FAV CAR THAT YOU OWNED

[dtel]

5 hours ago, Buck115 said:

Probably my 1970 Z28 Camaro

I love that color, and the John Wick  green also. 

 

30 minutes ago, grasshopper said:

two carbs? 

Yes, and headers plus overhead cam from the factory, stock with more HP than ci, but mostly fun.

We had a 510 once, ran forever, gave it to my sister and got something else and she had it for years.

 

Had a Trans Am, and a bunch of little 2 seater sports cars but that Datsun was the most fun to drive by far. The Trans Am also handled very well with the right tires and suspension but was heavy compared to small light sports cars. 

[sunburnwilly]

I've had some fun cars but my present one is my fave 

 

[willland]

1992 VW Corrado SLC VR6.  Loved it but it was a $$$ pit when things needed repairing.

 

 

Not mine in photo but same model and color.

 

Bill

[Islander]

My favourite car was not the 6-year-old-but-worn-out 1971 Corvette coupe (that was a money pit) that I had, it was the 1990 Police Caprice.  5.7 litre V-8 with throttle-body fuel injection, police-programmed 700R4 4-speed auto trans, heavy duty brakes and engine cooling system, and performance suspension with 25 mm/1 inch front sway bar and 28 mm/1-1/8" rear sway bar.  Also "police standard" firmer than usual bucket seats.  It came with A/C, not for the benefit of the occupants, but to keep the police computer between the front seats cool and comfortable.

 

The Ontario government has a monthly surplus assets sale in Toronto, and there would usually be 30 or more Ontario Provincial Police cruisers for sale, along with trucks, ambulances, and construction equipment  They would be sold once they reached 130-140,000 km (80-87,000 miles), regardless of year.  They usually reached that mileage in 2 to 3 years, so they'd still be in pretty good shape, other than commonly needing a new transmission.  I bought 3 cars there between 1983 and 1993.

 

That car was a lot of fun to drive, and although the Corvette may have had better roadholding (absolute speed around corners), the cruiser had better handling (more tolerant of mistakes, less likely to bite you if you overcooked it into a corner).  One endearing characteristic was due to the primitive live-axle rear suspension.  When you floored it from a stop, the rear end would sort of gather itself, then it would take off.  From the outside (and you could feel this inside as well), it looked much like the way a cat wiggles its hips just before it pounces.  It was unexpected but kind of cute.

 

[JJkizak]

47 minutes ago, Islander said:

My favourite car was not the 6-year-old-but-worn-out 1971 Corvette coupe (that was a money pit) that I had, it was the 1990 Police Caprice.  5.7 litre V-8 with throttle-body fuel injection, police-programmed 700R4 4-speed auto trans, heavy duty brakes and engine cooling system, and performance suspension with 25 mm/1 inch front sway bar and 28 mm/1-1/8" rear sway bar.  Also "police standard" firmer than usual bucket seats.  It came with A/C, not for the benefit of the occupants, but to keep the police computer between the front seats cool and comfortable.

 

The Ontario government has a monthly surplus assets sale in Toronto, and there would usually be 30 or more Ontario Provincial Police cruisers for sale, along with trucks, ambulances, and construction equipment  They would be sold once they reached 130-140,000 km (80-87,000 miles), regardless of year.  They usually reached that mileage in 2 to 3 years, so they'd still be in pretty good shape, other than commonly needing a new transmission.  I bought 3 cars there between 1983 and 1993.

 

That car was a lot of fun to drive, and although the Corvette may have had better roadholding (absolute speed around corners), the cruiser had better handling (more tolerant of mistakes, less likely to bite you if you overcooked it into a corner).  One endearing characteristic was due to the primitive live-axle rear suspension.  When you floored it from a stop, the rear end would sort of gather itself, then it would take off.  From the outside (and you could feel this inside as well), it looked much like the way a cat wiggles its hips just before it pounces.  It was unexpected but kind of cute.

 

 

GM did a lot of upgrading on that 700R4 transmission to make it reliable. I did rebuild one and kudos to the dude that invented it. The insides are a nightmare.

JJK

[Fido]

9 hours ago, T_Evans said:

With regards to speaker wire connection to the Evo, how many are using bare wire wrapped around the post, or using spade connectors? I was recommended Furutech FP-201(G) connectors at about $24 Cdn each. I'm a fan of using bare wire connections, but I find without a hole in the pots, I'm nervous about stray wire strands after wrapping them around the post.  Worth spending the $100 to have piece of mind not having a short, and a secure connection with the spade? Any degrade in the audio?

