Conference back40::soapbox

Were money no object, I'd have a 9 passenger Hummer for everyday use,
a Lincoln Town Car for long trips, and a TR-7 (R.I.P.) to get back and
forth from the mailbox.

Prolly even ditch the station wagons . . . 

    
    
    1969 GTO, 455cu, tri-power carb set up, Hurst shift kit, Munsy
    'rock-crusher' transmission. My little testosterone filled fantasy (no,
    I don't have one). :)
    
    jim

 Porsche 911...any year, any model ;-)

    For go:
    
    65 Shelby Mustang.
    
    For show:
    
    Lincoln Mark VIII with all the goodies.  Got to drive one of these for
    about 10 minutes.  Thing handled like my Daytona.  Didn't feel like a
    LARGE car at all.
    
    For going REAL FAST:
    
    427 Cobra.

    
    .3, Jim:
    
    "...like some giant piranah fish, some obscene phallic 
     symbol on wheels."
    
    "...and as I hit the magic hundred my love exploded all over 
     her bright pink leather interior."
    
                                           Thomas Dolby
                                           `The Keys To Her Ferrari'
    

Not that I'd ever trade my Corolla, but...

Mercedes 650SL, ragtop, in dark blue,
thank you so much.

    1953 studebaker commander hardtop.  best road car i ever drove, despite
    the fact that the firewall was so poorly insulated that your feet would
    cook on any trip over 50 miles or so.
    
    i remember in the '60s gm started whoopin and hollerin about their nice
    new invention called variable-ratio steering.  the '53 stude had it.
    
    i remember in the late '80s subaru tootin about their hill-holder.  you
    stop on a hill, put the car in neutral and lift your feet, the car will
    sit there without slipping back.  the '53 stude had it.
    
    remember overdrive?  these days it's any gear ratio less than 1:1.  but
    on the '53 stude it was actually a gadget in the tranny's tailcone; you
    got up to a certain speed and let off a little, the overdrive kicked in
    to lower the ratio.  so you could be in or out of overdrive in any gear
    you wanted.  stude wasn't the only one that had that, though.  i recall
    a day when a friend took his snappy new ford with the police engine for
    a ride west of town and punched it at 90 in second overdrive.  he got a
    new engine free, though, so it was okay.

    
    
    re: .6
    
    	I love it!!! :*)
    
    

    RE: 427 Cobra  
    
    Sigh.....
    
    RE: Shelby GT500
    
    Sigh.....
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    1969 Dodge Dart GTS 34 Convertible with a 4 speed.   
    
    
    Tis my dream car.
    
    
    Mike
    

    
    Isn't that what Al Bundy has??

    
    
    No, I think Al has a 1972 Dodge Demon.

    If money were no object:
    
    A Land Rover for off-road and winter;
    A Checker Cab for everyday use;
    A 1972 Mercedes Benz 250SL convertible in Fire Engine Red
    for summer

    
    
    	1965 black Mustang convertible..... I *will* have
    	one someday!

    
    
    A racing green MG Migit  with cream leather interior
    and a cream convertable roof.
    
    
    
    Ah.....to dream....
    
    
    Terrie
    

re: .14, Mary-Michael

>    A Checker Cab for everyday use;

Ah, the old Checker Marathons! They could almost give a Hummer a run
for the money! And, they were exceedingly comfortable.

    
    
    	How about a Packard? Solid Oak dashboard, etc....
    
    
    

	The BEST car of all time has to be none other than the






                                AMC PACER!!!!


	Talk about plenty of room to grow plants, plenty of light to make them
grow! Ahhhhhhh....... 

    
    Checkers were stretch limos before there were stretch limos!! :)
    

    
    my dream garage:
    
    for everyday: a saturn or camry (probably the cam, but too many out
    	there)
    for fun:  blaq wrangler
    for show: '64-1/2 red 'stang convertible or a '61 red/white 'vette
    	convertible (maybe both!!)
    for the heck of it: a full-size pickup or ute
    
    
    
    
    

    .19
    
    nascar driver buddy baker once prepared and raced a pacer.  he was
    asked how it felt, and he said...
    
    once you get used to the idea of driving sideways, it's fine.

 Rambler American ;-)

    If money were no object....
    
    I'd fully restore my 1973 Datsun 240Z in time for it's silver
    anniversary.  (And I'd restore my circa 1849 farmhouse in time
    for its sesquicentennial.)
    
    Erica would drive something big enough to fit her artwork.  Probably
    a van of some sort.
                             
    And I'd still take the vanpool to work as often as possible.
    
