Old Cars

[4RNR]

My first car in 1993 was a 1984 Mustang GT Convertible with the 4-cylinder turbo (non-SVT). It was repossessed from the principle of our rival high school. My Dad bought it from the bank and we overhauled the motor. It looked nice but wasn't all that fast. About a year later our neighbor sold me her 1989 Mustang LX 5.0 (pictured below). Black with Red interior. It was faster than the '84 but girls were much more interested in riding in the convertible than the 5.0.

Many folks comment that growing up in the 80's/90's kind of sucked from a car standpoint. Which in someways was true........if you looked at the performance of the new cars at the time. However, my best friend in high school had a 1969 Camaro. My other close friend had a '68 Chevell. Other cars I remember in my rural Kentucky high school parking lot included Olds 442, various Chevelle's, a LeMans, Mustangs, and a few others I have forgotten. My neighbor had four Super Birds in various conditions inside and in pieces outside his barn. I almost talked my Dad into letting me trade my 89 LX in for a 1969 Mach 1 Mustang (he correctly refused because the car was a project). High school kids could not afford these types of cars today. Heck, my high school friends that owned those cars back then probably couldn't afford to own them now. :-)

So indeed, the definition of old car is relative!

Great topic.

Attachment 115409

My high school buddy, same guy I mentioned above, had an 86 convertible but it was a 6cyl. Prior to that he had a 4cyl hard top but i dont remember the year. Other friends had 92 Mustang GT 5.0, 86 Camaro, 92 Firebird, Ford Probe GT, forget the year. 79 2dr Caddy!!! My Social Studies teacher had a Firebird and our principle was an ex Green Beret Vietnam vet who rode a Harley

[Lex Luthier]

I guess I had a good high school car experience-this would have been early 1980s.

It was a moderately wealthy SF Peninsula public High School, but the head science teacher drove a silver 1956 Porsche 356, and one of the social studies teachers had a 1967 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT, also silver. The art instructor was all about VW Safari Vans and rebuilt his own motors and transaxles.
There were tons of muscle cars, lots of early 60s Detroit iron that still had some service life, and the more er, privileged students had some gems. The head of the tennis team had an honest-to-pete De Tomaso Pantera.
Later I had a 1968 Lincoln Continental with suicide doors and the fluid speedometer running a 460 ci motor. 8 mpg on the highway with that one. Ooof. Still, pretty sure I could fit eight friends in the trunk.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_NRznWveR-Q


Later there was a 1977 Mercury Capri II obtained from a gay Colorado deadhead. That one was too busy dropping parts from severe rust to allow me to get in much trouble, but I learned how to replace crank shafts and hone valves and cylinder walls.

[awp_101]

My first car was a hand-me-down '72 Valiant. IIRC Mom and Dad bought it in '76 to replace a '66 Monaco. Mom drove that Valiant until 1988 when Dad got her a new Chrysler minivan so the Valiant went to me after I spent a couple of weeks worth of evenings (after homework) and weekends rebuilding the front end and then driving lessons from Dad.

Looked very much like this '74 except the top was vinyl instead of paint and it was baby shit tan instead of baby blue. Also it was a straight front bench, no arm rest. Same hubcaps though!



In a lot of ways, I hated that car. It wasn't cool. It was "ugly" in styling and color. The a/c sort of worked but it killed what little power there was and hit the MPG even harder than my right foot. It wasn't fast or powerful and the only real upgrade option was to grenade the 225 and drop in a 318 which was my "secret" plan but the reviewer is right, the Slant-6 was damn near indestructible. It had an oil leak we never could fix (I always said the oil was self changing). The radiator had more JB Weld than factory welds. I think there was a power steering problem as well but I don't remember now.

But 30 years on, I think it's the one car I'd like to have back. Not simply because it was the first, but also because you just don't see them on the road or at shows.

[awp_101]

You never know. If it is gas powered, in 60 years, someone might get excited over that.

[Stephanie B]

I sure wish I had hung on to that 1977 Ford Pinto.

Same for a 1972 Mazda Rx-2.

[BN]

Attachment 115307

My dad bought this 38 Ford in the sixties and restored it, twice. I drove it to school once or twice in the early 80s. It sat in the back of the barn for years. He sold it a couple years ago, he told my daughter he didn’t have it in him to get it going again (he’s 82 now).

When I was about 12-14 years old around the late 1950s, early 1960s, my Dad's Aunt gave him her car when she quit driving. A '39 Ford Coupe. My parents used it as a second car for a while, but sold it before I got my license. I got to drive it around in the front yard.

The guy who bought it took it to California and built it into a show car. I have no idea where it might be now.

[Duelist]

My first car was a hand-me-down '72 Valiant. IIRC Mom and Dad bought it in '76 to replace a '66 Monaco. Mom drove that Valiant until 1988 when Dad got her a new Chrysler minivan so the Valiant went to me after I spent a couple of weeks worth of evenings (after homework) and weekends rebuilding the front end and then driving lessons from Dad.

Looked very much like this '74 except the top was vinyl instead of paint and it was baby shit tan instead of baby blue. Also it was a straight front bench, no arm rest. Same hubcaps though!



In a lot of ways, I hated that car. It wasn't cool. It was "ugly" in styling and color. The a/c sort of worked but it killed what little power there was and hit the MPG even harder than my right foot. It wasn't fast or powerful and the only real upgrade option was to grenade the 225 and drop in a 318 which was my "secret" plan but the reviewer is right, the Slant-6 was damn near indestructible. It had an oil leak we never could fix (I always said the oil was self changing). The radiator had more JB Weld than factory welds. I think there was a power steering problem as well but I don't remember now.

But 30 years on, I think it's the one car I'd like to have back. Not simply because it was the first, but also because you just don't see them on the road or at shows.

We had 3 Dodge/Chrysler cars with the 318. One ‘69 Coronet, 2 ‘74 Dusters. Good motor, but one bank was a real PITA to work on due to heat shields and other crap. 2bbl carb on the ‘74 was a POS. ‘69 carb worked great, but the choke never worked right on the ‘74. Holley 4bbl fixed it.

[awp_101]

We had 3 Dodge/Chrysler cars with the 318. One ‘69 Coronet, 2 ‘74 Dusters. Good motor, but one bank was a real PITA to work on due to heat shields and other crap. 2bbl carb on the ‘74 was a POS. ‘69 carb worked great, but the choke never worked right on the ‘74. Holley 4bbl fixed it.

The 318 may have been a PITA but at least it was a V8! The single barrel Carter on the Valiant was another POS, specifically the float. The factory original was brass but the only replacements we could get were some kind of pressed fiber and within a short time they would saturate and the damn thing would flood in a heartbeat. Including sitting at a traffic light. Frickin thing bogged down and died in the middle of an intersection one time. I barely got it restarted and out of the way before I became an obstacle to oncoming traffic.

[Bucky]

I sure wish I had hung on to that 1977 Ford Pinto.

You sure about that?

[JAD]

My dad gave me two cars for my sixteenth birthday, a 79 super beetle and a 62 ford galaxie 500. This was 86, and each had about 100k; the sum cost for both cars was $250. I drove the galaxie when I could afford the gas and when the U joint and brakes were simultaneously functional. I wasn’t and aren’t a wrench but I networked well and kept both cars running ok. I sold the beetle for $500 to a fan and used it to buy the car that got me through college, an 82 Caprice; the Galaxie got frame cancer and died on a lift getting its 800th U joint repair.