I’m a bit different as far as car guys go.
Most car enthusiasts I know in my station in life have one or two nice cars that they keep all shined up in the garage and they come out on nice weekends for a car show, ‘cruise’ night, a trip with the family for ice cream or maybe they are the occasional racer, and the car could be a classic or a late model. Their daily driver is usually a late model pickup, or maybe some kind of small sedan if they have a commute.
And then there’s me. I own and manage a fleet of 15 cars, all of which have been documented through my COAL series here in 2018-19, and all of them rotate through my daily routine.
That magic 15 does include the cars that belong to my wife and kids, so, while technically not all of them are mine, I still assume all of the maintenance and driving duties. I take a lot of pride in keeping them all road ready and able to be driven long distances and/or in heavy traffic at any time as I have always wanted a garage full of cars that I could drive anywhere, anytime. Winters here in the Tidewater area of Virginia are pretty mild and I am lucky to be able to drive them all year, though I generally don’t drive the nicer ones in bad weather. They may not all be pretty but they are mechanically sound, and even though most of them are exempt, they can all pass a state safety inspection.
Maintenance can be challenging. Every car gets an oil change at least once a year, and they all get cleaned and detailed (by me) at each service. Every year I usually buy at least one battery and a set of tires. Since most of my cars were supposed to be in the scrapyard decades ago, there’s almost always a repair to be made, and I keep a running status board in my garage on who needs what. Depending on what my schedule allows, the complexity and expense of the repair, or whether I just plain want to do it or not, factors into whether I do the job or if I decide to support the local economy by sending it to a shop in town with a mechanic that I know and trust. I’m also connected to a hot rod shop when I need specialized attention.
So after a year on the road, how did they do?
My 1969 Charger is a rock, my personal Cockroach of the Road. In the 11 years and 40,000 miles that I’ve owned it, I could count on one hand the number of repairs I’ve done to it. It starts every day, every time, even in -1 degree weather while most other 1968-70 Chargers have long been taken out of circulation and are living pampered lives and trailered to car shows.
This past year, I brought it to a shop for an alignment that swore they could properly align an old car without a computer after I rebuilt the front suspension last year. While I couldn’t feel it in the way it drove at first, I noticed the left front tire was wearing unevenly so I brought it in. It pulls to the right now and the right front tire toes in badly. When I get the time, I’ll bring it back. Otherwise, it runs fine after I put about 2000 miles on it this year, mostly highway miles to work, a few trips out to visit my daughter at college 100 miles away (its her favorite car) and a few local car gatherings, and needs nothing other than a new pair of front tires and a correct alignment.
The Road Runner ended up being my unplanned big project of the year. Last spring, not long after I wrote the COAL article, I had taken my daughter and her boyfriend out to a cruise night in it. Pulling into the show, one of the spectators told me there was smoke coming out of the tailpipes. Sure enough, it was blowing a huge plume of blue smoke out of the driver’s side exhaust pipe and the rear bumper, trunk lid and under the car were covered in oil. Leaky valve guides? No, it wouldn’t make this much smoke. A blown head gasket? No water in the oil. A broken piston ring was my ejumacated guess.
A few weeks later, I had some time to pull the cylinder head off of the engine and examine it; turns out a broken rocker arm on cylinder #5 shot 2 pushrods up out of their galleys and they were lying inside the valve cover. That could have ended badly. I pulled the engine, brought it to my favorite machine shop, and had them autopsy the short block for any damage. The block itself was OK but when he got to the bearings, they and the crank journals were badly worn so I had him replace all the bearings and turn the crank; the crankshaft had already been turned and was out of tolerance so I needed to replace it. Luckily, I had one in my shed. Interestingly, I never noticed a serious drop in oil pressure. 
It took almost a month to get the engine back and a few more weeks to put it back in the car so I was without the Road Runner for a good part of the year and pretty much the whole car season. Sadly, the ‘Bird only got a few hundred miles added to the odometer this year and that was mainly break-in miles on the new engine.
The ’71 Satellite is following in the Charger’s tire tracks as a Cockroach of the Road. The 318 starts every day, never complains, runs the way it should, and does whatever I need it to do and I have only replaced a water pump in the 5 years I’ve owned it. Back in July, I was planning on taking it on my annual Chryslers at Carlisle trip, about 6 hours each way, because it gets decent mileage, rides and drives really nice, the trunk is an epic size for car part purchases, and the old R12 air conditioner is truly beautiful.
