51 Kaiser. Given to me when I was 12, my first "car". Dad had bought it new, and flat wore it out, and never parted with it. I'd get all the plugs gapped just right, all the junk cleaned out of the carb, all the belts tight, point gap set, and then I'd put the battery in the little red wagon and haul it miles and miles (about 10 blocks) to Gusmus's bike/mower/car/you name it shop and get him to charge it up. Then I'd take the little red wagon back and haul that heavy sucker miles and miles uphill back home (yes, uphill both ways), and stuff it back in, and we'd go row-row-row-row-rowrrr rrr r, and I'd take the battery back out and haul it mile and miles, well you get it. Kept me out of trouble all summer. Finally got it to run, and did the victory dance for the first time. That night we had one hell of a thunderstorm, and an ancient oak bit the dust. Bisected the Kaiser fore and aft. But the bug had bitten...

Did you know that you could set the brakes on fire on a 55 DeSoto if it had a transplanted 392 hemi from a 58 Imperial???

Cosworth Vegas were relatively quick. And how the hell did you ever find a running Vega to drive with the stock motor? I don't think any lasted past 40k miles...

Well, for the stock Vegas:

My aunt had a 73 GT Wagon. I was trying to get her to sell it to me. I liked the olive yellow color, it had 35K miles on it, and was the 'extra' car sitting in the garage. It had full gauges and the Goodyear Poly-Glas tires, too. I had a Buick 455 and Turbo 400, too. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

The car had not been used for several years. I tuned it up, new filters and oil, drove it down the street and the head popped. At the time, I also had Isuzu automotive connections and my aunt ended up giving the car to them. While my 455 auto idea appealed to her, she thought she'd rather see the drivetrain from a Imark deisel put in. The car exited my life. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

My father's company in the 70's employed Vega and Monza coupes for the sales staff and Vega wagons for the repair techs. Apparently, they leased a bunch of these cars from a dealer they did business with. The boss had an orange V8 Monza fastback, I think a 265 ci. Well, as stated, they had short service lives. The fleet was returned and new Pintos were used for replacements.

I'd ridden in about 40 Vega/Monza/Sunfire/Other clones before I was 15 and driven the one GT wagon. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />

A Cosworth Vega is a lot like a stripped down Vega GT. None of them came with an automatic, power brakes, or air-conditioning. Supposedly they were the fastest cars, that Chevrolet put out in 75, and 76. That is including Corvettes, which were only $300 more than the Cosworth. The Cosworths were the first American cars to come with fuel injection, double overhead cams, and electronic ignition. GM didn't sell many of them, as you can understand. The cars are like slugs in city driving. They have very little torque, under 4000rpm. From 4000 to 7500rpm the cars come alive and will chirp the tires, when shifted. I almost sold mine, until I was shown how to drive it. Out of 3500 sold, mine is #3090. They are terrible little cars, but are fun to go fast in......Be cool.....Mike <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/oink.gif" alt="" />

I understand the same engine was offered in the Triumph TR7 and MGB in England. I have seen a few converted 60's MGB's with the Cosworth and Coventry Climax (1100cc) engines in Spridgets. Just think that when the mid-70's gas prices were escalating, these cars were in vogue because there were no other similar offerings in the States. Some chances that automotive companies take are not always popular, like the 401 Pacer X down the street, but they make for interesting talk later on.

Russell <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

Point taken. The quotation your picture brought to mind was, "I'm Rick James, b____!!" <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

'62 Bug- bought new by my uncle
'84 VW Rabbit Pickup truck
'88 Mazda 323
'88 Jeep Comanche pickup
'90 Dodge Dakota
'84 VW Rabbit GTI
'96 Ford F150
'85 VW Quantum wagon- "we're just gonna bolt an extra cylinder out there on the end for good measure"
'89 GMC Suburban
'95 Chevy CK 1500
'72 VW Super Beetle convertible- BAD, BAD, BAD idea!!!
'86 VW Golf GL
'92 VW Jetta GLI
'74 Jeep CJ5
'84 Montero-
'84 Toyota Pickup 2wd
'98 Dodge 3/4t cummins
'93 Dodge Intrepid
'07 Ford F150 SuperCrew

That doesn't include the two Conquests and two Monteros that I bought for parts

OK< here goes. Now ya'll remeber I'm older than dirt and will have to dig real deep on this one.

55 Ford 3/4 ton P/U
56 Cadillac limo
58 Plymouth
59 Olds 98
60 Pontiac Catalina
62 Dodge Dart
63 Chevy 1/2 ton P/U
65 Ford 1/2 ton P/U
65 Ford Galaxie 500
68 Firebird
65 VW Bug
65 Mercedes 190 Diesel
70 Toyota Corona
71 Chevy Impala S/W
78 Chevy Caprice Classic Estate Wagon
78 Chevy 3/4 ton P/U
82 GMC Suburban (6.2 Diesel)
82 Chevy K5 Blazer (6.2 Diesel)
78 Chevy 1/2 ton P/U (6.2 Diesel)
86 Mitsubishi Mirage Turbo
93 GMC Suburban
97 Mitsubishi 3000 GT
81 Toyota 1/2 ton P/U
97 Dodge Neon
2004 Dodge 3/4 ton P/U (Cummins Diesel/6spd.)
94 Montero LS
61 Norton Commando
78 Honda CB 360
75 Honda CR350 Scrambler
75 Honda Goldwing
and of course, 91 Montero LS

Those are the vehicles that I've actaully owned. The following list are the one's that Ive been personally responsible for.

58 Ford 1800 gallon tanker
63 Ford 2 1/2 ton fire dept. pumper.
65 Ford C-Cab Pumper
78 Ford C-cab Pumper
78 Chevy C-60 Medium Rescue Truck
86 Spartan/General Fire Pumper
92 Pierce Lance Pumper
99 Spartan/SuperVac heavy Rescue Truck
99 Spartan/General Pumper
94 Ford E-350 Type 1 Ambulance
99 Ford E-350 Type 1 Ambulance
2004 F-350 Type 3 Ambulance
2006 Chevy 3500 Type 3 Ambulance

I think that about covers as much as my memory allows (my brain hurts thinking about all of this.)
<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/patriot.gif" alt="" />

1970 Ford Torino 302ci V8
1968 Pontiac Firebird coupe 250ci OHC 6cyl
1968 Pontiac Firebird convertable 350ci V8
1989 Mitsubishi Montero 3.0l 6cyl
1989 Dodge Raider 3.0l 6cyl
1990 Mitsubishi Montero 3.0l 6cyl
1991 Mitsubishi Montero 3.0l 6cyl
1983 Mitsubishi Pickup 2.3l turbo diesel 4cyl
1995 Mitsubishi Montero 3.0l 6cyl