my high school car... do I want another one?

[TAKerry]

2020-06-06_11-09-31 by Kerry Grubb, on Flickr

Best pic I could find of my HS ride. '65 ford pickup, short bed. Had a 350 transplanted from a 'vette. Jacked up in the back that was typical for the day, slotted aluminum wheels, toneau cover on the bed. Paint was a caddy colour, saturn bronze firemist.

[padgett]

"half the nylon teeth from the camshaft timing gear laying in the bottom of the oil pan." very common in Chevvies and Pontiacs of the period. When I ordered the 72 goat wagon I made sure the 400-4bbl (never liked to 455 - too many 70s with junk cranks) had a steel gear.

 

ps RA IV was not available with AC.

[PeteO]

Five years ago I bought another '37 Buick. My first car in 1961 was also a '37 Buick; it taught me an awful lot about that model so I was much prepared to get another one.These days its a 4-dr Special and the 1961 Buick was a 2-dr that I kept for ten years.  Its me on the right in the pic.

 

 

 

; 

 

 

[1912Staver]

I started Jr. High School, {Grade 10} with a series 1 Sunbeam Alpine, the one with the taller fins. Then a MGB. { grade 11 } Then grade 12;;  a 1966 Mustang 2 + 2. Then a MGA, finally a TR250 Triumph although it was part way through a re - paint when I traded it for the MGA andI didn't actually drive it until later in the Summer just after Grad.

I used my fathers 1967 full sized Pontiac for grad. { Canadian model Laurention }  Also a Morris  Minor " woody " for when the MG's were being worked on , standby car , grade 11 and 12

 

I actually still own the TR 250 in very long term storage { I haven't driven it since 1982 } , and I wouldn't mind any of the others back.. 

 

Greg

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Greg my pal's Mustang above last moved under its own power in 82 or 83.  He is writing a big check but looking forward to picking it up later this year.  

 

The deal with the TR I had was that was the car I wanted in HS, parents thought a larger car would be safer.  So Once able to I of course went out and got one, along with motercycle later, same reasoning! 😁  Love TR 250s!

[keithb7]

No...Zero interest in owning my high school car. Nor the sweater and the jeans....The mop of hair though? I'd take that back today! This was about Sept 1987 I believe. I would have been 16.

The Pinto was a 1973 if I recall. When I went for a hair cut, I got my money's worth! No so today.

 

 

Edited August 11, 2020 by keithb7 (see edit history)

[keiser31]

I would LOVE to find one of my other High School cars....1936 Dodge Brothers D2 touring sedan....

[yachtflame]

I still have my first car, a ‘54 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 4 door. I bought it for $100. Had a choice of that or a 1957 Lincoln convertible for $700. I mean, who would pay $700 for a car, right? 

[yachtflame]

 

Edited August 13, 2020 by yachtflame
Some how it double posted (see edit history)

[carbking]

YES - I would love to have it back (1956 Ford 2 door with 292 CID). Dad bought it for me (with my money) needing work when I was 13. Had it finished by the time I was 15 1/2, and Dad drove it for awhile until I turned 16. Rebuilt my first carburetor on that car at age 13. The now infamous Holley 4000, demonized on the internet as the "Towering Inferno" by those with no knowledge of carburetors. I got more than 100,000 miles on that rebuild. If a 13-year old can get that kind of results, the design just cannot be too bad. Only Holley 4 barrel I ever owned that didn't leak. Of course, like all Holleys, it was exceptionally fickle, falling in love with each new gas station we met! At some 200,000 miles plus, the oil mileage was almost as bad as the fuel mileage, and we traded the car. Wish we had kept it, and rebuilt the engine.

 

Have had many other cars I would love to have back, if I were independently wealthy, and had storage, and a care-taker to care for them (I don't have the time).

 

Among those was a special-order 1963 Corvette with some options the Corvette folks still tell me weren't available in 1963 , a Jaguar XK-120, a Triumph TR-3A, a special-order 1968 Ford Mustang GT 390, and many others.

 

Jon.

