The 21 Vehicles that shared my life ...

[dogtag]

The first was a 1938 Austin 10 - the car that honed my
driving skills. The brakes were almost non existent, all
4 gears popped out when I came off the gas. Wipers didn't
work, but a knob below windscreen could be operated by hand.
The last is a 99 Land Rover.
In between were some sporty jobs, a 59 Bug-eye AH Sprite,
a 54 MG TF and a 67 Alfa Romeo veloce.
7 Trucks - 2 Ford Couriers, 1 Datsun 1 Mazda, 2 Toyotas
and a 61 Chevy Apache.
There was an assortment of American, Japanese and British cars.
No Lemons Among them unless you think the 38 Austin was one.
But it sure was interesting to drive although my future FIL didn't
think "interesting" was the right word.

[Dan in NH]

I've owned 7 Ford trucks. 1st one was a '67 F-250 Camper Special

[lyman]

Vega wagon
77 Ford shortbed pickup
79 Toyota Celica
81 Toyota Hi Lux (pickup)
93 Saturn SL2
97 Toyota T100
2000 Toyota Tundra (still have)
2010 Mini Cooper S
2013 Mini Cooper S
2015 Honda Civic (daily driver)

[rayg]

59 Corvette, my first car
63 split window Corvette, 2nd car
59 T bird 3rd car
A British 1946 Standard convertable
The rest were just cars

[JimF]

1942 Mercury convertible . . . .

Very scarce car, due to WW2 war production!

[kj47]

1956 Studabaker Champion
1951 Plymouth Cranbrook
1955 Buick Special
1958 Plymouth Belvadere HT
1961 VW POS
1960 Valiant
1965 Belair
1966 GTO HT
1968 Bronco
1971, 1973 & 1975 Pintos
1978, 1982 & 1988 Caprices
All used & claimed by New England weather.
1994 Ford xL 300 New
2001 Ford Explorer Mew
2007 GMC Sierra Classic New
2012 RAV4 V6 New

[Major Tom]

1964 Chevelle SS with factory installed super rare 365HP Corvette engine only 208 made
3 corvettes, 1977, 1986, 2011
1931 Ford 2 door sedan
1950 Ford 2 door sedan
1999 Ford F-150
1973 Toyoda station wagon
1966 Toyoda Land Cruiser
1969 Dodge Charger
1976 Oldsmobile Cutlass
1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass
1960 Triumph TR3
1972 Kawasaki 175
1974 Kawasaki 900

[PWC]

1953 4 door Ford Fairlane
1963 Corvair Monza (a poor man's corvette, no matter what Nader said)
1972 Chevelle (hers) and 1975 Dodge Tradesman van (his)
1969 Chevy Biscayne (his work car)
1975 Honda CVCC (his work car)
1975 Volvo wagon (hers)
???? Volvo 960 (hers)
???? GMC Sierra P/U (his)
2003 Nissan Frontier Crew Cab (his)
2007 Prius (56 mpg until $4K hybrid battery failed)
2016 Prius (56 mpg until I bent it)
2023 Prius (55 mpg)

[Phloating Phlasher]

Only one car.
Triumph Herald, Estate. 1195cc 4-lung. you could tell when you floored it, the carb sucked louder.:banana100:
Almost a car, a Messerschmidt 3-wheeler! I bought it for ?50,00.00, & painted it like Adolph Galland's FW 190!
Then I met "Dolfo" he was staring at it in the parking lot & couldn't believe it.:headbang:
All the rest were motorcycles.
an 80 cc Suzuki.
a 200 cc Triumph Tiger Cub
A Greaves "Scottish" 6 day ISDT off road bike for the Welsh mountains.
A few Bonneviles:
a '62 that had a bad mag.
a '68 that became the ultimate crotch rocket! 650cc bored out to 750, "police" high lift long dwell, camshaft Westlake 4-valve head, Dual Wal Phillips fuel injectors, a Brown exhaust driven turbo charger, & (of course) clip ons, rearsets, racing saddle, ally 5-Gal tank & all the other goodies.
A '73 Bonnie from "The Meriden Workers collective", my last "Bonnie"It was a dog. They left the rubber bands in the engine that held the cam followers in position when you inverted the barrels to mat to the cranks when building it & it killed the motor.
A Norton "InterPlod" The thing tried to kill me 3 times. TNV told me it was my fault because I wasn't heavy enough to ride it.
A Beemer R750/S, Ugliest bike I ever owned, but dayum it stuck to the road. I'll never forget the manual. "Maximum speed 103 MPH, suggested cruising speed, 103 MPH"
Somewhere in there I bought a BSA Bantam, 175cc 2-stroker with a seized motor, I put an industrial electric genset motor in it, kerosene fuel & a single-stage gas turbine! Every penny I saved on converting from petrol to paraffin went on replacing brake shoes. The darned thing had ZERO engine braking!

