Coolest Car you have ever owned

[oldbuckster]

They're all great cars, aren't they? There are so many of the "coolest cars" on the road today, it's just great, really..................

[st. patrick]

1966 Sunbeam Tiger - small block Ford V-8 and Ford 4 spd, never lacking for power or attention. Made by Rootes Group in England, but the demise of the company was sealed when Chrysler bought it in ? '67 . . . . apparently needed a tax write-off. Bought it go to college but eventually sold it while in law school. I can still remember the sweet sound of that exhaust system gurgling while going downhill on a trailing throttle. . . . . . . .thwap, thwap, blubb, blubb, blubb . . . . . still miss it 30 years later. Had a bunch of other cars and trucks, but my heart still goes back to that one.

[PrestonTom]

Alas, I am middle-age and drive a Volvo sedan.

However, when I was younger and lived in California, I had a Triumph GT6. I loved that car. Yes, you had to take a wrench to it about every other weekend.

It was a kick,

-Tom

[Mighty Favog]

Not sure which would be considered the coolest, but the Saab 96 I once owned definitely got the most attention.

We had 2 of those. One was an 86' 900S and the other was a rare 88' 900SPG (S-Performance Group). Never could get used to working on a car where the engine was in the engine bay BACKWARDS!![:S] For double insult both cars had the automatic tranny. (WORD - If you ever get a Saab..get it with a manual shift. They may not feel good but they last a helluva lot longer than the autos) Both our Saabs died from the same problem with the tranny goin' South.

[oldtimer]

Not sure which would be considered the coolest, but the Saab 96 I once owned definitely got the most attention.

We had 2 of those. One was an 86' 900S and the other was a rare 88' 900SPG (S-Performance Group). Never could get used to working on a car where the engine was in the engine bay BACKWARDS!![:S] For double insult both cars had the automatic tranny. (WORD - If you ever get a Saab..get it with a manual shift. They may not feel good but they last a helluva lot longer than the autos) Both our Saabs died from the same problem with the tranny goin' South.

My 96 was a 1970 model or thereabouts, new enough to have a four stroke engine (V4) but old enough to still have a four speed on the tree manual. Slushboxes aren't allowed in our fleet.

[WMcD]

My first car. The Volvo 1800S.

I bought it used off a grad student at college. Seems that he bought it used from a dealer with a guarantee. Then the engine blew and they put in a B-20 to replace the B-18. So everytime I went for parts I had to explain the hybrid situation.

When I bought it the generator had a problem. The guys at the school razzed me, calling it, The White Lemon.

Quite a nice car in its day. The only other hard top small cars were the MBG-GT and later the Spitfire GT. Weak beer. One thing: Never buy a car which comes from a climate which is more mild than yours. This came from Sweden. Lots of heat. Very handy on the New York State Thruway.

The real best visually designed model was the first 1800 with wrap around bumpers and an egg crate grill. Snazzy. Those styling items were not continued. A bit of a shame.

The Volvo had an electric overdrive. Leather seats. Small back seats. One night we had to get some co-eds back to a dorm before curfew. It does hold seven friend in a pinch.

Synchromesh in third broke. It was quite an education taking apart the tranny.

This was also the first for a good stereo system. A buddy had a really advanced 8-track in his Volkswagon and got into a wreck. It had the FM 8 track plug in. Really. One channel of the amp was blown out and it just needed the a new transistor. The tuner was mushed in because in the wreck he put his knee it to it. He gave it to me to fool around with. So I cobbed it together.

Cobbing it together was also to put speakers on the doors and some 6 x 9 in the rear. High tech for the '70s. It was great listening to early AOR. Allison Steel (the Night Bird) on WNEW in NYC.

It was great. As one gal pal said, The Volvo Has Character.

Gil

[pauln]

1966 Sunbeam Tiger - small block Ford V-8 and Ford 4 spd, never lacking for power or attention. Made by Rootes Group in England, but the demise of the company was sealed when Chrysler bought it in ? '67 . . . . apparently needed a tax write-off. Bought it go to college but eventually sold it while in law school. I can still remember the sweet sound of that exhaust system gurgling while going downhill on a trailing throttle. . . . . . . .thwap, thwap, blubb, blubb, blubb . . . . . still miss it 30 years later. Had a bunch of other cars and trucks, but my heart still goes back to that one.

