Kawasaki Concours Forum
Mish mash => Open Forum => Topic started by: Deziner on February 18, 2015, 08:29:56 AM
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What vehicles have you previously owned and wish you kept and which do you wish you never wasted the money on?
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Have had lots of vehicles over the years. Don't know for sure but probably >50. The only one I have regrets not keeping is my first vehicle, a 1966 Olds 442. Now if we include airplanes, I regret not keeping my 1946 Aeronca 7AC.
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Owned:
Honda NTV650
Yamaha XJ600
Kawa GTR1000
BMW K100
Yama XJ900f
Honda VF750
BMW R65
I wish I still had the R65, but I couldn't afford it to have a second bike. I need a fairly sturdy bike to get around, as it's my only means of transportation. (don't have a driver's licence for cars)
The NTV was fun, first bike, but it turned out to have some technical problems I couldn't solve back then (I knew next to nothing about the mechanics of a motorcycle)
The XJ600 was a trade, got rid of it soon
K100 was a decent bike, but hurt my back. Same for the VF750.
The XJ900f was highly uncomfortable for my girlfriend.
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(don't have a driver's licence for cars)
Wow! Now thats a commitment to 2 wheels. Not sure that's even possible here in the states. Anybody know if you can get a motorcycle only DL in the US?
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Quite a bit of backstory behind that too.
Aside from the reasons like: Cars are more expensive to own/maintain/buy/park/drive, I wanted to get my license to get over a horrible failure anxiety and fear of exams. I figured it would help I would be doing an exam for something I enjoy. (still took me 6 times, even though I could drive perfectly fine. Once I was in an exam-situation, I tensed up, blacked out etc.)
That was 5 years and about 60.000 km ago now, and I still don't feel the need to own a car.
In my eyes, cars are for transporting more than two people, or stuff that doesn't fit on a motorcycle. (and I have made a lot of stuff fit on a motorcycle!) Both things come across rarely.
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1964 Rambler Station Wagon - loved that vehicle, engine was :censored: though. Kept on cracking heads.
1963 Ford Fairlane - ok for what it was
1968 Mustang - wish I still had it.
19 something Pinto Station Wagon - crap
1981 Toyota Starlet - good car
1989 Plymouth Horizon - good vehicle, especially in snow.
1984 Plymouth Voyager - good vehicle
1984 Jeep Cherokee - vehicle crap except for the 4WD
1989 Plymouth Voyager - crap
Chevrolet Metro 4 cylinder - crap
2005 Prius - excellent vehicle
2005 Rav4 - excellent vehicle
2013 Prius - excellent vehicle
1991 Dodge Dakota - excellent vehicle
1981 Ford truck - ok
Forgot these...
2000 Dodge Dakota quad cab - broke down on first day of ownership and had virtually no traction
2002 Jeep Liberty, worst riding vehicle I ever had, but great 4wd
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1986 F150 300 6 Cyl 4x4. Great truck as long as you where not in a hurry.
1991 Escort "Pony" POS, but it was cheap transportation.
1999 Silverado Actually was a company vehicle, but I had unlimited use of it.
1999 Explorer Sport. Horrid POS in every way!
2001 F150 Good truck. Lost in divorce. It was worth it!
1992 Olds 88 Good car.
2006 Toyota Tundra. Great truck. Often wish I still had it.
2005 Dodge Durrango. Good vehicle. Traded it for more than I paid for it after 70K miles.
2008 Silverado Was ok until 85K miles. Then money pit.
2014 Ram (current) Love this truck. 17K miles so far. Best fuel mileage of any truck I have owned.
Bikes... Much shorter list.
'01 C10
2012 C14
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I'll list them as I owned them;
A 1950 Ford 2 Door Coupe
A 1940 Ford 2 Door Coupe
A 1949 Mercury 2 Door with a 1953 Olds and a 3 speed Cad La Salle Trans.
A 1956 2 Door Ford.
A 1956 Buick Road Master Convertible.
A 1959 Chevy 2 Door Impala.
