My 1975 Buick Riviera...

heiney9

Oh how I wish I had bought one when they were reasonably priced. A restored 246 Dino with the Daytona seats goes for about $250-275K.

An unrestored driver that may need a little work and isn't a Spider goes for about $75-100K.

They still are considered the best handling Ferrari (now called a Ferrari, not in the day) by most Ferrari enthusiasts.

That body is drop dead gorgeous...........one of the sexiest cars I've ever seen, IMO and many others. Pretty much perfection, with the right amount of curves and superbly balanced looking. Pics don't do it justice, just like pics of a supermodel don't compare to the super model in person.

Sat in one many times, never driven one and probably will never own one.

H9

heiney9

The 206 GT was the first small production run and were longer and sleeker



Early 246's were aluminum as well, but only a small run. It was too costly so they switched to steel.

nooshinjohn

Could have bought tge Dino for under 20k back in the 90's, and that would have been a very nice driver quality car.... oh how I wish I had a time machine for some of these cars.

heiney9

nooshinjohn wrote: »

Could have bought tge Dino for under 20k back in the 90's, and that would have been a very nice driver quality car.... oh how I wish I had a time machine for some of these cars.

You and me both!

Not as in love with American Muscle cars as some, but I certainly understand the allure and I grew up in that time period.

A classic is a classic. I appreciate the old American muscle, but have no desire to own one.

H9

heiney9

This has been called the "Modern Day 246 Dino"





I also think these are sexy as H E L L. Prices are reasonable. I actually thought about maybe getting one. But from what I've read they are not suited for everyday driving. Pretty much a hard core track car that would punish me on these Illinois roads. Also not to thrilled with Alfa's comeback as they are plagued with issues.....

H9

mhardy6647

I'll never own anything very interesting in the way of automobilia due to my "no car that cost more than our first house" rule: $41k.



Unfortunately, the reality of the prices of anything even halfway exotic left me much less interested in all of this stuff than I used to be

tonyb

Rules were meant to be broken Mark, live on the edge....for a bit anyway. You only go around once, no re-do's....unless your Shirley McClain.

heiney9

2 rules I have always tried to live by 1) never want to be "house poor" 2) never want to be "car poor".

So far so good....lol

I know too many peeps that overspend on a house and/or cars. One small interruption in their income and they are practically bankrupt.

H9

P.s. I prefer to go bankrupt on tubes!!! In fact I stopped cold turkey one day. Buying tubes. It was becoming a mild addiction trying to win those auctions. I have enough variety of tubes to last several lifetimes...lol

mikeyb128

heiney9 wrote: »

2 rules I have always tried to live by 1) never want to be "house poor" 2) never want to be "car poor".

So far so good....lol

I know too many peeps that overspend on a house and/or cars. One small interruption in their income and they are practically bankrupt.

H9

P.s. I prefer to go bankrupt on tubes!!! In fact I stopped cold turkey one day. Buying tubes. It was becoming a mild addiction trying to win those auctions. I have enough variety of tubes to last several lifetimes...lol

Now I'm audio poor.

motorhead43026

I am just poor, period.

mhardy6647

house and land is paid for; we're good there.
We are carrying a loan on Mrs. H's car -- finance rate was so low it didn't really make sense to spend principal on it (past a reasonable 'downpayment') First car we've ever taken a loan on; kind of weird feeling, actually.

mrbiron

motorhead43026 wrote: »

I am just poor, period.

I invented my own currency. Shmuck-bucks
I'm the richest guy in my basement...
I don't tell my wife or she'd steal that money too.

TNTsTunes

heiney9 wrote: »

Sorry guys............I'd rather have this 1970's automobile

H9

Na... This '71 would be my choice. Worth more too.






https://hemmings.com/magazine/hmn/2013/06/1971-Hemi--Cuda-Convertible/3726721.html

lightman1

I live in a bucket truck.

txcoastal1

lightman1 wrote: »

I live in a bucket truck.

Worth a million dollars in Houston area right now

treitz3

THAT is one nice 'Cuda. *drools*

Tom

sucks2beme

59 Bel Air.Truly a car built to kill you. No seat belts, non-collapsible steering, metal dash board. I had a 1960 in high school. Paid $100 for it.
I owned a 71 Mach one Mustang and a 1969 Camaro during my GI years.
I also went in with 2 other guys on a 1969 Firebird with a 400 under the hood.
Wished I still had either 69'.
My son's 1st car was a 1979 Trans am. His first real car he bought when
he got out in the working world was a 2002 Trans am (7th to the last one ever built).
His current toy is a 2016 Corvette. He likes to drive FAST.

