Author Topic: Which three American made cars? (Read 2786 times)

briarpatch · « **on:** April 14, 2011, 01:27:47 PM »

The clown is going to do us in as a Nation so lets just take our minds off of the distruction for a short while.
I know that many could pick more old classic or new cars they like but each of you should have a list. What is the top three on that list.
mine would be.
1. 1950 ford most beautiful car on the road and first car I owned.

2. 1964 chevrolet owned one (factory 409 cu in. 425 hp, two four barrel carbs, 4 in floor, bucket seats, solid black insiide and out, poss traction rear end with 373 gear. Every thing on top of engine including components and fuel lines, all factory crome. Why oh why did I sell it? (To buy a 1965 corvair spider) tears and more tears, butt in proper posistion, kick away y"all.

3. 1957 chevrolet speaks for its self
afer this runs its coarse we will pick trucks

us920669 · « **Reply #1 on:** April 14, 2011, 03:07:47 PM »

Hard to narrow it down to three - different applications and all that. I like the look of the '30s muscle cars, Cord, Auburn, I sure never had one. A guy around here has a '40 Buick coupe as a street rod - a thing of beauty - clean as a pin, newer V8, I've never talked to him but I keep seeing it. I had a real yearning for the first year GTO, maybe '65, and I liked the Corvette Stingray, before what we called the batmobile phase. A buddy of mine had one with the 4 barrel 327, I think it was the first car I ever had over 100. There was a lot of interest around here in the whole family of light-bodied Chrysler muscle cars - Challenger, Super Bee, I can't remember them all. You had to have the hemi and the Hurst shifter. I dated a girl who got a first year Mustang convertible for HS graduation - six cylinder, straight stick. I drove plenty of newer ones with V8s, but I liked that first one best off all.

Bigeasy · « **Reply #2 on:** April 14, 2011, 03:16:35 PM »

1965 GTO - My high school car. Nice, clean, one year only body style

1969 Camaro (Sold mine..

1957 2dr. Chevy Bel Air with the aluminum coves. (Alas, sold it also)

I was lucky enough to grow up in the 70's when most of the classic muscle cars were hitting 100,00 miles, and were going for peanuts because of gas prices.

My last classic, a 69 Camaro I restored about six years ago-

briarpatch · « **Reply #3 on:** April 14, 2011, 06:47:51 PM »

super nice camaro. Thanks for the pics.

Pat/Rick · « **Reply #4 on:** April 15, 2011, 08:29:52 AM »

Wouldn't mind having my '59 Impala Two door hardtop back in my driveway.

Or, the fifties (3-4? don't remember now)whatever skylark convertible that a past friend owned.

My brothers '68 camaro convertible was pretty okay as well.

rdmallory · « **Reply #5 on:** April 15, 2011, 09:20:10 AM »

Quote

American made

Well Kinda...

1965 SunBeam Tiger First Owned by Roots then Chrysler.

Ford (over) powered

Sitting in my Garage

us920669 · « **Reply #6 on:** April 16, 2011, 04:59:18 AM »

Awesome! Those things would really get up and go. A family around here - mid Atlantic region - had one and sold it, probably mid-70s or so. I drove it and it was not really well-balanced, but a lot of fun.

I didn't want to irritate briarpatch by yakking about all the European iron I have owned, but I guess the cat's out now, so let me tell you about the best car I ever parked my butt in. When my dad died he owned a Mercedes 280 SL and I drove it for about a year. That was one fine machine - part Swiss watch, part Sherman tank. The most amazing part, he bought it slightly used around '72 for I'm pretty sure $5500, and when we sold it around '77 we got $8000. How often does that happen?

I do have a good Detroit story. There was this old crank who lived on our street, let two classics go to pot in his driveway. His Studebaker Hawk Commander was just a pile of rust, had to be towed away. But he told me if I could get it off his property he would give me his '63 Lincoln - you know, the JFK death car. It was even black, but not a convertible. I tried to drive it one summer but there was just too much wrong with it. A pity, they go for big bucks today.

rdmallory · « **Reply #7 on:** April 16, 2011, 08:41:11 AM »

I traded a BETA VCR for the Tiger.