    								-mr. bill

If money were no object:

Mini Cooper


Reality:

Mini Cooper

    	Chevy Suburban/Silverado.  Certainly not my first choice if
    	I had a choice of ANYTHING out there, but for current need
    	and for comfort (it would have to be one of the better options
    	packages) and for room, it would be a great vehicle.

  re .26

   couple weeks ago when I went up to Canada, we rode up in a 94 Suburban..
   Excellent mode of transport..comfortable, quiet..fortunately I didn't
   have to pay for the gas..




 Jim

    	If you can afford the Suburban, you can afford the gas.
    
    	Actually I've heard from some owners who say that they get
    	15-17 mpg or so.

 True...my ex boss (who owned the one in which we went) gets about 15-17
 or so.


 I loved the thing..




 Jim

    
    
    Multiple sighs,,...
    
    
    I actually got to sit in a real '67" Shelby Cobra at an auction..
    
    
    yep.. that is the car!!
    
    Sigh!!!
    
    Sin-te-da

    I'm partial to the big Jag saloons, XJ6, for evenings on the town 
    or grand touring (wine country).
    
    The Honda Del Sol for trips to the beach.
    
    A snappy little Mercedes Coupe or convertible for everyday.
    
    And one of the more solid sport-utilities for ski trips and large group
    expeditions; a Suburban or Explorer or the big Blazer or ... something
    like that.  Haven't ever really shopped for one of those but I'm sure
    we will, sometime.
    
    DougO

    half track...with twin .50's mounted forward and a .30 mounted aft
    
    
    know a guy that has one, its a bear to drive though but shooting
    at tin cans is something to remember (and expensive!!)

    For weekdays A Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost.
    
    For weekends a 1954 apple red T Bird convertable.

   I've always wanted to drive one of the McLaren cars that used to race in 
   the Can-Am series about 20 years ago..




    Jim

re: Joe, Suburban

That was always one of my "goals" (even owned a used one for a while
and loved it), untill I saw the Hummer for the first time. :^)

    1995 Mustang GT Convertible, leather seats/saddle ragtop,  4 Michelin
    snows on 4 chrome 16" rims for winter, 4 hi-perf racers on 4 chrome 17"
    rims for summer, customized-with-personal-URL license-plate holders,
    5-speed manual shift, Fullvolume CD player, with about a hundred DDD
    Bach organ disks for blasting down the hiway.  Obtw, fire-engine red. 
    Arrived today, to be picked up next week...
    
    YeeHaw!
    

    
    
    
    		One of them Dodge viper coupe's.  V10 Blue with the
    		
    		radical white stripe offset from the center running down
    
    		across the hood to the back.  Kinda an offshoot of 
    	
    		Mr Shelby's Cobra!  Bitchin!  As we used to say.
    
    
    						Sharkski
    
    

    re: .33
    
    A 1954 T-bird would be a treat, since 1955 was the first model year.  
    I had one from '60 through '64.  Black.  I miss it.
    
    -- Jim

    Sorry a slip of the finger, I should have said 55, had to dig out the
    brochure from the dealership that my husband has saved all these years,
    he also still lives in hope. Maybe the lottery will be good to us
    to-night because we know where there is one (it's baby blue at the
    moment but that can be remedied)
    
    joan

    
    .6
    
    And at that moment...I thought of my mother.

    This one's easy!
    
    Going to work: Rolls-Royce Carmargue ragtop
    
    Fun road trips: Jaguar E-Type V12 and XK140 Saturdays
                    Mercedes 500K and red 300SL Gullwing Sundays
    
    Hard work: Range Rover
    
    Evenings at the theatre: Latest model Lamborgini
    

    A Dusenberg. Two problems - not nearly enough $$$ and how many owners
    would part with one?

    
    to annoy my neighbors:	
    	Lamborghini Countach
    
    for sunny summer's weekends:
    	Messerschmidt Kabinenroller
    	a REAL oldtimer. like a '20ies or '30ies Bugatti or Opel
    
    for sunny workdays:
    	the car of my ex-roommates friend
    
    	dark blue Volkswagen Beetle, Cabriolet with a 160PS Porsche engine
    	in it. Great for burning out the BMWs at the red lights.
    
    
    for everydays
    	Mercedes Benz 300TS
    	

    I came within a whisker Saturday buying a '95 Cherokee Sport, all the
    fixins', but the deal just didn't feel right.  
    
    I even test drove an automatic so the wife would have a vehicle to
    drive to the grocery store in bad weather and I could stay in the
    comforts of home.
    
    Also test drove a '94 Wrangler, Rio Grande...only model on the lot was
    a "Mango" softtop,...great for off the road but I'm not sure about
    daily.

    How bout a 63 English Ford... An Angula wagon. My first. It was a piece
    of crap on 4 wheels. But I had fun with it till it died.

    the Cobra, but the AC Cobra! an original only... what a monster!!!
    
