Favorite vehicle you've ever owned

[MDJO]

Most fun - a 1965 Barracuda. Lot of good memories in that car.

 

[mickeyd]

1966 Austin-Healey 3000. Because I was 22, recently commissioned an infantry 2LT and was going to Vietnam in a year.


1965 Austin-Healey 3000 Mk III

 

[Koolau]

for me, probably my first car... believe it or not... a 1972 Honda N-600. WAY Before the Civic came out. It was a 598cc, two cylinder air cooled engine. 10" wheels. (YES - 10"!!!). Great kid car, but in retrospect, probably a death trap. lol

I test drove one of these in 1970 or 71(?). A very strange car. DW and I just touched shoulders when sitting side by side as I recall. The gear lever was sort of sticking out of the dash and, though it had an "H" pattern, it shifted more up and down than forward and back. Using the heater made the car noticeably louder (apparently, it used an aircraft style "muff" on the exhaust to heat the car). All in all, an inauspicious beginning for a very fine automobile company. Still, the car had a charm all its own. 40+ mpg was one thing. It was "cute". I'm guessing 4 strong guys could pick it up and move it. The local Honda dealer recently had one of these (maybe a '73) in the show room as a conversation piece. It really did look like a car - only smaller.

Would never try to fit in one now (arthritis, you know) but what a great car for a kid on a budget - assuming he didn't get hit. An F150 would literally punt one of these little cars. So glad you survived AWeinel

 

[Walt34]

The local Honda dealer recently had one of these (maybe a '73) in the show room as a conversation piece. It really did look like a car - only smaller.

The Honda dealer in Hagerstown, MD had one in the showroom a few years ago. I was there to drop off a friend after his car was serviced and saw it in the window and went in to look.

It wasn't restored but was in good shape, clearly having been garaged. The thing that struck me was it made a VW Beetle look large.

 

[imoldernu]

Here's a car question. don't wanna start a thread, but figgered someone here might remember.

It was probably somewhere between 1968 and 1971...Subcompact.. a Japanese car I think... tiny, but with 4 seats, and small wheels. The thing I remember is behind the rear seat, was the back window, which blended into a trunk (hood) that opened to reveal a very small air-cooled 2 cycle engine that sat on the left side of the car, right over the left rear wheel. I think the battery was above the right rear wheel. The friend who owned it claimed 60 mpg, but I have no idea if that was right. The car was bright red and boxy. It was an import, that was imported for him, and not sold by a dealership...

The reason I remember, is because the size of the engine (while made like a watch), was about the size of a 50CC scooter engine... I don't think it was a belt driven drive, but not sure.

Any Ideas?

 

[rbmrtn]

It was "cute". I'm guessing 4 strong guys could pick it up and move it.

A guy in high school had one of those early hondas. Kind of nerd car. Some of "meats" from the football team picked it up from the student parking lot and hand carried out on the football field and left it.

 

[yakers]

DW putting energy in her new electric car, she loooooves it.

 

[REWahoo]

DW putting energy in her new electric car, she loooooves it.

How long does she have to stand there with the 'hose'?

 

[Keim]

More on the Muscle Boat

Got painted this week. Merry Xmas to me!!!

 

[Sarah in SC]

Keim-just stunning. Wow! A very merry christmas to you! Such a beautiful color!

 

[eytonxav]

Got painted this week. Merry Xmas to me!!!

Looks terrific! While its not common to see many of those in the US anymore, I suppose this will be an extreme exotic in Moscow?

 

[Keim]

Looks terrific! While its not common to see many of those in the US anymore, I suppose this will be an extreme exotic in Moscow?

It is true-there are hardly any here. But I'm in Idaho!

 

[eytonxav]

It is true-there are hardly any here. But I'm in Idaho!

LOL, my bad Its still pretty exotic here in the US.

 

[haha]

My favorite was my Citroen DS 21 Pallas. I see old French movies, and I still think it is one of the most beautiful cars ever made.

Only thing mre beautiful than the body were the engine innards. Main bearings that likely could have withstood the torque of a 4 cyl diesel.

Ha

 

[eytonxav]

Only thing mre beautiful than the body were the engine innards. Main bearings that likely could have withstood the torque of a 4 cyl diesel.

Ha

Only a purist would say something like that, but my sentiments exactly

 

[John Galt III]

1985 Chevy Caprice Classic. V8 engine. Beautiful when new. Good in snow, surprisingly. No expensive problems, just routine stuff like water pumps, alternators, fuel pump, etc, all very cheap to fix. Had 424,000 miles on it when I caved in and took advantage of the cash for clunkers deal. Eyes welled up on the way to pick up my new 4 cylinder gas miser.

