Cars You Guys Are Into

[The Penitent Man]

I have a 90’s/early 2000’s nostalgia. Cars that were still pretty fast for normal people, had manual transmissions, and none of the increasingly invasive electronic clutter and interference.

- C5 Corvette Z06
- 996 Porsche Turbo (Carreras with the aero kit are also nice, like a poor man’s GT3)
- E36 (even the lame US version) and E46 BMW M3
- Mitsubishi 3000 GT VR-4 (there are certainly better Jap cars from this era but I’m kind of partial to this one)
- Porsche 944 S2 (cooler than the 951 - never seen one of these in person)
- C4 Corvette (LT1/4/5)
- Gen 1/2 Vipers

I don’t own any of these but at some point I’d imagine some will be collectible and going up in value. Regardless, would be fun to drive and tinker around with.

 

[Callixtus]

I have a 90’s/early 2000’s nostalgia. Cars that were still pretty fast for normal people, had manual transmissions, and none of the increasingly invasive electronic clutter and interference.

- C5 Corvette Z06
- 996 Porsche Turbo (Carreras with the aero kit are also nice, like a poor man’s GT3)
- E36 (even the lame US version) and E46 BMW M3
- Mitsubishi 3000 GT VR-4 (there are certainly better Jap cars from this era but I’m kind of partial to this one)
- Porsche 944 S2 (cooler than the 951 - never seen one of these in person)
- C4 Corvette (LT1/4/5)
- Gen 1/2 Vipers

I don’t own any of these but at some point I’d imagine some will be collectible and going up in value. Regardless, would be fun to drive and tinker around with.

I had an E36 in my 20s, fun little car for ripping around mountain roads in. Ended up crashing it, insurance company wrote it off and I bought it back for 800 bucks and fixed it up again. Had two E30s before that, they were a ton of fun too.

BMW had the formula right with those models. Straight six, five speed stick and rear wheel drive with no electronic nannies.

 

[The Penitent Man]

Also, I was in LA recently and happened upon what appeared to be a 959 convertible, which I didn’t think existed. Apparently there is only one in existence, a one-off rebuild from a wreck and it looks like it’s white. Was wondering if this was a replica, kit car, etc, but it looks legitimate.

The World's Only Convertible Porsche 959 Is on Sale for $1.1 Million

One of none built.

www.roadandtrack.com

 

[FrancisK]

First car was a 97 Lexus LX450 bought in 2000 from the dealer auction, pretty much a landcruiser with lexus badges. That was my baby I went through everything with that truck, kept her for 18 years and had plenty of cars in between but always went back to her nothing ever compared. Sold her in 2018 and I have no idea why I did regretted it instantly and still talk to the guy who bought her hoping he'll sell her back to me one day.

Couple years ago I said screw it and bought another one, this time to build up as an overlander. Pretty much spent all of coofid working on her, lots of blood sweat and tears.

Then I took over a new business and my commute went from 4 miles a day round trip to 80 so I'm selling her, bought a soccer mom boring grocery getter GX460. Sucks but that's life I suppose, I don't want 3 cars. Oh and I also have a garbage Ferrari California, looking to upgrade to a 458 this summer....

 

[Raskolnikov]

It takes very little for me to be happy

 

[magoo]

Thinking on buying and restoring a car like this one:

They are money pits. But I saw one recently for sale which had registered mercedes mechanics. It´s a barn find. Could probably buy it for 2-4k´s and restore it for 20-30k´s. I´m really busy at the moment and can´t manage dealing with the restoration shop and legal papers. If it would be just a turn key I would do it today. Probably after next year summer I might have some free time. If it´s still for sale.

 

[FrancisK]

Thinking on buying and restoring a car like this one:

They are money pits. But I saw one recently for sale which had registered mercedes mechanics. It´s a barn find. Could probably buy it for 2-4k´s and restore it for 20-30k´s. I´m really busy at the moment and can´t manage dealing with the restoration shop and legal papers. If it would be just a turn key I would do it today. Probably after next year summer I might have some free time. If it´s still for sale.

Such beautiful cars but it will always be broken, no matter what you do...

 

[Nordwand]

Thinking on buying and restoring a car like this one:

They are money pits. But I saw one recently for sale which had registered mercedes mechanics. It´s a barn find. Could probably buy it for 2-4k´s and restore it for 20-30k´s. I´m really busy at the moment and can´t manage dealing with the restoration shop and legal papers. If it would be just a turn key I would do it today. Probably after next year summer I might have some free time. If it´s still for sale.

As soon as you said barn find, I was reminded of this:

Hoard of 60 classic cars discovered on French farm

The screen legend's rare sports car is expected to fetch more than £9m when it is auctioned in Paris in the New Year

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Caduceus]

 

[GuitarVH]

Sold her in 2018 and I have no idea why I did regretted it instantly and still talk to the guy who bought her hoping he'll sell her back to me one day.

Yea hey Bob, this is Francis, I sold you that Commodore 64 back in '88. Just wanted to check in and see how she was doing. I shoulda never swapped that baby for an Amiga.

 

[Rainy]

That thing is longer than my GMC Yukon XL! I remember cars like that when I was a kid. It's a beauty.

No joke, my first car and what I learned to parallel park in. Probably explains why have no patience for all the chumps nowadays who can't park.

1985 Grand Mercury.

As a kid the back seat was incredible. All the way in the rear, two seats folded up facing each other.