SCompRacer

tonyb wrote: »

Rich, also sweet, those Chevelles rocked. Probably wish ya still had it huh.

Yeah I do miss it, different versions at different times..lol. Wife enjoyed it at first as a cruiser, but I went too far. It was nice with working A/C, good stereo. Fast enough, 3:55 rear gear, could go on expressway and have some fun. The real 13 to 1 compression, 3.5" exhaust and 4:10 rear gear upgrade changed all that. I say real 13 to 1 as block was decked, heads CC'd to specs required.

It required leaded racing fuel then. Couldn't hear the stereo when it was running, couldn't use the A/C in traffic as it would overheat, street tires were useless for traction when you got into the throttle.

I sold it to a guy and told him no unleaded. He didn't listen, drove too far on a tank of race fuel, added unleaded and had to have it towed home.

While it was a replicant, I installed an SS dash in it. Most folks believed it was a real SS then.

westmassguy

sucks2beme wrote: »

59 Bel Air.Truly a car built to kill you. No seat belts, non-collapsible steering, metal dash board. I had a 1960 in high school. Paid $100 for it.
I owned a 71 Mach one Mustang and a 1969 Camaro during my GI years.
I also went in with 2 other guys on a 1969 Firebird with a 400 under the hood.
Wished I still had either 69'.
My son's 1st car was a 1979 Trans am. His first real car he bought when
he got out in the working world was a 2002 Trans am (7th to the last one ever built).
His current toy is a 2016 Corvette. He likes to drive FAST.

The 59 rear fins were also airfoils. The tail end had a tendency to rise up, and become unstable under certain conditions.

treitz3

Sounds like a few women I have been with over the years....

Tom

mrbigbluelight

lightman1 wrote: »

I live in a bucket OF FUN truck.

Fixed.

tonyb

treitz3 wrote: »

Sounds like a few women I have been with over the years....

Tom

Oh crap, Amen to that brother. lol

Like that Cuda.....just could never get past that funky grill.

mhardy6647

lightman1 wrote: »

I live in a bucket truck.

mrbiron

Not our Lightman...he has unsoiled pants on...

Whoa, overlooked the obvious! He has pants on...

GospelTruth

erniejade wrote: »

I remember in the early 80's I had a 74 Malibu that the floor boards rusted out and you could see the road as you drove and passengers had to spread their legs around the holes. Good times.

tonyb wrote: »

Didn't everyone have a beater they had to use a screwdriver to start it with ? lol Had an old one with no tranny linkage, had to get under the car and hit the lever manually to change from drive to reverse. Car started in any gear though, just had to remember to keep your foot on the brakes.

That reminded me of high school and a good high school buddy who had a Chevette with rusted out floor boards. That in conjunction with my dad having an old Volkwagon Beetle that my mom and I had to push down the road with my dad popping the clutch for him to start it and get off to work.

If you went through those experiences, then the comedian John Heffron has a funny bit about those same things when he grew up. You can listen to his sound bit here on YouTube and the car bit starts at about the 50 second mark.

John Heffron - No Power

mrbigbluelight

^^^ Now that's funny stuff (and true !) GT.

kharp1

GospelTruth wrote: »

erniejade wrote: »

I remember in the early 80's I had a 74 Malibu that the floor boards rusted out and you could see the road as you drove and passengers had to spread their legs around the holes. Good times.

tonyb wrote: »

Didn't everyone have a beater they had to use a screwdriver to start it with ? lol Had an old one with no tranny linkage, had to get under the car and hit the lever manually to change from drive to reverse. Car started in any gear though, just had to remember to keep your foot on the brakes.

That reminded me of high school and a good high school buddy who had a Chevette with rusted out floor boards. That in conjunction with my dad having an old Volkwagon Beetle that my mom and I had to push down the road with my dad popping the clutch for him to start it and get off to work.

I had a buddy that had a Chevette with the same issue. He lived in Pittsburgh and I remember driving over an older bridge there and looking through the floorboard of the car and through the broken concrete of the bridge and seeing the river down below. The Fred Flintstone car.

halo

During the brief period in which I was physically able to drive ('91-'97) I had A LOT of different vehicles. It was a running joke amongst my friends that I changed vehicles as often as most people changed their underwear (I seriously hope that's not true because I owned some cars for years and others for just months. lol).