I preemptively rebuilt the Carter 2 bbl just before the show as the accelerator pump had developed a dead spot, causing the car to stumble on hard acceleration, but now it runs great. However, the day before the trip, while test driving the car after the carb rebuild, the A/C started blowing hot air, despite my having driven it on a 120 mile trip the week before with no A/C problems. The near 50 year old system had developed a leak and I lost about 2 lbs of R12 Freon, which is hard to find and expensive when it is, and I only have a few cans left.
I was battling a virus all summer that kept me cranky and irritable so I didn’t feel like fighting an old car on a 700 mile road trip and wound up taking my late model Challenger instead. I did otherwise manage to add about 3000 miles on it this year and I still need to chase down the A/C leak. I hope its a simple fix, like a leaky valve or something because I would like to preserve the original R12 system for as long as I can, but if it needs major repair, I will convert it to R134. Later this year, if there are no other major life distractions, I’m going to try and get it into the paint shop.
I picked up my ’73 Duster in September. With only 61000 original, well-cared for miles, I wasn’t expecting much in the way of mechanical trouble but about 2 weeks after I got it, the fuel pump quit in a grocery store parking lot which required a tow home (thank you tow insurance) A quick trip to the local box parts store had the car running again that afternoon with a new pump but within a few days, the car started running horribly and stalled out every time it stopped and came to an idle.
I could hear the gas draining out of the carb, there was a heavy gasoline smell, the bowl was overflowing. I got out my fuel pressure gauge and took a reading – it was 20 psi. Top Fuel cars probably don’t run that high. A stock 318 with a 2 bbl carb should only need about 6 or 7 psi; race cars only need about 12-13. I took the pump back and exchanged for another one from the same (made in China) brand because that’s all they had in stock and I had the same problem with that one. I returned that one for a refund and ordered one online from a more reputable name brand and it works fine but the pressure from the other 2 pumps was so high, it knocked the settings for the floats and jets off. I reset the floats and replaced the jets from another carb I had in my shop and was back in business. The Duster is happily chugging along at about 18 mpg and I may enter it in the Survivor Class at a major national car show next year. I put about 800 miles on it since last September. It needs a couple of minor repairs though; a speedometer cable, a windshield wiper motor and the brake light switch just went bad.
I just posted about my recently repainted 1977 Grand Prix. I didn’t drive it a lot this year because, quite frankly, it just didn’t look good. But, after spending a month in the body shop for its makeover, I’m making up for it now, mileage-wise. I only put about 1000 miles on it last year but there will be a lot more coming. Mechanically, no repairs.
The ’83 Malibu encountered a cooling problem this year. As I was driving home from work one afternoon in the spring, I watched the temp gauge start to climb up and over the 200 degree mark; the car has a 180 degree thermostat and never goes higher than that, even when sitting in traffic. The car has a pro-built stroked 383 small block so overheating was a bit of a concern. I was only about 15 miles from home and there were only 2 traffic lights between me and my house and it only climbed as high as 220 degrees and stayed there so I decided to risk it; it doesn’t have aluminum heads and traditional Chevy small blocks are pretty resilient.
But an even bigger problem arose. At the same time, my wife was at a doctors appointment getting a round of allergy shots. She had a reaction to one of the shots and passed out in the doctors office and to add to the situation, she had our 1 year old daughter with her. Luckily, a friend of ours is a nurse manager at a neighboring medical facility and she came over to the doctors office that was treating my wife and took my wife’s Durango to drive her and the baby to the nearest hospital. Naturally, I turned around and met them at the hospital. After I got there, our nurse friend left to meet up with some friends to go dinner and a movie. Along with the keys to the Durango.
We tried calling and texting but she didn’t answer; she was at a movie and her phone was off. It was only about a 20 minute drive home so while the hospital started the discharge process, I drove home in the overheating Malibu and got the spare set of Durango keys and came back in another car. At first, I thought it was a plugged radiator in the Malibu; with a 4 core radiator, I only saw water passing through 2 tubes, so I put a new radiator in, as well as a new fan clutch as the old one was seized. Nope, still running hot. The hoses were fine and full of water and the fan was pulling plenty of air through the radiator; that only left the water pump but I had initially ruled that out since it wasn’t leaking nor was the bearing or shaft making any noise.
