Cars you should have kept.

FLATHEAD · 2025-09-11T05:02:16-0600

All this talk about new cars and all the gizmos got me thinking of some of the old cars I had when I was young that I wish I still had. I had a bunch.
Probably the one I miss the most was a 1967 Buick Grand Sport 400 with factory 4 speed and one year only big crazy air filter. Valuable piece these days. Got it for 500$ back in 79. It needed a clutch and the hood put on. which I did within the day I bought it. Great running car.
Others of note
71 duster 340
65 Pontiac grand am
67 Ford grand Torino
72 Dodge Charger.
All bought cheap and were used hard, never babied my cars. Only if I knew, collectors cars these days

jlh3rd · 2025-09-11T05:56:44-0600

eh, shoulda kept my Monte Carlos, '72, '77' and '87 SS.

Lou C · 2025-09-11T06:18:09-0600

Not a collectible but wish I still had:
Fiberfab Dune Buggy built off a 1956 VW, with a 1200 cc 40 hp engine lol
1989 Toyota Corolla GTS sport coupe it had the same 1600 cc twin cam engine as the MR2. Fast and fun.

FLATHEAD · 2025-09-11T06:27:57-0600

Lou C said:
Not a collectible but wish I still had:
Fiberfab Dune Buggy built off a 1956 VW, with a 1200 cc 40 hp engine lol
1989 Toyota Corolla GTS sport coupe it had the same 1600 cc twin cam engine as the MR2. Fast and fun.

My buddy had a buggy he made out of a VW was nothing more than a drivetrain,frame rollbar and seats. Thing was a blast off road.

dingbat · 2025-09-11T06:48:37-0600

1974 Super Beatle Convertible

Lou C · 2025-09-11T07:15:14-0600

I’d love to build another. With what’s available today you can build a far superior Buggy!

cyclops222 · 2025-09-11T07:35:53-0600

1st Honda year they were sold in the USA.

Jeff J · 2025-09-11T07:49:14-0600

1969 Ford Bronco
1966 Jeep CJ5

tpenfield · 2025-09-11T08:03:00-0600

FLATHEAD said:
All this talk about new cars and all the gizmos got me thinking of some of the old cars I had when I was young that I wish I still had. . . .
67 Ford grand Torino
. . .

'Torino' wasn't a brand until 1968 . . . Was it a 67 Fairlane, or a later model year Torino? I think the Gran Torino was 1972-76.

My parents had a 1961 Ford Sunliner (that would be a nice collector car now)

Parents also had a 1966 Fairlane convertable . . . and a 1968 Plymouth Fury 2-door hardtop.

I had a 1985 Ford SHO . . . traded it in on an Explorer to tow the boat.
- Also had a 1989 Thunderbird Super Coupe (was awesome . . . not good in the winter though)

Lou C · 2025-09-11T08:24:24-0600

our family had a 1970 Ford Torino 2 door with the 302 and 3 spd auto
also a 1972 Chevy Impala with a 350 and 3 speed auto
next a 1975 Olds Delta 88 with the same powertrain but that one had a Quadrajet 4bbl
Last new car my parents had was a 1992 Ford Crown Victoria, looked like a police cruiser, people would move out of your way if you came up behind them on the highway....

aspeck · 2025-09-11T08:29:52-0600

'72 Catalina Convertible ... candy apple red with a white top and interior. Sold it to a guy who took it out west, fixed it up, and sold it in California.

'58 Vette. Sold to a friend who sold it to a guy who sold it to a guy who sold it to someone in Malaysia I believe. Got a letter and pictures from him wanting to know the cars history ... car was converted to right hand drive. pretty wild.

'72 Fiat Spyder Convertible. That was a fun car in high school, but got rid of it after messing up my knee in football and couldn't get in or out easily and certainly could not work the clutch.

'29 Oakland. Didn't have the time or money to fix it up at the time and sold it to a guy who would do just that. Wish I had that one back.

'40 Pontiac Sedan. My mother, who was in the beginning stages of dementia, gave my car to my nephew. I didn't have the heart to take it back from him and signed over the title.

bigblocksarefun · 2025-09-11T08:48:13-0600

My '72 Road Runner that I put together on a shoestring budget and daily drove until the engine caught fire. I put it in storage, then went into the service shortly thereafter. I absolutely wanted to save it but had I brought it with me, hurricane katrina would've claimed it just like it did my '74 Monaco (the other car I wish I could've kept).

