What oddball cars have you owned?

[olds442jetaway]

I have managed to own a few oddball cars over the years. Typical of me to go against the grain. List below and what have you owned?

1966 Caddy coupe calais. light green. Bought used for 1200-, but only had 58k on it. Had no factory air, cloth interior not leather, and the original 429 engine actually got a consistent 24mpg on the highway.

1964 Chrysler Newport 4 dr sedan. Had been in an interior fire due to a careless smoker. It had a rare special order factory 3 speed shift on the floor. I replaced the interior with Leather Buckets from a wrecked 64 Buick Riviera. Bought it off the back lot from the local Mopar dealer for 375-. had about 76k on the Chrysler. Ran like a top and was pretty fast.

1962 Mg Midget. My first car. Had been partially stripped by a thief. Had no instruments. Had plexiglass sliding side windows. Push button starter. Also a removable hardtop. Got up to 48 mpg on the highway. Got all the missing parts from the local junkyard. Bought for 200-

1961 Triumph Herald. Bought for 35-. The entire nose folded up for easy access. Great on gas.

1953 Chevy 4 dr. Had been used by a house painter as a work car. had multi color house paint all over it. Only had 60k miles though. Bought for 20-. Ran great, but smoked like crazy.

1965 Pontiac GTO conv. Beautiful fast car. Had been seriously neglected by its owner nice guy alcoholic. He never drove after drinking that I know of. He also lived part time in the car. The entire car was filled a couple of feet high with empty beer cans when I bought it. I think he bought it new and I never knew what happened in his life to get that way. Felt bad for him and actually gave him more that he was asking for the car 500-. Also bought him dinner at the local diner. Hope he got straightned out, but I don't know. Wish I had that car now. They go for 50k fully restored.

and finally, my current everyday car which I still love. 1998 Saturn SL 4 dr. 282k with the original drivetrain. Gets over 40 mpg on the highway. Factory stick. No power anything. Not even power steering. Bought in 2001 from a local toyota dealer. They couldn't sell it because of the lack of options. Bought it the day they were sending it out for auction. It does have air though thank goodness or my wife would not ride in it. Had the air converted to R134 due to freon issues.

[katipug]

A 1968 or 69 Simca, by Renault, I think. Got about a zillion miles per gallon and was a hatchback that the rear seat folded down to put the kids. Couldn't get out of its own way and was an awful olive green with loud tan interior. Took forever to get parts, reminds me of the Kia Soul today. For some unknown reason I liked it. When I met my second husband he had a dark red one in his garage ( of course it didn't run, was waiting for parts,lol) but knew I had met my soulmate. Was the only foreign car I've ever owned. We were a Ford family then and now as he worked for Ford for 30 yrs making Thunderbirds and Cougars.

[marie meijer]

Great car story! Kati. Fun topic! olds.How my husband loved his 1968 dark blue Mustang convertible. One son drove it during a H S football game half time ceremony with a home coming court member. Fortunately, there were many strong muscles to push when it died during that parade. Another son washed that car one day and then accidentally wrapped it around a tree that night. Probably no ticket was issued because of the stitches required for my son's forehead and sympathies for my husband and his totaled car. I know....LUCKY!We were heading UPNORTH on vacation with three sons and a dog. We were driving a new Chrysler Aspen lease car when we admired a deer running across the deserted road in front of us. Then another deer, that we had not noticed, ran into the driver's side of our car. The door was so damaged we could not open that door for the rest of that trip. Still LUCKY! (FYI: Deer usually travel in pairs or more; if you see one, look for MORE!) Puleeze, no more Aspen jokes as we must have heard them ALL! We did have fun with an "arrest me red" P T Cruiser. I had forgotten to mention to my husband that I was going to a casino one day. A hit and run driver totaled that cute car soon after I left the casino. No more red small cars for me! NO LUCK THAT DAY except that I was still alive on more levels than one! Earlier this year, we had flown to VA to visit one of our sons. Something to do with the "rust free weather" there helped entice my husband to purchase a 2006 huge white Caddy with a huge trunk. Six months and 5K miles later plus one DC toll ticket mailed to our MI home, our son drove the car to our home. It's fine by me if hubby usually drives it as it needs a big parking space and I have no wish to put the first ding in it! Too bad we soon learned the license plate/registration fee is based on the original price of that car! Grrrr.

[BillyJoe]

1969 Opel GT in canary yellow. What a chick magnet..

[Tedlark]

1969 Opel GT in canary yellow. What a chick magnet..

  Um you or the car billyjoe?

[ko king]

I was given a 1965 Buick Riviera that had been in put away in a garage for several years by my grandmother. I used to go over and cut her grass and take care of anything she needed then one day she said there was an old car in the garage she wanted me to have, I wanted to pay her for the car because it only had 1254 miles on it but she wouldn't take a penny. A buddy of mine who worked on cars replaced the belts, hoses, tires and needed repairs from just sitting and when he was done I was the proud owner of a very nice car. I loved the car and the interior was crazy nice, the car had some pep too.
        Tedlark I had a freind when I was in the Navy who had an Opel GT, best I can remember he spent more time working on it than driving it but I always thought it was a cool looking car.
         I remember the biggest piece of crap car I ever owned was a Pontiac Fiero.

[JT]

Oh, the list... I've owned some oddballs, all right. 1974 AMC Matador... 1980 Oldsmobile 98 Regency diesel... 1980 Jeep Grand Wagoneer... 1977 Alfa Romeo Spider, 1988 Spider, 1992 Alfa 164S... 1988 Saab 9000 turbo, 1999 Saab 9-5, 2006 Saab 9-5, and currently a 1992 Saab 900 Convertible, which is my fun project car. I have a sickness...

[olds442jetaway]

1969 Opel GT in canary yellow. What a chick magnet..

My friend up at school had one. He used to park it next my other friend's 68 427 vette. They called the Opel GT the baby vette back then. I parked on the poor side of the lot with my Grandfather's 61 plymouth 4 dr. Just glad to have wheels at all back then.

[olds442jetaway]

Oh, the list... I've owned some oddballs, all right. 1974 AMC Matador... 1980 Oldsmobile 98 Regency diesel... 1980 Jeep Grand Wagoneer... 1977 Alfa Romeo Spider, 1988 Spider, 1992 Alfa 164S... 1988 Saab 9000 turbo, 1999 Saab 9-5, 2006 Saab 9-5, and currently a 1992 Saab 900 Convertible, which is my fun project car. I have a sickness...


Almost bought a Saab 3 cyl once. They are probably collectible now. I heard they ran forever.

[Galeygoo]

I've owned some sweet rides, like a '72 Cutlass SS and a Camero Berlineta (don't rememeber what year, probably late 70's) but had a friend who owned a Ford Pinto, ala Fred Flinstone, petal to the ground, lots of laughs.....what a car he had, lol lol lol lol