Author Topic: What was the most unusual car you or your father owned (Read 10632 times)

us920669 · « **on:** May 19, 2011, 12:23:22 PM »

Sometime in the late '50s my dad came home with a '54 Corvette. This was the first model and very few '53s were made. As weird a looking thing as you can imagine - side curtains instead of windows so there were no door handles on the outside. Straight six, auto and three two barrels - never ran right, in fact the thing was just a total POS. They didn't know how to work the fiberglass and it just fell apart. He was an engineer who kept up on cars so I don't know what he was thinking, but he usually got a deal on his cars. It came and went before I got my learner's permit so I never drove it but I'm not complaining. After that dad entered his Mercedes period so I learned to drive in a 190 SL.

bulletstuffer · « **Reply #1 on:** May 19, 2011, 01:17:57 PM »

I came home from school one day and my Mom said we got a new car...a corvette. I was excited until it came home and it was a corvair

I still had a great childhood

Bulletstuffer

Swampman · « **Reply #2 on:** May 19, 2011, 01:22:23 PM »

We had a Desoto. I really liked it.

huntswithdogs · « **Reply #3 on:** May 20, 2011, 04:55:55 AM »

1960 Plymouth Fury wagon. Light green/white with a peeload of chrome.
Ya'll remember the push button trans controls? That's what this one had.

HWD

fatercat · « **Reply #4 on:** May 20, 2011, 05:05:31 AM »

one that was paid for.

hornady · « **Reply #5 on:** May 20, 2011, 08:08:49 AM »

Two that my dad owned the first was a Studebaker, I still remember that 3rd eye in the middle of the grill. The other one I learned to drive in it was a Hudson hornet.
It took ten miles to get that thing wound up, but man would it fly.

streak · « **Reply #6 on:** May 20, 2011, 09:06:04 AM »

Model "T"!!

Old Fart · « **Reply #7 on:** May 20, 2011, 09:23:12 AM »

I'm not sure how unusual it is but I have a 48' Willy's sitting in the garage.
Painted Hunter Orange camaflage.

chefjeff · « **Reply #8 on:** May 20, 2011, 11:42:19 AM »

We had a creme Desoto, a 57 and a 63 T-bird.Some old chrysler with a cross ram intake.Then mama decided buicks were it and it went wildcat,riviera(425 with 2 four barrels under one air cleaner), then electra 225's. My first was a 69 SS chevelle,then a 69 Ram air IV GTO.Then practicality got hold of me and now all I drive is pickups.Maybe for my midlife crisis I'll have a Z06.

Empty Quiver · « **Reply #9 on:** May 20, 2011, 11:46:41 AM »

Corvair Spyder, I barely remember the thing. Soon replaced with a Corvair convertable. Mom claims to have hated one worse than the other. The Spyder would not run in wet weather, and the convertable was nearly worthless in winter due to heat and defroster and wind speed through the car

.

I drove a '67 Mustang GTA in high school. I have only seen one other like it in 30 years.

us920669 · « **Reply #10 on:** May 20, 2011, 11:57:39 AM »

All great old iron, I love it!! I think one of my dad's hunting buddies had a Willy's, like a station wagon but very truck-like, maybe an International but definitely not Big 3.

Some neighbors had an early '50s Studebaker - 2 door, with the wraparound rear window. They asked us to drive it once in a while when they went away one time and my sister and I would get on the back seat looking backwards. We thought that was so cool. Kids were easier to please back then.

