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Nostalgia Neuralgia - Your First Vehicle


V.T. Eric Layton

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I sold that Yamaha to a pal of mine who had another one similar to it and wanted to make one bike out of both. He never did anything with it, though. After it sat for about 4 years, he sold it to another pal o' mine's son. Said son then solicited me to get the bike running for him. It hadn't been started in about three years. Out of the goodness of my heart, I did as was requested. The boy rode the bike for about 6 months, then blew the engine by over-filling it with oil. The bike died an ignominious death at a local motorcycle junkyard. :(

 

Such a sad story :(

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V.T. Eric Layton

Yeah... I have good memories with that song and a first love many, many years ago. Funny how some songs bring memories up from the depths of time like that. Hmm... I was 15 years old. That seems like forever ago. :yes:

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Yellow:-

Fiat comfort 127 . I bought this from a place where they rehab criminals . They did auto spraying . I paid over the odds as it was a good cause.. My error!!. There was enough paint on it to paint the San Francisco bridge . It oiled up the two center plugs. Worn out rings . But being me I got a big handfull of plugs from the scrappers and a wire brush . I drove this yoke all over England . refilling the engine with used oil and changing the centre plugs when needed. Weirdest thing it never smoked much .

 

Mini Cooper S. This was a pocket rocket and really stable . Used to slid it round the corners coming home from the pub in the wee hours in London. I was wild and free. then.

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V.T. Eric Layton

OK, admit it now... you're just finding these cars in the ads of the local newspaper. :w00t:

 

I think you've posted about 18 so far. :yes:

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First car? 1964 Chevy Bel Air in '79 or '80, I believe. Bought it for $125 from a newspaper ad and drove it into the ground for 13 months.

 

After that was a Buick LeSabre and a Ford Escort if memory serves.

 

Next up was a new Dodge Dakota pickup, with the only (and I mean ONLY) added option was a rear step bumper. Drove it off the lot for under $9000 brand new. Put a radio in a few months later.

 

After that experience, I decided on a loaded Dakota with a 318 engine and all the creature comforts. Probably my favorite vehicle to date. It was followed by an F-150 that left me feeling meh.

 

Then came a couple econo-boxes thanks to rising gas prices and my 60+ mile roundtrip commute to work; a Saturn L200 and a Hyundai Elantra.

 

The Elantra had a run-in with the laws of physics recently, and will be replaced shortly. Most likely with a 2014 Hyundai Sonata.

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No WAY!!!!! All genuine . 2moro green.

OK, admit it now... you're just finding these cars in the ads of the local newspaper. :w00t:

 

I think you've posted about 18 so far. :yes:

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Guest LilBambi

In addition to the first car I never drove (Corvair) and the Galaxie 500 that my ex totaled, we then bought a pale blue Chevy Luv pickup that my ex also totaled.

 

Somewhere along the line, we also a Pontiac tank that guzzled gas and sounded like it was a motorboat, a Ford Torino (I think it was), another Ford that I absolutely hated.

 

Then we got had another dangerous car, a yellow Pinto. Was fun to fit three car seats in that one. Then we got an Oldsmobile wood paneled station wagon that was so easy to go over the speed limit because it felt like you were going so slow and didn't feel the speed.

 

Then I got a school bus yellow Datsun Z28 which was fun, and later I got a wonderful 1981 Honda Accord 5-spd w/cruise control and all kinds of amenities used that was in two accidents; one of which it made a miraculous recovery due to a friend's generosity. Loved that car best of all my cars. I swore if I was ever to buy a new car, i would buy a Honda.

 

 

Then after that Honda, Jim found me a quick replacement; a Hyundai small car 2-door hatchback.

 

I traded that for my first new car, a white 1994 Honda Civic LX 4-door sedan which I loved! Then in Nov 1996, I traded that for another new car, Honda Silver 1997 Honda Civic LX 4-door sedan which I am still driving to this day with nearly 300,000 miles on it.

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V.T. Eric Layton

Wow! Hey Lonnie, that '64 Chevy was a favorite of my father's. I'd love to have an Impala SS like this one...

 

64ChevroletImpalaSS.jpg

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Stock photo.

GI0xbJ2.jpg

 

Had one of these mini countryman's for three years. My sister was going to scrap it as she had had it from secondhand for four years and it was due for an MOT and she did not think it would pass.

So I gave her the scrap value, £35, intending to do it up after it had failed the MOT. I took it along for the MOT and it failed due one dodgy window wiper.It went on to pass two more MOT's with a minimal amount of work and I had some great times in it.

My sister was well hacked off.

 

:breakfast:

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I traded that for my first new car, a white 1994 Honda Civic LX 4-door sedan which I loved! Then in Nov 1996, I traded that for another new car, Honda Silver 1997 Honda Civic LX 4-door sedan which I am still driving to this day with nearly 300,000 miles on it.

My mother had a 1999 Civic. When she stopped driving in 2008, we sold it to the son of the man who takes care of the yard for us. That Civic is still on the road, the son loves it. Unfortunately, I'm not as crazy about my 2010 Civic, but can't afford to replace it.
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Honda do make a good car . They got stamina.

I never had a traveler but got a lift to St Ives in a friends one. Nice motor with the clock in the centre of the dash.

