OT: Talking Cars Tuesday - Weird Stuff
So, this could be about your vehicle, it could be a lot more about you. What's the weirdest thing that's ever happened:
- In your car?
- To you in a car?
Let's get the stories flowing. As always, if you've got TCT suggestions, let me know and I'll try to make it into a future thread.
February 23rd, 2016 at 9:54 AM ^
It snowed. Inside the car. With the top up!
My first car was a 1991 Jeep Wrangler YJ, still had the original top in 2003 when I bought it. With the top up if there was a real fine snow outside (small flakes, not too much wind) it would snow through the soft top. Luckily the heater was great.
(Stock photo)
February 23rd, 2016 at 10:13 AM ^
driving a 1966 dodge dart convertible that i'd bought from one of my mom's friends for $500. she felt sorry for me since mom had died when we were kids and she was a widow, so i was able to afford the car. the interior snow caused it to be sold when the weather warmed up.
TOPIC IDEA: fastest you have ever gone in a car and/or most notable story about when/where/how you got pulled over doing X....
February 23rd, 2016 at 10:21 AM ^
We did one on fastest/biggest/slowest/smallest cars, but not about actual speed traveled. I'll keep it in mind!
February 23rd, 2016 at 11:35 AM ^
Worst beater you've ever driven?
February 23rd, 2016 at 10:59 AM ^
Was that the Dart where you had to turn the wheel about a dozen times to go around the corner? I don't know if it was designed that way to make steering easier without power steering but I remember lots of steering in that car.
February 23rd, 2016 at 11:35 AM ^
but i think you are right that it was a big, easy spinning turn.
February 23rd, 2016 at 10:02 AM ^
Long time lurker, first time poster (in TCT).
When I was learning to drive in my mom's minivan, I switched lanes in front of an old pickup truck. He must have thought I cut him off (I swear I didn't). Anywho, he ended up speeding up to catch up to us and then threw a handful of rocks at our van. While this story is an unfortunate, all-too-common scenario of road rage, the weirdest part of this story is that the guy HAD A HANDFUL OF ROCKS IN HIS CAR, JUST READY TO BE THROWN?
February 23rd, 2016 at 10:03 AM ^
I am going to guess you were not the first car he has thrown rocks at, and probably not the last.
February 23rd, 2016 at 10:26 AM ^
I had broken off shovel handles in the gun rack in my truck to help deter road ragers. I guess an actual gun would have been better - or maybe worse. Those shovel handles are wicked, lighter and longer than a baseball bat. I did have someone approach me and I put my hand around the handle and they walked back to their car.
February 23rd, 2016 at 10:50 AM ^
I used to have a habit of going to the driving range daily, straight after work. I kept a driver, 3-iron and 6-iron in my pickup's gunrack at all times.
February 23rd, 2016 at 10:30 AM ^
Worst than that.. I was at the woodward dream cruise many years ago and some kid in a crappy van (rusted out Aerostar complete POS) was throwing pennies at cars and hit mine. I caught up to them at a light and was along side them and basically asked "WTF?". The DAD! says, "he aint hurtin nuthin', it's just for fun". I told the kid his Dad was as dochebag and maybe one day that shitty van would be his.
February 23rd, 2016 at 11:15 AM ^
I once got cut off by a guy with a girl, maybe ten years old, in the front seat. Three-way stop where it was my turn to go and he decided he was going to race through the intersection. I honked, and he reached across the girl and flipped me the bird.
Got my revenge, since I was turning left and he was going straight (my way, in other words), by getting in front of him and blocking him from passing anyone else.
February 23rd, 2016 at 9:58 AM ^
I'm going to have to think about this topic for a while before I respond. Not sure how much I should share here.
February 23rd, 2016 at 10:00 AM ^
February 23rd, 2016 at 11:25 AM ^
I was driving at night (maybe 2-3am) on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in the Miata. I wasn't speeding too much, since Penn cops are real assholes about it. The limit at the time was 55 (maybe it still is there?) and I was going about 60 in the left lane.
There was quite a bit of traffic for that time of night, with a lot of semi's and family trucksters packed up for weekend vacations.
I was getting a little drowsy and was thinking about pulling off and getting some coffee / rest. All of a sudden I notice a car in front of me bounce into the air. And then the car after him does the same thing.
