I miss my 1992 Plymouth Sundance America, though heaven knows why. It was a Sally Rand model, not one upgrade or extra. I got it for a song, paid cash for it when I was 17, and drove it til I was 27. At which point it was ugly (SO ugly, the paint had flaked away on the entire roof) but it still ran okay. So I donated it to my down-on-his-luck FIL, who promptly wrecked it.
My next car was a fun little GTP Pacecar Grand Prix, which did not last as many years as it should have. It was not a practical car for a young mom with a baby, for sure.
My favorite vehicle ever was a '89 4Runner. Perfect for roadtrips and camping–I loved being able to sit on the tailgate, which went away on newer models. It could go practically anywhere…even though I was a timid 4-wheel driver at best. It got 20 MPG consistently, had a manual 5-speed with overdrive, a removable moonroof and a decent stereo with CD and cassette player. But, after 240K, things were wearing out on a too-regular basis to be dependable for long trips and I had to get rid of it.
I also had a 1993 Isuzu Trooper LS, with virtually every option (including motorized folding side mirrors). It was the perfect car to take to the beach and drive on the sand. It had plenty of clearance and the old-fashioned 4WD where you had to back it up to unlock the front hubs. With light truck tires mounted, it would go basically anywhere. Another advantage was that it was white, so it stayed much cooler when parked out in the sun. Eventually the engine began to lose compression. It was a tough choice to sell it, particularly since the body and interior were pristine, but I didn’t want to invest in rebuilding the engine. That was stupid of me.
I kick myself every time I see an old one tooling around town.
Not a classic, but our 2002 Subaru Forester, Goldie. We loved that car. She took us back and forth across the country many times, and was wonderful when we lived in the middle of nowhere in the 4 Corners. 10 years, 220,000+ miles when the new timing chain broke and took out the #3 cylinder.
We had only one major breakdown in the life of that car, the head gasket. We had been slowly replacing parts, such as wheel bearings, when suddenly we needed a new engine and no longer had full time jobs thanks to the Great Recession. My family bought us a new car (not a Subaru), so to help out we traded Goldie in, and literally cried when we did. We were able to replace the gift car with another Subaru, but Sylvia is just not Goldie.
My 1988 Nissan Stanza wagon. That thing was like the Tardis. Two sliding rear doors, and the back seat folded up leaving a space big enough to lid down. I moved across the country twice with all of my belongings.
1974 Yamaha RD 200, I was the second owner it was my first bike and I rode the wheels off it. Sold it to make room for my 1987 Cagiva Alazzurra SS 650 WHich I still have but it’s been parked for a while.
My husband bought his about 10 years ago, it’s an attention getter for sure and is almost his daily driver in summer. gets track time once or twice a summer with the porsche club and the Lotus club. It’s his pride and joy for sure, but all i see is another two seater in the stable that can’t fetch groceries. :eek:
Nice, and inexpensive. But if i had one, I’d want an accurate reproduction with an aluminum body. I did see one for about $400,000 with a 356C engine, but the one I linked to is for all practical purposes a ‘real’ one.
In reality, I’d be perfectly happy to have my 911SC back (or a duplicate – white coupé, polished Fuchs wheels, no tail). A realistic bonus would be to have a red 1969 Porsche 911T. I already have a clone of my 1966 MGB, this one with overdrive.
It would be nice to have an aluminum exact copy of a Porsche 550 Spyder with the 4 cam engine or a 356C engine, but not necessary with the others.
It’s not even my car, but my sister (through good ol’ dad) had a 1970 Torino Cobra Jet with a ‘shaker’ hood scoop. Despite dad’s penchant for buying and restoring cars, that’s the only one I wish I had a chance to sit in and drive today.
I had a 1988 Honda Hawk 650GT. Sort of a sport bike/super standard. Had a V-twin engine. Was the only cycle I ever took a dive on. Hit a puddle of radiator fluid that was on the ground while turning into a filling station. $900 damage, mostly the fairing. I should have just took the fairing off (fairings weren’t OEM on those bikes) or replaced it and kept the bike. Instead I sold it for a rather handsome some (there is/was a cult following for that model). I miss it tremendously.
I had a 2006 Honda S2000 for a while. I looked into getting another one for a weekend toy a while back. I gave up when the ones I found were either super expensive, in terrible condition, or both.
Sorry for reviving this zombie, but I thought I’d provide a short update for the approximately zero people who expressed interest in this post…
So the simple fact of writing the quoted part of my original post started a thought process that slowly gained momentum and mass over the last year. I wanted to re-buy that 2008 KTM, and I more or less did, in the form of a 2020 KTM SMC R. Same bike, but with 12 years of upgrades and new features. And most importantly, still a riot to ride.
Yes! My dad’s 1965 Pontiac Strato Chief. We got it in ‘68. I learned to drive on it and had all kinds of fun. By the time Dad passed in ‘86 it had sat about a year and there it sat until Mom went in ‘95. I inherited both the house and car.
I had every intention of getting her back on the road ASAP after the money came through.
Except…
Some jerk with a tow truck swiped her just before I sold the house!
The Strato Chief was a rare model, only about 2000 in Canada. One day, I just might find her.