 

As promised

 

Green:-

Aside from my beloved Land Rover 109. I had a

 

Fiat 850 family saloon . This looked like a panel van with a sliding door in the side for the rear passenger

compartment which had facing seats and a table in the middle.

It could carry a lot of stuff with the seats and table out. Used very little petrol and had forward control .

There was a bench seat in the front . But with three big people it was very cramped .

I liked this a lot .

It wound up as a chicken house down my yard until the floor completely fell through with the acidic droppings.

But I got some great eggs.

 

Thats the lot except the 2011 Black Nissan Pixo . Which really belongs to the missus. :Hammys_pint:

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i had a datsun station wagon that i put 330,000 miles on.

it was a 5 speed and always, without fail, got exactly 33 mpg - city, highway or a mix.

 

i quit driving because after 3 months of some knocking noise in the engine -

i pulled the head to discover one of the 4 cylinders was wobbled out to a huge ellipse!

but it was still running, getting great gas mileage!

After 330,000 miles, it certainly didn't owe you anything!
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V.T. Eric Layton

When I was working for Sears Home Services, and first went "on the road" to do outside service, I inherited a 1989 Ford Econoline van with a 300 CI straight-six engine in it. It had 280,000 miles on it already. By the time I left Sears in 2000, that van had 480,000 miles on it. All that had ever been done to this thing was standard tune-ups, oil changes, tires, and the occasional brake job. We drove the h3ll out of these vans. Most of them never shut off from morning till we got home at night. We'd leave them running with the AC's (heaters in the winter) running even when we arrived at a customer's house on a service call. I had many a nice snooze in the shade with the AC blasting in my face during my lunch hours.

 

I'm not a Ford fan, by any stretch, but those 300 CI straight-sixes were pretty amazing engines. :yes:

 

It looked like this one...

 

1135044954.jpg

 

I actually had a chance to buy this van about a month after I left Sears; they were retiring many of the older vans in the fleet. I really should have bought the darn thing. They only wanted $350 for it.

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One thing I have noticed is that you lot over the pond seem to think that 200,000 to 500,000 miles on the clock is fairly normal. Whereas over here that sort of mileage is considered pretty unusual especially years ago. Now 100,000 is pretty normal for a petrol and I guess 150,000 + is normal for a diesel.

 

:breakfast:

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Guest LilBambi

I think that my Honda with nearly 300,000 miles I think is doing great. Especially considering that except when it needed a battery replacement (twice in it's lifetime), you turn the key and it just starts. So it's like a Timex, it takes a lickin' and keeps on ticken'.

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V.T. Eric Layton

Not really, Erik. Back prior to the Japanese auto invasion here in the U.S., cars didn't even have a 6th digit on the odometers. They only went up to 99,999.9 miles. The big Detroit iron wasn't really known for its ability to last till that odometer rolled over to 00000.0. Plus, Americans didn't drive nearly as much back then as they do nowadays.

 

For example, when I was a kid, my dad used to say, "Let's go for a ride in the country and smell the orange blossoms." What that ride entailed was a 5 - 10 mile trip north of my house here into what was then unincorporated county lands; mostly orange groves and small farms. These days, I ride my bicycle up to that area. It's all residential and commercial now; homes every square inch, paved roads and parking lots, sidewalks, malls, gas stations, libraries, schools, etc.

 

Back in the 60s in the U.S., a commute to work would be about a mile and half. Nowadays, it's not unusual for folks to commute 50+ miles a day one way to get to a job. Let's not even talk about the horrendous traffic caused by the 10,000% increase in vehicles on the roads. All those cars idling in traffic in the hot sun are not helping with oil consumption or pollution rates or even global warming, if you are a believer in that.

 

Cars nowadays better be able to sustain the wear and tear on the engines that all that commuting and idling in traffic inflicts on them. The old 50s and 60s Detroit iron would be dropping dead along the highways and byways if they were exposed to modern style driving habits. Ah well... our simple, less hectic, quieter world has moved on; never to be again, barring a post-apocalyptic rebuilding period.

 

It be what it be. :yes:

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and... i had a volkswagen type iii, which many asked of me, is that a porche?

it did scoot - i put bigger jugs on it, and it had per-cylinder fuel injection!

ps

and it was a semi-automatic transmission stick shift. (it didn't shift until you did, but no clutch pedal.)

and! it had 15" tires - w00t! huge, for the day!

The VW Karmann Ghia was a nice little sports car in its day, which ended a lot of years ago. Knew a couple of people who had them.

https://en.wikipedia...nvertible_2.jpg

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V.T. Eric Layton

The VW Karmann Ghia was a nice little sports car in its day, which ended a lot of years ago. Knew a couple of people who had them.

https://en.wikipedia...nvertible_2.jpg

 

My mom always wanted one of those. She never managed to get one, though.

 

The miles are shorter in the USA.

 

And the nights are longer...

 

Sounds like we should be singing this over a pint or two in some pub in your neighborhood, Cap'n. ;)

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My mom always wanted one of those. She never managed to get one, though.

 

 

 

And the nights are longer...

 

Sounds like we should be singing this over a pint or two in some pub in your neighborhood, Cap'n. ;)

Anyone that turns up at the ferry or airport is welcome to a session on the beer. and a barbie. que not doll

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