[1912Staver]

6 hours ago, Steve_Mack_CT said:

Greg my pal's Mustang above last moved under its own power in 82 or 83.  He is writing a big check but looking forward to picking it up later this year.  

 

The deal with the TR I had was that was the car I wanted in HS, parents thought a larger car would be safer.  So Once able to I of course went out and got one, along with motercycle later, same reasoning! 😁  Love TR 250s!

 

My Triumph is actually in quite good shape. 85,000 orig. miles. But I took the fenders off because of a little rust bubbling along the top. I got as far as welding in new metal strips at the top, then I got back into MGA's. I actually don't like TR 250's and 6's

all that much although I have owned the 250 and 2 TR 6's. { my wife drove the TR 6's more than I did }  Not a bad cruiser but that rear susp. is not really up to the job of a sports car. Unless you put very hard , track spring rate springs in them. My TVR uses the same building blocks

but the TVR is a far far better handling car. A little tighter inside compared to the 250. I am 6'2" and just fit in the TVR, the Triumph's in comparison are much roomier for bigger drivers

The few really fast TR's I have seen have TR5 brought up to track spec engines , and rear suspensions that are very similar to a TVR.  A lot of work but it transforms the car. Unfortunately decent TR 250's are becoming expensive enough 

that it is probably not a good idea to modify them unless you aren't concerned about re-sale value. You could play with a ratty TR6 and build a decent car. Mid 1980's Supra engine and trans is the way to go.

 

Greg

Edited August 11, 2020 by 1912Staver (see edit history)

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Greg interesting racer's take.  I owned an MGA for about a week, still want a T series.  I have to say you lost me though at "Supra"... 😁

[alsancle]

10 hours ago, Str8-8-Dave said:

My first car was a red 1966 Dodge Charger with a 361 2bbl and 4 speed manual.  It was a tank.  It had a bad exhaust valve.  It leaked water.  The left front tire blew out while  I was in the middle of passing a line of cars on 2 lane US-23 north of Standish Michigan and almost killed me, wound up on the left shoulder an an oncoming car driven by someone who fortunately stayed cool under pressure passed between me and the line of traffic I was trying to pass while I was facing the wrong way coasting down from 80mph without touching the brakes trying to stay on the shoulder, my only hope of surviving.  Had I lost control of that car then I wouldn't be writing this.  Do I want that car back?  NO- I hope it found a nice junkyard crusher.

 

My second car just before I graduated HS was a brand new 1969 Pontiac GTO Ram Air IV automatic car ordered in Verdoro Green, black vinyl top, black bucket seat/console interior,  PMD floor shifter, power steering and brakes, crank up windows,  retractable headlights, Delco AM/FM stereo, heater only, and 3.90 Safe-T-Track posi rear end.  There were like 70 thousand 69 GTO's built in 69, less than a thousand with RA IV engines and less than 300 with RA IV and an automatic.   My biggest starting complaint was the chintzy PMD shifter that replaced the nice Hurst Dual Gate from the 1968 cars and I gave the PMD shifter and a hundred bucks to a high school buddy who had a 68 car that I rode in and loved to get the Hurst out of his car and install it in my car.  Would I want that car back?  Due to what happened at Mecum and Barrett Jackson with the prices of the RA IV cars- absolutely, but....

 

That 1969 GTO came from Rinke Pontiac in Warren, MI, was special ordered, and my mother had to co-sign the loan because I was 18 and worked part time in the local Sunoco station.  The day we went to pick it up the dealer gave me the keys and I took it for a ride up Van Dyke and knew something was wrong with it.  As soon as you took your foot off the accelerator the car slowed to a complete stop in a very short distance.  The Rinke service manager tried to tell me the car was just new and tight and took me out for a second ride where the car repeated the quick stop behavior.  Finally the service manager decided he better replace the brake booster and next thing I know he's over the fender of my brand new car in the service bay with a tie clasp grinding into the paint.  I told him if he couldn't find a fender cover to protect my paint I knew where the exit door was at the dealership.  We finally got out of there and drove the car home. 