A 1963 Chevy Corvair Spyder.
A 1963 Chevy 2 Door Impala.
And many more.
Yes, I wish I still had several of these great old Classics.
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70 Chevy Nova- 307 cu. in.-3-speed on the tree-could chirp tires changing to 2nd gear
66 Chevy Caprice - 396 cu. in.-huge trunk, could hold at least 3 bodies
74 Pontiac Firebird- paid $1000, it had 15,000 miles on it in 1982
79 Ford Fiesta- great German ford
86 Honda CRX SI- My first new car
86 Mercury Sable- free from my parents-highway crusader-hit a deer-totaled front end
89 Ford Probe- paid $1000 to my idiot sister-in-law-great Mazda/Ford car
98 Dodge Caravan-I loved this thing, it rusted away though, if I could have stopped the rust, this would be my dream car, bad design on rocker panels inherent to all mini vans, built to rust
02 Ford Focus ZX3-best car I ever owned
Still have
1960 VW Bug
93 Ford Ranger-60,000 miles
01 Ford Mustang GT 2000 miles, yes, 2 and only 3 zero's
12 Ford escape-summer driver
15 Ford Fiesta-winter driver-40mpg
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1967 Mustang Coupe -- bought it when I was 15 and traded it to a friend 20 yrs later. He still has it.
1977 Chevy Luv homemade 4x4 -- bought it at 17
1987 Mercury Capri LS -- repo'ed it for finance company and ended up buying it for cheap. Dropped a 302 in it for a fun little car.
1970 Chevy C10 -- flatbed
1987 Chevy C10
199? Eagle Vision -- Great traveling car. Except could not set the cruise higher then 89 mph.
2000 Ford F150 -- still have it with 200,000+ miles
2003 Ford Expedition
2007 Ford Expedition
1979 Ford Bronco -- See it online at Recoil magazine (Ian Harrison bought it and mounted a Dillon mini-gun on it)
2010 Ford F150 -- Bought it last year
That covers the 4 wheeled ones.
Way to many bikes to list them all here but at one time I had 4 each Honda V65 Magnas.
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Too many to remember/list. I had one of each of these back in the day. Now I have duplicates today ;D
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j180/stevewfl/Camaro/camaro.jpg)
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j180/stevewfl/Camaro/camaro_79Z28.jpg)
But nowadays they are over 35 years old and my "projects" as i'm taking a break from wrenching on track bikes/off road bikes/street bikes.
And its a different world, rather than my motorcycle "lift" I've been going "LOW" ;D
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j180/stevewfl/Camaro/camaro_no.jpg)
Well, there's an occasional lift when I'm lucky, but its not mine hehe
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j180/stevewfl/Camaro/79lift.jpg)
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These are the ones I can remember. I was wrong about >50 but definitely >30
1966 Olds 442 (biggest regret junking this car)
196? Simca (total POS)
1967 VW square back sedan
1963 VW Beatle
1976 Olds Starfire
1978 VW Rabbit Diesel (57 mpg city and highway)
1983 Chevy Caprice Wagon
1973 Fiat 124 spider (loved this car, a beater but fun in CA with the top down)
1962 Buick Special (worst handling/driving car ever made)
1983 Olds Omega (actually a company car)
198? Mazda RX7 (fun in CA, a dog at high altitude in CO)
1987 Ford Aerostar
1992 Ford Aerostar AWD
1991 Accura Integra
198? Ford Ranger
1997 Ford F150
1999 Ford F150
2000 Ford Escape
2001 Ford F150 King Ranch (all F150's leased)
200? Jeep Liberty CRD
2002 Honda Rancher ATV (still have)
2003 Honda Rincon ATV (still have)
2004 Nissan Titan
2004 Honda VTX 1300S (learned to ride on this bike)
2005 Nissan Xterra
1997 Honda Valkyrie (my son still has this)
2003 Suzuki DR650 (still have)
2007 Toyota Highlander
2010 Kawasaki Concours 14 (still have)
2011 Nissan Titan (still have)
2012 Polaris Ranger 500 ATV (still have)
2014 Ford Escape (still have)
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For me cars have mostly been secondary to bikes. Whatever I could buy for a couple hundred worked for me. The one exception was the 74 Triumph spitfire I had right after high school.
