BS: My Dream Car?

Subject: BS: My Dream Car?
From: Rog Peek
Date: 07 Jun 07 - 06:55 PM

Would be a 1960 Chevrolet Corvette convertable. My, you Americans sure could make motor cars in those days!

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: Ebbie
Date: 07 Jun 07 - 06:56 PM

lol I just remembered I have a 60 year old cousin in Florida who has a 1960 convertible 'Vette. Bright yellow.

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: Rapparee
Date: 07 Jun 07 - 07:04 PM

One that runs....

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: Bill D
Date: 07 Jun 07 - 11:32 PM

We did a thread on this once before....and I mentioned my desire for a Hispano-Suiza with a Tulipwood body.

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: GUEST
Date: 07 Jun 07 - 11:45 PM

Any car I'm sitting in with Sam Elliott driving it.

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: Gurney
Date: 08 Jun 07 - 12:59 AM

A Squire.

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: JennyO
Date: 08 Jun 07 - 01:00 AM

You know, I can't think of a car I would rather have than the one I've already got. I actually get quite nervous at the idea of a new car. It seems like such a responsibility to keep a car looking pristine. So I'm quite happy with the Fairmont, thank you. It's running very smoothly these days.

Better petrol economy and the promise of never needing any work done on it would be nice, but you can't have everything.

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: Gurney
Date: 08 Jun 07 - 01:01 AM

And a Morgan Aero for Her Indoors.

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: JennyO
Date: 08 Jun 07 - 01:04 AM

I don't think a Morgan Aero would fit indoors ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: Gurney
Date: 08 Jun 07 - 01:16 AM

You have to go quite fast.....

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 08 Jun 07 - 01:51 AM

I would like it if everyone was driving the cars they had in the mid-to-late 30's. Not up to present technology, but man did they ever look great!

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 08 Jun 07 - 02:56 AM

Jensen CV8..predecessor to the Jensen Interceptor.....classic looks and what power.

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: kendall
Date: 08 Jun 07 - 07:24 AM

Another 1960 Mercedes Benz 220 S. I loved that car. My wife,at the time, hated it because it was a 4 speed on the column and she was too lazy to shift.She also didn't appreciate the styling. I tried to explain the difference between style and class but it was useless.
Did I mention she was lazy? she had a snooze button on the smoke detector.

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: number 6
Date: 08 Jun 07 - 08:26 AM

A 1968 Citroen.

biLL

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: Becca72
Date: 08 Jun 07 - 08:31 AM

1968 Cherry red Mustang...sweet

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: Grab
Date: 08 Jun 07 - 09:07 AM

Marlin Cabrio for me...

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: number 6
Date: 08 Jun 07 - 09:14 AM

I should clarify ... a 1968 Citroen 2 cv. Not to be confused with the other models.

Like this one .... 1968 Citroen 2 CV

biLL

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: GUEST,Phot, still at sea.
Date: 08 Jun 07 - 09:15 AM

A Metro 6R4, with the full works package, failing that, a Bowler Wildcat!

Wassail!! Chris.

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: stevi
Date: 08 Jun 07 - 11:04 AM

Ideally a testarossa but in reality the dell boy robin reliant in full concourse livery.

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: jonm
Date: 08 Jun 07 - 11:22 AM

Citroen DS Henri Chapron cabriolet.

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: bobad
Date: 08 Jun 07 - 11:27 AM

MG TD

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: Rog Peek
Date: 08 Jun 07 - 01:34 PM

Stevi - It's a Reliant Robin, not a Robin Reliant, Reliant is the make, Robin the model. Del boy's van was a Regal Van, not a Robin. I hope you will not be offended at me pointing this out.

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: Greg B
Date: 08 Jun 07 - 01:56 PM

A Toyota FJ Cruiser with a hybrid power train that has
intelligent 4WD, a diesel engine that can utilize anything
from jet fuel to spent cooking oil, and gets 50 miles per gallon.

'Snooze button on the smoke detector...' Kendall, that's the
funniest line I've seen in months.

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 08 Jun 07 - 02:17 PM

Yeah, Kendall, that was a beauty! LOL!

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: kendall
Date: 08 Jun 07 - 03:12 PM

Number 6 I rented one of those cars in St Maartin and it was one of the least comfortable cars I ever drove. Ugly as a bucket of assholes too! The shift handle was a real weird setup.

Now, that MG td is another story. Love it!

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: Don Firth
Date: 08 Jun 07 - 03:34 PM

bobad, the MG-TD. Oh, yes. Oh, yes!!

That deserves a second look: VROOM! VROOM!

