Alloy Dave Posted August 19, 2006 Report Share Posted August 19, 2006 Ok, tell us about an oddball car you owned...something with a little character, but a car that people look at sideways or sneer at...something that, looking back, you may be embarrassed to drive. Tell a short story about it...I'll get us started. My brother had a '66 Rambler 4 door. It had a short circuit in the horn, and each time the steering wheel was turned past a certain point, the horn would sound. Given the low ratio steering, it took about 4 complete turns of the wheel to make a 90 degree turn. At the time he owned it, we both lived at home with my dad. He'd try to come home after curfew...but as soon as he'd turn in the driveway...."Beep.....Beep.....Beep...Beep". I had a '71 Vega with the "oil eater" engine. I carried 2 quarts of 20W-50 at all times. I lived in Cincinnati at the time...a very hilly town. Going uphill with 3 of my high school buddies in it would burn a quart easily...mosquito killer for sure. But my favorite story is when my brother was driving around in a '66 Chevelle 6 cylinder I had. He noticed a noise...like a grinding. I couldn't figure out what it was. After about 1/2 mile, he looked in the rear view mirror and noticed that the left rear wheel assembly was 2 feet from the fender....WTF? We found out later that the C-clip in the rear end had broken, and the axle shaft had "walked" out almost all the way...yikes! In a Ford, that can't happen...the axles were bolted in at the backing plate. About a year later, I bought a Mazda RX-4 with the rotary engine. The exhaust fell off at the catalyst...and a new one was so expensive I couldn't afford it. Every time I'd shut the engine off it would backfire...imagine me trying to sneak home after curfew...my brother had fun with that. P.S. I had a hard time picking up chicks in those days. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NVWSSV Posted August 19, 2006 Report Share Posted August 19, 2006 I had a 73 VW Bug in Montana durning the early 90's. Damn thing started every time except once. That single time she didn't start it was -40 outside and I didn't have a garage. So, being the intelligent college student that I was and needing to get to school, I put a Folgers can full of burning Kingsford charcoal under the engine to warm it up, it didn't work. Also, the auto choke (or whatever it was) would flip around and stick the throttle in the full open position, usually in second gear and usually on a snow packed residential street. I had no idea Bugs could go that fast in second. I'd have to shut the car off while doing mach 4, pull over, reset the choke thingy, and continue on my way. It was a scary and cold car (no heat). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Florida Chris Posted August 19, 2006 Report Share Posted August 19, 2006 1965 Sunbeam Imp. Back in high school I converted it to electric during the first gas crunch in the early seventies. Ran great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MYGT500 Posted August 19, 2006 Report Share Posted August 19, 2006 here is my 1986 yugo limo...we made it in 1991..we had a blast driving it.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VNMOUS1 Posted August 19, 2006 Report Share Posted August 19, 2006 here is my 1986 yugo limo...we made it in 1991..we had a blast driving it.. I have NO idea of WTF I was thinking. I'd purchased a 1974 Pontiac Grand Am (the le Mans with the vertical grill vents, rubber front end and a 455 2bbl gas sucker). White, with the Generals lovely Firethorn (placenta red) pleather interior. No, this isn't the crap car....this was a masterpiece compared to what I traded it in on! With gas prices on the rise I thought I'd better do something a little more frugal so I stepped into the Pontiac dealer's showroom and told him I wanted that spiffy new Astra hatchback. I was always a fan of green...heck I'd had a nice jade green Ford Fairlane GTA and it was certainly sharp. So, I checked off the box for Pontiac's green and while I was doing that I checked off an interior color that would brighten up the small quarters of my new gas miser....white. 6 weeks later the dealer calls and says the car is there. I hop into the Grand Am and burn rubber a block long, knowing it would be my last hurrah in that car. I arrive at the dealer and he leads me back to the service area where they are prepping my car. It was about that time that I learned the true feeling of when you throw up in your own mouth! This was the ugliest POS I had ever seen! He had a used Pacer that I immediately tried to trade for! I asked him to keep the Astra and if it didn't sell, I'd buy it in a month. He said "they ain't NOBODY 'round heeere's gonna want somethin' lookin' like that. Wut the hail wuz you thinkin' son?" The green was somewhere between the TBS colorized version of the Emerald City and that bright shade that you see on newly gown grass that's been under snow for 4 months. The interior? The seats looked like 4 big honkin' Sta-Puff marshmallows. White...reaaaly white...no, SNOW white, wait...I've got it...blinding snow from a chairlift on a sunny day with no sunglasses white. Yeah, that's it. The carpet was a slightly crappier shade of green than the paint. At least they