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Most fun you had in a car. KEEP IT P.G.


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After a decade or more of driving less than adequate Detroit iron while on duty, I received a '94 Chevrolet Caprice with the LT1 engine. The first time I dropped the hammer on that big wonderful beast I was sold.

G

Yes, LT-1s are wonderful. When they're running right. 

Lot of great ideas and well-thought-out design marred by cheap parts. 

My '94 Roadmaster Wagon has been a nightmare mechanically because of that. Some of the least fun I've had with a car. Opti-Spark went south and it shorted the computer, among other things. 

I may finish it, I may see if I can find one that's in better shape, but they're getting harder to find and expensive.

Charlie Larkin

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Hmmm…. if I can't mention Ellen, Kathy, Laura, Eileen, Donna, or Diane I guess I'll mention the Porsche incident…..

 

I used to work for DOR Porsche/Audi in Port Washington as a technician. Our long road test loop took me up into Port Washington to the water and we would hook back down along side of Bar Beach, a commercial area that was 2 lanes in each direction with a 200' wide center island. Wide open, plenty of visibility, perfect area for "high speed" testing. Safe. Except for the rise in the road……. visibly to the end of the road.

 

A friend worked for a private telecommunications outfit and he was walking to his van across the street from my dealership, located on Northern Blvd. I beep and wave him over, as I always promised him a ride in a Porsche if I ever saw him in the area. I saw him and I was driving a (then) new 928. He got in and off we went on the "long loop" as we called it. After sedately cruising up to the water, we turn south along the beach headed back to Northern Blvd. and I stand on it. I start reading off our speed as we accelerate: 90-100-110-120-and as I say 130 we crest the rise in the road and there's a Nassau County cruiser with radar in the median. 

 

In a momentary decision to have dinner with my family and with not in jail, I kept my foot in it, proceeded to the Northern Blvd. merge and ran back to the dealership, where I parked the car waaaaaaaay in the back of the dealers lot, my friend got out of the car with rubbery legs. Fun indeed.

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Yes, LT-1s are wonderful. When they're running right. 

Lot of great ideas and well-thought-out design marred by cheap parts. 

My '94 Roadmaster Wagon has been a nightmare mechanically because of that. Some of the least fun I've had with a car. Opti-Spark went south and it shorted the computer, among other things. 

I may finish it, I may see if I can find one that's in better shape, but they're getting harder to find and expensive.

Charlie Larkin

Charlie I was thinking of you Saturday night.

I was walking into a casino and there in all it's glory was a '94-'95 Buick Roadmaster. She'd been repainted the original color and looked great. From what I could see the interior was still looking good. She had a Nevada "Retired Air Force" plate so I'm guessing the original owner.  

I didn't have the time for photos but take my word for it that was a fine looking car.

I always wanted a Buick or Cadillac based on the platform.

G

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Late 60's, my buddy Tony has his Mom's  '68 428 Country Squire wagon, it's loaded with histerical teenagers, and we are barreling down 45th Ave in Gary Indiana at what seemed like at least  60+ mph. At least one of us was on the roof stage coach style hanging on to the roof rack for dear life. I was tucked away in the back seat laughing like a mad man. Of coarse the same car had a 3rd rear facing seat, useful for stoyaways while entering the drive in movie. OHWHUTFUN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. Tony's DAD had a '66 Toronado good for 100mph less that a 1/2 mile after leaving high school, I know 'cause I was riding shotgun.....................

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Hmmm, doing 140 in an 86 Mustang GT on I-80 east of Cheyenne, WY.  The owner of the car was in the passenger seat while I drove, the car was less than a year old at the time. After we coasted down to around 70, a WY state trooper passed us going in the other direction, that was a close call.

 

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Hmmm.  I've had a lot of fun with cars.

