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The
1976 Ford Granada was by far the low point of our automotive ownership.
Broken everyother week, we couldn't get rid of it fast enough! One
thing we did learn from our sole Ford experience was to get the release
of liability from the purchaser. The folks that we sold it to didn't
seem to understand the registration process, so we got renewal notices
from the DMV and had a hell of a time getting it straightened out.
Oops!
The
1970 Chevrolet Nova was much better. It had a 250 cid six cylinder
and TH350 automatic. Now that I think about it, the only problem
it ever gave us was a blown out freeze plug. On the other hand, it
had nasty carpet, about the color of the text in the table above, and got
piss-poor mileage. Even so, Jenny loved it.
The
1986 Mitsubishi Mirage is a bit of a thorn in my automotive pride, and
it exhibits beautifully everything there is to love and hate about newer
cars. As you can see from the listings in the 
table,
this was the second newest car we've ever owned. When I started college,
my dad said that I should get
something with better mileage than the Dodge, which got 14mpg on a good
day. Okay, so I got this thing. Not fast, not fun, not pretty,
but economical and efficient. From this car I learned that I didn't
care too much about gas mileage - I wanted something powerful and fun!
Even so, it never gave me (or Jenny, who got it after she sold the Nova)
a hint of trouble. Put gas in it and watch it go, although it didn't
go very fast.... (In fact, Jenny, the comedian, saw the speedometer,
which went up to 120mph, and said, "What's that for, decoration?")
The
1964 Oldsmobile F85 was a strange deal. We saw the car for sale,
drove it, liked it, and went to buy it, planning to offer less than the
$1700 asking price. When we got there, the kid we were buying it
from had his intimidating dad there, so we coughed up the whole bundle.
Still, not a bad deal, onsidering that it was a 80,000 mile, one owner,
near perfect car.
It was a little floaty in front, so I got some KYB shocks for it, and while
I was at it, I cut the front springs a bit. Well, make that a bit
too much, 'cuz when I was done, that thing was SLAMMED! It
did handle great though! However, it had the same shortcoming as
the Nova did, which was poor mileage. Seems the 330 cid V8 revved a bit
too high with the two-speed automatic.
The
1989 Mazda B2200 Pickup was Jenny's next fling. Same deal as the
others she's gone through - drive them for six months, and then its, "Honey,
I want to get another car." Okay, whatever. At least they're
cheap old cars, not expensive new ones! The engine started to make
a little racket, and the clutch was worn out, so we put it up for sale.
Mentioned this to my mom, and she said, "I'll buy it!"
So, now she has our truck, and I still have to fix the clutch.
What's up with that?
The 1973 Datsun 240Z
was my first 240Z, and for that alone, it deserves special mention.
After I sold the Mirage to Jenny (we weren't married yet) I started looking
for something sporty. I narrowed it down to either a 1985 Mazda RX7
GSL-SE, which are as rare as hen's teeth, or a 240Z. 
I
saw this car and it was all over. When I got it, it was stock, except
for a rebuilt engine and early 240 carbs. I proceeded to take the
struts and springs off the 1971 240Z, and added some 15X7 mags and a Holley
four barrel carburetor. 
That car was FUN!! It had very loud exhaust, no carpet, and pretty
advanced rust, but I loved it. It was stolen, as 240Z's are prone
to be, from me, only to be replaced with my current Z, which is a much
nicer car. Since I would have spent gobs of money cleaning up the
rust, I guess it wasn't so bad to have it stolen... Still sucks though.
The
1971 240Z was bought solely as a parts car. For $700, I got a garbage
240, with high-performance suspension goodies and a set of triple carbs.
I took it to get smogged when I first got it, and it was off the scale!
I guess there was a reason it was so quick - the cam. Oh well.
I took it home and proceeded to transfer the good stuff from it to my '73.
I nearly dropped the car on myself changing struts. Not cool.
Use jackstands, kiddies.
The
1971 Datsun 1200 was an interesting story. Truth be told, this should
really be on Jenny's list. Then again, I can't remember where in
her order we got it, so maybe I'll leave it where it is! I picked
this up from a co-worker for $300, with a blown head gasket. My plan
was to fix it up a bit and have it be Jenny's car. We had just gotten
rid of her Olds (I think) and she wanted something smaller with better
mileasge.
The
1973 Ford Torino is the only car I ever bought just to sell at a profit.
And yes, I made out nicely, thank you very much. It had a 351C, so
it moved out! Too bad it had that inherent Ford "suck".
You know, that certain something most Ford vehicles have? Especially
ones from the 70's?