[Rupert]

On cars that should have been handed down. this is my brother's story about the Mustang that my dad won and he didn't quite inherit. I suppose I missed out too but I was 12 and driving seemed a long way off. I do remember my parents having to pay sales tax on the car and being annoyed.

I read the story...neat story!

As I recall, she was quite placid about it; we had to turn around, go home and put the clothes in the garbage can,

Otis said he would see that as a moment of opportunity! Dirty minded little rodent!

That happens a lot in the News and Rumors and the FF forums.

...or anywhere there is a squirrel involved.

Regards! Still enjoying this thread, keep posting, there must be a lot more stories to come?

[kadajawi]

1992-1993ish Renault 19. Like the one in the photo, same color, just minus the alloy rims, minus the hole in the hood, minus the sun roof, and minus the powerful engine. It had a 1.9 liter diesel that did 64 hp and a top speed of 160 km/h. 5 speed manual, of course. We bought it new when I was still young, and I took it over once I got a driving license and my parents bought the Citroen Xsara that I drive now. It had a ton of play in the steering wheel, soft suspension, and a very noisy engine. No aircon either. But I quite liked it.

Sold it after a few years because taxes and insurance were too expensive, and since I was a student I didn't have the need for a car anyway (free public transport). The engine had 255000 km on it when I sold the car... might still be driving somewhere in Africa. I hope.

[monochrome]

In 1963 models, the Chevy badges that indicated different engine size, were on the side of the front fenders, as follows:

- simple V chevron= 283 V8
-simple V chevron with flags= 327 V8
- simple chevron V with flags and a 409 numerals atop= 409 V8

It was the middle badge, highlighted above. I can picture the badge on the fender.

Normally before I post a 'hazy memory' I do some research to ensure I have it correct - this time I just threw the post up, and I was mildly concerned I might be be called out. Had I merely posted 'SS' we wouldn't be discussing this. I'm thinking I just typed 396 because I always have associated 396 with SS frmo early 70's Chevelles I once coveted..

FWIW, those crossed flag badges, IIRC, were repeated on several interior elements (console, the third speaker in the center of the rear bench seat, etc.) and in the center pylon of the wheel covers. Those center pylons eventually loosened and clicked as the wheels rolled. My grandfather inserted a small strip of sheet metal on the inside of them to lock the pylons in place and stop the clicking.

This photo is as close to what I recall - even exterior paint, though the interior was black (I know they replaced the top and I don't recall whether it started black or white) - as I can find.

[Rupert]

as close to what I recall - even exterior paint, though the interior was black (I know they replaced the top and I don't recall whether it started black or white) - as I can find.

That's a great lookin' car!

I had two friends that had '58 Chevy convertibles, one black and one white. Both were dazzling lookin' cars and both were plenty quick. I think the '58 model convertibles were my all time favorites. I had another friend with a '58 Bonneville convertible, also a great lookin' car.



Regards!

[lesmore49]

It was the middle badge, highlighted above. I can picture the badge on the fender.

Normally before I post a 'hazy memory' I do some research to ensure I have it correct - this time I just threw the post up, and I was mildly concerned I might be be called out. Had I merely posted 'SS' we wouldn't be discussing this. I'm thinking I just typed 396 because I always have associated 396 with SS frmo early 70's Chevelles I once coveted..

FWIW, those crossed flag badges, IIRC, were repeated on several interior elements (console, the third speaker in the center of the rear bench seat, etc.) and in the center pylon of the wheel covers. Those center pylons eventually loosened and clicked as the wheels rolled. My grandfather inserted a small strip of sheet metal on the inside of them to lock the pylons in place and stop the clicking.

This photo is as close to what I recall - even exterior paint, though the interior was black (I know they replaced the top and I don't recall whether it started black or white) - as I can find.

Monochrome...in that '63 Impala convert...pictured....that badge...chevron V and flags on either side denotes a 327. In 1963, the 327 had a 250 hp and a 300 hp version in the big Chevy, such as the Impala.

Les

Beautiful car.

[grhazelton]

My first car was a 1965 Chevrolet Corvair. A Monza convertible it sported the 110hp flat six, and a four speed fully synchronized transmission, White with red vinyl interior, it was a really fun ride. Its purchase was inspired by my driving a friend's Porsche Speedster, in which I performed - accidentally, my first 360. Scarey. I couldn't afford a Porsche, so the 'Vair was as close as I could come.

Its handling was excellent. This was the first year with the revised rear suspension, which was derived from that on the IRS Corvette. Very little change in camber. Ralph Nader go to hell!! While the Mustangs could leave me at the light, on a winding road they were toast!!

