Car Love: Sleds That I've Owned

[JimmyCarter]

'78 Mustard Yellow Volvo 2-something(240/242?) - Drove in high school in the late 90s. Brown corduroy seats, car smelled like melted crayons. Fuel gauge didn't work and rear tires would break lose on even slightly damp asphalt. I loved that car.

'84 Bronco II - Sheep wool seat covers, slight body rot, fisher price looking plastic interior. Still smelled faintly of the wet dogs the prior owner used to carry around in it. I want another one of these someday.

'02 Nissan Sentra SER - 17 inch wheels and boy racer interior. Quick and fun, but not memorable.

'07 Xterra - Not much to say except I didn't care about beating the shit out of it.

'13 BMW 325 Xdrive - Current commuter

[Bromontana]

I need a truck though so my dick will get bigger...I'm thinking early 2000's tundra.

ftmfw

[PNWbrit]

2009 Honda Fit, badass commuter.

It's what everyone needs in the city.

Front seats lay all the way flat.

Struck me as a bit odd.

[WestCoastPDR]

1993 Ford festiva $500 dollar beater car

1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse High school ride

1998 Chevrolet Blazer ZR2 Really wish I still had it (college ride)

2002 VW Jetta GLI Fast fun 4 door sedan

2008 Chevrolet Malibu

2008 Chevrolet Silverado

2007 Subaru Outback (wifes current ride) 150k miles and going strong

2012 GMC Sierra ext cab Z71 4x4 with leer shell and old school carpet kit for comfortable nights sleeping off the beaten path

[TAFKALVS]

1996 Jeep Cherokee Classic 4x4 - Had the 4.0. Parents bought it with 60K miles, gave it to me at 200k, I sold it at 280k. It was a great car and I often miss it, probably mostly for all the trouble I got into with it... got in 2 crashes with it, off-roaded it, jumped it, drifted it, broke it, fixed it. I took it camping, skiing, hiking, climbing and girl chasing. It was great. Sold it for $1200

1974 Jeep J10 - Bought it for $800, has been a long term project. Sold the engine out of the truck for $600 (it was a 401 amc.) Currently working on swapping in a 5.3L Gen3 Small Block Chevy.

1992 Jeep Wrangler - Bought it for $2800. I was really excited about it when I bought it but it had some major short comings - 2.5L 4cyl was very lacking in power and soft tops are not as cool as you think. Had some 31" mud terrain tires on it. I quickly traded it for:

1993 Chevy 1500 Extended Cab Pickup. 5.7l TBI with a 5-speed manual. Kept it for about a year, it was a good truck for The combination of a very stiff clutch and a non-functional e-brake driving in hilly traffic a nightmare.

Traded to a guy for $2500 + a 1997 Subaru Impreza Outback

1997 Subaru Impreza Outback - 2.2L with a 5-speed. 240k on the clock. Lots of life left though. Drove it from my house in Leavenworth, WA to Golden, BC and back for the Hoji camp at GAH. Lots of trips to Stevens Pass in this car, quite the tank in the snow. Traded it for:

2000 GMC Sierra 2500 4x4. 6.0L with 4L80e. 240,000 miles. Used it to gather firewood for the fall and then sold it. The high miles made me feel like I was sitting on a ticking time-bomb. Sold for $3500

2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee - 4.7l v8, Quadradrive with Limited package. 99,0000 miles when I bought it. Nicest car I've owned, super quiet and comfortable. Good for driving dirt roads, snow. V8 makes passing easy and efficient. Current Daily Driver.

1990 Toyota Pickup 4x4. Just bought this from a buddy needing some extra cash for $1500. Beater offroad rig, 33s, Marlin Crawler Rear locker, spool in front. 22re + 5-speed. Not sure how long I'll keep it, but its a pretty fun to have a beater truck like this.

[Tahoe Bromide]

1982 Volkswagen Rabbit and a Yugo. Cars are so awesome.

[BigDaddy]

1963 VW Beetle: learned to drive in this, parents car. Used to quietly push it out the driveway then go for late night cruises…

1969 Olds Cutless: again, just the rents, but logged thousands in it. Listed in Dazed and Confused credits, jk.

1972 Fiat 128: 1st car, bought used for $1k. Poor mans 2002, and total POS. Broke down every week, so I owe it for teaching me how to fix anything. Still, drove through blizzards and we got the goods.

