What have you been driving???

Ron_Keij · October 28, 2008, 6:34pm

Hi Guys,

As I wrote in another topic, I’d like to know what kind of cars you have been driving? I’ll start with the first car I ever owned myself, I bought a 1978 Fiat 127 from an old man who hadn’t driven his car much. You hear this story a lot but this one was true, he was a friend of my grandfather and because of his health he didn’t put more than 8.000 miles on it in 3 years. It was almost like new and it was even the deluxe version! With the powerful 1 liter engine instead of the 0.9 liter standard engine

I had a lot of fun with it and it was a good car for city traffic but after alomost two years it was time for a serious car. A friend of mine called me that he had the right car for me, I went to see him and bought the 1978 BMW 316 within 5 minutes from him. A fantastic car to drive and a lot bigger than my Fiat. The Fiat stayed in the family though, I sold it to my younger brother.

How about your stories and pictures?

Ron

1978 Fiat 127

1978 BMW 316

Nighthawk · October 28, 2008, 6:57pm

Since i was 16, ive owned probably about 35 cars, about 7 pickup trucks and a van, mostly Chevs or Canadian Pontiacs,couple of Fords, one was a 65 Mustang which i had in 72/73 which sold because i really couldnt afford the gas for it, it was a high performance 289 with a 4 speed, when ive owned Chrysler built cars they were always Plymouths, had a 65 Fury 1, and a couple of Reliant K cars, and of course my 59 Belvedere!
Currently my daliy vehicle is a 2001 GMC Sierra which i bought new in 2001, my first purchase was a well worn 1963 Pontiac 4 door sedan which i got in 71,i do have pictures of various vehicles (56 Chev, 57 Chev and so on) but have to find them and scan, which ill do later on!

savvy59 · October 29, 2008, 5:12pm

Great idea Ron. Okay, I will give this a try. My pictures attached are not my real cars but rather pictures from the web. I will even admit to one car that I wish I never bought - can you guess the one car that was embarrassing to own?

I was also born 1955.

First car at 15: 1962 Ford Fairlane 500 4 door 260 V8 that I thought was fast. Low mileage car (42K) for $200. I sold this car because I had a line on a 1967 ford fairlane GTA 390 four speed car for $600. It turns out the guy still owed $900 and the car was repossed.

My car had light green bottom and white top.

Second car was at 17 years old. It was a more-door 1965 Chevy Bel Air with a 283 double camel hump heads with a three speed manual on the floor for $300!
This car was fast and earned me my first and only wreckless driving ticket. I was caught power shifting on graduation day in front of school. I later beat that ticket in court (cop did not show for hearing). Car was stolen/stripped within 6 months of buying her. Wheels, tires, carb, and all my tools from the trunk were stolen. My friends did a valve job on her in training school and screwed up the valve guides - car smoked horrible after that valve job, then one day had a carb fire and wrecked the wiring - i had enough - got $40 for scrap.

My car was black with chrome reverse wheels.

Third car was bought new when I turned 18 and needed a good gas mileage car for trvelling to work - 1974 Ford Pinto
I drove this car 1 year and put 18,000 miles on her. Then I was disabled in August 1974 and could no longer drive a manual transmission car. I held this car until August 1975 when I traded her in.

My car was mettalic green.

Fourth car was bought in August 1975 - a 1975 Ford Elite. I had hand controls installedand drove this car until 1993 with 125,000 miles and no significant problems ever. My best car ever!

My car was light blue with dark blue padded top.

Fifth car was bought in 1993 and was a garage kept original 1976 Thunderbird with 20,000 miles. This car still had the original tires. I paid $6,000 for her. It had the 460 cubic inch beast. I had the carb rebuilt, hand controls installed but could not ever transfer in and out easily as I could in the Elite. It was at this time I got an offer to buy a van with low mileage (900 miles) already equipped for a disabled driver. So I sold the car to my Barber’s brother in Germany for $7,500 and he paid the $750 shipping fees.

My car was white with red paaded 1/2 roof.

Besides my 1993 ford van that was driven until 2004, I bought a 2002 Ford van already equipped for a disabled driver (1,000 miles) in 2004 off ebay from Michigan - which I drive today.

The only other old car I bought was in 1989 - 1964 Chevrolet Impala SS convertible for $3,500 and invested another $7,000 in her up to 1994 when I sold her at carlisle for $11,000 to buy the 1993 ford van. This was a great car 283 two barrel, two speed auto with torquoise body, white top, and white and aqua interior - put together all original.

My car was torquoise, white top, white and aqua interior.

Now you know my history of cars - of course my wife has had many cars as well - but that is another story.

Curt

Faulkner · October 29, 2008, 7:57pm

OK, if you’ve visited my Faulkner page, you’ve seen this pic of the first car I’ve ever owned. Bought it for a dollar, it was a six cylinder that threw a valve. At 16 I pulled the head, and rigged up an open end wrench bolted to a 2x4 to press the spring shim and remove the retainers. I ground the valves and threw it back together, but lacking a torque wrench, tightened the head “by feel”. Of course I got it wrong, and in a week I had antifreeze in the oil and vice-versa. Still, a lot of fun for a 16 year old!

