Old Car Thread

6L6

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I grew up next to the Indianapolis Speedway. Saw every race from '53 thru '64 plus never missed a day of Time Trials. Out of all those glory years, my all-time fav race car was the 1956 NOVI Special.

The legendary Paul Russo drove the NOVi in that race and was running away from the field when a blown tire put him into the first turn wall to end his bid for victory.

The NOVI used a one-off special V-8 that was supercharged. Despite being limited to just 164 cubic inches of displacement, the engine developed 800HP and the NOVI was once clocked down the back straight at 208 mph. This was in 1956 and on those skinny little tires! Those drivers were a very brave lot and served as my heroes during my early years. Note the leather helmet and total absense of even a rollbar!

The SOUND of that engine at speed is something no one could ever forget.

053.jpg
 

killdeer43

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My first car (mine was black with red interior), bought it in Germany in 1964 and did the grand tour of Europe for the next year and a half.

volvopv544.jpg

Volvo PV544

One of the extras that I purchased in Frankfurt was a kit that turned the interior into a double bed! Yikes! 8)

Oh what a fun ride it was!
Joe
 

12stringer

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Joe....That's the biggest volvo I have ever seen :shock:

Here is my first car (stock photo) same color

67impala1.jpg

Had a 283 V8 and was one of the most dependable cars I ever owned. For a while I had one bucket seat in the front....my friend Terry liked it because he could sit on the floor and play guitar and drink beer without being seen. That was back in the 70's folks... Crazy times. :roll: :wink:
 

adorshki

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My beloved t-boned Thunderbird looked just like this one:
http://www.sccoa.com/member/index.php?uniquename=albee2
I wasn't into taking it down to the track for quarter miles though.
Supercharged 3.8 liter V6, 315ftlbs of torque, all in at 2200rpm. 8)
A "gentleman's hot rod", like the Studebaker Cap'njuan posted or the Hurst/Olds Dr. Plumber posted. In fact that's where the term was first applied, to the Hurst/Olds's.
 

twocorgis

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I was trying really hard to find an exact picture of my first "real" car (unless you count a '71 Ford Maverick Grabber in puke green a "real" car) which was a '68 Camaro RS 327 in white with orange stripes with a Hurst shifter sorta like this one

06A6G114421687A.jpeg


This one is a '69 convertible, but as close as I could come. I loved that car, and miss it often. It's also why I was really disappointed in the second coming of the first generation Camaro in 2010, and you can still get that color scheme. Oh well, it'll be a Mustang GT this time round.

Cars and guitars just go hand in hand, don't they? 8)
 

adorshki

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twocorgis said:
I was trying really hard to find an exact picture of my first "real" car (unless you count a '71 Ford Maverick Grabber in puke green a "real" car) Cars and guitars just go hand in hand, don't they? 8)
There's 2 kinds of cars. The "real" ones, like guitars, have their own owner's clubs :
http://www.maverick.to/
:D
The more I think about it I'm thinking your '68 Camaro must have been a repaint? That white w/orange was a trademark color scheme for the '69 Indy 500 Pacecar edition, I think it was debuted on that model:
http://www.camaros.org/69pacer.shtml
My second car was a '67 Camaro hardtop in white, but it had been flogged!
No wonder he took my '70 Vega as a straight across trade. :lol:
 

killdeer43

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What a trip down (car) memory lane!

chevroletimpalasuperspo.jpg

1964 Impala SuperSport

Mine was white, with a black vinyl top....leaked like the proverbial sieve! :shock:

Had it from '66 to '70, and it was fun....on sunny days. :wink:

Joe
 

twocorgis

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adorshki said:
twocorgis said:
I was trying really hard to find an exact picture of my first "real" car (unless you count a '71 Ford Maverick Grabber in puke green a "real" car) Cars and guitars just go hand in hand, don't they? 8)
http://www.maverick.to/
:D
There's 2 kinds of cars. The "real" ones, like guitars, have their own owner's clubs :

Trust me, you weren't missing anything. Mine had a 250CI straight six, and a three speed on the floor. Very sporty with the non-power steering (with about six turns lock to lock), leaf springs, bias ply tires, and four wheel drum brakes. :shock:

adorshki said:
The more I think about it I'm thinking your '68 Camaro must have been a repaint? That white w/orange was a trademark color scheme for the '69 Indy 500 Pacecar edition, I think it was debuted on that model:
http://www.camaros.org/69pacer.shtml

I knew about that, and mine probably was a repaint. I didn't care because it was too much fun (in a crude kind of way), and it looked sharp. It was a really pretty car, much like Grahams Z28.