I'm still a few cars back at this point and I have no idea what the hell is happening so I start to slow down. The car in front of me leaps into the air, revealing a large, fresh, animal carcass splayed out over the left lane. There was no room for me to swerve so I had to use the carcass as a ramp. All four wheels left the ground for a min.
The underside of that car was never quite the same. Chunks of flesh everywhere. Cleaning it, several times, was not fun.
February 23rd, 2016 at 10:06 AM ^
and the hood of a Miata
February 23rd, 2016 at 10:19 AM ^
down by the river...didn't you?
February 23rd, 2016 at 10:20 AM ^
nothing but car enthusiasts here. feel free to speak right up....
February 23rd, 2016 at 8:30 PM ^
And a Cutlass and the front seat of a 91 cavalier. Going down the highway, 94 just before grass lake. Cars are just too small now or I am too big. Don't have the drive I usta either.
February 23rd, 2016 at 10:49 AM ^
to the Miata. Not enough room for much to happen there.
February 23rd, 2016 at 10:58 AM ^
Which, btw, dents really easily.
February 23rd, 2016 at 11:04 AM ^
used to call the bulge on their turbo car hoods the 'power hump'.
This brings new meaning to that name.
February 23rd, 2016 at 11:17 AM ^
made me rethink my car for my daughter. I was thinking 'Miata', but now that I know about the hood issue it may be a '75 Chevy Truck with bucket seats I install and a 4 spd.
February 23rd, 2016 at 11:42 AM ^
to get rid of the inappropriate date for your daughter.
February 23rd, 2016 at 11:01 AM ^
Dupe. Sorry.
February 23rd, 2016 at 10:03 AM ^
I was riding to school with my neighbor on a day when the roads were relatively icy. She came to a complete stop at a 4way. Let off the brake, never touched the gass, and we got up to about 40 mph. There was about 2 miles between that stop sign and the next. She never touched the gas. It was some sort of mid-80's Chevy sedan.
February 23rd, 2016 at 10:04 AM ^
February 23rd, 2016 at 2:21 PM ^
February 23rd, 2016 at 8:33 PM ^
I left out the sun roof the day I bought it. 4 inches of water IN my car.
February 23rd, 2016 at 10:06 AM ^
Not my car, but in High School a couple of my buddies shoved their crap under the door handles of one of he uppity girls in our class' car.
It was beautiful.
February 23rd, 2016 at 10:08 AM ^
February 23rd, 2016 at 10:20 AM ^
That has always been my dilema. I know if someone messes with my car I'd hurt them. It was hilarious to see it happen to her though.
February 23rd, 2016 at 10:24 AM ^
February 23rd, 2016 at 10:24 AM ^
In high school and college I worked construction with less than ideal equipment. Just some highlights:
I had the trailer hitch sheer off the truck and dump the trailer while I was hauling a loader in front of the Gandy Dancer. The same truck did not have a gas gauge so you had to pound on the gas tank to get a sense of how much gas was left. I was stranded a couple of times.
Once had to change a tire in the Ann Arbor landfill in about a foot of garbage/mud ooze.
The dump bed was so weak you and a partner had to lay on your back and give the dump bed a start with your feet.
Had a brake line burst and had to drive for a couple of miles without brakes - but with a standard shift truck going slow is was okay.
One truck had the lower door hinges rusted away so the doors were bolted shut - you had to "Dukes of Hazzard" your way into and out of the truck.
February 23rd, 2016 at 10:18 AM ^
February 24th, 2016 at 8:53 AM ^
February 23rd, 2016 at 10:26 AM ^
- I'm still a student, and working at nights in a local restaurant in Ann Arbor. I get in my old Volvo 240, and kick the snow off my shoes on the floorboard. Both feet go right through the floorboard. So that gave the car a bit of a Flintstones feel for a while, with occasional road detritus splashing up into the car.
- Driving to take the PSAT in a Beetle with a sunfoof, early a.m. on a Saturday morning. The sunroof gear mechanism was broken and the sunroof itself held in by a wood block. Whoosh - there goes the sunroof into the air and out to the road. Thank goodness nobody behind me.
