[Canada_Rockies]

Any old cars you've had...or that were family owned that you would like to have around ?

The one I would like to have again is my 1958 Mercedes Benz 22S Ponton with full length sun roof and autobahn suspension (variable rate springs). I picked it up for DM 1,400 (C$ 405) in Germany while posted there in 1965. I figured if it lasted 3 months, I was ahead of the game. In 1971 it needed an engine rebuild (equivalent of 185,000 miles) and I was only earning $540 a month which didn't make a $3,000 expense possible. It wasn't drag race fast, but it handled like a dream.

[ThorSanchez]

My 15 year old son thinks station wagons are cool so it may be repeating. He likes all things retro and shoots with my Voigtlander Vito B.

Edit to add:
I like station wagons (AWD ones in particular) because they are practical for my lifestyle. Interestingly enough our family car when I was young was a station wagon (70's boxy Volvo) and later we got a minivan. We also had a sedan (Toyota Cressida).
I hated pickup trucks when I was young because I didn't see the point (and in SE Michigan there often isn't a practical reason to own one). But now I own a truck because it makes sense here with the things we do.

So me and my son liking station wagons kind of breaks the trend of hating what you parents had. But we are practical people for the most part.

Americans probably think of wagons as the 1983 Caprice Classic I took my driver's test in. It was like 20 feet long, 10 feet wide, had that wonderfully hideous undamped, floaty suspension, and a 350 cubic inch 150 horsepower engine that got 12 mpg. Backwards third row seating. Ours didn't have stick-on wood paneling, but many did.


But today (if you live in Europe) you can get an Audi RS6 Avant that's just a longroof version of a tremendous sports sedan. Heck even a A4 Avant or BMW 3-series wagon are quiet, tight, sporty, and practical. The new Buick (really a rebadged Opel) wagon looks pretty good - even if they had to name it the BigRanchCrossTourXtreme or some such nonsense to get 'muricans to look at it. I'll die a little inside when I see the inevitable sales figures with Nissan turning over more Rogues in a month than Buick will sell wagons in a year.

[mattb123]

I've ridden in those big old wagons but never driven one but I do recall the schooner effect from the suspension.
My first car was a 86 Tercel SR5 4x4 wagon. I loved that thing and even lived out of it at times.
Toward the end mine would freeze in whatever gear you left it in if it was any colder than about 0 F and not allow me to shift until it warmed up.
When it was -20 to -30 I had to drive it to warm up the transmission or it would never loosen up. That was a real pain if I forgot and left the thing in reverse! 2nd gear worked the best around town until I could shift. Good times!

[ThorSanchez]

Any old cars you've had...or that were family owned that you would like to have around ?

Let's see, my parents owned:
A 1970-something land yacht Chevy wagon in brown or grey, which they replaced with another 1970s Chevy land yacht wagon in maroon. Which they replaced with the '83 Caprice Classic wagon. I would not like to have any of those around. My dad replaced the Caprice with a 1992 ish Buick LeSabre, which was a tremendously awful car. I swear the suspension was not only the floaty-ist I've ever experienced, but also broken.


My dad drove a 1969 Corvette, which is still in his garage. Probably about 1000 miles on it since 1980. That's nice. His daily drivers were 1976 Chevy Cheyenne pickup. Don't miss it. A 1988 Chevy half-ton pickup. Still in his driveway, as cardboard box storage. Took my date to prom in that in 1989. He replaced that with a 2002ish Chevy Silverado, which he calls "the new truck." I don't really have any great fondness for any of the pickups.


I've driven a 1988 Chevy Beretta, which was fine for a car in college, but I don't miss it. My 1995 Eagle Talon (rebadged Mitsubish Eclipse) was a lot of fun, turbo lag, good for the 1990s 210 hp. I wouldn't own one, but it was fun in it's time. Then I replaced that with a 2005 Mini Cooper S, which I loved. But it was getting old and my kids were getting too big for the back seat. I miss that. One day I'll buy an old Austin Mini.

