John, I like this part of your car history (story). Joe 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.
----- Original Message ----- From: "John Sessoms" <jsessoms...@nc.rr.com> To: pdml@pdml.net Sent: Friday, June 5, 2009 7:50:17 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 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.