It was thoroughly smashed by a woman hurrying to take her kid to the doctor. She was late. I knew the 'Vair was a goner when I couldn't mate the top to the pegs on the windshield header.

I replaced the 'Vair with a '69 Datsun 510. Super little car! 4 speed trans and 96 rockin' and rollin' horses.

Some years later I scored a '65 Corsa, which featured 140 hp with 4 single barrel carbs in a progressive linkage, factory dual exhausts, and proper instrumentation. Quite a lively car for its day; sadly the crank broke. While it still ran, I limped home very carefully. Tearing the engine down revealed an old crack as shown by stains, which finally widened to a full break within the crank case just inboard of the output flange. I started a rebuild, but my first marriage went sour and I never finished the job.

[MD Optofonik]

It was a brand new 1981 Suzuki GS450S and I was a junior in high school who had developed a notorious reputation between my freshman and sophomore years. Ironically, by the time I got the motorcycle (and after a semester "off") I had actually turned a corner and was behaving myself; even got to date the head cheerleader for a nanosecond.

Although I had made friends, especially during my freshman year, I had never been really "popular" in high school. Becoming notoriously well known for bad behaviour isn't exactly the same as being popular; sort of completely different actually. My turn around from genuine "bad boy" to motorcycle riding "good kid" went over well with admin. It went over equally well with the student body and did wonders for my social life.

Riding up to the local hangouts on the weekend usually ended with with me riding away with a lovely passenger behind me, much to the consternation of the parents who discovered their daughter had ridden on the back of a motorcycle that weekend. It was rare though that any parent's displeasure lasted after proper introductions were made. It usually ended with some sort of, " don't do anything crazy with my daughter on the back", admonitions and once even a, "you can borrow my car next time", deal from the dad. I was much more charming in my youth. There were, of course, a few, "don't ever go near my daughter again", moments that I couldn't charm my way out of.

I've been riding motorcycles ever since; 36 years. Sigh...



I don't have any pix of my GS450S but this is one I found on the web. She was a beauty.

---

Last edited by MD Optofonik; 11-08-2015 at 03:16 PM.

[Rupert]

Some years later I scored a '65 Corsa,

I had an old girlfriend that had one of those.....seems it was a turbo?...is that possible? Anyhow, she scared the hell out of me in it several times. It was a sharp looking little car and lots of fun, but only if I was driving it! I'd forgotten all about it until I saw your post here. You know, there were some great cars back in those days...now all the new ones seem to be ugly to me and I can't tell one from the other. Unless of course, you get up into the above $50K range.....and even then most are just ugly to me.

Mrs Rupert said she would buy me a new TT like this one when she retired....that was a couple of years ago and she is still not retired and I'm not sure she ever will? As I get older by the day, I'm hardly interested anymore......my Jeep is still my favorite ride.



Still my favorite ride!


grhazelton...Have you ever though of finding a decent Corsa and restoring it? Seems like it might be a rewarding project?

Regards!

[Parallax]

I had an old girlfriend that had one of those.....seems it was a turbo?...is that possible? Anyhow, she scared the hell out of me in it several times.

I have an old wife that scares the hell out of me no matter what she's driving. Sometimes she scares me even when she's not driving.

Yeah, I know. I'm a dead man if she reads that.

(But who would tell her? )

[monochrome]

I have an old wife that scares the hell out of me no matter what she's driving. Sometimes she scares me even when she's not driving.

Yeah, I know. I'm a dead man if she reads that.

(But who would tell her? )

I don't know whether it's being in the passenger seat of such a small car or whether the inner demon in my wife has finally been released but she drives like a teenaged terror whenever I ride in her Mini.

And then there's Sport Mode!

[Parallax]

My wife has a Miata MX5. I feel your pain.

[Sagitta]

My first car was a pretty unremarkabe 1993 Ford Tempo. She served me well for couple years until someone rear ended her causing $6500 worth of damage (to a $4000 car).

At that point I was screwed, because I worked 45 minutes away, so I had my dad (he's a 'car guy') come with me to check out this beater of what I'd thought was a Plymouth I'd spotted at a local Wawa with a $400 for sale sign on it. On closer inspection it was a 4-door Cougar sedan. Goosecrap green front end, some strange cream-green colored body, and an interior that looked ike someone allowed many years of dogs to shred.

My dad glanced it over, then went in and offered the guy selling it $200. SOLD!

Took it home, discovered we had to bleed the brake lines out because someone filled them with transmission fluid instead of brake fluid.

Drove it work once we had that settled and promptly ran out of gas on the way home (turns out the gas guage didn't work!). That said, the radio worked (even if half the dash lights did not) and it was wheels.