[lesmore49]

We had a '76 Chevy Impala in our family for 21 years. My parents bought it , kept it for 8 years and then we bought it from them originally to use as a second car.

As it turned out it assumed full use status very quickly.Great car, dead reliable, uber durable and we towed our trailer through the Rockies, western USA, Western Canada, the mid west, north western Ontario...it would start up in -25 to -30 or colder. A tremendous car. Twenty one years of very good service we got out of that car...and not easy service either.

The Impala had been bought new, from a dealer and just had the standard suspension. When we started towing trailers I decided to up rate the suspension. I had a commercial truck suspension shop recommend and install Moog Variable Rate coil springs.

What a transformation in handling...little to no sway...and it improved the handling significantly. Now a '76 Impala is a huge car...but with the addition of the heavy duty Moog coils...I found it was amazing how quickly it could go into a corner..again...very little sway..due to those upgraded suspension components.

A lot of people talk about mushy suspension, sway in corners with the old full frame, rear wheel drive American cars and to an extent that was true, because many customers wanted that lazy boy ride.

But when the suspensions were upgraded with heavy duty coils and leaves, bigger diameter anti sway bars front and rear, better shocks, better performance biased tires, etc...the results could be nothing short of amazing,

In fact American manufacturers had these up rated suspension available in the order book... but you or the salesman needed to know the order codes. With Chevies back then it was the F 41 suspension, police package 9C1, etc. I know, because I would find a salesman/ saleswoman who was willing to drag out the package catalogues where the little ordered heavy duty equipment was listed. I ordered a Chevy wagon with the heavy duty rally sport/ performance suspension...it came with DeCarbon gas shocks, heavy duty front and rear anti roll bars, larger /wider wheels, BF Goodrich T/A speed rated tires, etc.. I factory ordered a few cars like this

What a sleeper...it would surprise a lot of so called sporty cars...domestic and import in the corners . But you had to factory order these suspension packages for the most part, they weren't too common off the dealer lot and showroom. One salesman I spoke to was concerned after I told him to drag out the order catalogue for these suspension and big engine options...he responded by saying...but you won't want a car like this...it'll be a hot rod !

What I wanted was practicality...a wagon, 4 door sedan...with excellent handling and acceleration. I do believe that a car equipped thusly makes the driving experience safer....and as an additional benefit more satisfying to drive...read...fun.

These 'heavy duty' components were originally developed by the factory for extreme use...mostly police package use and were often available in partial or complete packages ...if you knew who to ask, what to ask for and where to find the codes.

[kadajawi]

I have to look up most of the cars you mention, because they never made it in any form to the US. But I've driven the Renault 9, my only exposure to a French car. Renault was trying to break into the US market (again) and had a deal with American Motors. In 1983 they introduced the 9, renamed the "Alliance". Four door sedan, 1.4L, the only car I've ever seen with the oil filter right on top of the engine. They didn't sell very well and within a couple of years, seeing an Alliance was rare.

Yup. I honestly can't see that car doing well in the US either. Ours had the 1.6 liter diesel, good for some 56 hp. It also had the quad headlights, and was bright red.

Some really cool cars mentioned here.

Cars that my dad drove I wish I had now...? He usually owned Mercedes diesels, the one he always mentioned was a W110 diesel. According to him he did nearly a million km with it, with one replacement engine at some point. Given how much he drove back then I'm not too surprised, and it's obvious why he went for Mercs. They were in a different league back then for such high mileage use. And I'd want that car. Maybe not exactly with the diesel engine though.

Those uprated suspension setups sound a bit like what you'd get as standard in Europe. To get something really floaty you'd probably have to get an old Citroen, but because of their advanced suspension system they also featured decent handling. The Xantia Activa is flatter (and faster IIRC) around corners than a contemporary Lotus.

