At this point in my life; I like to think that I’m wiser and have learned something…so;
I’m about ready to give up driving anything larger, or faster than a garden tractor.
I’m also trying to walk more in order to not loose the use of my legs through lack of use.
I save money by doing this, and may; just may, live a healthier, and more enjoyable life.
The money I save will provide me with a bit more holy water to enjoy in moderation, and maybe a few more toys to play with in the back yard.
<<Auuuuuuuuh dear! Did you ever get your mid-life crisis car? OK OK just asking! >>
Hans,
you remembered!
Ah, the 2005 Chevy SSR. Yes indeed, got it ordered. It came in and we even drove it a little.
Then my wife brought me to my senses.
The dealer had another buyer who wanted it, so we’re still friends.
jb
1st car?
1954 VW bug, oval window, periscope tail-lights, semaphore indicators in the door pillars. 1136cc of extreme non-grunt.
But…
18 months later…
1954 VW bug, oval window, latest model (1964) tail lights & front blinkers on the top of the mudguards (fenders for Yanks),
VW Kombi 1500cc engine bored to 1830cc, heads shaved, ported, polished, 2 twin choke Webers, full extractors, 3/4 race cam, Kombi clutch with twin h/d plates, doubled valve springs, swing axle converted to non-swing using Model T front spring between rear bottom shocker mounts, front brakes converted to Porsche discs, suspension lowered at front by resetting torsion bar, at rear by having springs & shocks reset, gearbox swapped for 1962 model with synchro on 1st gear, wheels changed from 15" to Holden (GM)13" rims, widened to 7", shod with Michelin Rallys, dash enhanced with tacho, fuel gauge, oil temp, oil pressure, head temp & Halda Rally trip computer (they called it a computer but it was all mechanical, just a fancy odometer & clocks combo).
Interior? Stripped, replaced with 2 racing buckets from a Porsche 911, rudimentary roll cage, 3-point seat belts (race harnesses were then just for pussies!), gear shift moved back on the tunnel 8 inches, separate left & right hand brake levers, all heater baffles thrown in the garbage.
5 Cessna landing lights fitted to front rack,relayed from 2nd 6volt battery under where the back seat used to be. Also 1 mounted on the rear for backup.
Drove competitively for VW Club South Australia in numerous rallies, including the 66 Great Southern Rally which in its day was equivalent to the current World Rally Series. Came 7th in class, not bad for a pair of 18 year olds!
I’d give my left nut to have another '54 but this time I’d just restore it to its gutless original
Reading all these posts about the thousands of cars. boats and planes all you guys have had since you were knee-high surely do make me laff.
AFAIK, I am the very first member of my father’s family ever to own a car, let alone a house.
My mother’s ancestors were quite well-off, I’m told, but lost everything by supporting the CSA in the recent War of Northern Aggression. They were so low-down the pecking order after that that never recovered from it. After all the debts had been paid off my GGG-father went back to work on the floor of the big London printers in which he had he been a leading figure. My GG-father carried on the tradition, but although he became head compositor, he never got through the managers’ door.
My dad, an Irish immigrant, used to drive in his spare time for a member of the Rothschild family, but that was as near as we ever got to a car. He had motor-cycles - not for fun, but because that’s what most folks here had then.
I was born in 1946, and bought my first car in 1971. You guys would laff yourselves fartless if I told you what it was, so you’ll have to guess.
We bought our first house in 1984, and now live in the second one.
tac
<<I was born in 1946, and bought my first car in 1971. You guys would laff yourselves fartless if I told you what it was, so you’ll have to guess.>>
Two guesses:
Mini or Morris
Phil Creer said:
1st car? 1954 VW bug, oval window, periscope tail-lights, semaphore indicators in the door pillars. 1136cc of extreme non-grunt. But........ 18 months later......1954 VW bug, oval window, latest model (1964) tail lights & front blinkers on the top of the mudguards (fenders for Yanks),
VW Kombi 1500cc engine bored to 1830cc, heads shaved, ported, polished, 2 twin choke Webers, full extractors, 3/4 race cam, Kombi clutch with twin h/d plates, doubled valve springs, swing axle converted to non-swing using Model T front spring between rear bottom shocker mounts, front brakes converted to Porsche discs, suspension lowered at front by resetting torsion bar, at rear by having springs & shocks reset, gearbox swapped for 1962 model with synchro on 1st gear, wheels changed from 15" to Holden (GM)13" rims, widened to 7", shod with Michelin Rallys, dash enhanced with tacho, fuel gauge, oil temp, oil pressure, head temp & Halda Rally trip computer (they called it a computer but it was all mechanical, just a fancy odometer & clocks combo).
Interior? Stripped, replaced with 2 racing buckets from a Porsche 911, rudimentary roll cage, 3-point seat belts (race harnesses were then just for pussies!), gear shift moved back on the tunnel 8 inches, separate left & right hand brake levers, all heater baffles thrown in the garbage.
5 Cessna landing lights fitted to front rack,relayed from 2nd 6volt battery under where the back seat used to be. Also 1 mounted on the rear for backup.
Drove competitively for VW Club South Australia in numerous rallies, including the 66 Great Southern Rally which in its day was equivalent to the current World Rally Series. Came 7th in class, not bad for a pair of 18 year olds!
I’d give my left nut to have another '54 but this time I’d just restore it to its gutless original
John Bouck said:
<>Two guesses:
Mini or Morris
The problem is, Vic, that people didn’t collect cars in their stock state back then. When a car wore out as “Dad’s” car it was hot rodded…or scrapped. You would have been dragged off to the nut house for suggesting restoring a late 40’s Crosley or a 60’s Corvair…or god forbid an Edsel. The one I owned would now be worth about 100 grand restored. 
I also had a Corvair Greenbriar at one time. Imagine suggesting restoring that!!
Warren,
Do you know how much my 57 Eldo would be worth today? This was the “Batmobile” look-alike, with a stainless roof. Restored, prolly half a mil. 
I bought it from a retiring CPO in Long Beach for 600 bucks and traded it for the 57 Stude Golden Hawk (with a factory Paxton blower) and then sold the Stude before I left California for home. Only to find my beautiful 52 Merc wrecked! This was in 1967.
jb