When we were young and stupid and full of fun

sparks wrote:

saege007 wrote:Ok, I'm still young, but when I was younger - 21-24 years old, I had a 1954 Chevy 2-door sedan with 3 on the tree. Bermuda green with chrome and white wall tires.

I had one but a 4door (not as cool). Took the engine out to put in my '52 GMC window van. I sold the body to a scrap yard (not a dent on it) and they came out with a fork lift, forks thru the side windows ... and threw it in a crusher

Yep, that's what we did with the 4 doors too...........jaja.

First car was a 1965 Beetle while in high school and first years of University - painted it plumb crazy with a flat black hood.

Once working, bought a 1971 240Z and became hooked on Japanese sports cars. Started participating in local slalom (solo, gymkhana) events which led to a long term involvement in endurance and sprint road racing, ice racing, performance and endurance rallying. Some notables during that time was a Mazda RX3 in the Champion Spark Plug Series at Daytona (road circuit), Molyslip Endurance Series in Canada with a race prepped 240Z, Datsun 510 in the Targa Newfoundland (2005/2006).

Most relative to this area, my first trip to Mexico was in 1986 as a competitor in the CanAMex marathon car rally - an official event of the Expo 86 in Vancouver, BC. The event covered 23,000 km. in 21 days and basically followed the mountain chains from Haines, AK to Mexico City - and back to Vanouver, BC. Looking through my old notes we had a checkpoint stop at a Sheraton Hotel in downtown Guadalalara then raced down through Jocotepec through the mountains to Morelia (on the old Hyw. 2 I think), then cross country to Acapulco (and got terribly lost!!). Mexico was an interesting experience in 1986 with all of the Federales and Military out on the roads in those days trying to block the transport of guns along the Pacific Hwy. to support the war in Nicaragua.

Still have the Datsun 510 and a 1995 Nissan Skyline GT-R track car, neither of which will likely make the trip here when I move here in the fall. So it would be fun to hook up with some other motorheads and have a project to work on!! I'm still young and stupid after all these years.

God, when I was young and even more insecure than today, it was so important to have a hot car. My first car was a chopped and channeled or what ever it was called supped up 1940 Ford, moved on to 1960 Corvette, then MG-B when I live in NL and later when I lived in Bavaria (That’s an independent country between Germany and Austria, at least that’s what we told everyone) I owned a hot looking car that none of you would recognize.

Now my"NEW" car is a 2001 Ford Explorer Sport with more dents than you could imagine. And in today's climate, I am happy to have a low profile car

When I graduated from the University of Denver in 1954, my folks gave me a new Chevy somethigorother which I promptly traded for an MG-f. But it was not powerful enough for the Colorado mounties, so I traded it for a brad new Triumph TR3. Very fun car.

Years later I bought a new 1966 Corvette -- Even more fun

1963 Karmann Ghia red convertible. Made mechanics happy. Live and learn, but what a blast when it was actually running.

I didn't realize the Karmann Ghia was unreliable. Not good ole VW engineering???

Not my first vehicle but the most fun I had ~ A 1988 Bronco that I popped the back off of and drove as a convertible during the summers in the late 1990's around White Rock BC. Fabulous tailgate beach party vehicle and did I mention fun? Wish I had a pic handy. Makes me smile remembering driving it.

You must remember the good old Sand Castle contests in White Rock. Some great times at those.......

I'll probably always remember my 1994 Ford Thunderbird, not for fun, but for how strong it was. I rolled it over at 60 mph after tapping the back of two other cars. It flipped across 3 lanes of traffic ending up off the road upright, into a gully after hitting two trees. The airbag popped. The State trooper opened my door asking if I was OK. I got out of the car without a scratch and was taken to the Hospital to be checked out. I asked for my drug levels to be checked so they couldn't say that I had a seizure. They were perfect. Everything was OK. It was totalled with 31 K miles on it.

After the next couple of days, I went into the Ford dealer that I had been doing business with for 13 years. There on the wall was a newspaper picture of the car. And I was greeted by my salesman and Sales Manager whom I knew for years. They said hello "crash".

CanuckBob wrote:I didn't realize the Karmann Ghia was unreliable. Not good ole VW engineering???

It was not a Bug. It had bugs. Consider this: You see the Bugs on the road even today. How many Ghia's?
Maybe it was the Italian accents. I've always been a sucker for those. I even deliberately bought a FIAT convertible in the 80's. Also red. Also a cutie and fun. Also a mechanics' dream. Fool me twice.........aww, why not?

