What did you drive back in the day & what do you drive now?

[JCON]

Nothing wrong with a workhorse truck Mark!!! They help us get the job done...

[BUCKY]

I like your rides, Mark! In my 44 years of owning vehicles, I've had some cool rides, but I've also owned some pretty shabby stuff, too!! Those are the ones not worthy of posting!! HAHAHA

[JED]

At least you got some good milieage from your motors Mark

[BUCKY]

Also, some of the cool rides were not in that great a shape, either!
For example:


1967 Pontiac Firebird (POS) (This pic is a web shot. Mine looked exactly the same, tho.)
400 V-8, 4 speed. Overheated after 15 minutes on the road. Synchronizers in the trans were shot. Top wouldn't stay latched. Front springs were bad. Taillights wouldn't work, half the time. Etc, Etc, Etc.......

[dogfish7 (R.I.P.)]

This isn't the actual car I drove back in the late 60s and early 70s, but the model of the one I wished I was driving.

[dogfish7 (R.I.P.)]

My first car, 1963 Impala SS 327.

[BUCKY]

That Plymouth looks barely street legal, OZ!!! HAHAHA Very cool, tho!!

[dogfish7 (R.I.P.)]

My ride back in the 80s. 1976 HD FXE 1200 Super Glide
This is not the actual bike, but how it looked back then. I put split fuel tanks, cam, lower seat and lots of chrome goodies on it.

[BUCKY]

I like that scooter!!!

[Dukemaddog]

Thanks for the comments on my rides guys. My apologies for posting so late, I never got any E-mail notifications that this thread had replies. Yeah, they were and are workhorses, those last two. I'm trying to see how far I can go on the truck; maybe I can get back up to 600,000+ miles again....

Bucky, that's too bad that classic had all those issues. My nephew had similar issues with a '53 that he had. Don't remember the car though, just the year.

Beautiful wheels Bruce, especially that Harley.

[BUCKY]

I don't know what it is about Pontiac. I've had three, and all of them were POS!!!

[JCON]

That's sad... 🤔

[BUCKY]

Sure is! The first Pontiac I had was a 1969 Bonneville. Smooth ride, but a lot of mechanical doo doo.

[ogrejohn]

My first ride, 1970 T/A Six Pack Challenger. Pic taken in 1978. 

[BUCKY]

And it's Panther Pink, too!!

[JCON]

Beautiful ride brother!!!! Love it!!!

[BUCKY]

That 340 6BBL in that car was a sneaky beast!!! Very cool car!!

[Beekster]

First car was a '65 Beetle, followed by a '64 after the first one was stolen. Then an '80 Rabbit diesel, and after I got married we bought an '86 Honda CRX HF new for my wife. The Rabbit died (the car, that is) and I had to pick up an '86 Ford Escort GT because we were desperately poor at the time. Awful car... Then a Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX turbo, which got creamed by an idiot running a stoplight. Then an Eagle Talon TSi AWD which I wrecked myself, followed by a cheap Mazda pickup from my uncle since we were saving money for a house. He did RC aircraft, so it always smelled of fuel. Through all this, the CRX soldiered on.

In 1996 things began to change. We sold the truck, I drove the CRX for commuting, and the wife got our first Mercedes-Benz, a 1990 190E 2.6 automatic. We've never looked back. A year later I bought a 190E 2.3-16 stick and autocrossed it for three years before it sadly was required to give up its life for mine. That same year, 2000, we sold the CRX and the 190E 2.6. I bought a cheap 190D 2.2 diesel to commute with, and we bought a brand new 2000 C230 Kompressor sedan for my wife. In 2004, I sold that diesel back to the Mercedes-Benz Club member I bought it from, for the same $1,000 I paid for it. Bought new a VW Jetta TDI stick to replace it. Drove that for a decade, during which I left the labor force, and so the miles didn't pile up much on either car (wife generally takes mass transit for work). In 2014, I decided to reward myself for having cared for an elderly great uncle for several years until he passed on, and going through three years of legal morass to settle his estate. Wanting something sporty again for nice days, I bought a 2006 Mercedes-Benz SLK280 hardtop convertible, with a very rare 6-speed stick. I've put a lowered Bilstein suspension under it, and though the ride is very stiff it corners like a demon.  A year later, the VW diesel was sold to my sister's family, and my eldest nephew drives it at college.  The C230 is now the daily driver.  I drive the SLK whenever it is dry, regardless of temperature. I have the attire to be comfortable with the top down at 25 degrees Fahrenheit...  The C230 is now the daily driver, with less than 85,000 miles on it since new.  The SLK came to me with almost 90k and now has 106k on the odometer.  The C230 will remain with us until it is at least 20 years old, at which time we're hoping to order a new C350 Plug-In Hybrid for the next 20 years.

[JCON]

Cool cars!!!

[Beekster]

Nov 9, 2017 12:06:06 GMT -6 JCON said:

Cool cars!!!

Yes, indeed! Both are a blast to drive, and fuel economy is quite good. The sedan has a supercharged 2.3l I-4 and 5-speed automatic; gets 28-30mpg on the highway. The roadster has a 3.0l V6 and 6-speed stick, and can easily hit 34mpg on long freeway runs. Maintenance isn't exactly cheap, but the cars generally don't randomly break and when worn components are replaced they return to like-new functionality.  And they aren't as expensive to purchase as most people think, especially if you purchase used, especially a CPO car.  We will probably order new to replace the C230, but in large measure that is because we want a rare variant with specific options that cannot be found on a dealer lot closer than a thousand miles away from Portland.  Needless to say, I am a Mercedes-Benz advocate and enthusiast.