Thread: List and rate your cars.

EK Holden PV - Dad gave me the body, I had to learn mechanics to get it on the road. Was always a dog (had a bad mechanic ) but I lost my license in it for speeding. (I wasn't, it couldn't. I was dating the local copper's daughter though and he didn't like it. Small towns are such fun.)

EH station wagon. I thought it was a u-beaut, until the rust took hold and the roof started flapping in the breeze.

EH station wagon. Looked identical to the above... might even have been the recipient of a not-quite legal motor & plate transplant. (But SSSH!) Got my license suspended in it for being parked in sight of the same cop.

HK station wagon. Chevy V8. I discovered what the go-fast pedal was all about... and also realised that good suspension, steering and brakes were important. I loved this car; it handled sooo much better than my priors. Inevitably, I hadt my license suspended while driving it, but this time it was a fair cop.

'55 Ford Mainline (Customline Ute), 390cu big-block, supercharged w/dual Holley 780 double-pumpers shoe-horned in with FMX auto. Was in the process of getting it rego'd but... wait for it... lost my license. I was young, I was stoopid (you've probably already gathered that by now) and I couldn't resist taking it for a blurt before putting it over the pits. Just as well... I don't think I would've survived long in it. Besides, who could afford a fuel consumption measured in servos per mile?

'66 Pontiac Parisienne 4 door pillarless soft-top convertible. 350cu V8. Chick magnet and went like a cut snake. Unless there were corners involved... in which case 'twas like trying to wrangle a king-size water-bed. Once again, I lost my license in it; I was rear-ended but was considered 'guilty of malfeasance' on the basis of priors.

All the above before I was 25yo. That's when I bought my 1945 Harley Davidson WLA and got out of Dodge... Have I mentioned that small towns are fun?

Fast-forward some 25 years to 2008, when I decided I might try this driving thing again. (Ackershully, SWMBO said I had to. )

1993 V6 Mitsubishi Wagon. This thing surprised me. Looked like a grand-dad car but could out-accelerate many of the rev-heads on the M4 and handled really, really well. The best part was that it was so easy to work on, mechanically! (Except for changing the back 3 spark plugs. [shudder])

Ford AU XR6 I've driven some nasty pieces of trash (beside what I've listed. These are what I've owned.) but this thing made them look good. It went like the clappers, so long as you didn't mind leaving body parts lying on the road behind. This culminated in a grand display when, one of the front tubs worked loose enough to drop onto the front wheel... which, at highway speeds, meant it was promptly driven over and ripped to shreds. About 15km later, the other tub followed suit! I was relieved when we finally hit a 'roo with it - absolutely obliterated the front end - and could consider it a write-off. (A quick aside.... who the #$%# in Ford decided it was a good idea to make the auto a sealed unit so you couldn't top off the xmission fluid in case of a radiator leak?? Stupid!)

2000 V6 Mitsubishi Avance. For SWMBO, when the Magna started blowing smoke. (an easy fix but $$$) I'll very, very happily buy another Magna before I even think about looking at a recent Ford or Holden.

1989 Toyota Hilux DualCab. 2WD, 2.4l petrol. This is my gal and it will go anywhere, easily keeping up with idiot SUV drivers when they go "off-roading." Hehe. These things are bullet-proof. A bit more physical labour to drive, (no power-anything) but not as punishing as any of the old beasts I had before I was 25. If I could find the xfer case and front diff from a scrapped 4WD version to fit, I'd be as happy as a woodturner in a logging yard.

BTW. Still got the Harley. Never even been pulled over on it.

IMG_5404 (Small).JPG Woodpixel, Here's the 90 spec MK2, if it's the earlier it's a MK1... they're sought after now

Some 65...too long to list...however first car was a Lo-lite Morris....great car. 3rd was a `46 Oldsmobile....best car i`ve ever owned. Had a trio of funeral vehicles....Sedan/Flower Wagon/Hearse. Current is a 1959 Phase III Vanguard Vignale....beaut car but the Olds is the all time favourite.

Morris Minors, I never owned one but I contributed to a lot of deaths of MM's. My mate had one that had come from the owner of Sonic exhaust fame which was just up the road from us, it had a 1/4" knocked off the head to increase compression, a Ford 97 carby and a set of extractors with a bigger exhaust but it didn't go much faster than a standard one. Then we discovered the gun engine conversion for them, a Peugeot motor and box could be easily installed in a weekend and we were off to the races so to speak. We even cut and welded our own tail shafts on the garage floor, they went around but were a bit wobbly.

Some specs on a L Bug i owned about 10 years ago.....1600 twin port,Town&Country extractors,009 Ford Dizzy,1750 Holley,50% shaved of flywheel,14" x 6" Ford Jelly Beans,Marle pistons,Quikshift trigger.Showed a couple of times at Nationals.

74 mini LS with extractors, twin su and mild cam. Wore it out, twice.
Gemini. Wore it out...
68 mini with Cooper S motor. Still sorry I had to sell but couldn't afford the rebuild it needed.
89 camry wagon. Great car, till about 350k. Killed by low oil while on loan. [emoji24]
2001 odyssey. Great till about 250k, but expensive to maintain. Now good as a workhorse.
2014 outlander plug in hybrid EV. Love it.

I guess this shows my changing family circumstances over 40 years...

Russ

I think that Camry marked the end of your "exciting" years.....lol. I've enjoyed many fast, manual hot hatches over the years, but remember once buying an auto 4 cyl Camry when I was working in Sydney. Only auto car I've ever owned - what was I thinking???? It got me from A to B reliably, no dramas, zero enjoyment or excitement for several years. In the end I sold it mainly because it was just too BORING....

