The Big Boys-Large Cars

[Ace-Garageguy]

I learned to drive at 14 in a full-sized '63 Olds (which I tracked down in Texas, brought back here and still have, slated for resto-touring rebuild).

Next thing I drove was the Old Man's '65 Mustang, then learned to drive a stick in a friend's VW van (practicing starting on hills), and I've driven most everything you're likely to encounter on a road since then...even a semi with a trailer when a situation made it necessary.

Frankly, I never really noticed any difficulty in maneuvering big cars as opposed to little ones.

As the man above said, it's all about spacial awareness, some people have it, some people don't.

Parallel-parking land yachts can require more conscious thought, as can getting into narrow garages or trailers built for smaller cars.

From my perspective, that's about it.

Edited January 22 by Ace-Garageguy
CLARITY

[iamsuperdan]

I love these big old boats.

I learned to drive in a 1978 Plymouth Fury Sport Suburban. I would do many illegal or immoral things to get that car back.

 

At the same time, we also had a 1977 Plymouth Fury sedan. 

 

And for some reason, a third Fury. A 1968 Fury III convertible. It was like Christine. Slow restoration. New grille here, new fender there, rear rust repair. All done over time. This was supposed to be my first car, but then I turned 16 and my dad decided that a convertible in Alberta would be a poor choice for a year-round driver.

 

 

I haven't scanned in any pics, but my first car was a 1978 Thunderbird with the 400 V8.

 

My wife disagrees, but I think an old 70s land yacht would look great in the driveway.

[Carmak]

5 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

I learned to drive at 14 in a full-sized '63 Olds (which I tracked down in Texas, brought back here and still have, slated for resto-touring rebuild).

Seriously very cool that you tracked that 63 Olds down and got it back! Is it a "Slim Jim" car?

I am very lucky to have the car I took to prom (in the 80's) but I never lost track of it. It's currently getting a full resto.

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

1 minute ago, Carmak said:

Seriously very cool that you tracked that 63 Olds down and got it back! Is it a "Slim Jim" car?

I am very lucky to have the car I took to prom (in the 80's) but I never lost track of it. It's currently getting a full resto.

Yup, "Slim Jim". I'd had a problem with it once before it got away (it was my mother's car, but I drove it occasionally), probably because I was running it a little too hard...manual shifting it. But I got it sorted way back then and she drove it for several years afterwards.

It's not running now so I have no idea how the gearbox is, but I bought the GM factory book on it. I understand parts are hard to get these days, and I really want a 5-speed in it anyway (which requires an adaptor and substantial tunnel rework), so we'll see.

Fatman had dropped spindles for it too, but they appear to have been discontinued...and I haven't checked for any other sources yet. But no worries. I'll get it lowered with front discs somehow.    

Pretty cool you got your prom car back too. Looks like she's coming along very nicely.  

[Bills72sj]

22 hours ago, sfhess said:

I had a 71 LTD, similar to this one, for a couple of years back in the mid 70s

I had totally forgotten my 2nd car was a 71 Galaxie 500 4 door in Baby Blue. It had a 400M. A friend and I bought it for $350 with a bad starter. We learned that you cannot push start an engine with an automatic no matter how fast another car pushes it down the road. Once we got a new starter in it, we raced our buddy's 69 Mustang with a 351 windsor. That Galaxie would spank that Mustang from a dig, from a roll and any speed on the freeway.

[Bills72sj]

11 hours ago, iamsuperdan said:

I haven't scanned in any pics, but my first car was a 1978 Thunderbird with the 400 V8.

 

My wife disagrees, but I think an old 70s land yacht would look great in the driveway.

My parents bought a brand new 77 T-bird in Lipstick Red when I was in high school. My brother stole it and ran away from Nebraska to Texas in it. When he got caught down there, the two cops that caught him, told him that if he gave them the car, they would let him go. My brother declined their offer. This was after he tried to steal my step mom's 71 Jaguar XKE twice two nights before.

[StanGlover]

I had a 1973 Cadillac Coupe Deville for several years during my mid-late 20s (mid 30s now so this was during the 20-teens). I sold it in 2018 due to a long distance move and loosing a secure place to store it. As far as driving and parking it, as long as you can find a spot big enough, I found it to be quite easy. Cars from that era have spectacular visibility with pencil-thin A-pillars.  And they’re basically a rectangle so you can clearly see where each corner of the car is from the driver’s seat. The hood ornament makes a perfect gun sight to align with the right side road markings which places you perfectly in the center of your lane. At 18.5’ in length, these boats will barely fit in a modern garage so make sure the car will fit your space before buying. My house at the time had a 2-compact-car tandem garage which was perfect for 1 land yacht haha. 