made the dash and wheel black. So, I reluctantly sign the paperwork....leave the Grand Am behind and tool away in the worlds ugliest, most expensive Vega. Same everything as the Vega except for the badges....oh, except on the dash...where they managed to put a Vega logo on it! I had the same thing happen when I bought an Olds Omega....it had 3 different Nova Concours (now THERE's an oxymoron!) emblems on it! BTW, I kept the Vega, er Astra for a year and sold it to some idiot that was so deep in mid-70s debt that he had no choice but to downsize. I had to carry the note for him for 6 months until he could finally get "bought" at a bank. My final GM product was an '82 Z28. I did it again! I ordered a car based on color chips. The base color was hot.....metallic grey. Remember the tri-color stripes that came across the spoiler and down the sides? I had 'em and yes, they were three colors. Of course, so are pink...purple...and burt umber. The three colors on the stripes looked like something Huggy Bear would have ordered. Of course they looked better through my Carerra aviator sunglasses. The car arrived at the dealership and once again, Helen Keller here had done a bang up job of picking an interior. I opted against the tri-color silver extrior stripes because they were matched with that spacesuit silver leather that was so popular on Z's and 'Vettes of the day. I thought it looked cheezy. For me, a nice red would contrast beautifully with my dark, metallic exterior and be accented by the tri-color exterior stripes. My first look at the car reminded me of all the colors, not of the rainbow, but of a deer that's been freshly tagged by a Peterbuilt on a lonely interstate. The stripes were barely in the same color family and the interior was a red that can only be matched my an 88 year old woman from Texas getting dolled up for her 70th class reunion. I hung my head, signed the paperwork, and drove it for two years until someone thankfully stole it and trashed it. I've made many more automotive blunders for there's only so much Internet and I don't want to take it all. So, my friends, learn from me and don't buy the two -tone interior in your Shelby. Don't buy a used Mystichrome Terminator. Don't trust a color chip. Take care, and happy motoring! bj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelby101 Posted August 19, 2006 Report Share Posted August 19, 2006 OK, The unbeleivable: a 1958 Nash Metropolitan. Yep, it was the ugliest thing ever. Paid $200 for the convertible I had. They came stock with an MGB engine back then and yes had all the usual british problems. But it was mine and I was not walking. I must admit however, it was difficult to get any girl to get in it. Man It was ugly. They are now selling for $2,500, so it would yhave been a 15 fold increase in investment. Well darn, that is almost as good as a Shelby. Second car a 57 Chevy, 3rd Triumph TR4, 5th Fiat 124. But after the ride I took in a 68 Shelby I always wanted one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alloy Dave Posted August 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2006 here is my 1986 yugo limo...we made it in 1991..we had a blast driving it.. Now THAT is funny. You know why all Yugos had rear window defrosters? Because you were always pushing the damn things in the winter and it would keep your hands warm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUFDRAFT Posted August 19, 2006 Report Share Posted August 19, 2006 My father-in-law gave us a 1960 Covair when I was between jobs back in the early '70s. It wasn't a bad looking coupe - but had a couple of interesting features! The windshield leaked - so in the winter, the INSIDE of the windshield would frost up. So - there I sat with the ice scraper going back and forth and covering myself with shavings! The floor mats would also freeze over, so your feet would be slippin' and a slidin'. It burned oil. And - the heater boxes were cracked. So - whenever I put the defroster on, exhaust smoke would roll out of the dashboard vents! He liked Corvairs. I think he had a Fitch Sprint tuner Corvair - with 4 carbs. Nice guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alloy Dave Posted August 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2006 The floor mats would also freeze over, so your feet would be slippin' and a slidin'. I've had a "Fred Flintstone" car too...the kind with such big holes in the floorboard that you could lift up the floor mats and see the road whizzing by as you drove...yikes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KCMO-GT500 Posted August 19, 2006 Report Share Posted August 19, 2006 picture this as a 2 door, and that is what I drove as a soph and junior in high school. Not much on looks, and lacked ac and radio, but you could fit a bunch of folks in the trunk to go to the drive-in, and it went easily thru barbed wire fences and ditches ...had a 394 and a 4 speed auto, actually was pretty quick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