An old friend of mine had a car he picked up used for a ridiculously low price. A 1967 Ford Mustang fastback, it looked like THIS, but Randy's was silver-grey. According to the little chrome numbers on the fender, it was supposed to have a 289 cu. in. engine, the small V8 option (the standard model came with a straight 6). But it didn't take long to figure out that this car had a much bigger, more powerful engine than that. When it idled, it registered about 3.5 on the Richter scale (Rumble Rumble). And if you floored it, it took off like a scalded cat, and it could cruise up the freeway at 75 mph in idle!

Randy went back to the small car lot that sold it to him (run by a mechanic friend of his) and asked for the scoop on the car's background. The mechanic told him that this was not supposed to be generally known, but it was one of five cars, Mustangs, that the California Highway Patrol had cobbled together. Speeders had been a major problem, lots of highway fatalities and such, but it was hard to nail them because any time a highway patrol cruiser was in the area, everybody got real law-abiding. So CHiP bought five Mustangs and got Carroll Shelby to do a little customizing job for them. They were Shelby Cobras, kitted out to look like stock Mustangs. Sneakers. "Q-Ships." With them, they had a fair amount of success busting speeders until some irate citizen with more money than brains yelled "How was I supposed to know I had to slow down if I didn't see a police cruiser in the vicinity?" For some asinine reason, he won his case. The "plainclothes" Shelby Cobras were declared illegal, and CHiP had to get rid of them. They shipped them off to various used car dealers in other states, and Randy just got lucky! Paid a mere $900 for the thing in 1969!

Of course, whenever Randy punched it, the mighty roar that issued from the engine tended to mask the fact that the amount of gas pouring through the carburetor sounded like a flushing toilet! But man, that sucker could go!!

'Course these days, having to get around in a wheelchair, probably the best thing for me to have would be something like THIS. It would sure make getting around a lot easy. Gawdawful pricy, though.

THIS is kinda cute, and so's THIS, and neither of them are gas-guzzlers. Conversion is still pricy, though!

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: mack/misophist
Date: 08 Jun 07 - 10:54 PM

LH is absolutely correct about the elegance of many of the cars from the 30's. But he's forgotten all the clunkers that were also on the road then. Look at some old pictures. It always seemed to me that those Mercedes open touring cars the WW2 German generals liked so much were the height of elegance. I want one.

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: Don Firth
Date: 09 Jun 07 - 12:30 AM

When I was a little sprat, my dad owned one of these:

1937 Packard 120.   Great car!

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 09 Jun 07 - 02:59 AM

In the 1950s one of my uncles had a Singer Sports.

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: Leadfingers
Date: 09 Jun 07 - 09:32 AM

A Late Twenties Three and a Half litre Bentley would do me - Along with the wherewithal to keep it in good condition , and a tame mechanic to do all the neccessary hard work !

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: frogprince
Date: 09 Jun 07 - 10:15 AM

My tastes are modest; I only want a few cars. Most any Duesenberg would do. Either of a couple of the Bugatti Royales would be OK. Throw in a '57 Thunderbird, a '36 Cord Sportsman, and an Auburn boattail speedster, and I would be just fine. Well, maybe a '55 or '56 Continental MK II just to top things off...

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 09 Jun 07 - 01:23 PM

Since I spend so much time driving my pottery to and from art fairs, my dream car would be a new van. I've looked longingly at the Dodge Sprinter for some time, but now that Daimler has sold off the Chrysler division, I don't know what the Sprinter's status is going to be. It's actually made by Mercedez and is sold as a Mercedez product in Europe, but it carries a Dodge nameplate in the US. Since Mercedez and Chrysler are no longer two different divisions of the same company, it will doubtlessly be discontinued as a Chrysler product. I imagine US Mercedez dealers will begin carrying them soon, but the more prestigious nameplate will probably add a few thousand dollars to the price tag.

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: pdq
Date: 09 Jun 07 - 02:01 PM

This one is

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: pdq
Date: 09 Jun 07 - 02:04 PM

Zimmer Motor Car Company

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: kendall
Date: 09 Jun 07 - 05:27 PM

My dream car is a 1932 Duesenburg phaeton. Probably the finest car ever built in the USA.

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: TRUBRIT
Date: 09 Jun 07 - 06:02 PM

A shiny black E Type Jaguar with leather bucket seats. Failing that, I am pretty happy with my   lovely Lexus and Esmerelda, my mapping software that keeps me from getting totally lost.

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 09 Jun 07 - 06:04 PM

A red 1999 two-door Honda Civic EX, with air conditioning and a moon roof and a great stereo.

I just happen to have one, but it soon will pass on to an 18-yr-old who needs a ride to college. My other two favorite cars, a 1978 Chevy Malibu and a 1989 Honda Accord LXi with custom gold wheels, were inherited by teenagers who banged them up pretty badly in less than six months.

So, I'm looking for a new dream car. I think this one is going to have to have four doors, since I'm a family man once again (my "children" are 18 and 92). The red Honda was purchased when I was gloriously single....

