# Ever have a car/motorcycle you wish you had back? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 23, 2019, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-car-motorcycle-you-wish-you-had-back/842202 "2019-10-23T22:41:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-car-motorcycle-you-wish-you-had-back/842202/41 "2019-10-24T18:36:04Z")
My first decent car was a shiny blue 1990 Mustang GT with 40,000 miles when I bought it. I drove it about 10 years to 150,000 miles. After that I got a Ford Explorer and a Ford Contour, but always sort of missed the Mustang. So I bought a 1991 GT just about identical to the first one. I really enjoyed the 91 as well, but it was almost _too_ nice, it was mint condition. I didn’t have a garage at the time and so stored it under a friend’s carport under a car cover. Then when I did get a garage it just sat in there too much. So I finally sold it. I enjoyed it, but it was so nice that it was more obligation to maintain it than enjoyment. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-car-motorcycle-you-wish-you-had-back/842202/42 "2019-10-24T18:52:57Z")
> [@zoogirl](#): > > Mine is a ‘65 Pontiac Strato Chief that came into the family in1968. My dad bought Betsy when our Dodge died. Fascinating. Mine is _also_ a '65 Pontiac. A Bonneville, with all the trimmings. Damn I miss that car. ---
**Author:** ![squeetaleta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@squeetaleta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeetaleta)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-car-motorcycle-you-wish-you-had-back/842202/43 "2019-10-24T19:13:34Z")
1987 Camaro Berlinetta. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-car-motorcycle-you-wish-you-had-back/842202/44 "2019-10-24T19:39:16Z")
I miss my red '91 Miata. It was a lot of fun to drive and a real babe magnet (especially when my tricolor Cavalier King Charles spaniel Bubba was riding shotgun). It lasted nearly ten years and still ran well, but when the A/C conked out during a Texas summer that was it. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-car-motorcycle-you-wish-you-had-back/842202/45 "2019-10-24T19:42:34Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > My 62 Corvair. What a fun, simple car! Did you have one of the fun shifters or was that one of the dull ordinary ones? > [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > 1971 AMC Gremlin I had the somewhat similar Cricket. It was fun but never quite worked its way into my heart. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-car-motorcycle-you-wish-you-had-back/842202/46 "2019-10-24T19:45:05Z")
For some reason I keep dreaming that I found and fixed an old VW Beetle. I had a '69 but I don’t really wish it back all that much. The Grey Ghost, a 1987 Mazda 323 hatchback stick shift, was my fav. I had it for over 25 years. **FtGKid2** drove it the last part, hence it’s premature demise. Hella easy to maintain. So that’s the type of car I wish I had back. Keyfob? Power windows and locks? Pffft. But I don’t dream about it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-car-motorcycle-you-wish-you-had-back/842202/47 "2019-10-24T20:21:53Z")
> [@Swampwolf](#): > > My ['78 VW CamperVan.](http://topclassiccarsforsale.com/volkswagen/280374-1978-volkswagen-type-ii-bus-westfalia-camper-van-champagne-edition-ii.html) Speaking of camper-vans, I wish I had dad’s 1974 Toyota Hilux back. Unfortunately I wrecked it (and my knees) in a head-on collision just after high school. Anyway, the cool thing about it was that it came equipped with a [Moss Paracamper](https://www.amazon.com/Toyota-Pickup-Paracamper-Truck-Brochure/dp/B00THJEPG0). 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-car-motorcycle-you-wish-you-had-back/842202/48 "2019-10-24T20:29:01Z")
I wish I had my '74 Dodge Dart back. I still have a bag full of ballast resistors. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-car-motorcycle-you-wish-you-had-back/842202/49 "2019-10-24T20:29:20Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > Did you have one of the fun shifters or was that one of the dull ordinary ones? Definitely 4-speed. Never saw the fun in the powerglides. Was a shock transitioning from the manual in the Vair, the the 6-speed in my current GTI. To say they are a tad different would be an understatement! 😃 I drove a Toyota Sienna while my kids were in HS. What an easy, reliable, utilitarian vehicle. I often think how nice it would be to take road trips w/ my dog, w/ a bedroll and ice chest in the back… ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-car-motorcycle-you-wish-you-had-back/842202/50 "2019-10-24T23:12:21Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Definitely 4-speed. Never saw the fun in the powerglides. Actually I meant one of the Powerglides on the dash. Memory says my one girlfriend also had a push-button one for a while. Her father used to get well-used Vairs, fix them up, and resell them. Got to drive a few of them but — he had too many friends around for us to risk it that often with a few of the ones he deemed “special” and “family only behind the wheel”. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2019, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-car-motorcycle-you-wish-you-had-back/842202/51 "2019-10-25T01:55:42Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > The first car I actually owned was a 1979 IH scout II Traveler. It had a longer wheelbase than the Scout. I worked on a farm when I was 14 to “earn” it. It had a blown motor and no interior carpeting–just bare metal. My dad and I barely made it the few hundred miles from the farm back home, this after finding a motor to replace the bad one. We rebuilt that motor and then it blew up before I turned 16 and we had to replace it again. Nothing ever worked right and the doors and window seals leaked, which in western oregon is a Bad Thing. We finally sold it and bought the above-noted VW before I turned 16, so I don’t consider it my first vehicle. > > I think an original Scout (not the II), restored with a manual transmission would be fun to own. Sorry you had issues with your Scout … mine was a workhorse. > [@Dinsdale](#): > > I drove a Toyota Sienna while my kids were in HS. What an easy, reliable, utilitarian vehicle. I often think how nice it would be to take road trips w/ my dog, w/ a bedroll and ice chest in the back… Just bought a 2016 Sienna, absolutely agree here. Amazingly comfortable as a road trip vehicle, and good for hauling stuff around locally. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2019, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-car-motorcycle-you-wish-you-had-back/842202/52 "2019-10-25T02:08:39Z")
Gretchen was first car I ever owned, a new 1965 VW Beetle, red, with a sunroof and an AM-FM radio. (An air conditioner attachment was too expensive and bogged down the engine too much.) I drove that car until it blew a rod at 80K miles. So much for VW reliability, but it gave me an average 30MPG, which is more than my 2015 Honda can do. So much for mileage improvement. Gretchen made it from St. Louis to Green Bay to San Francisco to Los Angeles to Oregon; to many camping trips, mountains, deserts, shorelines, and back again. I loved that car, and often wish I still had it. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2019, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-car-motorcycle-you-wish-you-had-back/842202/53 "2019-10-25T04:00:06Z")
Not really. I like the tech and safely improvements of newer cars, and all my older cars are pretty crap with no reason to wax nostalgic about them. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2019, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-car-motorcycle-you-wish-you-had-back/842202/54 "2019-10-25T13:28:20Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > Not really. I like the tech and safely improvements of newer cars, and all my older cars are pretty crap with no reason to wax nostalgic about them. I admire your thinking; really. I’m just one of those people Jethro Tull sung about; living in the past. While I never want to see it again (and won’t – it got scrapped after my time with it) there was this 1972 Pinto I called the “Shinto” because good vibes were all that held it together. It was a two door and the one post rotted so any time you opened the passenger door the right side of the car fell on the ground and you had to jack it up from the drivers side with a come-along jack to close the door again. Hitting potholes turned the wipers on. It was green – except the drivers door was red and the hood bronze. It was a total turd and a death-trap to boot that never should have been driven. But I was broke, actually NEEDED a car for a few months and the sticker was good that long. And it was actually mechanically bullet-proof – ran like a Swiss watch – with good MPG. At my current age I would never even sit in it but I still do have some good memories of it. Some of us are just odd like that. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2019, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-car-motorcycle-you-wish-you-had-back/842202/55 "2019-10-25T15:03:45Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > I admire your thinking; really. I’m just one of those people Jethro Tull sung about; living in the past. While I never want to see it again (and won’t – it got scrapped after my time with it) there was this 1972 Pinto I called the “Shinto” because good vibes were all that held it together. It was a two door and the one post rotted so any time you opened the passenger door the right side of the car fell on the ground and you had to jack it up from the drivers side with a come-along jack to close the door again. Hitting potholes turned the wipers on. It was green – except the drivers door was red and the hood bronze. It was a total turd and a death-trap to boot that never should have been driven. But I was broke, actually NEEDED a car for a few months and the sticker was good that long. And it was actually mechanically bullet-proof – ran like a Swiss watch – with good MPG. At my current age I would never even sit in it but I still do have some good memories of it. Some of us are just odd like that. Yeah, I just can’t get the same vibes out of a '94 Hyundai Excel. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2019, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-car-motorcycle-you-wish-you-had-back/842202/56 "2019-10-25T15:51:26Z")
