The car from your past you miss the most?
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My 1996 Ford Escort GT was a great little car. Some days I wish I still had it.
1.8l dual OHC was pretty peppy and not horrible on fuel even when abused. The other vehicle I still wish I had every darn day was my 1988 F350 4X4 with a 460 V8 with fuel injection and a 5 speed manual transmission. The axles had 4.11 gears. That thing could pull anything I could hook to it. 33” BFG Mud Terrain tires made sure I got there in any conditions. Sadly, dad talked me into trading it in for a F350 super cab dually for pulling the horse trailer. Oh well.
1.8l dual OHC was pretty peppy and not horrible on fuel even when abused. The other vehicle I still wish I had every darn day was my 1988 F350 4X4 with a 460 V8 with fuel injection and a 5 speed manual transmission. The axles had 4.11 gears. That thing could pull anything I could hook to it. 33” BFG Mud Terrain tires made sure I got there in any conditions. Sadly, dad talked me into trading it in for a F350 super cab dually for pulling the horse trailer. Oh well.
1975 Datsun 180B SSS. 1800cc 4 cylinder. Twin SU carbys. A cack load of fun. Revered by the local rallying community around the Brindabellas here.
Didn't have a straight panel on it when I sold it
Stock photo but almost the same colour.
Cheers
Didn't have a straight panel on it when I sold it
Stock photo but almost the same colour.Cheers
Like @cls, mine is a Mazda Rx-2. Mine was a 1972 four-door sedan in dark blue. There really is nothing like a rotary when the two big back vacuum-operated barrels of that four-barrel carb opened as it went through 4000 RPM.
A close second is my 1988 Mazda 323 hatchback. It could carry an amazing amount of rocket stuff (or airplane stuff). It was still going strong with over 300K miles on it when the traffic stopped in front of me faster than I did on the way to work one morning. Not nearly as hot a performer as the Rx-2 (1600 cc SOHC with a 4 speed and later 5 speed stick) but so simple and reliable.
We had an Rx-4 wagon for a while and I miss that one, too….though not at today’s gas prices.
A close second is my 1988 Mazda 323 hatchback. It could carry an amazing amount of rocket stuff (or airplane stuff). It was still going strong with over 300K miles on it when the traffic stopped in front of me faster than I did on the way to work one morning. Not nearly as hot a performer as the Rx-2 (1600 cc SOHC with a 4 speed and later 5 speed stick) but so simple and reliable.
We had an Rx-4 wagon for a while and I miss that one, too….though not at today’s gas prices.
NTP2
Well-Known Member
We need the story! How on earth did a car have a bacterial infection!!
I also owned a 1968 Saab V4 96. This was the car of choice the ice racing guys in Duluth used. It was one of first front wheel drive car available in the US. The original used a 2-stroke, 3 cylinder engine. The one I owned was a European Ford V4 that was used in industrial vehicles. The 96 eventually rotted out so I bought the station wagon version, the Saab 95, that had a bad engine but a decent body. I swapped the engine & tranny and happily ran it for many years. Both these cars were great winter vehicles.
But the Saab I lusted was the Sonnet. A sweet machine. A college friend owned one. (His dad was a MD.)
But the Saab I lusted was the Sonnet. A sweet machine. A college friend owned one. (His dad was a MD.)
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The owner who sold it had an infection and needed strong antibiotics. Multiple other people caught the same infection after we owned it. It required an antisceptic tx to kill the scourge.
lr64
Well-Known Member
What, no wing?
NTP2
Well-Known Member
Wow! I it must have been a mutation or something because I’m pretty sure bacteria can’t live that long without a human.
Staph can live week on porous surfaces. Ask your wrestling team.
NTP2
Well-Known Member
Like car cushions…
This is a stock photo but mine looked identical more or less (maybe a bit less shiny).
1976 Chevrolet Caprice Estate Wagon. 400 cubic inch 8 cylinder engine, 4 barrel carb. Handed down to me by my parents when I was a high school junior. Was outfitted for cargo (no third row rear seat). Has the clamshell rear retractable gate/window.
Sure it was a tank with woodgrain paneling but it hauled a$$. People were surprised that it launched off the line so quickly that it could beat a lot of cars to the other end of the intersection.
I kept it and loved it through college (Baltimore), grad school (California), and a post doc until I had to move to a "real job" that came with a car allowance. It was on its last legs so I donated it to charity. I miss it still and have its original timing chain as a momento.
perfect for a blow up mattress too.
