Cars You Guys Are Into

I understand the love for fancy cars. It’s like your “brand” when you’re outside. When young, it increases your chances of getting laid and as an adult, your status. Obviously you want a ride you can enjoy so there are more factors into account.

I don’t drive much since I’m always traveling but if I did, I would buy a Porsche 911. What other car can you compare every model starting from +50 years and still recognize the model? Porsche is known to have the best performance (they have a race track in Germany where they keep score), a small and reliable engine.

That’s a car I want. A car I need is a Toyota Camry or Honda Accord. Has to be with leather seats. A reliable car that will take you from A to B comfortably. They sell a lot of those so it’s easy to find parts and a mechanic who can fix it if necessary.
 
Joost said:
I understand the love for fancy cars. It’s like your “brand” when you’re outside. When young, it increases your chances of getting laid and as an adult, your status. Obviously you want a ride you can enjoy so there are more factors into account.

I don’t drive much since I’m always traveling but if I did, I would buy a Porsche 911. What other car can you compare every model starting from +50 years and still recognize the model? Porsche is known to have the best performance (they have a race track in Germany where they keep score), a small and reliable engine.

That’s a car I want. A car I need is a Toyota Camry or Honda Accord. Has to be with leather seats. A reliable car that will take you from A to B comfortably. They sell a lot of those so it’s easy to find parts and a mechanic who can fix it if necessary.
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I truly hope you get the chance to own that Porsche 911 one day. I'm genuinely into cars have been since I was a kid, I still to this day get goosebumps when something wicked rolls my way. I have owned over 50+ cars, motorcycles, and boats and flipped all the cars for profit except 1 (I blew the engine in a Type-R Integra and had to rebuild it and obviously didn't get my money back). I was a natural salesman and I think that actually transferred over to women back in the day when I was running game. I mostly had 90's model Japanese cars all riced out and boosted. That was my scene. Aside from a Dodge Magnum I won at a drug repossession auction from the local crack dealer all my cars where Japanese. As Joost touched on Toyota and Honda make some of the best cars... super reliable and cheaper to work on when something does go awry.


I built this the las time I was in the USA.
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Now that I am back I got this thirsty girl. Miles per gallon are not so hot but the smiles per gallon make it all worth it.

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Kiwi said:
BMW e30 is my biggest regret selling. Should never have sold that. I love BMW. Definitely my favourite.

I've owned at least 20+ vehicles in my life, mostly European. Though had some incredible Toyota Corollas - always recommend that brand to everyone. So reliable. Such great engineering. You can't argue against Toyota.

I always fixed my cars, drove them, fell in love.... and then sold them.
Next biggest regret was a VW Mk 1 Golf, I purchased for $500... then fixed the rust.
Always too young to understand what I had.

Youth is wasted on the young but plenty of great memories in those cars.
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I had one of these for a stretch when I lived in Australia. Such a fun car to drive, even with just a few little mods. Also reliable as Corollas tend to be. I almost shipped it back to Canada with me, but at the time it didn't seem worth the cost compared to a V8 Holden Ute (which was what I was looking to bring back).
 
Kiwi said:
BMW e30 is my biggest regret selling. Should never have sold that. I love BMW. Definitely my favourite.

I've owned at least 20+ vehicles in my life, mostly European. Though had some incredible Toyota Corollas - always recommend that brand to everyone. So reliable. Such great engineering. You can't argue against Toyota.

I always fixed my cars, drove them, fell in love.... and then sold them.
Next biggest regret was a VW Mk 1 Golf, I purchased for $500... then fixed the rust.
Always too young to understand what I had.

Youth is wasted on the young but plenty of great memories in those cars.
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I went on an E30 kick in my early 20s, plus an E36 and a couple of Peugeots.

Bought my first E30 for 500€ when I was living in Germany. It was a low mileage 318i. That really set the hook in me for euro cars. I took that thing all around the continent and it never let me down. I remember taking it on the Autobahn and bringing it up to its max speed, probably took about two minutes to reach max with that little motor.

I later bought a 1994 Peugeot 306 XSi hatch. It was a goofy little car with a fun to rev motor. I never could get the climate control to work in that one and it made for a harsh winter. Kept burning up blower motors.

Once I got back stateside I bought a beautiful bright red E30 325is that I loved. I picked up an E36 M3 a few years later and sadly let the E30 go. The M3 was super cool, but didn't have the same spirit of the E30.

Shortly after letting the E30 go and the M3 having too many problems I picked up a Peugeot 405 Mi16. Another good looking and fun car, but it came with a lot of problems too. It would randomly die in motion and refuse to start, sometimes for five minutes, sometimes for five hours.

The day I bought it it died on the freeway about two hours from home in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere. I coasted it off an offramp and into the parking lot of a closed gas station. I had no cell service but I flashed my lights at a passing car which turned out to be a county sheriff. He busted my balls a little bit over the silly broke down french car and gave me a ride to a motel. Came back in the morning and the car fired right up and got me home.

