...and really enjoyed getting rid of...... For me, the danged only NEW car I ever bought - a 1979 Mercury Monarch (Grenada clone). Only time I ever bowed to another person (Father) and let him choose my car - I detested that over-weight, under-powered soft-sprung POS literally from the day I got it. I had just given up my beloved AMC's...... This monstrosity turned me off FORDS for decades - I still have never bought another. In the first year, the window crank rails (made of PLASTIC!) broke, and the AC never worked (NEVER buy a car in January without testing the AC)! Paid $640 for the 'extended warranty' which apparently covered nothing. A weekend camping trip, carrying a couple buddies and a moderate load of gear- the rear springs were about bottomed out! Acceleration like a loaded logtruck. Six banger engine gave about 14MPG at best. "87 Thundering Horse Power" I told people. The ONLY time it redeemed itself was one day driving onto Great Lakes Naval Base, it had rained - a LOT. The underpass at the gate was under two feet of water, an officer's Mercedes was stuck drowned in the middle, and other cars weren't moving. I HAD to make muster in twenty minutes - "In for a penny, in for a pound!", so the mighty Monarch plows into the surf, pushing a huge bow wave over it's high blocky hood - water halfway up my doors! I motored right through like a bloody evenrude, getting a nasty look from the Mercedes-driving officer...! Bwahahaha!! But I made muster! But once I could get a bit more for it than I owed, I traded it in on my '75 Firebird, that I drove the crap out of for eight years!
A'77 GMC Sierra half ton stepside( LOVED THE LOOKS) HATED DRIVING IT a slow revving straight six( looked ridiculous,you could literally crawl into the engine compartment sit on one side of the block and close the hood) mated to a manual cast iron cased saginaw3speed transmission. "3 on the tree" shifting, dump-truck like clutch pedal, manual steering.it was like driving a dump truck. nearly kilt' me,went to change the the throwout bearing like my old aluminum muncie 4speed, slid under the tranny pulled all the bolts out and bench pressed it back; out and then eased it down to my chest: ACCK! GACK! WHEEZ holy SHEIT!... ER.... HELP! IT WAS SIGNIFICANTLY HEAVIER THAN I EXPECTED , MANAGED TO ROLL IT OFF ME TO THE SIDE AND ESCAPE. RENTED A TRANSMISSION JACK TO PUT IT BACK IN.
77 Plymouth Volare. First car hand-me-down as a teenager. Inherited it with literally a CUP of oil in the crankcase - THANKS MOM. Straight/slant 6 dunno - some kinda cr*ppy motor. Got 12 mpg no matter what. Trunk - big enough for a pillow maybe. Locks never worked so it stayed unlocked. Never much risk in that - even in the worst neighborhood. Funny thing was the carb. No one could ever figure out what was wrong with it, but you couldn't just press on the gas... No. You had to diddle the pedal 'cause if you opened it up to fast it would choke and stall. Took my girl out one night and the alternator started wheezing in a snow storm barely got it out of the big city. About 5 blocks from her house it died. I was p*ssed and had a bit of a buzz so I keyed "RIP" on the hood and took the plate off and walked home. Next day, my uncle convinced me to go get it and get it fixed. Yup. I drove it for another year with RIP carved into the hood. Ended up giving it to said uncle who sold it for $600! At least someone got something out of that POS.
'77 VW Rabbit. Couldn't wait to get rid of that piece of crap car that died on me more times than I care to remember. Drove nice, just constantly broke down on me. Bought it brand new. Said I'd never own another VW, haven't yet, don't plan to any time soon. Mostly I've owned Fords, a few Dodges one Mercury, one AMC, had most of the Fords ten years or more, except the two I own now, they date as '03s. Got a used '06 Honda van about a year ago, we call it the grandparent vehicle. Good for hauling the whole family when we want to all go someplace.
'59 Nash Rambler. My father thought it would be a good trainer. Slow, thirsty, and the heater dumped all the hot air on the accelerator foot, no place else. Drove it several hundred miles in a winter storm, and cooked my foot. When I got home and took off my shoe, my foot doubled in size and looked like a half done pot roast. (But the back seat was cavernous.)
2001 Subaru Outback. Looked like a car, drove like a truck. The AWD would kick in and the ass end would slide out. I had to literally let off the gas as I felt the car slip, before the AWD kicked in, and spun the ass end out so I could stay straight. I'll never buy another subaru. I own two Mitsubishi's now.. best cars I've ever owned.
'80 Chevy Chevette. It was my second car, I drove it until '91 when the frame rusted out. When you opened the doors the back side would drop about an inch. The floor board under the drivers feet also rusted through, made it nice to get rid of garbage BTW, when I had the car I was living in MN.