I use good quality speaker cables that terminate on both ends with banana plugs and they are a clean solution and they are not connected or disconnected for years on end.

[Coytee]

I have/had two.

 

1971 Olds 442 convertible.  455 up front with a Hurst 3 speed (which always intrigued me as to why not 4).  

1969 Mercedes 280 SL.  Never really understood that car until I drove to Ohio once.  The 442 was all about a lot of power and having it NOW.   The 280 being a much smaller engine didn't have that kind of torque.  Going to Ohio once, late at night, highway near to myself.....I opened it up a bit and THEN I realized that it didn't have any low end grunt but that engine would spin more like a turbine and that car would just scoot.  

 

So when I'm out with the guys, we're all in the 442.  When I'm out with a gal....it's the 280.

 

Both fun cars.

[Islander]

On 5/12/2021 at 4:29 AM, JJkizak said:

 

GM did a lot of upgrading on that 700R4 transmission to make it reliable. I did rebuild one and kudos to the dude that invented it. The insides are a nightmare.

JJK

 

I was really impressed with the 700R4 transmission.  It didn't need a rebuild, and that car had been used to tow something heavy, as shown by the damaged differential (had the good rear axle from the predecessor '83 police Impala swapped in) and the Class III trailer hitch on it.  Driving with that trans made me believe in performance automatics.  The 4-speed manual trans in the Corvette suffered from a worn-out shifter, so that was a constant annoyance, but the 700R4 did everything I asked, without hesitation.  I could get a downshift or two whenever I wanted, with no need to touch the shift lever.  Just modulate the gas pedal, and you got a little acceleration or a lot, whichever you wanted.  That's the way auto transmissions are supposed to work, but often don't.  The feature that lets the transmission adjust to the way it's driven is part of what makes it so good.

 

Now I'm driving a Grand Caravan R/T, with the 62TE close-ratio six-speed, and I like it even more.  The self-adjusting feature of the trans makes the van really responsive, and the shift lever on the dashboard is in reach of my fingertips, so it's almost like having shift paddles.  You don't move the lever up or down, which might get you Neutral by mistake.  Instead, you move the lever sideways, while it remains in Drive.  You pull the lever left to select lower gears, and push it to the right to shift back up.  These new vehicles with the very tall upper gears have great fuel economy, but almost no engine braking.  This means that if you're driving in rolling hills at lower speeds (70-100 km/hr or 45-60 mph), you often have to dab at the brakes in order to avoid rolling up on the car ahead of you.  However, without removing my hand from the steering wheel, I can just reach out to the shifter and select 5th or 4th gear, to get just the right amount of engine braking.

 

The trans in the GC stores driving data from the last 30 key starts, so it knows what you like.  If you just lug the vehicle around, you'll get a sleepy vehicle.  If you often use the power, and don't mind holding on until the revs get up there and the engine really starts to pull, the trans (and maybe the engine management system) remembers that, and wakes right up.  People who have driven my recent cars often remark how "peppy" they seem.  They're peppy because I ask them to be.

[Shakeydeal]

This is the most fun car I've ever owned.

 

 

 

[Islander]

44 minutes ago, Coytee said:

I have/had two.

 

1971 Olds 442 convertible.  455 up front with a Hurst 3 speed (which always intrigued me as to why not 4).  

1969 Mercedes 280 SL.  Never really understood that car until I drove to Ohio once.  The 442 was all about a lot of power and having it NOW.   The 280 being a much smaller engine didn't have that kind of torque.  Going to Ohio once, late at night, highway near to myself.....I opened it up a bit and THEN I realized that it didn't have any low end grunt but that engine would spin more like a turbine and that car would just scoot.  

 

 

It's odd that your 442 would have a 3-speed trans, since the numbers were supposed to mean "4 Barrel, 4 speed, Dual Exhaust".

 

As for the Benz, maybe it was designed to perform best at Autobahn speeds, and the tradeoff was weaker lower speed performance.  A 2.8 engine can be very good, but not very good at everything.

[MookieStl]

My favorite cars were both 72 Cutlass. The first car I ever owned by myself (youngest of five kids, bought a couple with siblings) was a green hard top. Great car and had a lot of fun in it (a LOT). Got me through the college years and into quasi adulthood. BC (before children) I added a second one, convertible this time. Now that was a cool car. It was a poor man's Cutlass not the fancy  442, but it ran very strong (350). Sold the hard top when our second child was on the way cuz it wasn't car seat friendly. The convertible stuck around until number 4 child showed up and could not longer afford/justify an extra car "just for fun".