HOO BOY ....here we go ....
1937 dodge pick up in the Marines to take my bikes to the race track.....love it so much that when I graduated college , I bought a newer one ,....a 1940 for my bike shop AUUUUUGAH !
A '57 dodge (tank) in college
'62 falcoon station wagon for work
'63 $ 100 heavy chevy station wagon for work
'60 el camion 3 on the tree for work
when I stopped getting dirty and needed a classy car to impress clients I couldn't afford a BMW , or other status cars necessary to impress anyone in Fla , I started buying restored antique cars or restored them my self .....I would tell the clients that anyone could buy a 70 k Porche and see himself coming down the street ( when it wasn't in the shop)
So in the 37 years I was in Florida I owned the following
A '68 caddy convertible powder blue w/ white top and interior
'65 Buick ALL WHITE Skylark convertible ( Snow White)
'72 Buick electra convertible ALL black
two '69 442 Olds mo bomb convertibles (last year of the curves)
'67 Triumph TR6 w/Joe Lucas don't go out after dark Lucas electrics
'72 Ford Ranchero ( total crap)
And then the mustangs ....when I got out of the crotch in '66 , I didn't have $ 2300+ for a new Mustang so ALL my "rustangs" were 66 ers
I had 7 ....when the IRS caught me I had 5 ....the registrations all said "2 door fords When they asked me why I said " well , when one won't start , I get a part off another and get to work "
at the time , I had 2 convertibles, 2 coups, and a "re-bodied 350 GT Shelby I made from a genuine crash and burn Shelby and swapped all the Shelby parts to a good fastback body ....that was in the parking lot when the IRS asked me " didn't I own anything worth polishing " ...to them they were just old worthless cars ....of them all , My favorite was "Cindy the 6 pack " 250 k miles with one tranny re-build , 2 starters , one carb, two radiators , 3 sets of breaks and 5 sets of tires and 6 batteries .....23 mpg at 80 mph on regular gas .... NEVER broke down ....love "stone age engineering"
only new car I owned was a Pontiac Ferro ....piece of crap from the start but cool looking
Now to bikes ....had a thing for British bikes so here's that list ...Thumpers first
' 58 BSA 500cc goldstar (first bike )
'55 Matchless
"68 441 BSA
R 27 BMW ( gutless)
And Pedro is helping me buy a NEW Royal Endfield 500cc in Mexico city
TWINS
'68 MK 1V spitfire special BSA
'64 Honda Super Hawk
'71 Norton ( HOO BOY)
'68 R69 BMW .....real lady
59 Royal Endfield 750 ( would launch you over the handle bars if you didn't have the spark and choke right)
2 Harley D's .....a 45ci war machine ALL olive drab except the tires w/ rifle scabard, saddle bag "boxes ?" and the "black out headlight cover "
and a '55-56 ? knuckle head " POS that I offed within the month
And a Honda 750 ...fast and decent
Jesus , just looking at the list it's a wonder none of my relationships lasted that long .....I remember after the divorce that all the new gals would bitch " What about my hair , it's too hot , etc ad nausium " with the top down
the oldies were great .... if you knew where to kick them , they always got you home
There was a movie company that used to call me to see what I had ....they didn't care if they ran , they would park them on the street for street scenes and I even got a couple of cheap paint jobs out of it
Thank you for a trip down memory lane .....I now drive a Ford Windstar ....and love it ....no problems and I cruised through DUI check points .....get no respect but with the seats in , it's a bus , seats out , it's a lockable truck ....perfect for Mexico and an old fart
I had 7 cars to sell when I came down but the economy had bombed and no one had money for toys so I basically gave them away .....except "Shelly" the Shelby That I sold with a framed ticket from the FHP for doing 120 ....another story for another time

WOW!

Hey, keep your eyes out for a KLR650, 2008 or newer. I miss my BMW R1200RT, last bike I had before we moved here. But I'm too old and the Beemers are just too heavy (for me) for these roads. Would sure love to ride again, lot of great two lane roads in this country.

Mainecoons wrote:WOW!

Hey, keep your eyes out for a KLR650, 2008 or newer. I miss my BMW R1200RT, last bike I had before we moved here. But I'm too old and the Beemers are just too heavy (for me) for these roads. Would sure love to ride again, lot of great two lane roads in this country.

I fight the same feelings. I got the strength but not the leg length to keep up most larger bikes. Fighting the urge to pick up one of those
150cc wal mart scooters. You know you don't have to lift your leg over the bike on a scooter.

