Weird Cars I have Owned

[Ronstar]

1961 Nash Metropolitan

DW's and my dream car!

 

[travelover]

Your VW had a heater?
('68 Bug)

I also recall scraping the inside of the windshield. Recall driving with passenger scraping/wiping outside of windshield while I scraped inside.

I actually installed a blower motor from an old American car in the back seat and pulled heat from the ankle burner rear outlets. The outlet was a long piece of 4" plastic dryer ducting that I could move around to defrost the window or heat the floor. It made driving a 3 handed job.

I later installed a gas fired heater in the front, next to the fuel tank. I rarely had the guts to use it as it often would not ignite right away, then would do a small jet engine impersonation as the excess fuel was consumed in the combustion chamber.

 

[Khan]

I actually installed a blower motor from an old American car in the back seat and pulled heat from the ankle burner rear outlets. The outlet was a long piece of 4" plastic dryer ducting that I could move around to defrost the window or heat the floor. It made driving a 3 handed job.

I later installed a gas fired heater in the front, next to the fuel tank. I rarely had the guts to use it as it often would not ignite right away, then would do a small jet engine impersonation as the excess fuel was consumed in the combustion chamber.

I heard those had a tendency to catch on fire.

 

[travelover]

1987 Yugo.

I drove it for six months in 1989. Bought it for $995, replaced the muffler, sold it for $995.

When the clutch wouldn't go all the way in I was able to adjust it with a pair of pliers, just while standing over the engine and leaning in. Easiest car maintenance ever, but in retrospect I'm glad I only tempted fate for six months...

In Michigan the Yugo is best know for this unfortunate incident:

In 1989, 31-year-old Leslie Ann Pluhar,[9] driving a 1987 Yugo over the Mackinac Bridge in Michigan, was literally blown off over the bridge's 36-inch railing by 50 MPH gales.[10] This event was widely publicized at the time and is still referred to today in terms of the car. In fact, however, every driver that day had been warned against crossing the bridge. Pluhar had insisted on making the crossing, and officials said later that excess speed was a factor in her death. It should be noted, however, that "excess speed"/speeding is often used as a scapegoat for road accidents.

Zastava Koral - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Moemg]

Defrosting was achieved by the driver scraping the INSIDE of the windshield as he drove. A German Italian marriage that was never meant to be.

I remember scraping as I was driving and wearing a long quilted coat so I would not freeze but I still loved that car . Recently there was a red one for sale in my neighborhood and I had to restrain myself from buying it .

 

[travelover]

I remember scraping as I was driving and wearing a long quilted coat so I would not freeze but I still loved that car . Recently there was a red one for sale in my neighborhood and I had to restrain myself from buying it .

I had several bugs in addition to that Ghia over my youth. I had an opportunity to drive an old bug not too long ago and quickly realized that I had romanticized the experience over the years. Compared to a modern car, it was like driving a model T.

 

[harley]

Not a weird model, but definitely a weird car.

In Sept 1970 (when I was 15 3/4) I bought a 1964 1/2 Ford Mustang with 150K miles on it, $400. 170 cu in. engine, 3 on the floor. I got taken big time, although I loved the car. Had to teach myself to drive it, since nobody in my family drove a standard. It had 3 (sometimes 4) of the 6 cylinders firing. The first time I changed the air filter I slashed my hand because someone had lost the plate under it and replaced it with a jagged piece of sheet metal cut with snips. It was maroon, and when I started doing body work on it I accidently bought yellow primer, so I was driving a maroon mustang with yellow polka dots. Not too cool for a young dope smoking teenager who liked to mouth off to the cops. They pulled me over at least twice a day for over a year until I could finally afford the $99 Earl Schieb paint job. Ah, the memories!

