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I have never been in the car sales business although I have been a speed shop owner, supervised a machine shop, a sr. engineer at a car factory, and a manager at tier one automotive suppliers.
Yes, I almost always had more than one car. When I was 15 I had the '64 GTO and the '65 Impala SS before being 16 years old for a driver's license. I currently have 7.
I have been into cars for a long time and it is an ongoing hobby/passion/sport/etc.
The ones I didn't get were things like a pair of '60 Corvettes for $600 (one was nice and the other was close to being a parts car), or a '65 Corvette fastback in great shape for $2000, a '69 Trans Am RAIV that was only 4 years old for $1400, a '69 Camaro SS427 (dealer installed 427) for $1000 that was 4 years old, etc.
Makes you wish you could have a second chance to get and keep some of them.
I have had more than I can remember just made a post on facebook of some I had pic's of. my list.
1. 60 Impala
2.63 Vette vert with a L 88 4 speed (pulled motor and trans sold the body)
3. 64 Vette vert put in my fiance's name all the time and money went bye bye with her.
4. 69 396 Camaro SS
5. 64 Impala SS 327 4 speed, winter and tow car.
6.63 Impala SS 327 4 speed, fixed it up and sold it
7.68 442 with a blown engine, put in a 327 chev. engine
8.71 Cutlass Supreme, winter and tow car.
9. 59 Vette 283 two four barrels and 4 speed.
10. 72 Cutlass Supreme (girl friends car)
Now it starts to get real hazy, went though a lot of cars just to turn a dollar. will just add pic's now !! One is of a 68 Camaro I bought the body with perfect interior for 200 dollars.
the 81 Cutlass Supreme had the diesel engine, would smoke the tires and got 34 mpg. slightly modified injection pump and injectors.
the picture of the 70 yellow Vette is me and my sking buddy, went to Colorado and then to Daytona beach 5 straight years after year five my friend stayed in Aspen and is still there. forgot this one !!
...68 442 with a blown engine, put in a 327 chev. engine....
the 81 Cutlass Supreme had the diesel engine, would smoke the tires and got 34 mpg.
You've had a lot of nice cars! The pictures look good.
Some sound similar to mine.
My '68 442 had a blown motor too. I put in a 421 Pontiac.
My '81 Olds Delta 88 was a diesel, but I swapped it for a 350 Olds gas motor (slightly modified). I kept the two batteries and the diesel starter. In below 0 temps it would crank over like summer. With the gas motor mine was in the 14's which I thought was pretty good for a mild big car.
Since we all like pictures, here are some of mine.
QCVette, funny story about the 442, had the 327 in it and had a 325 hp 396 for sale and the guy came to look (&buy) the 396, I was working on the 442 with the hood up and the guy did about three double takes. He said a Corvette motor in a Olds. I said the frame is the same as a Chevelle, he said can I drive it and I said sure. Well he loved how the engine ran and bought the 327. He said when can you have it out, I said tomorrow night. So the next night he came to pick it up the 327 was out and the 396 was in and running. He said you are amazing, I just smiled and said it's what I do !!!!!
You've had a lot of nice cars! The pictures look good.
Some sound similar to mine.
My '68 442 had a blown motor too. I put in a 421 Pontiac.
My '81 Olds Delta 88 was a diesel, but I swapped it for a 350 Olds gas motor (slightly modified). I kept the two batteries and the diesel starter. In below 0 temps it would crank over like summer. With the gas motor mine was in the 14's which I thought was pretty good for a mild big car.
Since we all like pictures, here are some of mine.
I had quite a few cars (75 or 80) and most were some sort of specialty/performance/musclecar/sports cars. I am glad I had them because there is no way I would want to spend what they cost now.
A partial list of my more memorable cars is below.
