Cars you should have kept, or not..

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Originally Posted By: tenderloin
Wish I had back? My 1965 Ford Mustang, 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 428 Cobra Jet w/shaker hood scoop, 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302, 1973 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am w/455 Super Duty 4 speed (rare). 1975 Chevrolet Cosworth Vega


There you go most of those are real cars, not some cookie cutter that can be found on almost any street corner...

I parted out a couple 428CJ Torinos in the '70s that would be desirable now(still have one, that's original other than paint)... The biggie I let get away though was a 1968 Cougar GTE with the W code 427 side oiler engine... Not uncommon to see one of those in six figure territory...
 
I had a clean, rare-ish 1978 Chevy Malibu two-door sedan with a V8 I bought for $700 with money from my first job after high school over 20 years ago. It had problems but nothing that wasn't fixable, especially nowadays with all the parts and information available online. I sold it for something more sensible at the time, a '91 Plymouth Sundance that was better on gas and better in snow. Of all the cars I owned back then, I still regret selling that Malibu.

I'd still like to own another G-body someday, either a Malibu, Monte Carlo or El Camino, maybe even a Regal or Grand Prix. Amazing what you can do with them now, especially since they share the same platform with the Grand National.

I saw a cool project way back then in a parking lot. Someone had transplanted the entire Buick turbo V6 drivetrain, suspension and interior from a wrecked Grand national into a '79 Malibu. It was painted off-white with the chrome GN wheels and black interior. It wasn't perfect but it was [censored] nice car!
 
1986 Camaro Z28, 305 carb engine. Sold in May '94 with 78,500 miles on it. Guy I sold it to drove the wheels off it, he sold it with 220,000 miles on it and it was still going. I used the money as a down payment to buy my first house.
 
My 1987 Rx7 Turbo II. Body was 99% perfect, interior looked like it just came out of the showroom.

Like so many other Rx7's, one of the apex seals gave out way too early in its life and it was only running on one rotor. Sold it for $300. They were a dime-a-dozen car back then, and I was working full time and putting myself through college at night at the same time, and I needed money badly.

I should have parked it in my friends barn, put it up on jackstands, and covered it up..........
 
my 1987 camaro z28 red T-Top, run and drive great, starter went out, and back then i dont know how to replace starter, so i let it park on drive way for a while. at the end I sold for 700 dollar
mad.gif
33.gif
. Now I look back I can easy replace starter since I did replace another camaro starter few month later. I wish I never sold.
 
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I wish my Dad kept his '91 Miata, I loved borrowing it!
As for me, I did like my 1981 Olds Omega that my great Aunt gave it to me, it only had 60k miles in 2001 but carb/vacuum issues kept coming up and in 2003 we bought the Tracker, so I sold it.
It was a nice driver but I guess sort of impractical for my commute these days.
 
I had a 83 Shelby Charger I wish I had kept. I sold it in 1991 since I had bought a new car. I should of kept it and converted it into a T2 car.
 
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I should have kept the 2006 focus i had from Feb 08-June 2010.

She had a slight trans leak, but would have been fully mine in 2 years.

I ended up being seperated from the USAF a few months after i traded her in, and now i got that on my credit report, a repoed car.
 
Originally Posted By: Scott_Tucker
Just traded my 2004 Mazda tribute es in on a Honda. WORST. POWERTRAIN. EVER. on that Mazda.


That's because it was a badge-engineered Escape.
 
Originally Posted By: addyguy
What was wrong with it?

Love the PT on my 2003 Tribute.....


Yeah, what's wrong with it?

The CD4E is not an outstanding transmission but the MZR 4 cylinder and Duratec 30 V6 are solid, well built engines. The MZR is arguably competitive with the K24 Honda and better than the B20.
 
Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite

How 'Bout a 79 Ford Fairmont with suck through carbed turbo 2.3L?


That was only for 1980. A friend had one. It held it's own against a Crossfirehazard Camaro.
 
Originally Posted By: addyguy
What was wrong with it?

Love the PT on my 2003 Tribute.....


3.0 - Its an engine with little torque in the lower rpm paired with a transmission which wants to shift into the highest gear as fast as possible and is reluctant to downshift. On the mountain roads I drive on it was constantly hunting gears.

The duratech is a great engine in cars, but is not a good engine for a heavy SUV.
 
Now that I think about it, I should have kept my '65 Impala.

It was an odd car. A two door post like a Biscayne or Bel-Air but it six taillights and Impala badges.

It had been an old lady's car who had smoked heavily. It turned out pretty nice once I had removed a quarter century of tar and nicotine off the interior and the "pillow puff" vinyl seat covers.

It had half the available gears of my later '98 Regency, half as many carburetor barrels, drums all the way around, probably less torque, and it was twice the car. It did literally everything better.

The spare was a brand new (well, unused) JCPenney bias belted tire.
 
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