Did you ever drive a "clunker"?

[frankfrank]

it was totaled by a u-haul that lost control on the highway. Hit me head-on.

HOLY SMOKES! I don't remember you mentioning this. Head-on collisions NEVER end well. I'm glad you're here. You must have been injured and banged-up, I am guessing.

As far as work I've driven both clunkers (often referred to as Hoopties)

If somebody working on their hair and making it attractive, is getting a HAIRDO...then, if you wash the clunker and make it look really nice, does it get a HOOPTIE-DO?

 

[NotHardUp1]

Blah, blah, blah, . . . K-car . . . , blah, blah, blah.

I never thought of it before, but didn't the K-cars coincide with Detente or Glasnost or something?

Looking as the design, I'm pretty sure that there is some Kommunist work afoot there.

 

[Yooper]

I never thought of it before, but didn't the K-cars coincide with Detente or Glasnost or something?

Looking as the design, I'm pretty sure that there is some Kommunist work afoot there.

Not sure if there was anything with that, but they saved Chrysler from Bankruptcy the first time around.

Lee Iacocca pitched them personally on TV...'If you can find a better car, buy it!" By the late 80's, most everyone did.

 

[jbrown329]

First one, was my step-dad's and I started driving it after he died. 1959 Chevy Apache Fleetside.

This one is far better looking. The one I drove was a real rust bucket.

 

[EddMarkStarr]

My first year in college I needed a car. So I bought a 1971 Mercury Marquis Brougham for $600 from an old man as a temporary driver. Well kick me in the ass - that old Mercury took all the abuse a bunch of college men could dish out and that damned car ran like a champ for TEN years!

Example: (looks like a parade float, lol)

 

[peeonme]

My first year in college I needed a car. So I bought a 1971 Mercury Marquis Brougham for $600 from an old man as a temporary driver. Well kick me in the ass - that old Mercury took all the abuse a bunch of college men could dish out and that damned car ran like a champ for TEN years!

Example: (looks like a parade float, lol)

They don't make 'em like that anymore...

 

[jbrown329]

This was the 2nd car. '52 Chevy Bel Air. It too was a real rust bucket. Burned oil so bad that I could fog for mosquitoes. It was winter when someone pointed and laughed. I rolled down the window and said, "at least I'm warm". It was below 0 degrees fahrenheit.

Got it after the pickup dropped a pitman arm. 45mph and no steering. Buddy says 'you better turn soon son or you're buying a new Cadillac'. I whipped the steering wheel and it bounced from stop to stop. His eyes got real big. I slammed on the brakes and went off the road through someone's fence. Sheriff car right behind me. I got a ticket. Then had to pay for a tow truck. Plus, had to go fix a fence.

 

[NotHardUp1]

Why'd he give you the ticket if the car was out of order?

 

[NotHardUp1]

(looks like a parade float, lol)

More like an aircraft carrier.

What a beauty.

 

[EddMarkStarr]

This was the 2nd car. '52 Chevy Bel Air. It too was a real rust bucket. Burned oil so bad that I could fog for mosquitoes. It was winter when someone pointed and laughed. I rolled down the window and said, "at least I'm warm". It was below 0 degrees fahrenheit.

Amazing how I can still spot early 50's Chevys around Seattle, mostly during the summer, lol.

 

[Aron9000]

First car was a 2000 daewoo lanos, it was a clunker because the hood came up on the freeway and smashed the windshield.lol...forgot a zip tie.

This college town has Subaru outnumbering toyota 4 to 1 , if i still had one, but now own a scion which is ok too.

Hahaha, had that happen to my truck as well. Scary as hell, luckily it did that in the merge lane before I got going too fast. Still has the cracked windshield from that incident.

Here's a picture of when I first bought it. First job was to fix the hood. A 4Runner hood latch IS NOT the same as a truck hood latch, as I found out. Looks the same, but not the same.



Paid $600 for it 5 years ago. It belonged to my friend's mentally ill wife who in addition to driving it in the hedge, decided that sprucing it up with flat black house paint would look better than the factory shiny black paint. Still, it has zero rust, drives straight down the road and runs flawlessly. With the rate I drive it, I'll probably die before I wear it out, I've put 5-6k miles on in the past 5 years. You just can't kill the old Toyota trucks.

 

[Kyanimal]

I've driven MANY cars, from subcompacts to limousines.

The biggest "clunker" that I owned was likely my 1965 Mercury Monterey, with a cracked frame forward of the left back wheel, that would tend to move the car sideways, at times. To correct that, I'd shift into reverse, then continue forward.

This is what she looked like ...

​

That center panel of her back window could be electrically lowered.

I bought her for $100.

When I finally junked her, they towed her away, and gave me $50.

 

[Yooper]

When my Grandparents got the K Car in '88, they wanted to give me their old car. A 1975 Ford Custom 500. You could have landed a helicopter on the hood. Had I taken it, I was going to get one of those ocean liner horns for it.

Pic below is off the web, it's actually a wagon version and an LTD at that--they were basically the same except the Custom was cheaper. But it's a great shot of the GIANT hood.


(Click to enlarge as I don't want to overwhelm your screens...)

 

[peeonme]

The oldest car I ever owned, a 1947 Chevy, I did not pull my boat with it I just backed up to make it look as though I did for the shot.
I paid 1800. for the car back in '95, I sold it and the boat when the economy fell apart.

 

[EddMarkStarr]

View attachment 1136167

The oldest car I ever owned, a 1947 Chevy, I did not pull my boat with it I just backed up to make it look as though I did for the shot.
I paid 1800. for the car back in '95, I sold it and the boat when the economy fell apart.

Love those white walls!

 

[SaskGuy]

View attachment 1136167

The oldest car I ever owned, a 1947 Chevy, I did not pull my boat with it I just backed up to make it look as though I did for the shot.
I paid 1800. for the car back in '95, I sold it and the boat when the economy fell apart.

Someone in my old neighbourhood drove the same car (give or take a few model years) as their daily driver. It was a little bit rough around the edges, but still in presentable condition especially considering its age.
Someone else near my old neighbourhood drove a 1963 Pontiac Strato-Chief that was far from showroom condition, but it was still a really cool car. It's really cool seeing such old cars used as daily drivers. Most cars from back then were built to just run forever as long as you maintain them. I have a 1974 Ford LTD and although it's unrestored and has had a long, hard life, but I've kept it running very well just with keeping up with the general maintenance. It still needs body work but it's a good solid car that has never given me any major problems. It was my first car, and I'll probably continue to drive it for many years. Sure it gets 10 MPG, but it's also cheap to register/insure (In Saskatchewan, registration and insurance is lumped together in one single payment through SGI), almost every part I've needed for it (so far) has been inexpensive and easy to find, it's easy to do repairs yourself, and it was built to last a very long time.
If we didn't live in such a throwaway society, so many of these vintage cars would still be on the road, in great condition. Plus, it's also much better for the environment to keep existing cars running than to scrap them and build more. Just look at all the vintage cars that are still in use in Cuba. Sure, a number of them have been fitted with Soviet diesel engines (what a thing to put in an American car eh?), but they're so well built that they can easily last 50+ years with daily use.

 

[jbrown329]

My current ride. 2001 Ford Escort SE. Bought it used in 2004 with 25,000 original miles. Miles now sit at 56,000. Only major work was replacing motor mounts.