The 100 millionth Ford, built in the Mahwah, NJ plant near my old stomping grounds. The last car built at that plant was a 1980 Fairmont Z-7, ultra rare with a 351 and 4-speed. I understand that car is still around somewhere.
Posted on 06/15/2016 5:30:44 PM PDT by mdittmar
So,what rust bucket car should I buy?
It's gotta be cheap,it's gotta be running.
I need a truck,love El Caminos,then again I could buy a cheap truck that runs and get a 68 Camaro,then I watched the original "Gone In 60 Seconds" from 1974 and I like the fake Mach 1.
It has to be a manual not automatic.
In 59 the Chveys with the 283 had a Vee emblem on the grille. My dad’s Impala had a 348, so it had the Vee emblem with the crossed racing flags. 1960 and 61 had similar emblems, also on the trunk lid, the engine emblems were placed on the front fenders from 62-70
The 2003-on Crown Vic/Marquis front suspension and power rack & pinion steering in a mid-'60s F-100 is a pretty neat trick. If you want to know more about Mustangs, go to the home page at that link, and find the "FYI Ford" forum link. Lots of tech knowledge and discussion there.
Keep in mind that in terms of sheet metal repair, rust is more easily dealt with in body-on-frame cars. Rusty unibodies get into structural repair costs that can kill a project. Trucks are easy to work on, in general.
My wife and I had our first date in the back seat of a 73 Vega. My friend and her best friend were in the front.
We saw “The Godfather” and got in mild trouble because the movie was long and we got back to the Summer Retreat where we worked after curfew.
I had to see the manager the next day but he was really nice about it. It was a Southern Baptist retreat and they were more strict back then.
Saw a few AMX’s when I was a kid here in Brewster. They were rare even when they were in production.
Saw an old Hornet SC360 about 8 years ago, but it was a mess.
I had a Hornet with a 304 in the early 80’s. Blue with a white “Starsky and Hutch” stripe on it.
Man that thing flew. Friend had a Jeep CJ (AMC) with a 401 in it. Very dangerous vehicle. (grin)
I remember those.
I once beat a 58 Chevy with a 348 and a four barrel with Daddy’s 65 Rambler which had a 287 with a two barrel.
That was on a Saturday and the next Monday it was all over school that I had beat him with a Rambler.
Had a 69 Coronet 318 wagon back in ‘82. Paid 1 dollar for it.
Great for hauling firewood. Hit the highway on ramp and stomp on it. I was running with a Porsche one day in the fast lane. Guy looked over laughing his ass off, gave me the thumbs up and took off like a rocket.
Fire truck t-boned it and I sold it off for parts.
“My brother had a Grenada with a 302, 3 in the floor.”
My dad bought a brand new one in ‘75 first year they came out.
Heavy car for the size but rode well. A little heavy on the gas too.
YES!
That and a ‘64 Galaxie two door.
Aloonimin bumper
What killed Rambler in the 60’s was build quality and what a PITA it was getting parts for them. My dad had a 68 American, the day he drove it off the lot the turn signal switch fell apart and the right front window mechanism jammed when I tried to roll it down, and it was downhill from there.
I had a 71 Mach 1. Got it when it was 3 yrs old. by 76 it was showing rust
Spring of 75, my 12 yr old brother smashed the farm pickup truck into a concrete draft horse water trough. While it was in the shop, my Mach 1 became the pickup during the day, going up and down the gravel roads to and from the various farm related jobs. I had to wash it every night before heading to town to impress the chicks. LOL
I don’t recall Daddy’s 65 Rambler ever giving any trouble and I drove the heck out of it. I think by 1965 Rambler was beginning to fade tho for a short time around 1960 they passed Chrysler as the third largest manufacturer.
Funny thing is my odyssey flat out hauls ass when I nail the pedal to the floor. 205k miles and still runs like a raped a_e. I’ll run it till the wheels fall off. Or the transmission gives out.
My Mach 1 had the 351 Cleveland; one night about 2 a.m. I took it out on I 465 to see what it could do. Back then 465 at 2 a.m. was three lanes of empty asphalt. I got it up about 115 or 120, and the tach showed it had a lot more to give. But the aero and steering were so bad it was drifting across the lanes and that was good enough for me so I backed it off. While it was showing some rust, I was gonna keep it. Unfortunately the Chicago criminal element had other plans. Stolen June 23 1984, four weks later I got a call from Chicago PD that they’d found the frame.
Just don’t get electronic ignition...so your car can be one of the few that survives an EMP.
Depending on the year, you may have done very well to get that many miles out of a Honda slushbox, and/or it may already be living on borrowed time.
A couple years ago when I was oooking for another car for my wife, I ruled out anything by Honda because she can’t drive a stick and in the price range I was looking every Honda I found fell into the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, where their automatics were especially trouble-prone (and she didn’t want a Honda anyway, because they’re “soulless”). But I still vividly remember this conversation:
Wife: What do you think of Acuras?
Me: Acuras are Hondas.
Wife: But they’re Hondas with style.
Me: And they have the same crappy transmissions as Hondas without style. I’m not buying you one.
I wound up buying her a W210 Mercedes. So far it’s been a pretty good car.
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