First cars

[ToSlow]

83 Malibu wagon, baby.

Then I had an 89 Beretta with the 2.8 and the digital dashboard. Like @Matt Rain mentioned above, that **** felt downright futuristic back then. It was a fun car.

Then a 1991 Chevy Tracker. Shout out to @ifiddles lol - that thing was indeed an absolute blast from start to finish. If I found one in good condition today I'd probably buy it as a garage queen just for summer fun again.

Then a 1990 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP - the precursor to the bubble style. With the much maligned but freakin ballsy (almost 300 HP which was firmly in sportscar territory in the early 90's) 3.4L quad overhead cam engine. I nearly got myself in much trouble many times in that car, but hell yeah it was fun.

Sold that and bought an Asuna Sunrunner, for those that remember that short lived GM venture. Basically a Chevy Tracker with a different name - I missed the tracker that much.

Sold it and bought a 2001(ish?) Grand Prix GTP, newer body style with the bubble lights and the 3.8L supercharged. Drove that for years, alos lots of fun...loved that supercharger whine.

Sold that when I needed a truck for our camping years. In 2007 I Bought a 1997 Chevy 1-Ton crew cab dually turbo diesel. 21 feet of hauling beast. It was my daily driver until about 2016 or so when it was semi-retired to horse-hauling duty only.

Dodge Magnum AWD with the hemi. And it had some secrets under the hood. Back to the wagon roots. Hella fun but a few years in as was customary with most of the Magnums and 300's it needed $50,000 in front end work...so I sold it at the same time I sold the old truck.

Then came my Volt. Still driving that.

There was a few other cars in there for the wife over the years. A Pontiac Tempest (Pontiacs version of the Corsica), an AstroVan RS (the "Sport" version of the Astro), a Chevy Aveo......Chrysler 300, and now the Hyundai Ioniq.

Love those Malibu wagons, friend had one and slammed a 355 stroker engine in it

 

[PrivatePilot]

Love those Malibu wagons, friend had one and slammed a 355 stroker engine in it

Mine had the gutless v6. Meh, it was a first car, it got me back and forth to work and it had shagging room in the back lol, so it did the job.

I was going to do a 350 swap on the Astro when we took it off the road when it wouldn't pass emissions anymore. Stored it for a few years as they were even getting uncommon back in the late 2000's, but then just sold it as-is.

Seems I should have kept it as it would have been an appreciating value - they appear to be listed as "rare" now and seem to fetch some decent dollars.

 

[ToSlow]

Mine had the gutless v6. Meh, it was a first car, it got me back and forth to work and it had shagging room in the back lol, so it did the job.

I was going to do a 350 swap on the Astro when we took it off the road when it wouldn't pass emissions anymore. Stored it for a few years as they were even getting uncommon back in the late 2000's, but then just sold it as-is.

Seems I should have kept it as it would have been an appreciating value - they appear to be listed as "rare" now and seem to fetch some decent dollars.

I had a safari van. It was a great vehicle for the family. Had that thing to Florida a half dozen times, to NS probably same

 

[Baggsy]

Mine had the gutless v6. Meh, it was a first car, it got me back and forth to work and it had shagging room in the back lol, so it did the job.

I was going to do a 350 swap on the Astro when we took it off the road when it wouldn't pass emissions anymore. Stored it for a few years as they were even getting uncommon back in the late 2000's, but then just sold it as-is.

Seems I should have kept it as it would have been an appreciating value - they appear to be listed as "rare" now and seem to fetch some decent dollars.

Death machine IMHO.
Edit: If you ever tried to pass on a one lane highway.

 

[PrivatePilot]

Edit: If you ever tried to pass on a one lane highway.

I did one better...I towed a 1973 Triple-E camper with it LOL. Thing probably weighed 3000# empty and had a broadside of a barn wind profile on the front.

It got you to point B. Eventually.