    Chip

        Ford Anglia, maybe? POS known as the Ford Angle-iron...
        

    .47 it was a real piece of work all right! It was my double not 7 car
    too!:) Had some bullet hole decals on it that looked so real that a
    local Raymond NH cop pulled me over, and drew his gun to see if I
    wasn't some sort of criminal!:) I had on the official spy trench coat
    too at the time. Look out Jethro Bow-deen!:) 

    Yes Chip, you are oh so correct.  The original with the hand formed
    aluminum body panels.  You could still see the hammer marks left by the
    crafstmen that shaped the fenders.  Acceleration that would flatten
    your eye balls.  All for about $6,000.00 1965 dollars.  Talk about a
    return on investment....  

    .23 Hey I had one of them!! A 64 Rambler American wagon! Neet car! It
    was great for dating! All of the seats could fold down into on long
    bed!! Even came with banked turns! '^)
    

	My father had a 64 rambler wagon. It was this real weird green color.
Great car though. Nothing would kill it.


Glen

    Mine was black with red interior, three speed on the colum. Alis the
    slush box. Could fit in all the neighborhood friends to go to the beach
    or to some other river. Other than the Lampry River in front of the
    folks house in Epping NH.

This is getting scary, now. _I_ had a greenish-bluish '64 Rambler American
wagon, too.

	Did you have the TOTALLY green interior with bits and pieces of crome
on the door panels???? 

I forget the interior color.

Hey! Wait a minute! This is the _*Fine*_ Automobiles topic!

    I saw a Rambler American once...I was about 5 yrs old, but my Dad was
    with me and helped settle me down.  :-)

And by the time the Pacer came out, you were man enough to handle it?

:^)

    .55 Hey these are fine autos! They worked for us just fine. They were
    not expensive. And when we found them, life was fine! And someday later
    in our lives we will Finally talk about them!

 I had a Rambler (well, by then they were AMC) Ambassador station wagon..
 can't remember what year it was..had a big ol' V8..not a bad car.




Jim

My dad a Rambler wagon as well.  Don't recall the
exact year, being just a wee tyke and all, but it
was probably a '64 or '65.  I'm pretty sure it
was that pukish green color too.

	any older Jag

    .61
    
    > -< XJ6 or XKE >-
    > any older Jag
    
    oxymoron alert.
    
    an older jag would be an xk120 or an xk140.  for either of which, in
    good order, i'd seriously consider exchanging an eyetooth.

  >>  oxymoron alert.

	that wasn't an oxymoron.  it depends on what one means
	by "older".

re Ford Anglia,

isn't that what Vyvyan Basterd drove in The Young Ones?  The bright
yellow thing with flames painted on the sides?

Chris.

    Daily driver: My '90 Nissan Sentra w/137K miles on it.
    
    Luxury: Lexus LS400, Cadillac STS, the new Jaguar sedan, BMW 540 V8
    
    Luxury-Performance: Lexus SC400 coupe, Eldorado ETC
    
    Performance: Callaway C8 (modified Z28 with approx. 400 HP),
                 Ligenfelter Firebird, ZR-1 Corvette
    
    Classic: 1953 Buick Skylark convertible, 1956 Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing
    
    Winter: Land Rover, Chevy Blazer

    Edsel (1957 ?)
    
    Nash Metropolitan
    
    AMC Gremlin
    
    Citroen 2 CV
    
    Renault Dauphine
    
    I remember the Ford Angle-Iron, my Dad had one back around 1964 - 65.
    Definitely a POS of the finest kind.

 The first model year of the Edsel was 1958.






Jim

    .66
    
    one assumes that the classic among those pos was in fact the citroen
    deux cheveux.  great little car.  cheap, reliable, so ugly it was cute. 
    an expedition drove one over the andes once.

    fine automotive snarf!

 >              <<< Note 292.8 by SMURF::BINDER "vitam gustare" >>>
 >
 >   1953 studebaker commander hardtop.  best road car i ever drove, despite
    
    My favorite car was my 1964 Studebaker Daytona, bought in '71 for $100.
    Powerful and smooth. Drove it for 5+ years til the body was so bad even
    my mechanic buddy wouldn't let it past inspection.
    
    Liked it so much I retired it and bought a 1964 Studebaker Gran
    Turisimo Hawk. Drove it 6 months and parked it in my garage for 18
    years til I realized I don't really care enough about cars ever to
    restore it properly. Anybody want it? (Them, for that matter. Still
    have the Daytona, too)
    
    .18 Yeah, I guess my fantasy would be a 1937 or so Packard.
    