[M1Tommy]

First car that was 'mine' was bought in '78, a '69 VW Squareback... cool car, actually comfortable, a pita to work on.
'81 Toyota Corolla, likely still running somewhere today.
'89 Mustang LX Sport, fun, poorly built, was cracking in half after 24 months (12 month warranty),
''91 Hyundai Excel (bought for new wifey), a decent little car.
'96 Toyota Corolla Station wagon, also probably still on the road somewhere,
'02 Mazda MPV minivan,
also in the '91 - timeline:
'82 Ford F-150 bought in '91
'87 Ford Ranger (same comment as Corollas above),
'91 Toyota Tacoma,
'03 Ford F-150,
''09 Toyota RAV4, AWD, V6 "Sport", a fun car actually, sold at 240k miles, prob still running.
'15 Sub. Forester, still have it as wifey loves it.
'21 Nissan Frontier 4WD, decent truck, currently in shop for busted window regulator (warranty repair).
Also..... '96 Kawasaki Vulcan VN800B, great bike, sold her to a friend with 94k miles, prob. still on the road,
'08 HD ElectraGlide, nice for road trips, but a tank in town.
'09 Triumph 'Speedmaster', pretty but a real turkey for me.
'04 Yamaha Roadstar Warrior 1700, bought last year, a real hoot.

Now, what was the question? <grin>
Tommy

[Viking Guy]

1959 Studebaker Lark, 3 on the tree, actually on loan from Grandma
1964 GTO Coupe (post)
1950 Chevy 3 window pickup
1974 Vega worst ever
1957 Willys L6-226 4X4 Station Wagon
1980 VW Scirocco
1992 Camry
1996 Toyota T100
2004 Tundra
2004 Camry
2006 Jeep Wrangler

Every one was or still is a manual transmission. Never have owned an automatic

[Mark in Ottawa]

I have always wanted a Mercedes 450SL sports car and although they can be found for under $20,000 and I can now afford one, I am so old and decrepit that I could never climb out of it.

[Allen]

I have always wanted a Mercedes 450SL sports car and although they can be found for under $20,000 and I can now afford one, I am so old and decrepit that I could never climb out of it.

I bought a used MB from a realtor. He had a 230 and a 450 SEL (4 door). He advised me against both but I wouldn't listen. MB's are the greatest thing ever, right? I bought the 230. It had 50K miles on it. Kept it 5 years and traded it in on a Buick Century. The MB had 57K on it after 5 years. It spent most of it's life on the back of a wrecker.

Like so many european cars everything made of rubber like the door and trunk gaskets readily decompose but my biggest issue was the engine. I was told by the local MB dealer that they used 5 different engines that year and ordering and actually getting the right parts was just a hit and miss.

The day I bought it and drove it home it would not run over 60mph and got 15mpg (4 cyl gas). When I got home I looked under the hood and everything electrical was labeled Bosch so it all went in the trash (plugs, dist cap, even resisters) and replaced with Motorcraft and AC parts. The car would then run at 80mph.

I tried to get rid of it countless times including trading it in at the MB dealer. They would not take it stating "there is no market for a used MB". I believe them now. I even considered trading it for a riding lawn mower. I found the local Buick dealer also sold BMW's and they were "impressed" with it so I unloaded it on them toward that Buick I mentioned.

I've know others who had MB's that had similar and numerous problems with them. A neighbor and friend of mine had a 450SL like you mentioned. He had it for years but never got to drive it much, nor find anyone that could or would work on it. He got rid of it.

Not being able to climb out of it is a very good excuse to not buy one. If you're just looking to get your daily suffering done there are better ways of going about it.

[PWC]

I had 2 Volvos (not the Ford Volvo, but the real thing). They are good for Europesn cold weather, but not for AZ heat.

When things started getting intermittant, I went under the hood and found the wiring harness used braided wire (ok) but the insulation was rubber (not ok) and was breaking off. If insulation was vynal like US cars it would have been ok. Had to replace both wiring harnesses.

[pcox]

1957 Ford Skyliner
1953 Studebaker Commander

The two that wish I had back.

[Allen]

My sister bought a "real" as in POS Volvo. It had a thick guard rail looking front bumper (I forgot what was on the back). The bumper was made of aluminum and probably had more scrap value than the car. My State Farm Ins agent had one that was identical. He claimed not only was the bumper cast aluminum but the brackets attaching it to the body were cast aluminum also. He said you could gently bump into a concrete curb and crack/break off the bumper.

The engine (on my sisters car) came apart around 86K miles.