In a total shocker I found the original (stained by flood waters) bill of sale the guy wrote when I bought it off him:

Sprig · 2025-09-11T09:24:52-0600

65 Mustang
73 Mustang
80 xke jaguar
87 Corvette
67 Nova SS (built it into a muscle car putting out approx 500 hp)

FLATHEAD · 2025-09-11T09:42:23-0600

tpenfield said:
'Torino' wasn't a brand until 1968 . . . Was it a 67 Fairlane, or a later model year Torino? I think the Gran Torino was 1972-76.

My parents had a 1961 Ford Sunliner (that would be a nice collector car now)

Parents also had a 1966 Fairlane convertable . . . and a 1968 Plymouth Fury 2-door hardtop.

I had a 1985 Ford SHO . . . traded it in on an Explorer to tow the boat.
- Also had a 1989 Thunderbird Super Coupe (was awesome . . . not good in the winter though)

I stand corrected, it was a 68 Torino GT. My memory isn’t what it used to be

Wasn’t real fond of that car. Had a 302 and was kind of a dog. My Dad was a big ford guy he found the car for sale and talked me into buying it.. didn’t have that one long.

kd4pbs · 2025-09-11T09:43:54-0600

Just about all of 'em...
'72 240Z (I've had two of them - worth a small fortune nowadays!)
'72 Firebird
'72 Vega (350 V8)
'79 Trans Am
'84 Corvette
And some that were just plain awesome and useful, but not necessarily special...
'85 Caravan
'85 Daytona Turbo
'87 LeBaron Turbo convertible
And the #1 vehicle I wish I had back...
1978 Volkswagen Rabbit Diesel 4 speed. Dad bought it brand new. I learned how to drive and took my drivers' license test in it. It got 40 MPG and had all of 44 horsepower on a good day. If the EMP goes off, it would gladly start and run on just about any kind of oil you could feed it. And it would go anywhere that didn't make it bottom out.

Captain Caveman · 2025-09-11T09:56:02-0600

My 1983 Mustang - 112hp stock....oooh she was a beauty. Just kidding, it was a turd.

I'm not as old as the rest of you, but my favorite vehicle of all time was a 1985 F150 with the straight-six manual transmission. It was the most comfortable bench seat. I could have driven for a week straight 24hrs/day without my back hurting.

It threw a rod on a drive back from a snowmobiling trip. I hauled it back to town and began working on it, then life got in the way and I donated it. Worst decision of my vehicle life.

WIMUSKY · 2025-09-11T11:00:15-0600

bigblocksarefun said:
My '72 Road Runner that I put together on a shoestring budget and daily drove until the engine caught fire. I put it in storage, then went into the service shortly thereafter. I absolutely wanted to save it but had I brought it with me, hurricane katrina would've claimed it just like it did my '74 Monaco (the other car I wish I could've kept).
View attachment 411495 View attachment 411496

In a total shocker I found the original (stained by flood waters) bill of sale the guy wrote when I bought it off him:
View attachment 411498

I'm in the minority, but I've really liked that body style of a Road Runner.

'70 Chevy Truck - Was grandpa's, grandma sold it to me for $500 after he passed.
'76 Grand Torino
'72 Lemans - Black over charcoal Grey w/red pinstripe
'84 Cutless Ciara - Seats were like sitting in a lazy boy, 2 door
'89 Firebird - Called it a poor man's vette
'78 GTO - Family was not happy when I sold it. Would like a '66
Dream vehicle - Vette, ever since I saw my first one when I was in grade school. Really like the early C3s, but currently ecstatic about the C7s. Now to get the wife onboard who isn't into motorsports.

Art? '58? I'm jelly...... Favorite C1

garbageguy · 2025-09-11T12:43:29-0600

FLATHEAD said:
... some of the old cars I had when I was young that I wish I still had. I had a bunch.
Probably the one I miss the most was a 1967 Buick Grand Sport 400 with factory 4 speed...

Wanted one of those - had a 1970 Buick Skylark, really liked that car, and you could work on it, knew a little, learned a lot

Cars you should have kept.

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