1968 Triumph TR-4 IRS: classic restoration that was too much for my budget. Never got off the ground. Frame rusted through. Friend completely restored a regular TR-4 to mint condition, so I saw the possibilities… awesome ride.

1981 Subaru 4WD Wagon: 1st new car and loved it. Got shot up in a turf battle, but fortunately, I wasn’t in it.

1983 Saab 900 Turbo: used, I put almost 200k on this and was probably the best highway machine I ever owned. Sound system was amazing and cargo bay held tons, too. With back seat down, it could sleep a family of gypsies. My favorite, hands and seat down.

1995 Nissan Pathfinder, black. 2nd new car, great times.

2000 Saab 95: Still own it, pushing 250k. Strong, solid and a stick. Going to the teen soon.

2000 Tacoma: Frame rusted, so turned in and doubled money from Toyota.

2001 Chevy Tahoe: Great work/family vehicle. Still own it and going on 325k.

2007 Prius: Cross country on fumes machine, but wife hated it.

2007 Tacoma: 3rd new car. Great work truck, going on 200k.

2010 Subaru Outback: latest to the stable. Perfect for town and road trips. Like it.

[happytimefunbox]

Holy shit let's see I've had a bunch.

79 buick century 2 door. Hand me down from pops. Snapped the control arms doing dukes of hazard over some rr tracks. Lost my cherry in the front seat.

79 chevy camaro 350 small block holly carb headers and other go fast goodies. Way too fast for a teenager. Wrapped it around a tree.

79 chevy shortbed stepside. Rebuilt the engine from my camaro into a 383 and dropped it in. Raced from gas station to gas station.

64 chevy impala 4 door 235 thrifty six. Barn car from Missouri. 4-12 inch jbls in the trunk. All the brothers wanted to buy or steal it from me. My car for last year of high school and most of college. So many good memories in that whip.

89 nissan pickup 2 Dr 2wd. Nothing special.

1996 Nissan king cab pickup . First new vehicle. Rallied that shit all over the east coast chasing swell. Couldn't pull a wake board boat for shit.

1993 pontiac transport the one with the sloped hood. Pops gave it to me when my truck got stolen. Epic road trips in it got double overhead frisco pier obx then motored out for mtbing and camping in pisgah nf.

88 Chevy K5 Blazer 350 4x4 with a small lift. Much better tow vehicle for the boat. Rode out super nice and was the vehicle I owned when first living in the snow. Unstoppable.

1996 Honda Civic b18c motor swap lots of other stuff. Stupid fast jdm commuter car. Not a great family car.

2001 Chevy Venture minivan. Family hauler. The single most versitile vehicle I've owned. Camped surfed fished out of it with all the seats out. Surpringly good in snow with the right tires. Bought used w20k in 03 traded it in 2012 with 200k on ticker no major repairs.

94 Honda Civic Si hatch. Bone stock. Fun as hell to drive commuter car 40 mpg.

2000 Volvo XC70. Best snow car ever. Many trips in it up lcc before road closures getting my wife to her night shift at the bird. Got out from under it due to getting bled by electrical bs.

2009 Subaru Forrester. Second new car. What is there to say. Meh.... surprisingly good offroad.

2006 Toyota Tundra tundra 4dr. Small lift and some bigger tires and banks exhaust. Love this truck does everything well. My current whip but wife drives it.

2012 Volkswagen tdi sportwagon. Really like this car. Feels solid, handles on rails, surprising pepper for a stock diesel. 40mpg 4 people fully loaded cruise set at 85.

[BmillsSkier]

Sold this car for $1500, exactly the amount I paid for it, to a Goth d00d from Hollywood. As I recall, the battery was dying and he offered me an extra $20 for my jumper cables. I still have those cables. Goths where fucking lame even way back then.

I absolutey love the stories that go with everyone's beaters more than anything else but this one made me laugh out loud.

Here's a shitbox with a dead battery, you want these jumper cables to get you home? Fuck you.

