UTMC

anyone actually into cars around here? what do your four-wheeled monsters look like?

mine's just about to pass the inspection so i guess my skills in pinstripping are about to improve.

i have a......



rx8

1300 cc's of rotary, rear-drive goodness...

it gets about 14 miles to the gallon, and uses about a qt of oil every 500 miles.. you wont win much praise from Eco-mental people.

but, it does sound like jet.. which sorta makes up for all of that.

I've got a bashed up '89 Toyota pickemup.

heh....

shown with winter wheels.








I'm also an SUV owner (gasp)






I got a dead stock 01 Tundra as an everyday vehicle as well.

Don't own a car, but I really want a Volvo Turbo Wagon.

Let's see, my truck is an '01 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4
Wife has a '00 Jeep Wrangler
There is an '87 Mazda B2200 pickup in the backyard awaiting sale
Daughter has a '97 VW Cabrio that needs transmission work

I don't love cars, they are a tool to be used and nothing more to me. I made the mistake nine years ago of buying the Dodge truck when the truck I already had was perfectly serviceable. Big mistake that I paid for for six years, and continue to pay for with 11 mpg "efficiency". Its a good solid machine, and I take care of its mechanicals but as I said I do not love any of them. This is evidenced by the numerous dents, scratches, bent bumpers, collapsed dashboard and outright scars that are a direct result of a lack of concern. Cars/trucks have virtues which suit particular purposes, but I have never been into sports cars, with the exception of 60's muscle, but even those I would not consider owning.

I will add something to this. The wife and I, given the age of our fleet, have been discussing a timetable to replace them. Personally I would like to hold onto as many of them as we can until a genuine hydrogen vehicle hits the market with a reasonable fuel network. This will be at least ten years I fear, if even that soon, but I cannot see the petroleum based fuel vehicles lasting too much further except for luxury use. So if its a decade before they are dinosaurs I don't have a problem with it, but if by some chance hydrogen comes to town sooner than that I will be mighty pissed to be stuck with a gascar.

piccini9 wrote:Don't own a car, but I really want a Volvo Turbo Wagon.

Well...not to solicit you but I'm considering selling. I'm half way through a turbo upgrade and once that's done it might have to go. As soon as I'm done with it I'm going to start a solid front axle conversion on the 4runner and will need the funds and space. With the new turbo the only thing it will be lacking is a camshaft...put a decent cam in and with a good driver it should put up a high 13 second quarter mile no problem. Even without the cam a low 14 should be doable. In other words, it hauls $1500 would drive it home. Comes with 4 steel wheels with snows, 4 alloys with summer tires, I'd reinstall the third row seat, etc.

I actually have one more that's hiding in a 50 foot storage container out behind my house. Some day I will get around to building it up, it's been sitting around almost 3 years awaiting body work which is probably coming this winter. I took it down to the gas station the other day. Gotta climb out the targa top like bo duke because the driver's side door is caved in. Here's the good side haha:

My wife and I have 2001 Pathfinder which I have been incredibly happy with. Fuel economy is not bad at all for its size and the 4WD and ABS make it handle awesome in all conditions. Hauling dog, baby, and pulling a trailer all work awesome. At the end of the day, it is a really nice appliance. I enjoy using it and would recommend it to anybody, but it inspires no passion.

We also have a 1972 Super Beetle that is super fun, but I don't really consider it a car. More of a street legal go cart. It has no heat, no defrost, and the wipers are barely useful. My bike is more comfortable in bad weather.

Given that we only have one real car, I do all my commuting and solo travel on two wheels. I don't miss cars that much.

The car I really miss is about as far from a motorcycle as you can get. It was my 1977 Oldsmobile Delta 88. What I love about motorcycles is the connection you have with the road. What I loved about the Jade Destroyer, was the total insulation from the road. It felt more like surfing or something. It was, by far, the smoothest car I have ever driven on the freeway (and I've done plenty of freeway miles in Mercedes and Lexus luxury cars). Road trips in this were like a magic carpet ride.

The first time I met my wife, I gave her a ride in this car and she was impressed by the selection of 8-Track tapes I had.

1995 Jeep Wrangler
1998 Toyota RAV4
2000 Chevy Silverado 1500
2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI

Rabbit_Fighter wrote:

My grandma had the 4 door version of that, same color.

motorpsycho67 wrote:

Rabbit_Fighter wrote:

My grandma had the 4 door version of that, same color.

Those are like driving the couch down the road...thats what makes 'em cool!!!!

My current rig is an '05 Ford Escape...I hate it...the ex picked it....we got rid of my '98 Expedition cause it got 12 shitty miles to the gallon only to get 15 shitty miles with the Escape.....

Had I known, I woulda kept the V8!!!!!!! LOTS more room in it too!!

oops - double post...see below (sorry)

xtian wrote:
mine's just about to pass the inspection so i guess my skills in pinstripping are about to improve.

Oooohhh... I like!!! Will you come and paint on our car please? Although I don't know how cool a girl like that would look on our Pathfinder.

You could say that I like cars.

