I wish I still had my ____
6th Gear
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,342
Likes: 4
From: Youngsville, NC, USA
Not me friends. Still have it and it still love it.
Enough I added four more to the fleet (two with titles!), all 87s.
Best. Car. Ever.
<driving by another one I knew about, wife sees it in the guy's back yard>
"You're not thinking about getting another one are you?"
<I look out the opposite window>
"PROMISE YOU WILL NOT GET ANYMORE"
<silence>
"NO MORE"
How about we play the 'quiet game'.
<makes that lip zipping sign>
Enough I added four more to the fleet (two with titles!), all 87s.
Best. Car. Ever.
<driving by another one I knew about, wife sees it in the guy's back yard>
"You're not thinking about getting another one are you?"
<I look out the opposite window>
"PROMISE YOU WILL NOT GET ANYMORE"
<silence>
"NO MORE"
How about we play the 'quiet game'.
<makes that lip zipping sign>
2nd Gear
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 89
Likes: 0
From: Georgetown, TX
91 Miata..... it died an ugly death at the hand of a horse on a country road. Still ran fine after 210,000 hard driven miles (those things are built tougher than they look).
I'm enjoying the Mini now though, just not the low gas mileage.
I'm enjoying the Mini now though, just not the low gas mileage.
4th Gear
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 326
Likes: 4
From: Beacon, NY
Well, it's the best car I've ever personally driven, at least. I'm sure there are better cars out there... I do know that I've driven Mustangs, 'Vettes, Firebirds, etc, and they all feel like low-slung pickup trucks compared to the FD. So, bottom line is, your point is well-taken. Case in point: I've never had the pleasure of driving a Ferrari or a Lambo. I'm sure they'd make a garden-variety Mazda FD feel like a Fisher Price toy!
Was planning on keeping it for a loooong time...
2nd Gear
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 76
Likes: 0
From: Moyock, NC
Wish I still had my 87 Buick GN, rebuilt the whole drive train, was pushing 28 lbs of boost with alcohol injection. This car was fun in a straight line, would roast the tires while rolling at 35 mph, but could not go around corners. Was a fun summer car... Always had dreams of doing suspension work and turning it into a canyon carver.
The R50 is car number 31 for me. Of the 30 that preceeded it, the ones I miss:
1967 Dart
2000 S-10 Extreme (bought new).
1985 535i
I have a 1973 Duster now, but it's no replacement for the Dart. I wouldn't buy another small pickup (have Ram 2500 quad cab / longbed now). I considered another 535, a 635 or a 2002 as a daily classic. The MINI actually became my daily, and as much as I would like to have a classic commuter, the MINI really was the smart choice. Of course it rather fell into my lap, so I can't take the credit for a smart choice.
The one vehicle I'm wanting back is my 1965 Honda CB450 "Blackbomber." It was stolen, and I've never really been able to fill that void.
1967 Dart
2000 S-10 Extreme (bought new).
1985 535i
I have a 1973 Duster now, but it's no replacement for the Dart. I wouldn't buy another small pickup (have Ram 2500 quad cab / longbed now). I considered another 535, a 635 or a 2002 as a daily classic. The MINI actually became my daily, and as much as I would like to have a classic commuter, the MINI really was the smart choice. Of course it rather fell into my lap, so I can't take the credit for a smart choice.
The one vehicle I'm wanting back is my 1965 Honda CB450 "Blackbomber." It was stolen, and I've never really been able to fill that void.
2nd Gear
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 68
Likes: 0
From: south puget sound, wa.
1966 Triumph TR4a (non-IRS)- a total pain in the **** but oozed personality and charm (maybe that's what I kept having to wipe up from the garage floor?)
Last edited by peppermill; Aug 9, 2012 at 05:29 PM.
6th Gear
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 3,748
Likes: 1
From: In my secret lair of justice somewhere among the sewers of Jacksonville Florida.
I wish I still had my.....
The muscle car-of-my-youth, lo those "centuries" ago, was a 1965 GTO with a 500hp Chevy 396 under the hood connected to a 2sp crash box (modified powerglide) out of a wrecked econodragster. With a suspension tuned for road racing rather than drag racing. Still clad with ripple-wall slicks the car was a legitimate 10 second street machine in the quarter mile. This was in the early 70's before I started college, after entering college I sold the car 2 weeks before the 1st fuel crisis - talk about good timing. Went to a V-Dub.