 

[Lancelot]

1962 Ford Galaxy 500. White with red leather seats

 

[John Galt III]

<< 1962 Ford Galaxy 500. White with red leather seats. >>

Oooooooh, nice. I got to drive my Dad's 1960 something Ford Galaxy 500. Blue with blue interior, I think.

 

[Sarah in SC]

1962 Ford Galaxy 500. White with red leather seats

Damn I would have loved that car, too. Whew!

 

[clifp]

Yep, been driving it a month. It has basically become our only car. We still have a second car, but I find it too painful to drive
YouTube

Just make sure to plan it out, they don't have stock just sitting around, they build it when you order it, so it can take some months to get it. Right now with the reservation backlog 6-9 months. By 2014 that should be down to 1 or 2 months.

Tesla is raising prices $2,500 Jan 1. So I put my order in today for what I bet will be my favorite car. Motor Trend 2012 car of the year.
Zathras I hope you still are loving yours

 

[clifp]

My favorite was my Citroen DS 21 Pallas. I see old French movies, and I still think it is one of the most beautiful cars ever made.

Only thing mre beautiful than the body were the engine innards. Main bearings that likely could have withstood the torque of a 4 cyl diesel.

Ha

My dad had a Citroen when I was a infant. I still remember all of the stories, about how pretty it was to look at and how horribly unreliable it was to drive.

Like going over the Continental divide not a great place for the car to break down, and also the Bay Bridge .

 

[JakeBrake]

1985 Chevy Caprice Classic. V8 engine. Beautiful when new. Good in snow, surprisingly. No expensive problems, just routine stuff like water pumps, alternators, fuel pump, etc, all very cheap to fix. Had 424,000 miles on it when I caved in and took advantage of the cash for clunkers deal. Eyes welled up on the way to pick up my new 4 cylinder gas miser.

We owned a 1985 Caprice Classic Station Wagon. We bought it used in 1988. We used it to pull our Coleman camping trailer on some very memorable trips. The running gear was like a full-size Chevy pickup. In 1992 we were a little too close to a passing tornado. Much of the paint was seriously damaged by the flying debris in the tornado. We had the car totally repainted with our insurance and it looked better than new. We donated the wagon to Kidney Kars in 2004 when it had 240K miles.

We also had a 1989 Caprice Classic Sedan. The body style was the same as the 1985 model. Unfortunately, it was stolen off the street while I was working for my MegaCorp in beautiful downtown MyTown. I used the car in my job at MegaCorp and I was reimbursed mileage. We never heard from it again. At the time it had 160K miles. That was in 1998. When my insurance paid off I also bought a new 4 cylinder gas miser.

 

[ShortInSeattle]

I very much enjoyed my Beetles. I started with a sunshine yellow Superbeetle, and moved to a "New Beetle" for my first grown-up car. The former frequently broke down, the latter required expensive maintenance. We have a very sensible Subaru these days, but I did always enjoy my "cute" beetles, and the way kids would smile and wave, and occasionally punch each other.

My first beetle had a big dent on one fender. I put a bumper sticker that looked like a band-aid on it and kept rolling!

SIS

 

[John Galt III]

We owned a 1985 Caprice Classic Station Wagon. We bought it used in 1988. We used it to pull our Coleman camping trailer on some very memorable trips. The running gear was like a full-size Chevy pickup. In 1992 we were a little too close to a passing tornado. Much of the paint was seriously damaged by the flying debris in the tornado. We had the car totally repainted with our insurance and it looked better than new. We donated the wagon to Kidney Kars in 2004 when it had 240K miles.

We also had a 1989 Caprice Classic Sedan. The body style was the same as the 1985 model. Unfortunately, it was stolen off the street while I was working for my MegaCorp in beautiful downtown MyTown. I used the car in my job at MegaCorp and I was reimbursed mileage. We never heard from it again. At the time it had 160K miles. That was in 1998. When my insurance paid off I also bought a new 4 cylinder gas miser.

I still see some 80's style Caprices rolling around my area once in a while. Some of them look really nice. No rust. New looking paint. Must be garaged. What impressed me about the car was that there never was a very expensive repair. Worst one was the power steering pump, which was about $300 I think. I had a mechanic do it. Everything else was pretty cheap. I could get a brand new radiator for it, for $79 from Autozone, with a lifetime warranty. I did use the warranty, 7 years later, and got a brand new radiator for free. I did almost all the work myself. It was good therapy to work on a car, when your day job was computer programming.

 

[PaddyMac]

My first car, a blue Triumph Spitfire. Had it in the 1980s when I lived in the UK. Had to sell it when I emigrated to the US. Still miss its low rumble...