My brother and I would always sit back there on road trips. By HS I drove this thing to school. Got some real looks lol.

Such an underrated car. Huge, comfortable seats, like 1st class. Drove smooth, glided at 75 MPH. Lots of cargo space. Safe. Except for snow but back then pre-AWD you slid sometimes without chains.

I bet there'd be a market for a 2025 version of this with AWD. Much better than an Outback.

 

[mountainaire]

No joke, my first car and what I learned to parallel park in. Probably explains why have no patience for all the chumps nowadays who can't park.

1985 Grand Mercury.

As a kid the back seat was incredible. All the way in the rear, two seats folded up facing each other.

My brother and I would always sit back there on road trips. By HS I drove this thing to school. Got some real looks lol.

Such an underrated car. Huge, comfortable seats, like 1st class. Drove smooth, glided at 75 MPH. Lots of cargo space. Safe. Except for snow but back then pre-AWD you slid sometimes without chains.

I bet there'd be a market for a 2025 version of this with AWD. Much better than an Outback.

Back then automakers had so much more freedom to make stuff like this. Big comfy wagons with cavernous interiors that could haul the entire family and all of their luggage on a long road trip. Creeping regulations and market trends have caused these old machines to go extinct. Everything is an egg shaped pod with a cramped interior. To get something close to this now you'd have to buy a Suburban, which is basically a full sized truck platform, and it lacks the neat inward facing seats in the back...

These were considered corny at one time, but now if you had one in good condition you'd probably get more attention from it than you would a Ferrari.

 

[DeusLuxMeaEst]

First car was a 97 Lexus LX450 bought in 2000 from the dealer auction, pretty much a landcruiser with lexus badges. That was my baby I went through everything with that truck, kept her for 18 years and had plenty of cars in between but always went back to her nothing ever compared. Sold her in 2018 and I have no idea why I did regretted it instantly and still talk to the guy who bought her hoping he'll sell her back to me one day.

Couple years ago I said screw it and bought another one, this time to build up as an overlander. Pretty much spent all of coofid working on her, lots of blood sweat and tears.

Then I took over a new business and my commute went from 4 miles a day round trip to 80 so I'm selling her, bought a soccer mom boring grocery getter GX460. Sucks but that's life I suppose, I don't want 3 cars. Oh and I also have a garbage Ferrari California, looking to upgrade to a 458 this summer....

What year is that California? Pretty cool.

I like reliable vehicles like Honda, Toyota, and Lexus brands. Of course like the Ferrari, Lambos, and Porsches.

I’ve been holding back on getting a ‘Luxury’ car mainly for faith purposes, since I see the use of a car to get me from A to B, but I think as long as I keep my faith observations it should be ok. Curious as to your guys take on this.

 

[Острог]

 

[Uncle Cr33pin]

 

[MKE-Ed]

No joke, my first car and what I learned to parallel park in. Probably explains why have no patience for all the chumps nowadays who can't park.

1985 Grand Mercury.

As a kid the back seat was incredible. All the way in the rear, two seats folded up facing each other.

My brother and I would always sit back there on road trips. By HS I drove this thing to school. Got some real looks lol.

Such an underrated car. Huge, comfortable seats, like 1st class. Drove smooth, glided at 75 MPH. Lots of cargo space. Safe. Except for snow but back then pre-AWD you slid sometimes without chains.

I bet there'd be a market for a 2025 version of this with AWD. Much better than an Outback.

Seeing this picture of this station wagon brings back a lot of memories when I was growing up in the Midwest back in the late 1970s. Stations wagons like this one were the norm back then. I remember the Chevy Impala, Caprice, Ford LTD, Buick and Dodge wagons. They were big and most families drove them.

Today, the majority of the SUVs that are on the road today are really nothing more than glorified station wagons and suburban boulevard cruisers. They’re all four wheel drive, but most of them really can’t do any serious off roading. They are mostly for show. Most of these people that drive these SUVs today don’t realize how hard and dirty vehicles get when you do any serious off roading. They also get dinged up and get scratched up.

 

[BitterEnd]

I knew a German guy that claimed that his Mercedes wagon from the late 70s (the diesel) could work with reused cooking oil. He had a friend that had a restaurant so he kept driving it on that type of fuel. Apparently it was possible before the common rail era.

I am driving an Alfa Romeo GT and I love it to bits. My first car and I find it already very fast.

I also believe that car design peaked in the 90s and early 2000s.

I especially dislike modern interiors, now only the most expensive trims have nice interiors, as well as the Bentleys and AstonMartins of this world. However, it seems like normal buttons might be coming back because for once this subverted industry is listening to its actual clients. VW will bring back some interior buttons and I expect other brands/groups to follow suit. The big screens are ugly and their minimalism is the cultural marxism of interior design.

 

[Uncle Cr33pin]

 

[bubs]

Any car that I can pay for in cash and doesn’t break down frequently, has low insurance and low maintenance cost is the car I’m into. I love sport cars, muscle cars, kick ass trucks and Jeeps etc, but when it comes to actual ownership Of a vehicle, I’m barebones and utilitarian.

 

[Callixtus]

Anyone have any experience with WK2 series Grand Cherokees 2011-22?

I'm not too impressed with Jeep's offerings, but after cursory research the 3.6 L Pentastar V6s seem to be at least somewhat reliable.