 

The next encounter with the dealer was to repair a dent from inside the hood where something was left under the hood and it was slammed down onto it before I ever saw the car.  They fixed the dent and spot painted the hood.  The paint was an awful match and it fish-eyed.  Rinke wan't going to repair it again until I threatened to call Pontiac.  They finally fixed it. 

 

About a year later I started the car in the garage and it backfired as I was pulling it out of the garage and it stalled.  Then there was a huge under-hood fire.  The Rochester Q-jet's nitrophyl float lost it's sealing coat and became fuel logged and sank allowing the carburetor to flood over onto the manifold and it got to a leaky plug wire.  The neighbor across the street came running to the rescue with a chemical fire extinguisher which did a wonderful job of putting out the fire but made a horrible mess of what had been a pristine engine compartment.  The car was towed to Red Holman Pontiac in Westland, MI and they replaced the carburetor and fixed the burned engine wiring.  State Farm paid for some of the damage but refused to pay for the carburetor stating they would not pay for the cause.  I argued to no avail that the cause was a 10 dollar float but I got charged 400 bucks for the replacement carburetor. 

 

Another few months went by and the car suddenly developed an engine oil leak.  A hoist inspection revealed a stress crack on the front of the oil pan.  I took the car back to Red Holman, still barely under warranty, they claimed I hit something and broke the oil pan and refused to cover the repair.  I made them get a Pontiac field rep out to look at the car, there was no impact to the oil pan, the paint and even the undercoating was still intact on the oil pan.  The field rep told Holman- "Better put a pan on the kid's car, I've got 3 more oil pans with cracks in the same area in my office!"  Two days later I went to Holman's to pick up the car which was still on the hoist and dripping anti-freeze.  The mechanic explained it was a good thing I had them replace the oil pan, they found half the nylon teeth from the camshaft timing gear laying in the bottom of the oil pan.  They replaced the gears and chain with a good Cloyes steel gear set and roller chain. 

 

After I got the car back I noticed it had a knock occasionally.  We hoisted the car at the Sunoco station and couldn't identify the source.  Holman checked the car out and said there was nothing wrong with it.  Late that fall I drove the car up I-75 to Gaylord, MI, then across M-32 to East Jordan, MI to visit a great aunt and uncle for a few days.  When I got off I-75 the car stumbled and I looked in the rear view mirror and observed black exhaust clouds.  I managed to keep the car running by holding the throttle half open while slowing and got where I was going,  barely.  The next morning I found myself in a dirt floor garage in zero degree weather with the Rochester carburetor in pieces to retrieve another fuel logged float.  I borrowed my great uncle's 63 Buick special with a V6 and 3 on the tree and drove to the GM dealer in Charlevoix and bought a float, put the carburetor back together and installed it and all was good for the moment.  

 

Then the mysterious knock came home to roost.  After a couple of days at my aunt and uncle's in East Jordan I started back home on a snowy crappy weather day and got down close to Grand Blanc where I was about to pass some slower traffic.  I happened to look in the rear view mirror to make sure the left lane was clear and observed clouds of white smoke.  I glanced at the oil pressure gauge and it was bouncing off Zero, instinctively reached up and shut the ignition off and coasted up the Grand Blanc exit and turned it to gas station at the top of the ramp.  When I opened the hood oil was dripping from everywhere.  The gas station owner called Superior Pontiac/Cadillac in Grand Blanc and they towed the car to the dealership and put it on the hoist just before the service department closed.  The mechanic looked at the front of the engine for a minute, produced a pocket knife and cut the belts off the crank shaft pulley, reached up and just rattled the crankshaft damper back and forth.  It turned out the knock was caused by the fact Holman Pontiac never tightened the crankshaft damper bolt which allowed the damper wheel to slip back and forth on the crank taking up the clearance to the drive key.  Eventually the key way wore to a ramp shape in the damper and the damper cracked right under the timing cover oil seal.  The car spent a week in Grand Blanc waiting for parts and repairs.  The oil pan was full of debris, some of which made it's way into the oil pump jamming the pressure relief valve.  The dealer wanted to replace the oil pump but it was unique to the RA IV engine and he just couldn't get one so he did his best to clean up the original and re-used it, not knowing the relief valve was stuck closed.  The car would start cold and bury the oil pressure gauge.  I was worried it would blow an oil filter off.  By that time I was working at Ford and decided to trade the GTO in for a Ford car.  