When the family came along, it was whatever cheap but reliable cage to move them around in.
Just last year I bought a 'fun' car. An 8 year old Pontiac solstice.
Now for bikes, I wish I still had every one of them.
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Regret: Peugeot 304, circa 1971.
First the good: front wheel drive, manual transmission, quality independent suspension, comfortable, roomy for a small car.
Now for the bad and the ugly:
It had winter starting capabilities suitable for a Mediterranean climate (I lived in Montreal at the time). Cams made of butter. A clutch throwout fork made of light aluminum (for fatigue resistance).
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'71 Austin America - Fun car, when it ran right. Wish I still had it.
'76 Plymouth Arrow - POS
'65 Plymouth Valiant - $300 car... was worth every penny...
'76 Chevy Nova - $300 car... 350 V8... fun car, was worth every penny, and more.
'79 GMC Sierra - POS
'81 Ford Escort - Ran forever!
'91 Toyota Camry - Great car!
'91 Toyota Pickup - Great truck... wish I still had it! Basic 4 banger, 5sp, AC, power nothing! Most reliable vehicle I ever owned... until my Ridgeline!
'00 Ford Expedition - Good truck!
'01 Nissan Frontier - OK truck.
'02 Dodge Ram Quad Cab - OK truck... 13.2 mpg.
'03 Chevy Tahoe - Great truck! Would have kept it if we didn't move to CO in '07
'05 Kia Spectre - Good car for mpg... only had 5k miles on it in 3 years... would have kept it, but moved to CO.
'07 Honda Ridgeline - Awesome Truck... still have it.
'08 Toyota 4Runner - (Wife's truck) I hate it... she hates it, she picked it, paid for... she's stuck with it. LOL!!!!
'15 Ford Explorer Sport - FUN TRUCK! It has the 365hp Eco Boost...
'?? Ford Mustang GT350 - LOL!!!!! waiting....
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'63 Dodge Polara
'69 Coupe de Ville
'72 Chevy Kingswood
'69 Camaro
'72 Olds 98 Luxury Sedan
'74 Olds Cutlass
'72 Chevy C/10
'74 Lincoln Mk IV Cartier Edition
'69 Torino GT 428 Super CJ (FAST)
'79 Ford LTD
'80 Triumph Spitfire
'74 Chevy Caprice
'58 Chevy Apache
'72 Buick Riviera LJ
'74 Toyota Celica
'68 Ford F100
'81 F 250 4x4
'82 Dodge 1/2 ton van
'88 Chevy Caprice (still have it)
'74 F 250
'63 GMC 3/4 ton 4x4 tow truck
'85? Lincoln Mk V LSC
'96 GMC 2500 flat bed
'98 GMC 3500 dually
'96 F350 dually crew cab
'88 GMC 2500 (still have it)
'86 F 150
'05 F 150
'07 F150
'08 Dodge 1500 Hemi
'95 Gran Marquis
'05 Focus (still have it)
I think I'm forgetting a couple
Bikes
'8? XL250
'74 Superglide
'7? TX 750
'81 XS 650
'82 Yamaha Seca 650
'79 XL
'?? DT 175
'?? RM 125
'85 GL 1200
'92 FXSCT
'89 FLHTC Shriner's Edition
'69 XL
'86 GL 1200
'01 K1200 LT
'06 FLHTCI
'85 FXWG 4 speed with kick start (still have it)
'01 XL 1200 bobber (still have it)
'08 C14
Would like to have all of them back. Bikes and cars
I'm sure I forgot a few bikes too
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Regret selling my 1969 SS396 Chevrolet ElCamino! Yes, it was a true SS396, not a clone! Another plus was the $$$ saved because I was able to insure it as a truck. ;D They didn't know it was just a quick as the coupe....I remember one late nite in front of the local Kmart & a gallon of bleach later, there were two black tire marks the length of the front of the store on the parking lot ::)
About 8 months before purchasing the Camino (June '73), I missed out on a '64 GTO w/ 389 tri-power. 4 speed muncie rock crusher & redlines on the oem rally wheels. IIRC, there was only 65k miles on it for the pricely sum of $1200 too! I think the owner of the car didn't return from "Nam alive & the parents wanted it gone. :(
However, the deal I really kick myself in the ass about (happened about a week before I end up w/ the '69 Camino) is a "cream puff" 1970 SS454 ElCamino, loaded w/ all the goodies, Fathom Blue w/ White racing stripes on top of that cowl induction hood.
