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Best Car you've ever owned


radioguy7

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I thought I would start a thread going the other way, what's the best car you've ever owned, besides your P-15 :)

For me it has to be a 1964 Pontiac Catalina 4dr hardtop. I bought it to be a driver with 80k on the odemeter, did a front end rebuild, replaced belts and hoses, new brakes all around and threw some new radial rubber on it. I drove the car for three years as an everyday driver here in New England. I NEVER had any issues in the snow with that car, it went ANYWHERE. Talk about power too, with that 389 and 2brl carb she almost flew when you punched it on the highway. I really miss that car, don't know why I sold it.

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Not the best car I ever owned, but the same as yours, Radioguy. A 1959 Starchief, 389, 2bbl. The epitome of big and fast. Great ride too. Three of us goofballs got in the trunk laying crosswise, side by side and had room to spare!

The first car I broke 100 mph with. Of course it was only 3 or 4 years old then.

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I don't know if it was the best car I ever owned but it sure was my favorite: A 1974 Dodge Dart Swinger. It had a vinyl top. I loved the slant six. I'll never forget that car. I was a young kid when I had it and didn't know a whole lot about taking care of cars. That and the New England winters killed it. In terms of durability and performance: 1987 Toyota pickup.

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How about the one that worked out the best??

We bought a 1964 Ford Fairlane 500 in the fall of 1969 for $500.00. It was a 2 door sedan with the 200 6 with a three speed. It had 32000 miles on it.

We drove it for 3 years, it had 64000 miles on it, I was going into the Army, and my wife didn't drive a standard. We looked around, found a 66 Mustang fastback at a local dealership. They were asking 1200 bucks for it, nice red 2+2 fastback 289/hi po heads, 22000 miles, with a c4 auto. I talked them down to 1075.00 and then asked about a trade in. they looked over the Fairlane, and gave us 800 bucks for it. So for 275.00 plus tax and fees we upgraded from a 62K car with a 6 to newer v8 with fewer miles. I sold the Mustang to my borther in law in 1974 with 60 k on the clock for 500 bucks. So driving the 2 cars for over 5 years and 60K miles cost us $275.00.

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1975 Toyota Celica, drove it 330,000 miles, one distrubtor and distrubtor drive gear on the cam caused by the distrubtor bearings getting loose from the cage and locking up the shaft. Started and died, replaced the gear and distrubtor and took it on a 1200 trip the following Monday. The only time it let me completely down and had to be trailered home.

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I know its my 2003 Honda Civic! Great little car no problems, get great gas miliage and only cost $13,500 out the door! If anything wrong with it is that it does have alot of road noise going down the freeway. But Honda's are know for that and all I do is stear into the middle of the freeway lane where the road has not been beaten up by big trucks. This car is suppose to get its first real tune up at 115,000 miles not bad. I only have 52,000 on it now and it still runs like a top.

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Take the MIchelins off the Honda, 80% of the road noise will go away. I have used Copper's, Khumos, Generals, and others in 30 years of owning both Civics and Accords, when the Michelens wore out and I replaced the them with other brands most of the noise and harshness went away.

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My 2003 Honda. I bought it new, kept the service current, and it was up to 178,000 miles and still wasn't using any oil yet. Then it got rearended while I was standing still by a Chevelle doing 60 who wasn't paying attention, jammed me under the back of a pickup with the tailgate just inches from my windshield. Tweeked every body panel, I bent the seatback about 10 inches when it got hit. I drove it home that night, but it had pulled almost every weld in the body, so my insurance totalled it.

Marty

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Hmmm ... i guess i gotta say my 70 Road Runner . I bought it after high school and drove it for about 4 yrs maybe 30 k and never anything other than oil changes etc . Never did anything to it other than cosmetics . Sold it to my dad in 1991 cause ...we'll needed the money . To this day my father still has the car and running beutifully . He , like me , has never been into the engine yet , only detailing . I think to this day we may have put 50-60k on it with no problems .... not to bad for a big block MOPAR muscle car !

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My best car was a 1994 Dodge conversion van. I drove it for 11 yrs and 115,000 mi. It was hard on brakes, had them done 3 times. Other than that the only other maintenance was to change the oil and 2 sets of tires and one new battery. It ran great! After 11 New England winters it was just starting to show dime sized spots of rust on the rockers. -- Sorry I sold it.

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1966 Dodge Coronet. Slant six, stick shift, then an engine transplant from a 70 Duster, & automatic. Probably had 200,000 miles on it, and finally parked it when the unibody finally rotted out, and the doors wouldn't open & close anymore. Great car, but the rust took it's toll.

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1977 Pontiac Grand Safari station wagon. Bought it in 1983 with 77,000 miles when my kids were small as I always avoided getting a van. Sold it in 2005 with 180,000 miles on it. It was starting to get rusty but the interior was nearly perfect and it still only used about a quart of oil every 2,000 miles just like it did when I bought it. Only ever did routine maintenance on it. Guy I sold it to ran it quite a while and then ran it out of oil and seized the motor. I think if I had kept it it would still be running fine.

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Have had several cars I considered good over the years.

Had a lot of enjoyment from the '67 Ford Galaxie XL convertible.

60 Pontiac Bonneville convertible. 74 Ford company car.

And lately 3 different Dodge Caravans.

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Best modern cars we've had in the past dozen or so years have been Ford products. Two Crown Victoria ex-police cars (a '91 and '96) and our 2001 Taurus. The '91 was a very comfortable car and the '96 got nearly 30 MPG on the highway (not unusual for Crown Vics, amazingly enough). We've had the Taurus for almost 5 years now and are also very pleased with it...we'll probably buy another one at some point. Last fall we got a '99 Contour and, after some 'growing pains', it's serving its purpose.

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My best car to date is the one I'm currently driving, a 1991 VW Golf that I bought from the local junkyard 4 years ago for $200 with 169,000 miles on it. It now has 219,000 miles on it. I've always liked VW's for some reason or another and have owned several Rabbits, air-cooled and water-cooled vans and a few other versions of they're marquee. When I first saw this car, I thought it would be good for my middle son (the older one already has a '92 Jetta. He's had it for 6 years and it has 220,000 miles on it). Once I sat in it and cranked open the sunroof, I was sold. It was for me. The guy at the junkyard said the engine was bad. He said it ran though. It started right up, but ran poorly. I figured I could nurse it back to health no matter what. I brought it home and found the entire exhaust system was shot and no longer hooked up to the exhaust pipe. I replaced the entire exhaust and did a normal tuneup and it ran just fine. With a roof rack and a trailer hitch on the car it doubles as a pickup truck with great fuel economy. I've hauled bikes, wood,panels, bricks, household appliances and furniture, bags of cement (15),and on and on. I've towed cars, but never needed a tow. I've hauled the drivetrain from an early Dodge and an early Plymouth. This car has been a regular workhorse for me. I know it's not gonna last forever as the Midwest winters are starting to take its toll on the body. But when it's gone it will be sorely missed.

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