G
Guest
Guest
A Brad post got me thinking about beater cars of my past.
So this is not completely off topic I’ll offer than I have carried a canoe on every car I’ve ever owned, including my first vehicle – a Fiat 850 Spider convertible (put the top down and put a suction cup roof rack on the rear engine boot).
https://www.google.com/search?q=fia...ww.bertone.it%2Fcento%2Fcentouk.htm;7260;5268
Bought used, and very cheap at that. I came to believe that it had likely been drowned in Hurricane Agnes. Lots of the electrical stuff didn’t work, including the heater. The seats eventually rusted loose from the floor brackets, which was bad enough (one thing the Spider would do was corner like it was on rails), but in addition the passenger side door would occasionally fly open. Wearing the lap belt was mandatory.
The side windows had a tendency to shatter if you shut the door too hard, so eventually it did without windows.
Towards the end the wipers ceased to function. I was dirt poor and had just started working on a snow removal crew. Driving to work, no heater and no wipers was no fun, but having no windows allowed me to stick my arm out of the car and swipe a squeegee across the windshield.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who owned a hooptie. The ’68 Chrysler Newport was another POS vehicle that hadn’t aged well.
https://www.google.com/search?q=chr...Chrysler_Newport_Custom_photo-9.JPG;3059;2303
Let’s hear about ‘em.
Our Dad handed down to his sons cars that should've been towed to the scrapyard. Instead, they became our means of youthful escape...provided we always carried jumper cables, wore sensible walking shoes, and enjoyed a weird sense of humour. It's funny how the memory plays tricks. Dents become dimples, rust is remembered as rosy blushes, and "prone to stalling" is now fondly called "prone to forgetting to idle". One car I/we drove had a rusted out rear end, which mean't we had to keep the trunk lid closed or the whole back end would bottom out. If luggage had to be tossed in the trunk, we just jacked up the rear until we could get the trunk lid closed again...no problem. Another leaked exhaust fumes so bad, my brother drove with windows down, and kept a running conversation with any backseat occupants, "just to make sure they were still conscious".
So this is not completely off topic I’ll offer than I have carried a canoe on every car I’ve ever owned, including my first vehicle – a Fiat 850 Spider convertible (put the top down and put a suction cup roof rack on the rear engine boot).
https://www.google.com/search?q=fia...ww.bertone.it%2Fcento%2Fcentouk.htm;7260;5268
Bought used, and very cheap at that. I came to believe that it had likely been drowned in Hurricane Agnes. Lots of the electrical stuff didn’t work, including the heater. The seats eventually rusted loose from the floor brackets, which was bad enough (one thing the Spider would do was corner like it was on rails), but in addition the passenger side door would occasionally fly open. Wearing the lap belt was mandatory.
The side windows had a tendency to shatter if you shut the door too hard, so eventually it did without windows.
Towards the end the wipers ceased to function. I was dirt poor and had just started working on a snow removal crew. Driving to work, no heater and no wipers was no fun, but having no windows allowed me to stick my arm out of the car and swipe a squeegee across the windshield.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who owned a hooptie. The ’68 Chrysler Newport was another POS vehicle that hadn’t aged well.
https://www.google.com/search?q=chr...Chrysler_Newport_Custom_photo-9.JPG;3059;2303
Let’s hear about ‘em.