1964 GTO 4 spd (several motors up to a SD 421)
1965 Impala SS (several motors)
1966 442 4 spd
1968 GTO 4 spd
1968 442 4 spd (several motors up to a 70 W30 & a SD 421 pontiac)
1968 Firebird 400 4 spd (several motors up to a 462)
1969 Firebird 400 Auto (several motors up to a 462)
1969 Firebird 400 4 spd
1969 RS Z28 (a Nickey car)
1970 Monte Carlo SS
1970 Nova (several motors)
1970 Chevelle SS 454 (LS6) 4 spd
1971 Trans Am auto 455 HO (blue w/ white stripe)
1971 Trans Am 4 spd 455 HO (white w/ blue stripe)
1977 Trans Am
1979 Formula
1978 Buick (with a 455 pontiac)
1979 Trans Am 4 spd 400 ci. (10th anniversary)
1981 Olds (several motors)
1984 Z28 5 spd
1986 Regal T-Type
1986 Monte Carlo SS (Several motors & transmissions)
1990 Camaro 5.0 5 spd
1995 Caprice 9C1 (LT1)
1996 Caprice (LT1)
1996 Impala SS
1996 Z28 6 speed
And that doesn't even touch all of the ones that I test drove and thought about buying. At the time they were pretty reasonable, but way too much now.
I would still love to have some of them back again. (20-20 hindsight)
QCVette, after you put a gas motor in a diesel car it's unbelievable how quiet they were (diesel's had firewall and floor pan insulation) I think GM found out from that how to makes cars and trucks quiet !! I replaced many blown diesels with gas, you buy a really good Olds 350 for dirt !! I worked at a Cadillac Dealer for many years, I was the diesel Tech, did everything from fuel filters to engines and trans. I could make good money on the diesels because no one else wanted to work on them !!
Holly cr.p pounder! Your folks let you in the house looking like that!!!'
I had been out of the house many years before that pic. we didn't do much sleeping at that age !! We were driving straight through from Denver to Daytona Beach !!
Ok, I'll play, cars listed are some performance types that I held onto for a while, sometimes a long, long while. '55 2dr ford ranch wagon (great so cal surf wagon), '57 chev wagon, '55 chev, 58 chev wagon, 59 ford wagon (ugh!), '61 austin healey 3000, another healey 3000, '66 mustang fastback built 289 4spd, 62 Chev ss impala 409 4spd, '66 mustang coupe 4spd built 302, '68 camaro built 327 4spd, 93 mustang 302 5spd procharged and intercooled, '76 pontiac trans am built 455 4spd, '71 plymouth duster 340 4spd, '69 chev nova ss built 350 4spd, 69 chev c10 built 355 R700, couple of different porsche 911's, couple bmw's, 3 different jeep grand wagoneers (love those things, still have my '89), '76 vette 350 4spd, '71 vette 454 4spd, '69 vette 327 4spd, '99 vette c5. There are others that came and went quickly or were/are mundane transportation cars but you get the idea. Take care!
Ok, I'll play, cars listed are some performance types that I held onto for a while, sometimes a long, long while. '55 2dr ford ranch wagon (great so cal surf wagon), '57 chev wagon, '55 chev, 58 chev wagon, 59 ford wagon (ugh!), '61 austin healey 3000, another healey 3000, '66 mustang fastback built 289 4spd, 62 Chev ss impala 409 4spd, '66 mustang coupe 4spd built 302, '68 camaro built 327 4spd, 93 mustang 302 5spd procharged and intercooled, '76 pontiac trans am built 455 4spd, '71 plymouth duster 340 4spd, '69 chev nova ss built 350 4spd, 69 chev c10 built 355 R700, couple of different porsche 911's, couple bmw's, 3 different jeep grand wagoneers (love those things, still have my '89), '76 vette 350 4spd, '71 vette 454 4spd, '69 vette 327 4spd, '99 vette c5. There are others that came and went quickly or were/are mundane transportation cars but you get the idea. Take care!