 

[NW-Bound]

A guy I worked with came to me one morning and asked me for a favor. He drove a Datsun (now Nissan) 240Z as I recall and he had smelled fuel on his way to work and knew that I had a portable gas chromatograph/flame ionization detector in my lab. He figured I could leak test his fuel system. I slung the unit over my shoulder and we headed for the parking lot. After opening the hood, he started the car. I never got a chance to use the instrument because I could see fuel shooting out all over the engine bay (ppm detection seemed a little "underkill" in this case.) Why the car didn't erupt in flames, I'll never know.

I had a 75 280Z. That is the first year of the 2.8L engine, with the fuel injection system built by Bosch. The earlier 240Z and 260Z had carburetors.

 

[Khan]

Not a weird model, but definitely a weird car.

In Sept 1970 (when I was 15 3/4) I bought a 1964 1/2 Ford Mustang with 150K miles on it, $400. 170 cu in. engine, 3 on the floor. I got taken big time, although I loved the car. Had to teach myself to drive it, since nobody in my family drove a standard. It had 3 (sometimes 4) of the 6 cylinders firing. The first time I changed the air filter I slashed my hand because someone had lost the plate under it and replaced it with a jagged piece of sheet metal cut with snips. It was maroon, and when I started doing body work on it I accidently bought yellow primer, so I was driving a maroon mustang with yellow polka dots. Not too cool for a young dope smoking teenager who liked to mouth off to the cops. They pulled me over at least twice a day for over a year until I could finally afford the $99 Earl Schieb paint job. Ah, the memories!

I recall Earl Schieb from living in Detroit.

 

[ERD50]

I love all the Karmen Ghia stories! I lucked out, one of my friends in High School had one, so we'd go for rides in *nice* weather!

That car sure seems to stir memories though.

-ERD50

 

[travelover]

I love all the Karmen Ghia stories! I lucked out, one of my friends in High School had one, so we'd go for rides in *nice* weather!

That car sure seems to stir memories though.

-ERD50

It had a beautiful convertible top. Insulated with a separate headliner and a glass rear window. I just remembered that as it aged (and rusted), the doors would hang up when I put the top down.

 

[Nords]

In Michigan the Yugo is best know for this unfortunate incident:

I'm glad I never knew that! It hydroplaned like a dream on New London's slushy/icy roads...

 

[nphx]

Envious of the odd rides you all had - best i can do is a 69 wildcat convertible, in NYC as a teenager.

 

[Htown Harry]

Dad believed a boy learning to drive in the big city should drive an indestructible car. So I drove a well-used 1968 Checker Marathon in high school.

License plate "NO CAB". The car made it through three brothers.

In college, I drove a '77 Checker for a couple of years. Lots of fond memories of a cross-country road trip with my buddies, to drop them off in their hometowns after school let out for the summer.

It was way more comfortable than a Nash - I remember plenty of room available in the back seat even with a cooler full of refreshments sitting on the floorboard.

Body parts we couldn't find at the junk yard had to be shipped from the nearest dealer in Fort Worth, but every part in the chassis and drive train had a cheap off-the-shelf replacement available at the NAPA store.

 

[2good]

I used to have 2 of the typical 'East' German cars - a Wartburg and a Trabant. Both were equipped with 2 cycle engines. The Trabant has had an engine with incredible 23 hp.

These are not actual pictures of my cars but pretty close.

 

[ls99]

Wow!
That brings back memories of the eastern bloc. I learned to drive in Russian Volga. IIC huge 4 cyl. engine, three on the column, had louvers in front of the radiator operated with a knob from inside for really cold days. Grease fittings everywhere, including the water pump.

 

[MikeD]

I first saw one of these in "Hot VWs" magazine in the early '80s and was hooked. I finally found one for sale in Palm Desert, CA (I live in Va) in '91. I made arrangements and drove out there, hooked it up to my Toyota 4Runner, and towed it home all in 5 days. I was exhausted but had big plans. Had some small amount of work done to it by a local guy who eventually went out of business but it never ran and I never drove it. I got sick with kidney failure and lost interest and funding. I sold it last year for less than one third of what I paid for it.

Mike D.