Anyway, got dad talked into going w/ me for a test drive.... Drive is going great & dad agrees to co-signing a loan, so I pull a u-turn to return the vehicle. Seeing as how we're on a country road w/ no traffic, I decide to "get w/ the program" & mash the throttle to the floor from 10 mph.... Holy smokes Batman.... The beast is unleashed!!! There's a howl coming from the cowl induction, the tires are going up in smoke while the truck is fishtailing from one side of the road to the other, I'm grining from ear-to-ear while doing the arm dance w/ the steering wheel & remember saying "COOL"...... That lasted all of half-a-minute until dad says "SLOW IT DOWN, YOU"RE NOT GETTING THIS TRUCK!!!" :'(
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Wished I'd kept:
1968 Harley Rapido with the high pipe & dual rear sprocket.
1972 Suzuki T350R.
1966 Mustang Coupe w/factory driving lights & radio reverb unit.
1979 BMW R100RT.
Wished I'd never had:
Not worth mentioning.
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Wished I'd kept:
1968 Harley Rapido with the high pipe & dual rear sprocket.
1972 Suzuki T350R.
1966 Mustang Coupe w/factory driving lights & radio reverb unit.
1979 BMW R100RT.
Wished I'd never had:
Not worth mentioning.
A Rapido? Sweet! My neighbor had one. The first motorcycle I ever wrecked was his 350 Sprint.
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'62 Falcon, two speed auto. Floorboards rusted out, heavy duty rubber mat worked peachy.
'59 F-100. 1/4" fenders, 0-60 in 6.8 minutes.
'64 Rambler Classic, 770 I think? Meh.
'65 Merc wagon, it was the Mercury version of the Falcon, small. Had it a few months.
'69 Super Bee, friggin quick. Wish I still had her.
'68 Catalina wagon. With momentum and mass you can drive through anything. 200' of mud, 4' snow drift, ...
'7? Toyot Hi-Lux. Fenders flapping in the breeze in 3 years. MN winters.
'77 Toyot Hi-lux Diesel. See 0-60 above, Ran fine on bunker fuel. 260k miles, probably still running in AK where I left it.
'85? Toyot Hilux, stretch cab, long bed. Work truck, +200k miles
'96 Toyot Takoma, stretch/long bed. Collects leaves/twigs/pine cones/rocks/bird crap. Will haul a ton+ no sweat. no power though. Still have it.
'01 Ford Ranger step side. 1st 4WD, unreal ground clearance in stock form. Daily driver.
'94 Connie, +170k miles.
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1966 Corvair Corsa convertible- girlfriend stole it and wrecked it within 6 weeks in 1970. Fun little "poor man's Porsche" though while it lasted.
1969 Camaro SS 350 with M21 4 speed. Loved it and won many back road races. Sold it with 170,000 miles in 1974.
1969 Camaro Z/28- presently only 8,563 miles and still own it w/ original DZ/302, M22 rock crusher. Lemans Blue/white stripes- a real screamer. I took it off the road in 1972 so I didn't kill myself and others along with destroying the car. My best friend owned a 1969 TransAm Firebird, but sold it..
1974 Kawasaki Z/1 903. Great bulletproof bike. King of the road in '74. Still own it and it likes to boogie with over 100k miles. Original everything except brakes and tires.