Ok, I'll play, cars listed are some performance types that I held onto for a while, sometimes a long, long while. '55 2dr ford ranch wagon (great so cal surf wagon), '57 chev wagon, '55 chev, 58 chev wagon, 59 ford wagon (ugh!), '61 austin healey 3000, another healey 3000, '66 mustang fastback built 289 4spd, 62 Chev ss impala 409 4spd, '66 mustang coupe 4spd built 302, '68 camaro built 327 4spd, 93 mustang 302 5spd procharged and intercooled, '76 pontiac trans am built 455 4spd, '71 plymouth duster 340 4spd, '69 chev nova ss built 350 4spd, 69 chev c10 built 355 R700, couple of different porsche 911's, couple bmw's, 3 different jeep grand wagoneers (love those things, still have my '89), '76 vette 350 4spd, '71 vette 454 4spd, '69 vette 327 4spd, '99 vette c5. There are others that came and went quickly or were/are mundane transportation cars but you get the idea. Take care!
Nice collection.
I had a friend with 2 Austin Healy 300's. In one of them he pulled out the motor and transmission and put in a 327 4 speed. It weighed about 20 lbs different from stock, really ran strong, and fit like it was made for it. (almost-the oil filter was too long and hit the frame, but it was the old style can with a bolt that you put a filter into, so he cut them in half and it fit fine.)
Wow! Some very interesting posts here. And to think all I did was compare the cost of a 20 year old 'Vette in 1985 to a 20 year old 'Vette in 1997.
I agree with your first post and it seems like especially the C4's and C5's have rock bottom pricing/value right now compared to the appreciation of the early cars. I don't really look for the C4's and C5's to appreciate very soon. For me that is OK. It means I can get a great bang for the buck when I get others.
Sorry we got sidetracked on looking at prices and some of the ones that got away.
Sorry bout that, would have loved to have posted pictures along with narrative. Just any pics I had from years gone by, and some years are way, way gone by (other geezers will get that) are lost, beamed up, misplaced, thrown out by the ex, along with the rest of my stuff left at the house for not so safekeeping, or god knows what. Maybe somewhere in my moves, but sure would love to have them back. Take care!
Sorry bout that, would have loved to have posted pictures along with narrative. Just any pics I had from years gone by, and some years are way, way gone by (other geezers will get that) are lost, beamed up, misplaced, thrown out by the ex, along with the rest of my stuff left at the house for not so safekeeping, or god knows what. Maybe somewhere in my moves, but sure would love to have them back. Take care!
Sorry about that Mike, because Choreo and Tuco were able to recreate my 69 Camaro pic, I'm all cocky !!! The pic sent me back to some of the best times in my life. other pic's I had in scrapbooks and on old PC's !! No where near all the great cars I have had, all the best to you my friend !!!
Sorry about that Mike, because Choreo and Tuco were able to recreate my 69 Camaro pic, I'm all cocky !!! The pic sent me back to some of the best times in my life. other pic's I had in scrapbooks and on old PC's !! No where near all the great cars I have had, all the best to you my friend !!!
Guess I'm going to wax a bit nostalgic but I wish the young guns could have seen and done what we experienced in the golden era of blooming performance and muscle cars. What an era to be out on the streets! Regarding the Healeys, I think it was Classic Motors that made, in their shop, not a kit car, a recreation of the Healey with an american V8 drivetrain. I believe they are out of business now but you still see their cars out there on the market once in a while, very fun ride, not much different than a Shelby Cobra, I believe they called them a "Sebring", toyed with the idea of picking one up but I always got side tracked with something else. Well, take care and keep up with the humorous posts, I can always use a good laugh. Best wishes and take good care! Hey, back again, just for grins 'n giggles, googled "Sebring MX", brought up some nice pics and videos of the sebrings, thought you might want to give it a looksee!
Last edited by friou; Jan 6, 2017 at 09:18 PM.
Reason: added info
100%
Ha Ha Ha !!!
) are lost, beamed up, misplaced, thrown out by the ex, along with the rest of my stuff left at the house for not so safekeeping, or god knows what. Maybe somewhere in my moves, but sure would love to have them back. Take care!