[VTeton]

1981 Jeep CJ7 corvette yellow.
1980 Jeep cj7 beater
1986 Jeep cj7 beater
1992 crown Vic police interceptor... Beast
1997 Jeep Cherokee bullit proof until I rolled it into the Boston garden.
2001 Lexus IS300. Great car but horrible in the snow!!!
2005 Subaru Legacy GT tuned. Awesome car until a drunk driver totaled it.
2007 Chevy Tahoe Special Service Vehicle. Nice cheap ride.
2015 Jeep Wrangler JKU running flat fenders and 35in tires.

Think I could go the next 30 years with the Wrangler, a turbo 911 and a new tahoe every ten years. Gotta work on the Porsche...

[adrenalated]

I think this thread has proved that it doesn't matter what car you have, it's what you do with it that matters.

Shitty beaters that you don't care about and therefore actually do fun shit with always generate the best memories.

On that note, I would like to share some review notes on rental cars.
-2010-ish Mazda3 Hatchback: horrible interior, but easiest car to get airborne I have ever driven.
-2013-ish Dodge Grand Caravan: as mentioned in the minivan thread, will light up front tires with traction control off from a stop with a full cargo of 5 ski bums + gear.
-2013-ish Jeep Liberty: the rear brakes will last roughly 10mi of driving with the e-brake on before failing entirely. Poor performance jumping curbs.

Don't ever buy a used car that was once a rental.

[tripice351]

1985 Honda Prelude. Paid $750, complete with broken headlight switch - the whole stalk broken off the column, the previous owner blamed it on her cat. For real.

1985 Ford Mustang 4 cylinder hatchback. Paid $500, was sold instantly when the grease monkey shadetree mechanic showed that even an 88hp boat anchor can spin the tires if you slip the clutch just right.

1979 Ford Mustang coupe, with the drivetrain from an 85 5.0. Fucking loved that car. Donated to charity with a grenaded T5 because I was moving and couldn't afford to fix it or storage it.

1989 Ford Mustang convertible 5.0 automatic. 306 w/ TFS TW heads, decent cam, Performer RPM intake.. so much fun. Saved the drivetrain and sold the roller, Foxbody convertibles have a beercan sheetmetal unibody and are total rattletraps.. couldn't take it any more.

2004 Ford Focus. Wife's car, only car I've ever bought brand new. 200k+ and still going strong. Will get passed down the family line soon.

1992 Honda Accord. Wife's old junker before I bought her the Focus. I then used it as a DD until it had 310k+ miles on it.. sold it on Craigslist for $800, still running like a top.

1984.5 Ford Mustang GT-350, turbocharged 2.3L SVO motor. The 84 (and a half) GT-350 was just a sticker job "anniversary edition", but a rare car none the less. Rebuilt the short block, and hand ported the heads, intake, and exhaust manifold myself. Only interesting to Ford nerds like me.

2002 Subaru WRX wagon automatic. No mods, no bling, just a snow going war machine. 200k+ and runs great.

[tripice351]

I think this thread has proved that it doesn't matter what car you have, it's what you do with it that matters.

Shitty beaters that you don't care about and therefore actually do fun shit with always generate the best memories.

On that note, I would like to share some review notes on rental cars.
-2010-ish Mazda3 Hatchback: horrible interior, but easiest car to get airborne I have ever driven.
-2013-ish Dodge Grand Caravan: as mentioned in the minivan thread, will light up front tires with traction control off from a stop with a full cargo of 5 ski bums + gear.
-2013-ish Jeep Liberty: the rear brakes will last roughly 10mi of driving with the e-brake on before failing entirely. Poor performance jumping curbs.

Don't ever buy a used car that was once a rental.

+1000. They get beaten like a mule, and the rental companies don't do any maintenance on them. Just oil changes and tires only when absolutely necessary (with the shittiest Chinese tires they can find) for 30k miles then they send em to the auction.. where dealerships buy them, and put them on their lot. Carfax will sometimes show this. The salesman might not even know it was a former rental - ask to see documents showing previous owners.

[4matic]

This one? With the dual headlights?

