Other Car Cultures

[JFENG]

The Corolla was one of the most important cars of the last 5 decades. It established Toyota’s reputation and brand value in the USA and was the foundation of their rise to the top. Today Toyota is the largest and most successful car maker in the world.

And it attracts the type of woman that appreciates you for your inner beauty, which is really important to me.

 

[bluecoupe30!]

Always very interesting to see what other cars are in the garage of those who own a BMW E9. For me, since 1976, it has been my Austin Healey 3000 Mark 3 BJ8. Absolutely love this car. Can identify every nut and bolt. Driven from West Coast to East Coast, several times, shipped to the UK in 1979 from Port Elizabeth NJ, toured the UK, as one should do in their Healey, and attended various Club events. Fantastic experience. Then, in the mid-eighties, there was this urge to acquire one of those rare BMW 6 cylinder Coupes. I was fortunate to find one the day it was turned in to a dealer and it has been mine ever since. So fun to have different Classics in the barn/garage/shop!

 

[Gazz]

The Corolla was one of the most important cars of the last 5 decades. It established Toyota’s reputation and brand value in the USA and was the foundation of their rise to the top. Today Toyota is the largest and most successful car maker in the world.

And it attracts the type of woman that appreciates you for your inner beauty, which is really important to me.

Aha, a Toyota owner. Perchance a Corolla owner?

No disagreement from me about the Corolla's importance to Toyota. I think I once read that at a time in its long running history Corolla was so successful as a brand that if was a separate company it would have been the largest car maker in the world.
I need to get out more often, I haven't met the type of woman who appreciates the "inner beauty" of Corolla owners.

 

[JFENG]

Perchance a Corolla owner

Me? Oh no! I can acknowledge their importance without liking them. I’m the more superficial type with a gold chain and chrome rims.

I like my cars loud, fast and stinky (oil and unburnt gas). At one point in my life I had TWO tii’s but I traded them in for a wife and two kids. The kids grew up so I’m back to playing with cars: old racers, a single E9, Alfa’s and misc British stuff (Jag, Elva, Lotus).

I’m like a poor version of Scott Crater

 

[Markos]

I still really enjoy jeeps, land cruisers, land rovers, etc. I’m always scanning for old volvos and audis. I like VW’s also, but don’t intend to buy one.

I had a good weekend rock crawling a few weeks back.

 

[tferrer]

Great collection of various marks! Some amazing cars. Love the pre-war stuff. I've had an e-type for about 7-8 years as my dad had them and it marked me forever. It's still been a frustrating run with getting the mechanical sorted but it's running great and a joy now. The Lotus 7 clone is probably the most fun per dollar I've every experienced. It's got a 2.3L turbo motor that's a hoot to drive with the waste gate chuffing away. The 911s were special but I sold both in the last 16 months. Looking for another early car. The Viper green RSR clone was special. Lots of composite body parts that reduced the weight to 1900 lbs with 310hp 993 motor. Incredibly fun... On billiard table smooth roads. The factory wide-body was so bullet proof with a built 3.8L 993 motor. Never let me down.

 

[vince]

I still really enjoy jeeps, land cruisers, land rovers, etc. I’m always scanning for old volvos and audis. I like VW’s also, but don’t intend to buy one.

I had a good weekend rock crawling a few weeks back.

We bought our Jeep three years ago, we love it. We both wanted one when we were in our 20s, finally bought one when we became empty nesters (well kinda). We just finished an epic hiking road trip to AZ and UT, we covered over 2800 miles. I'm trying to talk my wife into the Gladiator Rubicon next.

 

[Arde]

I still really enjoy jeeps, land cruisers, land rovers, etc. I’m always scanning for old volvos and audis. I like VW’s also, but don’t intend to buy one.

I had a good weekend rock crawling a few weeks back.

Nice Jeeps. We passed them like posts in a single gear 10k RPM ATV .

 

[Dan Wood]

We have been Jeep fans for years and here are a couple of our current Wagoneers.

