Whats your beater?

[ledfootslim]

Just thought this question would get plentiful response. I went to see a guy a while back about a 48 Chrysler Royal, and since I new he had some absoloutely sick rods, figured he'd be driving one. Instead, he pulled up at our rendezvous point in a barely-alive Vega. I almost laughed, until I realized I was sitting in a 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix. She may be a fast and fun little car, but definitely not a rodders car! :-) What is the car you drive to and from work, to look at old cars, to get parts for old cars, etc? I'm partial to 90's to 2004 Crown Vics; big, body on frame, American made, v8 powered cars. Also, my fifth-gen v6 powered Pontiacs and late seventies Ford pickups, like my grandad drives. A three speed and a 351 in a heavily patina'ed pickup is hard to beat!

[Lumpy]

1996 Dodge Neon. !!! 'nuff said!

 

ken.

[Niel Hoback]

1997 Buick LeSabre Limited.    143k and everything works including cold A/C.

[Lumpy]

Although I should warn you, it's the only BMW Neon in existence. Very rare car.

 

[Young Ed]

[ledfootslim]

I've gotta say, if I could get my hands on a mid sixties Plymouth valiant or Dodge dart, with the slant six and a/c, I would have a hard time trying to find a better little run-around car! Any of you guys have experience with these little cars?

[Niel Hoback]

    I've had several, 6's and 318's. They are dependable, great, little cars. Unfortunately, around here in the rust belt, they don't last very long.

[ledfootslim]

Yeah, all the ones I've seen have been rusty....but I don't mind!

[Lumpy]

Before the BMW Neon I used to have a 1970 Duster with the 198 slant six. Someone gave it to me (already in full on beater mode) because it had a short that would drain the battery, and they could not find it, and nobody they knew could find it. So, I just eliminated sections of the wiring harness until no more short, then wired in toggle switches to work the wipers, ignition, heater, etc. Lights still worked, but I had to "recreate" the charging system, complete with an amp gauge....under the hood on the fender well. !!!! Well you know how they have those nice flat fender wells.

 

Anyhow, drove that to work for years and loved it. It had "charm". The 198 was smooth as silk, and just sipped the gas. The thing was "once white" with a green driver's side door.

 

The shifter did not match the trans, and it had this weird reversed shift pattern, (3-speed on the floor) and no one could have stolen it, as the shift pattern made no sense. Eventually that 198 racked up some insane amount of mileage, and she just got to smoking too much, and I parked her. Just last year I gave it to a high school student who is now, with the help of his dad, making a nice first car for the kid. The body was straight, and no rust.

 

Now I only have an eight mile drive to work, so really I can rotate the vehicles pretty much, take Lumpy often, or ride a motorcycle to work, or even drive the pick-em-up once in a while without breaking the bank. Don't need a dedicated beater so much, but the Neon is the go to work car in the winter and bad weather. When I have to go to Spokane to pick up something, or chase parts, and can't haul the booty home on a motor bike, really I like taking the Bug for that kind of stuff.

 

ken.

[Desotodav]

My 'beater' is a 1988 Isuzu utility with 430,000 kilometers (267,000 miles) on the odometer. It has been subjected to many a hard day's work in the past 14 years which I have owned it and it still performs flawlessly, although it has some gearbox issues at present which will be fixed shortly.

[ledfootslim]

Before the BMW Neon I used to have a 1970 Duster with the 198 slant six. Someone gave it to me (already in full on beater mode) because it had a short that would drain the battery, and they could not find it, and nobody they knew could find it. So, I just eliminated sections of the wiring harness until no more short, then wired in toggle switches to work the wipers, ignition, heater, etc. Lights still worked, but I had to "recreate" the charging system, complete with an amp gauge....under the hood on the fender well. !!!! Well you know how they have those nice flat fender wells.

 

Anyhow, drove that to work for years and loved it. It had "charm". The 198 was smooth as silk, and just sipped the gas. The thing was "once white" with a green driver's side door.

 

The shifter did not match the trans, and it had this weird reversed shift pattern, (3-speed on the floor) and no one could have stolen it, as the shift pattern made no sense. Eventually that 198 racked up some insane amount of mileage, and she just got to smoking too much, and I parked her. Just last year I gave it to a high school student who is now, with the help of his dad, making a nice first car for the kid. The body was straight, and no rust.

 

Now I only have an eight mile drive to work, so really I can rotate the vehicles pretty much, take Lumpy often, or ride a motorcycle to work, or even drive the pick-em-up once in a while without breaking the bank. Don't need a dedicated beater so much, but the Neon is the go to work car in the winter and bad weather. When I have to go to Spokane to pick up something, or chase parts, and can't haul the booty home on a motor bike, really I like taking the Bug for that kind of stuff.

 

ken.

Ha, I hear you about "no one could steal it-cuz no one could drive it!" My grandad has worked on my 48 with me since the beginning of the project, and he still isn't quite sure how to drive it! My 1998 Dodge dually pickup has very close to 500k miles on it, and you have to stick it in neutral to start it...I just leave the key in it when I park!

[bobjob55]

MY EVERYDAY beater Used to be my 1963 chevy carryall suburban  ... somewhere around 500,000 miles in 30 + years ...

Finally stopped it to 're- do  and upgrade the thing .. every car I get ,,, I start having to throw money at it just to keep it running  ...  getting further away from my TOYS ...   they  Will last forever .....

Edited July 9, 2014 by bobjob55

[Dan Hiebert]

My "daily driver" is provided by Uncle Sam (thanks for paying your taxes  ), but I still have to get to work to use it.  I haven't had a real "beater" in quite a while, but I've had two "favorite" parts chaser/grocery getter/lumber hauler/stump puller/parade float puller/kid hauling/wife-refused-to-be-seen-in-it/commuters.  One was a '52 Ford F3 that you couldn't be in hurry with (someone waved far more money in my face than it was worth), and a '60 Ford F100 that won a couple "ugly truck" contests (had to sell it when we moved from NM to MI).  Wish I still had them both.....or at least something the wife refuses to be seen in.

[pflaming]

I still use a Kitchen Maid! lol

Edit: Kitchen Aid

Edited July 10, 2014 by pflaming

[ledfootslim]

I still use a Kitchen Maid! lol

Ha! I knew somebody would say that!

[moparbenny]

1970 plymouth valiant more door with a slant six with  a billion miles..hauled home a 1940's era bumper jack in the back seat...I really regret doing that..

[ledfootslim]

1970 plymouth valiant more door with a slant six with  a billion miles..hauled home a 1940's era bumper jack in the back seat...I really regret doing that..

Hey, you wouldn't happen to still have that Valiant would you? :-) And that's what a beater is for!

[Plymouthy Adams]

^{from  reading many threads on this forum, seems lot of guys beater is the wife if they mention getting a new old car or paying for some needed repairs/upgrades..}