 

[Gary]

I lost a full size, fully customized '75 dodge van in a poker game (dec 1979). Four aces down in flames.
Next day - demo'd a new '80 accord. It survived a corner on 2 (right side) wheels. So I bought it. I've owned a honda since then.

 

[Matt Rain]

Best I could find 1/4 mi time:
Taurus 90hp 4-banger <> 19.8
Kicks 122hp 4-banger <> 17.4
Curious cats needed to know

Grandpa Rain's had the 142hp 3.8 V6

 

[Baggsy]

I did one better...I towed a 1973 Triple-E camper with it LOL. Thing probably weighed 3000# empty and had a broadside of a barn wind profile on the front.

It got you to point B. Eventually.

Wasn't the aerodynamics, or lack of power, the Volkswagen bus had it beat for those. It was the anti-stall on the accelerator. It took 3-5 seconds before the passing gear would kick in.

Grandpa Rain's had the 142hp 3.8 V6

What about a Taurus SHO?

 

[GreyGhost]

Wasn't the aerodynamics, or lack of power, the Volkswagen bus had it beat for those. It was the anti-stall on the accelerator. It took 3-5 seconds before the passing gear would kick in.

Long ago my dad brought a Massey Ferguson 35 diesel deluxe home behind a 50 hp diesel rabbit (probably an 84). Normally a one hour trip but he was down to first on some hills with the tractor. If you dont mind going slow and look far ahead to minimize emergencies you can tow a hell of a lot with not much. You couldnt do that trip anymore.

 

[Matt Rain]

What about a Taurus SHO?

"The first generation Taurus SHO (1989 - 1991) can accelerate from 0-60 mph in 6.6 seconds with a quarter mile time of 15.0-15.2 seconds"

Not bad at all

 

[NEED FASTER]

Grandpa Rain's had the 142hp 3.8 V6

I found 140 hp, but meh
17.2 - 1/4 mile time

"The first generation Taurus SHO (1989 - 1991) can accelerate from 0-60 mph in 6.6 seconds with a quarter mile time of 15.0-15.2 seconds"
200hp 200 ft torque

 

[ToSlow]

The grand Nash was also a big surprise to the folks at the track. Was kicking the 5.0 stang butts

 

[PrivatePilot]

If you dont mind going slow and look far ahead to minimize emergencies you can tow a hell of a lot with not much. You couldnt do that trip anymore.

You should look at some of the USA towing pages on Facebook. There's two sorts of people there:

1- You need a 1 ton diesel with dual rear wheels and airbags tow tow that empty Uhaul trailer, mister! Actually, maybe a Peterbilt instead!

and

2- I'm headed to the trailer park on Saturday to move Paw's doublewide with my Sunfire.

The grand Nash was also a big surprise to the folks at the track. Was kicking the 5.0 stang butts

I came close to buying one of those a few years ago but..too many hobbies to add a classic car to the mix.

I came super duper close to buying a 96 Impala SS when those things were the hot sleepers on the road. Pretty funny looking back at things now and laughing that 260HP in the late 90's was a big deal, especially in a land yacht like the SS at the time. But they were pretty sweet rides. The dream ended when I called for an insurance quote and realized they were in the same insurance bracket as a Corvette at the time - my also slightly blemished driving record at the time meant that the monthly instalments were not pretty lol.

 

[STARSHIP]

1975 VW Beetle. It was a dealer demo and paid $2200 for it and insurance was almost $1000.

 

[robmack]

First car was a 1963 Triumph TR4A. Wish I still had that car but I loaned it to my friend at the time and he crashed it. Such a fun car to drive.