 

[lkg4]

My wierd cars

I know that I'm a bit strange, but here we go.
1966 amphicar. It was a lot of fun. I just had to have it.
1968 Mini RH drive, of course. 2 X 1.25" SU's. Very quick
Nash Metropolitan. Coververtible.
Vespa P200 with flamed sidecar and Malossi 210 kit.
And I'm looking for a kitcar. Tri-tech Messerschmitt. No household should be without one. Google KR200 if you don't know what one looks like.

 

[brewer12345]

Lesse, there was the 1973 Volvo that was handed down through 3 kids in DW's family. 4 speed, Gawd knows how many miles since the odo went 10 years before they junked it at 160-something thousand, & c. You knew you were up to highway cruising speed without looking at the speedo just by the noise it made.

Probably the farthest out was the pickup I had in college. 1987 toyota pickup (no model name). There wasn't that much to go wrong on the car, but by the time I got it it had been badly abused. Rotting electrical system, no working heater, and a vent window that would not stay shut (charming feature in a northeastern OH winter). The body had been painted Ford white at some point, but the two cab doors were salvage; one was tan and one was red. The hood was held shut by a cotter pin on one side and a bungy cord on the other. Every so often we would go over a bump after dark and the headlights would go out. This would have been a bigger deal except that the next bump usually kicked them back on. When I wasn't planning on using the car for a while I would have to pull fuses out or else it would run down the battery. Finally totalled it when I spun out on black ice and nailed the concrete guardrail on I-80 one winter.

Always wanted a Mazda RX. They are supposed to be fun cars plus they have that funky rotary engine.

 

[zzzzz5]

Turbo charged MG Midget.

I had a 1974 MG midget that had 7 slave cylinders replaced on the cluch, 8 windsheilds replaced, two exhaust systems, a new battery, two different radiators and various other problems over 35,000 miles and three years of ownership. But I loved that car, did most of the work on it myself, and remember one snowstorm when it was completly snow covered and after it was dug out we had to shovel the snow out of the drivers seat, snow go in through the soft cover all night from the wind. Then we had to push it back into the garage and get out the hair dryer to dry the wires to get it started.

 

[Khan]

I had a 1974 MG midget that had 7 slave cylinders replaced on the cluch, 8 windsheilds replaced, two exhaust systems, a new battery, two different radiators and various other problems over 35,000 miles and three years of ownership. But I loved that car, did most of the work on it myself, and remember one snowstorm when it was completly snow covered and after it was dug out we had to shovel the snow out of the drivers seat, snow go in through the soft cover all night from the wind. Then we had to push it back into the garage and get out the hair dryer to dry the wires to get it started.

Oh heck, flashbacks to the snowdrift on the driver's seat.

 

[samclem]

I had a 1974 MG midget that had 7 slave cylinders replaced on the cluch, 8 windsheilds replaced . . .

1977 Triumph Spitfire purchased new. In less than three years I bought two clutch slave cylinders, a clutch master cyl, a brake master cyl, a crankshaft (covered under warranty), a clutch, and 4 tires. Some of this was my fault. It was a fun car, though. And always an adventure to hit a deep puddle on one side at speed--off we go!

 

[Sam]

1975 AMC Gremlin

Me too. Mine was green.

 

[REWahoo]

Mine was green.

Let me guess: tetracycline cleared it right up.

 

[yakers]

I know that I'm a bit strange, but here we go.
1966 amphicar. It was a lot of fun. I just had to have it.
1968 Mini RH drive, of course. 2 X 1.25" SU's. Very quick
Nash Metropolitan. Coververtible.
Vespa P200 with flamed sidecar and Malossi 210 kit.
And I'm looking for a kitcar. Tri-tech Messerschmitt. No household should be without one. Google KR200 if you don't know what one looks like.

OMG an Amphicar. I always wanted one, good for spontaneous picnics. A Messerschmitt, I remember driving in one of those with an uncle.

They don't make cars the way these used to.