I must say though that I prefer modern cars, if for no better reason than safety.
 

adorshki

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killdeer43 said:
What a trip down (car) memory lane!
Joe
Sometimes I'll tune in an old movie just 'cause it might have some good car sightings!
Besides "Bullitt", "Vanishing Point", and "Gone in 60 Seconds" (the ORIGINAL, NOT the remake!), don't forget the original "The Italian Job".. "LeMans"..."Dirty Mary Crazy Larry"...
and going into real vintage: "The Crowd Roars"

Or how about "B" gems, anybody remember when Chryslers looked like this:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt ... 02&bih=623
:D
 

adorshki

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twocorgis said:
and mine probably was a repaint. I didn't care because it was too much fun (in a crude kind of way), and it looked sharp. It was a really pretty car, much like Grahams Z28.
I must say though that I prefer modern cars, if for no better reason than safety.
I should have known you'd know. Except for styling, agree with you about modern cars. I had a '70 Cutlass S (the pretty, fastbacked version, except mine was gold with black top):
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt ... 02&bih=623, a mild gentleman's hotrod, and except for straightline 0-60, the Thunderbird outperformed it in every way, even the 0-60 only gave up about one second. With literally TWICE the mpg. (12 vs 24)
 

Ross

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killdeer43 said:
My first car (mine was black with red interior), bought it in Germany in 1964 and did the grand tour of Europe for the next year and a half.

volvopv544.jpg

Volvo PV544
Great Volvo, Joe. My sister had a 544 - much cooler than my '62 Peugeot 403!

adorshki said:
Sometimes I'll tune in an old movie just 'cause it might have some good car sightings!
Besides "Bullitt", "Vanishing Point", and "Gone in 60 Seconds" (the ORIGINAL, NOT the remake!), don't forget the original "The Italian Job".. "LeMans"..."Dirty Mary Crazy Larry"...
and going into real vintage: "The Crowd Roars"
Bonnie & Clyde
Zabriskie Point
 

twocorgis

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AlohaJoe said:
RussD said:
My teenage years:
russ53mgcropped.jpg
WOW... still got that one? TC or TD?

Looks like a TF to me. Has the normal size wheels and the more integrated grill/fenders. I owned one British sports car (a Triumph TR-4a) and it cured me of British sports cars. The old joke was that "the British drink warm beer because Lucas makes refrigerators". :lol:
 

adorshki

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twocorgis said:
I owned one British sports car (a Triumph TR-4a) and it cured me of British sports cars. The old joke was that "the British drink warm beer because Lucas makes refrigerators". :lol:
That's hilarious. I think I read once in the '80s that Jaguar blamed Lucas for singlehandedly preventing 'em from having a decent quality reputation.
 

twocorgis

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adorshki said:
twocorgis said:
I owned one British sports car (a Triumph TR-4a) and it cured me of British sports cars. The old joke was that "the British drink warm beer because Lucas makes refrigerators". :lol:
That's hilarious. I think I read once in the '80s that Jaguar blamed Lucas for singlehandedly preventing 'em from having a decent quality reputation.

True that. As much as I love old E-Type Jaguars, they were an electrical nightmare. My best friend in high school (who owned a '71 MG Midget that broke even more than my Triumph) had an older brother with the most gorgeous '66 E-Type just like this one:

85280.jpg


I had the pleasure of riding in the car with him when it had an electrical fire.

Me: "Hey David, what's that blue flame coming from behind the tach?"

Car: [POOF]

Luckily, David worked for Pan Am, and used to fly over to England to buy parts and all the cockamamie tools that car needed (all kinds of weird spanners and the like). It saved him a bunch of money!

Jags never got to be something you'd consider to be a daily driver until they started using Bosch electrical systems.
 

adorshki

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twocorgis said:
True that. As much as I love old E-Type Jaguars, they were an electrical nightmare. Jags never got to be something you'd consider to be a daily driver until they started using Bosch electrical systems.
Momma had a '74 Series 3 E-type convertible, silver, 4 speed, V-12, factory air. She let me drive it once when I was about 25. I never did get it into 4th, as it was pulling 90 at about 3000rpm in 3rd (4 lane freeway, pretty empty), when she told me to pull over, she would finish driving us to dinner in San Francisco... :oops:
It was for me in her will, but unfortunately cancer destroyed any vestiges of an estate. :(
 

twocorgis

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adorshki said:
twocorgis said:
True that. As much as I love old E-Type Jaguars, they were an electrical nightmare. Jags never got to be something you'd consider to be a daily driver until they started using Bosch electrical systems.
Momma had a '74 Series 3 E-type convertible, silver, 4 speed, V-12, factory air. She let me drive it once when I was about 25. I never did get it into 4th, as it was pulling 90 at about 3000rpm in 3rd (4 lane freeway, pretty empty), when she told me to pull over, she would finish driving us to dinner in San Francisco... :oops:
It was for me in her will, but unfortunately cancer destroyed any vestiges of an estate. :(

I'm kind of opinionated when it come to E-Types, but once they had to go to the uncovered headlights and emissions controls, they had pretty much jumped the shark. There was nothing like the '65-'67s. They had the three carburetor motor with the all synchro gearbox (with synchros that actually worked; unlike my Triumph and my friend's MG)

David replaced that beautiful '66 with a Series 3 V-12 2+2 coupe (with an automatic :shock:) that to me had none of the appeal of the old one. The '65-'67s were legitimate 150mph sports cars, which was really a remarkable feat back then.
 

adorshki

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twocorgis said:
I'm kind of opinionated when it come to E-Types, The '65-'67s were legitimate 150mph sports cars, which was really a remarkable feat back then.
I'd take the 6 over the 12, given a choice, and equal condition. Yeah like that's ever gonna happen. :lol: But I think they're all gorgeous, even the 2+2's. :D
 
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