Just for fun. How many vehicles?

General Discussion
81

I have always looked for basic transportation. I should not have purchased the 1955 Pontiac back in 1962. After fighting the engine where the hollow studs supporting the rocker arms kept plugging up and the rocker arms would chirp, I was able to trade the Pontiac with my Dad for his 1954 Buick. He had a 1960 Rambler that had been totaled when it was rear ended by a semi. My dad found a 1960 Rambler at the same dealer where I had purchased the Pontiac. The insurance company obtained a guaranteed price for its Rambler. My Dad said he would take the car, but he wanted to trade in a car. They offered him more for the Pontiac than the Buick, so the dealer got the Pontiac back. This was in 1963.
In the spring of 1965, I thought I wanted a newer car. I had just gotten a job. The Rambler was the stripped 1965 Classic 550 with 7000 miles and had the balance of the warranty. I paid $1750 for the Rambler. I should have waited. That fall, my parents decided to move out of the country into town. The couple that owned the house were moving to Florida and offered to sell me their 1963:Ford Fairlane with 10,000 miles for $1000. The Fairlane was also a strippo–manual transmission and a 6 cylinder engine. Had I waited, I would have just as good a car. Both the Rambler 550 and the Ford Fairlane were intermediate sized cars. I would have been $750 ahead.
In 1969, I found a full sized 1966 Ford Custom 300, a one owner and my wife knew the owner, for $1000 at the Oldsmobile dealer. The car only had 10,000 miles. My Rambler had about 70,000 miles. The reason for the low price on the Ford was that it had the 240 cubic inch 6 cylinder engine and the automatic. The full sized Ford with a 6 cylinder engine wasn’t a very popular car. I should have bought that car and sold the Rambler, but I got cold feet. I took the Ford for a test drive and I thought it was o.k.
I think some of the best buys are a rather unpopular new car when it becomes a late model used car is a good buy if it is one where parts and service are readily available. The 1966 Ford 6 I passed up had the same engine as the base Ford F100 pickup. The 2006 Chevrolet Uplander that I bought as a program vehicle in 2006 for about $16,000 was a great buy. It had 15,000 miles and I got the balance of the warranty. I sold it to my son and it is still running well with over 200,000 miles.

82

46 and counting. Because my memory ain’t what it used to be. 1919 Dodge Brothers to current 2015 Challenger and 2017 Jeep.

83

That would have been a Suzuki:

1500×1000 265 KB

I always liked the Titan:

1024×704 98 KB

84

I’m still on my first car, bought 3 months ago. 1998 Jeep Cherokee. This is my first post here on the Cartalk community. I was introduced to the show at a young age, when my father would listen to it on my family’s big stereo out in the living room, and I would join him in doing so. 15 years later, I’m still listening to the show with him, every saturday, on the PBS website. Didn’t know the Cartalk community existed until today, so I made an account the moment I figured out!
Thanks, Trainman05/Matthew B.

7 Likes
85

I’ve only owned 2 cars in my life. The 1st 1994 Mazda Progee which I had over 6 months until a person totaled it with a caddy,which her caddy wasn’t even had a big dent. My one I have now is a 94 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme S 3.1lt which is the hardest car to get parts for

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86

I’m 72, and started driving in ~1962~. So,

  1. I have owned only fourteen cars. Some cars lasted 10 years.

  2. My two favorites were:
    1967 Dodge Coronet 440 with a 427 and a 4-barrel carburetor.
    2001 Toyota Avalon XLS, so quiet and comfortable, just the opposite

  3. Strangest: 1974 (maybe) AMC Sportabout hatchback. The family went down to the end of Cape Cod, Provincetown, Massachusetts, where we stopped for dinner. I took the key out of the ignition but did the engine stop? Another time the hinges for the hatchback broke.

  4. First legally registered vehicle: 1960 black Ford Falcon with a stick.