Maxwell Smart showed up at the Control headquarters the beginnning of each episode in a Sunbeam Tiger.

[oldbuckster]

VERY NICE Volvo 1800 S.....................Rare find ........ not many at all...........

[oldtimer]

VERY NICE Volvo 1800 S.....................Rare find ........ not many at all...........

Those 1800's were cool looking cars. I believe the body was designed by the Italian house of Bertone.

[kaiser SET say]

Nice Gil, wasn't that Simon Templer "The Saints" car in the series?

For sure not even close to my fastest car ever but my coolest car was my Isetta[]

[rplace]

Pauln, That bug is fantastic...nice job keeping it looking great.

RockBobMel, I totally dig the wagon.

Travis, that had to hurt [:'(]

As for me, I think others might claim my current ride

or it's predecessor (still hate losing that car) was my coolest car

[rplace]

But my all time fun driving fun time of my life car was a 79 TR7 convertible. Not the fastest car by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a blast to drive and easy to work on. I wish I had never sold it. This is not mine, but you get the idea. Mine was Brittish racing green with a tartan interior.

[flannj]

Posted mine earlier. 1993 GMC Typhoon.

When I first met my wife she was driving a Fiat Spider convertible, a very appropriate car for a five foot tall, 24 year old Italian. She has missed having a fun car ever since becoming "Mom The Chauffer". The kids are driving now so she no longer has any need for a SUV. Bought this in August, a 2006 Audi A4 Cabriolet. Red with black top and interior. It makes her very happy, no more Explorers also makes her happy, and happy Mom is good for everybody around these parts.

[Mighty Favog]

But my all time fun driving fun time of my life car was a 79 TR7 convertible. Not the fastest car by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a blast to drive and easy to work on. I wish I had never sold it. This is not mine, but you get the idea. Mine was Brittish racing green with a tartan interior.

Remember the ad campaign for that car?? "The shape of things to come..." and everything around it was a triangle??

Sure liked it better than that damn Porsche 914...yech!!

[rplace]

I do remember that...I espically liked when the car pulled into the triangle shaped garage, way cool!

Have products gotten more boring, or have I become more jaded?

[oldtimer]

Both.

[SteelerFan]

The 1975 Chevy C20 Silverado pickup I used to have way back in the day. It was black with the 454 and red bucket seats. I wish I had a pic to share. I know it may not sound so cool to you guys...but I lost my virginity in the back of it.[]

[DizRotus]

Tom Blasing said, " . . .Sure liked it [TR-7] better than that damn Porsche 914...yech!!"<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

The 914 was a disappointment. In <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Europe it was marketed as a VW, rather than a Porsche. If you look closely at some of the magazine ads for the car you can see the VW logo on the dog dish wheel covers.

As disappointing as the 914 was, the 914-6 was a car of a different feather. With a real 6 cylinder Porsche engine in front of the rear wheels it was a 911 eater. I was working in the service department of Williams Volkswagen, Porsche, Audi, Mercedes, BMW & Subaru when a 914-6 came in for service. The mechanics, who were used to being unimpressed by Porsche 930s, etc., gathered around the 914-6 like flies to honey.

EDITED @ 1902 EST to change Audio to Audi.

[kaiser SET say]

Let's see if I can post a shot!

[Mighty Favog]

I was working in the service department of Williams Volkswagen, Porsche, Audio, Mercedes, BMW & Subaru when a 914-6 came in for service.

Doh!![]

A long time ago a buddy of mine worked with someone that drove a Chevy Vega Cosworth Twin-Cam. Talk about unassuming!

The same buddy's 60+year old MOTHER drove some hot rods in our day. 70' Chevelle SS 396, 69' Mach I, 421 Pontiac Catalina, 86' Shelby Turbo, Omni GLH-S, 67' Charger 383, etc. And never drove any of them over 40 mph. She and her boyfriend (Bobby) would be driving along on a nice quiet country road and Tim (my buddy) would say something like "Sure is a nice day out..." His mom would come back with "It'd be a nicer day if Bobby would slow this THING DOWN!!!" We still giggle over that one. Bobby knew what he had