I was wrong the whole time; I pulled the water pump and the impeller blades had almost completely disintegrated. A new Delco water pump later and it was back to 180 degrees. That was an expensive. time consuming misdiagnoses. Later, in October at 5:30 in the morning while driving to work, I could smell antifreeze and then I heard a loud pop and the windshield got soaked with water but it wasn’t raining. The heater control valve under the hood had basically exploded. I once again drove the car home watching the temp gauge rise but luckily I was only 4 miles from home. Such is life with old cars… Right now the brake pedal is getting spongy and starts to settle to the floor while stopped for a light so I may be ordering a new master cylinder pretty soon and its due for a new set of tires this year. I put about 1500 miles on it this year.
My Delta 88 started the year out in body shop hell. In the summer of 2018, I was rear ended in that car by a logging truck. Damage wasn’t terrible, but I spent months trying to get paid from the insurance company to make the repairs. I didn’t get the car back until the summer and it still wasn’t finished but the major work was done and I wanted the car back. I still need to order a rear bumper filler extension panel. The Olds’ most significant even this year didn’t even pertain to the car itself. I had a built 403 for it sitting in the garage that I wanted to put in the car.
While it was at the body shop, a friend was building a G-body ’87 Cutlass and was initially going to “LS-it” like everyone else is doing now but along the way had decided to keep the car 100% Oldsmobile and asked me if I would sell him the 403. I said sure, since I wasn’t doing anything with it anytime soon and I,d rather see it go to someone that was actually going to put it to use. He has it in his car now and it runs great, very torquey.
What was funny about that was, not even a week after I sold the 403, another friend, who is a mechanic at the hot rod shop that I patronize, was building a ’68 Cutlass S for a customer and had swapped an LS engine into that car. He offered me the original ’68 Rocket 350 from the Cutlass for free just to get it out of his shop. I loaded it up that day. He said it had a rod knock and needed a rebuild but it only had about 90K on it and had never been rebuilt before so it still has all of its original tolerances. While it may be 53 cubic inches smaller than the 403, it has a stronger block and better heads so it may even itself out in terms of power and longevity, and besides, it’s an Oldsmobile Delta 88, not a Hellcat Challenger, I’m not looking to break any speed records with it but I do want it to be fun to drive. The 350 will be going to the machine shop soon and I look forward to de-malaising this car in the same way I did with the Grand Prix and Malibu. Despite its stay at the shop, I still knocked out 1000 miles on the Olds and it got a new set of tires this year.
I didn’t kill my Grand National this past year, and that’s saying a lot. I’m afraid to push it hard since its proved to be somewhat of a fragile flower snowflake of a car. It’s leaking oil at the turbo now, which I have had off of the engine a few times so I might very well be responsible for the oil puddles under the car but its not so bad that I haven’t been able to put about 2500 miles on it this year, mainly to work and to car gatherings. I would like it to visit the hot rod shop for some tuning and general tying up of loose ends but it runs OK in the mean time. I generally only like V8s and hate the way most V6s sound (I like a good inline 6 though,) but one night, I ran another Grand National in a friendly little stop light run and the sound of those dueling Turbo Regals was simply glorious.
My ’96 Ram knocked out 5000 miles and no repairs in the last year. Someone posted a video here on CC of a Ram from this generation with an old Chrysler gear reduction starter retrofitted in, so guess what I will be doing the next time its due for service. Back in 2000, the truck was my primary source of transportation when my oldest daughter was born and we spent many hours in it driving around, trying to get her to fall asleep. This past summer, it took her and her stuff off to college 100 miles away (sniff)
I picked up a 2000 Sonoma with an unexciting 2.2L 4 cyl and 4L60 automatic that just turned 100K miles for my daughter as her first ‘car’ from a friend who bought it new as a general around-the-house pickup. But what started out as a $500 ‘buddy deal’ purchase price turned into $2500 after finding out it needed a transmission and an air conditioner compressor. Still, $2500 isn’t a bad investment for a safe and reliable kid’s first car. I put a couple of thousand miles on it to keep it roadworthy until she gets her license this summer. Why a Sonoma? They tend to be reliable, generally do very well in a crash, she can only carry one passenger and this one, with its 4 cylinder and automatic, is really sloooooooooow. While I dream of swapping in an LS or a small block, the 2.2 chugs along slowly and safely.
My ’02 Durango was the primary mode of family transportation until my wife bought a 5000 mile 2018 Dodge Charger Daytona last June and has since been relegated to doing SUV-only things around the house, including a trip to the Outer Banks with our two year old and 2 large dogs. It has 199,600 miles right at this moment and I haven’t yet decided how I am going to reward it when it hits 200K. We put about 10,000 miles on it this past year and the repairs included the master cylinder and lower ball joints, both done by a local shop. It still looks and runs good and doesn’t even have so much as a rattle. I thought late model Dodges were supposed to be horrible?
