What was your favorite old POS Vehicle--which looked bad but ran good.

[rrausch]

OK... here's to the old Brown Cow. Crushed by now.

She was a '53 Chevy I bought back in about 1968...

In her time, she was almost unstoppable.

6-banger with a cast-iron Powerglide & Power steering!

I drove her for about 2 years and never changed the oil once! I just kept pouring in the 30-wt and brother she needed it! I had to add a quart about every 100 miles because she had a nasty habit. Normally this car would not smoke, but if you were stopped at a dead stop and then floored it smoke would roll out of the tailpipe like a Destroyer laying down a smokescreen! Oh I am serious! The amount of smoke that car would lay down was awesome! I mean entire neighborhoods would get fumigated! Cars behind would stop dead in their tracks due to a 100% complete lack of visibility. Ahhh to be young and dumb again!



Her end came in the fall of '69 when I drove from Kansas City back to my parent's farm. I had a feeling not to shut her off at gas pumps, or anywhere else, and I didn't until I pulled into my parent's driveway. She never started again. Later my Dad pushed her down into the woods where she sat for a couple of decades until the early 1990's when I bashed down all the brush around her with my old Farmall and re-visited her. There the Old Cow sat, up to her flanks in Missouri Mud! She was no beauty when I drove her, but when I found her again she looked like somebody had taken a sledge hammer and attacked every single body panel, and then had fired on her with shotgun and rifle from every angle concievable! The Bonnie and Clyde car had nothing on her! The only piece of glass not cracked or bullet-holed was the rear glass. I pried open a door and sat in the Pass. seat for awhile. Later I pulled the engine and pulled the valve cover (full of chewed hickory nuts) and pulled the head, and saw in the #3 cylinder exactly why she would lay down that massive smoke screen. There was a valve missing on that cylinder, and a hole the size of a quarter in the top of the piston! Yep! I had driven her 2 years in that condition! Here's to her! May her rusty old bones rest in peace wherever she is!

 

[rbattelle]

Amen! Good story...

 

[mcoleman]

Mine would have to be a 1975 GMC 4 wheel drive. I replaced the original engine with a 455 Buick out of a 1970 Electra duece and a 1/4. Factory rated at 370hp and 510 foot pounds of torque. It had to be the best GM truck powerwise that I ever owned. Looked like heck and was rusted out but was mechanically sound and strong as an ox. I routinely handed a buddy of mines rearend to him that owned a SS454 truck at the time and we both got the same fuel mileage even though mine was a 4X4. The only thing done to the engine was an HEI distributor instead of the points and I rebuilt the Q-jet. It was a one wheel wonder with 3. 07 gears and would lay a black stripe as long as you were willing to let it go.

 

[TPCDrafting]

'77 IH Sout II

Best stock 4x4 I ever was in. The balance of the weight and gearing was just right. The 345 V8 and big 2 barrel was very powerful. Dad bought it new and it had well over 200k on it when he sold it. Never did a thing to that motor. Everything was bolt on stuff like alternators and electronic ignition boxes. Both my brother and I learned to drive on it. We pulled our Apache hard side popup camper for hunting/camping. It would get 13 mpg pulling the trailer and all our gear up over I-70 from Denver west. Most of the time passing everything on the way. But it was a rust pig from day one. In the end, it was impossible to put the tailgate down, the doors were very hard to shut because the body panel they shut against wouldn't resist the impact due to the mounting points were all rusted off.

I could go on for days telling 4 wheelin' stories in that thing.

 

[HoleshotHolset]

'91 GMC Sonoma 4x4 (reg. cab) 4. 3L - old Mass. Electric truck...



I beat the ever living snot out of that truck and it kept coming back for more. I used to take it where it was NEVER designed to go... and always made it back home under its own power. What it lacked in ground clearance, articulation, and departure angles was usually overcome with a heavy right foot.



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I owned it for 4 years and plowed snow with it commercially for 3 years - I went through an engine, a rearend and a front end in that truck. The transfer case never gave me any trouble... and the 700-R4 was hurting pretty bad when I finally got rid of it.



