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Ten years ago my now ex girlfriend totalled what has to be my favorite car of ones I have owned. I had an 88 Thunderbird turbo coupe. This had the 2.3 intercooled turbocharged motor and T-5 5 speed trans with an 8.8 posi rearend. Those of you who remember these know they were faster than the 5.0 cars of the same vintage. In that day they were all too neutered as engineers hadn’t figured out how to make power while meeting emmissions and this was only two years since Ford brought out EFI, so it was a learning curve for them along with everyone else.
I painted it PPG Viper Blue with a rainbow metallic overlay, mirror tinted every window but the windshield (got a gun pulled on me by a New York cop that pulled me over because of it and $800 in fines from WI state troopers within a 6 month period, but damn did it look good). Installed a hurst shifter, air shocks in the rear to clear the 245/60/14 tires in back and 225/60/14 in front on Center Line chrome rims. Dual exhaust with chrome tips (don’t ask me why I did that on a 4cyl, but it did look quite nice as it wasn’t some cheapo clamp on tip from a local parts house), color matched seat covers and a JL audio system that made me end up using loctite on every interior screw as they would back out after a few weeks and the interior would rattle.
It met its unfortunate end when I was working in AK and my girl blew the clutch on her car. She drove mine under the plan that I would be laid off come October and would have the time to replace it myself. She ran it into the back of a Suburban.
And people wonder why she’s my ex. I’ll get another one someday, and I’m going to build it the same way.
The girl I’m with now isn’t going to be taught how to drive a stick, lest history repeat itself.
Ten years ago my now ex girlfriend totalled what has to be my favorite car of ones I have owned. I had an 88 Thunderbird turbo coupe. This had the 2.3 intercooled turbocharged motor and T-5 5 speed trans with an 8.8 posi rearend. Those of you who remember these know they were faster than the 5.0 cars of the same vintage. In that day they were all too neutered as engineers hadn’t figured out how to make power while meeting emmissions and this was only two years since Ford brought out EFI, so it was a learning curve for them along with everyone else.
I painted it PPG Viper Blue with a rainbow metallic overlay, mirror tinted every window but the windshield (got a gun pulled on me by a New York cop that pulled me over because of it and $800 in fines from WI state troopers within a 6 month period, but damn did it look good). Installed a hurst shifter, air shocks in the rear to clear the 245/60/14 tires in back and 225/60/14 in front on Center Line chrome rims. Dual exhaust with chrome tips (don’t ask me why I did that on a 4cyl, but it did look quite nice as it wasn’t some cheapo clamp on tip from a local parts house), color matched seat covers and a JL audio system that made me end up using loctite on every interior screw as they would back out after a few weeks and the interior would rattle.
It met its unfortunate end when I was working in AK and my girl blew the clutch on her car. She drove mine under the plan that I would be laid off come October and would have the time to replace it myself. She ran it into the back of a Suburban.
And people wonder why she’s my ex. I’ll get another one someday, and I’m going to build it the same way.
The girl I’m with now isn’t going to be taught how to drive a stick, lest history repeat itself.
I love Euro cars, specifically BMW and Audi, but I also love classic american cars, muscle and regular passenger vehicles. My parents had a 1968 Plymouth Valiant that sat in the driveway under a tarp for YEARS. My two older brothers were playing in it when I was just a wee kid and left the window open…. over the entire winter season… mold formed inside and my dad didn’t want to deal with it so he sold it. Can’t wait to find a 1968 valiant and build it up myself.
I love Euro cars, specifically BMW and Audi, but I also love classic american cars, muscle and regular passenger vehicles. My parents had a 1968 Plymouth Valiant that sat in the driveway under a tarp for YEARS. My two older brothers were playing in it when I was just a wee kid and left the window open…. over the entire winter season… mold formed inside and my dad didn’t want to deal with it so he sold it. Can’t wait to find a 1968 valiant and build it up myself.