This might be the first time I’ve used bandwith space for a picture of a Saturn, but the 2002 SC2 that my wife bought new is still buzzing away and is the high mileage champion of the driveway with 320,000 miles on its original, un-rebuilt engine and transmission. This year, it needed a starter, a radiator fan (I did those) and a brake hose replaced (farmed out.) My wife drives it to work on rainy days when her Charger’s soft compound tires are like slicks on wet roads and other places where she doesn’t want to take her “orange race car” and we put about 1500 miles on it this year.
My ’04 Ram, (TBT) is still doing truck things the way a truck should. Trailering the boat, doing horse stuff for my wife, and the occasional commute to work; 2000 miles this year and it still has the OE battery. No repairs other than a tire plug.
Finally, my Challenger remains my primary road trip car. It replaced the Satellite at the last minute for my trip to the Carlisle Chrysler show in July when I decided that I wanted a drama-free trip while I was sick. It also made a trip up to New York state for a friend’s wedding on Labor Day weekend, where I was forced to endure holiday weekend New York traffic with a clutch. I’m spoiled by my mostly rural and relatively lightly traveled Virginia Northern Neck roads. Also in September, I had signed up for a track day at Virginia International Raceway with it but it was cancelled at the last minute and will hopefully be rescheduled soon, but I need to do a brake job on it first. Lately, I’ve been dreaming of a 410 ci stroker engine for it…
And there you have it, that’s a typical year in my garage. I mentioned before that I’m not a collector. Collectors have their cars in enclosed in buildings and are curated like pieces of art, which of course they are. And I’m not besmirching them, that’s just not how I roll, pun intended. I’m just trying to manage a Jay Leno hobby on a public servant’s salary.
Wow, my Grandma Siri’s ’77 Grand Prix didn’t look as good as yours, but it does bring back some funny memories of her tearing-out in our gravel driveway! Thanks for a great read (and for the 320K Saturn, still buzzing away…)
I am really convinced that as unrefined as those Saturns may have been (relative to Japanese competitors), that they were totally bulletproof if taken care of. I have commented on it before, but one of my frugal friends has been driving one that he put nearly half a million miles on.
Really enjoyed this LtDan. Thank you
My thanks too. I’ve loved reading your COALs and this is a great summary. I have 9 cars, all used all the time with mileages per annum from 1500 to 15000. It’s what classics are for: using.
Great article. Love your cars and their stories. You must have a large garage or barn to store them all – surely worthy of its own article.
I live in a rural area on 3.5 acres. I built a 30X40 shop not long after I bought the house and then added on an attached semi-enclosed carport; theres no way I could live my life in a city or suburban HOA subdivision. My nearest neighbor is about a quarter mile away and we are good with that.
The nicest cars live in the shop but, as my cars are gradually getting nicer (the Grand Prix, for example,) I’ve run out of enclosed space. My neighbor is a class A contractor so we will be having a chat about a garage extension soon.
I’d love to have 15 cars in my stable! Can you comment on how you afford to insure them all?
A good driving record, living in a low crime area, and not having a monthly car payment
And here I am, struggling to find time to vacuum the carpets of my two cars.
Nice article!!
Now , what area of public service are you in exactly???
Makes me feel negligent about my own project car!
This year, I non-opped it, so I only racked up about 200 miles, driving locally around town while addressing what issues I could.
I do all the maintenance on my daily driver, my wife’s car, and my project car. I can only imagine the strain of trying to keep a fleet of 10+ cars going!
Wow! That’s a dream. I’m terrible with tools, I don’t have space, and many of those cars are unbelievable expensive in Uruguay, to the tune of 25K for a 20 year old truck like those. Then again, I don’t think I’d be able or willing to dedicate so much time and resources to many cars.
All told, the best for me is having a friend with all those and to visit every now and then, enjoying but not taking resposibility.
Do you want to be my friend?????
Congratulations on all the hard work, Dan.
thanks! I would love an all-expense paid trip to Uruguay 😉
You got it! (some all expense payments may be paid by you) Bring the Saturn, LOL
I don’t know how you find time and the inclination to keep all of these vehicles going, but I’m glad you do, and that you share it with us.
My ’01 S10 with the 2.2L was so slow, that after 14 years I couldn’t stand it anymore, and sold it. It was reliable, though.