 

Again you ask- Would I want that Pontiac GTO back?  Like I said- they go for BIG BUCKS at auction these days.  Throw that out and the answer would be....

 

NO

back in 2000 I had the chance to buy the nicest 69 RAIV Vert in the country for what would be considered a bargain price now.  It was liberty blue and identical to my HS car.  I passed with the idea I would wait for a four speed and probably not get the liberty blue given the tiny production numbers.  Have never found the car.

 

Now I read your horror story and think maybe I dodged a bullet?  Is the issue the RAIV was not really intended for the street or just that you got an early car with production kinks not worked out?

[Ed Luddy]

12 hours ago, alsancle said:

 

Nice.  I can't help but notice the twin traction too.   You will see R2 cars and you will see stick cars but you rarely see the both together.

My former 63 Hawk GT. Seller lied to me about condition and originality. POS appraiser claimed original sheet metal on body. Lying sack o' Sh*t. Had fiberglass front fenders and one rear quarter. I was so pissed I took a huge hit on selling it as the 289 ran like crap after the appraiser said it ran excellent. The plastic fenders sealed the deal. I told the guy who bought it (on the cheap) about everything I found. Damn shame as it was a 289 4 bbl. Twin Trac, disc brake, loaded Florida car. Still keeps me awake at nights!

[alsancle]

21 minutes ago, Ed Luddy said:

My former 63 Hawk GT. Seller lied to me about condition and originality. POS appraiser claimed original sheet metal on body. Lying sack o' Sh*t. Had fiberglass front fenders and one rear quarter. I was so pissed I took a huge hit on selling it as the 289 ran like crap after the appraiser said it ran excellent. The plastic fenders sealed the deal. I told the guy who bought it (on the cheap) about everything I found. Damn shame as it was a 289 4 bbl. Twin Trac, disc brake, loaded Florida car. Still keeps me awake at nights!

 

I say this quite a bit and not everybody on here agrees with me,  but I find appraisers to be worthless generally.

[nickelroadster]

I hope you didn't pay the guy!

[Str8-8-Dave]

1 hour ago, alsancle said:

back in 2000 I had the chance to buy the nicest 69 RAIV Vert in the country for what would be considered a bargain price now.  It was liberty blue and identical to my HS car.  I passed with the idea I would wait for a four speed and probably not get the liberty blue given the tiny production numbers.  Have never found the car.

 

Now I read your horror story and think maybe I dodged a bullet?  Is the issue the RAIV was not really intended for the street or just that you got an early car with production kinks not worked out?

 

I think part of the problem with my car is I asked it to do some things it was never intended to do.  For sure, the fact it was an RA IV made it a little more quirky.  In retrospect and casting rarity aside an automatic car was a bad idea that an 19yr old kid didn't understand.  The big ports in that engine made fuel air velocity in the manifold a problem until the car got up to 4000 rpm, when you nailed the throttle and vacuum went to zero and for the first second or 2 the car didn't know whether it was gonna run or die.  Ford had the same problem with the 429 SCJ, the ports were so big if you didn't tip the automatic cars in carefully all the candles went out.  They didn't put many of those cars on the street.  The 3.90 gear was too short for the car for a drag race, I went to a set of 4.88's for awhile and that really helped the car launch.  With the 3.90 I was getting blown off by 68-9 Dodge Dart Swingers with 3.90 gears and a 4 speed.  One of my high school buddies had a swinger and I could catch it after awhile but the Dart had the upper hand from a dig.  The 4.88's and a Hurst Line Loc fixed that.  But then the car was worthless on the freeway.  For awhile I had a set of 3.23 gears in the car and it would go a buck fifty on the high end.  I used to amuse myself on I-94 out by Ann Arbor tail gating Cadillac Coupe DeVilles, egging them on to go faster and faster, then blowing by them when they ran out of breath.  Such was the life of a young kid with a GTO. 