For a while car manufacturers went absolutely nuts. The Touran in Cross Touran guise (with some SUV styling bits added and a raised suspension), together with 17" rims felt absolutely brutal to me. Any road imperfection would just beat up the passengers. After a while the car softened up a bit, but that wasn't a pleasant thing to be in as a passenger (and it's a 7 seater minivan!). My Golf is supposed to be quite comfortable... I think it's okay, but I don't think I want it much harder. Fortunately cars are getting softer again these days, and once you've got adaptive dampeners (usually as an option, though VW will even sell you a Polo with adaptive dampeners if you want) it's fine. A friends Jaguar F-Type R, an absolute beast of a car rides beautifully with its adaptive dampeners. I'd say perhaps even more comfortable than my Golf.

Sadly enough there are still enough people who want it as uncomfortable as possible in Europe, so if you want to get a well speced Mazda 3, you'll have to go for the higher equipment levels. Which will also include big rims coated in rubber, and sports suspension. Since the stock suspension is already a bit stiff... And you can see many people order their cars with sports suspension and huge rims.

[cooltouch]

I was a kid in the 50s and 60s and my parents drove boring American full-size sedans. Totally forgettable stuff. So I forgot about it. I've owned a lot of cars over the years, some I liked, some I hated (but bought cuz the wifey insisted).

I've owned a few cool cars, though. I have fond memories of the '63 Ford Falcon with a 144ci straight six and three on the tree. I drove that little car everywhere. A chic magnet it wasn't, however. I owned a couple of Jensens as well -- back in the '80s -- a Jensen Healey (no, it wasn't like an Austin Healey, although it was designed by him) and a Jensen GT. The latter looked like a hatchback version of the Healey and was quite rare -- only 512 were built. Those cars were a blast to drive. Light weight with a 2.0L 16-valve 4-cylinder Lotus 907 engine. It put out about 160 hp in stock trim. A previous owner had installed a couple of 40DCOE Webers and a fairly aggressive pair of cams in the GT, so it was noticeably faster than the Healey.

By the late '90s I'd found a rather rare Volvo wagon -- a 740 turbo. It came from the factory with a 5-speed manual gearbox and a limited slip differential. I hotrodded the snot out of that car. It was your quintessential sleeper. I could break both rear tires loose in 2nd gear with that thing. Unfortunately that car died from terminal wiring loom rot. The insulation just crumbled off. When the main wiring harness started rotting, I knew the car was a goner. I didn't have the knowledge nor the patience to replace a main wiring harness. Since then, I've owned a couple other turbo Volvos, both sedans, so kinda boring. I always adjusted the boost on those cars though, just as a matter of principle. Stock was about 8 psi. I would boost it to 12 and sometimes higher. That extra 4 psi meant about 30 more hp.

These days, I have an Olds Aurora -- a car my mother owned. She hardly drove it so it's got really low miles. The Aurora is an interesting car because of its engine -- a 4.0L Northstar. This is the engine that was also found in Cadillacs, albeit punched out to 4.6L. A 32-valve twin-cam V8, it was definitely ahead of its time for GM back in the late 90s. With 250 hp, performance is decent, although the car's suspension is awful. Apparently an improved suspension can be found for this car, so I have that on my to-do list.

As of about two months ago, we retired my wife's Volvo V90, which had been a great car. The engine was dead-nuts reliable. In the 13 years that we owned that car, we didn't have a single engine-related problem. We replaced the V90 with an XC90, Volvo's full-size crossover. I wouldn't call it an SUV, mostly because it doesn't look like one. I gotta say, this is a cool ride. More room than our V90 had, better performance, and a ride every bit as good. The only thing the V90 had over on the XC90 is turning radius. Because the V90 was an RWD car, it had an exceptionally tight turning radius. The XC90, being an FWD car, it's turning radius suffers as a result. But, it's better than most. Better than the turning radius with my FWD Aurora.

