Here’s your Question Of The Day: What vehicle do you know is bad for you but yet long to own? Something you’d have to be insane to take on in real life, but for which there’s still a big ol’ spot in your dream garage?
For me, two come to mind.
One would be full-size Jeeps. I know about the body build quality issues. I know how they like to rust. I know that many of them are mechanical nightmares now thirty years on – but yet I am drawn to them. Owning the two I did (COAL here and here) cured me of that to some extent; I dismiss any wrecks much more quickly, mostly because I can now size them up on the fly. But somehow, I know that if a nice one crosses my path again, and if the price is cheap enough, it’ll probably be going home with me.
If Jeeps are one, ’60s Chevy vans would be the other. I have a set of really fat 15″ ET slots sitting on my shelf, just waiting for the day they can be mounted on an early flat-nose GM van. They’ve been there for years, and will continue to wait there until that day finally comes.
That day came mighty close once. I knew a fellow in the semi-nearby town of Saint Cloud had been advertising such a van for weeks. After waiting until I was sure he’d be in a negotiating mood, I finally called him up and made an appointment.
The van turned out to be pretty much what I’d been wanting: 90″ wheelbase, factory two-barrel 307, manual gearbox (“three in the tree”), not rusted to hell and going cheap. It had windows in the side doors, but hey – beggars can’t be choosers. After a quick joyride we talked money; several minutes later I was heading home, $700 poorer, with the van in tow.
Cleaning out the van yielded some interesting time capsule pieces: a roughed-up Led Zeppelin sticker (stuck it on my toolbox), an eight-track of Nazareth’s ‘Hair Of The Dog’ (which somehow seemed to fit with my vision for the van) and a matching set of Cheech and Chong dashboard figurines (no comment).
After the requisite tune-up, I began formulating my plans for the van. The body damage was unfortunate (I still wonder what it hit, and/or what hit it), as was the previous owner’s decision to cut off the somewhat rusted rockers. Meantime, I decided to drive it as it was while hunting for body parts.
But as with so many ill-conceived plans, this one would end up backfiring. Months of scouring the countryside yielded almost no donor vans, and none whatsoever that could provide the sheet metal I so desperately needed. My hopes for restoration began to stall.
Eventually a friend of a friend came along who wanted to buy the van. I doubled my money on it (part of my original consideration when negotiating – I never like to pay more than 50% of what I think I can sell a given vehicle for). But with the ETs once again shelved, the itch had yet to be scratched. Someday…
So, how about you? What vehicle do you wish you owned, even though it might not be the best thing for you? Or – better still, was there a time when you gave in to temptation and said ‘yes’ to some jalopy you shouldn’t have?
I wish I owned a Jag 420G . And to make things more interesting reliability-wise, it’d need the factory p/w, sunroof and a/c. Of course it wouldn’t fit in my single-car garage… *sighs and looks wistfully at internet auction sites*
I’ve mentioned on CC before, I did give in and bought my late Grandfather’s 1936 Dodge Touring Sedan from his estate in 1994…when I was a student. It hadn’t been on the road since 1960 and needed full restoration which was well beyond my abilities (physical and financial!). Sold it in 1999 when I needed a house deposit. Of course it’s now stripped for restoration and lives only a few km from me, so I could give in and buy it back again…
1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 convertible- completely impractical to try and find space to park it, sucks down fuel like it owns shares in Shell, and quite frankly these were not great cars when new. But… a little part of my heart beats faster every time I see one for sale! Failing that a Porsche 928. I know way to much about what fails and the terrifying cost to repair and maintain these fabulous beasts…..
OH YEAH on the 1973 Delta 88 convertible. Hopefully you will find a decent one & go for the gusto. These cars are super-reliable and will run forever given reasonable care. The top mechanisms are a bit delicate & a witch to repair when they screw up though.
Plenty of vehicles I’d like that would be bad for me.A 59 Buick Electra coupe in red,I don’t care about it’s horrendous thirst,feeble brakes,poor handling it was the first car I ever wanted.
An Edsel woody see above
A 70 big block SuperBee/Coronet preferably in Panther Pink/Moulin Rouge.It would probably have had a very hard life and be badly restored/maintained when it came into my hands and be far too thirsty.
Do motorcycles count?If so I would like a Silk 700, a 70s water cooled 2 stroke twin based on the Scott.Less than 200 were made,they were never fully sorted and had boiling radiators etc,a reserve fuel tap you had to take the side panel off to get at and you had to put 2 stroke oil in the petrol like a BSA Bantam which just isn’t on with a bike that cost BMW money.No dealers,a factory that closed over 30 years ago and there’s going to be lots of frustration and swearing to come.