 

Many years later I bought a 68 GTO on E-Bay from a guy in Bend Oregon who put some misleading pictures in his auction and told a few fibs.  The car showed up a couple of blocks from my house in Grosse Pointe Woods and it took me until I got to my driveway to realize the car was really sick.  The car was leaking some of every fluid it had, red trans oil, black motor oil, green antifreeze and even brake fluid.  I tried to contain myself and not call my lawyer, never left the guy any feed back.  The car went on jack stands in the garage and I started taking stuff apart and fixing it.  I was summer of 2002 and I was then a 52yr old kid with a GTO.  The thing that saved that car was the sheet metal and paint.  It had a floor pan you could eat off of from the bottom side once the goo was cleaned off.  I spent weeks lining up doors, Endura bumper, hood and decklid.  I was a member of the GTO Tigers club, so was Milt Schornack.  I sweet talked Milt into taking the car to his shop and giving it a little "tune-up".  He and his son came by on a cold snowy day in December, loaded the car up and had it for a week or so and brought back an engine-less roller so I could continue doing my thing and he had the engine and trans so he could do his thing.  Milt had the crank ground 0.030" off center and increased the stroke by 0.060", cleaned the block, line bored it, decked it and put it back together with forged steel rods, KB slugs and a roller tappet cam.  He installed oversize valves, cc'd the heads, put screw-in studs on them, port matched the manifolds and topped it off with good Isky needle rockers, balanced rotating assembly and some stuff blueprinted.  My marching orders were to make the engine compartment look bone stock but make the car go.  I ran a stock looking Rochester Q-Jet carb with all the vacuum lines connected, some of them blocked by balls removed from bearings.  I even ran a stock appearing distributor with points in it.  Milt overhauled the trans and put a slightly higher stall torque converter in the car.  After I got the car back I knew Milt was deaf, the Magna Flow shorty mufflers were so loud the metal trim inside the car would be set off and vibrate.  I put quiet mufflers on the car and hooked up the A/C with a throttle cutout switch that cut the compressor out at wide open throttle.  I restored the interior and instruments, put the switching dial Delco AM/FM stereo radio in it and a PMD 8-track player.   I put the PMD secretary special pancake hubcaps on it.  I had fun street sweeping with that car and it had a 3.55 gear in it that made it safe to run at highway speed and that engine had enough on the bottom to come to life on demand.  With the hardened shifts produced by a modified valve body the car would boil modern radial tires like they were polyglas  and the speedo would jump from 55-80 on the 1-2 shift at 6500rpm.  It was a more satisfying car than the RA IV car was because it had the grunt to handle the automatic.

 

Off to uncle Milti's

 

 

 

Some of my handy work.  While the cat's away the mouse will play

 

 

 

Very tidy underneath...

 

 

 

Some interior face lifting

 

 

 

Meanwhile back at Milt's some compnents are selected, some machining is done and assembly moves forward...

 

 

 

 

 

Engine and trans become one again and the engine goes back in the car.  That's milt's son Jim on the left

 

 

 

 

The Rochester Q-Jet...

 

Dressed engine compartment and A/C recharge...  Just a real nice stock GTO- a secretary's car...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look at them hubcaps... And whitewalls?  It's gotta be a secretary's car...

 

 

 

Down at Eddies for a coke and to see if anybody wants to play in traffic...

 

Cheers..

Dave

Edited August 12, 2020 by Str8-8-Dave
Add pictures and descriptions. (see edit history)

[padgett]

"For the first second or 2 the car didn't know whether it was gonna run or die. " Pontiac 303 was worse.

[cahartley]

My High School car was a 1959 Chevrolet 2 door Biscayne with the 235 six and 3 on the tree.

I paid $200 for it in 1968, basic insurance was $300 a year and I loved that car.

Even being only 9 years old the rear floor already had rusted through some.......nothing a couple pieces of sheet metal couldn't take care of.

It left a trail of blue smoke all 17 miles of the drive home so a set of rings was in order which I installed and took care of that problem.

Did I mention I loved that car?

I loved that car so much I needed another one, wanted it equipped the same way and located a 4 door Bel Air.

