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Thread: Your first daily-driven beater

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    Your first daily-driven beater

    Prior to your Mitsubishi Mirage/G4/Attrage you're currently driving, what was your first daily-driven beater back in the good old days of yesteryear?



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    Moderator inuvik's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jtr990 View Post
    Prior to your Mitsubishi Mirage/G4/Attrage you're currently driving, what was your first daily-driven beater back in the good old days of yesteryear?
    1964 Ford F-150. Straight six with 4 speed on the floor with a compound low 1st gear. Literally 5 mph @ 3000 rpm. Always used second gear to start from a stop unless carrying or towing a bunch of weight.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 automatic: 40.5 mpg (US) ... 17.2 km/L ... 5.8 L/100 km ... 48.6 mpg (Imp)


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    Senior Member Dodge Aries K's Avatar
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    My fourth car (first car after getting my license) was a 1986 Dodge Aries K base model sedan. Gold paint, tan vinyl bench seat interior, and a noisy 2.2L throttle body injected four cylinder with a wide ratio 3 speed automatic. It was slow but it worked. I still love those old K cars to this day.
    -Karl B. No Mirages currently...

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    My first car was a nine year old 1959 Opel Olympia Record. It had 6 volts and a three speed MT with the gear lever behind the steering wheel.
    https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opel_Rekord_P1
    It was so rusty, that when I jacked up a front wheel to replace a flat tyre, the front crunched upwards and the windshield broke...

    Looking back today, the Mirage is probably my fourty or fiftyish car. With high European fuel prices intended to make us save CO2, this sort of car is very common in these parts. Current fuel price is around €1.60 per Litre, or US$ 6.83 per gallon.
    Last edited by foama; 05-01-2019 at 08:48 AM.

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    Moderator Eggman's Avatar
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    I'll just quote my post from my introductory thread.

    Quote Originally Posted by Eggman View Post
    In 1983, I pieced together a 1976 Dodge Colt station wagon. The previous owner neglected the oil changes, and sold it to me with a seized engine. The body was a bit rough, but usable. It was blue with woodgrain.

    For a parts car I bought a Plymouth Arrow whose strut towers had rusted out. The Arrow cost more than the Colt. I pulled the 2000cc engine out of the Colt and put in the 1600cc engine from the Arrow, and I had my first car. Fun times and freedom. I put a lot of interstate miles on it before I sold it out of fear that it's strut towers were about to rust out.
    That station wagon had the Estate package.

    Compared to that, drivers (and reviewers) today don't know how good they got it.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 49.6 mpg (US) ... 21.1 km/L ... 4.7 L/100 km ... 59.5 mpg (Imp)


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    Senior Member DonkeyPal's Avatar
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    The '64 Ford Galaxie 500 my dad got for me to use to get to my summer factory job when I was in college was the most beater-like car I drove a lot, also the first one I did any work on:
    --replacing the exhaust manifold gaskets
    --installing a manual choke
    --replacing the fuel tank
    --doing some body work
    Dad bought it for $200, and four years later he sold it for $250.

        __________________________________________

        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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    Still Plays With Cars Loren's Avatar
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    My first car I bought in 1983 when I was 15. It was a worn-out 1973 Ford Maverick that I bought for $200. (equivalent to probably a $5-600 today) Way too many miles on it, and I believe I was the third teenager to own it. It had been beaten to death on dirt roads and the front suspension was completely worn out. It would chew up a pair of front tires in about 500 miles. I fed it a steady diet of used tires until I had the front end rebuilt. 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.

    Being an old Ford, it went through a couple starters and alternators for no apparent reason... otherwise, it was fairly reliable!

    After doing all that work to it... I then crashed it. Twice.
    Attached Images Attached Images   
    Simplify and add lightness.

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    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.

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    Senior Member Subcompact Culture's Avatar
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    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.

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    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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        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage DE 1.2 manual: 43.4 mpg (US) ... 18.5 km/L ... 5.4 L/100 km ... 52.2 mpg (Imp)


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