Contractor · San Jose, CA · Member since 2008 · 157 posts · 10 votes
Are there any car enthusiasts on BP? I'm in to cars from the 60s through now. Some of my favorites are the '64 Lincoln Continental, '72 Chevelle, '87 Grand National, BMW 8-Series and the current MBZ CLS. Post your favorite vehicles and some you own, work on or plan on getting. Pictures are a plus!
I have pictures on old slides. If I could copy them I'd post them. Wish we would have kept the 300SL. Could've retired and then some.
Barrett Jackson sold an SL at about 350K, an XK140 was 250+K! I'm sure the XK 120 would be as much, smaller but faster. Mine was a PITA, it had been modified and raced at Riverside, it overheated in traffic, even in 20 minutes at 40mph wasn't enough to keep it cool, and that's not counting the electrical gremblins that ran through it. traded for a '57 modified 327, 4 speed. Got my first ticket in that car! LOL :cool:
Real Estate Investor · Dania Beach, FL · Member since 2010 · 74 posts · 41 votes
15y
I remember when my dad & I bought the XK 140. Drove from Chicago to Ames, Iowa to get it. The suspension was in rough shape. We had it rebuilt by Rolls-Royce in Chicago. The body was fiberglass and I ran over a tree stump and destroyed the passenger door. That was the end of me driving that. :cry: But I had a '66 Jag 3.0S that I totally restored. That was a nice car.
Developer · Garland, TX · Member since 2008 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
15y
My first was a 1965 Olds 442. Raced it in the streets a fair amount when I was 17 and 18 God had grace in that he kept me from killing myself or anyone else.
When I was about 30 I bought a near replica-- a red 1965 Olds Cutlass Convertible. Hmmm, maybe another convertible soon...
Investor · Lenexa, KS · Member since 2010 · 215 posts · 121 votes
15y
This ages me, in maybe a backwards way, my first car was a 1986 Buick Somerset (which is considered a classic now), 3.0 v6, and the first and last car that I jumped on a residential hill getting all four tires off the ground for what seemed like forever...and then landed not as softly as one thinks when he is 16.
Engineer · Bel Air, MD · Member since 2009 · 136 posts · 24 votes
15y
I had a 97 Toyota Supra 6spd. I had a single 71mm turbo on it, complete fuel system, ext, ext, ext. Loved the car. On pump gas 19lbs of boost made right around 600hp. on race gas 30lbs the turbo was good for around 700hp. Never opened up the motor to do head work, cams or to build the bottom end of it.
I was young and dumb. Bought toys and didnt think alot about investing. ALOT OF MONEY WASTED AWAY.....
Investor · McKinney, TX · Member since 2009 · 405 posts · 160 votes
15y
I like the muscle cars from the late 60's and early 70's.
Had an all original '69 Mustang Mach 1, R-Code (that's designates the 428 Cobra Jet engine with Ram Air) that I sold a couple years ago to a man in Australia.
I'll see if I can dig up a picture and post it tonight.
May pick up another classic muscle car at some point, could be another '69 Mach 1, I also like the GTO (69 or so), Challenger (early 70's), 'Cuda (early '70's) and a number of other vehicles from the late 60's early 70's.
Commercial Loan Officer · Southern Maine, ME · Member since 2009 · 782 posts · 415 votes
15y
It must have been a sad day to sell off that Mach 1! I too am a Mustang fan. I had a 71 Mach 1 with a 351W, but it was a project car. I quickly found out how little I actually knew about mechanics, so I threw in the towel and sold it.
I hope to buy another Mustang in a year or two. I'd be happy with early 70's Mach 1/Boss that was a weekend driver since they can still be had at reasonable prices.
My first car was a Datsun 280Z so I'm partial to those. I've owned several of them and they've all been great. Nice little sports car that's extremely reliable and not too bad to look at.
Grand Nationals are another one I'd love to own, but it's hard to find one that hasn't been driven a quarter mile at a time. Definitely a sexy car to look at though.
Investor · McKinney, TX · Member since 2009 · 405 posts · 160 votes
15y
The Mach 1 was a beauty, but I only took it to local shows, other than that it just sat in the garage. I doubled my money when I sold it, so I was OK with it.
