Topic: Your Cars

[RayTheRat]

I just replaced my old "tow car" (1995 Chevy Suburban) with something very similar, a 1999 Chevy Suburban.  Same color, even.  The "Burb II" is 4wd, where the old one was 2wd.  Both had/have 350 v8s with throttle body fuel injection.  The "new" one has leather interior.  I really don't like that.  So it got a set of "suede"-like seat covers.  Much more comfortable now.  It might look a little strange, but I like it better. 

And of course ya gotta have a good stereo to listen to Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Ten Years After on, so I popped a Kenwood unit into it.  Yes, I'm a "child of the 60s" and enjoy rockin out to progressive rock from that era.  This stereo has a USB port on it so I can copy mp3 files to thumb drives and change 'em around whenever I feel like it.  Surprisingly enough, it sounds great with the stock speakers and no subwoofer or additional amp.  Ohh...it also has an iPod/Android interface so I can use my Droid as a music player if I want, too.

Then I installed a "rear view camera" and screen because I've covered the rear glass with reflective/foam insulation since it gets REAL hot on the salt flats and the Burb is my "Hotel Suburbia" for at least 2 weeks, sometimes 3, every year.  When it's 105F (40.5C)+ outside, the last thing I need is sunshine heating up the inside of the thing.  Anyway, that made the huge blind spot ever "huger" so I decided that instead of running over my neighbors' kids and fighting with connecting the trailer, I'd go kicking and screaming into the 21st century and for a coupla hundred bux I got a camera with a 7" screen that really helps.

I also hang a drape behind the front seat so that the air conditioning only has to cool a small area.  There's a huge volume of air in the rear and insulated or not, it takes a long time to cool it. 

Now...if I can just get the race car ready in time, I'll have something to tow it with...but progress is being made.  Last nite I decided to quit fighting with the "racing seat" I'd picked up at a swap meet and buy "real racing seats."  I bit the bullet and ordered a pair of 'em that includes adjustable mounting frames and adapters.  I only have one set of 5-point harnesses, but that'll have to do for the moment...at least until I find a victim passenger who wants to ride along when I get to the point of doing a bit of road racing with it.  Uh...that's the 85 Monte Carlo, not the Burb.

[richard fridd]

Hi all,here is one of my cars.having trouble with picture size from my blackberry though.richard

[Carnut]

Very nice!
Here it is re-sized:

[richard fridd]

Another attempt at posting a picture.this time my other Lancia.

[richard fridd]

And Another

[Ultra]

Good looking ride.

[richard fridd]

THanks! Not many of the Sedan S2s left in the UK with RHD,only 7 on the road according to a friend on the LMC forum.The PF( also RHD) is my project which needs new Dunlop. brake cylinders to pass an MOT.I also have a Fulvia s1 Zagato which is for sale at Percival Motor Co to free up some space.

[DeAutogids]

Haven't posted anything in a while, partly due to my illness. Hopefully I can tell you something postive on this soon.




In 2011 I had to move. Not just town, but even country, and as that country drives on the toher side of the road it was time for another drive.

I have had used cars before, this one actually being my newest ever. Have had it for some time and still love it. As I collect miniature cars, collecting real cars would make it probably to expensive. Having said that, I think I have done well in going for something unusual: A Lancia Delta. Driven it 7 hours straight during the christmas holidays.

[barrett]

I suppose it's time to admit to this. Not the most obvious choice for a first car, but certainly an interesting (and rusty) one...

[DeAutogids]

A Renault 10 is not mundane, is it?

[DeAutogids]

A Bond Equipe?

[Carnut]

A Bond Equipe?

And a rusty one to boot!
Not many rusty glassfibre cars around (although of course the chassis rusts like hell..)
I thought you didn't have a driving licence barrett?

[Tom_I]

Most of the body is GRP, but the doors are metal (ex Triumph Herald), so rust along with the chassis.

[Otto Puzzell]

Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere.

And then he was gone 

[Otto Puzzell]

Finally, an update to my automotive history (it's the blue one) 

[attachimg=1]

[GRAYWOLF]

I like the one next to it and the yellow one!