    Kit

    .64 Donno! I know I had seen one in some old secret agent flicks and TV
    shows. Like Secret Agent Man. Seen a couple in some B movies when the
    Orsen Wells Movie theater showed them all night long. Got in half price
    wearing my trench coat and secretagent cap. Lotta fun!:)

Kit, if you want to get rid of the Studebakers, try contacting Dave Burden
(OASS::BURDEN_D).  He's an aficionado.

    I had bought a 71 super beatle in 1976 after I had trashed out my 73
    yellow Vega.. Drove it till I bought my 82 Toyota pick up truck. I nick
    named it 'Enola Gay'. Little did I know at the time that the plane
    marking and the year of manufacture had something in common.:)
    
    I also had a 59 beatle. Sold it to a friend when I bought the 64
    Rambler Wagon. This new owner drove this beatle out to the Alaskan oil
    fields in the early 70's in quest of a job. Found out that it was too
    cold for him and there was a waiting list of folks to hire. He returned
    to his home town. And someplace along the way in Vegas blew the engine.
    He wired home to the folks for some money. And while waiting for the
    money to come in. Took his last dollar and walked up to a slot machine
    and stayed another week on that one winning. Of course he called the
    folks and told them not to bother wiring the money.:)

    
    Fine automobile of my youth (belonged to my Dad):
    
    	1965 Dodge Dart with the slant-six (couldn't kill the thing with
    					    a stick of dynamite)
    
    Fine automobiles I wish I owned:
    
    	DeLorean
    
    	Cobra, Cobra, Cobra!
    
    
    
    	

    
>>    	1965 Dodge Dart with the slant-six (couldn't kill the thing with
>>    					    a stick of dynamite)

	I've had two of them.  While I wouldn't term them "fine
	automobiles" exactly ;> -  they were great.

    Fine autos my dad owned;
    
    67 Volvo wagon, 70 volvo coupe, a 84 VW Caberole,
    
    Autos I would like to own..:) I hope to aquire a late model 280Z car
    that a tenant has left behind, and legally now sits at a garage.:) I
    have some legal paperwork and other stuff I gotta do to get clear and
    legal title. This suckers got a glass T top, and the usual bells and
    whistles of a Z, ac, stereo, etc.
    
    Another piece of iron I would like to have is a 64 SS that my stupid
    brother set on fire.:) I told the guy that the 4 barrel was missing a
    gas gasket.. And it leaked over the engine and set a fire one
    afternoon. But it was black, with black leather interior and a black
    rag top too. And its too bad. It was a neet rig of the time and when
    you got on it, there was that eye ball flattening, and this whoooshin
    sound under the hood as it sucked down lots of the ol dinasors!

>                     <<< Note 292.33 by TROOA::TEMPLETON >>>
    
>    For weekends a 1954 apple red T Bird convertable.

Sorry, first T-bird (2 seater) was 1955, 56, 57
4-seaters started in 58(the ruination of T-birds)

Amos

Anything with a big engine, decent stereo and low nickability factor
would do me!

Chris.

    if I had the $$$$, my first choice for the daily commute would be the
    Hummer.  No one cuts off a Hummer more than once.  ZZZAPPP! They're
    history!
    
    i'd have the wrangler when I wanna romp off the road and a ruby red Z28 for
    flirting with the girls.

    Why settle for a Hummer when a tank can do! If you cannot roll over the
    top of those snarling traffic jams, you can always blast your way thru. 
    
    Just imagine! No more parking problems! Esp when your in down town
    Boston and its Christmas shopping time, or your looking for a close
    enough parking space... Any ol place will do!

    I love the model with the 9" hook and winch on the front...whaddaymean
    you ain't open yet..........
    
    or, go thru McD's drive in and splat!  I always wanted to run over that
    clown!

Fuel consumption is something of a problem though; I think a Challenger II,
for example, only manages about 600yds per gallon, and it's a bugger to
corner properly at anything over 40mph...

Chris.

    .....and speaking of Aston-Martins, I would not mind sitting behind the
    wheel of the new DB7 on a daily basis thank you very much.  Baring
    that, a Porche 928GTS or BMW 850 would be fine substitutes.
    
    Brian

    What of the Bradley fighting machine? The M1 tank that uses a jet
    engine and can exceed 65 mph! Not for long. But its a real show
    stopper! Esp when the guy in frount of you comes to a stop.... and you
    do several squashed cars later!:)

    
    I would love a 1994 Cadillac Seville STS, course I couldn't afford
    it, but i can dream.
    
    
    Mark

    
    	If the bucks where there for my own daily driving a 61, 62 or 63
    Corvette (white with a red interior) and for occasions with the family 
    a late model Buick Park Avenue.

    Joe