If I get another one I'd probably go for a 351 and not be too concerned about it being all original. All original and numbers matching adds a lot of value, but I think something I could tinker on and fix up would be more enjoyable.
Commercial Loan Officer · Southern Maine, ME · Member since 2009 · 782 posts · 415 votes
15y
Agreed. I don't think I could justify the money to buy a numbers matching car. I'd be happy with a car that looked good where I could enjoy driving it without fear of adding on some miles to it.
Investor · McKinney, TX · Member since 2009 · 405 posts · 160 votes
15y
Bought it off eBay for $23K.
I kept it about 5 years then sold it on eBay for $48K.
A new paint job and interior and I probably could have gotten $70k or so for it, but no way could I bring myself to do it to that car. It had been painted once in the 80's, but the interior was still all original and very clean. Cars are only original once.
Investor · McKinney, TX · Member since 2009 · 405 posts · 160 votes
15y
Kind of partial to Mustangs, at one time we had 5 at the house.
Here's a picture set of a '98 my Son picked up that we replaced the rear quarter on. Pictures detail the work we did, start to finish, over a 7 week period.
Car took first in its class (90's cars) at the first show we took it to after we finished replacing the quarter.
Contractor · San Jose, CA · Member since 2008 · 157 posts · 10 votes
15y
Originally posted by Thorney Gibson:
I had a 97 Toyota Supra 6spd. I had a single 71mm turbo on it, complete fuel system, ext, ext, ext. Loved the car. On pump gas 19lbs of boost made right around 600hp. on race gas 30lbs the turbo was good for around 700hp. Never opened up the motor to do head work, cams or to build the bottom end of it.
I was young and dumb. Bought toys and didnt think alot about investing. ALOT OF MONEY WASTED AWAY.....
Specialist · Cleveland, OH · Member since 2011 · 1k+ posts · 852 votes
15y
This is an awesome post, I've been a car fanatic for years!I've had lots of cars over the years, but one of my favorites would have to be my Hummer when I first got it. It was an H1, and when I had it, it was before the H2, or H3 were even concepts. I drove this thing like I stole it, I pushed it to every possible limit that it was supposed to hit and even then some! Although I loved this truck, I realized after a while that all I had was a 150k jeep! LOL! I gotta say, the thing did pay for itself, when I pulled into a gas station, I got more attention to William Shatner would at a Star Trek convention! I can't even begin to tell you the amount of homes I bought and sold due to conversations started over my Hummer.
Commercial Loan Officer · Southern Maine, ME · Member since 2009 · 782 posts · 415 votes
15y
Love the Hummer. I only drove the military version of it, but it was a pure blast to drive.
Try as we might to get one stuck, we never managed to. As long as you had the width, it would go over just about anything.
A friend of the environment they are not, but if you don't mind living at the gas station, they're a lot of fun. However, like you stated, a Jeep is whole lot cheaper for probably just as much fun.
Investor · Little Rock, AR · Member since 2010 · 628 posts · 251 votes
15y
I have thouroughly enjoyed this thread. You don't see Corvette shops like I used to hang around whn I was a kid living in Houston TX back in the '70s.
Before I was 25 I aquired a '63 split window basket case. I put it together, sold it and bought a '69 L88. Then the racing bug got me. I sold the L88 (saw one on Ebay at around 500k recently) and bought a '66 coup that already was stripped and had a cage and fender flares. It started life as a 427 with power windows. I had less than $30k invested in all of these cars. They would bring between $750k and a cool million in today's dollars.
But, I was a dumb kid and the future was too far away back in those days. Plus I got to race SCCA and IMSA for 10 years. Funny, I didn't have the money to do it right back then. But, I had the time. Now, I don't have the money nor the time. My wife wouldn't understand the racing lifestyle neither. It consumes more time than rehabbing houses.
Don
Rental Property Investor · St. Louis, MO · Member since 2008 · 189 posts · 75 votes
15y
I was all into rotary engines in high school so I had several turbo and na RX7s. Then when I had more money I got my real dream car - 1970 Mustang Boss 302 (clone) which I promptly put in a foxbody front suspension so i could squeeze in a 460 big block. That car was a ton of fun but eventually ran out of time to play/work with it and sold it.