68fastback Posted August 19, 2006 Report Share Posted August 19, 2006 . Weird cars, huh? Well, I never owned any really weird ones. Had a '59 Ford 4-door hardtop 'stagecoach' which was a livery-limo in a former life and had rear doors modified to hinge at the rear, so when you opened the fron and rear door it was one big open space (no post). 352 big block 4bbl 427 heads 3 spd stick. Not all that fast but it's tranny is what drive me nuts. The linkage would always get hung up in reverse! I pulled that tranny out so many times (no jack required <lol>). Once I was on a date and picked her up at her place to go out for dinner and a movie. After the movie, damn if I didn;t forget and put it in reverse to get out of the parking spot! Wound up driving halfway across NYC - -in reverse! Didn't know what to do -- do you drive backward down streets with the arrow facing your way? Or do you decide the taillights are now headlights and drive backward! On all the roads?! Yeah, that't it! Side streets weren't bad, but sure looked weird cruising Astoria Boulevard backward! My best friend's dad used to do A/C installations in Mercedes and some exotics (this was before the days of factory air) so we got to ride in a lot of cool ares. One day Mr. M tells us he's got an unusual car coming in that he's buying -- an Isabella Borgward. Many that was one funky car. All the years he had it, I don;t think he changed the oil once -- he'd just add. It burned so much the oil never had a chance to get dirty, you just kept adding (souds like Dave's Chevette!) It also had another feature -- the floorboards were totally rotted out, so bad that the front bench seat was mouinted on two 2x4s sitting ont the wimpy chassis. We used to sneak into the car in my friends' driveway and sneak the car out by walking it from the inside! Really freaked his dad (and us) out one day whe we almost ran over his ad (at, oh, maybe 2 mph). He thought the car was just rolling out of the driveway and tried to stop it (which scared the hell out of us inside -- pitch black out) He almost died of a heart attack (not to mention almost getting run over) when my friend accidentally leaned on the horn! Same Mr. M. also had a Daffodil (Daf for short). It made a Hugo (if they had existed in the 50s) look like a Caddy. It was so tiny and used a giant rubber band (no kidding) as both transmission, driveshaft and rear-end. Just one bizarre serpentine rubber belt. Well, we were teens, and one day we decided we'd sneak the car out and go driving in the 'dumps' (the affectionate name for the undeveloped area betw La Guardia airport and Astoria. Well, the Daf wasn't made for off-road but had decent clearance. One problem -- the belt came off when we were at the top of a construction fill area that was nearly impossible to negotiate with th engine helping. The downhill part wasn't bad. Pushing it back home up the hills was a killer! Caught again! picture this as a 2 door, and that is what I drove as a soph and junior in high school. Not much on looks, and lacked ac and radio, but you could fit a bunch of folks in the trunk to go to the drive-in, and it went easily thru barbed wire fences and ditches ...had a 394 and a 4 speed auto, actually was pretty quick. Back when Olds were cooool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
614HSO Posted August 20, 2006 Report Share Posted August 20, 2006 I have NO idea of WTF I was thinking. I'd purchased a 1974 Pontiac Grand Am (the le Mans with the vertical grill vents, rubber front end and a 455 2bbl gas sucker). White, with the Generals lovely Firethorn (placenta red) pleather interior. No, this isn't the crap car....this was a masterpiece compared to what I traded it in on! With gas prices on the rise I thought I'd better do something a little more frugal so I stepped into the Pontiac dealer's showroom and told him I wanted that spiffy new Astra hatchback. I was always a fan of green...heck I'd had a nice jade green Ford Fairlane GTA and it was certainly sharp. So, I checked off the box for Pontiac's green and while I was doing that I checked off an interior color that would brighten up the small quarters of my new gas miser....white. 6 weeks later the dealer calls and says the car is there. I hop into the Grand Am and burn rubber a block long, knowing it would be my last hurrah in that car. I arrive at the dealer and he leads me back to the service area where they are prepping my car. It was about that time that I learned the true feeling of when you throw up in your own mouth! This was the ugliest POS I had ever seen! He had a used Pacer that I immediately tried to trade for! I asked him to keep the Astra and if it didn't sell, I'd buy it in a month. He said "they ain't NOBODY 'round heeere's gonna want somethin' lookin' like that. Wut the hail wuz you thinkin' son?" The green was somewhere between the TBS colorized version of the Emerald City and that bright shade that you see on newly gown grass that's been under snow for 4 months. The interior? The seats looked like 4 big honkin' Sta-Puff marshmallows. White...reaaaly white...no, SNOW white, wait...I've got it...blinding snow from a chairlift on a sunny day with no sunglasses white. Yeah, that's it. The carpet was a slightly crappier shade of green than the paint. At least they made the dash and wheel black. So, I reluctantly sign the paperwork....leave the Grand Am behind and tool away in the worlds ugliest, most expensive Vega. Same everything as the Vega except for the badges....oh, except on