Matt

 

[Turbo Tim 1]

When I learned to drive my parents had a 1968 Chrysler Town and Country station wagon with power everything. It was a salvage vehicle because it got stolen and they landed it between 4 trees caving in all four doors. The old man beat out the doors somewhat and thats how we drove it. It had a 440 ci in it and would go like mad. I smoked a few miles off of those tires. Definantely wasn't a chick magnet though.



I had a 57??? Willys CJ-5 with a Hurricane 4 cylinder, the body was rotted to the windshield frame and the 4 wheel drum brakes barely worked but I had some fun with it.

 

[Camara]

'69 Chevy Impala, 350 hp 350 ci powerglide trans



Big Back SEAT

 

[gonehuntingagain]

1975 Ford Maverik 2-door

Boy is it UGLY! The drivers side trunk area looks like it was wrapped around a telephone pole and kicked back out by a 10 lb sledge hammer, also the rest of the driver's side has several dents as well. Hood doesn't fit too straight either. Worst of all, it is baby blue.

I Still have it and have had it since my softmore year of high school (1987).

Removed the straight 6/C4 combo, and put in a 302. When I blew that one up (dropped a valve) I put in another 302, but this time with a 3 speed with OD stick - blew that one up too - dropped 2 valves! Finally got smart and built another 302, balanced, bluprinted - all NEW STAINLESS valves in a set of 351 Cleveland 2v heads, edlebrock 750 carb and hooked it up to a T10 4 speed with a 4. 11 traction-lock rear end.

I drove it last week after having it in storage all winter. I forgot how quick that thing is!! It put a huge grin on my face!



It is currently just serving as a storage unit for the drivetrain until I come up with the $$$ for a 65 - 67 Mustang fastback.

 

[ndurbin]

1980 Ford F150 Reg. Shortbed 6 banger/4 spd. manual 4x4



The truck has been thru a couple good hail storms, dented in hood, and both bumpers were tweaked pretty good from hitting things. Only real problem other than a blown motor and new clutch was the carb. wouldn't stay set right and would backfire every time I shut it off.



After all that it was a pretty good truck. Only got it stuck twice w/ street tires and it took a tractor to pull me out both times. It either ran 0 or 85 since the was all the higher the speedo went.



Nathan

 

[bmoeller]

First vehicle I owned was a '83 B2000 Mazda. My grandparents gave it to me for my 16th. birthday. My great-grandpa owned it originally 'til they had to take it away from him. Almost hit a kid running after a ball in the street. He never washed it the whole time he owned it.



It had 49k on it when they gave it to me. Box was rusted really bad and had no functioning shocks. Not much let of them. Ran great, always started, and got 35mpg.



Drove it for a year and sold it to a friend 2yrs later. I couldn't drive it anymore because I was too tall to fit behind the wheel.



Only thing I did to it was routine stuff and tires. That was about it.

 

[KBennett]

Cool stories.



I had a 1967 IH Travelall 4X4 given to me just before college in 1987. To add to the "beautiful" styling it was a light metallic green color and had some rust that got worse as the years went on. It had the 345 V8 with a Holley 2-barrel and I was the third owner. The first owner had it for 16 years and drove it out here on vacation. It had two 15 gallon tanks with an auxillary 30 gallon tank so it could hold a total of 60 gallons of gas! It also had a plow that I used to make a few bucks on the side. I was told by the second owner that he pulled a semi out of a ditch once with it. I don't know whether I believe him or not but I pulled some pretty heavy stuff out myself including a tow truck that was stuck good. I sold it for $200 after I graduated college and if I found one today for $200 I would have a hard time passing it up.

 

[DLewis]

Mine would be "Trusty Rusty" my 85 Dodge 150 4x4 that had about 350,000 miles on it. I was actually asked by a cop one time what color it was to which i replied... . dirt. Man was she mad. I miss that truck sometimes.

 

[QRTRHRS]

Originally posted by KBennett

Cool stories.



I had a 1967 IH Travelall 4X4 given to me just before college in 1987. To add to the "beautiful" styling it was a light metallic green color and had some rust that got worse as the years went on. It had the 345 V8 with a Holley 2-barrel and I was the third owner. The first owner had it for 16 years and drove it out here on vacation. It had two 15 gallon tanks with an auxillary 30 gallon tank so it could hold a total of 60 gallons of gas! It also had a plow that I used to make a few bucks on the side. I was told by the second owner that he pulled a semi out of a ditch once with it. I don't know whether I believe him or not but I pulled some pretty heavy stuff out myself including a tow truck that was stuck good. I sold it for $200 after I graduated college and if I found one today for $200 I would have a hard time passing it up.

