What was your fun / care free car?

[Rick in PA]

Mine was a International Harvester '68 Scout, I had back in the late '70s. It had a lot of rust, I patched most of it and actually kept the truck in reasonably nice looking shape. Red, of course, with a white top. I put a wood shelf over sun visors. That's where I mounted the AM/FM stereo radio (out an old Thunderbird, if I remember correctly) and a cassette player, the tapes stored up on the shelf. At one time, the heater control valve on the engine started leaking, so I went down to the local hardware store, bought an off-the-shelf valve and installed it. You opened the valve in the fall and closed the valve in the spring. The windshield wipers were vacuum operated, a bit lazy when the motor was at idle, and they weren't synchronized, they each just sort of did their own thing.

Right after I got it, I was pulling it up to the gas pumps. A coworker at the service station playfully kicked the side of the truck. Unfortunately, his blow landed on an old aluminum sheetmetal patch someone had installed in the past. The aluminum was rotted thin from the backside and his foot just went through. He was a little contrite, I just laughed. That sheet metal patch got replaced with a good steel patch, pop riveted in place, of course, and painted rattle-can red to match the truck.

If you post a reply, remember to include a funny / interesting story about the vehicle.

 

[wirelessF]

A 1991 Nissan Sentra E 4dr. Given to me by my uncle for free since I helped him do some of the repairs and towed it with my truck when it could not start since the original 189,000mi fuel pump was weak (not dead, I misdiagnosed that no-start issue since the FP motor was still working but didn't build enough pressure.) Excellent vehicle to putt around town, horrid on hot days since it does not have AC so I had one of those clip-on fans.

Here is the funny part. I bought a used 02 Chevy Silverado June of '12 and 3 months after the fuel pump died out. Luckily I was able to drive to a gas station. Called my bro to bring the other truck and some tow straps to tow the Chevy home. And he brings the Nissan Sentra! I don't want to waste time at this ghetto gas station so we strapped up and hit the road. Surprisingly this car can pull 4730lbs of truck in first gear at 15mph. Really crazy stuff man.

I miss that car. After my bro understeered into a light pole making a left turn which only damaged the pass. side fender support and headlight we decided to get rid of it. $150 out the door which is still a loss since I spent $500 fixing it, ugh.

 

[wemay]

A white 1993 VW GTi 2.0 8v (115 hp). The only reliable VW of the many I'd owned. Laughed at by VR6 owners (i had a few VR6 as well), but i enjoyed this modestly powered vehicle with aplomb. It was the days of Schrick Cams, Neuspeed chips, K&N filters and Borla exhausts.

 

[Trav]

65 Lotus Cortina. White with green stripe, full gauge package, short shifter, disc brakes, full lotus suspension, DOHC 1.6 engine, vredestein radials.
This car was really quick and handled like a scared cat. I wish i would have kept it.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

Back somewhere around 1965 my dad bought an old VW bug-probably a late 1950's-to run errands from the house to the fields. Back then he probably paid $30 or $40 for it-the car was an unstoppable little tank. It would pull itself across plowed ground, through drainage ditches and muddy ruts without hesitation.

We took the back seat out so we could toss more stuff in. We were out planting one spring day and getting short on seed. I jumped into the bug, started backing out of the field to run to the barn and get a few more bags. At the end of the field, going faster than I realized, I spun the steering wheel and turned the old bug up on its passenger side.

Surprisingly, other than getting a dirt shower from the floorboards I was unhurt. I jumped out, grabbed the running board and rocked the car back onto its wheels. Since it was fairly soft ground only the passenger side mirror was bent. The old bug fired back up and I continued on, albeit at a much more conservative pace.

Dad was not pleased at the time, but still tells the story about how I turned the the car on its side, jumped out, turned it back over, and went on my way.

 

[NMBurb02]

I had a 1961 VW Bug with a 1776cc motor and freeway flier my first year or college (2002-2003). It was fun to drive but it was normally difficult to shift into 2nd gear so I got pretty good at running up the RPM in first and skip-shifting into third. It had no heat and was missing the glass from one of the vent windows so I had to "bundle up" in winter (we're talking temps in the 50s but I am Southern California raised so it might as well have been in the 20s), had no windshield wipers so Rain-X was my friend, and had black vinyl seats with no A/C, necessitating that I bring an extra shirt to change into once I got to school in the summer as I would be drenched in sweat.

I think the rings were shot as it consumed oil and would put on a smoke show if I put my foot into it. Ended up selling it because it was not practical, especially considering that I put probably more than 15k miles per year on it due to the amount of driving I did for work.

 

[rjundi]

1988 Subaru XT(odd ball wedge coupe) FWD purchased for $500 with lots of rust and extra set of winter tires. I found a guy to pass state inspection. It was my car all of college.

I drove it from New England to Colorado to ski a winter break and FL for spring break.

I ended up taking a planned 3 week Euro backpack trip post graduation turned 3 months(met an amazing french girl) and never picked it up from the lot at Logan airport.

 

[TFB1]

Originally Posted By: rjundi

I ended up taking a planned 3 week Euro backpack trip post graduation turned 3 months(met an amazing french girl) and never picked it up from the lot at Logan airport.


To [censored] with the Subie, tell us about Frenchie...

I've owned so many cars I don't remember them all(around 200), still have a '69 428 Cobra Jet Torino that I bought in '73... Lots of fun with it but probably the most fun is with a '88 T-Bird Turbo Coupe... I yanked the pressurized half motor(4cyl), installed a built 5.0 and went drag racing at the local track... The 5.0 finally blew and now it's waiting on a fresh 331...

 

[SS1970chrysler]

for me, it was an old 1971 Dodge dart swinger with slant 6. It actually did over 100 mph and I just beat it until it fell apart.

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

My first car. A used 1954 Ford Customline with the 239 cu inch Y block V8 that didn't have as much power as a 1950 Ford I owned. It wasn't what I would call a fun car but it was reliable and easy to maintain. Wish I still had it to tinker with.

 

[Malo83]

57 Ford Fairlane that was an X-police cruiser, had the six in it and was my fathers work car until the CHP told him to take it off the streets, smoked like crazy, since we lived out in the country I learned how to drive a three on the tree, loved taking it out in the fields and driving, being only 14 I thought I was in heaven, eventually my dad sold it to a guy looking for a car to run on the local dirt track