-Joe-

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: Gurney
Date: 11 Jun 07 - 06:49 PM

TrueBrit, an E-type is the most instantly recognisable car on the planet. How ordinary. Heh heh.
People still stop for a second look, though. I do, and I helped build the things.

Leadfingers, I've pointed out before that those Bentleys have out-lived all their first and many of their second owners. Sometimes they have a plaque on the dash.
Most of the CARS are in good-as-new condition.
It's something to think about, but maybe not too deeply.

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 11 Jun 07 - 07:26 PM

1938 LaSalle

http://www.fawcett-movie-cars.com/30_39_cars/1938lasallepheaton134.html

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: Don Firth
Date: 11 Jun 07 - 08:03 PM

I bought a 1982 Honda Civic new, and had it for 13 years before it started needing major repairs. Excellent mileage, very economical to maintain, front-wheel drive, peppy little engine, fun to drive. The car was an absolute jewel.

Clicky.

In the background, center of the photo. Looks like the one I had. In the argument beneath the photo, "bref" is right.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: Don Firth
Date: 11 Jun 07 - 08:05 PM

Wrong! I had the Civic for 17 years.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: PoppaGator
Date: 11 Jun 07 - 09:58 PM

I know this a very prosaic, unromantic choice, but I am absolutely crazy about my '06 Hyundai Sonata. I needed a new car after losing two to the Great Flood of '05, and I got one that I'm hoping will serve me well for the next 15-20 years.

The Koreans, I believe, are at about the same stage that the Japanese were 15-20 years ago, cherrypicking the best technological developments in automaking that have been developed by the rest of the world. Because they have not yet established as strong and widespread a reputation for quality as they probably deserve, they are not yet charging premium prices. And, of course, the 100,000 mile warranty they offer does a lot to alleviate any doubts a buyer might harbor.

I had rented a V6 Sonata and fell in love with it, but bought the 4-cylinder model. The six was impressively peppy, but actually overpowered for anyone who isn't interested in drag racing. The four gets excellent mileage for a non-hybrid: I calculate my miles-per-gallon whenever I make a long highway trip, and this car consistently gets better than 32 mpg out on the road, better than the 10-year-old Toyota Camry I had to replace (which clamed 30 mpg but actually got 28 to 29, never quite the full 30).

The Sonata sells for several thousand dollars less than a new Camry, has a much roomier back seat and trunk, is extremely comfortable, looks just like a Lexus, and of course has that nice long warranty. So far, I'm really happy with it. Now, we'll have to wait and see if it lasts as long as I expect.

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: TRUBRIT
Date: 11 Jun 07 - 10:03 PM

Gurney _ I don't lay claim to originality _ I just love E types -- there was a powder blue model with leather bucket seats waaaaaaaaaay back in my past that was a delight........

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: Rog Peek
Date: 12 Jun 07 - 02:51 AM

E Types were certainly good lookers in their day, but they were not very aero-dynamic. I remember reading somewhere that an Austin A40 (small family saloon of the day) performed much better than an E Type in a wind tunnel.

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: Wordsmith
Date: 12 Jun 07 - 04:29 AM

I'm with bobad and DonFirth - an MG-TD hunter green with beige interior and a black ragtop. Although a close 2nd would be the Shelby Cobra - dark green with black interior, and, third, would be the 57 T-Bird any color. I also have always wanted a 57 Chevy BelAir in torquoise and white as well as a 58 'vette in those colors also. Best car I actually had was a Ford Maverick. I'm ashamed to not recall the year.

I lived in the country where there were a lot of dairy as well as other kinds of farms. On a clear night with a full moon, at two o'clock in the morning, on my way home from work doing probably 65mph, I crested a hill on a two-laner, saw what looked like a bunch of people down at the bottom of it in the middle of the road. I plowed on the brakes and left two perfectly straight lines of rubber on the road (I checked the next day) just before glancing a cow - one of an entire herd that had gotten loose - with the driver's side rear quarter panel - not a dent to the car, nor apparently the cow or myself. I still to this day regret selling that car. Green with black leather interior. Ah, the good old days! Second-best car I owned? 1972 Datsun, fire-engine red, station wagon! Best gas mileage I ever got. ;D

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: kendall
Date: 12 Jun 07 - 04:53 PM

I agree about the Hyundai Sonata. Seriously under rated.

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: fumblefingers
Date: 12 Jun 07 - 05:10 PM

The '57 Chevrolet 2dr hardtop I had in high school.

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: RangerSteve
Date: 12 Jun 07 - 11:09 PM

A Chrysler or GM wagon from the '40's with wooden sides. And a surfboard on top. And, as long as we're fantasizing, I'd know how to surf, and I'd look good in swim trunks with no shirt.

