I'm stuck in the 80s...automotively

The Captain · Dec 28, 2009

davestlouis said:
I had forgotten about that dual speedo needle...80s indeed. Good grief, you've barely broken it in.

Dave, I retired shortly after the car was purchased, so my wife and I usually use our '72 Chevrolet 1/2 ton pickup. That is why the milage is so low.

The Captain · Dec 28, 2009

JayHey Captain said:
No, Jay, just a plain am/fm radio. The car was purchased for my wife and she doesn't like the distraction of a radio playing. It was only added because I DO! The antenna retracting into the fender is so cool!

Diamondback · Dec 30, 2009

Jay said:
You seem to know a lot about these cars, Diamondback! It's an '87 T/A with the spoiler removed. It started to fall apart about 4 years ago and is now sitting in my garage. I'm not sure but I think my rates are okay. Maybe it being registered as a hatchback has something to do with it?

Jay, I'm a member of several KITT/KARR-replica-builder websites, it comes with the territory. Around five to seven years ago I was talking to my mother's insurance agent about Firebirds, and I was told even with being in midtwenties and a good-student discount "base you might be OK, SE/Formula/Turbo/TA bend over and get ready to be raped." So, my two builds are going to be on base-models--one refitted to T/A specs to become KITT, the other tweaked to fit the unique requirements of a "reinKARRnation"--basically, premise being KARR's "brain" slightly reprogrammed and stuffed into a new Firebird body.

Geesie · Dec 30, 2009

My car:

1984 Buick Regal. I feel more relaxed when I drive it because I know that no matter how much of a hurry I'm in, I can't go any faster anyway!

davestlouis · Dec 31, 2009

wow Geesie, smurf blue! Cool car too.

davestlouis · Dec 31, 2009

I just read through the keychain thread, and was struck by something...older vehicles have keys that are SO much easier to carry on a keyring or keychain...the huge keys with built-in fobs and remote starters and whatnot are too big to carry around. I have 5 simple metal keys on my keyring, and they are not the least bit bulky.

Geesie · Dec 31, 2009

davestlouis said:
wow Geesie, smurf blue! Cool car too.

Or more to the point, "low-price cover the rust Maaco blue"

airgrabber666 · Dec 31, 2009

I also am a big fan of '80s cars, especially GM G-bodies (Cutlass, Regal, Grand Prix, El Camino, Monte Carlo and others) and the aforementioned F-bodies (Camaro and Firebird). At one point, I had three at once...a T-top '85 Grand Prix LE with blue buckets/console and 90k miles, a sweet-running '78 El Camino Royal Knight with a 267 V8, and a white/gold stripe T-top '88 Monte Carlo SS with saddle buckets/console interior.

Only the '88 Monte SS remains...all original except for a steel Goodmark GM Restoration cowl hood:

davestlouis · Jan 1, 2010

Very nice airgrabber.

Geesie, I went a step lower than MAACO once...I had a 69 VW Beetle that desperately needed a quick pick-me-up...I spent something like $59 at Earl Scheib around 1984 or '85. I chose a nice medium metallic blue, and it turned out pretty well, with 2 exceptions:
1. it had "zebra stripes" on the roof where they didn't apply the paint evenly.
2. it was some sort of slow-drying enamel, and was still soft to the touch that evening when I tried to put the wiper arms back on, and my leg hair stuck to the fresh paint on the fender.

I think if I had stuck to a solid color like white or black it would have really looked pretty good.

davestlouis · Jan 1, 2010

In terms of absolute performance, cars from the 80s are pretty tame compared to new cars...for crying out loud, a V6 Honda Accord has 260HP. I just can't warm up to the way new cars look and feel, and the complexity scares me off. The other issue I have is that I'm thrifty, and when I can buy a good, working car for $500, insure it for $500 a year, and work on it myself, my cost-per-mile is minimal. I talk to friends who have multiple car loans totaling over $1000 a month, plus hefty insurance premiums, and it makes me feel evern better about my trusty old beaters.

I've been trolling the local craigslist this morning, looking for good candidates...there were 2 Dodge Diplomats on there in the last 3 days..talk about a dependable, cheap car. They sold already.

vitanola · Jan 1, 2010

I took my driving test in 1977. In a T model.

I never cared for the cars of my youth, even when they were new.

It is nice to see that these cars are still loved by some.

Professor · Jan 1, 2010

MrNewportCustom said:
Every time I buy tires for my '67 Chrysler, they ask me if I want the white walls showing: I've never had to ask for them. Regular tire stores.

