Favorite Cars That You Wish You Still Had Today

[ranger]

1970 BOSS 302 Mustang - still have it - bought it in 1981 when I was 21.

1991 Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo - my daily driver.

1986 Mustang GT 5 speed - sold it and missed it ever since - fast, reliable, great example of American iron.

[Gameplayer]

70 Olds 442 W-30

71 Olds 442

67 Camaro RS/SS Convertible (already restored)

70 Chevelle SS LS6 (restored myself)

[Paul Santiago]

69 Olds 442, 400CI, 4spd hurst. 4.11 rear. All I see now at car shows are 350 A/T. Paid $600.00 in '74.

I LOVE MY HOOKER headers.....

Edited September 21, 2007 by pas44

[newshooter]

I loved my 2 first drag cars wish i could still have them. but my dad sold em to buy a CNC. we are currently building a 57 chevy sedan delivery.

First pic of 55 was when we first got it ran it for a year that way then we decided to change it up a little bit. 55 had a 489ci bbc with 825hp sold that one and got the camaro that car had a 598ci bbc making 950hp and 2 stages of nitrous that i never got to use which added another 450hp.

Edited September 21, 2007 by newshooter

[G-ManBart]

67 camaro SS convertable given to me by my dad in 1979 he got it new..I lost it in a divorce

GT40 ford replica...stolen and sold by the next ex wife

66 big block corvette...sold and built new garage

1956 Nomad ..6-71 blown sbc...sold to pay bills after my dragboat crash

How come I feel like I just got kicked in the @#$s????

Jim

Jim,

Just for the record, after reading the above, I'm certain you DID get kicked in the @$$

[carinab]

Reliable but fun first car:

70 VW Bug - traded it for a tool box carrier for my truck (after after it blew three cylinder studs that already had inserts)

Car I still wish I had:

70 VW Karmann Ghia - kinda sorry I traded it for a 4x4 Toyota

Cars I don't miss:

81 4x4 Toyota - water choke carb POS with too many vacuum hoses!

81 Jeep made by Chrysler - the heater worked great but it had sooooo many electrical gremlins

65 Convertible Chevelle, no time to rebuild it properly so we sold it to someone who would, it went to a good home

Current law breaking car:

91 Corvette ZR1 - King of the Hill, tuned chip, and a hoot to crank up to 190mph on the straight aways.

[LPatterson]

56 Ford Vickie hardtop police intercepter engine 3 2 barrels Woodward Avenue play toy - sold in 61 assigned to Germany.

65 Ford Mustang hardtop 4 barrel carb 4 in the floor posi traction - sold 66 assigned to Thailand.

73 Pontiac Catalina 455 2.73 rear posi - sold in 73 to keep from the ex - assigned to Thailand.

Every thing since has just been transportation.

[Nemo]

Cars I wished I had:

My Dad's 1976 2dr Malibu. Cherry red with white interiors. I don't know if it was a good car but I have very many cool memories of it.

My Mom's 1974 Jeep Cherokee. Burgundy with white top. Again, it may have been a POS but I was 9-10 and it was like driving around in a tank!

[Chills1994]

I wouldn't mind having another, albeit much newer, Saab again.

This pic was taken in the spring of '94, coming south down I-25 from Denver. I needed a front wheel drive car so I get off base in the dead of winter (snowstorms made 'em close the gates and we'd be restricted to base).

I've only owned two cars in my life. That '88 Saab was the first.

I had at least three other guys with me in the car. maybe 4. Not a bad speed considering it's just a 2.1 or 2.3 liter 4 cylinder engine with a turbo.

I'm just not as mechanically inclined as the rest of you guys. Sweet rides, y'all!

Edited September 21, 2007 by Chills1994

[Flatland Shooter]

Ah, the good old days.

First was a '66 Pontiac Tempest (GTO knockoff).

Next was a '68 El Camino SS 396. (2nd fastest car in Socorro, NM at that time)

Just out of college and getting a good paycheck, bought a '76 Corvette. My first "new" car.

Picked up a '62 Vette to restore, but turned out the seller wasn't exactly the owner. Didn't get to keep it.

Then along comes marriage. '76 Vette sold for down payment on a new house.

From then on, numerous easily forgotten hunks of cheap steel from Detroit.

Ah, the good old days.

Bill

[Sherwyn]

My first 2 cars

69 Mustang nice ride but traded it for...

71 Charger 500 - (B52 theory proof - with a big enough motor anything can fly). It had to go since I could not afford the tires...or the tickets.

Edited September 22, 2007 by Sherwyn

[Steve Anderson]

1974 plymouth scamp.

red. very red.

17,000 original miles.

a/c like a day-ham meat locker.

a/m radio good for nothing but Art Bell after midnight.

so many firsts in that car.

my stepbrother crashed it. twice.

