A tough choice....Either the 1976 BMW 2002 sedan, or my Dad's 1969 Corvette Coupe.

The Bimmer was bought new , polaris silver, tan leather interior, 4 speed, Your basic 2002 of that era. Though 76 was the last year before they turned them into 320's.

The Corvette was white, red interior, 350HP/350 cu in, 4 speed. Originally my Dad's then when I came back from the USAF I basically took it over. Had great fun for a year, then while parked at an intersection I got run into by a new bus driver, in her semi, out of control bus.

I'm gonna cheat because there are 3. The 57 Chevy nomad I drove in high school. The 73 Chevy Camaro rs I bought when I graduated high school, and the 66 Chevy Caprice 396 w/ factory holley and every available factory option.

My '78 VW Rabbit L.

Don't judge me. I'm just trying to live my life.

No question, 69 Chevelle SS.

quote:

Originally posted by 10-7 leo:
No question, 69 Chevelle SS.

Mine would have been the 69 Chevelle or the 69 Firebird, both were convertibles.

I had a 1979 Volvo 245 wagon, 4 speed OD, that I put over 300,000 miles on. It seemed to me to be the best combination of size, speed, power, economy, handling, comfort, appearance, safety, reliability and maintenance that I had ever known.

I sold to to a plumber who pit even more miles on it before selling it, I later found out.

I had 8 Volvos, from a 73 242 to a 98 S80T6. All were excellent cars, although Volvo bought the S80T6 back because they could not get the AM radio to work. But for that it was a terrific car.

I’ve had 2 Lexus LS430s since and they are extremely good, too, better in some qualities than the 245, but more comfortable, at significantly higher cost, of course.

... it probably got cruddy milage, rusted like it was on a weight loss program, too heavy, had about six wires and three fuses (one of the fuses is blown) and a death trap. You did sell it for a reason, right?

Sure, I had a 1969 Talledega. Was wrecked when I got it. Couldn't find anyone who would fix it. Hellacious compression ratio means I couldn't drive it with gas I could afford. Was able to find a buyer that said he would keep the engine in the car and restore it instead of putting the engine in some jalopy Mustang and take it to the drag strip. Rare as hell? Yes. Could I do anything with it? No.

When you fire up your ride tomorrow morning on your way to work (in an artificially dark DST morning), appreciate how much technology has progressed. Unless, of course, the one you previously owned had HIDs, 16 speakers, got 28+ MPG, better camber curve, ABS, traction control, and sustaines no damage when another car hydroplanes into the back of you.

Cheers.

Many years ago I had a 1973 Olds Cutlass Supreme that I bought from my aunt in 1984. It only had about 50k miles and ran like a top. I’d give anything to have it back.

Couple of them I'd like to have back, my 54 Olds 98 that I got from my grandfather on my 16th birthday, and my 82 Corvette that I got after graduation from College.

Probably my 1994 mustang. I bought it in November of 1993 and donated it to the order of the Purple Heart 10 years ago. I was pushing 300,000 miles when i donated it.

Second would probably be my Tundra. What a great truck. When I bought it I could only afford the cab and a half instead of the full 4 door version. When Child number 2 arrived, it just wasn’t doable anymore and I traded it on an F-150 which may be the worst car I’ve ever owned


The tundra would be way mor useful to me now than the mustang, but the mustang is still first

Gee, I've owned a zillion cars, so there are a couple. Sorry.

1948 Dodge - my second car in the 50's
1963 Volvo B18
1971 Datsun 240Z (better IMHO than the 300zx's I had)
1964 vw beetle

A few:

1954 Hudson Hornet hardtop. 308 CI Flathead motor. Twin carbs. Built like a tank. Trashed it. Today in good condition would be worth some serious money.

1961 VW Beetle with a 1500cc truck motor. Pulled a trailer from Philly to Miami with it. Exwife was supposed to making payments on it. Didn't. Repo man got it...after I stripped all the goodies.

1954 Ford V8. 2 dr. Mint condition. Beautiful glossy white paint job. Parked it in west Philly one day to go shopping, came back and it was gone. Never saw it again.

