Wow. I've had only three cars in my driving life.
18 - 1972 Mercury Capri. It had a 2600cc V6 in a body that didn't weigh very much, especially mine since I only had the passenger seat in the car half the time. I wrecked it twice, the last time I lost the entire steering rack. Shouldn't have put any money into at that point but did anyway. 20 - 1989 Dodge D50 pick up (Mitsubishi Mighty Max). I worked at a Dodge dealership from 1988-1992 so I got the truck for $100 over invoice cost. White with "light buckskin" interior. I went on the dealer trade to pick it up and so I drove it when it only had 3 miles on the OD. It cost me $172.66 a month for 60 months (10,359.60). I paid it off about a year early. I had that truck for 14 years and when I sold it in 2003 it had fewer than 95,000 original miles on the 90Hp 4 cylinder. 34 to present- 2003 Dodge Dakota Quad Cab. I ordered this one from the factory and paid cash for it. It has has every option available except for the rear window defrost which I felt I could live without and got the sliding rear window instead (mutually exclusive options), and the largest V8 option. It is rear wheel drive, but I think if I had to do it over I would have gone with the 4X4. It's been a great truck and it was one of the last in the "diesel tractor" body styling. I decided against the larger 5.9L V8 that they were putting into the RT trucks as that got like 12MPG. I opted for the 4.7L instead. This turned out to be a good decision when gas hit $4 a gallon. I did opt for a 3.92 rear end with Limited Slip. The truck is torquey as hell. I love my truck. I'm not sure I'll ever own a car, I think I might just be a truck guy for life. But, if someone wants to buy me a Challenger with a Hemi I wouldn't say no. ;-) -Brendan ----- Original Message ---- > From: John Sessoms <jsessoms...@nc.rr.com> > To: pdml@pdml.net > Sent: Friday, June 5, 2009 4:50:17 PM > Subject: Car History (was Re: Consumer Reports on "cool cameras") > > More or less in order starting from age 16. I don't think I've forgotten any: > > (16) 1961 Bel Air 4 dr; 283 & powerglide - an automatic that could be push > started. Actually my parents car that I "inherited" because I could fix it. > > 196x-something Morris Minor that I never got running - who knew from English > Whitworth? > > (21) 196x-something Fiat 850 Spyder; breaking a fan belt ripped out the oil > seals - it was very prone to breaking fan belts. Sold it after my foot went > through the driver's side floorboard. > > 1964 Bel Air 4 dr wagon; the rear bumper fell off and took the license plate > with it on the way to a Deep Purple concert. The Highway Patrol was pretty > understanding about the whole thing. > > 196x-something Fiat 124 Spyder; you'd think I would have learned my lesson > from > the 850. > > (25) 1965 Mustang convertable; 289 & 4 speed ... some drunk a$$hole ran a > stop > sign & smashed it. Total loss. > > 1972 Pinto wagon; weirdest car I ever knew - body made in USA was all metric > hardware, engine made in Germany was all SAE standard hardware. All I could > afford after the insurance company screwed me on the Mustang. > > 1964 VW Van; another non-starter - it ran, but could not pass NC's safety > inspection. > > 195x-something Volvo; maybe a 544 - the only thing my ex-wife got when she > took > off. As I remember I only paid a couple hundred dollars for it. It ran OK, > but > needed work. I didn't have time to fix it up before she took it. > > (30) 1980 Chevrolet Citation; the only car I ever bought brand new off the > show-room floor. Never, ever buy the FIRST YEAR of any new automotive > technology. Great concept. Lousy execution. > > 1981, 1983, 1984, & 1987 Chevrolet G20 long-bed vans; 350 V8, Auto, AC - LOTS > OF > ROOM INSIDE. Leased by my employer. I bought the last one for residual value > at > the end of the lease and drove it another 10 years. Should have kept it and > put > a new motor in it. The company switched to Chevy Astro vans & I drove several > of > them as well. > > (40) 1978 MGB Tourer; Safety Fast. Mid-life crisis and I couldn't afford a > Porsche. > > Drove it until some knucklehead pulled out in front of me & smashed the front > left. Bought a 1979 Tourer from a junkyard for parts and rebuilt it myself, > but > kept the parts car as well because it was too complete to get rid of. In 1996 > the car was vandalised and I've never been able to get the ready to rebuild > it. > I've still got both of them. Maybe next year. > > (48) 1995 Ford Escort wagon; 4 cyl, 5 spd, AC, Cruise, power everything - > NON-interference engine (don't worry about that timing belt - run it 'til it > breaks). > > Problematic cooling system. I think there's some kind of plastic radiator > that > part melted and clogged the block. I got stuck in traffic in July 2002; it > overheated ONE TIME and blew the engine. Literally the temp guage went up to > the > peg, bounced and came right back down. Got another 5 miles before it lost > power > and died. Aluminum engine, blown head gasket, warped block, warped head. > > Ford Dealer told me it would cost less to get a replacement from Mr. Engine > than > it would for them to repair it. Apparently did the same thing to the > replacement > engine in 2004 while I was overseas. > > (55) 1998 Mazda 626; 4 cyl, 5 spd, AC, no power nothin'. I had three hours of > transportation to go looking for a car in January 2005. I added after market > cruise control. Been a good, reliable car, but nowhere to throw out a > sleeping > bag in the back. I've averaged 30 mpg city, 36 mpg highway and 31 mpg > combined - > about 5 mpg better than the EPA rating. For Sale - $2500. > > (59) 2005 Ford Focus Wagon; 4 cyl, 5 spd, AC, Cruise, power everything, 6 > disk > CD in dash. I've had it two months and the new hasn't worn off, although I > already know a couple things I got to fix - clutch switch to disengage cruise > control and the master control for the rest of the power windows have to be > fixed. > > Not as much room to throw out a sleeping bag as I originally hoped, but I'm > working on that too. > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