NEVER forgave him.

2006 honda interceptor/vfr800. priceless.

Anderson, out!

[Alan Meek]

Ah, the good old days.

First was a '66 Pontiac Tempest (GTO knockoff).

Next was a '68 El Camino SS 396. (2nd fastest car in Socorro, NM at that time)

Just out of college and getting a good paycheck, bought a '76 Corvette. My first "new" car.

Picked up a '62 Vette to restore, but turned out the seller wasn't exactly the owner. Didn't get to keep it.

Then along comes marriage. '76 Vette sold for down payment on a new house.

From then on, numerous easily forgotten hunks of cheap steel from Detroit.

Ah, the good old days.

Bill

Bill, IFRC the tempest was the predecessor o the GTO, Delorean put the V-8 in the Tempest and the GTO was born

Alan

[Flatland Shooter]

Ah, the good old days.

First was a '66 Pontiac Tempest (GTO knockoff).

Next was a '68 El Camino SS 396. (2nd fastest car in Socorro, NM at that time)

Just out of college and getting a good paycheck, bought a '76 Corvette. My first "new" car.

Picked up a '62 Vette to restore, but turned out the seller wasn't exactly the owner. Didn't get to keep it.

Then along comes marriage. '76 Vette sold for down payment on a new house.

From then on, numerous easily forgotten hunks of cheap steel from Detroit.

Ah, the good old days.

Bill

Bill, IFRC the tempest was the predecessor o the GTO, Delorean put the V-8 in the Tempest and the GTO was born

Alan

Per my understanding, the GTO package was an upgrade in 1964 to the Tempest. Starting in 1965, the GTO was a stand alone model with the Tempest as sort of step down feature wise and price wise.

My Tempest had the V8 but 3 speed on the floor. The only difference I saw between the two (other than the tranny) was a little nicer interior on the GTO including bucket seats and a console along with the GTO badges on the outside. Due to better sound insulation and such, the GTO also weighed an extra 125# or so. I had a bench seat and more economical interior. It came with the old Tiger Paw tires. Very good traction but only good for 25,000 miles max.

Bill

[DMS42]

1964 Pontiac Grand Prix. The bucket seats were big enough to hold me and my girl on one seat. Got on an econ kick and traded it for a 1965 Mustang. The Mustang had a 289 two-barrel and 3 speed. It was nice but....so I sold it for..

1967 Firebird HO. Fast car, 1/4 mile in less than 15 secs. 0-50 going across a 4 lane street. Kept it until 1977 and sold it to go back to school.

1972 El Camino. Bought it to haul my 71 OSSA dirt bike. Kept it until I got married then sold it to buy a 1975 Audi Fox which was a nice car and went in the snow well. Sold the Fox and got an 85 S10 Truck, which I still have. Also have an 89 Chevy Beretta that I bought when I got divorced and a 90 Chevy 1/2 ton truck that I inherited from my dad.

Car that is my favorite--see my avatar. I think that it is faster than the Firebird and for sure handles much better. It's a 2002 Porsche Boxster that I bought used last year as a 64th birthday present from me to me.

[G-ManBart]

Ah, the good old days.

First was a '66 Pontiac Tempest (GTO knockoff).

Next was a '68 El Camino SS 396. (2nd fastest car in Socorro, NM at that time)

Just out of college and getting a good paycheck, bought a '76 Corvette. My first "new" car.

Picked up a '62 Vette to restore, but turned out the seller wasn't exactly the owner. Didn't get to keep it.

Then along comes marriage. '76 Vette sold for down payment on a new house.

From then on, numerous easily forgotten hunks of cheap steel from Detroit.

Ah, the good old days.

Bill

Bill, IFRC the tempest was the predecessor o the GTO, Delorean put the V-8 in the Tempest and the GTO was born

Alan

Per my understanding, the GTO package was an upgrade in 1964 to the Tempest. Starting in 1965, the GTO was a stand alone model with the Tempest as sort of step down feature wise and price wise.

My Tempest had the V8 but 3 speed on the floor. The only difference I saw between the two (other than the tranny) was a little nicer interior on the GTO including bucket seats and a console along with the GTO badges on the outside. Due to better sound insulation and such, the GTO also weighed an extra 125# or so. I had a bench seat and more economical interior. It came with the old Tiger Paw tires. Very good traction but only good for 25,000 miles max.

Bill

Your 65 Temptest had a 326cu in v-8 with a 2-barrel carb, unless it was a H.O. model (rare) and then it would have had a Carter AFB 4-barrel. The GTOs had a 389cu in v-8 that normally came with the Carter 4-barrel and made quite a bit more power! Both were available with a Powerglide 2-speed auto, 3-speed manual on the floor and on the GTO a 4-speed manual option.