We bought the XC90 used and the previous owner kept the car up really well. It looks and feels almost brand new. Fortunately the PO took it to our Volvo mechanic for service, so he's already familiar with the car.

---

Last edited by cooltouch; 03-30-2018 at 09:48 AM.

[ivanvernon]

I was a kid in the 50s and 60s and my parents drove boring American full-size sedans. Totally forgettable stuff. So I forgot about it. I've owned a lot of cars over the years, some I liked, some I hated (but bought cuz the wifey insisted).

I've owned a few cool cars, though. I have fond memories of the '63 Ford Falcon with a 144ci straight six and three on the tree. I drove that little car everywhere. A chic magnet it wasn't, however. I owned a couple of Jensens as well -- back in the '80s -- a Jensen Healey (no, it wasn't like an Austin Healey, although it was designed by him) and a Jensen GT. The latter looked like a hatchback version of the Healey and was quite rare -- only 512 were built. Those cars were a blast to drive. Light weight with a 2.0L 16-valve 4-cylinder Lotus 907 engine. It put out about 160 hp in stock trim. A previous owner had installed a couple of 40DCOE Webers and a fairly aggressive pair of cams in the GT, so it was noticeably faster than the Healey.

By the late '90s I'd found a rather rare Volvo wagon -- a 740 turbo. It came from the factory with a 5-speed manual gearbox and a limited slip differential. I hotrodded the snot out of that car. It was your quintessential sleeper. I could break both rear tires loose in 2nd gear with that thing. Unfortunately that car died from terminal wiring looom rot. The insulation just crumbled off. When the main wiring harness started rotting, I knew the car was a goner. I didn't have the knowledge nor the patience to replace a main wiring harness. Since then, I've owned a couple other turbo Volvos, both sedans, so kinda boring. I always adjusted the boost on those cars though, just as a matter of principle. Stock was about 8 psi. I would boost it to 12 and sometimes higher. That extra 4 psi meant about 30 more hp.

These days, I have an Olds Aurora -- a car my mother owned. She hardly drove it so it's got really low miles. The Aurora is an interesting car because of its engine -- a 4.0L Northstar. This is the engine that was also found in Cadillacs, albeit punched out to 4.6L. A 32-valve twin-cam V8, it was definitely ahead of its time for GM back in the late 90s. With 250 hp, performance is decent, although the car's suspension is awful. Apparently an improved suspension can be found for this car, so I have that on my to-do list.

As of about two months ago, we retired my wife's Volvo V90, which had been a great car. The engine was dead-nuts reliable. In the 13 years that we owned that car, we didn't have a single engine-related problem. We replaced the V90 with an XC90, Volvo's full-size crossover. I wouldn't call it an SUV, mostly because it doesn't look like one. I gotta say, this is a cool ride. More room than our V90 had, better performance, and a ride every bit as good. The only thing the V90 had over on the XC90 is turning radius. Because the V90 was an RWD car, it had an exceptionally tight turning radius. The XC90, being an FWD car, it's turning radius suffers as a result. But, it's better than most. Better than the turning radius with my FWD Aurora.

We bought the XC90 used and the previous owner kept the car up really well. It looks and feels almost brand new. Fortunately the PO took it to our Volvo mechanic for service, so he's already familiar with the car.

I had that same old Ford Falcon, baby blue, and loved the car, but was cautious to always leave myself plenty of stopping room as the brakes were not all that fantastic.

[Lord Lucan]

As I listen to people speak about automobiles, I find most hate the type of vehicles their parents drove and say they'll never own the same. Meaning if your parents drove a station wagon, you might hate station wagons and refuse to buy one.