By this time (Labor Day of 2013) this car had suffered much more floor and trunk pan detoriation but it was mine.

It's purely a driver and I would rather drive it than any other vehicle I ever owned with the exception of my first one.

 

 

 

[8E45E]

5 hours ago, cahartley said:

My High School car was a 1959 Chevrolet 2 door Biscayne with the 235 six and 3 on the tree.

I paid $200 for it in 1968, basic insurance was $300 a year and I loved that car.

Even being only 9 years old the rear floor already had rusted through some.......nothing a couple pieces of sheet metal couldn't take care of.

It left a trail of blue smoke all 17 miles of the drive home so a set of rings was in order which I installed and took care of that problem.

Did I mention I loved that car?

I loved that car so much I needed another one, wanted it equipped the same way and located a 4 door Bel Air.

By this time (Labor Day of 2013) this car had suffered much more floor and trunk pan detoriation but it was mine.

It's purely a driver and I would rather drive it than any other vehicle I ever owned with the exception of my first one.

 

 

 

That one sure reminds me of what the IIHS uncerimoniously did to celebrate their 50th Anniversary in 2009!!!!  

Craig

Edited August 12, 2020 by 8E45E (see edit history)

[1912Staver]

13 hours ago, Steve_Mack_CT said:

Greg interesting racer's take.  I owned an MGA for about a week, still want a T series.  I have to say you lost me though at "Supra"... 😁

 

Supra engines are roughly the same size and weight at the Triumph 6. But an easy 50% more power . That along with Toyota's superb 5 speed make this package very appealing. The Supra's EFI is more complex than a TR5's injection set up, but it also is easier to live with once installed.

Mint Supra's are rapidly climbing in value, but Toyota made tons of them . In these parts as least there are still rough runners going very cheap. I would skip a turbo, just because of the added complication, the N/A engine puts out lots of power for a British car swap. The stock 1980's Supra

was a great car , but a luxury GT and rather heavy. Team that power unit up with a light chassis and you really have something. Many people are now using the Toyota gearbox in their Triumphs anyway . Why not go the extra mile and use the engine as well ?

Sooner or later my TVR will probably be using one.

T series cars are a bit archaic for todays road conditions.  I have owned a TF and driven all of them from TC - TF.  TC's are just downright slow and primitive. They look great but belong in rural England.  TD - TF is better but still very underpowered for modern traffic.

With a MGA you have a very usable car. All the standard upgrades make it even more so. Early MGB engine , 3 main { a bolt in } . A gearbox swap if it is in the budget , 5 speeds really help MGA's , no optional O.D. on a MGA. And all 1500's need disk brakes, once again a bolt on.

Best of all is a 1600 deluxe , if the price doesn't make your eyes water too much.

 

Greg

 

Greg

Edited August 12, 2020 by 1912Staver (see edit history)

[Steve_Mack_CT]

2 hours ago, 8E45E said:

That one sure reminds me of what the IIHS uncerimoniously did to celebrate their 50th Anniversary in 2009!!!!  

Craig

Yep groundbreaking news that 50 years of technology makes a safer car! Who knew? 😁😁😁

[padgett]

One of my first cars was a RHD MGA and liked it for around town but preferred an XK for road trips. Made some side curtains from plexiglass with a built in vent/extractor (didn't get the windscreen angle rite) Was better in anautocross. Had a transistor radio I could swap between cars. Kinda like a Pontiac Transportable. Was the only car I had with a crank. Good frind had a twin cam 1600 that was pretty quick, another had a supercharger. Mine was just a twin carb 1498.

 

Picture taken at college. Thought those tires were skinny even then.

 

 

[1912Staver]

I agree about the Jag, but you could have 3{ or more }  MGA's for the price of a XK series car these days.  TR 4 wheels are a bit wider and a great improvement for a MGA.  { 1 inch ? if I recall correctly }

Also I have worked on Jags quite a bit over the years and I sure wouldn't want to be the one paying to keep one running . Milestone cars , but only for the upper 20 % of income earners.