I donated it to the local fire department, who just bought a “jaws of life” and used my car for a demo. They cut it clear in half; which I still had the picture from the newspaper.

Dan

3.5 times as old, and twice as heavy 8^(

rogerh · October 30, 2008, 3:05am

(Dan, BTW,I didn’t get notification that this thread was getting more input)…
I was reminded that I too owned a Bimmerback in 1979…I think it was a blue 1969 BMW 1600. My college roommate’s mother owned it, and it got T-boned. I bought it for the heck of it, and did wierd things to it to bring it back to life. That car wanted to go FAST..unfortunately late one night I slid it sideways into and flipped over a guardrail at a high rate of speed…not one of my better moments. Not only totalled the car, but had to pay for the guardrail.
I also owned several 59 Ply parts cars, a 59 Ply wagon parts car, a 57 Ply wagon (licensed)which smoked badly..a 60 Dodge Phoenix 4HT, a beautiful 59 Desoto Fireflite 4HT in two-tone green..
I have no idea where photos of these cars are.., moving to new houses, divorce, giving up 35 mm camera and going to digital photos stored on disc has confused the heck out of me.

Faulkner · October 30, 2008, 11:32am

Matthew_Keij · October 30, 2008, 5:19pm

I’m still driving my first car, it’s a 1994 Opel Astra GSi16v.
Engine is a standard C20XE (2 liter 4 cilinder with 16 valves) and is producing 150 horsepower and 196 foot pounds of torque.
0-60 in 7,9 seconds when it’s standard, mine has some things done and does it in about 7 seconds.

Here it is in his old days, about 1½ year ago.

The engine

Then I crashed it and had it fixed. New rear arches, new sills, new front.
How it looks now

Interior

How it is going to look!

Mods i’ve done to it
Turbo brakes on the front, 284mm instead of the standard 256
17 inch rims, 15 inch didn’t fit anymore because of my brakes
Lowered 60mm on the front and 40mm on the rear
Leather interior with heated seats
Volt and oil temperature gauges in the center console
Added original headlight washers
Dark headlights and taillights

Fins59 · October 31, 2008, 2:44am

Interesting topic. My first car was a '46 Ford business coupe with a '51 Merc engine. (no I didn’t buy it in '46, I’m not that old This was up in Portland, Maine while stationed on Coast Guard Cutter Cook Inlet. I had a chance to buy a 19?? Graham, parked behind a gas station, but ended up with the Ford. I shoulda bought the Graham and put it away but storage $$$$ and 1300 miles away from home… Anyway the '46 threw a rod and I bought a '55 smokin oil burner 4 dr beast of a chevy. Gave that up when I spotted a beautiful '59 white Plymouth Sport Fury at a Machias, Maine car lot. Never really noticed them before but when I saw that one I did. Had the 361, mirrormatic, etc. Previoulsy owned by a local fellow, Bill Neumann, his name was on dash plaque. Traded that for a '66 Mustang. Dealer later told me a guy bought my '59 and made a stock car out of it. Then I had to have the '67 Mustang fast back, white of course. Sold that later and got a new '71 Gremlin X, (white with red X stripe - ordered it special with lots of accessories/options) For a Gremlin this was a beauty (really). Then I got a '80 Dodge shorty van, made it into a “traveling van”.

These were my interesting vehicles. Course I got me another '59 Sport Fury about 10 years ago (she’ll be 50 Nov 16, 2008) - Got me another Gremlin a couple years ago - and recently got me another shorty Dodge Van. I got a '77 Caddy Eldo (mothers car) and a Skylark convert waiting for a space in new garage I am building. Anybody know where I can buy a '67 Mustang fastback? Then how about another '46 Ford business coupe. I actually know of one for sale nearby. That’ll complete the circuit. On second thought I think I got enough. Divorces can be costly.

Ron_Keij · November 1, 2008, 5:23pm

My first guess on the car you wish you would have never bought it was the Pinto. But never having seen any of them in Europe I kind of like the car myself. In the early 70’s my father drove a Dutch made car (a DAF) and that was absolutely nothing compared to a Pinto. The attached picture is a scan of the actual family car we had, I am the one standing in front of the car and my mother is holding my brother.

Ron

Ron_Keij · November 1, 2008, 5:30pm

rogerh:

(Dan, BTW,I didn’t get notification that this thread was getting more input)…
I was reminded that I too owned a Bimmerback in 1979…I think it was a blue 1969 BMW 1600. My college roommate’s mother owned it, and it got T-boned. I bought it for the heck of it, and did wierd things to it to bring it back to life. That car wanted to go FAST..unfortunately late one night I slid it sideways into and flipped over a guardrail at a high rate of speed…not one of my better moments. Not only totalled the car, but had to pay for the guardrail.
I also owned several 59 Ply parts cars, a 59 Ply wagon parts car, a 57 Ply wagon (licensed)which smoked badly..a 60 Dodge Phoenix 4HT, a beautiful 59 Desoto Fireflite 4HT in two-tone green..
I have no idea where photos of these cars are.., moving to new houses, divorce, giving up 35 mm camera and going to digital photos stored on disc has confused the heck out of me.