 

[lip277]

I still have my first car... a car my parents bought for me 40 years ago... even before I could drive LOL.
It's a 1968 Ford Mustang GT convertible... Drove it in high school. Was a fun car. My mom kept it when I went to college as they did not want me to have a convertible there - so I got another car - a BMW 2002. Yeah - I know... I was very fortunate.
I kept the 2002 for 28 years... Drove the pants off it. Sold it a few years ago (I wish I hadn't - but, oh well....)

The Mustang stayed in CA till 2003 when I bought a place that had room to take it. It was restored 100% and now is in my garage...

I also have a fun daily car - Porsche 911 (997.1).

There is another vehicle of interest. A SeaRay Monaco speedboat from 1986. In family since new. Awesome fun to have - it is in great shape.
Old school carb 350 Chevy motor (260HP) that moves it pretty well.

The last on the old school fleet - I bought an E23 a few years back to compliment the E38 I have. It's a Euro 728i from 1985.
You NEVER see very nice E23's around. I found this car on Bring a Trailer. I bid on it, but didn't get it. The auction winner received the car and all was good but a short time later he had other ideas on what he wanted to do, so he contacted me and ... I bought it from him just a short time after the auction happened.
Cool car... I get a surprising amount of reaction to it when I drive it. Fun times....

 

[vince]

@lip277

Great collection! My good friend Dave used to own your e23. Super cool car being a euro with great options and a 5 speed. It was already pretty nice when he bought it but he did quite bit to it including the euro headlights, euro stripes, and the style 5s (that he rebuilt himself). The car had a cracked dash but came with a brand new brown dash which he installed. I was seriously thinking about buying car before he did. It looked like Sahara to me in the CL pictures so I passed. It's actually a very cool color.

Here's a video from our local MotorFest where we both won best in class (I brought my Fjord 2002 that I had just finished). You can see both cars towards the end of the video.

 

[lip277]

@vince - Yes, I talked to Dave a couple of times when he had the car on BaT. I wanted to get down to see it (before I bid) - but that didn't happen - I bid anyway.
Thank for the video - nice collection of cars in the CCA group.

I have had to do a fair bit of recent work on the engine (fuel injection). I think the calendar caught up with it and several items were just aged out... I found a mechanic local to where I live that has done awesome work on all of my cars. He is a Ferrari guy (works on them out of his house shop) but also takes in other cars to fill his schedule. He's worked on my F250, 911, E38, Mustang and even the Escalade. LOL. The E23 now runs like a top and ... is a fun car to have around. Understated - but not... especially for folks who recognize it.

I had installed a 4 post lift yesterday (and you can see a bit of the boat and 911 as well).

 

[CSL177]

won't be in Porsches, much as I love driving them

ok, I’ll bite.Why not, as they are fabulous historic race cars.

john

They certainly are, but... because expense? I love racing them and have owned several, but it's a serious commitment. My next historic/vintage racer will likely be a 2002.

I know of one that's been a track warrior since 1970, just been sleeping for a long while and can be had cheap. Of course, bringing it up to current spec won't be.

Regardless, my experience with M10 engines is deep, and it'll be less expensive to campaign than a Porsche.

It is kinda neat when the car is invited to an event, though...

 

[tferrer]

Motor work for air-cooled Porsches has become prohibitively expensive in the last 15+ years. You talk to old-timers and a rebuild was 6-8k. Now it's 30-50k... If not more depending on the base motor and mods. Jerry Woods spec 911s are very expensive propositions now. 225k plus. It's a function of the popularity and upscale ownership.

 

[CSL177]

Exactly... a 2 liter twin-plug was maybe $15K when I started, now it's double plus that. The 2.8 RSR motor for my current GT project, with correct NOS plumbing and tanks?
You don't wanna know (and neither does my wife!!).

Same with gearboxes... used to buy 901 transaxles as consumables, $1500 a pop, always had a spare or two. Getting hard to source the components these days.