[mekubb]

Here are some of the cars I used to drive. My favorite was without any doubt the Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV, quite a fast car and a true delight to drive !

[Bill Murray]

I just finally got a new scanner and although I am still learning how to use it I thought to join this thread.

Most will be in chronological order but I am still hunting some photos I know I have somewhere so they may be out of order.
As well, a few will be "stand in's" as I never took a photo of the car.

So, we start with a "stand in" my first car, a 1938 Oldsmobile Business Coupe I purchased in early 1957 to get to my job.
It had a bad connecting rod bearing when I got it and I had to baby it but it lasted almost 4 months before the rod let go.

Second car was a 1950 Oldsmobile fastback that I co-owned with a buddy when I was going to summer school in 1957 in a nearby town.  We basically lived in the car at the beach in Oceanside California for about 2 months.  This is the actual car.

Third car was a 1951 Mercury 4 door, here a "stand in" that I purchased in 1958.  I had mine lowered 3 inches in the front and 2 inches in the rear and put dual exhausts on it with very loud "steelpack" mufflers.

I will keep it at 3 cars per post so here goes.

Bill

[Bill Murray]

Next batch.

1959 Fiat 600, my first new car which I used for courting my future (and still present) wife commuting between San Diego,
California and Phoenix, Arizona.  The car was really not up to that kind of abuse and only lasted a year before major malfunctions occurred.  A true "Fix it Again Tony" car.  The photo shows me, my twin sisters and my two brothers plus our cat in front of my grandparents house in San Diego.

I traded that in on a 1960 Rambler American 4 door, another facsimile photo, which I ran for another year or so.

That car was traded backwards so to say on a 1959 Buick Le Sabre Convertible I purchased when I worked for a Buick dealer in the mid 1960's.  Eventually, this car got a twin 4 barrel carb manifold, dual exhaust and some transmission upgrades and I used to drag race it when living in El Centro, California when working for another Buick dealer.  I post here two photos, in it's original colour and later when it was repainted black.

Bill

[Bill Murray]

This next group is a work in progress as I only have one photo at present.

Edit...  In the photo above of the Le Sabre in gold colour, you can see just a bit of one of the 1938 Buick Limited cars.

This epoch was my first "collection phase".  I had earlier purchased a 1941 Buick Limited Limousine with divider window from a Funeral Parlour when living in San Diego. I returned to Oceanside and while working for the Buick dealer there, purchased a 1937 Buick  Century which I used as a drag racer.

A customer noticed the 1937 car and told me that he had several cars, not running, stored at a lot and he had lost his job and they were going to tow the cars to a wrecking yard.  We haggled a bit and I traded him $200 and a pistol I had for the cars.

So, I got another 1941 Buick, a Convertible, two 1938 Buick Limited Limousines without divider windows, a 1941 Cadillac Coupe and a 1939 Cadillac 4 Door Sedan.  For the moment, I can only find a photo of the Cadillac Sedan but I think I have photos somewhere of the rest and will post them or facsimiles.

Sadly, we moved from a house on two acres of land to an apartment building owned by my then brand new Stepmother.
I was able to store the cars at the Buick dealership for some months, but then moved to El Centro and the cars did finally end up in a wrecking yard.

Edit:  Found a photo of the 1941 Buick Convertible which I will add here.

Bill

[Bill Murray]

For this batch, all are facsimiles until I find real photos of my cars if I ever do.
This is the remainder of my first "collection", mid 1960's.

Bill

[Bill Murray]

1967 starts my new career in the auto industry, with the Volvo Distributor for the Western US based in Torrance, California.
7 years in total in the first segment, all in the Parts Division. On year as a Parts Field Rep for the Metro Los Angeles area plus the Pacific Northwest, a couple of years living in Portland Oregon as the resident Northeast Parts Rep, a year or so back in California living in Thousand Oaks as the Parts Field Division Manager and about 3 years as Parts Manager for the Distributor.

Mostly my cars during those 7 years were a  rather boring assortment of 2/4/5 door box stock Volvo Company Cars which I had to turn over every 6 months.

However, I did manage to get two rather interesting ones during the years there.