Roger,

This was your first post in this topic and you only get notifications when there is a reply in one of your active topics (when you posted a message in that topic).

For somebody living in the US you had a really bad taste in cars when you were young Living in the Netherlands even I was ashamed to be driving a Fiat. But you are the living proof that people can keep developping taste as they get older. If you want to show pics you can do like Curt and I have done, we searched for pics the web and found similar cars.

Ron

Dick_Koch · November 2, 2008, 1:30pm

OK Ron, ease up on the Fiat’s, a Fiat is part of my story. Oh, so many cars and so little time. My First at 16 was a 40 Buick 4 dr. It was a parts car then, used it for 5 paper routes and made enough money to buy a 47 Plymouth, used it to travel back and forth from New Orleans to Baton Rouge (LSU). Summer of 57 drove it from New Orleans to Miami. Worked construction and traded it for a 54 Ford Convertible that I drove back to New Orleans. Got a job so good I was able to buy my first new car, a 57 Plymouth Convertible (21 now). Courted my wife with that car and still have her. Lost my job, got married, traded the 57 for a brand new 59 Fiat 1100. Moved to Miami in 1961 in the Fiat, what a trip, we packed the car, boxes took too much room. Got a car top carrier fit two big boxes up there filled them up with more stuff and took of for Miami. 21 hrs and 925 miles later at 45 MPH we got to Miami. We needed two cars so I bought a used 53 or 54 Dodge. 1962 We moved to West Palm Beach, Fl. and have been here ever since. Next was a 58 Mercury Montclair. My Mother in laws, then a 55 Plymouth Station Wagon, then a 64 Buick Wildcat, a couple of Cadillacs. a Ford Probe and then it starts to get blurry. Currently we have a 91 Ford Windstar Limited (Yvonnes) a 62 Ford E150 Traveler Van (love it) two 59 Plymouth Sport Furys, a 60 Desoto Adventurer 4 dr. Sedan and a 63 Fort Galaxie 500XL Convertible.
Unless gas get so expensive I have to get a Bike that’s it. They are all keepers.
Dick.

Steve_Storey · November 3, 2008, 12:05pm

Hi Folks, Am trying to attach a picture of my 1936 Daimler Light Straight 8 which is arguably rarer than a 1959 Sport Fury. Try finding parts for this one!! Have got it finally so I can kind of drive it. Steve Storey

Steve_Storey · November 3, 2008, 12:08pm

Hi again- Think i’m getting the hang of this . See anly one of the pictures made it through the ether though.So will try again.

Faulkner · November 3, 2008, 12:16pm

Way Cool, Steve! Did you buy the car new?

Now, lets see some more pix of that '59!!

Dan

Ron_Keij · November 9, 2008, 5:15pm

After a little more than 4 years the BMW was ready to be scrapped, too much rust in different spots and no more rear shocks. The moment was very bad since we just moved to a new house and Matthew was just a couple of months old so there was no money for a new car at that moment. But living without a car was difficult and my brother came to the rescue, he bought us a 1978 Audi 80! It wasn’t new but it was running very well. Our first car with an automatic transmission and I loved it. We drove it for about two years when things started to break down and right at that time we were visiting my wife’s parents. My father in law told me about the new car he bought that day and he also told me that he traded his current car for it. When he told me the price I didn’t know what to do, he almost gave it away to the dealer! I decided to tell him that it wasn’t a fair price at all and he replied that he was happy with it. He also said that we could still buy it from him for that same price. After a little discussion we decided to buy that car. It was a 198? Opel Kadett with a 1.2 liter engine, looking pretty good but driving it was no fun at all Going downhill with a bit of wind on the tail it would go to illegal speeds but without that the car was so slow We drove it for almost a year until we found a car we both liked and that had a bit more power so it was time to sell the Opel. We did very well on that and got more money than we had paid for it plus I got an extra $1200 from insurance because I was rear ended at a traffic light and just took the money and fixed it a bit myself.

Ron

mine was actually grey/silver

picked from the web but even the colour is the same

savvy59 · January 1, 2009, 10:29pm

The only other old car I bought was in 1989 - 1964 Chevrolet Impala SS convertible for $3,500 and invested another $7,000 in her up to 1994 when I sold her at carlisle for $11,000 to buy the 1993 ford van. This was a great car 283 two barrel, two speed auto with torquoise body, white top, and white and aqua interior - put together all original.
1964ChevroletImpalaconvertible.jpg

I just ran across the pictures of my real 64 SS I sold back in 1994. I really loved the colors and lines on this car even though is what not a MOPAR!

White and Aqua interior

Front and Rear view fresh from paint shop.

Curt

rogerh · January 2, 2009, 12:41am

Curt, what do you suppose it would sell for today, if anybody had money?
And what will be worth big bucks in ten years, 'cause I will be at retirement age and needing $

Ron_Keij · January 2, 2009, 4:13pm

Roger,

You will have to look for something like this, you will need just one of those for your retirement http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/01/01/world-s-most-expensive-car-discovered-in-garage-left-to-relatives-in-a-will-115875-21009194/

Ron