:-)

JPShelton · « **Reply #8 on:** May 18, 2011, 09:09:09 PM »

1) '71 Plymouth AAR 'Cuda
2) '62 Studebaker Avanti
3) '92 Ford Mustang LX 5.0

T-C

BW56 · « **Reply #9 on:** May 21, 2011, 10:13:30 AM »

#1 59 vette, my dream car.
#2 any ac cobra w/ 427, my drooling dream car
#3 any cheetah, this cars only purpose was to shut down the cobra. it did. you DONT want to know what kind of dreams it induces.
i kept my drivers license at the max allowed for 3 years driving a red 64 vette convertible at 19-21yrs.

Swampman · « **Reply #10 on:** May 21, 2011, 10:35:47 AM »

I couldn't afford the gas for any of them but.....

66 Mustang Fastback 289 V8
64 Ford Falcon 2 door 289 V8
69 Ford Mustang Fastback Boss 302 V8

pastorp · « **Reply #11 on:** May 22, 2011, 06:33:06 AM »

Swampy,

You could if you stopped buying guns

I have the same problem.

Regards,

Swampman · « **Reply #12 on:** May 22, 2011, 06:38:11 AM »

I consider it my patriotic duty to buy as little gas as possible. It the only way to return America to self rule.

pastorp · « **Reply #13 on:** May 22, 2011, 08:03:30 AM »

What do you drive then to fulfill this duty?

Regards,

Swampman · « **Reply #14 on:** May 22, 2011, 11:49:51 AM »

A Ford Fiesta and a Toyota Yaris.

briarpatch · « **Reply #15 on:** May 25, 2011, 05:20:57 PM »

BW56, when I was a a boy I would hang around a gas station and listen to the adults tell their lies and what have you.
The owner would do body work and let a man that was good at it have a shop there also. I liked helping them on the cars where I could and just watching them work.
The man with the shop had a 58 vette and tried to sell that thing for nothing almost. It had a miss and they worked and worked trying to get it out. Nobody would buy or make a offer on it.
Bet all of them would sure like to have that offer back.
I would imagine there were millions like that.

yellowtail3 · « **Reply #16 on:** May 26, 2011, 08:28:00 PM »

Quote from: Swampman on May 21, 2011, 10:35:47 AM

I couldn't afford the gas for any of them but.....
66 Mustang Fastback 289 V8
64 Ford Falcon 2 door 289 V8
69 Ford Mustang Fastback Boss 302 V8

Alright, another Ford man. I've owned three Mustangs: a 66 289 four speed, a 67 289 3 speed (for ten years) and finally an 88 LX 5.0

If I were opting for old classics - and they'd have to be fun cars, new cars are much better transportation - my list today would be:

1. 1967 289 Mustang with 289 four speed. I'll take care of the engine mods.
2. 1973 Pontiac Trans AM with 455SD motor. I'll have an automatic with this one... or a four-speed, either will do.
3. 1969 Mustang fastback, 351 Windsor w/4bbl - no Cleveland for me, and I'll take care of the engine mods

Higene · « **Reply #17 on:** May 27, 2011, 01:02:41 AM »

1. 57 Chevrolet
2. 62 Impala
3. AC Cobra

(65 Ferrari - non american)
(66 Alfa Romeo)
Any Vincent Motorcycle

Empty Quiver · « **Reply #18 on:** May 27, 2011, 10:42:07 AM »

'69 Ford Torino Super Cobra Jet,

'67 Ford Mustang GTA drove this in high schooland college,

and finally a '60 Chrysler Imperial 2 door please.

T.R. · « **Reply #19 on:** June 02, 2011, 07:14:55 AM »

I drove a '71 Buick Riviera from 1981 - 1989. Bought it in Hawaii when stationed at Hickam AF Base and shipped it to the States when I departed. It would out-run Cameros and Firebirds with ease! The big 455 V8 was running excellent when I sold it in 1988. It had elegant styling and a high performance motor. I really liked the big glass rear window and boat tail design. But it had to go as our growing family needed a 4 door car.

I bought a '79 Sedan DeVille instead of a mini-van because cheaper yet the huge trunk would handle all the baby stuff. This Caddy had a 425 V8 motor (7.0L) but averaged 18 mph on the open road. Yes, we liked this Caddy very much and drove it until I shipped out to Korea in 1993.

In '96 I bought a 1990 Sedan DeVille with 4.5L motor (273 cubic inches). Plenty of horsepower combined with front wheel drive made for the perfect family car in snow country. BLIZZAK tires produced best stay-on-the-road performance. We ran it until 145.000 miles and sold her in 2002 to buy a 1998 Ford Explorer XLT. I'm still driving the Explorer with 174,000 miles and she purrs like a kitten. Really like this 5.0L (302 cubic inches) Ford motor.