Current fleet:

1993 Civic Si - nearly dead stock grocery getter. Koni multiadjustable struts and sticky Yokohama tires, Awesome car. 185K on it, my third Si. Love it. Go-Kart handling, 7,200 rpm redline, totally practical.

2005 Dodge crewcab long bed turbodiesel truck. Dead stock. Bought new. 38k in four years. Almost never drive it nowadays. Great truck, 325hp/600lb-ft of torque and 3.73s with posi makes it faster than anything that size/weight has any right to be. 22mpg highway (no, really) if you keep it below 75.
Tows 12,000lbs all day and will pull that fully loaded box trailer up a 10 mile, 11,000 foot Colorado grade at 70 mph no problem.

1995 Chevy Caprice 9C1 cop car. Ex - marked NJSP HP. Factory LT1/ 4 wheel disc. Now 355 LT1, bored, blueprinted and balanced, 488/510 cam, stainless headers and duals, 3.42s, six speed stick conversion, big swaybars, Bilsteins, programming, etc etc.

Unmarked car white, spotlight, deck aux stoplights, steelies with poverty caps.

Loud @ WFO, fast, sticks like glue, sounds like filthy raw sex. Several people have followed me for miles to tell me it's the best sounding car they ever heard, once they caught up.

1955 Chevy 4 door wagon - beater project. In storage for years. Eventually I'll rip the body off the '95 and drop the wagon body on the frame, engine and running gear of the cop car. One of these years...

Past cars:

1970 Challenger
1971 Dart
1976 Chrysler Newport (the 2 door 'sport' - 22 feet long - cheapest car per pound ever, cost me $150)
1988 Chevy Sprint Turbo (rollerskate, stupid fun, tiny, a cartoon of a car)
pair of S-10 pickups ('85 - crap - mistake, '92 - 244,000 miles when junked)
1967 Cadillac coupe Deville convertible - best road trip car ever
1968 Fleetwood
1992 Cadillac Sedan DeVille - second best road trip car ever
1958 Olds 88 hardtop - now in Sweden
1972 Super beetle (13-B rotary power!)
1966 beetle
1968 beetle
1962 Oval ragtop sunroof Baja (not a typo, and no, I didn't build it)
1964 VW Doublecab pickup
1986 Golf GTI
1982 VW pickup diesel
1991 Taurus SHO (the only Ford I have ever owned and will ever own. Bletch - utter failure)
1982 Toyota Corolla SR5
1981 Corolla 2 door sedan
1986 Isuzu Impulse (bletch - mistake)
1986 Chevy Spectrum (great little car, slow as hell, bulletproof)
1964 21 window sunroof deluxe microbus
1973 Mercedes 280c - terrible car - mistake
1985 Nissan Maxima - yes, it was a talking car with a digital dash
1991 CRX HF - 54 mpg! Slow! Cheap!
1986 Civic Si - rust in peace - 266,000 miles
1989 Civic Si - still kicking @ 211,000 miles with the current owner
1989 Civic wagon - beater I got for free with engine going away - the Honda Valdez - used so much oil I filled it with used oil from cars I serviced at my shop.
1988 Saab 900 Turbo SPG - mistake


There are undoubtedly several more that I have forgotten by now.

Right now I have a '96 Volvo 850 Turbo wagon that needs a new starter.

This was my old Nissan 240sx race/drift car that is on jackstands on the back patio being parted out.

stiles wrote: 1988 Saab 900 Turbo SPG - mistake

i had one of those! mine was a 92. i quite liked it actually.


you even had the fancy spg version..


mine was at the side of the road in a cloud of steam more than anything.. but it was still cool.

UndertheGun wrote:
This was my old Nissan 240sx race/drift car that is on jackstands on the back patio being parted out.

The problem with a drift car is.... there is nowhere to drift it. i would need my own runway.. lol

Vespalina wrote:

xtian wrote: Oooohhh... I like!!! Will you come and paint on our car please? Although I don't know how cool a girl like that would look on our Pathfinder.

it can't look worste than on a 92 mitsu can it?
just send the hood along with a pre paid envellope

08 Ranger daily driver...95 F 250 beach/snow/tow truck.

Got tired of shitty mpgs...bought the 4 banger Ranger for fuel economy. F 250...well, it's a fucking gas hog...doesn't get driven that much so...not much of an issue there.

<a href="http://s443.photobucket.com/albums/qq16 ... resize.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i443.photobucket.com/albums/qq16 ... resize.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Sometimes I get to borrow my wife's awesome Camry.

I have no car. Long time. Might get me a car this winter. I am hoping that I can find a succession of $1000 cars that I can buy and then dispose of each Spring. I need a car for approxmately 12 days out of the year (if past weather for the last 4 years is any indication). So I don't want to pay for insurance for a car if I don't need it. But in Maryland, just to register the car it has to have insurance, so I can't cancel it after March or whatever. And you can't cancel the insurance without turning in your plates to the DMV. Crafty.

There is no real need to have a car in this area to move one person. It would just be nice for those 12 sporadic days when there's ice on the road.