 

Greg

[Steve_Mack_CT]

I wonder when the last car was made with provisions for cranking the engine?  I know Brits - MG and Triumph had them for some time...

[BearsFan315]

geesh, never had a high school car...

 

mainly group of us rode our bikes, then when we were juniors one of our friends brother who was a senior his mom let him drive her car if it was raining and we could ride along. when we became seniors  a few days i was allowed to drive my moms car to and from school. 

 

bike is long gone, rode the wheels off of that thing, main mode of transport plus running a few paper routes everyday !!

[Morgansdad]

My high school car was a 1966 Chevelle SS with a real L-88 427 that was  bored .060 over. Had 12 1/2 to 1 pistons. A M-22 4 speed with a 456 gear underneath. Got crappy gas mileage but I had the car. I supported this habit with a bus drivers salary. LOL. The car was black with brand new Cragars on it. Saved all my mowing money for several years before buying the car and we built the engine with money from working at the local Gulf station. YES, I would love to have my car back. Sorry, no pics. Back then couldn't afford film for the camera.

[padgett]

M-22 "rock crusher". Wasn't so much that it could crush rocks as the straight cut gears SOUNDED like it was crushing rocks.

 

These days I'd rather have a 65-67 E-type (synchro first but still covered head lamps. Also changed the 150 mph top end for more streetable gears, 3.31 AFAIR. Put a lot of miles on the XK-150s all up and down the east coast but few knew what a gold head and triple HD-8s meant.in the early 60s. (and was a maroon 62 FI 'vette that I could not afford...) Wound up swapping even for a Devin-Jag at the same time a friend paid $2k for an AC Cobra. He dropped dual quads and a cam onnit and immediately broke the rear wire wheels.

[alsancle]

12 minutes ago, padgett said:

M-22 "rock crusher". Wasn't so much that it could crush rocks as the straight cut gears SOUNDED like it was crushing rocks.

 

These days I'd rather have a 65-67 E-type (synchro first but still covered head lamps. Also changed the 150 mph top end for more streetable gears, 3.31 AFAIR. Put a lot of miles on the XK-150s all up and down the east coast but few knew what a gold head and triple HD-8s meant.in the early 60s. (and was a maroon 62 FI 'vette that I could not afford...) Wound up swapping even for a Devin-Jag at the same time a friend paid $2k for an AC Cobra. He dropped dual quads and a cam onnit and immediately broke the rear wire wheels.

 

i believe the Chevy in Two Lane Black Top was running a M22 making that sirens song.

[Morgansdad]

OH, AND FUTHERMORE, THE '66 AND 67 CHEVELLE SS ARE BRINGING A BOAT LOAD OF TODAY MONEY !  AROUND HERE AT LEAST.

Edited August 12, 2020 by Morgansdad
Off topic (see edit history)

[Franklin Olympic]

I bought my first car in 1962 and it was an antique to start with! My dad and I drove that old Ford regularly for several years. The most memorable trip was a Christmas trip up the the Jersey shore in a heavy snow storm. The Lakehurst highway had not been plowed and the Ford went right through with out any problems. I still have my Ford and it shares garage space with 2 Franklins, a 1915 Hudson and a 1915 Model T 

[8E45E]

18 hours ago, Steve_Mack_CT said:

I wonder when the last car was made with provisions for cranking the engine?  I know Brits - MG and Triumph had them for some time...

Lada had a provision for hand cranking the engine until the late '80's/early '90's, at least on the base model (2105)

 

Craig

[Ed Luddy]

On 8/11/2020 at 9:49 PM, nickelroadster said:

I hope you didn't pay the guy!

No. The seller paid for the appraisal. He was quite elderly and didn't really know much about the car. Relied on his son and the appraiser. That's the story I was told.

[Matt Harwood]

23 hours ago, 1912Staver said:

 

Supra engines are roughly the same size and weight at the Triumph 6. But an easy 50% more power . That along with Toyota's superb 5 speed make this package very appealing. The Supra's EFI is more complex than a TR5's injection set up, but it also is easier to live with once installed.

