Dream cars

twocorgis · Mar 13, 2023

Guildedagain said:
In a world where lowered expectations help, a SAAB 900 8 valve non turbo was my dream car for a long time, before I had to go Subaru.

I've never owned a Saab, but I always liked their quirkiness. They were great until General Motors ruined them. There was actually a Saab version of the Trailblazer, and that was when I knew they hit bottom.

adorshki · Mar 13, 2023

twocorgis said:
Great yarn Rick! Funny, I had a girlfriend in high school that had a beautiful round tail light BMW 2002tii in Fjord blue that started my love affair with the marque. In fact, I liked that car quite a bit better than her, but maybe I should have stuck it out. She lived in a mansion in Sands Point, and daddy had a LOT of money!

While my bestie's (quite a bit) older brother had the E-Type, my bestie had an absolutely incorrigible '71 MG Midget, which has the dubious distinction of being the most unreliable car I was ever around. We spent most weekends working on it and cursing. A lot. There were master and slave cylinders for almost anything hydraulic, and they leaked. And were impossible to get at. He recently sent me this photo of us pulling the engine, and I'm sure there was much profanity involved. That's a very young me on the left trying to look like I knew what I was doing.

C.mon, admit it. They modeled Timothy Bottoms' image in "The Paper Chase" on you, didn't they?

adorshki · Mar 13, 2023

Guildedagain said:
The 4 door was a WEGO and the wagon a WEALLGO was the joke back in the day, there were a lot of them on the road.

1st job out of school, I got to watch a more experienced tech than I - thankfully - go half mad trying to change a water pump in one.

Thought those water pumps were supposed to be lifetime items? Oh, waitaminnit.....

mad dog · Mar 13, 2023

Guildedagain said:
In a world where lowered expectations help, a SAAB 900 8 valve non turbo was my dream car for a long time, before I had to go Subaru.

You're reminding me of my favorite vehicles from long ago. They were not dream cars to me. Just the coolest rides ever. I had two Saabs 96 sedans. One, a beat up '70. The second, a sharp looking '72. Looked exactly like this one:

The later Saabs were cool alright, but I never met a car as capable and charming as the old 96.

Guildedagain · Mar 13, 2023

adorshki said:
Thought those water pumps were supposed to be lifetime items? Oh, waitaminnit.....

What is a lifetime warranty anyway?

I'm at the CAT counter decades ago, asking how the lifetime guarantee of a [failed, in my hand, vs new in his hand] track roller works.

Counterguy says "When it blows up, the lifetime/warranty is over".

Makes total sense.

GGJaguar · Mar 13, 2023

mad dog said:
I had two Saabs 96 sedans.

Are those rear-engine like a VW bug?

adorshki · Mar 13, 2023

GGJaguar said:
Are those rear-engine like a VW bug?

No, they're FWD.

Prince of Darkness · Mar 13, 2023

GGJaguar said:
Are those rear-engine like a VW bug?

No, front engine and front wheel drive

The early ones had a three cylinder two stroke engine, with later ones getting a Ford V4 four stroke.

Guildedagain · Mar 13, 2023

I took a ride in some Wild SAAB Monte Carlo 2 cycle setup, even crazier driver on who knows what, a friend.

We're at a light and this Camaro pulls up, drivers looks over contemptuously and races the engine in a brief roar, and friend equally contemptuously says "I could drive a mile on that much gas" lol. I don't quite remember his name but I never have any trouble remembering his wife's, Liz, long blond braids, or the SAAB, he had a couple two stroke SAABs in the backyard by the one we rode in was race prepped, and loud.

adorshki · Mar 13, 2023

Prince of Darkness said:
No, front engine and front wheel drive The early ones had a three cylinder two stroke engine, with later ones getting a Ford V4 four stroke.

Ah yes, the Taunus motor used in the Sonnet:

its-so-neat-1969-saab-sonett-v400s0s_gXQzQdOyyaW_0wg0lv_1200x900.jpg

Guildedagain · Mar 13, 2023

That ill fated M3 trip of a lifetime, I R somebody. I wrote it in 3 pts, incidentally how I got my money back. A Lawyer in West Palm Beach read it and he'd been hit real hard on a later M3, lost like $30k and the car shop that had checked it out was in cahoots, and he got my all my money back $10k in like maybe the year 2000, and wanted almost nothing.