I also had an uncle who bought an Edsel convertible - bright red. It had the push buttons in the steering wheel hub and a speedo like a compass in a glass bulb. They got it when they got married, saw it at the dealers at night under lights and that was that. It got rear-ended by a bus pretty soon - totaled - but he was a body guy and he fixed it.

chihuahua floyd · « **Reply #11 on:** May 20, 2011, 05:16:39 PM »

1947 Willys CJ-2A, 147cid L-type flathead, one barrel carb, would never stay in 2nd gear.

or

175 Harley Davidson, total piece of C@#p. AMC should never have tried a 2 cycle bike.
CF
PS: my Dad had the Thunderbird Turbo Coupe, nice car.

torpedoman · « **Reply #12 on:** May 20, 2011, 06:13:05 PM »

Quote from: us920669 on May 19, 2011, 12:23:22 PM

Sometime in the late '50s my dad came home with a '54 Corvette. This was the first model and very few '53s were made. As weird a looking thing as you can imagine - side curtains instead of windows so there were no door handles on the outside. Straight six, auto and three two barrels - never ran right, in fact the thing was just a total POS. They didn't know how to work the fiberglass and it just fell apart. He was an engineer who kept up on cars so I don't know what he was thinking, but he usually got a deal on his cars. It came and went before I got my learner's permit so I never drove it but I'm not complaining. After that dad entered his Mercedes period so I learned to drive in a 190 SL.

"never ran right" the reason was the carbs were side draft SU's and they have an oil damping system that no one is smart enough to add oil to. the black thinggy on the top of the carbs are dip sticks, This was the same engine used in the Austin Healy and I've had 3 of them real neat cars 4 speed with electric overdrive.

BW56 · « **Reply #13 on:** May 21, 2011, 10:23:23 AM »

Came home one summer in 65 to a white chevy ll with a 327. Dad got rid of it before that fall. Said it was to fast.

BBF · « **Reply #14 on:** May 21, 2011, 01:06:12 PM »

In order

MG Midget........BMW (early 60th)...... Citoen !D 19........... Citroen Ami 6............BMW 1500....
........Peugot 504 Diesel..........Suzuki Samurai Hardtop

hillbill · « **Reply #15 on:** May 21, 2011, 02:13:45 PM »

my dad was a 6 cylinder man. in 78 he had to special order a ford 3/4 ton supercab long bed with the 300 ci six.there were none nowhere on any lots.trust me it was a oddity in its day.we still have that motor today resideing in a 79 ford 4whl half ton.mind yu its been rebuilt a couple times.but he drives it all the time on the farm.my oddest car was a 77 ford capri with a 2.8 v6.it was built in germany and shipped over here.very nice car but hard to get parts for. no idea how fast it wud go cuz the speedo was broken but i outran a corvette on the hiway once with it.

Pot-Bellied Stallion · « **Reply #16 on:** June 02, 2011, 04:00:13 AM »

I had a 1938 Oldsmobile touring car when I was in high school. Cool old car with roll down curtains in the back seat windows and suicide doors in back. Three speed transmission on the floor and used more oil than gas. It was fun, though.

clum sum · « **Reply #17 on:** June 03, 2011, 03:08:49 PM »

Daddy came home with Kaiser with a sun visor across the top oh the windshield. The visor stuck out so far you had to have prisim attached to the inside of the windshield to see traffic lights. This thing was so heavy it would proubly survive an IED. Remeber one long, and I mean long trip to Key West. That car took up1 and 1/4 of the lanes on the old bridges down old US1.

DickelDawg · « **Reply #18 on:** June 03, 2011, 04:14:12 PM »

Dad brought home a DeSoto 4-door in about 1957 that was black on the bottom with a PINK top. Mom HATED that car and it didn't stick around long.
Then he bought a Plymouth Fury about 1959. It had a police commando engine with the pushbutton transmission. Now that car could FLY. He got it up to about 100 mph according to the speedo on the way to church one Sunday. I got to drive that one. It was SMOOTH!!

charles p · « **Reply #19 on:** June 09, 2011, 03:41:18 PM »

I had a 1957 Triumph TR-3 as my first car. Wish I had taken better care of it and had it today. Also had a pristine 64 GTO - gone. Then there was a 70 Super Beatle Convertible - gone. For some reason, I still have the same old wife.

