CARS FROM YOUR PAST

[RobertN]

The 2 I miss most are a 66 Dodge Charger (built it from a wreck, had a total of about $1800 in it & it looked GOOD until an old man made an illegal left turn in front of me on the highway) in 1982, & a 74 Dodge Dart I bought in 1992 from the high desert of New Mexico. Over 18 months I rebuilt the suspension better than new, reupholsered the interior, added factory A/C & a very adequite sound system, & tuned the 318 so that I was getting a steady 18 MPG with my lead foot, only to have it wrecked by an 18 YO girl turning left in front of me on my way home from work one afternoon.

Sooo sad! Those pictures remind me of my Road Runner; It was high in miles when I got t-boned; I gave up on it. It was fixable, but I had too much going on... Now, I look on Ebay longing for another. Won't happen any time soon, but I would like to get one again.

My favorite was the '73/'74, even though they were short on performance compared to earlier ones. Mine road and handled really well, especially with good KYB's and nice radials. It got decent mileage too. And, it would go pretty good when you opened it up.

Funny, through-out this thread, I have thought of the cars I'd like, that I never had. Two of them, most people here would not think of.

The first is a mid 70's Ford Falcon GTHO. 351 Cleveland 4spd. Turns out, in Oz, those Aussies really knew how to build a car. The Falcon's broke with the US version in the late 60's. The results were an awesome car(a good sampling of them were seen in the MAd Max movies...). I like the later body styles, reminiscent of the US Torino, but definitely all Aussie.

The second is a Dodge Charger with the inline six cylinder "Hemi". Very fast, all Aussie car. It had a Hemi six cylinder that was originally designed for US pickup trucks, but never saw production here. The car had little relation to US Chargers except the name. And it was FAST.

 

[joes_427_vette]

Had
57 chevrolet 2dht, red and white 283 / auto
57 corvette red and white 283 / 4 speed w/ hard, no soft top
64 impala 2dht red 300 - 327 3 speed standard shift

Kept
69 pontiac lemans convert 350 / automatic
70 GTO 455 with automatiic
66 corvette coupe 427 / 425hp 4 speed
63 corvette coupe 327 / 300 hp 4 speed ( red and blue pair )
75 corvette convert 350 / automatic both tops

Not a collection, more like a disease !!

 

[MadDogDriver]

Awe Man!! This thread is killing me. So many memories. It's amazing how as a kid I could see a car drive by and quote everything about it...CCID, rear end ratio, the works.

RobertN - My Dad went in 50/50 with me on my first purchase, `68 Roadrunner ($3572 with a 426 hemi). Too cool!! Nothing but ENGINE, tires and an AM radio. times infinity. Wish I still had it. While I was away in the Navy my sister had a terrible accident with it. Totalled it, but she only got scratched fortunately.

Link to it's history.

Musclecarclub.com - Plymouth Road Runner - History

 

[Podunkadunk]

I won't ask for forgiveness for posting my choice. It's not an "oldie" like most you posted. It's recent, but when I first saw one and heard it's rumble, I fell in love with it and have wanted one ever since. Maybe one day I'll sell my property/home and buy one...and move into it. Haha.

It's a 2005 Ford GT.

http://www.fordgt.net/redgtcolor.jpg

It's the only car I've ever been up against that could run me down on a sportbike, although I know there are a handful of others that could do it, which are street legal.

Here is a quick video link to a buddy of mine racing the one I fell in love with. He is riding a crotch-rocket, heavily modded Yamaha R-1, 1000 cc class. It's top speed is about 186mph. Watch as "Joe" in the Ford GT runs him down.

Also note, because the motorcycle is so much quicker from a stop, they did a roll-on takeoff from 70mph. This video took place last April, about midnight on 103rd street, west of Brannonfield Rd going toward Cecil Field. It's a divided highway, long and straight. I witnessed the runs...too cool.

R1 vs. Ford GT - Google Video

 

[N80]

Okay, here's a very unromantic one. How about my dark gray, 1991, 4 door, 4wd, 6 cylinder Nissan Pathfinder (original Pathfinder). Slightly underpowerd. Five speed manual. Virtually no mods other than wider rims and better than stock shocks.