the dash...where they managed to put a Vega logo on it! I had the same thing happen when I bought an Olds Omega....it had 3 different Nova Concours (now THERE's an oxymoron!) emblems on it! BTW, I kept the Vega, er Astra for a year and sold it to some idiot that was so deep in mid-70s debt that he had no choice but to downsize. I had to carry the note for him for 6 months until he could finally get "bought" at a bank. My final GM product was an '82 Z28. I did it again! I ordered a car based on color chips. The base color was hot.....metallic grey. Remember the tri-color stripes that came across the spoiler and down the sides? I had 'em and yes, they were three colors. Of course, so are pink...purple...and burt umber. The three colors on the stripes looked like something Huggy Bear would have ordered. Of course they looked better through my Carerra aviator sunglasses. The car arrived at the dealership and once again, Helen Keller here had done a bang up job of picking an interior. I opted against the tri-color silver extrior stripes because they were matched with that spacesuit silver leather that was so popular on Z's and 'Vettes of the day. I thought it looked cheezy. For me, a nice red would contrast beautifully with my dark, metallic exterior and be accented by the tri-color exterior stripes. My first look at the car reminded me of all the colors, not of the rainbow, but of a deer that's been freshly tagged by a Peterbuilt on a lonely interstate. The stripes were barely in the same color family and the interior was a red that can only be matched my an 88 year old woman from Texas getting dolled up for her 70th class reunion. I hung my head, signed the paperwork, and drove it for two years until someone thankfully stole it and trashed it. I've made many more automotive blunders for there's only so much Internet and I don't want to take it all. So, my friends, learn from me and don't buy the two -tone interior in your Shelby. Don't buy a used Mystichrome Terminator. Don't trust a color chip. Take care, and happy motoring! bj BJ, If there is a spot for stand up automotive comedy at the 2007 GT 500 reunion, you have to get up there with this story on the Astre, I just about split a gut laughing!! Maybe it's because I had a green Astre too, an automatic wagon that was ugly enough with the black interior. I feel your pain, man do I feel your pain! Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUFDRAFT Posted August 20, 2006 Report Share Posted August 20, 2006 Okay - another. I owned a '62 T-Bird Vert - one of those where the trunk opened up front to back to allow the top to fold down within. I think it had about 7 servos to complete the task. It also had the swing away steering wheel and a 390 engine. I sold the car with the top down and the servos not working! I felt bad afterwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
614HSO Posted August 20, 2006 Report Share Posted August 20, 2006 Oddball cars!?!?! I was the guy that was driving a 1972 Toyota stationwagon when all my buddy's had Mustangs and Firebirds in High School! Okay sure it had an open exhaust, header, modified two barrel carb that I convinced my auto shop teacher to donate to the cause. Five speed tranny I grabbed from an SR 5 (lower 1st gear ratio!). It was a true "HEMI" head aluminum engine @ 96.6 cubic inches and 88 H.P. stock. But with my mods it would smoke the tires! Oh sorry....... I meant THE tire. (Man did I need therapy early in life..........) Okay, so how about the 1961 Austin 1100 MK II sedan 4 cyl manual shift, with hydrolastic suspension? I was barely old enough to say it at the time, I sure as s**t could'nt spell it. Never ran, could not find parts for it. How about the year I bought a VW Rabbit as a winter car? Considered it as a throw away but had such a riot driving it through the winter I had to hang on to it for the following year. As it was white and already had a few years (spelled RUST) on it the police were already looking at it kind of funny, or was that me? Anyway me and the boys decide to give it a face lift and paint it. Grabbed a gallon of an industrial white paint used for underground equipment in mining applications. I figure this stuff is SOOO heavy duty it ought to hold the car together AND make it look good! Kind of a LATEX super glue of paint..... We rolled it on one Friday evening in the driveway at my buddys place. Copious amounts of beer consumed in conjunction with this event, and once completed (30 Mins it was a Rabbit after all!) we all stood back and commented not bad....... (3 guys & 3 cases of beer uh-huh you get the picture, not to mention the paint fumes too Hmmmm?) The only smart thing in this story is we all bunk over at my buddys place. Next day try to get on my way and attempt to open the drivers door. One of us in our zeal and alcohol induced enthusiasm painted the inside of the door jambs........... 