dvcochran
Grandmaster
Love my old 7.3 Powerstroke. I do get some looks as I have been very rough on the bed.
New car shopping: compact, premium, fun-to-drive, $30k
- Thread starter Mitlov
- Start date
I had a '92 F350 dually with mecanical fuel injection(pre-powerstroke 7.3). At 370k miles I moved and sold it. Nothing major ever broke. Did replace batteties, radiator and the starter in the decade I had. No other problems.
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dvcochran
Grandmaster
My 99' 7.3 PS is at 320k and still going strong.
Steve
Mostly Harmless
I had a 1969 datsun pickup truck with squishy brakes and a finicky clutch. It had over 250,000 miles on it when I bought it, and I could never keep the points from closing up to keep the timing right. Still cooler than a ford. Lol.
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Steve
Mostly Harmless
Just a joke. I liked that little truck. Learned to drive on it, but it was a deathtrap.
I always wanted one way back then. Never had one. Now they go for big money in good shape.
After riding motorcycles for 45 years, I think everything is a death trap, so I became an expert at defensive driving....and never got hurt.
- Thread Starter
- #28
That's awesome! Nice car.
Personally, I have no time, interest, or ability to rebuild a 30-year-old car in my driveway, nor do I want to drive my kids around in a car with 30-year-old safety standards. So a different situation.
dvcochran
Grandmaster
I had a 1980, the last year they used the Datsun name. Good little truck.
Steve
Mostly Harmless
IIRC, that one I had used a hydraulic clutch. Not only were the brakes squishy as heck, I remember one time, while downshifting off the freeway, having to pump the clutch pedal several times to get it to engage the clutch. That thing... learning to drive on wreck prepared me for the military.
I drove that for about a year and then bought a 1977 Ford Mustang... 2. That's right. The good mustang!
And then I discovered air cooled VWs.
I second this. I'm a fan of the Focus, and this model would put a real smile on your face.
In the US, 100 people die every day. 3/4s of them are cars less than 6 years old. It's not really what you drive, but how you pay attention. I road motorcycles for 45 years...and didn't get hurt...I paid a lot of attention.
Admittedly, more difficult to pay attention with kids in the car.
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dvcochran
Grandmaster
I drove mine for a couple of years then bought my first Jeep CJ-5. I have had 8 since and two CJ-7's. Good times.IIRC, that one I had used a hydraulic clutch. Not only were the brakes squishy as heck, I remember one time, while downshifting off the freeway, having to pump the clutch pedal several times to get it to engage the clutch. That thing... learning to drive on wreck prepared me for the military.
I drove that for about a year and then bought a 1977 Ford Mustang... 2. That's right. The good mustang!
And then I discovered air cooled VWs.
I don't remember having any trouble with the truck that was not self induced. There were 5 people crammed in it one night and we launched the truck at a RR crossing. Did quite a bit of damage to the steering and front suspension.
Steve
Mostly Harmless
I had a blue car once. When I was in Germany, I had an Opel Ascona that was like 4 different colors, just from replacement fenders and dent repair and such. We had a bunch of "inert blue" paint that was expired and going to be thrown away, so we painted my car inert blue. Looked pretty good after we were done. The color was pretty much this:
When we were done, it looked like this, but not as shiny, and with crappier wheels. But I drove that car all over northern Europe and it never left me stranded.
I had a blue car once. When I was in Germany, I had an Opel Ascona that was like 4 different colors, just from replacement fenders and dent repair and such. We had a bunch of "inert blue" paint that was expired and going to be thrown away, so we painted my car inert blue. Looked pretty good after we were done. The color was pretty much this:
View attachment 23142
When we were done, it looked like this, but not as shiny, and with crappier wheels. But I drove that car all over northern Europe and it never left me stranded.
That’s a great shade. Bitchin’ looking car, too.
Opels were great cars. When I was 15 my mom traded her '70 Baracuda (383) for a '69 Kadet and a '63 Karman Ghia, which was mine...had two more of those later.
Steve
Mostly Harmless
We drove that car into east germany through Dresden, Leipzig, and up to Berlin in 1990. Was the first western car a lot of folks had seen along the road. In retrospect, that was pretty dumb and we should have rented a German car, but we were dumb.
I was barely 20 years old. Funny story, we pulled into Dresden. Late at night, got out and were caught up in a huge candlelight vigil. I asked a guy what it was for and he said it was for Lenin. Needless to say, we gtf outta there and drove through the night into Berlin. Last thing we wanted was to be around communists during the cold war.
About 20 years later, I was talking to a friend who currently lives in Munich but is from Dresden, and she was talking about a vigil for John Lennon, the beatle. Yeah, it was the same one. Who would have thought a bunch of east germany, a year after the wall came down , were remembering john lennon.
Steve
Mostly Harmless
I had a 74 karmann ghia that I loved. Interestingly, it was also blue. Last year they were made.
I had the '63, then bought myself a '68 and a '59 in that order....later, two busses and two beetles. All air-cooled. That's how I learned to work on cars. Start simple.
Gave them up at 45. No more cars without AC.