The swells that run anything with a Fuhrmann motor don't race with the OG engine, but replica 4 cams from Capricorn start at $160K.

Best bang for buck in vintage is NASCAR... a good road-racer can be had for under $60K, just learn how to drive 3500 lbs with 600 HP!

 

[Ohmess]

Motor work for air-cooled Porsches has become prohibitively expensive in the last 15+ years. You talk to old-timers and a rebuild was 6-8k. Now it's 30-50k... If not more depending on the base motor and mods. Jerry Woods spec 911s are very expensive propositions now. 225k plus. It's a function of the popularity and upscale ownership.

Its also a function of where the industry is going. One of my neighbors when I lived just outside Washington DC was the lead mechanic for the largest Mercedes Benz dealership in the area. He left the job because the newly minted techs they were sending to him did not understand cars. They didn't work on their own cars, weren't into racing, etc. They could read codes and follow the "cookbook" that told them what to do with the codes, but they did not understand the basics (which mechanical systems were involved, how those systems functioned, where the weak points were etc.). They would follow the cookbook and then return the car to the customer, without checking if the problem had been resolved. It drove him crazy.

I remember years ago walking across the street to ask him a question about my wife's Saab's brake system. He said "which type do you have. There were three types of systems used on European cars in that era. One has this configuration; the second looks like this, and when you look under the hood at the third one you will see this. Which do you have?" I said mine looks like the second one you described. He replied "here is your problem."

The industry is not training guys like that any more, and most of the guys who have that type of training are at or beyond retirement age. And most of the independent shops who specialize in foreign cars used to hire at least some of the their mechanics from the dealerships, which makes running a small independent shop even more difficult. In short, prices are going up because the supply of people who can do quality work is going down.

 

[JFENG]

CSL177,

here is a nice P-race car 911
Seems like a great price despite the race car quality paint job.

Boys : Less than a new 840i, and 10x more fun.

Ladies: Only a tad more than a new X7, but racing this would make you the coolest soccer mom on the block. Titled so you could get a plate and drive your kid to school in it.

john

 

[Java Man]

I'm with @bluecoupe30! in my love for the Austin-Healey 3000. Here is mine + my E9 (yes, that's the entire 2 car collection). The Healey is an amazing driving experience.

Kudos to all of you who posted on this "Other Car Cultures" part of the Forum. The automotive diversity is amazing! From Jeeps to Jags to Porsches, etc..... Very cool.

Happy motoring!
-Tom

 

[craterface]

Road Race Lincolns.

I own a 1953 Lincoln Capri. Why?

The Carrera Panamericana ran five times from 1950-54. It was an open road race from the bottom of Mexico to the US border. The race was intended to publicize the newly opened Pan American Highway. It was completely bonkers. Lincoln won the stock car category multiple times. The winning car raced with a four speed automatic, drum brakes, and a huge gas tank. Average speed was 90.

I became further enthralled with this historic event when I read a fictionalized account of it in Burt Levy’s book, Montezuma’s Ferrari, the second book in the Last Open Road Series. And I later learned that a 1953 Capri was entered in the Mille Miglia that year. The car had New York plates and was entered by two men with Italian surnames. After running the Mille Miglia Storica in 2015 as a guest driver in a 1929 Chrysler, I went on the hunt for a Lincoln. I found one and ran it in the California Mille in 2016. Since then I have been able to do Cal Mille a second time, the Modena Cento Ore in an Alfa, and we plan to do the MM again in 2022, in an original MM car owned by a buddy of mine.

http://amv-prod-aut.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/s3fs-public/AW_TBT_20160505_LaCarreraPanAmericana.pdf

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.hemmings.com/stories/2016/07/14/1954-carrera-panamericana-winning-lincoln-comes-to-lincoln-motor-car-heritage-museum/amp

 

[craterface]

https://www.instagram.com/p/CEenv4llkRP/?utm_medium=copy_link

And I found a pic online of MM 2015 in my friends car.