1. 1967 Oldsmobile 442.
Any flavor will do. (Check my avatar, did you
really need to ask????)
2. 1940 Ford Deluxe Opera Coupe. There is a story behind this. It was my uncle's car. Primer red, with a red and white tuck and roll interior. The dash had a Hurst decal that said, "Caution. This car is equipped with a Hurst shifter. Excessive force may injure your hand!" W/ Olds J2. My uncle took me for a ride in 1963, when I was 10 years old, and, happily for me, (And to my Mom's chagrin.) things were
never the same again.
He sold it without telling me in the late eighties. I was
furious. with him, because had I known, I would have bought it in a hearbeat. Boy, was I
pi$$ed! I mean that! I WANTED that car. (And he KNEW that, too,
dammit!) I never
quite forgave him for that. (Well.....I did......kinda....... but, you know.........) I don't know what he was thinking, and he never told me.
3. 1955 Chevrolet pickup. They're just so cool looking. Plus, my grandma owned one. I have fond memories of it from my childhood.
4. 1968 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser, with the 400 cu/in turnpike cruiser w/400 turbo option. (I still have the drivetrain in the garage, with plans to stick it in my '55 pickup. Yes, the one above. It's not my grandma's pickup, but I've GOT one by golly!
Eases the sting of the loss of my uncle's Ford. )
5. !976 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. No question. Simply one of the two best car I've ever owned. Minnesota salt did it in. From what I've been told, the drive train STILL LIVES in a '71 Cutlass convert. I'd like to have it back. It was a great car. I'll never own another white interior though......
6. 2001 Buick Regal. This is the next best car I've ever owned. I
LOVE this thing. Comfortable. Good stereo. Rock solid reliable. Nice ride. Handles well. Quiet, even on the highway. The 3.8 V6 is made of granite. It's 200 miles away from 200,000, and you still just twist the key, release it, it's running. Just-like-that. Plus, as anyone who reads the sportsman threads knows, I've even been racing it this year. (Got another report to write, by the way, stay tuned.) Don't you
ever tell me that Detroit doesn't make a damn good car. You just have to buy the right one. The '76 Supreme BARELY nudged it out because of he Rocket V8. It was close.)
7. 1957 Oldsmobile Super 88 Holiday Coupe w/ J2 option. My roomate (in the mid to late '70's) had one. What a highway beast. He had a reproduction of the Motor Trend magazine review, and they said "This is not your drive around town car. This car is made for the highway." (Or to that effect.) You could be cruising along at 80, the engine was merely loafing. Tap the throttle, and that thing would just TAKE OFF! A highway cruiser supreme. Once, a guy at a gas station asked "What year?" When told "'57" said "Neat Chevy! Did you do the rear windows yourself????" 12mpg MAX IF you were behaving yourself. (Which we rarely did.) Oh, make that ethyl, tank yew.......
8. 1968 Ford Mustang. Don't know if I'd ever own one, but I LOVE the way they look. The "Bullitt Stang!" You gotta love 'em!
9. 1970 Dodge Daytona. I don't care what you think of them, these things just do it for me on a visceral level. They have from the first time I laid eyes on one in Hot Rod Magazine back in the fall of '69. Just as outrageous and "up front" as Harley Earl's '59 Caddy. Oh, make mine Hemi, please.
10. Any early Plymouth Barracuda "glassback". With that big a$$ed piece of rear window, it just looks so cool. The "Hurst Hemi Under Glass" is one of drag racing's best nostalgia cars. The cool thing is, I got to see one (Not sure which.) run down at KCIR back when they were the real deal. Once again, thanks to my '40 Ford Coupe owning uncle who took me there that night. (Yes! We took the coupe!) Same night I saw Jungle Jim, Dickie Harrell and Malcom Durham and someone else, don't remember, I think a local boy, run an "All Chevy" match race. What a show! What a crowd! What a night! And Jungle Pam to boot! (To this "normal" male teenager, Ooooh My.............sigh. Who could ask for more???) (I don't think my mom ever quite forgave my uncle for getting me hooked on cars like that. To her they were little more than toasters, something to be used up and thrown away. She never understood my fascination with them, and considered my focus on them a huge waste of energy.)
Sorry Ma, but, as you used to tell me, "that's rough!!!"