1982 Yamaha 1100 Maxim. Still own it and runs great with over 60,000 miles.
1987 Porsche 911 Carrera cabrio- fabulous little car I miss every day. I sold it when the business needed a cash infusion in '94. Sad day indeed.
1998 I30 Infiniti. The only car (in 35 years) that could take my wife's daily abuse and survive full 5 years. She could completely destroy any American car in 2 years. Great integrity.
1998 Ford Ranger a.k.a. "Trusty". Best little truck ever with 391,000 miles and counting. All original except for radiator, alternator(s), water pump, ball joints and u-joints along with normal wear items. Hard to believe, but true. Engine and transmission have never been opened except for spark plugs and normal maintenance. Tows my bike and stuff over the Rockies when traveling to the west coast and back.
2009 C-14 "Black Bear" with 50,000 miles. Just broken in and lovin' it. My favorite bike of all.
Worst car- 1984 Chevy Citation- cured me of buying any more GM products.
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So do you guys keep a diary or something to remember all these vehicles?
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The first motorcycle I ever wrecked was his 350 Sprint.
First??? :yikes:
So do you guys keep a diary or something to remember all these vehicles?
The ones you wished you kept are pretty easy to remember.
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I won't bore you with a list of everything I've owned, my wife says my hobby is buying/selling cars:)
Highlights:
My first car - 67 Cougar XR7. Loved it, but as a high school kid, I didn't have the $ to restore.
72 Ford E300 - yes, 300, 3/4(I think) ton flatnose van with a 3 on the tree, a 351 V8, and 16.5" rims. It was badly rusted and I only paid $150 for it. But that's why I loved it - it was so cheap, I didn't care what I did with it. Also made some spare $ pulling tourists out of the sand at the beach in Daytona.
73 Road Runner. My dad picked this up and decided it was too fast for him. The PO had a shop in the same compound as my dad's, and the engine was built! It had a reverse Starsky and Hutch paint job - pearl white with a purple stripe. Beautiful car, but it needed premium gas along with octane booster or AV gas to avoid pinging.
86 GMC S-15 4cyl 4 spd - my first brand new vehicle bought after I joined the AF. Base model that I lowered a couple inches, added some nice rims and a decent stereo.
91 Geo Tracker 4x4 - say what you will, but the vert top was fun in the summer, and I fitted 30" tires on the stock suspention. it lasted me 13 years, before I passed it along to a friend that drove it another 5 years before passing along to someone else.
09 Dodge Ram - man I miss that one, and I only had it a year. Bought when gas was just over $2/gal - then a year later, its $3.50 and climbing, and I'm doing 80 miles a day at 17 mpg. Couldn't afford to keep driving it. Was going to buy a small beater to commute, but the wife convinced me to sell the truck and buy a nice small car instead. Shouldn't have listened.
08 Mazda 3GT - my current car. While I miss my truck, I have to say, I bought the 3 because it's so much fun to drive. Handles amazing in stock trim, and has everything but a sun roof and Mazda GPS. I added GPS/DVD/MP3 system, and some RX8 rims, and that's about it. The heated seats are GREAT this time of year.
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'68 Chevy Malibu Sedan -
'67 Chevy Chevelle
'70 Pontiac Catalina
'78 Mercury Cougar
'67 Chevy Impala
'?? Chrysler Cordoba
'82 Toyota Pick-up
'76 Datsun 280Z
'82 Buick
'89 Mustang
'90 Honda Accord
'94 Toyota Pickup
'02 GMC Sierra
'03 GMC Sonoma
'84 GMC Sierra
'06 GMC Sierra
'07 GMC Canyon
'09 GMC Sierra
'12 Chevy Sonic
The one I wish that I still had is the '94 Toyota Pickup. Got rid of it while making a bunch of other bad decisions at the same time. Bought a bunch of GMC's on the GM employee plan looking for a truck that I like as much as the Toyota. Started a 750mile/week commute in '12 so I went to the Sonic (40mpg). Love everything about the Sonic except the traction control and automatic transmission. It turned 87k miles last night. Probably gonna trade it for another Sonic once this commute is over with in a few months.