May you (and your fleet) have a happy, healthy 2020.
You have the expense of a child in college and the time consumption of a one year old and you maintain, repair, refurb and insure 15 cars. Impressive!
I like all your chariots. Your tastes are similar to mine, except I would have at least one of the fleet be a station wagon. I’m really amazed at the mileage on the Durango and the Saturn.
What’s the placard hanging from the front license plates?
Thanks Jon. Its my volunteer fire department tag. And I really want a Country Squire or a Vista Cruiser at some point!
My always stylish 80-something Mother was chatting with me about her all time favorite “Suburban Status Symbol” wagon over the weekend.
Dan, you are incredible! How in the world do you find time to manage all the cars and be part of the family? I’m envious!
lol, its really not that hard. When one of them breaks, I just fix it (or take it to get fixed). It may take some time to get to it, for instance it took probably 6 weeks to get the Malibu back on the road after the water pump goof up.
It also helps to have a flexible work schedule and a very understanding and patient wife and family!
How you maintain and improve the fleet is very impressive. I assume you don’t just sit and watch a lot of TV very often. 😁
Awhile ago I wanted to buy your ’83 Grand Prix, a personal favorite of mine based solely on looks. I was finally going to try and contact you, as I was actually serious but low on dough at the time, but you had listed your cars on here sometime before and the ’83 wasn’t among them. So I bought a practical Ford Escape SUV competent/modern/appliance for my wife instead. (Yawn…)
Also, I love that Satellite. The old green paint only adds to it’s coolness factor with me.
And of course the Radial T/As, which I still think should be on everything.
I seriously hate TV, as well as pro sports, I’d rather be in the garage working on something. I also dont hunt or fish much anymore like I did when I was younger. Whatever time I can ever get to myself is spent in the garage.
I did sell the GP, I wish I knew you were interested in it. My daughter went off to school and had no use for it so it was replaced with the Duster. It did go to a good home though.
That’s quite the fleet Dan. I will repeat what the other’s said, I am not sure how you find the time, but great job! I am envious of your collection and your lack of inclement weather. All your old cars are just the kind of cars I like, and I like that they are all driven. I try to do the same with my old cars, although I have a much more limited driving season. I am also somewhat limited by the classic car insurance which prohibits or limits some types of activities, like regularly commuting with the old cars. And regular car insurance won’t adequately protect these old cars, if they are even willing to take one on. That said, highway trips are one of my favorite activities with the old cars, even though they don’t have A/C.
Too bad about the 440, glad to see you got it back together. Any idea why the rocker failed? Was it an aluminium aftermarket roller rocker? Your Olds makes me miss my old Oldsmobile Delta 88 and Custom Cruiser. I had a 403 ready to swap in my Custom Cruiser too, but my fire destroyed both. That 350 would be a better choice IMO anyway. What head does it have on it? A 350 with decent compression and a mild cam would be perfect in your big Olds.
Thanks Vince. I just live the car life, lol. If you ever make it down this way, I will be happy to toss you the keys. Not sure why the rocker failed, Im just happy it didnt wipe out my camshaft or bend the rods. The Olds has #5 heads.
Excellent work Dan! I read all your COAL stories and remember all those back and forths you had to do when the kids were born and you were posted to deployments, etc. These are all great machines, I hope they will all continue to serve you well for many more years.
Thanks for this insight into your everyday routine with your big fleet. I always enjoy your articles, and reading how well driven your CCs are.
Your daughter’s Sonoma is identical to several pickups that my employer operates. I’ve driven them a few times, and aside from the lack of power, they’re good-driving vehicles. Seems like a good choice for a beginning driver.
theyre good little trucks! One of my patrol vehicles was a ’93 S10 4X4 with a 4.3L V6 and a 5 speed and that was a great truck-perfect size that could go anywhere and it was pretty quick with the 6 and a stick.
I wish they still made good, solid, basic little trucks like these, The ‘compact’ trucks today are just too big and bloated
Yup! Today’s “small” trucks are still too big for my liking.
I stepped back in time and purchased this “just right” sized pick up (kinda sorta) a few months ago.
Sweet ride! Care to tell us more about it?
Thank you all for the kind words guys, as always, very much appreciated. I actually went back and forth about writing this because I really didnt want to come off as pompous or bragging, I just wanted to share how I, a pretty regular guy on a middle class income, manage a small fleet of old cars. Obviously, my family will always come first, but these old cars are my passion and will one day become my legacy to my children. I figured if anyone could appreciate them, it would be the crew here at CC. Thanks for listening!