The odyssey had its 'exciting' moments, usually when the dealer was telling me how much it would cost me to fix the next issue. Seatbelt stalk, wiring harness, power steering hose, power steering pump ($1600 which I refused to pay - put in a reco for 300 plus 30min labour..). Heater adjustment failed. A new seatbelt because 'the sensor failed'. Plus OTT general service. Plus stuff Im sure I forget. Comfortable though.



Russ

71 HQ Kingswood 173 engine, faded paint but went hard for three years of thrashing -till the hole in the piston. GOOD car.
68 HK kingswood $200 with reco engine (186) bad paint and daylight under the drivers feet. Rust in the floor cost about $20 to fix - (fibreglass) then it was roadworthy & 6 months rego too. Also a GOOD car - definetly my best buy. Sold it yo a mate who spun it out on the freeway while trying to get to the next town on a flat tyre.
72 HQ wagon auto and clapped out - engine spat the dummy, with a broken windscreen, from swan hill area to melbourne, died in the yard after 12 litres of oil for the trip. A $50 engine/ box and everything else up to the pedal and it became manual (as all propper cars should be). that one died and three hours later had the HK engine. All good.
CM Valiant wagon - for towing unfortunately auto. adequate, ugly, thirsty. stolen then got hit in the drivers door after they ran out of fuel and pushing it.
Mitsubishi L300 van. Cheap and on its last legs. Engine died.
Same again - Then had major engine problems -went for tools/parts returned to find it torched.
XF s pac Falcon wagon. Nice car drove well only real problem was very thirsty and ran on leaded when it was getting phased out.
XF panelvan - On gas! Less go than the wagon(because of engine - not gas). Got about 3 years out of it (heading toward 1/2 Million klicks).
Same again this time auto similar(but slower than the manual). Was run into the ground - about 3 years again.
AU Falcon one tonner. Auto (getting hard to find manuals) needs basic work seals and bearings (tailshaft) but most other bits done so far have been fairly cheap. Passed the 300000k mark but had 4 years without MAJOR problems. Rust in chassis from mud build up and the back of the cab -aparently tis there spot -peeling clearcoat - starting to get that rat rod look, but still going -will either repaint or run into the ground. See how the mechanicals go.
All up HQ & HK best but current might out live them with me. Bit more gentle on my cars now.

Will only list the one I wish I still had...
E type Jag series 1 (1963) soft top with triple Webber’s, Koni shocks & few other mods.
Almost cry when I see the prices of them now. No way I will ever be able to buy one now.

I got my license in 1966 and Dad gave me a Renault 750 which he had stopped driving because it needed a new brake master cyclinder and a box of tools and said get it going and you can drive it. The MC was under the floor so I topped it up and kept doing that every week or when the pedal hit the floor. Seeing as the top speed was about 60mph even without brakes it wasn't very dangerous.

The followed a series of 750's each discarded when they either gave up the mechanical punishment meted out to them or ran out of rego. The I graduated to a Renault Dauphine, well a few of them and rinse and repeat. I then bought my first new car, Renault 10 which took me 9 months to write off in a series of accidents that proved I was not the racing driver I thought I was.

That was followed by a Mk2 Cortina which I proceeded to flog between Sydney and Melbourne every month or so because I was doing Nasho Service in Melbourne and used to drive home for short breaks when I had leave. It got an auxiliary fuel tank put in it so I only had to stop once on the trip at Gundagai in the 8 hour trip. I wrote a bridge off with that car and the car was totalled in the same accident proving that you should not rally your road car.

I got out of the army and decided I was over driving heaps of rubbish and bought a near new Triumph 2000, then a string of Triumphs followed and all went quicker than the last one until I worked out that marriage and spending money to make cars go faster did not mix so enter boring cars such as Suzuki Swifts and Cinos, they were bullet proof and cost petrol and an oil change every now and then to run. The family runabout was a Pintara Wagon followed by a Skyline sedan in which I was forced off the road and had a very high speed roll over with the kart trailer on the back. The trailer rolled as well breaking the chain and tow ball in the process and the karts survived unscathed.

A VS Statesman was next followed by the best car I have ever owned a Skoda Superb Diesel, it blew the V8 Statesman away in towing and we did a lot of that with it. Now I have a VW Tiguan, the latest series and while it is a nice car and has all the latest tech in it including self steering I would rather be driving something else but age and hard to get into cars do not go well together. As soon as the warranty is finished it is going to cop a tune to wake it up. My next car will be electric if I have my way, maybe a second hand Jaguar IPace budget and treasurer willing, they should just be starting to come off first owner leases by then.

Chris, that’s scarey, it was like reading my own list of first cars!
Renault 750 followed by a Dauphine. It then varied from your list as I then got an R8. That was the end of my Renault adventure as I bough my first new car; a Toyota Corona in 1974

Originally Posted by Pete57

Will only list the one I wish I still had...
E type Jag series 1 (1963) soft top with triple Webber’s, Koni shocks & few other mods.
Almost cry when I see the prices of them now. No way I will ever be able to buy one now.

Pete, My great uncle had a 4.2 E type when I was a little bloke and it has always been my dream car too,
until I saw the Eagle E Types on a TV series from the UK
https://www.eaglegb.com/
NOW I'm really dreaming!!
https://www.eaglegb.com/7/jaguar-etypes-for-sale
Cheers crowie


PS For now the Ford Falcon XR6 will just have to do.....great cars!!

I used to work in the same building as a Jag wrecker and I was talking to him one day about E Types and their reputation. He had bought one some time before and quickly sold it because he reckoned it did not handle well, his description of it s handling was a bit more forthright than that and it did not impress him as a good car to drive at all.