1985 Mercedes Benz 300D. Turbo Diesel. Put 150,000 miles on it and traded to a 1987 MB 300D which became a money pit.

I would take any of the above over the overpriced plastic gizmo laced junk made today.

My Datsun 510. I've had quite a few cars over the years but that 510 was frickin' special. Wanted to make it up into BRE clone; got as far as stripping the bumpers off and fitting a roll cage but never could find the time to do the rest. Eventually I sold it to a cousin of my wife's who later in turn sold it and others of his 'fleet' to help pay for his son's college tuition.

Didn't miss it much at the time but now 30+ years on I kinda wish that I still had that thing. Love the American Racing Libres that the prior owner to me fitted on the car. Should've kept those lovely magnesium racing wheels when I let the car go. Oh well.

EDIT: honorable mention, '70 'Cuda. Kind of a piece of junk by the time I bought it, but it was a 'Cuda. Would've been nicer had it been a Hemi, but it was cheap and sometimes you just can't be too choosy when the price is right. Sort of hard to call it "mine" since I didn't keep it very long, but today it would've made for a great project car.

1966 Corvette coupe with side pipes and a 4 speed. It was stolen and stripped 20 days before I had to report to the USAF!!

A problem I do not have to face. I've kept the car I've loved since picking her up in Ingolstadt in '84.

My old 2003 Z06. Yes it was a pain in the ass at times being a Chevy with the Chevy problems but boy was that car fun to drive.

Looking back at it, I'm surprised I didn't kill myself. When I went to look at the car and test drive it in southwest Oklahoma, the guy told me (with a heavy accent): this here button (traction control), you don't want to push this and turn it off because it will save yer ass.

1964 Mercury Park Lane convertible, 390/300 p.s. p.b. auto trans. AM radio. Bucket seats and console. Anniversary Silver (bluish silver) with black top and interior. Let it go in 1971

1977 Chevrolet El Camino. Black, Firethorn (red) cloth interior. p.s., p.b., A/C. was a 305 with a TH350. F41 heavy duty suspension. By 1979 replaced the engine with a 350 using a 350/350 cam, B&M shift kit, Edelbrock intake, headers with QUIET dual exhaust. Added cruise control, a tilt steering column, tonneau cover and a hard to find Malibu Police speedometer, instead of 85 mph it was a 120 mph with increments on it each 2 mph. IIRC it did say "Certified" on it also. Changed the original 7" wide rally wheels with Sombrero caps for a set of 8" rallys from a 'Vette during the first three months I owned it. By spring 78 I had acquired a set of the new Corvette Aluminum wheels, the YJ8 option. I worked in a Chevy dealership and had the right connections to get a set from GM even while the option was not available on new Vettes. Let this one go in 1983 while living in NM.

By coincidence about 1985 I saw it in a parking lot outside of Albuquerque. I waited for the woman to come back to it. I said "I used to own that car" and she did not believe me. Well, until I said "Did you find the hidden kill switch under the dash near the emergency brake release lever?" To which she replied "Yes, it took my husband half a day to find out why it wouldn't start and where the switch was." I then gave her the details on what had been done to it. Last time I heard of it, about 1988 it was being worked on at a small shop in Belen NM. The shop owner was a friend that I had stayed in touch with after moving back to Michigan. She brought it in for work and gave him my business card with the things done to it written on the back. He then called me and said "Guess what I'm working on?"

I have had some cars and trucks that I was happy to get rid of, but the one that saddened me to trade off and I wish I had back was the 2005 Toyota Tacoma. It was a PreRunner (larger tires and suspension of a 4wd, but 2wd) V6 SR5 with the TRD package. Although, realistically, the last time I actually needed a truck was over three years ago (needed to move large tool boxes, I rented a van for the day), I'd rather drive it than almost any car.

1979 911 Turbo, heavily modified, scary fast and lasted 11 years and 42000 miles before the motor grenaded. If we had separate checking accounts, I would still have that car.
A 1997 Carrerra S was sweet and much more refined than the turbo, both worth a ton today.
Also had a 1948 Chevy 3/4 ton with a small block that was very cool, put that together at the age of 19.