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virgin1 -> RE: Cars That You've Owned, or Currently Own. (12/1/2007 10:37:48 AM)
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I don't know if this will go through as one post, but here goes....
Since I am older than most of you, my list will reflect that. I’ve got you all beat.
Are you ready?
1) 1957 Chevy, 210, 2-dr. sedan: My first car. Repainted “Root Beer” brown, not my first choice. It had a dying 283 and a 3-sp w/Hurst, from an older “Vette.” It also still had the stock 4:10 rear gears from the original PowerGlide tranny. I installed a rebuilt 300hp, 327, 4 bbl. With a 12 gal tank and 9.5mpg, I filled up this car every 2 days.
2) 1960 Chevy Corvair: A quick replacement for the ’57. It cost me $75, I drove it for only 3 months and was the ONLY automatic I have ever owned. I used to have to put a quart of oil in this beast every other day. The original 2-sp PowerGlide was so bad that you had to wait for it to engage after moving the lever to “D.” It lasted me less than 3 months.
3) 1967 Opel Kadett Rallye: Red w/matt black out hood and racing stripes… down the sides. 1.1L, dual Solex carbs. Good for about 68 "advertised" hp on a good day. I was stylin’ in this one. This car had the distinction of not only having folding seat backs, but the whole seat folded up and forward. GREAT for the Drive-in. and yes, my girlfriend at the time was more than happy to oblige. It also had the this little teeny horn button on the end of the turn signal stalk.
4) 1965 Volvo 1800S: 1.8L, dual SU carbs, 4-sp w/elec OD. Black w/red leather. The only black car I have ever owned and I won’t make that mistake again. I didn’t know what to do w/an oil temperature gauge at the time as I had never seen one before, especially as a factory install.
5) 1968 “Datsun” 520 Pickup truck: 1.3L, 4-sp. While I didn’t know it when I bought the truck, it had factory rubber overload blocks on the rear suspension. You could get it into a hard corner and it would lean over on these blocks and proceed to slide out… in a very controlled way. I installed a Lear brand AM/FM/Cassette player and a manually operated power antenna.
Here’s where things get a little hazy for me. By now I was in the car business and driving many different cars, but I’ll do my best.
6) 1963 MGB: Early BRG/black. I bought this car as a rolling chassis. Someone had repainted it a hideous (for an MG) silver-blue color. I had it repainted the original (early) BRG, sealed up the outside gas cap, and installed an engine and 4-sp from a ’66. I also had to rewire the entire car which is not unusual for a British roadster or anything British for that matter. I still wonder why I sold this car, except that it may have been the constant repair, adjustments and upkeep.
7) 1970 MGB: Red/black, 4-sp. For a British car I did very little to it. A complete rewire was in order (that drove me nuts w/this car.) It had the distinction of having had Jaguar 53 spoke chromed wire wheels. I didn’t keep it that long and actually preferred the ’63 to this one.
8) 1967 Volvo 1800S: Red/black leather, 4-sp w/elec OD.
9) 1963 Volvo P1800: White/white vinyl. This car was a rust bucket and ended up being a donor for the 2 other 1800’s I still owned.
10) Several other 1800’s: (2 or 3. I don’t remember exactly) Some were parts cars and some were runners… however briefly.
11) 1968 Volvo 144S: Dk. Green/Saddle. I didn’t expect to like this car and bought it along w/2 other 1800’s (see the ’67 & ’63 above,) in anticipation of another deal that fell through, but I liked this car. Eventually, I dropped it 2”, installed KYB Rally shocks, wider wheels and tires, custom (designed by me) suspension and steering bits to compensate for the drop. I later installed a rebuilt B20B, had a lightened flywheel made for the car also and installed a shifter and tranny tunnel from one of the 1800. I also installed a center console from a 164, and a BMW by Blaupunkt stereo w/Jenson speakers. I autoXed and Street/Club Rallyed this car.
12) Rabbits, Rabbits, Rabbits: I owned a number of VW Rabbits from '76 to '84's, though never a GTI. [:(] It started w/a ’76 Special “Golf” edition Rabbit. Orange/black, 4-sp. Golf ball shift knob, passive belts, and “knee” bar. The car had been crashed and had frame damage the extent of which I was unaware of. I drove it for a while and sold it…at a loss, of course. Over the next several years I bought and sold several (4 or 5 at least) of the beasts to make a little extra money. I had a friend that owned a foreign car junkyard and when a prospect came in, he’d call me to come have a look at it. It worked out well for both of us.
13) 1972 VW Bus: Green & white over cream interior. 1.7L Porsche pancake engine, dual Solex’s. What a POS. After much trying to improve this vehicle, I realized that it was not for me and sold it within a year.
14) 1982 Datsun/Nissan Stanza: Another mistake. Burgundy/red, 5-sp. Window louvers, Plus1 wheels/tires, a rear sway bar, porting and polishing the head/intake and a new carb did nothing for this POS. The engine blew a head gasket and so did I. I sold the SOB at a HUGE loss.
15) 1980 Honda Civic (Inga): Blue/blue, 5-sp. To this day, STILL my all time favorite car. No matter what I did (mods) to this car, it responded. No matter how hard I drove it, and I drove it hard, it NEVER let me sit. A few mods (mild cam, distributor advance re-curve, carb jet mods) brought the power up to a reasonable level (I’d guess around 90+/-) but it only weighed a little over 2K with a full tank of fuel and me onboard. The short wheel base and light weight meant that it turned quickly and responded to everything w/great agility. I loved it. I installed Kokico struts all around, a rear sway bar, the bigger b
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