Childhood:  Cruising to the Cape in my Mom's '60 Bonneville convertible.  Getting my first ride in a Corvette (Dad's best friend's '65 Coupe).  And then riding in the '67 Firebird 400 that the Corvette was traded in on.  Neat car.  4-speed, Radir mags (with "knock-off" spinners) and lakes pipes.  Riding in my cousin's TR3.  Teaching myself how to drive in a '31 Model A, and then in an oval-window Beetle.

Teen years:  Driving my Mom's '65 GTO convertible.  Taking my Mom's '75 Coupe DeVille on dates (definitely NOT PG).  Driving the '69 GTO convertible loaned to me on numerous occasions by one of our close family friends.  My first ride in a BMW 3.0 CS coupe (I was stunned).  Getting picked up regularly when hitch-hiking by a Porsche 911, a Bristol, a Honda 750, and a Chevelle SS454 (same guy who owned the Honda).  Cruising in my 4-speed '64 Impala SS409.  Road "trips" with my buddies in my '66 21-window sunroof Microbus.  Pulling wheelies on Main Street with my best friend in his '68 Camaro SS396 Super Stock.  Literally, a Super Stocker.  When he bought it for $1,700.00(!) it had only ever seen track use.  Radio delete, no heat, no insulation, 4.88 rear end, M-22, it got zero mpg and you could eat off of the chassis.

College:  Cruising in my '74 TA 455SD.  Cruising in my '61 sunroof Bug.  Driving up Route 7 to Lime Rock (I've done this many times in many interesting cars) with aforementioned best friend in his '65 Corvette convertible.  Cruising to the Cape (same family cottage from childhood) with my best girl (and wife of 32 years now) in my Cal-Look, 2.0 Liter, Webered, cammed and Monza exhausted '71 Karmann Ghia convertible.

Adult:  Driving my first brand-new car: an '83 Rabbit GTi.  Driving to Newport in my Miata.  Driving to Lime Rock in my Miata.  Driving at Lime Rock in my Miata.  Driving my best friend's (same best friend) '67 Corvette L-89 427 coupe.  Driving Formula Fords.  Setting off car alarms (regularly) in the family '85 Suburban (lift kit, 33" wheels, headers, cam, etc.) at the Battery Terminal Garage in lower Manhattan.  That's about all my five kids have left me time for.  Oh, well.  They're way cooler than cars.

PB. 

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Running California Highway 1 north to south and back again in the 70's on a Harley Sportster and a Yamaha TX500.The 80's saw a Plymouth Road Runner of the '77 persuasion. In the 90's and early 2000's I rode it on a BMW R100RT and later, in my Town Car.

Fun times.

G

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Getting pulled over by the local P.D. and then getting asked if "this thing legal?" Of course I told him it was lol!

Another time getting pulled over by local P.D. and being asked if they can look in the vehicle...... I said sure and got out....

Next sentence from the cop was "holy BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH! There's nothing in here! You can see from the trunk to the firewall!!!!

(seems to be a theme here lol):D And no it's no where close to legal.... It's a cops case of writers cramp on wheels lol!

There was a guy many, many moons ago who had a cherry 67 GTO. He got so used to being stopped by us to gawk at that beautiful car, he would just pull into 7-11 to park and wait.

G

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Fun in cars? All the time. In central Wisconsin when they were repairing bridges over small rivers and streams, they would grade a road down to the banks and put in a temporary bridge to cross the water. So this was a down hill to the bank, then cross, then up hill back to the highway. a 351 powered Grand Marquis is always fun but more so with these bridges. I eased off onto the graded portion and drove to the bridge accelerating. By the time I hit the up side and onto the pavement on the otherside, I was moving; dirt flying, engine screaming and back end swaying! Wasn't counting on the Amish dude in his buggy coming the other way. His horse reared up on his hind legs as I was coming back onto the pavement and his eyes were like saucers! Waa-waaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!! God I love rural Wisconsin.

...and then...