I never could figure out the problem with it. It would be fine for days or weeks and just when I was getting comfortable and thinking I'd finally repaired it it would let me down again. Ended up selling it to a collector who drove up from California and trailered it away.

That was the end of my goofball euro car days. Been driving comparatively dull US and jap cars ever since.
 
My search for 'interesting' cars has not really panned out very well.

1. Used cars are crazy expensive here in Switzerland. I understand it's like that in the rest of the world also. I actually had budget to buy something relatively new cash but I decided not to because:

2. I had a choice between two fairly reliable (apparently) Kia Sorrentos with more or less the same mileage. It's basically a big 4wd box. There was a 2010 which was fairly low tech, nice, high up, leathery place to be and reminded me of an old range rover. Then I drove the updated 2014/5 model which was utterly full of electronic gadgets. In the end, I've gone with the old one specifically because it has less tech in it and I get to keep the 5000chf difference and put it in the bank or invest it/buy gold/bitcoin etc
It gets cold here and electronic stuff has a habit of going wrong at - 17c. Plus I constantly have skis leaning against it and it will get ruined anyway.

I seek a less digital experice these days it seems. I can replace more or less all of the digital tech in the newer car by fitting the older car with a Bluetooth aux connector.
 
Many years after I started the low-tech cars thread on RVF, I finally got one.

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1996 Oldsmobile wagon. Less than 35,000 miles. All original. A delightful analog driving experience, and extremely comfortable and practical. Easily my favorite car I’ve owned.
 
Hermetic Seal said:
Many years after I started the low-tech cars thread on RVF, I finally got one.

View attachment 8681

1996 Oldsmobile wagon. Less than 35,000 miles. All original. A delightful analog driving experience, and extremely comfortable and practical. Easily my favorite car I’ve owned.
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That looks to be in unusually pristine condition for a mid-priced car that's almost 30 years old. Was it previously owned by an elderly couple that also had another car they used more often?
 
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First couple of owners were old ladies who barely drove it, hence the low mileage.

Grandpa cars from the late 80s to early 2000s are often excellent cars with a nice quality-price ratio. Oldsmobile/Buick/Mercury tend to be very comfortable, well made, and reliable, even with high mileage. Anything built on Ford’s Panther platform, or with a Buick 3800 engine, is likely to be good. Especially if you’re like me and care more for a comfortable and pleasant ride than sportiness.
 
Hermetic Seal said:
First couple of owners were old ladies who barely drove it, hence the low mileage.

Grandpa cars from the late 80s to early 2000s are often excellent cars with a nice quality-price ratio. Oldsmobile/Buick/Mercury tend to be very comfortable, well made, and reliable, even with high mileage. Anything built on Ford’s Panther platform, or with a Buick 3800 engine, is likely to be good. Especially if you’re like me and care more for a comfortable and pleasant ride than sportiness.
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There are two old fellas I see once in a while on the road to work. One drives a stock 67 Charger and the other a 74 Civic. Both are nearly mint, especially the Civic. The Charger looks tired, but probably just for lack of energy on the part of its 80yo owner. The Civic though is bright and obviously a token of pride by the senior Asian gentleman driving it.

Good find on the Olds. Those are some of the most reliable drivetrains on the road if I recall.
 
Hermetic Seal said:
Many years after I started the low-tech cars thread on RVF, I finally got one.

View attachment 8681

1996 Oldsmobile wagon. Less than 35,000 miles. All original. A delightful analog driving experience, and extremely comfortable and practical. Easily my favorite car I’ve owned.
Click to expand...
Great find. The last year they made those afaik. Gotta love a nice spacious wagon with a low beltline and good visibility. It's rare to see any GM car from that era still on the road. In nice shape they certainly stand out.

Might consider doing some pre-emptive maintenance. A car that age with that low of mileage spent a lot of time sitting. Rubber dries out. I'd replace the fuel pump, rubber fuel lines, any leaking seals, rubber brake lines, things like that.
 
Yep, the seller had all the fluids checked and replaced, and I had the car inspected by my mechanic after I got it, so it’s in good condition for now.

The alternator was replaced a few years ago and I’m not sure about hoses/rubber parts, but it all seems to be in good shape for now, I suspect most of those parts had been replaced by the owner before the guy I bought from.
 
Cooper said:
Pretty funny car collection, although the Saab didn't look that bad:
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The narrator has quite a way with words. The slams on the various cars are extremely severe, and often he hammers a given car with 4-5 intense slams in a row!

That being said, I liked a lot of these cars, starting with the AMC Gremlin. I liked them when they were new, and they still look fine to me. I don't see what the problem is.
 
Hermetic Seal said:
Many years after I started the low-tech cars thread on RVF, I finally got one.

View attachment 8681

1996 Oldsmobile wagon. Less than 35,000 miles. All original. A delightful analog driving experience, and extremely comfortable and practical. Easily my favorite car I’ve owned.
Click to expand...

Love it.

A perfect example why I love threads like this. I have never seen anything like this in my part of the world and hearing about it - especially as a favourite - is so interesting.
 
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