Yeah, i'm a bit of a car nut, too. Currently 4 cars & 3.5bikes.

Current cagers:

Daily. '03 Tacoma. Lowering kit, perf. shocks, 17" black wheels, exhaust, and NOS kits sitting in garage waiting for appropriate weekend for transformation. Shown autocrossing 'cuz everything i own gets thrashed at some point...


Race. '85 Dodge Omni GLH. $2008 Grassroots Motorsports Challenge car. Gutted, lexan windows, bigger turbo, intercooled, coilovers, autox tires, etc.


Cruise. '70 MGB. Was my dads. He got tired of it taking up garage space and handed it down. Dreams of a V8 swap, but will probably just be a fair weather cruiser. 65 horsepower - FUN to drive. The prime example of "Its more fun to drive a slow car fast than it is to drive a fast car slow"


Project. '73 Beetle. Plans to turn it into a volksrod.

What i want it to look like:


PAST CAGES:
Supercharged Miata. Best car i've ever owned.


'94 'vette. ("Che'vette? no. Corvette. Its a piece of shit") Driven year round. Opposite of MGB. Big maintenance pain in the ass. Scary fast. Glad to be rid of it.


Pinky. Dodge Shadow. Another GRM CHallenge car.


'91 Dodge Spirit R/T. Fast turbo 16v grocery getter.


Ratty Caddy. A joke of a GRM Challenge car. Picked it up the day before the races. Race required street equip so we welded on a bumper and headlights.


'75 Chebby Mozzarella. Factory 350 V8 Monza. Got it for a case of Guinness. Another GRM Challenge car. Had it set up for nitrous but the drags got rained out that year. Fun, obnoxious, loud, smelly car. Got a photo of it in Hot Rod Magazine.


Various other uninteresting beaters: '97 Crown Vic; 86 Accord, 84 Skylark, 78 Malibu Wagon (miss this one!), 86 Omni GLH, 87 Shadow Turbo, 90 Lumina, etc....

the wife has a car but no car for me for a few years...i do miss my kidnapper van...probably will have another within the year...

After five glorious years without, I moved back to DCD and was pretty much forced into another one. It's a Honda Civic. It's silver. Just like the other 7 silver Honda Civics in every parking lot I lose my car in on the rare occasions I drive it. Recently though it has become the driving in a daylong downpour car.

I hate it. It's a total fucking automatic pig and it handles like shit. Every time I get behind the wheel I think of the stupid responsible decision I made to pass on the 73 Bimmer 2002 in good shape I found around the same time and I want to cry.



::sigh:: someday it will be mine.

all these pictures of cars on a track.. i want to take mine to a track sooo bad.

This is my sweet sweet ride. It's been in a shop for two years now. I'm hoping to have it finished by the end of summer. It now has a KA24DE (Nissan 240sx) engine and transmission. I used pistons from the single cam motor which brings the compression up to 11.5:1 or so. I had an equal length header and intake made for it. The new intake bolts up to a custom Hayabusa throttle body setup. The suspension and brakes have all been upgraded already. Mostly just wiring and fuel management computer stuff left to do.

And this is an old picture. It's already been blackened.

1991 Ford Aerostar (rain/snow vehicle) Picked it up for the price of a starter. So far I've replaced a power steering hose and the alternator and the rad is now leaking. I've got about $300 into it.





1957 semi-custom Beetle.





One day it will sit like this with full coverage flames:




1972 VW Westy that I'm trying to sell to pay off the ex.






Cars of the past...


1952 Chrysler Windsor hardtop:





1968 full show Beetle:



1961 VW Panel (forever known as "the one that got away"):






1955 Pontiac Star Chief:





1965 Comet Caliente - my first car and will always be my favourite.





Also had some less than memorable cars over the years - 1975 Volvo DL wagoon; 1985 Subaru 4X4 wagoon; 1981 VW Rabbit; 1955 Ford Country Squire waggoon that I never got on the road.


Starting to get the 50's sled itch again so the 57 bug might go on the block later this year.

1957 Volvo 444
1965 Sunbeam Alpine
1955 Chevy
1971 Fiat 850
1950 chevy fleetline fastback
1957 Pontiac Star Chief (best model ever)
1965 Pontiac Star Chief (factory hurst w/ bench seats)
197? Vega wagon (sedan delivery - no back seats)
1968 MGB GT - started every day in winter - amazing

After the MG...a bunch of shit for the next 40 years. Current ride - a 97 Ford Ranger... manual trans, no A/C and only put tires, oil and brakes on it for 150K. Nice little truck.

current
92 Silver Ford Crown Vic. looks and acts just like a cop car. Tinted windows, cop hubcaps, rides smooth, under 10k miles on it

Past
92 Silver Ford Crown Vic. died after 400,000 miles figured it'd make sense to get another

88 Cadillac DeVille. First car, idled at 35 with the idle screw all the way in (or out, whichever sets the idle lowest), and the throttle cable not sticking. Ridiculous car, I beat all the kids with 'souped up' cars that their mommy bought them a spoiler for in races, any distance. Made for some fun times.