The one truck I wish I had back was a 1968 Dodge D-100 with the slant six engine. If you needed to work on the engine of that truck, you could raise the hood and crawl inside the engine compartment. It was a very efficent truck for short trips. It's first owner was the forest service and it was geared like a tank. Had a wooden bed that I replaced with great difficulty.

rugerman · « **Reply #20 on:** June 09, 2011, 04:02:54 PM »

In 1959 my dad and I bought a hunting car, it was a 1949 dodge coupe with 3 speed on the column, push button start, am radio and a spare tire and a jack and 4 half assed tires. We paid $50 dollars cash! We kept it for about 5 years and used it for a hunting car the whole time, I drove that old car down every dirt road in the county. I learned to drive in my dads work vehicle a willis jeep, I swear that thing didn't have any shocks or springs, it would beat you to death on some of those dirt roads that I learned to drive on when I was 8.

grdad45 · « **Reply #21 on:** June 10, 2011, 03:20:33 PM »

I bought a '65 Barracuda, it was FUN at the drive-in theater when I backed into the parking place, folded down the back seat to watch the movie. Picked up a '60 Austin-Healey "bugeyed" Sprite when I was stationed in Puerto Rico, had a lot of good times there. When I got back home, I got a '69 Mustang Boss 302 new for $3100. Wish I still had it.
The wife now drives a Jaguar S-Type that will run a hole in the wind, I mean, 130 is no problem.

Mxpe78a · « **Reply #22 on:** June 10, 2011, 03:48:46 PM »

My first car a 1959 Borgward Isabella coupe.

us920669 · « **Reply #23 on:** June 10, 2011, 03:56:03 PM »

I think we have a winner with that one. I dated a girl in High School who drove a DKW. What junk - I loved it.

streak · « **Reply #24 on:** June 10, 2011, 07:22:57 PM »

When all three boys reached driving age , my daddy bought us a 1947 Plymouth with crushed red velvet interior and a red overhead light,and wooden panel dashboard, standard transmission, neat clean vehicle. but none of the boys wanted to use it on dates! Everybody wanted to use mother`s 1957 Pontiac ( fast!fast!fast!)! Dang I wish I had that plymouth now!!

P.A. Myers · « **Reply #25 on:** June 11, 2011, 02:04:46 AM »

1960 Vw bus. 283/powerglide chev in the back, on a sub-frame. Plywood engine cover. Noisey, smelly and way too fast for the bus handling. It got me a good grade in autoshop and almost killed on a daily basis. I parked it on a curve one night and it got shoved into an oak tree.

P.A.

Doug B. · « **Reply #26 on:** June 11, 2011, 02:15:48 AM »

This car was actually my sisters car. It was about a 1963 model Simca, a French car I believe. Engine in rear of what looked like one small box on top of another larger box. She called it my "piece of dirt".

It was!

slim rem 7 · « **Reply #27 on:** June 11, 2011, 03:53:30 AM »

ford festiva 1990model..that car spoiled me,but i did take some ribbing for buying a disposable car..

332 thousand miles later the speedometer quit working ,so ive no idea what the final miles were..
oil never was allowed to look dirty for the first 200 thousand..oil was cheaper then.yall have a good day..slim

us920669 · « **Reply #28 on:** June 11, 2011, 07:43:55 AM »

When I was a toddler it was about a '48 to '50 Pontiac convertible. All I really remember was the hood ornament - a big orange plastic Indian Chief. I know I liked it top down 'cus I was really disappointed when he bought the '54 Buick, wanted to stick my head out the window and of course they wouldn't allow it.

Cherokee Mike · « **Reply #29 on:** June 12, 2011, 12:57:09 PM »

The earliest car I can remember my dad owning was a blue 1952 Willys. Although Willys made great jeeps, their cars weren't very good. He told me it was one of the worst cars he ever owned.

One day, during a strong wind, he opened the driver's door and it sprung the hinges. Then one of the pistons broke or had a hole burn through it. He couldn't find a factory piston, so he had to have a machinist make another one.

My dad started buying used Buicks after that. A two-tone 1956 Century (?), then a white and chrome 1958 Roadmaster. Being a little kid, each "new" car was a big adventure for me.