No, I checked that earlier because I thought I got it wrong. I was. Mine was VFR750F which was the 4 time Superbike champ. Once and probably the last privateer bike to win Daytona.



I bought the bike in SF from a dr. with 1500 miles on it. I think I paid $3k. He had it butchered with great parts and no setup. It handled like crap when I got it and I was a back marker in my crew. The stock VF700F was a good handling bike so I knew something was wrong. I took the 750F to Lindeman Engineering to get the suspension set for my weight and tune the ride for bumpy roads. They drill out out the stock front shock valves to allow slightly more oil flow. Wow.. The VFR750F has 100 horsepower all usable off the bottom. One of the guys I rode with had a VFR750R RC30. Coolest bike ever but.. It had chain slap in stock trim and was tuned for high rev racing; low handle bars. It was not nearly as good of street bike as the 750F.

[Lindahl]

02 Honda CRV - coming up on 300k miles, still runs great, had it since 40k and except for the CV/struts once (rallying down dirt roads) only a couple hundred dollars in unscheduled maintenance. I'm not kind to it either. Cavernous inside yet still averages 25+mpg, rear tire on the back gives you the best bike carrier design for a single bike (or two). Good offroad-light capabilities, pretty decent in snow. The post-06 ones are garbage though. They totally neutered this vehicle as an SUV-sport utility vehicle. Its now a small minivan like the rest of the small 'SUVs' (except the Forester). Pissed the 02-06 won't be around much longer under 100k.

[Skidog]

02 Honda CRV - coming up on 300k miles, still runs great, had it since 40k and only a couple hundred dollars in unscheduled maintenance. Cavernous inside yet still averages 28mpg, rear tire on the back gives you the best bike carrier design for a single bike (or two). Good offroad-light capabilities, pretty decent in snow. The post-06 ones are garbage though. They totally neutered this vehicle as an SUV-sport utility vehicle. Its now a small minivan like the rest of the small 'SUVs' (except the Forester). Pissed the 02-06 won't be around much longer under 100k.

Got an 04 with under 100k well 99k now. Wanna buy it? Wife driven since it was purchased new. Ex all available options that you could put in. Added xm radio.

[Lindahl]

I'm driving mine into the ground first. Thanks though!

[Gepeto]

Guess I should apologize up front for oversharing, but this thread was chewing at the bone.

Dad was a car guy and went to a diesel mech tech school before joining the Navy. He was pretty knowledgeable and good with a wrench. So the (anything with an engine) exposure was pretty good from a young age.

57 VW Beetle - some funky white/gray - First family car I can remember - used
59 2dr Chevy Impala - Black with huge wings and bright red leather interior – used from an aunt
64 4dr Ford Falcon - Green - new company car
64.5 2dr Corvair - Maroon with the lip over the back window - used
Mom’s dd - I was allowed to sit on the tunnel and shift when Dad drove. The throw was at least 14”.

67 2dr Buick LeSabre - Dark Greenish gun metal gray - new
Traveled for a month from NJ to CA and back (maternal side of the family all live on the wrong coast).Lots of planning went into this adventure and it all focused around the car. (first visit of 21 to Jackson)

69 Buick Electra 225 – New/Dark Green
What a whale – car almost burnt to the ground the first day in the driveway. I was playing with everything you could turn on and off in the cockpit and some how the wiring harness shorted and caught on fire. Car went back to the dealer for almost a month.

63 Ford Econoline telephone truck - 3spd on the column.
Must have driven that thing 20m up and down the driveway. At 15, I would wait for the rents to go off to work (I made out like I was off to school, but walk around the block and then wait behind our garage) and drive it to school. Drove it most of my freshman year of high school until one day (I sometimes drove home for lunch) Dad came home from work to check on some mail he was expecting and we passed each other on the road. It’s pretty funny now, but it wasn’t so funny then.

1966 Mustang Coupe – 289/3spd auto - baby blue with black interior - 7k miles ($2200)
I was allowed to buy my first car a year before I could legally drive. Belonged to a silver spooned distant cousin that was off to college and couldn’t take it with him - too good to pass up. Another 20m 200’ at a time. Had to put at least 10 coats of wax on it. Dad thought I was going to rub the paint off.