I had a 1984 Honda V65 (VF1100) motorcycle that I had to sell when I bought my first house. The stock configuration was great, but I rejetted it, installed 4-into-1 Kerker headers, and replaced the handlebars with a set of V45 bars that pulled back a bit more. It was perfect. Very comfortable street cruiser with oodles of power. The only problems were that it ate batteries and I had to replace the rear tire about every 1500 miles. I’d give just about anything to have it back now. ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2019, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-car-motorcycle-you-wish-you-had-back/842202/57 "2019-10-26T02:43:21Z")
Sometimes, I miss the ‘93 Acura NSX that I used to own. It was a little beat up when I bought it, but eventually ran and looked as good as new. Just sitting in it with the engine off would make me smile. Then I’d turn the key, and that musical V-6 would bark to life, right behind my head. Ahhh. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2019, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-car-motorcycle-you-wish-you-had-back/842202/58 "2019-10-26T03:17:17Z")
I had a 1997 BMW Z3 - dark blue with a light brown interior. I loved that car, and still regret getting rid of it. I’d love to have it back. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2019, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-car-motorcycle-you-wish-you-had-back/842202/59 "2019-10-26T03:23:47Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > **Sunny** : re: the raised eyebrow towards my Corvair. Corvairs got an entirely unwarranted bad rap from Nader. They were no less safe than any contemporary car. And Nader didn’t kill the Vair - the Rustang did. Vairs are (or were) just about the least expensive way to get into older cars. I bought mine for $2k - with a pretty clean body and needing only a little brake work to be entirely roadworthy. > > Some people have said driving a slow car fast sure beats driving a fast car slow. Corvairs (other than the Spyders/Corsas) certainly were not overpowered, but w/ the rear engine and a 4-speed, you could swing them around corners feeling like you were at LeMans. The air-cooled engine was simple, and performed better the harder you pushed it. Fold down back seat made for a neat interior. And you could take the whole thing apart and put it back together with a phillips screwdriver and a set of box wrenches. There were millions made, resulting in a ton of cheap parts and retropops available. Many parts were interchangeable with all other GMs - so easy to maintain. And a ton of fan groups to share info with on-line and IRL. > > I personally dig the look of both the early and the late models. Mine looked pretty much identical to [url=[https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2014/10/21/hemmings-find-of-the-day-1962-chevrolet-corvair-monza-900-spyder/](https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2014/10/21/hemmings-find-of-the-day-1962-chevrolet-corvair-monza-900-spyder/)]this, tho w/ black interior. Different strokes… I had reason for my :dubious:. My husband had a '63 Corvair Spyder. It looked cool, but it never ran for more than a day or so. He spent a lot of time and money trying to work on it. In the end, he had it at a specialist mechanic and the guy disappeared along with husband’s car. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2019, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-car-motorcycle-you-wish-you-had-back/842202/60 "2019-10-26T09:48:55Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > For those who have owned different cars or motorcycles: is there one you wish you had back? Sort of. My first bike was a new off the lot Honda CB400T. Unlike most people, I like to ride for transportation rather than just fun, and the Honda Hawk was a dead reliable commuter. I sold mine when I moved from Kentucky to Chicago in 1985, then discovered owning a bike is much easier than owning a car there, so bought another and rode it year-round until I moved into a place with off-street parking, so car-friendly. Then I got back into riding after a few years and bought another. I sold that when I moved back to KY and gosh-darn it I’m not buying the same bike _again_. Wish I hadn’t sold it, though. What I’ll likely do is get something like it but modern, like a Yamaha SR400 or Genuine G400C, or one of the Moto Guzzi V7 variants. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-car-motorcycle-you-wish-you-had-back/842202.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-car-motorcycle-you-wish-you-had-back/842202.md?page=4)