I would still like to have my first car. It was a Marron 1971 Ford Torino GT 500. I wondered why it was a 500. It had a 302 V8 with an automatic. It was a sport roof. A very long roof. The trunk was huge. Could easily fit 4 or 5 people. Never did. A big back seat. Which I did use. My Dad gave it to me when I turned 16 in 1972. The first time I drove it I smoked the tires leaving the driveway. My parents had told me when leaving the driveway to do it fast. The road in front of the house had a 65mph speed limit and there was a big hill in one direction. So we would all leave fast. There were a lot of dirt roads where we lived in Michigan. I would race around on them. Rear end sliding. Four wheel drifting. But alas the salt ate it. Traded it for a 1976 Scirocco in 1977. Mine didn't look anything like the one up thread. It was a metallic green of some unknown shade. One wiper. The front wheel drive almost killed me in the snow. I rolled it over several times and totaled it trying to avoid a car that pulled out in front of me. No seat belt. I ended up in the passenger seat. Windshield was gone. All four tires pointing in different directions. Every quarter panel, the roof, the front end and the back end were mangled. My Guardian Angle must have been looking out for me because I could have died in that wreak. That was the only time I've had a wreak. I have a large model of the Torino. It looks just like it. Hood pins and all. Mine had a body color hood without the scoop or louvers. Every so often I look at Car Trader and try to find one. But I've been looking for a 429 Cobra Jet.![20240220_010536[4175].jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/rocketryforum/data/attachments/548/548480-1cae1e687c578588a741db1ede2b231f.jpg "20240220_010536[4175].jpg")
![20240220_010546[4174].jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/rocketryforum/data/attachments/548/548481-f851d21667fdfc2e9080bb2f3edbc134.jpg "20240220_010546[4174].jpg")
My 1987 Mitsubishi Montero in Light Tan. Drove it stock to the top of Mt. Pinos in Gorman, CA.
The area was called Hungry Valley and it was hungry for vehicles. Thing lasted 13 years while I was active duty and we drove it everywhere. First new car I ever owned.
The area was called Hungry Valley and it was hungry for vehicles. Thing lasted 13 years while I was active duty and we drove it everywhere. First new car I ever owned.
DJRNY
well it has fins and took off like a rocket....
My first car was a '67 Camaro, convertible, candy apple red with a white top and a white stripe across the hood, black interior and 3 speed on the floor. I bought it used when I was 16, drove it for 8 years, and sold it when I went to grad school. I knew it was destined to become a classic, but I just couldn't afford to keep it.
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I sure miss my gold colored 1970 302 Mustang convertible, but it didn't have the Boss engine. It was still plenty fast, especially after I rebuilt the engine and added a race cam and AFR street heads. Those small block Ford engines were tough
Well, if we're doing second place: 1980 Datsun 510 hatchback. Nothing special about it, but it was my first car, the car I drove to my honeymoon in, etc. Fond memories.
That's a gross overgeneralization. Even substituting "host" for human, there are more germs in Heaven and Earth, @NTP, than are dreamed of in your philosophy.
NTP2
Well-Known Member
I’m aware of that, I assumed that a bacteria that specializes in giving humans skin infections would not have much use for long periods without a human to give an infection to. I was wrong apparently, and stand corrected.
We see what you did there.
rkoenn
Retired NASA Shuttle Engineer
Since I started driving in 1968 I have obviously gone through many cars. I have had three that I liked the best. The first was a 1973 V6 Mercury Capri that was made in Germany. I got it in late summer 1974 and a month later driving to work at my NASA coop job at KSC from Orlando had it almost totaled when a guy hit me from the side in Bithlo, FL. Fortunately the dealership repaired it and I drove it for two years, great looks and great performance with 4 speed manual but the AC was crap. Then out of college I bought a 1978 Scirocco and drove it for six years and enjoyed it, fortunately it was never in a wreck. Finally my 2000 Jetta I put 100000+ miles on over the 13 years I owned it. It had a 5 speed manual which was great to drive. The pics are identical to my cars but not the actual cars I owned.
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I'd go with a first-gen MR2, no sunroof. Make it the later one with revised suspension, as they handled a lot better. Mine was an '85 and didn't work as well as newer ones I've driven. Would have to swap in a 20V and turbo it.
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I'm enjoying this thread. I see that I'm in the minority, never having owned a foreign vehicle.
Chevy, Plymouth, Olds, Olds (new), Chevy, Chevy, Ford, Ford, Ford (new).
I still drive the 2005 Expedition with 215K miles and a salvage title. Frugal curmudgeon mode!
If I had a choice, I'd drive off into the sunset in a '69 Olds 442, all original, rebuilt and mint.
Chevy, Plymouth, Olds, Olds (new), Chevy, Chevy, Ford, Ford, Ford (new).
I still drive the 2005 Expedition with 215K miles and a salvage title. Frugal curmudgeon mode!
If I had a choice, I'd drive off into the sunset in a '69 Olds 442, all original, rebuilt and mint.
OldGuy1967
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Coast Phase
New Member
Giving away my age, here is an actual photo (circa 1958) of my first car, a 1940 Buick Coupe. Inherited from his father, who bot it new, my dad eventually gave it to me. I got my first license driving it in 1954. 
86 years old?
1964 dodge cornet
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