Lee

When it comes time for tires, first I have to order whitewalls, then when they arrive I have to tell the fellow installing them to place the whitewalls on the outside! That's why I ordered them, dummy.

Professor · Jan 1, 2010

Contrary to popular belief, I find American cars from the Eighties to be some of the most reliable and economical cars ever produced. They weren't terribly exciting, and not as well built as my '66 Buick for example, but they got decent mileage and had tasteful if uninspired styling.

Ah, my '87 Buick Somerset...too small for me, but with a 181 cubic-inch over-square V6 it had plenty of oomph and rode like a larger sedan. In spite of a few flaws, overall this car was good to me. I bought it in Arcadia for $1,700 and probably didn't spend more than that on repairs during my three and a half years ownership. I only sold it to buy a Cadillac (big mistake). When sold, it showed 180,000 miles, of which 40,000 were mine, and it ran better than ever!

Okay, this Oldsmobile Eighty Eight is technically a '95 model, but it's essentially an '86 with modification over the years. This was GM's last hurrah before the ghastly models of the late Nineties. By this time, the Buick-built 231 cubic-inch V6 was putting out 205 horsepower and 230 pounds of torque while still getting mileage in the mid twenties. Tipping the scale at 3,439 pounds, it's not a hot rod, but has what it takes to move. Truly the best overall car I've owned, it is my daily driver till the foreseeable future. My only major complaint is the seating position being too low, but that's been an issue with cars since after WWII, when "lower, longer, wider" became the mantra.

MrNewportCustom · Jan 2, 2010

Professor said:
When it comes time for tires, first I have to order whitewalls, then when they arrive I have to tell the fellow installing them to place the whitewalls on the outside! That's why I ordered them, dummy.

I don't see why so many of us are having problems getting white walls.

Dave, it's always the opposite for me. Certainly for my '85 Nissan P.O.S. With that car, they always have white walls in stock and I have to tell them to put them on the inside. With the Chrysler, as I've said, the stores have them in stock (or can get them within an hour) and I tell them I want to see white. No problem.

Lee

MrNewportCustom · Jan 2, 2010

Professor said:
. . . had tasteful if uninspired styling.

lol lol lol

I couldn't have said it better! lol

Lee

Tango Yankee · Jan 2, 2010

My first new car was an '84 Pontiac Fiasco, er, I mean, Fiero. I liked it, except for the many mechanical problems I had with it. :eusa_doh: I can't find any scanned photos of it, so here's a photo of my other '80s transportation: a 1988 BMW K75S.

Here it is new, with a custom seat just added:

And me with it in '92.

I still have it... in spirit, anyway. Long story.

If I can find photos of the Fiero I'll scan them in later.

Cheers,
Tom

Diamondback · Jan 2, 2010

davestlouis said:
I just read through the keychain thread, and was struck by something...older vehicles have keys that are SO much easier to carry on a keyring or keychain...the huge keys with built-in fobs and remote starters and whatnot are too big to carry around. I have 5 simple metal keys on my keyring, and they are not the least bit bulky.

Which is why my Firebirds will have RFID-triggered remote-starters and fingerprint-reader door locks. Dispense with both key and fob completely... would you wanna steal a car with a quite-possibly-deranged Artificial Intelligence driving?

Professor · Jan 2, 2010

Tango Yankee said:
My first new car was an '84 Pontiac Fiasco, er, I mean, Fiero.

Best line ever! lol

Diamondback · Jan 2, 2010

davestlouis said:
In terms of absolute performance, cars from the 80s are pretty tame compared to new cars...for crying out loud, a V6 Honda Accord has 260HP. I just can't warm up to the way new cars look and feel, and the complexity scares me off.

Meant to address this also in my prior post, but the "tame" thing paired with new perspectives on fuel-economy are why I plan to totally gut 'em and build all new drivetrains: continuously-variable transmissions, electromagnetically-actuated pistons with no cams/camshaft, high-temperature ceramic engine-block and fuel-injection, all computer-controlled, should enable me to have greatest performance or economy for any given situation, all adjusted in realtime. (Stay in first all the way up to 65-70, then drop straight into overdrive should help with getting up to speed on the Interstates...) And the complexity's why I'd have a high-powered computer "riding shotgun", at least until the AI software is ready.

dhermann1 · Jan 2, 2010

For a mere $150 to $200K?
(How ya doin' DB? Long time no talk.)

I'm stuck in the 80s...automotively

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