Mint Supra's are rapidly climbing in value, but Toyota made tons of them . In these parts as least there are still rough runners going very cheap. I would skip a turbo, just because of the added complication, the N/A engine puts out lots of power for a British car swap. The stock 1980's Supra

was a great car , but a luxury GT and rather heavy.

 

Greg

 

Have to agree on the early Supras being great cars that nobody knows about. This car is just lovely to drive and the best thing about it? Everything works and I know that whenever I turn the key, it WILL run. Thanks, Toyota!

https://www.harwoodmotors.com/vehicles/inventory_details.php?id=1170

[1912Staver]

Matt, that's one nice Supra ! I could almost overlook the automatic, but in reality I couldn't. Still that a very good value for money package for someone. I doubt it will be in your inventory for long. Toyota was at the top of their game with these cars

although the third and especially fourth gen cars are just as good. 

 

Greg

[padgett]

Friend had one in early 70s, remember the ST had a 4-speed and a GT had a five-speed. I had never had a 5-speed, just four and over.

[Flivverking]

Unless a high school car was something in it's self very special / desirable car then ,it was parted with under duress and you were heart broken ,trying to relive or revive past times of youth through just a first car just seems not so rewarding .It is a common emotional moment most go through between 45 and 65 .

It's another story  if you wanted to attain the car you admired and lusted after and couldn't get during your high school years(or at anytime previously )and now later in life it's feasible to get that desired ride .This probably would be more exciting and satisfying.

As we get older and set in our ways we tend to reflect alot but stand still.

 If anything push forward toward the future for all new endevers preserving the memories of the past  but not do them over.

(I shouldn't eat bourbon soaked waffles for breakfast )😜

 

[1912Staver]

Padgett , you are talking about the original Toyota Celica.  A 70's Japanese landmark. But a cheap and cheerful 4 Cyl . small Gt.  The Supra's are a much upmarket car. A 2.8 EFI  DOHC 6 .

 

Greg

[1912Staver]

33 minutes ago, Flivverking said:

Unless a high school car was something in it's self very special / desirable car then ,it was parted with under duress and you were heart broken ,trying to relive or revive past times of youth through just a first car just seems not so rewarding .It is a common emotional moment most go through between 45 and 65 .

It's another story  if you wanted to attain the car you admired and lusted after and couldn't get during your high school years(or at anytime previously )and now later in life it's feasible to get that desired ride .This probably would be more exciting and satisfying.

As we get older and set in our ways we tend to reflect alot but stand still.

 If anything push forward toward the future for all new endevers preserving the memories of the past  but not do them over.

(I shouldn't eat bourbon soaked waffles for breakfast )😜

 

 

I agree except these days I am hard pressed to afford cars I would have owned in High School. And the ones just out of reach to me in the mid 1970's are now far far out of reach in many cases.  Case in point Aston Martin DB4, 1965 Shelby GT 350, Lotus Cortina. And so on. Some people in my demographic have been very 

financially successfull , but most of us have not. The better / more desirable cars from my youth are now priced for a very affluent buyer.  On of my H.S. buddy's owned a 1966 911 S  Porsche, it was a bit pricy at the time but not more than 25% more than most of the gang was paying for their H.S. wheels.

Priced one lately ? Truth is that most of us have gotten quite a bit poorer over the decades compared to the buying power we had as teenagers in the used car market. Almost anything worth aspiring to in the mid 1970's is now a very pricy automobile.

As far as pushing forward goes, there are very few indeed cars on offer today I would even want to own, let alone be able to afford.

Your point about standing still is interesting to say the least. I would be quite happy to stand still. Instead I am consistently loosing 1 - 2 % due to inflation each year. Each decade a good 10%-15% loss in buying power.

Greg

Edited August 13, 2020 by 1912Staver (see edit history)

[padgett]

You are correct, the Celica was the one I was thinking of, the Supra was later and upscale  (No guarantees from memory. Have had Japanese bikes but only one Japanese car, a Mazda 808 for DD & SCCA SSS. Sold after a year when SCCA changed the rules to favor 73 Opels). Not high school, I didn't have a car (or DL) in HS. Michelin XASs were a great tire.