Like everyone else, I’m impressed with what you are keeping on top of.
I’m most impressed by 18 mpg from the Duster. I had a ’74 Dart for 6 years and never really got much better than gan 14. Considering my big block ’65 Chrysler will do 10-12 I was not thrilled.
Properly tuned up and driven conservatively Mopar’s 318 V8 engine got surprisingly good gas mileage in the big bumpered Dart body.
By this time the Dart/Valiant (esp the 4 door models) had grown larger and gotten heavier; too much weight for the Slant Six to pull around economically.
My Duster, Satellite and Charger are all stock 318s, and Ive owned a several others over the years and they all do around 18 mpg, thats about their sweet spot. They might drop to 13 or 14 around town though
Nice collection. I’m keeping just 3 on the road, that’s enough for me. Great write up, always enjoy your articles.
Well, with 10 cars, I know exactly what you are talking about concerning care. Fortunately none of my cars has ever given me a sudden surprise since owning them. Therefore most all my work revolves around basic maintenance and keeping clean.
An example being changing power steering hoses on my 67 Park Lane when no hoses made are correct. Had a OEM correct one with maybe 35 year old rubber so I took it down to a local guy who makes any hose for you. So he put new high pressure line in while using the correct metal tubing which was crucial. Also put a ferrule on the return hose instead of a cheap clamp. He does my A/C hoses later.
The engine, at 152,000 miles will either get rebuilt this summer or next as the Mopar 360 is also on the list. One before the other. Anyway I’m going to take a risk in April and drive the Park Lane on an 800 mile RT down US 385 Topaz Lake to Death Valley before over to Bakersfield and home. I think the car should make it oh but the gas bill will be big.
LT Dan is my automotive soul-mate.
His choice in cars mirrors my own.
If…IF… only I could describe them as pleasingly as Dan does!
Love your collection and admire your skills! Your Satellite sedan reminded me of a car that I saw in the mid-1970’s in Tappan, NY. It was what Chrysler called a “build out” car. Whatever parts were ordered for the assembly plant but not ordered for a car by a dealer were “built out” at the end of the model run because the new model had different interiors or would be a completely different model. The “gem” that I saw was a 1971 Plymouth Satellite _L41. That means the low-line trim. Looking at the VIN, I saw that this slug has a slant six in it. It was brown metallic paint with a vinyl roof, power windows, AM/FM stereo radio (two speakers), an upgraded mid-year high-line fabric trim, et cetera. At Chrysler at that time the sales force had a slogan from their superiors: There’s an ass for every seat.” This car proved it. I am sure that the lucky dealer who received this bomb requested a heavy incentive to blow it out the door.
I doubt that I will ever find it; but a ’71-72 Satellite 4 upper-line 4 door, 318, Torqueflite, working factory A/C, cloth interior, exterior chrome package with fender mounted turn signals would become a “keeper” for me.
This is my dream. But I live in one of those crowded suburban areas with just an attached two-car garage on 1/3 of an acre. I’m also not yet willing to give up my garage bay for my DD.
Thanks you for sharing!
LT Dan: I love your Mopar/GM collection! You’re my kinda guy! I’ve had to downsize my collection, which consisted of a ’66 Plymouth Sport Fury, ’69 Dodge A-100 Sportsman Van, ’73 340 Rallye Challenger, ’74 Challenger, ’70 Dodge Charger 500, ;83 Silverado, ’93 S-10,and the DD Honda Fit Sport. I’ve also owned some Fords, and other Chevy’s, but never any Ponchos. I still have the 74 Challenger, the ’70 Dodge, the ’69 Van (which I want to get back on the road), the SiIverado and the S-10. I’m always looking at cars I would LIKE to own, but I’ve come to the realization that I’ve more vehicles than time left to spend on them! So I enjoy the ones I have and dream of the others! 🙂
You are making me feel bad, because I’ve got a lot of things that need to be done on my fleet. Like you it seems like I buy tires and batteries like they are going out of style. In the last year my Lincoln needed a new battery, my van and the wife’s car got new tires. One year I spent over $2k on tires.
Keep up the good work that is a nice range of vehicles to choose from.
Dan, I always enjoy reading updates on your fleet. And that red Duster is gorgeous. Makes me want to search the Bay of E to see what’s on there. I also like that the Saturn has proved to be a mostly trouble-free machine after hundreds of thousands of miles.