- Driving the aforementioned Volvo in Colorado mountains near the Wyoming border. The hood suddenly blows back against the windshield. Clear roads, sunny day, and light traffic - and I had the presence of mind to look at the "storm line" to keep me on the road as I slowed down.
- Borrow a friend of a friend's Econoline van to move from one A2 apartment to another. Complete the move, and park on Packard to drop off a friend who wanted something moved while I had the van. Stoners on the porch of a house say "dude, your car's on fire". I ignore them, because they are absolutely wasted, and duck into my friend's apartment to grab his couch. When we come back, the van is actually on fire. Burning like a freakin' Megabus.
Good times.
February 23rd, 2016 at 12:56 PM ^
As a kid on safety patrol I had to dodge a wheel that broke off a car and came towards me. All in front of Bob Ufers house! Nothing like cars in the 60's and 70's.
In high school a few friends and I helped a lady and her kids in a VW bug with a flat. The body had a square peg where you put the jack at the bottom of the bug. Started jacking the car up and the jack was moving up through the rusted body but the car was still on the ground. Had to use a different jack on a solid part of the car.
February 23rd, 2016 at 10:24 AM ^
February 23rd, 2016 at 10:26 AM ^
Had a 2005 Crossfire Convertible. On my way home from work one day with the top down, a bird crapped on my drivers side mirror and part of it ricocheted into my left eye. Drove the rest of the way home with my left eye watering like a SOB and could barely see out of it. It was red for about 3 days.. pretty nasty.
February 23rd, 2016 at 10:38 AM ^
Similar story. I had someone driving the opposite way flick a cigarette butt out their window and came through my window and landed between my back and my seat. We were both driving about 30 mph so the odds of that had to be tiny. Thankfully it only burned my shirt and seat slightly - I had on my softball jersey made out of something that melted. Glad it missed my face. Thank god there are fewer assholes throwing butts out of their cars these days.
February 23rd, 2016 at 11:11 AM ^
Was getting the Crossfire. I don't fault the bird
February 23rd, 2016 at 11:13 AM ^
Overpriced? Yes. But it was a blast to drive even though it was a bit underpowered.
February 23rd, 2016 at 11:18 AM ^
I believe it. I test-drove one and the thing turned on a dime. Great fun to drive. Cost too much, though, the interior was a $20,000 interior in a $40,000 car, and the dealer was an annoying sleaze, so I walked out of the dealership after he told me he couldn't give me the interest rate that his monthly payment quote was based on because of "privacy act concerns."
February 23rd, 2016 at 11:30 AM ^
wanted one of those. Loved the boat tail.
Didn't they have the Merceded Kompressor motor? That had some hp to it I thought?
February 23rd, 2016 at 11:39 AM ^
The Crossfire was really a previous gen Mercedes SLK https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_Crossfire
The Crossfire SRT-6 had the AMG supercharged Benz motor and had some get up and go (330HP). That was essentially an SLK 32 AMG - again, the previous gen
February 23rd, 2016 at 11:47 AM ^
Mine was a "limited" and only had 215HP with the 6speed. Now, it didn't weigh that much but man... really, really need about 275HP. I would've liked the SRT6 but at 50k... mama.
And yes, interior left much to be desired. I had a magnaflow exhaust on it and it sounded pretty cool at least.
February 23rd, 2016 at 8:44 PM ^
I think it was sharp and of fair quality. I haven't ever been inside one. Daimler robbed Chrysler like a venture capitilist with no morals maybe this car makes up for it .
February 23rd, 2016 at 10:27 AM ^
When I was in high school, I drove an already shitty 1991 Lumina that at the time was pretty much a new vehicle. One day, about two intersections away from where I would normally turn into the parking lot for the school, I somehow forgot where I was and what I should have been doing and gave a low-speed love tap to an F150 truck.
It may not have been so bad except the dude was apparently equally or more distracted and didn't notice, but my front bumper became ensnared on the rear hitch and I was dragged about 500 feet before he finally noticed and stopped. He could have stopped a little slower, of course, but at that point we were pitcking nits.
We exchanged insurance information in the high school lot, which was still about 200 feet short of where he stopped, but also apparently where he was headed. I was actually a bit put out when I discovered that I could theoretically have gotten a free ride the entire rest of the route.