Thread: Great Cars that you've owned

Strewth, Dingo! I think you finally outdid yourself.

You are a natural-born wit. (Or is it git? twit? No, wit!)

Hey Dingo, you're almost there, I want to see a post that takes up a whole page. Is that possible

Cheers
Michael

See what you did Gra.

I want to know does anyone actually read any more than the first paragraph of a Dingo post?

Ok, in this case I got to the 3rd but the 1st two were short.

Good subject for a poll.

I had a 1967 Chevy Impala Convertible, painted bright yellow, with a great flame job on the hood man I loved the car, a couple of missing summers were spent in it......

Also, an original Datsun 240Z, what a hoot that car was, then I got into road bikes, 86 GSXR 750, man that thing was hard on my drivers license......

One of my favourite beasties was a '55 Ford Mainline I started rodding.

Had finished the chassis and wanted to start on the running gear, so threw the body and both guards back on and fitted the steering box and front end. No floor in the tray or doors or seats or anything else... just the basics to make sure everything fitted. Then I fitted up a blown 390ci big-block with twin Holley 780 double-pumpers, an FMX auto and Tank Fairlane diff. (Anyone who understands what all that is can tell I wasn't exactly worried about fuel efficiency. ) Of course, then I wanted to make sure 'twas all running... so I wired up a 20gal drum to the chassis in the back as a fuel tank, mounted a couple of headers upside down like truck exhausts and gave 'er a kick in the guts.

Whooeee! She was one mean sounding mother and Just blipping the throttle sent her shuddering sideways. Real testosterone stuff. Too much testosterone, really, as then I just had to make sure the auto and diff worked OK too. (Oh, too be young and invulnerable again. [sigh]) Thinking I was being smart, I bolted the doors back on and set up a folding chair for a seat... then eased her out the drive and down the highway. Now, she still didn't have any weight in the back, no tray as I said... and I'd only thrown the original 16" pizza cutter wheels & tyres back on. Traction? Ha! Every time I even looked like putting the foot down she'd just spin a wheel and slow to a halt. And being a barge, she didn't turn too well, so I let her idle down the road to a set of lights so I could do a 23-point turn.

That's when it happened... one o' those burgundy Monaros with the gold honeycomb wheels (what were they called??) came screeching up to a halt next to me as I waited for the lights to change, the driver looked over at my motley collection of assorted primer colours and sneered. Then blipped his throttle a few times. Now what's a bloke supposed to do? I blipped the throttle right back at back at him, of course. The smirk disappeared off his face right quick smart when the ol' beasty torqued herself towards the gutter. Then I kicked in the blower to give her another blip, just as the lights changed and in pure reaction I floored it.

Silly me... I knew it had all the traction of a ball-bearing. Up she goes through the gears, blower screaming, smoke billowing, rear end stepping out and moving forward at a rate measurable in inches per year. My nemesis of the minute sedately pulled away, leaving me in a cloud of burning rubber, asphalt and a shredded tyre. Just as well, I guess, 'cos I hadn't bothered installing anything as mundane as brakes when I took it for my test drive.

Anyway, I finally got her turned around and idled her back home and into the garage. A bit later on that night, down at the local watering hole, the local constable pulled me aside and gave me a good talking to. Apparently he was off-duty in his own private car following the Munro and was about to book him for reckless driving when he pulled up at the lights... so he was right behind us when the scene unfolded. With the smoke-screen I was laying down I hadn't noticed him either coming or going.

I've no idea why he didn't book me then and there, although he did say that the Munro driver seemed to be a changed man afterwards, behaving himself as he drove away. Then he cautioned me that if he ever saw that beast on the road again, registered or not, he'd have my nuts for a bonnet decoration.

So I sold the old gal as was and invested in a '67 Pontiac GTO instead... but that's another story.

Hmm, you see my motoring thing wasn't nearly as adventurous.

A couple of veedubs, then the FC Monaro. Well I had a mate who worked for Eagers and the Monaro badge came on a pre-release stand when the Monaro arrived on the scene.

I also had a mate who worked for Repco in the days when Repco was Repco, and he had a few gadgets that he lent me, a crank, some pistons, a flywheel, oh and a rotary valve head. With a two inch copper exhaust and running methanol, it wasn't exactly a town car, but it was the second sideplate engined Holden to break 18's for the quarter, thanks to some forgotten nobody called Harrop, who beat us by a weekend!

Then I turned 18 and saw the light. Rallying meant I could have a car that was a bit more street friendly.

Peugeot's 203,403, the magic 404 with the injected 504 engine.
Then the R10 rally car with the 16ts running gear and the R8 front to make it look like a half-passable gordini.

Oh and there was a bug-eyed sprite in there somewhere too.

Then kids:

A couple of mini's, two more R10's, an R12, the incredible C19, an awesome DS23 Palais, and our last Froggy Car, the unforgettable 505 sti.