Or a Hudson, one of those big hulking jobs from the early 50's with a fast-back, two tone, kelly green with a white roof and white-wall tires.

or a Metropolitan, same color scheme as the Hudson, or maybe bright blue and white, with a convertable top.

Or any GM car from 1949 to 1956. Especially one of those Buicks that was about 90 percent chrome. Again, two-tone, white and one of the primary colors.

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: Grab
Date: 13 Jun 07 - 10:05 AM

E-types have always looked like the fat-arsed middle-aged sister of the much prettier D-type to me. Mutton dressed as lamb.

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: GUEST,MarkS
Date: 13 Jun 07 - 10:36 AM

1963 Chevy Impala SS - 409 4 speed - ragtop.
Guaranteed to get you any girl on the cheerleading squad.

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: Greg B
Date: 13 Jun 07 - 03:57 PM

E-types aren't aero-dynamic. They're peno-dynamic.

But a great drive--- I 'babysat' a 1969 drophead 4.2
for a friend for a year. A real pleasure.

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: gnu
Date: 13 Jun 07 - 04:09 PM

A Bombardier Deuce And A Half. I'd build a "camper" for the box with a wood stove and a roof platform that would raise another 2m.

Okay.... it ain't a car, but, it's my dream ride.

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: frogprince
Date: 13 Jun 07 - 04:16 PM

For some reason the masses seem to agree with Mark and pick the "63 or '64 Chevy, of the years with that basic body. For some reason I've always had more of a weakness for the '62. Thinking just of style, I could easily live with any '57, a '58 Impala, or a '65, either ragtop or the fastback coupe.

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: PoppaGator
Date: 13 Jun 07 - 04:38 PM

RangerSteve, if we can't find you that Hudson, how 'bout a Kaiser from the same era? Better tailfins...

A friend had a '49 Mercury well into the 1980s. Big bulbous exterior with a huge toothy grin of a grille, two big fat sofas inside, and plenty of power. We rode quite comfortably in that car from New Orleans to the Houston Astrodome, going to see Bob Dylan and the Rolling Thunder Revue (whatever year that was).

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: Don Firth
Date: 13 Jun 07 - 07:43 PM

E-type, Schmee-type!

HERE's a Jaguar!

Lookout!! Here it comes AGAIN!

Look who's complaining because he doesn't have wire wheels:   Snarl, mutter mutter. . . .

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: RangerSteve
Date: 13 Jun 07 - 09:13 PM

PoppaGator, a Kaiser would be fine. And if I can't get a Metropolitan, a Henry J will do.

It slipped my mind when I first contributed to this thread, but a Studebaker, one with the bullet grill, and a curved back window.

Subject: RE: BS: my NIGHTMARE car!
From: frogprince
Date: 13 Jun 07 - 09:35 PM

Then there's THIS, which to me is the most inexplicable stying mess in American automotive history! It would just be a nondescript styling failure, except for the way they clobbered those taillights on, with the big rumples to try to them "fit".

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: frogprince
Date: 13 Jun 07 - 10:18 PM

Correction: this variant has to be the worst. I didn't even know about this version until a few minutes ago.

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: TRUBRIT
Date: 13 Jun 07 - 11:21 PM

E type schmee type right back at you, Don -- I loved them.....!

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: Don Firth
Date: 14 Jun 07 - 01:33 PM

I'm not putting down the E-types, far from it! But there's something about the XK-120 that really appeals to me. An E-Jag could undoubtedly leave an XK-120 in the dust, but I figure, with traffic congestion what it is these days, 0 to 60 in 6 seconds with a top speed of 132.596 mph is quite probably sufficient. . . .

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: Greg B
Date: 14 Jun 07 - 08:29 PM

Oh hell, just have an SS100, then and be done with it :-)

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: Don Firth
Date: 14 Jun 07 - 10:14 PM

I'll take it!!

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: GUEST
Date: 14 Jun 07 - 10:26 PM

I always said that if I ever found a 1970 Hemi 'Cuda I would sell the farm and buy it. Unfortunately the farm isn't worth what the car is. Shit!! Trouble is, I could have bought one from a buddy in 1972 for a couple of grand. I would like to have that chance and my old baseball cards again.

All the best,

Mick

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: Don Firth
Date: 14 Jun 07 - 10:40 PM

The Jaguar SS-100. The fellow who owned one of the coffeehouses I sang in a lot owned an SS-100. Right hand drive. He would often give me a ride home in the thing at the end of an evening, after he'd closed up.

Three SS-100s:      Clicky #1.      Clicky #2.      Clicky #3.

Oh, yeah! That was some machine!

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: My Dream Car?
From: TRUBRIT
Date: 14 Jun 07 - 11:58 PM

You win -- that is a hell of a car......