[StanGlover]

Oh and brace yourself for 10 mpg fuel economy. 

[Falcon Ranchero]

22 hours ago, iamsuperdan said:

70s land yacht would look great in the driveway

I agree with this statement

[Falcon Ranchero]

1 hour ago, StanGlover said:

Oh and brace yourself for 10 mpg fuel economy. 

Oh yeah, fully aware of the thirst these barges need quenched 

[Falcon Ranchero]

23 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Frankly, I never really noticed any difficulty in maneuvering big cars as opposed to little ones.

As the man above said, it's all about spacial awareness, some people have it, some people don't.

Parallel-parking land yachts can require more conscious thought, as can getting into narrow garages or trailers built for smaller cars.

From my perspective, that's about it.

Yeah, my main concern was maneuverability with those 20 footers; but most dudes been sayin' it's like second nature after a week or so.

P.S. the photo there don't seem to be showin' up

[sfhess]

13 hours ago, Bills72sj said:

I had totally forgotten my 2nd car was a 71 Galaxie 500 4 door in Baby Blue. It had a 400M. A friend and I bought it for $350 with a bad starter. We learned that you cannot push start an engine with an automatic no matter how fast another car pushes it down the road. Once we got a new starter in it, we raced our buddy's 69 Mustang with a 351 windsor. That Galaxie would spank that Mustang from a dig, from a roll and any speed on the freeway.

My 71 LTD had the 400 as well.  And yes, it was quick as you mentioned.  400 was pretty torquey.  Plus, it got 15-20 MPG.

Edited January 23 by sfhess

[Ace-Garageguy]

2 hours ago, Falcon Ranchero said:

P.S. the photo there don't seem to be showin' up

Yeah, you get used to bigger cars pretty quick.

The photo displays fine on my end, so I dunno...

[Falcon Ranchero]

38 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Yeah, you get used to bigger cars pretty quick.

The photo displays fine on my end, so I dunno...

 Yeah the photo was just this link: s-l1200.jpg, but then I clicked on it and then zoomed in and behold, there was a '63 Olds👍.

 

[tim boyd]

My firs car was a 1969 Chrysler Town and Country...it was my dad's car; he had bought it on the spur of the moment as his factory ordered 1965 Dodge Custom 880 wagon had an engine problem and was right on the verge of going over the 50k warranty mileage limit.  He was determined to get Mopar to fix the engine before the warranty expired, which did eventually happen.  I had just turned driving age and got my license in April, 1970.  Once the Custom 880 was running right again, he returned to driving that car, which then let me take over the T&C when it was less than a year old (I was the oldest child, and my mom did not drive).  It was F8 Dark Jade Metallic, a 383 2bbl with the 3 in 1 reclining passenger seat and a fully carpeted cargo compartment.  It was a great car to have in high school...so many stories.  It was eventually traded in on a new 1973 Silver Frost Metallic "Space Duster" 340 which was my first new car.  Dad's T&C was just like this one from Bring a Trailer other than the F8 paint.  TB

 

[Falcon Ranchero]

3 hours ago, tim boyd said:

My firs car was a 1969 Chrysler Town and Country...it was my dad's car; he had bought it on the spur of the moment as his factory ordered 1965 Dodge Custom 880 wagon had an engine problem and was right on the verge of going over the 50k warranty mileage limit.  He was determined to get Mopar to fix the engine before the warranty expired, which did eventually happen.  I had just turned driving age and got my license in April, 1970.  Once the Custom 880 was running right again, he returned to driving that car, which then let me take over the T&C when it was less than a year old (I was the oldest child, and my mom did not drive).  It was F8 Dark Jade Metallic, a 383 2bbl with the 3 in 1 reclining passenger seat and a fully carpeted cargo compartment.  It was a great car to have in high school...so many stories.  It was eventually traded in on a new 1973 Silver Frost Metallic "Space Duster" 340 which was my first new car.  Dad's T&C was just like this one from Bring a Trailer other than the F8 paint.  TB

 

That's really a neat story; I think I mentioned that my friend's younger brother has a 1969 Chrsyler Newport, big green four-door. Officially I think it's the kid's first car, too. I think he got it just last summer, for $4000. Bit of a parallel story here but you had the wagon version as your first car. Seen his green machine from a distance once, and i've seen photos of it, it looks kinda like this, just darker green and minus the vinyl top.