'81 Suzuki GS450T
'82 Honda CM450L
'03 Honda CB750
'06 ZG1000
Still wish I had the GS450T. Very sweet bike. Can't see selling or upgrading the ZG. Has more power than I can use and as much tech support and upgrades as anything else out there.
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First??? :yikes:
Yep. It's been my experience that it's just like riding a bull. It ain't a question of IF you're gonna get hurt, it's a question of WHEN and how bad.
So do you guys keep a diary or something to remember all these vehicles?
I bleed 10/40. :)
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Sweet! A lot of motor heads on this forum and some nice cars.
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Wish I'd kept:
35 Plymouth coupe w/rumble seat
37 Ford tudor v8
41 Ford convert.
47 Chev convert
49 Ford coupe
50 Ford Woodie
53 Ford tudor v8
57Ford Country Squire 312
61 VW w/150HP turbo Corvair engine
65 Mustang 271HP hipo
69 Ford Country Squire 390
I almost forgot my 54 Chrysler New Yorker Deluxe convert
Bikes I miss
75 Yamaha 350 2 stroke twin
71 Maico 400
78 Suzuki PE250
82 Kawasaki GPz 1100
These are the ones I really miss.
Tom Taylor COG#7173
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Had a few but two I wish I still had are a 67 Olds Cutlass convertible w/factory 4spd and a 65 Plymouth Sport Fury.
The one I wish I never bought:77 Ford Mustang II with the Cobra package. 302 4spd. Black/gold. Bought it new and the engine rattled from day one. Dealer said there was no problem. Took it to another dealer and they said whoever built it must have been drunk. Completly rebuilt and balanced. Cost me $50. Then the transmission synchros started going. Had electrical problems. Stripes started peeling. Lots of other stuff. Had it 9 months. I let it get repo'd.
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From the late 70's through the 80's, and in some cases the 90's, domestic manufacturers were cranking out some real junk. Come to think of it those were not banner years for a lot of imports either.
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Wow!- How could I have forgotten my 47 Buick convert and my 52 Mercury convert. See post #27.
Tom Taylor COG#7173
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Had a few but two I wish I still had are a 67 Olds Cutlass convertible w/factory 4spd and a 65 Plymouth Sport Fury.
The one I wish I never bought:77 Ford Mustang II with the Cobra package. 302 4spd. Black/gold. Bought it new and the engine rattled from day one. Dealer said there was no problem. Took it to another dealer and they said whoever built it must have been drunk. Completly rebuilt and balanced. Cost me $50. Then the transmission synchros started going. Had electrical problems. Stripes started peeling. Lots of other stuff. Had it 9 months. I let it get repo'd.
Indeed the 1970's and 80's were very dark days for Detroit- all cars and most trucks were an incredible P.O.S., and I thought it was all over for American vehicles. But the Japanese gave us the competition we needed to build decent quality cars and bikes again. These days will be known as the high water mark for internal combustion engines and American ingenuity.
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1973 VW super beetle
1978 Chrysler Cordoba w/ Corinthian Leather
1980 Pontiac Sunbird
1966 Oldmobile Delta 88
1987 Nissan Pulsar SE
1993 Saturn SL2
2001 Acura CLS
2009 BMW 328i
1984 Suzuki GS1150ES
1995 Honda 750 Nighthawk
2009 BMW R1150R
2012 Kawasaki Concours
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1978 Chrysler Cordoba w/ Corinthian Leather
:rotflmao: I remember that commercial with Ricardo Montalban.
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And there was no such thing. Montalban was practising his lines and ad-libbed "fine Cornthian leather" it stuck.
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I was working as a line mechanic at a Chrysler dealer in those days. The stories I could tell....
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Wished I still had:
1959 VW Beetle
1966 Jeep CJ5
1986 Mazda RX 7
1987 Mazda RX 7
and one I really would like to have back
1966 Nova SS -- white with blue interior. A true SS not a clone.
8)