Those Travelall's were a beast. You could get them with the 392 and a floating axle. Like all the IH's though, they rusted badly.



Off topic but I had a 70' IH 304 4spd 4x4 bought new for 4200 bucks. SRW with the one ton springs. Road like a buck board so the chicks just did not dig it. Swapped that in for a 73' Scout 345 4brl 4x4 auto. 8mpg during the first gas crisis. I had so many problems with that truck, I gave up and gave it back to the dealer. Had a 75' pickup, 345, 4x4 4sp that I put a 650 holley on and headers with glasspacks and turned down pipes. One thing about the binders', they were easy to work on.

 

[MDietrich]

1966 F-250 352 V-8 4sd 4x2

Bought this truck in '93 hoping to restore it somewhat. Ended up using it as a all-around work,junk and daily driver to work. Saved my "92 F-150 from some miles and abuse. Plant where I work at had an explosion in December '94. Other guys trucks and cars in the parking lot had windows knocked out and various dents and dings. Could'nt even tell anything happened to mine(glad I drove it that morning)! Had my cousin rebuild the motor in '95 for a college shop project. We figured the thing must of had at least 200 some thousand miles on it at that time. In '99 I had to use it as my main transportation while I was between vehicles. Winter of '99\'00 was cold, but the old beast started everytime. Always wore my Carhartts though!

I've had that truck loaded down with at least 3-4000#'s of dirt, bricks, whatever more than once and never phased it, made numerous trips to the dump, hauled materials for home projects etc. , and it just kept going. Sold it in '01. Had 4 vehicles around the place and something had to go. I still miss that truck sometimes. Kids are in school and with my days off it would be fun to have it back to tinker with.



MD

 

[loncray]

My first car was a 1977 VW Dasher wagon. It'd been badly wrecked sometime in it's past - the front end had been basically welded back on. I had a coat hanger holding the hood down and the grille was gone. Oh, and all the emissions control stuff had fallen off before I got it. A brakelight module on the master cylinder shorted out and melted one time and let all my brake fluid out - stopping was fun! But that car weighed almost nothing and flew down the road. I had her up to 115 one time, on the downslope of a long hill. I'd never want to carry a family member in that car now - but it was a perfect first car at the time! It even brought me and all my stuff across the country from Wyoming to Virginia when I got back from Germany and changed duty stations.

 

[lgibson]

'79 Jeep Cherokee. It was a repo that I paid $300 without wheels or tires. I bought it as a beater just to have some fun in the desert. I beat the stuffing out of it for a few years without any problems and started using it on trips across the US and Canada. It now has over 300k miles and is driving around Texas with my brother behind the wheel.



I would love to get it back, but my brother really likes the old beast.

 

[rrausch]

My second favorite car was a '68 Karman Ghia which was so rusty one of the parking lights fell out and swung around like a rock on a string for a few months before it finally fell off!



One day I had my neighbor cut the roof off of it, and somebody else welded the doors shut and I made a convert. out of it! Had a lot of fun.

 

[Sticks]

1982 Subaru family truckster (wagon).



My second car when I was in High School in '89. Living on my own during the winter in Estes Park, that car paid my rent for 2 months. We had a week where the morning temperatures were -30*, and my car was the only one that would start in the mornings in the development that I lived in. Either jump starting peoples cars, getting them un-stuck (massive cold combined with heavy snow), or rides to work made me some serious cash.

 

[SGibson]

A pink& white 1962 Max-Wedge Sport Fury, had the car from 79-88, faded paint,ripped up interior, all the ext. chrome removed, fact. wheelcovers and skinny 14's when I got it, fixed it up over the years and sold it about a week before the muscle-car boom, to this day I have never driven a faster STOCK automobile and not too many that people sneered at as much, until they got a taste of a pushbutton cross-ram w/both four barrels tipped open.

 

[Un-Hemi]

Do you think I have regrets?

It's a Royal B/tch to sell a Max Wedge. Mine was a '64.