 

[shanekingsley]

"The first generation Taurus SHO (1989 - 1991) can accelerate from 0-60 mph in 6.6 seconds with a quarter mile time of 15.0-15.2 seconds"

Not bad at all

First car I learned to drive on was a beige 1989 SHO. My buddy and I had just turned 15 and his dad was an international pilot. His mom would drop off the old man at the airport for a multiday shift and then my buddy would sneak the car out at midnight when his mom was asleep. I would sneak out my kitchen sliding door at 12:15 sharp and he would pick me up around the corner. We taught ourselves to drive on the mean streets of Oakville and Mississauga, popping curbs, running red lights and so much cluelessness. Amazingly we never got caught or did damage to the car after doing this for the whole summer. It was so fast and and fun with a great stereo system for the day.

A year later and since I had tons of driving practice on the SHO, I immediately got my 365 license and started Young Drivers. I had my full license by the summer and my parents foolishly went on a 6week trip around the world in October. They left me their 1985 white Plymouth Reliant with burgandy interior to drive. Big mistake. I threw 2 massive keg parties in my folks house that had over 350 people each, I hit a schoolbus in front of my high school and also wore out the brake pads so badly that the rotors were completely grinding. By the time my parents arrived home, I was in jail, they came to bail me out and we go pick up the car and I think my Mom almost died when she got in the car and saw the car littered with about 50 empty cigarette packs all across the front dash (they didn't know I smoked because I was the golden child). She gets in the car and starts to drive it and the busted brakes were squealing like deliverance and I was like what, who me? I didn't have any money to pay for the body work, or the brakes, so they had to fork out over $1k for that too. Welcome home folks

First car I bought with my own money was a white, 2-door 1984 Ford Tempo with a manual tranny. I was 18 and was getting really into DJ'ing at late night parties and the slowly growing rave scene in 1992. One night after a party, I was driving home with my mates on the Gardiner and it was raining. The tires hydroplaned on the highway, spun a 360 and smashed the trunk in against the guardrail at Kipling. A local scrap yard had a red trunk and so I drove that car for a few more years with that red trunk. One day the car died on me near Square One, but a friend said he would trade me his preacher curl bar for it (that he paid $35 for). That curl bar started me on a path of exercise and working out and I used that curl bar for years. He took that car and it broke down on him within days, got towed and impounded at $30/day... and inside of month he owed $900

 

[Mad Mike]

1968 Buick Wildcat convertible........... Not my car below, but mine was the same. 430ci/4 barrel, < 10 mpg, was a bit of a rust bucket due to Montreal winters and salt when I purchased it in 1974. Used a bumper hitch to carry around my Honda TL125 trials bike.

Ono of my best friends had one of these, everyone in our group decided to buy big cars. I ended up with a Chrysler Newport sporting a 440. Back then you could buy a headers and a cam at Canadian tire for about $100 each.

 

[ToSlow]

My second car was a Toyota Cressida

 

[SunnY S]

First car I learned to drive on was a beige 1989 SHO. My buddy and I had just turned 15 and his dad was an international pilot. His mom would drop off the old man at the airport for a multiday shift and then my buddy would sneak the car out at midnight when his mom was asleep. I would sneak out my kitchen sliding door at 12:15 sharp and he would pick me up around the corner. We taught ourselves to drive on the mean streets of Oakville and Mississauga, popping curbs, running red lights and so much cluelessness. Amazingly we never got caught or did damage to the car after doing this for the whole summer. It was so fast and and fun with a great stereo system for the day.

Great story and memories.

reminded me when my dad picked up a shiny, new at the time, red 1990 Miata , and he buggered off for a few weeks to europe.

Twas the "it" car at the time, and turned many many heads. Mistake he made was leaving the keys behind.

If you remember Ferris Buellers day off, that was pretty much it, except it wasn't a Ferrari....

 

[shanekingsley]

Great story and memories.

reminded me when my dad picked up a red 1990 Miata , and he buggered off for a few weeks to europe.

Twas the "it" car at the time, and turned many many heads. Mistake he made was leaving the keys behind.

If you remember Ferris Buellers day off, that was pretty much it, except it wasn't a Ferrari....

Haha - I saw that flick in the theaters and many times since - what an awesome movie.

I was a really good kid until I turned 15. Then I was horrible for 3 years