A senior citizen ran over the nose of the car and pushed me into a bus while making a left into (me) on-coming traffic. Fixed up the Stang, but she was never the same.

66 Mustang GT fastback 4spd manual – ($450).
Found it melting into the ground behind some weeds alongside of a highway. Clutch linkage had imploded and the owner gave up on it. I did a complete frame up restoration and had it finished with 7 coats of starfire black lacquer.

Two months later while driving on the GSP at 2am, the front u-joint gave way so I pull over to the shoulder alongside a 10’ high concrete retaining wall. Just long enough for me to turn the flashers on and fall asleep, a girl stoned out of her mind hits my stationary car at 70+ miles an hour. My car spun and hit the wall a bunch of times. The girl was so rocked she never knew she hit me and continued to drive another half mile with the front end of her car missing. Nice lawsuit got me off to a good start out of high school.

1976 Cadillac Coupe DeVille – Dark Blue/light blue leather
The car is 3 weeks old and sitting in the single car garage that dad had to extend so the car would fit. Dad is in vegas so a friend and I push the caddy down 200 foot of drive and out into a narrow street without the aid of power steering or brakes. Quietly start the car and motor off. 10 blocks from the house I’m racing down a street with cars parked on both sides and enough road for 1.5 caddies. A drunk with 3 other people in the car backs out of a driveway between two parked cars without looking. I take out his car, a parked car to the right and nose dive into a 30” maple. The steering column went up and over me instead of through me. Next morning, Mom opens the garage door to get the car and take my sister to girl scouts. Nuff said

1975 Ford Series 500 20’ Stake-body 5 ton truck – red/new
I’m moving Dad’s attorney into a new house and I got his two kids in the cab. I’m pulling away from a traffic signal in a rain storm, spinning the dually’s with every slammed gear change and popped clutch. I just grab 4^th and out of a shopping mall parking lot and across four lanes of road advances a light green 1963 4dr Buick Skylark with a senior couple in it. The car then comes to a complete stop. I two foot the brake pedal, but it is too late. Truck climbs into the back seat of the car. The elder man behind the wheel suffered a heart attack as the car was coming out of the lot and died on the spot where the car came to a stop.

1971 Triumph Trident T150 750 Triple – imported from Italy (used - $1,270).
My first transportation after joining the Army. Quite the first motorcycle. But I was(again) surrounded with very knowledge types who exposed me to what is now MotoGP and the US version of two wheeled roadracing. I was just a fan at this point. I bought a used Honda Elsinore 250 and tried my hand at motorcross the summer of 77.

1971Plymouth GTX - blue with the 440 slap stick package on Cragars - 50’s in the rear and 60’s up front. ($4700)
Winter was way too cold for the bike and I was living 90 miles from base with a very hot (under-aged) blonde chic with small titties and a nice bumper (her father liked me) who happened to be queen of the multi-orgasm. I picked up another stripe which made me eligible and got the nod into ranger school late winter 78 and was not allowed to take the car. I left it with a bff bunkmate with strict instructions that no one but him could use it. About 3 weeks after I leave, my parents get a phone call from the police asking if they knew where I was (I was not allowed to share, they only knew that I was TDY). The car was used in an armed robbery of a restaurant on an indian reservation in Oklahoma. I eventually get it back and drive it another two years. I ETS in 1980 still driving the GTX, but someone had pulled out the harness while the car was impounded and I was never able to get right. Finally gave up after replacing everything I could think of but the wiring harness itself and sold it for($850).

1968 MGB-GT – blue - wire wheels/hydraulic carburetors/lucas electrics ($675)
Absolutely hated this car. So many bads to list. Nicest feature was that I could bump start by myself. Studded snows made it an okay ski car but lacked ground clearance.

1979 Suzuki GS750 – new – ($2300?)
Crashed it on the street 3 or 4 times and finally wired it up and put number plates on it to go club racing in the NE. Mostly Bryar/Bridgehampton/Pocono/Summit Point.Slowly evolved to a full stage4 Yoshimura East SB. Not the growler you want to learn to go fast on. Was on my head to frequently. But really vied for the“I’ve got a bigger dick than you” category. Truth; there was an open class in that era but a 750 could keep up (and pass), especially at the tighter venues because the bigger pigs could not turn.

