the ONE car you wish you still had

[NJ John]

1970 240z. It was a bondo machine, but was my third car and had shiny blue paint. Circa 1985
1963 356c coupe. Basket case. Bought for $1800, sold for $1800. It was a complete project. Drum bake car. It went to a shop in Pittsburgh around 1997.
_________________
1973 standard, yellow, lowered, 3” narrowed front, 1600 blo-thru turbo w/single dell 15.4@86, so far
11.41 et buggy. Long gone
Let’s go O’s! Let’s go O’s!
https://www.youtube.com/@AirSpooledGarage

[Shonandb]

A few:

We had a 1955 GMC Carryall that I learned to drive in that I wish we could have kept. It was a straight 6 and had a "creeper" 1st gear (similar to a VW Syncro Vanagon gearing) that was perfect for hauling a trailer and barely enough power to do highway speeds fully loaded with people and gear. It drove just like my 1973 VW Panel Bus.

Another was a blue 1969 Chevy Biscayne Wagon that my brother and I swapped in a refreshed 454 with a 4 speed Muncie and a 12 bolt posi rear end that used to turn a lot of heads and require frequent rear tire changes. My 2nd oldest brother had a 1969 Chevelle and my 3rd oldest brother had a 1969 Pontiac Parisienne at the same time but I liked the Chevy Wagon best as it was the full package and was the first time I was able to bury the speedometer needle (120mph) in a car.

_________________
*******************************
76 Westy with a 2.5L Subaru SOHC + Vanagon (010) Automatic Transaxle
Build & Trip Thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=758760
Previous 1973 Panel Bus:
Click to view image

[Dusty1]

HA! OP loved his Scirocco.

Had a couple pumpkin orange first year Sciroccos with the orange plaid interiors. Both were steaming piles. I'll qualify that by saying I prefer driving dirt roads and I can drive a hundred miles on dirt, maybe crossing pavement. My late brother worked out motorcycle routes mapping out the best dirt roads all the way out to the Midwest. VW watercooled sucks on dirt.


My best car ever:

My Java green '67. I had five or six other '67s but that was The One. Might have something to do with coming down from the mountain top with Sue in the passenger seat and her little sister Stacey driving. Me in the middle of course. There isn't any place to sit but I didn't notice.

Any Bug will do of course but '67 is the center of the universe.

Honorable Mention: That would be the '79 two door Dasher I got from a junkyar for fifty bucks and fixed up for my parents.

Honorable mention runner up: My '60s Chevy C10 stepside. That thing was only a few years old when we got it and it was already completely rusted out. Whatever. Those old nails are super easy to work on. I have a line on another one. First task will be eradicating every speck of rust.

.
.

[iowegian]

In 1970 I had a '68 Corvette 'vert. 327 with 4 speed. Manual steering and non-power 4 wheel disc brakes. Crazy high gearing-----it wouldn't get out of its own way from a stoplight, but one time (and one time only) I red-lined the tach in 4th gear on white-wall bias ply tires. STUPID.

[Dusty1]

[Shonandb]

[oprn]

I do not recall GM making a V6 prior to the mid '60's ('64 or '65?) Buick 198 V6. That engine may have been offered by Pontiac too but it was not popular and they stopped making them. They were rough running gutless wonders. All the six cylinders I have ever seen before that and for several years after were inline sixes. 235, 258 long stroke ones and the next generation was the short stroke 230 and 250. The older GM school buses here got the 283 V8 until about '66 when they put the 327 V8 in them. The school bus engine was distinguished by a governor that bolted on between the carb and the intake manifold.
_________________
We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[clockworkbox]

My '70 Bus. My first son came and priorities made me sell it but I will always miss it. Non-VW would be my 2006 Scion XB, that car was awesome (and about as fast as a stock Beetle).

_________________
'69 Beetle (pieces)
Learning the hard way is still learning...

[oprn]

I will always regret selling the '69 Bay Window Bus Dad bought new that I grew up in. I realized 2 years ago that even if I took the time between multiple other projects to put it back on the road, I would hardly ever drive it. It's inability to stay with modern traffic, thirst for fuel and horrible road handling in the wind would relegate it to "special event only" usage. As a senior on a fixed income that was just not a very good use of our limited funds.

Yes I miss it.
_________________
We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)