One was a Volvo Express "Paketwagen", the only ever imported into the US.  I and my Sales Manager counterpart were allowed to import one each of the Volvo of their choice for one year.  He chose a Volvo Taxi!!!!  I chose the panel truck.

As well, I imported my Volvo Sugga which I featured as a quiz car some time ago.

Here are a couple of photos, one in my driveway in Thousand Oaks and the other when we used it as a "chase car" in the original Baja 1000 race in Mexico.  This car still exists I think in Connecticut.

Next stop, Sweden.

Bill

[Bill Murray]

Sweden...........

Perhaps two of the most interesting years of my life.  Marvelous country, marvelous people.

I got picked up on a program that was intended to rotate national managers from throughout the world to the home office in Göteborg to more internationalize the Volvo organization.

The then CEO, Pehr Gyllenhammar recognized that Volvo exported almost 80 % of it's products and his management staff was something like 90% Swedish.  The idea being to bring in fresh ideas and viewpoints.  PG was a piece of work, believe me, in the most positive sense.

So, Pat, the three kids and I packed up and moved to the small village of Lerum, Sweden where we lived for two years.
Interesting cultural adjustment compared to the US to be sure.

I was International Parts Training Manager for one year and International Parts and Accessories Sales Manager for one year which involved a lot of travel and which will account for some other threads on automotive subjects I took photos of around the world.

The tax situation in Sweden at the time precluded my collecting any automobiles although I did collect a lot of literature from the 1930's and 1940's at the Auktionsverket in Göteborg as well as almost a complete container of furniture from the late 1800's, early 1900's.  The city decided to tear down entire blocks of apartment buildings dating from the 1800's due to fire safety issues and built a raft of high rise apartment blocks outside of the city and moved the folks there.  The new apartments were far better than the old ones but they had much lower ceilings and less storage space.  So, I picked up boxes of bound issues of Swedish magazines, old photos etc. for a song.  As well, as mentioned above, all of that marvelous solid oak furniture which is still in our house today.

So, only two photos of the 1974-1976 Swedish experience.

Two photos of the Cadillac I imported to Sweden and later sold to the President of the Swedish Cadillac Club, Tage Jingnert.
Sorry the photo in front of our Lerum house is mis captioned, should be Cadillac, not Cadillic.

Edit:  Photos will not load but I have posted them elsewhere so no great loss.
Bill

[Bill Murray]

Making it difficult with the Swedish Cadillac photos, trying again.

[Bill Murray]

Peru...............

Having finished my Contract in Sweden, I was offered the choice to return to the US or apply for another position in Volvo's wide array of export markets.

My first choice was Australia and I was accepted but the incumbent Director of Parts and Accessories there decided to put off his retirement for a couple of years.

At about that same time, the then Gerente de Repuestos y Accessorios in Lima, Peru got caught up in some sort of smuggling scheme with some of the larger dealers there and was fired.  I was offered that post and accepted.

Peru at that time was in the last couple of years of a Military Communist Dictatorship.  As relates  to the auto/truck industry, they had set up a scheme whereby one could only buy vehicles made in Peru.

Manufacturers were allowed to bid on the exclusive right to assemble vehicles in various classes on a fairly long term basis.
While I was there, Volkswagen had the monopoly on all cars up to 1200cc, Toyota, 1200cc up to 3500cc and Chrysler (Dodge) on anything over that.

On the truck/bus side, Chrysler (Dodge) had a monopoly on all trucks under 3.5 tons and Volvo had everything above that.

A most interesting tour to be sure and I learned a lot about doing business in a Developing Country, not even to mention doing business in a country under a Military Dictatorship.  Not something many Americans get to do.  As I was working with a Swedish company, based in a Neutral Country, I was allowed to play by a rather different set of rules, business wise.
A story for another day perhaps.

As to the Your Cars Department, rather dull.  I had the same company car pictured here the whole tour but we did have a neat company vehicle in the Amazon Basin (Iquitos) that was under my control and I used it a few times.
The supplied photos show it after it lost a wheel during one of our family trips up there.

Just for fun, I am also posting a photo of myself and some of the family at one of the River Resorts on the Amazon where we would often take visiting Swedes.