I started topping the tank off whenever I saw '00' at teh end of my odometer, and after a month or so I had to sit down and do the math - something was seriously fishy with my gas mileage. I was getting about 30-35 MPG on a 1981 beater...? What? Yup... was true.

So now that I realized I had a butt ugly car that was saving me buttloads on gas (seriously, it had better mileage then the Tempo had) I started to actually like the ugly thing.

Back in that era cars speedometers also only went to 80MPH to try to get people to drive slower and conserve fuel. My job had me traveling the Pennsyvania Turnpike's Northeast Extension every day on the 'off hour' where I had no traffic to share the road with.

Being younger and less smart than I am now, I then decided to see just how fast I could go. Straight roadway, no cars in sight? Pedal. Floored. I chickened out when I hit 0. Yes, I'd pegged the needle completely back around to effectively 'lap' the speedometer. I don't know how fast that actually was, just if I was pulled over they would probably ave not only thrown the book at me, they quite possibly would have beat me over the head and shouldefs with it in the process.

Next step... new tires! They cost me a bit over $400, so I paid double in tires what I had for the car.

Unfortunately, right at that point Pennsylvania started doing a smog test for emmissions. As wonderful as that car was, I couldn't get the damned thing to pass, so I wound up giving the car away to someone.

I still miss her, and despite actually being my second car, I still consider her my first.

[Ratmagiclady]

My first car was "The Duster." Sold to me at age sixteen by an "Uncle" for two hundred dollars, possibly because I otherwise planned to buy two and a half Porsche 356es without a good set of floorboards between them, (I knew this. )

There's a whole saga there, from our punk rock escapades with the original slant six and automatic (Cause my life wasn't weird enough without going to school with the Mopar equivalent of Herbie) to eventual swapping in of smallblock and 4-speed years later when working a lousy job that couldn't pay for oil but demanded deliveries and a rod got thrown right through the crankcase.... (Here's a car I was trying to save with a plastic blanket while flames lapped around the plastic fuel filter on the side of the highway one day.)

It took homelessness, bad situations best not mentioned, a culture war, and double pneumonia for me to ever lose hold of that car. And as stories go, few *didn't* involve that vehicle.

Said Uncle said, mind you, "This car's alive, you know." Well, yep.

There's me in the 80s, "You know, sometimes you see people talking to their cars, there's nothing unusual there. On the other hand, when you regularly find people talking to *your* car, that's 'pretty interesting.'

Hard not to dwell on the sad ending to *that* story, but they had to haul *me* off semi-conscious the same week. I've even still got the keys and registration.

Some fave high school stories involve like, after my suspension upgrades and purchase of tires, (If I was ever an early adopter of anything it was polyurethane sway bar bushings. Also I guess sway bars. Came in a big box from JC Whitney I disposed of before anyone saw. Heh. Different century, eh? Actually, that's kind of weird standing in the present. ) .... which being a younger version of me, I'd been expounding on how clever the things were when when we encountered a bewildered hippie in a microbus negotiating an unexpected ninety degree turnwhile we were at some certain rate of speed: There was really nothing to do but duck into the other side of the road and cut the turn into two 45 degree ones. (At the limits of grip and yes inline engine torque pulling out, ) here's my friend, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANICE Tires, RML!"

Always have missed that car, though. (Actually you don't say 'car,' you just say, 'The Duster.' ) When I ran away in high school, various friends put me up so I *could* finish high school, but that Duster was *all I had * a long while. (The V-8 and stuff came later, cause donor car with that cost what was in my pocket. ) Anyway:

Last photographed, thusly, when I needed to finish a roll:

[Rupert]

Ratlady, I saw your post and said to myself......I can drill a 2 inch hole in my head, insert a cake mixer and turn it on high......or read the Ratlady's post.
The end result is about the same so I read it! Fortunately, as a person fluent in Squirrel, Raccoon, Possum and Ratlady, I had less difficulty than one would expect!
Mrs Rupert once had a slant six Dodge and it was a decent car...just very plain and simple but it held up well and was very dependable. It did take on the habit of heavy oil consumption in its later years. Some say it was because of the "slant" that wore on the pistons/rings?

My question for you....how is the Ratmobile nowadays? Last I heard/saw you had it lookin' pretty good and up and running . Done anything new with it lately? Since your move I expect you have more time for Ratmobile attention?

Best Regards!
Rupert

[ChrisPlatt]

Gwen, my brother had a Duster, with Slant Six. He never tricked it out - by that time he was married.
But when dating he raced his future mother-in-laws '63 Valiant (with push-button automatic) every weekend at NY National Speedway!

My first car was a 1971 American Motors Javelin. There, I've admitted it.
What a POS!

Chris