I’m not talking Rolls Royces here, or Ferrarri Testarossas or other high-buck transportation toys. What I’m talking about is this: Have you ever liked an otherwise inexpensive car just because it was different from the usual run of vehicles?
When I was six, we were driving down the road when we passed this funny-looking little car with a propeller hanging out the back. It immediately captured my imagination. Unfortunately, I couldn’t convince dad that we really, really needed one.
I can remember my teenaged years when the “Super Bird” came out. It was a little pricey for the time, but I can still remember drooling over one. (If I’d have just known, I’d own a dozen of them right now!)
An old Mercury Cyclone package would rate really up there.
There’s so many…
Charger R/T
Buick GS
'65 Impala SS. What beautiful lines…
I owned a '72 Grand Torino that I’d love to have back.
I am a complete sucker for European cars of the Fifties and Sixties. Preferably in one of those stone-like earthtones (stonetones?) they came in–shades of gray and olive and brown.
Citroen 2CV – So simple!
Isetta – So small!
Citroen DS21 – So French!
Mercedes-Benz 190SL – So German!
MG-TF – So English!
Mini-Cooper – So cool!
Simca 1204 – So inexplicable!
FIAT 124 Spyder – So masochistic!
I’ll second the DeLorean vote. Those things are just so damn cool… but not ‘otherwise inexpensive’ as the OP says. You can get a “new” refurbished DeLorean for about 30K$ from a company in Houston… I’d post the link but I don’t remember it and I’m LAZY. Go look it up
The original Mercury Capri. This was a little two-seater imported from Europe that Ford sold through Mercury dealers. My college roommate had one and it was a blast.
I also had two friends who owned Merkurs in the 80s – another import sold through Mercury dealers. It seemed like an OK car to me, but they both raved about it.
I’ve always liked the Datsun roadsters from the '60s – the Fairlady/1500/1600/2000 series. I loved every Datsun my family or I ever owned, but I never saw any of the roadsters until after I moved to Atlanta. There was a 2000 I used to see with a “For Sale” sign on it parked on a side street off N. Highland in the Morningside area that I particularly coveted. I doubt I’ll ever be in a position to want a car that would be a hassle to maintain (parts availability, etc.). They still look like fun to drive though.
I feel much the same way about the Sunbeam Tiger, though I don’t have the connection of having owned other models by the same manufacturer and I definitely wouldn’t want to own any car with wiring by Brits.
While neither were exactly “ordinary” vehicles (nor were the Tigers cheap), they weren’t your typical testosterone transports either.
The Peugeot 205. In production from 1983-1997, and the best boy racer ever. I owned one untill I bought my Peugeot 306. Also a great car, smoother ride, equal handling, but… less fun.
An old Land Rover would be fun too, but they’re very expensive to run. I love early MG’s too. The MGA is very cool. MGB’s are fine too, as long as they don’t have plastic bumpers.
And I really, really really really would love to be able to own a Morgan. That’s just the pure definition of a car. Plus, the 0-100 KMH acceleration in under 5 seconds is pretty cool too
you’re kidding me… that little thing looks like a festiva. Well the 205 does. The other one looks like an chevette! Or maybe an escort… sheesh. I’d be afraid to take either of them over a speed bump at 20 mph.
Anyway, since I probably won’t be able to come up with 30K$ for a DeLorean in the next few years… another car I’d love to own (and restore) is an '81 TA. Black… T-Tops, big screamin chicken etched out in gold on the hood. I guess I never got over my Smoky and the Bandit phase… And probably never will
Repent, sinner! We’re talking about the undisputable king of Hot Hatches in Europe here. Any European doper will agree to that. Well, if they’re into cars anyway. Don’t compare this to American cars - most European cars (and expecially hot hatches) are built with an entirely different audience in mind. Top speed is relatively unimportant, whereas acceleration and roadholding are. Believe me, Peugeots in general and the 205 and 306 in general meet those criteria.
I passed on buying a 60’s Cadillac Malibu camper about 15 years ago. It was $1000, and I really wanted it. I love vehicles you can sleep in! This was a beige huge caddy front, with a factory made camper back. The bed was above the driver’s seat, and it had a little turquoise fridge and stove. Fold out table, and wood panelling. Oh damn, why didn’t I buy it? I’m sure it would eat gas like a hog, but it was so beautiful! Oh, and the owner had a velvet painted tapestry of Charles Bronson over the dining nook. I’m gonna go cry now…
You’re telling me that you’d take one of those little tin cans over say… a Trans Am? Seriously, I just want to know… I’m not going to call you an idiot till after you say yes Naaah, preference is preference, if you like those little bitty things, more power to ya, man… I just don’t understand it
Give me a couple thousand lbs worth of steel and a V8 big enough to jump-start a jet plane**, you can have your micro-machines
-dook
**- they used 2 general motors’ 454s to jump start each engine on the SR-71 blackbird. I saw it on ‘wings’ once on the discovery channel.
Just any monte carlos or the mid-80s? Black with red-orange pinstripes, perhaps, and the big SS in that same red-orange color? I feel ya, man… I really do (shut up, perverts). I was in love with those cars back when I was a kid and somebody in my neighborhood got one, but I’ve recently decided I’d rather have an '81 T/A. I still have that Bandit complex, you know…
I drive a '63 convertable corvair. It’s very cool when you can take the top down on hot days like today, but is unreliable as hell. I end up fixing something every several months.
