OT: Talking Cars (Wednesday??): Unsung heroes

My dad owned a beat up, 1960's Chevy truck.   Similar to the one pictured below, but much more rust.   And it was bright orange.  It shook violently if you went faster than 45 mph.   It's one purpose in life? Hauling wood.   That truck was idle 99.99999% of the time, but it annually served it's purpose in late summer and early fall on wood cutting runs to stock up winter heating fuel.   In retrospect, a truly underappreciated vehicle.

Also, I was amazed to discover that most families outside of the U.P. didn't have a wood hauling truck.   

I drove a 1989 Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais 2 door in HS. It had one hubcap, saggy headliner, lots of rust, and the radiatior fan didnt work so you couldn't sit and idle for a long time. But it was HS and you could fill it up for like $12. I actually liked driving that car.

I was t-boned by a semi in my 1999 Acura TL on my way from Michigan to South Carolina a couple years ago to visit family. The semi didn't see me when changing lanes and spun me out then nailed the drivers side/back seat side. After screaming and fearing for my life spinning thru the median and 2 lanes of on coming traffic, I calmed down and turned the key again and the old girl fired right up. No damage to the engine. I was broke during that time and the car still ran so I kept driving. Made to to SC and back and drove that beat to shit car for a couple more months. Hail Acura forevermore.

I had a hand-me-down 1974 Plymouth Valiant.  225 slant 6, vinyl bench seats, AM radio, no cruise or power anything.  It took all sorts of abuse, mostly because I don't think I ever got any advice on how to take care of a car properly.  I'd like to go back and talk to dumbass younger me about that, because if I'd taken care of that car it would have lasted all the way through school and beyond at very little cost.  As it was it was a great car.

My first car was a 1974 Mustang II. I was 16 and the year was 1990. My brother painted it black (he restored cars) with a paint job that was worth probably 10 times the value of the car and my dad and I pulled out the V6 and installed a 302 out of a wrecked 1970 Mercury. That was my high school car. I drove it until I blew the rear end from doing too many burnouts. Looking back having a Mustang II is like saying you had a Pontiac Aztek, but I loved that car.

Anyone one of the three 1978-80 Ford Fiestas that I owned. Nothing like that 1.6 liter Ford engine (same as in Formula Ford race cars). They were a blast and I never was able to kill any of the three. I so badly wanted to put a Cosworth BDA in one of them but never had the opportunity to try it.

was a 1988? Toyota Starlet.  Bought it used in '91 and drove the crap out of the car. Thing ran like a champ and got incredible gas mileage. Was in a wreck with it and totaled the car when it had 140K on it. I probably would've drove it for a long time if not for the accident.

Currently have an '06 4 Runner with 133K on it. Strong V8 engine and runs great, but at 12 years old been starting to get nickled and dimed with things starting to fail on it. It's been such a great vehicle for the 12 years I've had it, that I struggle with getting rid of it but just might this summer.

I loved my 1991 Jeep Comanche. Plum purple, 4.0L, 5sp. That thing could rip on and off road. Color could've been different but I loved that truck.

2013 Mazda CX 5.  I've got four cars including the Mazda (2017 BMW 640 Grand Touring, 2014 Chevy Silverado and 2003 Vette) and I love this car cause all that stupid Mazda does is run.  Gets about 30 MPG, has now over 90K miles and has required next to no maintanence whatsoever.  Cost me just under 27K new back in 2013 and the damn thing is still worth about 12-13K if I wanted to sell it (and I dont).

Once you get past the fact it has no acceleration at all the car is great.

They bought it used so my mom had a beater car in the winter in around 93. The thing was as basic as you could get with power nothing, 4 speed manual, and only one sideview mirror.  However, that thing was amazing.  It survived a bunch of Michigan winters, 3 boys learning to drive on it/ used as our summer car at 16 so we could work t get our own car, got 40 mpg easily on the highway going 80, and my parents didn't put any money into it, and it had enough room for 5 with a big hatch trunk.

 

Strong second place to my parents 1991 Isuzu Rodeo. Again, basic as you could get, but had 4WD lockable hubs, had a ton of room on the inside, and again, my parents had almost no maintenance costs (remember an exhaust manifold having to be replaced around 2001).  My dad got a great deal on a VW Jetta sport wagon, so he bought that and put it in the garage until the Rodeo died.  After 3 more years of driving the rodeo, while the Jetta sat, he finally gave up, cleaned it all up and sold the Rodeo off.  Amazing that $16,000 new lasted for close to 300,000 miles. I loved when I got a chance to drive it.  Think it still looks good.

 

 

Not my 1st or favorite car but it was a tank. I paid $400 and only put struts, fuel tank, oil & gas in it for the 3 years I owned it. I sold it for $450 when I bought my 4 door s-10 blazer. Decent on gas, decent ride, but certainly not a chick magnet. I was coming off a major breakup/cancelled engagement so it matched my mood at the time.

My 2000 GMC Jimmy LT I traded in with 230,000 miles on it in 2007. Ran like a champ, not a spot of rust, never failed to start.

I spent a few years riding around on a Honda cbr f3 motorcycle. Put over 100k on it before it was stolen. Never had to do more than change tires, oil, and brake pads. So much fun. It was found about a year after it was stolen. The douche bag who took it wrecked it and I was eventually notified by the cops. I had to go identify the body. Poor thing. It was like a homicide you'd see in the movies.