Wherever there’s a Winner’s Circle… We’ll be there
The Heartbeat of America
See the U.S.A. in your Chevrolet
Find New Roads (that slogan is LAME)
Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie, and Chevrolets
An American Revolution
Chevy Runs Deep
A car for every purse and purpose
Genuine Chevrolet
For All Life’s Roads
The most dependable, longest lasting pickup on the road
Strong.
One for the Diesel guys:
Long before you can be Cummin or Strokin, you’ve gotta be *hard*…”Like a rock!” banana:
Wherever there’s a Winner’s Circle… We’ll be there
The Heartbeat of America
See the U.S.A. in your Chevrolet
Find New Roads (that slogan is LAME)
Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie, and Chevrolets
An American Revolution
Chevy Runs Deep
A car for every purse and purpose
Genuine Chevrolet
For All Life’s Roads
The most dependable, longest lasting pickup on the road
Strong.
One for the Diesel guys:
Long before you can be Cummin or Strokin, you’ve gotta be *hard*…”Like a rock!” banana:
Definitely a Ford guy. I own 3 currently and overall they’ve been very good to me. Not a huge fan of where they’re headed with the Ecoboost twin turbo stuff, but Ford has always had issues with firsts and I’m sure they’ll be better soon. The key is to research and know what you’re buying and its reliability ratings and known issues and weigh the pros and cons. Every auto make has a few models that are “problem children” and most have quite a few that are great you just need to know what you’re buying before you commit. That’s why I read consumer reports religiously.
Definitely a Ford guy. I own 3 currently and overall they’ve been very good to me. Not a huge fan of where they’re headed with the Ecoboost twin turbo stuff, but Ford has always had issues with firsts and I’m sure they’ll be better soon. The key is to research and know what you’re buying and its reliability ratings and known issues and weigh the pros and cons. Every auto make has a few models that are “problem children” and most have quite a few that are great you just need to know what you’re buying before you commit. That’s why I read consumer reports religiously.
Always been a fan of the German stuff. Its what I know how to work on too.
I particularly like late 80s, early90s era -Mk2- Volkwagen cars. Somewhat boxy but still an un mistakable look to the body. They also handle really really well at speed thanks to the Autobahn. What I like most about the Mk1 and Mk2 generation cars is how interchangeable things are. So many engines, gearboxes, brakes, etc etc etc will drop into the same mounts and with a bit of work routing in the harness you can have a real weapon.
I like a lot of the early B chassis cars too. I drove a Fox and considering how beat it was I still loved it. Scirocco, Dasher, Audi Coupe GT, Audi 80 – All built on the same platform.
I’ve always been a huge fan of Audi naturally. Any Quattro from the early 80s is welcome to roost in my garage any time. I’m a sucker for the now old tech 2.2L 5 cylinder Turbo 20V engine. Such an amazing powerplant. Found a 1993 Audi UrS4 with that engine in it for sale recently. Not the best looking body style, but still fast as balls, and will out drive any other AWD car in winter.
Outside of that I’d love to own a Trabant just to say I own one.
Always been a fan of the German stuff. Its what I know how to work on too.
I particularly like late 80s, early90s era -Mk2- Volkwagen cars. Somewhat boxy but still an un mistakable look to the body. They also handle really really well at speed thanks to the Autobahn. What I like most about the Mk1 and Mk2 generation cars is how interchangeable things are. So many engines, gearboxes, brakes, etc etc etc will drop into the same mounts and with a bit of work routing in the harness you can have a real weapon.
I like a lot of the early B chassis cars too. I drove a Fox and considering how beat it was I still loved it. Scirocco, Dasher, Audi Coupe GT, Audi 80 – All built on the same platform.
I’ve always been a huge fan of Audi naturally. Any Quattro from the early 80s is welcome to roost in my garage any time. I’m a sucker for the now old tech 2.2L 5 cylinder Turbo 20V engine. Such an amazing powerplant. Found a 1993 Audi UrS4 with that engine in it for sale recently. Not the best looking body style, but still fast as balls, and will out drive any other AWD car in winter.
Outside of that I’d love to own a Trabant just to say I own one.
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