An Equus Bass
Jaguar E-type, coupe or convertible. I’ve wanted one since I was about 11 years old and started reading “Road & Track”. They’re magic. Sure, they’re completely irrational for me because I can’t afford one, I don’t fit in them, and I can’t work on one. Still, what are dreams for? Make mine red.
An Aston Martin DB7. I don’t really care if it’s the I6 or the V12, either way I’d be happy. A convertible would be even better. If that’s too dreamy and not guilty enough, I’d have to say an AMC musclecar, probably a Javelin because I’m a family man and the two seats would be a great place to punish my babies. I’d like that because it’s a little weird and unique, it would be nice to have something that no one else has. You can find Chevelles and vintage Mustangs and GTOs and all those, but an AMC? Not really. That’s what makes it cool.
So a DB7 or a Javelin.
Here’s a few:
280ZX with t-tops
Saab 900 Turbo
Early 80’s Corvette with the glass hatch.
AMC Javelin or AMX
For me this is an easy question to answer. In addition to the money sinkhole Buick wagon I currently own, I would like to have a De Tomaso Mangusta, and a Jaguar XJS. I would use the Jaguar to run and get parts for the Mangusta, or it could be the other way around.
As a little boy I would collect and play with matchbox cars with “special” cars that were my dream cars. Through the years those cars slipped though my fingers and into fond memories (just like the real ones). The only constant dream car and truck that I always loved is the Camaro and the first generation K5 Blazer! In the 38 years of driving, I have had the pleasure to have owned 3 second generation Camaros (including my first car a 6 cyl. 1971 Camaro). Today I remember the those cars well but unfortunately I never did acquired that Blazer with the removable roof!
Presently, I love “borrowing” my son’s 1995 Camaro convertible on a sunny day and taking an adventurous drives in the countryside.
Hey I found your van:
http://www.oldparkedcars.com/2013/11/1965-chevy-van.html
1997 Lexus LS400
1999 Audi A6 Wagon Manual Trans
2002 Saab 9-5 Aero Wagon Manual Trans
All in black of course
Any Acura NSX
1959 Cadillac Coupe Deville and a 1958 Buick Limited. Two dream classics.
Hmm, stock factory vehicle? Corvair Greenbrier. I don’t care if I’m part of the crumplezone, I always loved those.
Real guilty pleasure would be a 60s gasser style 55-56 Ford with a big 385 series under the hood. High center of gravity, solid axles, ludicrous power and terrible driveability, yet I adore the simple purposeful nature of them.
My favorite cars are big four-door hardtops, so pretty much any car I’m interested in qualifies purely on fuel economy and safety, but there are two cars, both of which I’d be able to buy for very little money, that really worry me.
The first is pretty much any Japanese four-door hardtop from the late 1980s or early 1990s. I love hardtops, I love jellybean aerodynamics, so a Nissan Cedric Cima or Mazda Persona would be perfect for me. On the other hand, importing a car from another country is risky enough, but none of the JDM hardtops were closely related to anything sold in the USA, so if it ever broke down I could be looking at a repair bill higher than the cost of another car.
But everyone knows how reliable ’80s Japanese cars are. The one I am genuinely terrified of, because no matter how many times I repeat that it would be a horrible idea to buy one I just know I will get one as soon as I have $10,000 lying around, is a BMW 8 series. It’s by far the most beautiful BMW of all time (from an era when they couldn’t make a bad looking car if they tried), and one of the most beautiful cars of all time. A hardtop coupe with insanely huge windows, a V12 engine, two of the best paint jobs ever offered (the dark red and dark green metallic options, still no idea which I would choose), and those ridiculously cool pop-up headlights. But it’s a BMW, and if they weren’t already way too unreliable and expensive to work on, a top-of-the-top-of-the-line luxury car that someone is trying to get rid of for $8,000 has likely had an extremely rough life and wouldn’t even be trustworthy as a third or fourth backup car. I will still own one, though. Even if I have to go against everything I stand for and keep it locked in a garage like an animal, I will own one.
My first ‘car’. My granddaddys’ 1984 Chevy pick up, passed down to a 1984 model idiot with more enthusiasm then brains. My parents figured I’d be relatively safe in two tons of malaise-y truck steel. They snuck a mechanic a bill or two to stick a restrictor plate in during a carb rebuild while I wasn’t looking. They underestimated my ability to wring speed and excitement out of just about anything.
But they had a surefire plan to kill my driving excitement, they bought a new Dodge intrepid, and gave me thier old dodge dynasty! Ah ha! Stick that boy in a granny mobile. Lets see how much fun he can have in a dolled out 90s K-Car! Plenty actually. Did you know that with a long stretch of two lane country highway, and the right kind of fool behind the gas pedal, a 1990 dodge dynasty with the 3.3 litre V6 can kiss a hundred and twenty miles per hour? I’m truly surprised I survived my youth.