My father had station wagons ("estate cars" in the UK), and I have always had them too, the biggest I can find, Ford Granada, Volvo etc. Back in the days when the fashion in saloons/sedans was the "three box" profile, I could not see the point in the waste of space above the boot/trunk. I am often needing to carrying things to capacity; helped my daughter move house four times in the last two years, taking son's stuff to uni, often fetching heavyweight DiY and building materials (I can get 3 meter lengths of pipe or timber inside), taking junk to the rubbish dump - sorry, recycling centre - as the previous house owner here obviously never did. My rear seats are folded down almost permanently. I now have a Jeep Grand Cherokee, and I use it to pull out tree stumps too. It is not really boxy enough for my taste TBH, but the boxier Jeep Commanders are very rare in the UK.

These days most cars seen in the UK have become "estate-car-like" anyway, as the usefulness of that format is realised, although heaven forbid you say so to anyone because that is a heresy. On a car forum I did make that comment and was promptly told off that the modern type was a "hatchback" not an "estate" and was given some lengthy technical details about the differences - to do with the number of window pillars or something, I forget exactly.

[builttospill]

On a car forum I did make that comment and was promptly told off that the modern type was a "hatchback" not an "estate" and was given some lengthy technical details about the differences - to do with the number of window pillars or something, I forget exactly.

That's pretty funny they're so resolute with a body style, but it makes sense; many of us here are similar with camera equipment. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but to me, a hatchback is a two-door, and a wagon is a four-door car.

How well does your Grand Cherokee do at pulling stumps? I bent both the tow hooks nearly straight pulling trees down with my Silverado. (I bend them back by pushing (driving) the truck into a concrete pillar.) A wagon would never give me the space required to haul things though. Here's a photo of my Silverado hauling supplies for building my barn a few years ago (with 20-foot-long pieces of wood and metal):


I now have a bigger truck with a long bed.

[dadipentak]

(I bend them back by pushing (driving) the truck into a concrete pillar.

Whatever works!

[monochrome]

Volvo 240D Wagon with third row seat. Only way known to man to haul three children on vacation in complete harmony (Hint: The girls are separated from The Boy). Ran all day at 74mph comfortably for driver and front seat passenger and was a total beast AFA swallowing up a Sam’s Club load of diapers, wipes, juice boxes, cases of baby food, 24 roll pack paper towels, cases of Diet Coke, etc. My wife traded it for the Outback 3.0 and my car became the trip / Scouts hauler. I had a nicely-fitted Ford 7-passenger conversion van for three years but the Eaton trans would overheat and lock it in 1st. If I sat for 15 minutes it would cool off and be copacetic, but you never knew when it would lock up again. The Dealer simply wouldn’t fix it so I traded it on a 4WD Suburban that ran 247,000.

It shouldn’t be a problem to start and stop any modern vehicle on snowy roads these days - they’re either treated or closed.

[builttospill]

It shouldn’t be a problem to start and stop any modern vehicle on snowy roads these days - they’re either treated or closed.

That may work for some areas but not here, high in the mountains. They treat the highways and interstate freeways before the snow begins, but can't get all the roads. If the storm doesn't move on, the de-icing chemicals don't last.

That's only part of the issue. The bigger issue is the general community needing to relearn how to drive in adverse conditions if there's a break from the storms over and over.

[Lord Lucan]

How well does your Grand Cherokee do at pulling stumps? I bent both the tow hooks nearly straight pulling trees down with my Silverado.

I don't pull out without preparation. I did around the root first and sever any easily reached roots with an adze. Then I pull and if it resists too much I stop and sever any more roots that have been exposed. I had two big trees blown down 4 years ago and in those cases the roots were mostly exposed and loosened already. The tow hook, a single central one meant for a trailer, is strong enough.

Not the GC, but my previous classic Cherokee pulling a dead silver birch :-

[timb64]

I don't pull out without preparation. I did around the root first and sever any easily reached roots with an adze. Then I pull and if it resists too much I stop and sever any more roots that have been exposed. I had two big trees blown down 4 years ago and in those cases the roots were mostly exposed and loosened already. The tow hook, a single central one meant for a trailer, is strong enough.

Not the GC, but my previous classic Cherokee pulling a dead silver birch :-

Given your name,you obviously have a man who does that for you