'Nuff said What about the following year when I got my hands on an International Scout? Sure it wasn't pretty but what an industrial machine! After a while, I notice that there is air leaking just above the top of the windshield? How odd I think, why would air be coming in there? A couple of more bumps in the road and the windshield slowly lowers itself down into the cowl....... As myself and a couple of buddys (yeah yeah the paint crew) were in the Green monster heading down the highway for some skiing we were running at about 50 / 60 MPH. The wind finding a place to get into the passenger cabin just grabs the top of the windshield and folds it right into the passenger compartment until it rests on the steering wheel....... All we did was put on our ski goggles and carry on. Did I mention the cops knew me by first name? Then! Oh yeah, then there was the Pumpkin! A '75 Comet with a 302 ci, orange in color. Oh my god!?! This is just too incriminating. Who's idea was this anyway? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUFDRAFT Posted August 20, 2006 Report Share Posted August 20, 2006 Great God - so it wasn't just me and my crew? Whew. That's a relief. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JETSOLVER Posted August 20, 2006 Report Share Posted August 20, 2006 Then! Oh yeah, then there was the Pumpkin! A '74 Comet with a 302 ci, orange in color. ? First car was a 70 Ford custom 500. Ex sales persons car with 230000miles. Sort of a flat more or less mint green with a dark green interior, mint except for the drivers seat cushion which was, well, missing. I was 15 and Dad said tht if I could get it running it was mine. After my expert troubleshooting I discovered it was the distributer. Dad had brought his Crown Victoria company car home for the weekend so I sort of borrowed the distr. hoping that he would be A. impressed with my skills, and B. that he would get the joke. I got to keep it, but one night he drove it into a pile of excavated highway dirt with the signage knocked down by a storm. The worst damage was to the steering wheel(and a couple of Dads ribs), but that was the end of that car. The other one of note was a 68 Triumph GT I bought from a fellow service member in 92 in Winnipeg. It was rough but I figured with a little work.... So I get it to the autoclub and decided that the two worst parts were the doors sagging and the electrical mess(British ) I got the hinges ordered and since I was going to have the doors off, I ordered the weatherstriping. I was waiting for that stuff and decided to get the door glass as it was to cloudy to see through. And I read in a magazine that a company was selling wiring harnesses to replace the crazy 24/12/6 volt mess that was in it with a 12 volt sysytem. Then because I was going to have to pull the interior for the electrical anyway, I ordered new seatcovers. At this point I had driven the car 12 blocks in 7 months. It was a running joke at the club, where to put it so that we wouldn't have to move it again for a week. Then I got posted and had the military ship all the bits I had a couple provinces over. But the stuff I ordered came to the old PO box care of General delivery I had parts chasing me for months. Finally I sold the whole sorry mess for the cost of the parts(and a bottle of cheap whiskey) and ordered my new 94 Stang GT. I will never own another used car as long as I live. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
614HSO Posted August 20, 2006 Report Share Posted August 20, 2006 I have way too many stories and questionable activities......... Like the the "F One F###ing 50"! ('74 F150) After the cops had had enough of chasing me around in the Pumpkin, she needed to be retired, so I donated the engine into this very ugly and non descript Brown 1974 F-150. Needed to go unnoticed for a while ;-) The things we did in that truck......... Built Ford tough? Oh yeah. Youth with way too much energy, and not much common sense oh yeah! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
68fastback Posted August 20, 2006 Report Share Posted August 20, 2006 . 614HSO, you are funny, man! Take this stuff on the road and they'll be falling out of their chairs in Vegas (no, not the car -- with those the whole chair just falls out! ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpretzel Posted August 21, 2006 Report Share Posted August 21, 2006 I had a '68 Chevy Impala, 4-door for years. Completely oxidized blue, and a big hole punched in the trunk lid (from backing into the corner of a flatbed trailer). Had a 327 with a 2-speed powerglide trans. Had coil spings all around that were so soft it would practically rub the door handles off going around corners. It was a great roadtrip cruiser. You could fit about 11 people in the thing, and another 7 or 8 in the trunk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alloy Dave Posted August 22, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2006 I had a '68 Chevy Impala, 4-door for years. Completely oxidized blue, and a big hole punched in the trunk lid (from backing into the corner of a flatbed trailer). Had a 327 with a 2-speed powerglide trans. Had coil spings all around that were so soft it would practically rub the door handles off going around corners. It was a great roadtrip cruiser. You could fit about 11 people in the think, and another 7 or 8 in the trunk. Oh boy...I remember those Powerglides...had one myself. Vrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....shift.... Dave :happy feet: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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