I'm not going to post the pictures of all the cars I owned here but I will post some of my favorites (in no particular order)

1970 1/2 Camaro. 350 4bbl (Quadrajet) on an aluminum Weiand intake manifold. 4-speed "Rockcrusher" trans. Dual exhaust (Thrush "Turbo" mufflers terminating through Borla stainless steel exhaust tips - sounded fantastic). The car had rust along the tops of the fenders and they would need to be replaced. The headliner was torn right above the driver's side front and it was getting progressively worse the longer I drove the car. No rear window defogger made it a PITA to drive in the winter (yes, this was my daily driver). The previous owner replaced the original bucket seats with black high back bucket seats from a Camaro of a different year. It had A/C and it worked great but I hardly ever used it. No tilt steering but it did have an aftermarket, leather wrapped, 3-spoke steering wheel. The speedometer didn't work; I had to guestimate my speed by the gear I was in and the RPM's. The previous owner also replaced the middle tail lights (the ones with the white reverse light incorporated) with a solid red tail light and rewired them so when I was braking, all 4 lit up (it looked like a Corvette and I really dug that but it made parking in the dark difficult without reverse lights!). That car was broken into more than once and it was involved in a hit & run leaving me with a huge dent in the passenger door. I sold it to a kid who ended up restifying it. I loved driving this car. It was quick but not so much so that it made every day driving difficult. Gas mileage was actually ok. It handled great!



1979 Olds Cutlass. The 350 "Rocket" engine was one we transplanted from a '72 Cutlass and was rebuilt with an Edelbrock Performer RPM cam, manifold, & carburetor. Also had a set of roller rockers. Dual exhaust similar to the last car but no Borla tips (just chrome extensions). American Racing rims mimicked Center Line wheels (I worked for Goodyear and we were paired with American Racing). All new shocks & springs too. This car was stolen and they blew the engine, popped the lock on the trunk, removed the collar on the steering column to access the ignition without a key, stole the mirrors, stereo, rims, & tires. Ended up selling it to a friend who turned it into a drag race only vehicle.



1987 Buick Turbo Regal ("T Package"). In '87 the T-Package replaced the T-Type but they were essentially the same vehicle. The grill was a little different and the '87 had the highest HP & torque. She didn't have posi when I bought her so we added a limited slip rear diff. Also upgraded the hoses and clamps to & from the turbo to keep oil buildup from allowing them to "slip" off. Adjustable boost was added and an aftermarket chip. K&N filter went in there too. Added chrome tips to the exhaust just for the look. My disability ramped up while I owned this car and I sold it to a mechanic who did some of the work on it. Fastest car I ever owned and the nicest to drive on a daily basis; got pretty good gas mileage as long as I wasn't standing on the gas pedal, smooth, comfortable ride, real back seat, and a real trunk all while still being one fast ****. For all intents and purposes, this was the "perfect" car for me. For some reason, I didn't take many photos of this car & that was unusual for me.



Last, but not least, 1972 Buick Skylark (Post coupe). This car belonged to my uncle. He passed away after a bout with Alzheimer's (very sad). The car was collecting dust and mouse turds in the garage at the family's farm when I asked my aunt to sell it to me. We went up to East Troy Wisconsin, from Chicago, every weekend for over a month to get her in good enough shape to drive back to Chicago. We had to replace brake lines, the water pump & thermostat. All 4 tires were OEM; they were flat, flat, flat, flat & dry rotted. I cleaned up & detailed what I could up there. When we got it back to Chicago I put on dual exhaust with Thrush turbo mufflers and Borla stainless steel tips (sounded really nice). The engine was the stock Buick 350 w/ a 2 bbl carb. Believe it or not, that engine had gobs of torque. I had to replace the shocks and springs because the OEM equipment was shot. The car didn't have A/C or power brakes (4-wheel drum brakes, mind you) or power steering when I got it (my uncle wasn't the original owner - he bought it from someone and hung onto it). We found the original window sticker under the back seat. This car had almost no optional equipment, not even floor carpet (just heavy duty rubber coating/mat). After I couldn't drive it any longer I sold it to a kid who wrecked it. I got a call from the impound yard asking me if I wanted to pick it up. Broke my heart.



Sorry for the threadjack. Thanks for the walk down memory lane! Nice Riv man! Good luck with it!

mrbigbluelight

I need to dig out some pictures of the 64 T-Bird that I used to have. Bought it off my future father in law (who worked at a Ford dealership). Cherry condition, both body and mechanically.

This 64 T-Bird is NOT mine, but it has the same white on red color scheme.



That's what mine looked like before it was rear ended at about 100 mph by 2 guys racing. Neither had insurance.

I don't think I have any pre-crash pics, but the post-crash pics are pretty cool.