still loved that car.
supercharged naturally
One of my undergrad roommates had a new MR2 (1984? 1985?). Man, we flogged that thing! I remember that it would lift one of the rear wheels off the ground in hard cornering! Engine would rev to about 7 grand. I can't tell you how many times he spun that car out. They don't make fun, small, dangerous, rear-drive cars anymore.
This car was my screensaver all through my four years at Michigan (98-02).
That was my dad's car which I got to borrow on date nights in high school. Had a very memorable first at a drive-in movie in that car. Also, I drove a car that was a comedy punchline for many years...."fine Corinthian leather"....Khan!
a '74 Pontiac Firebird. Back when I had that cruising was still big and we used to spend Friday nights cruising the strip, trying to pick up chicks and racing other kids. Good times.