Santa Barbara, California...Car: 1973 Matador four door, ex Santa Barbara detectives car equipped with a 401 V8...boring beige in color. Myself and six others from a drug rehab I worked at on an outing in the mountains. Old San marcos Pass road to Refugio Canyon road then back out to HWY 154 via Idon'tthinktheycancallthemaroad. Refugio is rough enough with insane switchback, but the old rancher trails are for horses or Jeeps, not AMC four door sedans. Anyway, we get to a rather rough patch where the gravel becomes more like mini boulders. Not the best driving surface. Coming the other way on this stretch is an older Ford humping and bumping over the boulders. I'm doing the same but with less ground clearance. All of a sudden the sound of boulder crunching sheet metal is heard along with the pervading odor of raw gasoline. I sprung a leak!!! Trying to get off this pass onto more civilized roads is a lesson in futility. As we get back to a smooth dirt road it's a race between getting to a town or running out of gas. Watching the needle slowly inch down to E as I swerve on dirt switchbacks reaching speeds of over 50 mph. That is very fast on this stretch. I got down to HWY 154 finally and just as I sputtered to a stop, we were in front of a small handy man fix it shop. He took off our tank and welded it were we broke it, put a couple of gallons of gas in and sent us on our way back to SB. Those AMCs were really tough little cars.

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Lots of good memories of cars. At the same time some of them didn't seem that good at the time.

- We had 13 people in a '69 Cadillac Calais. 3 in the front seat. 10 in the back. And I was on a lower layer in the back.

- Driving back into town on a date with a young lady. I had a very nice '79 Firebird with a 350. Two-lane highway requiring one to slow down through towns. I slowed down all right. I was doing 90 or so between towns. And about 60 in towns. Coming out of one town, I look over to my left, there is a cop car pacing me on a side street. He pulls out on to the highway were the speed limited goes up to 55. So I slowed down to 55 and set the cruise control. The cop followed me all the way the next county line, but didn't pull me. Why? I don't know? He had me, dead to rights.

- Had a buddy with a very nice '67 Firebird convertible. 326 car, automatic. And no working fuel gauge. Somehow I got stuck pushing the car to the nearest gas station when ever we'd run out of gas. He'd sit behind the wheel steering. This happen several times! In retrospect, I should have steering while he pushed the car!

- The same friend had a four-speed Pinto. He could pull the shift lever out the gearbox as he drove. Then when he wanted to shift, he just put the stick back in the box.

- The same friend bought a Pontiac T-1000 back in the early 80's. We loved to tease him about him owning a "Chevette". He hated that even though he knew we were right.

- in the late 1970's my parent went on a trip someplace, and while they were gone I drove around in  my '77 Mutt II (Mustang II). One day the car starts running real rough, so I pull it into the local Ford dealer. They tell me right away I broke a cam shaft. A cam shaft? I was not beating car, and how was going to explain this when my folks got back? They then told me Ford had drill all the oil galleries correctly on there Mutt II 4-cylinders, so this would covered under warranty. It took them only one day to fix the problem. I could have not told my folks a thing and they would have never known about it. I did tell them has soon as they got home, though.

- One last one. Driving to my folks cabin with their '75 Mercury Monach. Got hit by a drunk driver on the way up. Totaled the car and put me the hospital. Well, my folks knew what time I got off work and how it should take me to drive up there. When I didn't show up on time, my mother was mad. She told my dad, "that's the last time he ever drives that car!" Guess what? She was right! But not because she was still mad me when she found. She wasn't. But because the Monarch was so far gone, nobody ever drove it again.

Sometime in the future, I'll have to tell the story about wrecking a brand new car on a test drive. When I was only 19.

Edited by unclescott58
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For some reason I can not edit the lower paragraphs on my above posting. The story about the Mustang II, the way it's written sounds like the car was my personal car. It was not. It was my dad's. Now you know why breaking a cam shaft was a big deal. It was my dad's car, not mine.

By the way it should also read that Ford had not drilled the oil galleries correctly.

Edited by unclescott58
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