The Car Thread

[ZenSojourner]

My dream car has always been the Porsche 911. For me, it has everything -- good lucks, fantastic handling, a bit of oomph, and some quirkiness (air cooled rear engine, anyone? )

Oh yeah, I had one of those in college. It was in a '69 VW Fastback.

I loved that car. It was my first car that RAN. We'll ignore the Mercury Comet that never ran, bought on the advice of a bf who of course never fixed it.

And I learned my lesson. I learned to fix things on that car MYSELF.

Ah, the happy memories, me on my back, scrunched up under the car with a half a hacksaw blade, sawing the hose clamps off the fuel lines so I could replace them . . . me on my back, scrunched up under the car with a socket wrench, removing the oil screen so I could change the oil . . . me on my back, scrunched up . . . well, you get the picture.

You know, I haven't owned a car since that I could get under without having it on a lift.

I bought a book, "How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive". It was spiral bound, in black and white, and it told you EVERYTHING about your VW, up to and including step by step instructions for how to tear down and rebuild the engine. I was chasing the Snap-On man around town, looking for that one elusive specialty tool I needed that nobody else sold (it was some kind of specialty torque wrench) so I could accomplish the engine rebuild, when I opened the trunk one day (which was on the FRONT of the car) and found myself looking at the tire, and I don't mean the spare.

Turns out the only reason the car had held together as long as it had was because the extra heavy duty trunk liner was holding the chunks of rust together.

I loved that car. The owner's manual was in German. It had been bought by a service man or woman IN GERMANY and then shipped back stateside, in fact I found an old driver's license (long expired) when cleaning the car out one day with a picture of a pretty young black woman in uniform. The first thing I found after I bought the car was an ashtray full of illegal drugs - apparently one of the mechanics at the dealership where I bought it had thought it was a safe place to hide his stash. I was about to throw it all out when my older brother offered to do it for me. Well, I'm sure he disposed of them SOME way (I was young and naive and it never occurred to me what he intended or I'd have flushed them myself, but I was honestly afraid to touch them).

That car had a NAME. Oh, I've named cars on occasion since - the Tetanusmobile, the TestosteroneMobile - but not like this. This car had a PERSONAL name.

Lola. Because "whatever Lola wants, Lola gets".

I remember rejoicing when the odometer turned over 100k miles. I remember long drives in the winter - well they SEEMED like long drives - with me wrapped in 2 quilts, bundled up in a heavy parka and mittens, ice scraper in one hand and the window open because the air cooled engine didn't work up enough heat to defrost either the window OR the driver. So I would alternate scraping off the ice forming on the inside of the windshield with scraping off the ice forming on the OUTSIDE of the window. A running joke among my friends was me getting a speeding ticket in winter: "But officer, I'm telling the truth - I HAD to go 60 in that 35 mph zone because the heater won't work if I don't!" The only warm spot in the car in winter was the rear seat, right over the heat exchangers.

I was pissed because JC Whitney cashed the check I sent them for parts AFTER they had gone into bankruptcy (this was 'way back before the internet would warn you about things like that). They were my prime source for parts, I was waiting for some stuff that was supposed to turbo-charge my heat exchangers.

I once snapped off a stud when replacing the oil screen after an oil change and gave myself a huge goose-egg on my forehead, the morning of a family Xmas get together. Boy did my older sister pi ss and moan about how I ruined the family pictures (and that gives you some idea of HER personality, that all she cared about was "ruined" pictures, not that I might have given myself a concussion).

Oh Lola, Lola, Lola! Fond remembrances! It's a lost and lorn woman I am these 29 years since your passing. There'll always be that Lola-shaped hole in my heart where you rested easy while you were with me! Wherever you've gone must be car heaven, for in what universe could justice and mercy exist were it otherwise? You were my chariot of fire, who carried me forth boldly and brought me home safely. You saw me through lean times when selling my plasma for grocery money was the only way to keep from starving. It was in you I learned to drive, and to love driving stick. You were a forgiving teacher and easy on the pocketbook back when gas prices lurched from 35c to over FIFTY CENTS A GALLON (29 mpg, thank the lord!)

Wherever you are, may God hold you in the palm of his hand, but never clench his fist too tight!

[Mr. Bloom]

And I learned my lesson. I learned to fix things on that car MYSELF.

Good for you ZenSo!

So, in 1986, Silver and a couple of women from work took AUTO MECHANICS

Although she bought all the stuff to change her own oil, she only did that once (and I think I just saw the filter wrench in the garage...20 years later)

But, where it served us well was when we bought a 1987 Mazda 626. It totally disarmed the saleman that:

• While Mr. Silver is sitting in the front seat playing with the stereo,
• Silver is under the hood talking with him about "rack and pinion" this and "fuel injected" that

I realized that we were on to something, so we decided (over HER objections) that SHE needed to negotiate the price!

Well, we knew this was good when she laid out a price...and the salesman said "SHOULDN'T I BE TALKING WITH YOUR HUSBAND?" and she said "Nope, this is the deal..."

To this day, I'm absolutely convinced that we got the car for less than invoice (because she got twice as much on our trade as it was worth...)

But, that was a different day...

[reddDesign]

Mazda 626 Was it the older two door one?

I have a soft spot for Mazdas...clearly...

Oh and Zen...my car's name is Macy

[mayanorange]

I too had to buy my first car- my 78 Scirocco cost $380 and I spent a year and a half bringing her back to life (replacing shocks, spring, brakes....). Then he died about 2 weeks into being on the road- apparently there was more rust under there than we realized. I was on my way to take my SATs and hit a larger bump and there was this weird rubbing noise- turns out the only thing hold the left rear wheel onto the car anymore was the wheelwell. Poor Hobbes.

Then I found my little red 1987 16V. She was called the Millenium Falcon because she had electrical issues and didn't reliably start. Just like Han trying to kick in the hyperdrive! 16V was only made for 5 yrs and was rather rare, so parts got expensive and she started hitting the wall after 130k miles.

Then I found a 1985 silver 8V in really good shape. She was named Spoons and had hardly a problem. Had to sell her when I needed a bigger car to move to CA.

Maybe someday I'll get another 16V and get into SCCA racing like my bro... As much as I'm excited to see the 2009, I need more than 2 doors these days.

[Mr. Bloom]

Mazda 626 Was it the older two door one?

Mazda 626 was a 4 door, then I got a Millennia that I absolutely loved (until a teenager rear ended me and totalled it!)

Best Car I Ever Owned: 1985 VW Jetta - Tight handling and 40mpg!

Worst Car I Ever Owned: 1979 Camaro - Fast, but Poor Quality and 8mpg!

I used to really care about cars. Notwithstanding the Benz, now they're just a necessary evil. I even don't sweat my bike rack scratching the paint on my Lexus!

I drove a 1984 Volkswagon Thing.

I used to love their commercials!

[msincredible]

I have an '07 328i which has become my husband's daily commuter, he has a '62 Ford Falcon which needs some work. I get to drive my car about once a week.

My daily commuter is my Ducati. We live in the twisties so really appreciate having vehicles that handle well.