1974 FordEconoline E250 SuperVan – light (puke) green/all windows (370k miles)
First race track transportation. I lived in it (from Thursday to Monday) for almost 6 years, 20 weekends a year. A real love hate relationship. What a rattle trap,especially with 1000lbs of tools, gas, spares, bike and the ever present hibachi on board. 3 engines and every other component at least once; I probably could dis-assemble it blind folded.

1971 Ford Torino – Green/2dr - 1^st Wife’scar
Very sound mechanically, but everything that could fall off did fall off. Mirrors,door handles, trim, etc..

1983 Yamaha FZR1000
1984 Yamaha RZ350
Listening to some advice from sage journeyman, I did two years in the production classes, running both bikes. The 350 was really a waste of time. I was too heavy to be competitive against midgets. Keeping up with guys weighing 75lbs less than you wasn’t easy. But, I gained a lot of experience on the 2 stroke, which is like a unicycle compared to a bicycle. And I was getting in a lot more competitive miles since I was not constantly turning wrenches (superbike) to keep things running. To add, this setup was much more affordable and I had sponsorship help out of Yamaha of Brookline.

1984 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale – Baby Blue/2dr – new
First ever new car. 3500lbs of real steel – what a beast. I stiffened the springs and put after-market shocks in it. Sprinkled a few goodies in the engine compartment. Four good years and then a senators son hit me with dad’s Cadillac coming around a blind curve. Opened up the Olds like a can opener. A lesser car and I would not be here to tell about it. I could bounce the car off of unfettered snow banks - studded snows and plenty of clearance. Air adjustable rancheros and 4 80lb bags of motarmix - or a full compliment of passengers.

1985 Yamaha RZ500R
This was hard to get; not imported to the US; only 135 made. I didn’t have a deep enough resume to land a TZ500 and this was the next best thing. I was able to keep up at national events and managed to finish in the top 10 in my 2^nd year. Waded it up and took it home in a basket from the season finale at the end of my third year.

1986TZ500 OW81
Impressed enough people to score this two year old. If I could pay for the bike ($28k),Yamaha of Brookline would hook me up for the season (slicks/brakepads/tolls/track&travel fuel). I borrowed from every family member and friend I had. I made 40k racing the season of 88. I was broke at the end, but paid everyone back accept my parents.

Badly hurt in 89 and then again in 91 and 93 (skiing). I dabbled in snowmobile and ice racing as rehabs and did a year of Saab Series open wheel and a bunch of weekends in a formula V. Closed out my carrier racing historic bikes for a local gear head with a collection until I blew up everything he wanted to race at the end of 96.

[Gepeto]

1988 Pontiac Bonneville SST (24k?) – ugly gray/new
What a piece of shit – did $56,000 in collision damage in 26 months. It started while driving over the GWB and a straight truck spit up a womanized 4x4 and sent it straight through the front window just left of center. The final crunch came when I ended up cutting the car in half – the car slipped off the pavement and into the grass in a high speed turn in the rain while showing the passenger how to use the new battery pack cell phone hooked up in the console. We also had just finished a couple of pops and hunting down a bag of weed. Hit a telephone pole sideways (we were going to center punch it) and cut the car in half. Easier done as this was front wheel drive.

1990 Ford Bronco – new - 156k – Still racing, but other people’s stuff
1991 Silver Anniversary Ford Bronco – used – 85k
1992 Acura Legend – Family car until the 2^nd wife rolled it
1995 Lexus G400 – First luxury sedan - stolen twice at the train station
1996 GMC Yukon – white 2dr/cargo doors – 80k
1998 Audi A6 – 240k – loved this car – very few issues – 1 transmission @ 210k and few electrical gremlins, mostly the gauges. Awesome ski kar. Could send a 20’ high rooster tail at 90mph on 6” of fresh.
2004 Chevy Avalanche – 88k
2008 Chevy Avalanche – 45k
2008 Nissan Sentra – 68k – in the garage
2012 Chevy Avalanche – 38k – in the garage
2014 Volvo XC60 – in the garage until she wrecks it.

