Why is it that hatchback editions of small convertible sports cars look so damn beautiful? They might not be able to fit your family-sized dog inside, but they sure look good not doing it.
Last Call indicates the end of Hooniverse’s broadcast day. It’s meant to be an open forum for anyone and anything. Thread jacking is not only accepted, it’s encouraged.
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Last Call: Doggone Good Looking Edition
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26 responses to “Last Call: Doggone Good Looking Edition”
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Crap. I’ll spend the night looking for a GT6…
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THIS is what the new Miata RF should have been…
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My plan is to take this course (http://www.lakelandcollege.ca/academics/trades-technology-pre-employment/programs-and-courses/street-rod-technologies) after I graduate, and they give the oppurtunity for you to work on a car of your own.
I’m going to take that as an opportunity to get a project car of my own, and I’m thinking something LIKE this:
It’s rare, neat, decently complete, and only $500 CAD.
VAUXHALL VICTOR, Original Edmonton car, she’s gotta GO!
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/ODAwWDQ1MA==/z/g~oAAOSwzvlW-0-v/$_27.JPG
http://www.kijiji.ca/v-classic-cars/edmonton/vauxhall-victor-original-edmonton-car-shes-gotta-go/1151837443Disclaimer: I’m probably going to wait till I’m a bit closer before purchasing anything, but any advice on project types would greatly be appreciated.
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Nice find. I think you would do well to use a similarly cheap and complete starting point for your student project. Your first couple of projects should be aimed at developing skills and experience on a modest budget. Ten years down the road, you will probably be hypercritical of the flaws in your early work.
Like kids’ kindergarten art, the less successful ones get purged after a short while to make room for newer stuff. If you need to sell the completed car to fund your next project, it’s easier to find a buyer for a cheap imperfect car than an expensive one.
Determine what the car will need, what you will be capable of doing, and what’s available to replace the other needs. For example, you will come out of the program capable of fabricating any sheet metal you need, but what about a curved windshield?-
This is really good advice, and I’ll keep it in mind.
Thanks!
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I basically agree with OA599 but would like to emphasize: check the parts availability. Maybe it’s different in Canadia, but finding parts for a Vauxhall would be close to impossible here in the US. And importing them from jolly old England gets expensive fast.
There are (in my experience) two things that help availability of affordable parts: a) local manufacture of the car (which tends to mean a lot of the suppliers were local too) and b) high sales numbers (meaning that if the OE supplier stops manufacture, there’s enough of a market for another company to start making parts).
So, a nice Frontenac, Meteor or Fargo maybe? 😉-
Thanks for advice!
Your suggestion of Canadian versions of American cars might be my best bet for interesting with goods parts availability. A 4-door Frontenac, and it’s more common GM cousin, the Acadian, would probably be my best choices, since they’re decently cheap, and the Chevy II and Ford Falcon aftermarket industries are about as good as it gets.
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Find a 1984 or 1985 BMW E28 524td. Probably not a good idea, but I really want one.
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That Victor might be a good example, but that model generally is known as one of the worst, (or is it best?), rusting cars ever made. A friend of my mother bought one new,and always garaged it and after six years, it was written off by rust- and we don’t salt roads here.
So beware of that.-
Good to know.
This one looks decent in pictures, but it looks like it has some floor pan rust on one side, so that’s probably a sign of more.
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I’m still in the process of cleaning up my archives, and I found this 15 year old pic in one buried folder – from when GAZ was still selling the 3102 and advertising it online:
http://s26.postimg.org/5ojqnpwix/volga_3102_abmessungen.jpg
…how long can one lust after a crappy car without owning it, before it becomes ridiculous?-
Forever. There’s nothing wrong with us.
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http://pics.imcdb.org/0is141/volga013041aa6.4707.jpg
I. Blame. Matt. Damon.
Also, it’s an affordable RWD sedan which I might never experience, so I can live in denial as to if it’s any good.-
That was certainly one of the more breathtaking car chases. I was infected by a local KGB agent in his dark-green-and-chrome 24 when I was a kid. Too young to understand the usual and entirely appropriate physical reaction to the words “KGB agent”.
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Lusting after a crappy car still seems more sensible than owning one. BTW why are all Russian car types names 4 digits? And is there any logic in these numbers?
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Honestly, I’ve never truly understood the GAZ naming convention. But it’s not just four digits. The first model was the 21, later on the 24, including a V8 interceptor beating Mercedes’ and the 21 in promotional drag races. There was the 24-10 and the 3102, but also five and six digit wagons. There’s actually a whole weekend series about these on this very blog – totally worthwhile. Here’s the used car selection by incomprehensible codes:
http://www.autonavigator.ru/cars/used/GAZ/
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Those are durable (I don’t know about reliability), there’s still decades of lusting left in them for you.
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Russian ads often call them “reliable limousine of old”, but there are different ways to perceive reliability.
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Anything available with a front bench seat that won’t be laughed out of post-2000 crash tests, go!
I already looked at all the jellybean-shaped Impalas, they seem competent but boring.-
Full-size pickups?
I think the Avalon had one until recently, too? -
Cadillac DTS? Although it’s kind of marginal in IIHS side impact and head restraint testing (see also Buick Lucerne, although it appears that couldn’t be had with the bench seat and V8). Also, the Panthers do great in front crash testing (although side impact is mediocre).
I assume you want the bench for the sixth seat and this is no help, but even the most recent generation was available with a bench seat in Japan, so presumably one could be sent over to be installed in a US market vehicle.
Or, just embrace the W-body, but make your own with a 3800S/C or LS3? -
My sister has a late model (2010?) 9 passenger Suburban with a front bench.
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My ’05 Dakota has both a front bench [special-ordered that way, w/ my name on the window sticker & all!] and 4 to 5-star crash-test ratings under the system as it was 12 years ago… but its 3-across usefulness in the front seat is in the across-a-small-town or going-to-the-next-farm-field range.
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My Ranger is 3 across… may not meet the crash standards.
And it’s a manual trans which means you’d better be on a first name basis with the passenger in the middle.
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I just found out that a musician named Biff Blumfumgagnge (The Gomers) once worked with a drummer named Sigtryggur Baldursson (The Sugarcubes.)
I haven’t been this anthroponomastically inspirited since a documentary film maker by the name of George Hickenlooper (George Loening Hickenlooper III) made a movie about radio personality Rodney Bingenheimer. This led to cocktail parties where tipsy flim geeks tried to break the ice with a casual, “What did you think of Hickenlooper’s Bingenheimer?”
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