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Thread: Your first daily-driven beater

  1. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by 2of9 View Post
    wow, almost 11 years ago already! A 92' Galant VR4. Survived through my college years and my 'hoonigan' days. It was seriously one of the most reliable cars I've had. Only went through 1 alternator. I regret selling it to this day. Now, these are just super rare, especially in mint condition and the price of these, in excellent condition, has sky rocketed.
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    Is that down on university someplace?



  2. #12
    Still Plays With Cars Loren's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pryme View Post
    First car was a 1980 Chevrolet Monza. Not the V8, but the 4cyl. It was very rusted out underneath if you lifted the rear floor mats you could see the road.
    My second car (technically, my third... I had a second Maverick for a very short time) was a 1978 Monza with the Iron Duke and 5-speed. Had a lot of good times in that car! Tried to teach my girlfriend to drive stick in it. (she was 15, I was 17... we're married now, BTW) She lived out in the sticks, and we did okay on the highway... got into town, and she stalled it 3 times trying to leave the first stop sign. When she finally got it going, she chug-chug-chugged right out in front of a 1981 Oldsmobile. That was the end of my Monza!
    Simplify and add lightness.

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    Senior Member DonkeyPal's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Loren View Post
    . . . . It had an engine that would burn a quart of oil every 200 miles when I bought it... and that got as bad as about a quart in 50 miles before I had some friends at school rebuilt the engine. . . . ..
    That reminds me of older my brother's first car, a '55 Ford sedan. Back before self-serve fueling, he used to pull into a filling station and ask the attendant to "check the gas and fill it up with oil."

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        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage DE 1.2 automatic: 43.0 mpg (US) ... 18.3 km/L ... 5.5 L/100 km ... 51.7 mpg (Imp)


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    Quote Originally Posted by Loren View Post
    My second car (technically, my third... I had a second Maverick for a very short time) was a 1978 Monza with the Iron Duke and 5-speed. Had a lot of good times in that car! Tried to teach my girlfriend to drive stick in it. (she was 15, I was 17... we're married now, BTW) She lived out in the sticks, and we did okay on the highway... got into town, and she stalled it 3 times trying to leave the first stop sign. When she finally got it going, she chug-chug-chugged right out in front of a 1981 Oldsmobile. That was the end of my Monza!
    That's awesome you had one too. Mine was an auto so it was slow. I was racing a buddy who had an olds ciera and I actually was half a car ahead but there was snow on the road and when my car slammed into the next gear it broke the rear end loose and slid into the front of my friends ciera and rebounded the other way and ended up nicely landing against a snow bank covered curb. Tiny dent on each car, we shrugged and went about our day lol

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    Quote Originally Posted by Subcompact Culture View Post
    Here's a geeky-ass me in 1996 with my first car, a 1992 Mitsubishi Expo LRV, on the way to college. It was a FWD with the 1.8-liter and 5MT. Super practical. I want another one and would love to do the 4G63 swap.
    I never owned a Mitsubishi Expo LRV, but I thought they were neat vehicles. The Nissan Stanza Wagon with its dual sliding rear doors was also an interesting design. They appeared to be very comfortable and practical vehicles. Personally, I think there could be a market for these type of vehicle again? In a way, these cars were the crossover vehicles of their day.
    Last edited by Mark; 05-02-2019 at 03:20 AM.

  7. #16
    Still Plays With Cars Loren's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DonkeyPal View Post
    That reminds me of older my brother's first car, a '55 Ford sedan. Back before self-serve fueling, he used to pull into a filling station and ask the attendant to "check the gas and fill it up with oil."
    I did have to stop for oil more frequently than gas toward the end before the engine rebuild! I kept two quarts (cans, thank you very much) under the hood along with an oil spout wrapped in a rag. Bought the cheapest oil possible from wherever I happened to be.

    Had anti-foul spark plug extenders on I think 4 of the 6 plugs. I didn't realize it at the time, but it's pretty amazing that the engine even ran.

    Simplify and add lightness.

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    Senior Member MacClyver's Avatar
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    My "first" car was a 98 V6 Malibu which was a hand me down from my parents. It had been the main car I learned to drive on, and then in 2013 my mom got a new car and it was solely for my use. Now having to pay for gas was not fun. Tried to learn hypermiling but it wasn't conducive to good mileage, high 20's was it.

    I then bought a 95 Metro a week before I turned 20, the first car I'd ever owned, and still do.


  9. #18
    Hubcap Enthusiast Scratchpaddy's Avatar
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    I didn't get my own car until college. I worked at a body shop on the weekends, and the owner helped me into a 2003 Cavalier, bought at auction and needing only minor repairs.



    It was as nice as a Cavalier gets, with shiny alloy wheels, sunroof, and factory body kit. It was honestly a great car, especially for a first car. I only had it for three months before somebody talking on the phone made a left turn in front of me without looking. Both cars were beyond repair after that. I had the car for such a short time, I never got a picture of it in one piece.


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    I don't think of my first car as being my "beater car", but it wasn't necessarily a prized possession either. I didn't own my own car until the start of my junior year of college (1983). Even back then, I wanted two things in a car (hatchback/small wagon & manual transmission). Since my dad was a GM guy his entire life (his first five cars were all Impalas), I was sort of drawn to the Chevy Chevette at first.

    When it was crunch time to buy a used car, a 1978 Honda Civic Wagon CVCC (dark brown with a tan interior) with 60,000 miles caught my attention. It's 1488 cc engine had a whopping 63 horsepower. It's the only car that I ever owned that had a hand choke. There were some features on that car that I still remember and like to this day. The rear seat folded down in such a way that it created a very large, flat, firm, useable space. Even the rear window cranks had spring loaded knobs that folded out of the way when not used. Front dashes were more unique back then, but the addition of air bags has changed all that for every modern day car now.

    Times have changed for sure! A 2019 Honda Fit's 1.5 liter engine (manual) cranks out 130 hp. 40 years ago that same size engine had less than half that much.

  11. #20
    Senior Member Dirk Diggler's Avatar
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    I had an 86 Jeep Comanche RWD. It had 110k miles on it and rusted out floor boards total piece of crap. Paid $700 bucks and it didnt even get 6 months out of it before the tranny blew. Last time I owned a Jeep. Proceeded to get a 1989 Honda Civic that I beat to death delivering pizzas in college. The hood on that Civic flew up on me on a highway almost killing me. I had to bungie cord it down and left it like that for 3 years. Also, at the time, didnt realize cars needed oil and completely let it run dry turn it blew up on me on my way back home. Fun times.



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