But I doubt I'd buy another large engine car right now as Premium gas is over $4.00 per gallon! Next ride will likely be a used Mercury Mountaineer with large V-6 motor.

TR

ratdog · « **Reply #20 on:** June 05, 2011, 12:46:01 AM »

i drive 1500 dodge fan like that over size thing not that good on gas but i hardly drive much since retired its not that old its a 2000 but i got it set up for camping.i liked 57 chev the best and the 64 impala 409 engine the chevelle ss.396 i have drove a lot of the classics when i worked at the auto auction then i worked at a transmission shop i got to drive quite a few cop cars with intercepters in them.ther was a couple of times i turned on the lights and the siren and went flying by cars that pulled over.those old days were fun i did a lot of crazy things but never got arrested.

rwng · « **Reply #21 on:** June 20, 2011, 08:35:04 AM »

1964 Pontiac GTO (Supposedly the original muscle car)
1967 Chevrolet Corvette (L-88 engine)
1967 Oldsmbile Tornado (I always thought they looked cool)

Pot-Bellied Stallion · « **Reply #22 on:** June 27, 2011, 04:55:52 AM »

I'm going to jump forward to the trucks, since they have been the important vehicles in my life.

(1) 1952 International Harvester half ton - tough, tough, tough. Over 200,000 miles of rugged farm work and never laid a wrench on it except for brake shoes, spindle bolts, and front end bushings.

(2) 1976 Suburban - tough and an all purpose utility vehicle. Small block 400 and 4WD.

(3) 1998 Chevy Cheyenne - half ton 4WD. It did any and every thing I asked of it and came back for more. I traded it off at 120,000 miles and have been kicking myself for doing it, but didn't have an option at the time.

I've had other good trucks as well as cars, but these are the ones that served me best.

Tiapan64 · « **Reply #23 on:** August 28, 2011, 07:20:02 AM »

Had several thru the years. More than I can share here. But my 3 favorite are:
1: 1979 Trans Am Special Edition 301 HyPro. Black with Gold Bird
2: 1976 Blazer Special T. 350/350 Crate Engine
3: 2004 GMC Sierra Z-71 LTZ. Preditor Tuned (Diablo Sports Tuner)

Dads 1967 E-Type Jaguar 4.2 litre Series 1.....fast fast car!!
Purchased in 1974 for $2000, Sold 1996 to a collector for $20000 Best deal he ever made!! Miss that car.

Had 38000 miles on it when sold!!

Also had a 1970 RoadRunner 383 with airgrabber hood. Sold for 8500.

Lloyd Smale · « **Reply #24 on:** August 29, 2011, 01:12:30 AM »

61 bubble window ss impala with a 409. 70 hemi cuda, 70 ss454 chevelle.
of the cars i owned
65 ss impala red/white int. 4 spd convert
69 gtx black 4 spd 440
87 buick grand national. Bad and black!
had a few others like a 72 rs camero a v8 chev vega conversion a 77 chev stepside with a 427 stuffed in it a 92 corvette and a 88 iroc camero and a not to fast 87 442 cutlass.

briarpatch · « **Reply #25 on:** September 10, 2011, 04:09:42 PM »

That's some serious machinery Lloyd.

Lloyd Smale · « **Reply #26 on:** September 11, 2011, 02:00:40 AM »

believe it or not out of the ones i owned my favorite hands down was the grand national. It was as quick as the quickest. It got 24 mpg going down the road and road and drove just like your dads buick. Hell of a car. They were also one of the easiest and cheapest car you could ever own to get down in the 12s at the track. Even cheaper then a small block chev to get there.

Quote from: briarpatch on September 10, 2011, 04:09:42 PM

That's some serious machinery Lloyd.

wtxbadger · « **Reply #27 on:** September 11, 2011, 09:56:12 AM »

1967 Mustang GT Coupe

1970 Buick LeSabre

1966 Ford F100

Learned to drive with the LeSabre and bought the Stang my junior year in highschool. Darn lost my drivers license driving the Mustang.

Bought the 66 F100 from my wife's grandfather in 89 and still runs as good now as it did when I bought it. 352 FE V8, 3 on the tree, manual brakes and steering, and the most reliable vehicle I have owned so far.