She actually bought another real Volvo. She lived in Atlanta and the whole interior cooked and cracked up to nothing. No one ever sat in the rear seat and possibly the passengers seat but they decomposed as well. The a/c went out after the warranty expired and would cost more to repair than what the car was worth.

After this one she bought a different brand.

She was so proud of her first one that she took it to the mechanic that did her auto repairs and asked him to drive it and see what HE thought of it. He drove around a few minutes and returned. My sister asked him "well, what do you think about it?????" His reply was "it drives like a hospital bed".

We all have different auto experiences and like music and opinions they're all going to be different.

Don't forget: Jaguars, expensive but still not a great car, made their best improvements when owned by Ford.

[Mark in Ottawa]

Thank you for the comments. I guess I'll just have to set my sights on my other dream car - an E type Jag. Alas I understand that although beautiful, they were unreliable. For the moment though, I'll just have to continue using my Honda CRV, a vehicle that is surprisingly easy to get out of

[Allen]

Thank you for the comments. I guess I'll just have to set my sights on my other dream car - an E type Jag. Alas I understand that although beautiful, they were unreliable. For the moment though, I'll just have to continue using my Honda CRV, a vehicle that is surprisingly easy to get out of

Those made back in the 60's had those big straight 6 cylinder engines (held 9 qts of oil) that overheated in traffic. The V-12's were better I hear. If settling on the newer versions (XR8) beware of the 4.0 liter V8 engines. The 4.2 replaced them and was much better. Perhaps the best ever made by Jag.

I had an interest in them back when I was in high school. Nice used ones could be had for less than $2000 and were plentiful.

[Former Cav]

1st car. 61 Bubble Top Impala, 283-2v with a glide
69 road runner (when I came home from Nam). I called it the "road limper" A beetle would kick my ass.
69 Coronet R/T great car, I traded the runner in on it
70 Charger R/T S/E, bought it in 76 when my 69 R/T got totalled
79 Impala, 305-2v, first car with factory air
77 Olds Delta 88 350 -2v chevy motor from the factory. bought it used from mother in law it had only 30K on it.
88 K-5 Chevy Blazer. 350 TBI. The body got rust holes in it 6 months I bought it new in the summer of 88
95 Ford Bronco...good vehicle
99 Expedition...good vehicle
04 Expedition...good vehicle
13 4RUNNER... probably the best vehicle I ever had in terms of reliability
20 Explorer now. The seats fell apart in the FIRST week.
I also built and restored a 69 Charger S/E did it stock 383-4v Factory Air. drove it from 94 to 11, then I had a pro built 440-492 Cube stroker put in it. (I had to REDO that). when I got done it would do 11.73 at 113 with the A/C on, just put it in drive and stand on it. 3.23 gears. It would pass everything except a gas station.
Edelbrock heads, Lunati voodoo cam that had 513 lift. It would idle at 16 in of vacuum so the vacuum operated head light doors, vacuumbooster brakes, and vacuum trap doors for the A/C worked. ! Eagle Rods, Eagle 4.15 crank, Mahle pistons, Edelbrock intake, 800 holley double pumper that would ALWAYS leak, I put a edelbrock on and solved that problem, it was an 800 also.
I sold it like a moron to some guy in Holland

[Allen]

1st car. 61 Bubble Top Impala

My favorite Chev.

[dryheat]

My '67 Impala was a mess. I always bought (could afford) used cars. The engine smoked. The exhaust pipe actually fell off. The brakes were metal on metal. But it rode like a Cadillac. My brother had a much later model. It has 160K miles and has issues, but it rides like a Cadillac too.

[Doc Sharptail]

Not sure I could list them all.
Here are the stand-outs.

Personal favorite was an '80 GMC 3/4 ton. RWD 350 4 bbl on the small block.
In the time I had it, the only problem was the mechanical fuel pump giving up the ghost.
Utterly reliable, and a bit slightly over-built. The only vehicle I ever got a traffic ticket in, for accidentally squealing the tires.
It sat like a rock on the highway at 70 in auto o/d.
Hard on gas, but not as bad as the 350 2bbl I had in a full size window van.

'85 Ford Escort. Not all that quick, but utterly reliable. A rebadged Mazda GLC, IIRC. 5 speed manual.
We put a ton of miles on that thing, and it still ran the same when we had to trade for something bigger.
Over 250k on the clock when we let her go.

'98 Chev Astro. Of all the vehicles I went through, this was the most pleasant to drive, especially on long road trips.

There's ton's more, and I won't even attempt a list.

The least reliable, most problem prone vehicle I ever had was the last one- a 2006 chev uplander. What a waste of time and money. It has the dubious distinction of souring me on g.m. in general.

Regards,

Doc Sharptail

[Johnny P]

The one I wish I had back the most.

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