Vehicles have shaped my life to no small extent. I’ve had 132 points on my real driver’s license and 47 on a phony license (that I shredded 15 years ago after a state investigator showed up at the phony address). My license was suspended for one 11 year stretch and a bunch of 30/60/90 day spans.

I’ve had 3 constants in my life; an engine, skiing and sex. I have to eliminate the first one for my son’s sake. When I walked away from competition, it was worse than a divorce and I have so little to show for it. Having my self-esteem attached to a conveyance was not healthy nor did it provide any security.

[Rip'nStick]

I’ve had 3 constants in my life; an engine, skiing and sex. I have to eliminate the first one for my son’s sake. When I walked away from competition, it was worse than a divorce and I have so little to show for it. Having my self-esteem attached to a conveyance was not healthy nor did it provide any security.

Good read, thanks for that. It's a wonder so,e of us made it past 25 yrs

[Meadow Skipper]

^Two of the best posts here in a long time, Gepeto.

<applause>

[east or bust]

Just one…


2004 Chevy Blazer Zr2 (cherry red metallic) -- love this little truck. out performs most stock trucks off road, more than decent gas mileage on highway, tank in the winter, and you never see two that are the same. probably a pos but no plans to sell at 140k on the clock.


edit to add I want to add an early gen 5sp TDI to the stable

[iceman]

My Dad was pretty much the ultimate non-car guy, immigrants' kid, he grew up in the city, went off to WWII, came back went to college, med school, couple residencies, then finally got his license at ~35. But then he had all these different jobs that were way spread apart and was driving about 1000 miles a week while I was growing up. Chevy Impalas. No maintenance. I mean zero. No oil changes. No filters. Maybe add some oil if the light came on, maybe. And he would drive them until they literally died. Which took quite a bit longer than you would've thought.

One day he went to go to work and I was standing behind the car when he turned the key. A jet of flame, literally like a flamethrower, came out of the exhaust pipe and shot about 30 feet out. I was standing about two feet behind the car and maybe two feet to the side of the exhaust and it singed my eyebrows and the hair on my arms and legs.

I freaked but he was completely unfazed. He just turned it off, climbed out and said, "I need to start thinking about a new car."

[ill-advised strategy]

1986 Subaru GL Sedan 1.8 5spd
1977 IHC Scout 2. 304 auto
1988 Suzuki Samurai 3" springs, 31s
1986 Toyota 4x4 22r 5spd
1974 IHC Scout 2, 345 auto.
1988 Subaru GL-10 turbo auto
1985 Subaru GL wagon
1980 Toyota 4x4 longbed 20r 4 spd 33s
1996 Ford Ranger 2x4
1982 Subaru GL wagon 1.6 4 spd
1985 Nissan 4x4 king cab
1978 Chevy shortbed 4x4 350/350
1978 Blazer 4x4 350/350
1985 Subaru GL wagon (another)
1978 F250 2x4 300 six, 4spd
1988 Subaru 2wd wagon
1988 Mitsubishi 4x4 pickup
1996 Subaru outback with 2.2 swap
1995 Toyota T100 4x4 3.4 auto
2002 F150 4x4 5.4 auto
2002 Subaru outback 2.5 auto.
1994 Toyota pickup 4x4 22r
1979 Ford F250 4x4 351M C6
2012 Toyota Tacoma 2.7 auto

Moto:

1978 Honda CB 400 Hawk
1978 Honda CB 400 Hawk (another)
1982 Suzuki GS850L
1999 Honda Magna VF750C
1978 Honda CR250 Elsinore
1986 Honda CR500
1978 Honda XL125
1978 Honda CB400 Hawk (3rd one)
1972 Triumph T120R in AMEN chopper frame
1974 Harley Davidson XLCH ironhead rigid chopper
1998 Buell S1 White Lightning
1980 Yamaha XS650
1986 Honda CB450SC
1997 Kawasaki Vulcan 1500 VN1500D
1980 Honda XL250s


If I could have any of those back it would be the 78 F250 and the Buell. Sellers remorse on both of those for sure.

[snoqpass]

69 F100 with the 302
94 900T SAAB