Z

Austin-Healey "Bugeye" Sprite - can't remember the year but when purchased the entire wiring harness was fried and had to be totally rewired before I could even drive it.

1972 Volvo P1800S - great car but I kept plenty of food on the table of "Herman the German" who only worked on Volvos.

1965 Ferrari 330 GT 2+2 - purchased from a friend totally refurbished for $6K in 1976 and sold to a Ferrari dealer for $12.5K in 1978.

I forgot when I owned a few Yellow Cabs in Seattle back in the '70's I had 3 Checkers as cabs and one as a private vehicle. Basically just a Checker body on a Chevy 1/2 ton frame. Lots of room to work on those 250 in-line six's. Stopped production around '82. The outlasted everything else

I have had a few 1950's Chev or GMC pick-ups. A shitload of old Land Rovers. A 1967 Lincoln (bought because you have to have at least one car with suicide doors, before you die.) A 1963 New Yorker, push button automatic with 413. A couple TR-6's.
My first thought driving in the mountains, on #15, north of Guad, was how much I missed the Triumph!
I picked up a '65 T-Bird a month ago, as a daily runner. Unfortunately, my 1985 Iltus is still in Schreiber, ON, where It rolled, on my last attempt to drive to Mexico, last October. The T-Bird is a pretty good cruiser, but doesn't have cruise. That does not go well with a lead foot and a 390!

Austin-Healey "Bugeye" Sprite - can't remember the year but when purchased the entire wiring harness was fried and had to be totally rewired before I could even drive it.

Electrics by LUCAS, PRINCE OF DARKNESS.

The worst for electric was 1967 Sunbeam Minx. If you cut a wet fart beside it-plan on walking home!

Please tell me you're not really using a '65 bird as a daily driver!

Mainecoons wrote:

Austin-Healey "Bugeye" Sprite - can't remember the year but when purchased the entire wiring harness was fried and had to be totally rewired before I could even drive it.

Electrics by LUCAS, PRINCE OF DARKNESS.

Three Position Lucas light switch: Dim Flicker and Short
Why do the English Drink Warm Beer: Lucas Fridge
Royal Title: Prince of Darkness

Z

real Brit cars with right hand steering on TR3, Austin Healy, Bug eyed sprites, Morris Minors ....the gang at Lime Rock would occasionally let us pre teens and teens drive them but ONLY after sitting in the right seat of a VW bug proving that we could go through the gears properly ..... Checker cabs were '55 ? Chevies which gave you a dependable body parts supply etc ......... brought ALL my best hand tools down but left my British Standard Whitworth to a buddy with a Velocette .... Wonder if the Royal Endfield is metric ? ..... how many folks remember that the magnetos had a reverse thread on the rotor ? much less the left hand foot peg on most '50-'60's Brit bikes vibration was incredible ! ( warmed the gal up on the ride home ....you could tell you hit the right RPM when you were squeezed to death by her legs) .... used to get about 30-50 miles to the tail light bulb
Kept a spare , a couple of fuses and a spare chain link in that glorious huge headlamp shell ... great view over the beautiful Smith tach and speedo to all that chrome .....@ 5000 RPM , the piston was up and down 83.333 times a second ! yet you could pull away in 2 nd even 3 rd on a thumper ...... the newer bikes have no soul ....no kick starter ...A RADIATOR ? ....can't bump them down a hill because you NEED some battery to activate the coils .....turn signals ..... too smart for their own good

[img][/img] Coons- What would you have me driving? A Yugo?

I needed a car for a few months and figured I could at least break even, if I decided against a body job etc. In the meantime, I have a good old cruiser to beat around in.

The guy that had it before had just started reno, and decided on a divorce instead. It has a factory re-built 390, the tranny fluid looks like it was just poured in, and it goes like stink. Unfortunately, no cruise control.

I was coming down the highway, the other day, and met a Smart car. How far do you think he would have come on my fender, both doing about 70 MPH?

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Coons- What would you have me driving? A Yugo?

Come on, I don't HATE you!

Probably easy to find a good running 'bird than a Yugo that is running at all. LOL

CanuckBob wrote:You must remember the good old Sand Castle contests in White Rock. Some great times at those.......

Oh hell to the yes! I was on a winning team one year way way back. My job was carrying the buckets of water to the finishers and making sure we had cold beer a'plenty. White Rock brought back the sandcastle competition recently but on a way smaller scale with fewer beer gardens.

And of course we must not forget the "Surrey Girls"