OK, 10K...

Scastles · Post by **Scastles** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 8:34 am

I wasn't even in the Corvair when it took a dive. No one was in it.
I had been grounded, and thus my keys taken away. So, I get the bright idea to wash my ugly little Corvair. I figured I would just put it in neutral, give it a little push out of the garage and wash it on the driveway. I hadn't taken into consideration our driveway was on a slope. The Corvair got away from me. I tried to catch up with it through the open drivers side door. Good thing I didn't try to hard or the car would have run over me. So, I watched as it crossed the street, jumped the curb (I was hoping the curb would slow it down. It accelerated) ran through a brick retaining wall, through some nice lawn furniture and into my neighbors pool. Well, half of it anyway. It kinda looked like an ugly green whale sticking out of the water.
To this day I don't know what it cost my old man, but it wasn't pretty.
You can't make this stuff up. Call it really stupid teenage thinking.

jps · Post by **jps** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 12:09 pm

Not stupid, just teenage!

kcole4001 · Post by **kcole4001** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 12:23 pm

In a pool is probably as good a spot as any for a Corvair!
(Not good for the pool, though)

I still prefer the '71 to '74 Charger body to the '68-'69.
Too much exposure to 'Dukes', I suppose.
The 1970 isn't too bad.

I'll never own one, since the few remaining examples are rusted beyond recognition here.
Heck, they were rusted beyond repair 20 years ago.
Apparently the sheetmetal was'nt very good quality, along with the usual horrible Mopar electrical system.

lyle_from_minneapolis · Thu Feb 15, 2007 12:27 pm

Well, I do miss SEEING Corvairs. Not surprised that I don't anymore. Don't see many Comets, Hornets or Gremlins either. One of my favorite old beaters was the homely Dodge Dart. Very lively ride!

charlyg · Post by **charlyg** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 12:28 pm

70 Hemi Cuda!!!! Yeah!!!!!

shamustwin · Post by **shamustwin** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 12:31 pm

Stupid teenage trick here.
When I was 16 I "inherited" my stepmom's '68 Charger.
She was a school teacher, so it was an 8, but not the performance car.
I made it my duty to drive double the speed limits.
I did 126 mph on the 405 fwy at 3am (as fast as I could get it to go!), and 90 mph on Foothill Blvd. in Sylmar. Drifted across the road on a curve that time.
I don't recommend this, I have had amazing good luck considering the stupid teenage (and some adult) tricks I've played!
P.S. A '94 XJ6 will handle the curves on Mullholland Drive like the tires are coated with glue! (stupid adult trick, there).

Scastles · Post by **Scastles** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 12:38 pm

I'm with you, Mark. At the time I had my Corvair I detested it, especially in the winter with the heater on. Damn heater would bring tears to my eyes. However, today I wish I still owned Ralph Nader's favorite automobile. I use the term automobile, loosely.

wmthor · Post by **wmthor** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 2:33 pm

I had a 71 Dodge Challenger that was a sleeper. A 340 under the hood, steel wheels with G60's and a luggage rack on the trunk lid.

In Jan. 74, I was clocked @ 132mph and consider myself very lucky that night. I received only a written warning, "driving too fast for road conditions" as the officer's wife was my boss' secretary. Anyone else and I would have wound up spending some time behind bars.

sharkboy · Post by **sharkboy** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 7:35 pm

While I was in my teens, I once got a 1973 Ford Pinto over a hundred miles an hour.

Let me say that again. A Ford Pinto over a hundred miles an hour. Yes, I've heard they don't even fall that fast. I was able to sustain it for a while, but I seriously thought the car was going to fly apart. This was before I really knew anything about cars and would have been positive that it was going to fly apart.

This is roughly equivalent to driving a Studebaker Hawk at 310, an Avanti at 400. It is similar in realm of likely events to Britney Spears not waking up in a pool of vomit- anybody's, the unknown red shirt on a Star Trek episode coming back to the ship after an away mission, or maybe having more real news on a 24-hour news network than a half-hour made up comedy show.

johnallg · Post by **johnallg** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 7:55 pm

'72 340 Cuda. Fastest was on the highway home when my wife was in labor and I had to pick her up. I wondered why everyone was going so slow and then saw I was doing 125. Shrugged and kept going.

Also got my '70 Chevelle 4 wheels in the air on a little rise on a main street in the Zoo - when it landed the rear differential left sparks as it hit.

And that's not even the stupid teenage tricks!

bitzerguy · Post by **bitzerguy** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 4:25 am

I owned three really great and fun cars that I wish I still had, 1967 Chev Caprice Coupe 327 (sort of fastback cruise liner only slightly smaller than my 1976 Eldorado was), 1967 Mustang 289 coupe, 1968 Triumph GT-6 MkIII.

Man I wish I still had the 'stang and the MkIII!!

...Dean

johnallg · Post by **johnallg** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 12:36 pm

Cars I've owned and wished I had back in factory condition:

1956 Chevy 2 door coupe
1970 Chevelle
1974 Volvo 164E
1994 Lincoln Continental

There were others I owned but these were really fun cars that saw me through some fun/crazy times.

rick_ovic · Post by **rick_ovic** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 7:42 pm

Sorry Paul, I've just discovered this post. Happy 10,000th post to you! Thanks for all of your wisdom and thoughtful input.

Even though I'm on the other side of the planet, I still see your smiling face everyday, thanks to the photo I have on my desk with you, Kenny Howes and I, at the Hollywood House of Blues.

It helps me to remember that I have a life outside of the the corporate world!

dale_fortune · Post by **dale_fortune** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 8:55 pm

Cars I've owned in chronological order:
1954 Ford 2Dr. Ranch Wagon (Surf Wagon)
1956 Chevrolet 2 Dr. Del Rey (1st P O A)
1965 Mustang 2+2 Fastback (1st new car)
1948 Anglia (Hot Rod Conversion)
1960 VW Van (Band Equipment Wagon)
1969 SAAB Sonnett (2nd new car)
1971 Ford Pinto (3rd new car)
1961 Austin Healy 3000 MKII (I miss this one)
1942 Mercury Station Wagon (2nd owner)
Ford Ranger Trucks..84/87/91/96/2003

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 4:42 am

Darren: I have the SAME pic on my desk!

Dale: you and I have a few cars in common, too, besides the guitar stuff: My fisrt decent new car was a SAAB Turbo (1980) which I wish I still had. I've owned two Merc woodies, but they were shoeboxes, a '49 and a '50, which many people don't consider the "real thing". HUGE cars inside and out. I also had a '56 Chevrolet Del Ray coupe, along with 6-'55 Nomads, one '56 and 2-57s (one a "fuelie"). The VW woodies I designed and built in the '70s. Still have one of those.

Exotics: 2-Citroen SMs (fantastic cars!), my Maserati Quattroporte, currently disabled, a couple of R-Rs (one old, one newer), MGA, MG-TC, Porsche 914 and 924S, 2-'60 Chevrolet sedan deliveries, '40 Ford Deluxe coupe hotrod (Chrysler Hemi), and about a dozen other woodies. Oh, a Pontiac Fiero--one of the first made. A couple of Fiats bought new when I didn't know any better.

I'd miss 'em, but I've got my Ricks to keep me warm.