Had an 86 Accord that I bought for $800.  Shortly after I bought it, I had an electrical issue that cost me a couple hundred bucks to sort out. After that, that car was bulletproof for 3 years.  The only quibble was that the pop up lights were stuck inthe up position. Other than that, the heat blew hot, the air blew cold, and that sucker fired right up every time I asked it to, through a couple of the coldest Cleveland winters I remember.  I ended up selling it to buy a '93 Cavalier, which was about one of the dumbest decisions I ever made. I figured the Cavalier was owned by a girl whose father was a mechanic so it'd have to be in good shape. WRONG.  There was some issue with the solenoids so sometimes when getting off the freeway the car wouldnt shift out of gear properly and it'd stall out. I HATED that car and only kept it for about 9 months

Hate to say it but: Honda - good.  GM - Bad

Got me through grad school in Chicago in style for low-dough.  Looked much more expensive than it was (bought a 6 year old car).  It was also rather unique.  Crazy easy to fix for DIY

Mine was a standard transmission.  I always left it in neutral.  Chicago is flat.   Parking is tough to come by . . . the car was towed at least 3 times per year.  

(representative picture)

My Fiero. Very fun car to drive, not too hard to maintain, several excellent, well-documented engine swaps for those who want more power, and very affordable to pick up in pretty good condition.

Yet all most people know about them is that they had engine fire issues. Few know why: GM, on the early 84s, listed the wrong oil capacity in the owner's manual (three quarts instead of four) *and* mismarked the dipstick, so it showed as full when it was a quart low. The cars ran low on oil, threw a rod throught the block, and sprayed oil onto the exhaust manifold. Ignition.

90+% of all the Fieros that had engine fires were due to this dumbassery by GM.

So if you are looking for a fun, affordable, (now) fairly rare and unique (still the only mass-produced mid-engine car by a US automaker) car, they are the ticket.

My mom had an early-80's Pontiac Phoenix.  The early '80's GM X cars were wretched, wretched cars.  Some of the worst ever produced by GM.

But . . . her's was great.  It always ran well, it stayed together, and it aged very well.

It was an anti-lemon.  A freak car in that series.

     

My 2002 Cavalier is my unsung hero.  I bought it used in 2002 with 20,000 miles on it.  I still drive it everyday to work and back and the only issue I had was a recent transmission fluid leak that was easily fixed for very cheap.

It currently has 210,000 miles on it, limited rust, and still gets 30 mpg.  I bought if for $6900 back in 2003 and paid cash for it.  This car has reached legendary status and knock on wood is still running great and has a lot of life left in it.

2003 G35 with 277k miles on it. Took it into the shop this morning for an oil leak but this car has been virtually indestructible.  radiator went at 150k, starter motor went about the same time.  other than that the car just won't die.    

'91 Honda Accord LX, white with blue interior. 

It stayed with me through HS (hand-me-down from my sister, actually) and college. My record was fitting 9 people in it. A bunch of us went to watch a movie at the Showtime on Carpenter. Afterward, we discovered that several of them had been DROPPED OFF and had no ride back. B/c I was lazy and efficient, I decided that we could fit 9 people in there. I was driving, we had the three smallest girls in the front passenger seat (and actually kinda of on the center console); 4 across in the back, and 2 more on their laps. 

I was low-ridin' that night in a major way. Sketchiest part was going by Washtenaw where it splits off with Stadium b/c there was often a cop sitting around there. Fortunately, we made it back to campus without incident. 

Also got me and my sister home to Atlanta during winter break, December 1995 when a huge blizzard hit most of Ohio. We got stuck in that blizzard. Took us about 9 hours to get to Cincy from AA - normally a 4 to 4.5 hour drive. Took another 6 hours to get home to Atlanta, so that was a ROUGH day. 

Can't leave out the road trips to Colorado, Chicago, and Cocoa Beach. 

You can criticize a lot of 1970s and 80s American cars for being poorly constructed junk but the Big 3 certainly could build some rock solid engines.  I know people that wept when GM discontinued the pushrod 3.8L V-6.

I had a 99 Civic I purchased used a work commuter.  I passed it to my son who drove for 6 years.  It got hit 3-4 times and kept rolling.  I only had it fixed once.  I sold it to a kid for $150 bucks about 4-5 years ago.  Dang thing wouldn't die.  It looked like it had been in a Demo derby and lost. 

I had a Toyota Echo for three years and a drunk totaled it parked on my street.  Insurance gave me  1k more than I paid for.  That is the first time I ever beat the MAN!!!  Dang it felt good!!!     

 

Bought in 1998 as a senior in hs for 800 bucks. Had 280k miles. Obviously highway miles. I beat the crap out of that thing. Smashed through snow piles, muddy corn fields and the like. Went through many many booze cruises. Never ever had one issue in the 6 years I owned it. Good thing, because I couldn’t have afforded anything to go wrong. Far over 320k miles when I sold it for....600 bucks.
Sorta wonder if I am now paying for the good fortune I had with that car because I can’t find a damn thing that doesn’t have constant problems. Could be that I now buy American cars. Such junk!

1992 Toyota Corolla, ended up giving it to my grandma. Loved that car in hindsight