The 396 was out of my cousin's Chevy II - he put any aluminum L88 427 under his hood. I'm from Cincinnati originally so the 396 went to a shop of a childhood friend - Tom Ellison of Ellison's engine service and he worked his magic on the big block- the engine was completely blue printed then keeping the original 396cid unbored, a new cam (very high lift/low duration), reworked heads, lifters, oversized valves, triple valve springs and pistons along with an Ellison fabricated 2 4bbl cross ram manifold were installed - the engine went from 370hp to around 520+ hp. Tom found the modified 2 speed crash box (I was on crutches at the time just back from NAM) and mated it to a new (at that time) Bendix drive line overdrive mated to a shorten driveshaft and an effective gear ratio of 5.88:1 on the track and 2.70:1 with the overdrive on the road. A good compromise for a a street/strip rod. And of course tubular headers with cut outs controlled from in the car. A few yanks would disengage the mufflers (2 huge Cadillac mufflers) to direct cutouts, it was deafening. Also built a full roll cage (4 point) into the car. All of this occurred under the stock hood lines with only that little hood scoop made operation to give any thing away. Looked like a loud muffler/ big tired street rod on the cheap when it was anything but. Yea, we had the bug bad then.
Man did that car jump up and move but you had better have your mouth closed when that crash box shifted. The car would literally lunge forward snapping your mouth shut. It was great at a time when gas was 33 1/3 cents a gallon and I guess I needed to get it out of my system. Over the years since I got several chances to race in original Mini's and loved the go cart handling but being a relative mechanical druid (my mechanical go-to was to sacrifice a chicken to the engine bay God - it usually worked-not) with a severe arthritic disability, I couldn't crawl around in the engine bay to keep the bloody thing running as a daily driver (could only afford one car for me) and yeah it could be a real ***** to turn over on a cold winters morning. Used a plug-in heated dip stick at night to keep the oil warm, made a big difference. Man, I miss that car but not the cost of keeping it in gas ($.33 a gallon then vs $4.00 a gallon today, you can do the math).
The muscle car-of-my-youth, lo those "centuries" ago, was a 1965 GTO with a 500hp Chevy 396 under the hood connected to a 2sp crash box (modified powerglide) out of a wrecked econodragster. With a suspension tuned for road racing rather than drag racing. Still clad with ripple-wall slicks the car was a legitimate 10 second street machine in the quarter mile. This was in the early 70's before I started college, after entering college I sold the car 2 weeks before the 1st fuel crisis - talk about good timing. Went to a V-Dub.
The 396 was out of my cousin's Chevy II - he put any aluminum L88 427 under his hood. I'm from Cincinnati originally so the 396 went to a shop of a childhood friend - Tom Ellison of Ellison's engine service and he worked his magic on the big block- the engine was completely blue printed then keeping the original 396cid unbored, a new cam (very high lift/low duration), reworked heads, lifters, oversized valves, triple valve springs and pistons along with an Ellison fabricated 2 4bbl cross ram manifold were installed - the engine went from 370hp to around 520+ hp. Tom found the modified 2 speed crash box (I was on crutches at the time just back from NAM) and mated it to a new (at that time) Bendix drive line overdrive mated to a shorten driveshaft and an effective gear ratio of 5.88:1 on the track and 2.70:1 with the overdrive on the road. A good compromise for a a street/strip rod. And of course tubular headers with cut outs controlled from in the car. A few yanks would disengage the mufflers (2 huge Cadillac mufflers) to direct cutouts, it was deafening. Also built a full roll cage (4 point) into the car. All of this occurred under the stock hood lines with only that little hood scoop made operation to give any thing away. Looked like a loud muffler/ big tired street rod on the cheap when it was anything but. Yea, we had the bug bad then.
Man did that car jump up and move but you had better have your mouth closed when that crash box shifted. The car would literally lunge forward snapping your mouth shut. It was great at a time when gas was 33 1/3 cents a gallon and I guess I needed to get it out of my system. Over the years since I got several chances to race in original Mini's and loved the go cart handling but being a relative mechanical druid (my mechanical go-to was to sacrifice a chicken to the engine bay God - it usually worked-not) with a severe arthritic disability, I couldn't crawl around in the engine bay to keep the bloody thing running as a daily driver (could only afford one car for me) and yeah it could be a real ***** to turn over on a cold winters morning. Used a plug-in heated dip stick at night to keep the oil warm, made a big difference. Man, I miss that car but not the cost of keeping it in gas ($.33 a gallon then vs $4.00 a gallon today, you can do the math).
6th Gear
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 4,168
Likes: 402
what an entertaining thread. y'all are a bunch of damned sinners and not boring at all!
my own sacrifice to the demons of hindsight is a 1956 XK-150...
but y'know what? it doesn't really matter any more - I've had nine years now on the R53 and by gum I've had more fun with it than any previous vehicle I have owned.
:-)
my own sacrifice to the demons of hindsight is a 1956 XK-150...
but y'know what? it doesn't really matter any more - I've had nine years now on the R53 and by gum I've had more fun with it than any previous vehicle I have owned.
:-)