This was the best handling 4x4 I ever had, at high speeds or low. On the vast, sandy reservation on Eglin AFB I loved to race along on those deep sandy roads, sometime getting up to 65+ mph, taking curves and throwing up rooster tails. (Foolish? yes; fun? yes). But it also handled mud, hills, etc. The longer I had it and the more it got banged up, the more I did with it offroad and the better it performed. I put over 180,000 miles on it with no breakdowns other than an alternator replacement. Man it was tough and handled lots of abuse. I loved that truck, even with all its dents and dings and i continued to drive it even when the AC went out (and I live in SC).

Some teeny bopper pulled out in front of me and it was totalled.

I never sell the trucks I love, I total them!

I got a later model Pathfinder after that and it just wasn't the same.

 

[pappy19]

My most favorite is my current 2002 Ford F-350 SD 4X4 7.3 Powerstroke, best pickup I've ever owned.
Number 2 would be my old 1972 GMC 2500 4X4 (bought new)with a hopped up 350 and a HD 4 speed. **** good truck.
Number 3 would be my old "wood truck" that I paid $600 for, it was a 1957 International 1 ton 4X4 with a short narrow bed, go figure. I put a stake side on it and man that thing would crawl up anything and haul some firewood. Sorry I sold that one as I could have made it a real classic today.

I've never owned a car.

 

[KentT]

I've had several that I'd like to have back, so I'll only list the top 3:

#3 -- 1970 Karmann Ghia convertible, similar to this one but yellow and I put a "built" engine in it, putting out about 85-90hp. A poor man's Porsche, and a great car as a college kid -- fun to drive, reliable and cheap on gas...

Sports Car Market > Profiles and Price Guide > 1970 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Convertible

#2 -- 1965 Ford Falcon Futura 2-Dr Hardtop -- I put a 289 HiPo and 4-speed in it out of a '66 Mustang. Then I added a cam, Edelbrock intake with Holley 750-double pumper, and headers -- and painted it Mercury Competition Orange with white racing stripes. Clocked 12.58 in 1/4 mile with borrowed wrinkle-walls. A fun, fun, fun, street car....

1965 Falcon Futura

#1 -- without question. A 1962 Corvette 327-340Hp with two Carter 4-barrel carbs (same engine as the 360 HP fuel-injected, except two 4-barrel carbs). Mine was like this one, except with a red interior and I didn't have the hard top, only a black convertible top. Got married and went from a 'Vette to 36-hp VW...

1962 CORVETTE

 

[Bird]

Got married and went from a 'Vette to 36-hp VW...

A friend and co-worker from my days in the post office (1959 to 1964) did the same thing. He had a 1960 or 1961 white vette with two 4-bbl. carbs and 4 speed manual transmission with both hard and soft tops. Then when they Stingray came out in 1963, he bought a new one with the 327, single carb, coupe. But when he got married, it was VWs. He had both a VW bus and the station wagon. He and his wife were in the habit of going on vacation camping out somewhere in the mountains in Colorado and when Chevrolet came out with the Vega, he traded for one and found that it wouldn't climb the mountain on the roads they had been using with the VW.

He and I had a lot of fun in our single days with his Corvettes and my 1962 Austin Healy Sprite.

I guess I wish I still had the Sprite if this guy can get nearly $10k for his when I only gave $2,200 for mine when it was new.

 

[Haoleguy]

#1 - 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302...first car which managed to get 8-10mpg and was thirsty for high octane

#2 - 1964 Pontiac Lemans Convertible....cost me $125 in 1973...had 326 ci engine with 4 speed

#3 - 1990 Nissan 300ZX......great speed and road grip...paid less than I bought it for...sold to pay for college tuition

Honorable mention....1972 Ford Pinto station wagon......great surf wagon which carted me all over Kalifornia and Hawai'i.

I now get more excited about tractors, excavators, and dump trucks. However, I still lust after a 'ol Woody wagon.

 

[mjarrels]

Had a VW bug... 1963 model... don't want to do that again!

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