All practical vehicles since then, even went through a mini-van phase (the dark years).

Did have a suburban for many many years that I grew attached to. Sold it with 330,000 miles on it. Still ran great, just little things breaking too often. cried a little when I let her go.

[OO1]

9 hours ago, willland said:

1992 VW Corrado SLC VR6.  Loved it but it was a $$$ pit when things needed repairing.

Audi sports  cars took off from the VR6 and Audi still uses the VR6 --

[Coytee]

47 minutes ago, Islander said:

 

It's odd that your 442 would have a 3-speed trans, since the numbers were supposed to mean "4 Barrel, 4 speed, Dual Exhaust".

 

As for the Benz, maybe it was designed to perform best at Autobahn speeds, and the tradeoff was weaker lower speed performance.  A 2.8 engine can be very good, but not very good at everything.

 

Regarding the 3-speed....  Car had enough power to take off in 3rd gear (flat surface) and simply keep going.  Yeah it was a slow start.... Only tried it 2-3 times ever.

When I was in college, I'd noticed the car blubbered a bit when opening up the throttle.  2nd gear would max out somewhere around 45 maybe , maybe 50 but you just felt there was more there.

 

Pulled the carb off and on the kitchen table, rebuilt it.  Turns out the screw(s?) that held the butterflys for the secondary ports....was loose.  As I tightened the screws, the butterfly changed its angle becoming more straight when at full throttle (instead of acting as a quasi-choke)

 

VERY intrigued, I got things put back together and couldn't wait....  jumped in car and took off.  New breath was born!  Now the car would hit almost 65 in 2nd gear and still be strong getting there.

 

Yeah, that was a fun car. I "could get" as low as 8 MPG if I was smiling while driving.  I could also get maybe 12/13 (if I recall) if I was driving in a boring fashion.  8 MPG was much more fun.

[CECAA850]

24 minutes ago, MookieStl said:

Did have a suburban for many many years that I grew attached to. Sold it with 330,000 miles on it. Still ran great, just little things breaking too often. cried a little when I let her go

We had a GM Safari van that we brought my son home from the hospital in when he was born. Bought it new.  We had it long enough for him to learn how to drive in it and eventually it became his.  We put four 18" subs in a huge ported box and it won a bunch of SPL competitions locally.  It was a sad day indeed when he sold it.

[Islander]

6 hours ago, CECAA850 said:

We had a GM Safari van that we brought my son home from the hospital in when he was born. Bought it new.  We had it long enough for him to learn how to drive in it and eventually it became his.  We put four 18" subs in a huge ported box and it won a bunch of SPL competitions locally.  It was a sad day indeed when he sold it.

 

Sometimes I think we really need a WOW! emoji.  Four 18" subs?  I'd say "WOW!" if I saw and heard that van.

[CECAA850]

30 minutes ago, Islander said:

 

Sometimes I think we really need a WOW! emoji.  Four 18" subs?  I'd say "WOW!" if I saw and heard that van.

They secured the roof to the roof bows on these with some sort of structural adhesive.  He broke most of those loose and the roof would dance when he cranked it up.  When he sold it, the window frame welds were cracked where they were attached to the door.  It was a beast and he loved it.  We used 2 batteries and a high output alternator.  Battery cables were made from welding cables, LOl.

[Islander]

3 minutes ago, CECAA850 said:

They secured the roof to the roof bows on these with some sort of structural adhesive.  He broke most of those loose and the roof would dance when he cranked it up.  When he sold it, the window frame welds were cracked where they were attached to the door.  It was a beast and he loved it.  We used 2 batteries and a high output alternator.  Battery cables were made from welding cables, LOl.

 

More Wow!

[MookieStl]

40 minutes ago, Islander said:

 

Sometimes I think we really need a WOW! emoji.  Four 18" subs?  I'd say "WOW!" if I saw and heard that van.

pretty sure he used to drive down my street at 2 am on a regular basis.

[CECAA850]

15 minutes ago, Islander said:

 

More Wow!

There's a picture of me somewhere on the forum that my son took when I was wiring up the box.  I was laying inside the port working on the backside of the drivers.  You could only see me from the waist down.  It took 5 of us to lift it into the back of the van.

 

Found it.

[CECAA850]