Screen Shot 2023-03-13 at 10.49.29 AM.png

Labeled as pretty famous.

adorshki · Mar 13, 2023

NM156 said:
I just went by what the seller said, and didn't know any better or yes, misremembered. Just something about it not being the more desirable engine. Fuel economy was non-existent. Otherwise I might've kept it for transportation. I guess everybody would've

Olds did use a Chevy 305 but not until '78, with the downsize to the "G" body.

Guildedagain · Mar 13, 2023

Yup, till then, Buick, Olds, Pontiac, Cadillac, all made their own engines in a bewildering array of sizes and configurations, like the Pontiac's 60's OHC six cylinder, Buick had a V6, GMC trucks had weird V6 engines, in the olden days the big cars had straight eights to compete with Ford's Flathead.

Owners sued when they found out the old Buick Nailhead was now a Chevy 350 with a soft cam and leaks from the rear main seals. The other brands were supposed to mean more than Chevy, good enough for work or going to work.

I had a '66 Olds Delta 88, would rattle every window in your house idling in the driveway, as well as interfering with CB and TV ;[] Ultra High Compression 425 Rocket, a tank of gas every night of tooling around looking for trouble and never finding it.

geoguy · Mar 13, 2023

Guildedagain said:
In a world where lowered expectations help, a SAAB 900 8 valve non turbo was my dream car for a long time, before I had to go Subaru.

My first "nice" car was a SAAB 900 with a normally-aspirated 8-valve motor, and a manual gearbox. Great car. It wasn't fast, but what it was designed to do, it did very well. You seldom see them on the road nowadays, but I still recognize the burble of that car's exhaust note.

Mine was a four-door sedan, but with the seats folded down it could hold an amazing amount of cargo. I once fit a teak dining set in that car . . . the guy selling the set was amazed that I could take it all in one trip.

Soon after buying that car, I visited my then-girlfriend at her parents home. Her mom wanted to check out my new-to-me car, and asked me to open the hood. I did so, not expecting her to recognize anything in the engine compartment.

But she had grown up on a farm, and when I opened the hood (it tilted forward, by the way, with the hinges in front), she said "oh, the belts are next to the firewall . . . does that mean the clutch is up front?".

She was correct . . . and I was impressed.

twocorgis · Mar 13, 2023

adorshki said:
C.mon, admit it. They modeled Timothy Bottoms' image in "The Paper Chase" on you, didn't they?

I'd kill to have that hair back! LOL

twocorgis · Mar 13, 2023

Prince of Darkness said:
No, front engine and front wheel drive The early ones had a three cylinder two stroke engine, with later ones getting a Ford V4 four stroke.

And the 95s and 96s had the ultra cool "Freewheeling" feature, so once you learned, you didn't need to use the clutch much:

"Freewheeling is one of the odder features of driving a V4 SAAB. The freewheel is a giant roller clutch; when you lift off of the accelerator, the rollers unlock and the car can coast at speed while the engine idles, and when you get on the gas the rollers lock up and power is transmitted through the gears again. With a little practice, one can learn to shift gears using the freewheel and never setting foot on the clutch pedal."

My neighbor growing up had a 96, and a Volvo 142 as well. He loved Swedish cars!

richardp69 · Mar 13, 2023

Ya know??? After spending a 31 career in the Automotive Industry, you'd think I'd have a dream car but nope, I surely do not. As a possession, cars are very low on my priority list. I drive a pretty much totally rusted out 20 year old Dodge Ram truck and it's perfect for me. I invest regularly in it's maintenance and I just love that old truck. It runs like a well oiled machine, it just looks like crap, kinda like some of my most favorite guitars.

dreadnut · Mar 13, 2023

Our simple little '67 Bug:

adorshki · Mar 13, 2023

Guildedagain said:
Owners sued when they found out the old Buick Nailhead was now a Chevy 350 with a soft cam and leaks from the rear main seals. The other brands were supposed to mean more than Chevy, good enough for work or going to work.

I don't think anybody ever claimed the corporate "Targetmaster 350" was bulletproof, just easier to make than a computer punch card. Hanging chads and all.

Rich Cohen · Mar 14, 2023

Guildedagain said:
For me the dream car was always something unattainable, in price, need for maintenance, likelihood of theft, speeding tickets, etc...

In college, for two years, I had a new Porsche 912. What a car! 1967-69. This is the exact same model and color.
.https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Porsche+9+12&atb=v314-1&t=chromentp&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images&iai=https://dealeraccelerate-all.s3.amazonaws.com/ecpch/images/2/9/0/290/981551e739d4_hd_1967-porsche-912.jpg

Dream cars

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