I had a silver 66 with black interior and top that I got with a blown engine ($600 and 66K miles on it) and dropped a 67 Ram Air II 400 in it with a Turbo-400 trans...thing was a freakin' rocket...fastest honestly street legal car within a couple of towns and even the A/C worked. We did a few upgrades on it curtesy of Nunzi's Automotive in NY...that was THE place to get high performance Poncho stuff back then. Sold it when I went on active duty and bought a new 4x4 pickup prior to moving to Montana. My Dad used to joke it was just as fast going uphill as downhill and that it could pass anything but a gas station

[LPatterson]

Memory is not what it used to be but I seem to remember the Goat was around in '60 when I used to cruise Woodard & Royal Pontiac of Royal Oak, MI made some mods that made it one of the fastest cars on the Avenue.

FWIW Woodard Avenue M-1 was the first 4 lane divided highway in the nation with a train running between the lanes. Today it is a divided 8 lane between Detroit & Pontiac without the train.

[Paul Santiago]

Memory is not what it used to be but I seem to remember the Goat was around in '60 when I used to cruise Woodard & Royal Pontiac of Royal Oak, MI made some mods that made it one of the fastest cars on the Avenue.

FWIW Woodard Avenue M-1 was the first 4 lane divided highway in the nation with a train running between the lanes. Today it is a divided 8 lane between Detroit & Pontiac without the train.

1964 was the first year for the pontiac gto. It was an option package which included the 389 v-8 for the tempest; the best of which was the 348 hp, 3 carb package called the (6-pack) or (Tri-power).

[tightloop]

When I was growing up, my family always missed the great car years by one or two yrs...had a 54 Chevy then a 59Chevy thena 65 Chevy...missed the 55,56,57, 62, 63 and 64 Chevys...all great looking and now classic cars... I did a little better when I started buying them myself..

[ChuckS]

I just got mine

[wide45]

'59-'63 was Catalina, Gran Prix, and Bonneville, with 421 Super Duty. The ultimate being the Swiss Cheese Catalina.

Tempest up to 63 had engine in front, transmission in back, with "rope drive" connecting. Independent Suspension like Corvair. Remember MY COUSIN VINNY? Warrantee nightmare, and not suitable for big engine.

[tightloop]

I just got mine

I am jealous...very nice...and a great color too..

[Kingman]

1970 BOSS 302 Mustang - still have it - bought it in 1981 when I was 21.

1991 Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo - my daily driver.

1986 Mustang GT 5 speed - sold it and missed it ever since - fast, reliable, great example of American iron.

I hear yah on the Z. I had a 91 twin turbo with a super hicas elimination kit on it. Top on that the full stillen 650 hp kit and it was a wild ride. It would scare the excrament out of most people easily. I was running over 20 pounds of boost and could drive the car into the 11's. If you raced it down into the 10's. This was a daily driver too.

[Run n Gun]

Wow! All of this talk about the Tempest and GTO sure brings back some memories. I've owned two '66 Tempest's, one with a 326 and a two-speed auto and another with an overhead cam six-cylinder and "three on the tree". Nice cars but the one that holds a special place in my heart was the '66 GTO that I bought in 1970 with 26K on the clock (still under the five-year, 50,000 mile warranty). That Goat was set up with a 389 with tri-power, four-speed and had 3.78 positraction rear end. I poured a lot of money into it to make it go around corners darn near as fast as it would go in a straight line!

Honorable mention in the Favorite Cars category include:

'58 Ford Skyliner (retractable hardtop) with a 430 Lincoln motor.

'58 Chevy with a factory 348-three deuces and a three-speed manual transmission.

'59 Impala that came with a 348 but a prior owner had pulled that out and put in a 409HP/409 with a 4-speed.

'72 Mach One with an and extensively re-worked Cleveland (I road raced this one).

Ed

[Flatland Shooter]

Your 65 Temptest had a 326cu in v-8 with a 2-barrel carb, unless it was a H.O. model (rare) and then it would have had a Carter AFB 4-barrel.

My Tempest was a '66 and I'm pretty sure it had the two barrel carb. My most recent memory of the car was putting a quart of oil in before putting the keys in the ignition. Carried a case of oil in the trunk in case I ever needed to drive more that a few miles at one time. The body and interior were in excellent condition (this was in 1972-73) but the engine was shot. Managed to sell it for $250 to cover airfare and meals back home where I had a summer job waiting for me.

Bill

edited to add: And before anyone says, "Dang, he was a fool to sell for only $250", I bought the car several years earlier from an uncle's estate for $250. As a starving college student, I thought at the time it was a good deal.

Edited September 22, 2007 by Flatland Shooter