And they were just the memorable ones! (if you don't know what the numbers mean, you wouldn't understand anyway).

Our Beemer coupe is a loverly thing, no doubt about it, but each of the cars mentioned above had something special that made them memorable. It's as if they had a life or character all of their own, and I'd have any one of them in my garage today. Maybe that's why I mostly drive the Zuk!

Cheers,
P

'66 Chevelle ragtop. 283 V-8. Original color pale yellow, I painted it electric blue like the idiot teenager I was. Had set of red fuzzy dice on the mirror. Used to drive with the radio blaring top down in the the middle of snowy winter. My Mom sold it when I went to college. It cost me $100 from a friend of my dad's. The guy who bought it planned a full resto. Probably worth about $35,000 today. Got nothing on your stories Ding, keep writin' em.

V-8's
Forever

My first car was a MkII Cortina - quickly found out it was cheaper to learn to do the work on it myself.
Most fun was the 2 weeks I drove around with just open headers on the engine while I saved up to buy the rest of the exhaust

I got pulled over by the police because of the huge bonnet scoop, but they accepted the explanation that it was only a temporary bonnet while the real bonnet was being painted. (It helped that that was the truth)
They checked under the bonnet, and saw the 1.6l engine, and had a grin, told me to get rid of the bonnet quick smart.

I was praying for them to leave, because I reckoned if I started up the noise from the exhaust-less engine might just change their friendly mood a bit!!

Luckily, the road was a bit downhill, so I just rolled off, and they did a U-turn and I was safe.

And, the car I miss most is my Z3. Ahhhhh... little red 2 seater convertible. Even got me mentioned, and a (blurry) photo in Australian Penthouse!
Same problem with not holding missus and kids as mentioned above. Replaced with 2 Hyundais

Cheers,
Andrew

Originally Posted by Grunt

I want to know does anyone actually read any more than the first paragraph of a Dingo post?

Ok, in this case I got to the 3rd but the 1st two were short.

I try...I really do...but after a while my head starts to hurt...sorry Ding . You know what they say..."a picture is worth a thousand words"
So here is a couple of pics

I havent had many cars yet, compared to a lot of guys...mostly commodores, However I think the greatest car I have ever owned (and still own) is my trusty old Series III landrover. Bought and partly restored for a 12 month trip around OZ.

Attachment 50387

she may be pig ugly....she may feel like your driving a tractor....you may not be able to put your feet on the passenger side floor without getting a nasty burn .....but you can field strip her with a shifter and a screwdriver, she has gone anywhere I have ever asked her and she is so reliable that I managed to drive across the Nullabour with what I later found out to be a crack that went from one end of the head to the other .

heres another Pic mid restoration.

Attachment 50388

She now sits quietly rusting, waiting for me bring her back to her full former glory.

cheers
BD

My father used to complain that soon after he bought a new car, the company either went bankrupt or the model changed! My early memories were of a series of Studerbakers, the last one in 1958 - big V8 and a "digital" speedometer. But the one I loved the most was his '65 MkII Jag. Oh, that was a pretty car, and very quick (I know - I would steal it and take it as fast as the roads would permit). I have had a soft spot for the Mk II ever since. Never owned one tho'.

I did inherit my father's tendency to hold onto cars. My current driver is now 14 years old, a '93 SAAB aero coupe. It drives like new and I really haven't been tempted enough to change it.... did consider a Audi TT a while ago, and still like them..

But the two cars that stand out were the "first" and the "last".

The first car I owned was a fifth-hand, clapped out 1966 or 7 Lancia Fulvia Coupe. I think I was about 19 years old. Paid a pittance for the car (everything was shot). The importer was a friend of the family and took pity on me, helped me fix it up and get it going. Man, that car was a blast! Very nippy and great road holding. Left hand drive and black. Eventually it started to fall apart and I traded it in on a sensible car, a '67 sunroof VW bug, as I was a poor fulltime student at uni.

Here is a Lancia FC similar to mine:

Many years later I was looking for a car that I might restore with my son. He was only 4 years old at the time but that fact did not get in the way of the Great Search. I did eventually find The Car, one that I had fallen in love with a few decades before.... a 1957 Porsche 356 coupe. Here is one like mine (I don't have a decent picture, but this one is almost identical).

I call it a Driving Restoration - I drive it a bit, then I work on it, then I drive it again, then I work on it some more ... about 9 years on and I have panel beaten and painted the car, rebuilt the motor, but now I need to get the gearbox done and the interior redone. My wife calls it the Menoporsche.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Ford Zephyr Mk 2, got it as a hand me down from my brother, he was 18
I was 15 and just got my licence Sold it to the Mongrel Mob for $200
about 6 months later, and put a deposit on a yamaha TT500..........there started my love affair with bikes.