I have always had a love affair with anything that has wheels and a motor. LOL
Over the years I have owned quite a few vehicles. There were a few that I would LOVE to have still. If I only knew then what I know now. I would have built a storage building and just parked them. Some folks have done that and some are going around the country collecting today.
Thinking about the days past, several stories come to mind of my vehicle adventures. Some good but some I really regret. I thought this could be a chance to share some of our adventures, regrets or happy thoughts about the vehicles of our past. I'll kick it off with a sad story with regrets. But I learned a LOT from the experience. So it wasn't a TOTAL loss.
Back in the mid 70's I was an almost broke sergeant in the USAF with a family to support. I had as a primary vehicle, a 1972 Pontiac LeMans. I had added my hot rod touch to it, much to my wife's disapproval. No mater how gentle she applied the gas when driving it, the car could not help but break loose and chirp the N50-15 tires every time the turbo 350 shifted gears. LOL
My OTHER car was a 1968 Plymouth GTX. Was equipped with a 440 Super Commando engine, Torqueflight 747 tranny and had all the neat stuff like center console with factory tach. Ohhhhh the memories.
A young sergeant that worked with /for me said he hadn't been home to visit his family in over 3 years. He had no vehicle to make the drive to Louisiana. Feeling sorry for him, I offered to sell him my GTX. He said he couldn't pay cash for it and could not get a loan so I agreed to let him make out a monthly allotment through the pay system. I signed the title over after we had the monthly payment set up. I received one check and the fellow took leave to go home to visit.
Well, it seems he went AWOL, never to be seen by me again. After I found this out I tried to contact him about the vehicle. I was never able to find him, even with an address on the leave paperwork. So instead, I contacted the authorities in LA and gave them the VIN and description. A few days later I received a call from the LA State Trooper office informing me the GTX was towed into a salvage yard after being abandoned on the interstate. Seems he blew the engine while racing down the interstate. Knowing I could not afford to travel to get the car back, knowing the title was now in his name and knowing I could not afford to replace the engine, I just let it go.
I never heard from the fellow or the USAF financial office about this deal. I learned a lot from this deal, about myself and others. I'm a bit more cautious these days with whom and how I help others. I still do offer help to just about anyone but I take a little more caution when I do.
Oh to have that car back now!!!!
I hope someone was able to rescue it from the salvage yard before it became soda cans.
That's one of my sad stories....now somebody cheer things up with a happy one.
LOL
Dave

 

So here's a good one. When I just turned 18, my dad bought brand new what is now my '68 4-4-2 convertible. It was neat to be able to drive around town in it. My parents had two teenage sons with drivers licenses at the time but they weren't too concerned about us. Dad told us that we could drive his car (and my mom's car, a '67 Camaro RS convertible) just as long as we kept them clean...AND...he didn't hear anything from the cops. We lived in a small Oregon coastal town so hearing from the cops was something we definitely wanted to avoid, and we did.


In 1987, when I was sure my sister was going to get the '68 4-4-2, I found and bought a '69 4-4-2 convertible - same color combination - white, black top, black interior. I was so happy to have my own 4-4-2, a driver at the time, and I pretty much forgot about the '68.


Fast forward to 2003...sister didn't do anything with the '68 as she had promised my dad so, according to their deal, the '68 went back to my dad. I picked it up for him, in pieces, and stored it in my shop for nearly 2 years before dad said it's time to restore the '68. We restored it over the course of two years and in mid-summer 2007 it was done. I put in a lot of time and some money into the restoration, but not as much money as my dad put forth. As a complete surprise to me, he gave the '68 to me shortly after the restoration was completed!


So now I have 2 4-4-2 convertibles - a '68 and a '69, both the same color combination. The '69 is currently undergoing a complete mechanical restoration. Both cars will be of show car quality when done, all factory correct, but also driven a bit (maybe 300 miles/year each). It will be nice to see them side-by-side when the '69 is done!


I had a '77 Pontiac Grand Prix for several years that I really enjoyed (it had the 403 Olds engine) but it eventually had rust issues and I sold it in 1989 for $1000.


My first car was a '69 holiday coupe but it also had "issues" so I didn't feel too bad when I got $1000 for it in 1981 when I sold it!

Randy C. (USCG ret)

 

Man i was all lathered up on this story. TILL the 300 miles a year each part then you lost me.No offence.

 

Yeah, I mean to drive them more but having the two 4-4-2 cars plus a '71 Corvette, the mileage gets divided up. Sorry!

Randy C.

 

The issue is that not driving them enough creates its own set of problems. Todays fuel sucks and is the primary cause of engine troubles when it sits. Evaporating fuel in the carb leaves a residue and it seems that fuel left in tanks tends to go sour quicker and gums up the system. Use of a good fuel stabilizer helps, but not a complete cure.

 

One of the things I do with my older cars is go to a gas station that has ethanol-free 92 octane fuel. I don't know if the fuel is still of lesser quality today than the ethanol-free gas of the 60s and 70s but I use ethanol-free gas now in an effort to reduce or eliminate that problem. I've been fortunate that none of my cars have seen today's ethanol fuel since 2007, when I finished the '68 and first learned of the detrimental effects of ethanol. But still, the cars sit a lot and, yes, it does seem to create its own problems (hard starting, tires sitting for long periods, etc.). But I must be using them often enough because the mice haven't moved in (yet)!


Randy C.