Car stories
7Over on the Baaaahd Goat thread, a bunch of us started replying to a blame comment I wrote involving my car. Others chimed in with their own car stories and off(-topic) it went. I created this thread to have a place to exchange stories about cars we’ve owned, driven, fixed, etc. So put your foot on the proverbial gas pedal and let’s go!
- 9 comments, 31 replies
- Comment
It was a dark and stormy afternoon. The rain hadn’t quite gotten to what I would have called pouring, but it was steady and a lot more than a drizzle. The starter on my 1965 Chevy Biscayne had given up on me and I had to have the car running the next day. I’d even bought another starter. Now to set the scene…
I was a college student in those days, renting the ground floor of a triple decker with two other students. We were typical engineering students: disorganized (messy) and into our geeky hobbies (electronics mostly, especially stereos and ham radio). The young couple upstairs didn’t appreciate our loud stereo; one or the other of them had come down to complain a couple of times. We didn’t appreciate that they had the only thermostat in the house and apparently liked a rather cool apartment. We all didn’t get along very well.
Back to the rain and the car… I knew what had to be done. I put on my most worn out clothes, gathered my tools, and went out into the rain to crawl under the car and get to work. After a few minutes, I heard arguing near the back door. I emerged from under the car and walked over. There I was soaking wet, greasy and dirty. The guy upstairs was there to complain about our loud stereo. I was in a foul mood after struggling under the car in the rain. I let him have it about his complaining. Oh, I forgot to mention that I had a rather large wrench in my hand. I didn’t intend to do any harm, but maybe he didn’t see it that way. I don’t remember him ever complaining about the stereo again.
@ItalianScallion Just listen to the ol’ “Porkchop Express” and take his advice on a dark and stormy… afternoon?
JB
@ItalianScallion @kuoh the moment you said
I could see where this could be going.
Don’t ever mess with people on big trucks or heavy equipment; they got the 3/4” drive ratchets and 2” wrenches that weigh more than your cat/dog.
@kuoh Nah, it was an ordinary sized wrench, probably a combination one like you said, @pmarin. And it was my old (1972?) Chevy Impala I was working on. Much nicer than the '65 Chevy Biscayne I had before it, but more beat up that I thought it was when I bought it.
/showme menacing dirty car mechanic in the rain with loud music and big wrench
Yeah, that was pretty much it except for the car being half in garage and the Arabic text. And thanks for nothing, @mediocrebot. Now you got me wondering what it means, so I’m gonna have to find my notebooks from Arabic class even though I have other things to do…
@ItalianScallion @mediocrebot That’s a very large wrench.
And I wonder why he’s an Arab mechanic?
@ItalianScallion @mediocrebot @Kyeh either way you are on some kind of watchlist now.
Wonder how the agents will deal with @mediocrebot, it seems to be problematic…
Only car story I got
Back in the day, when my folks decided to spring for my first car (so I would come visit)
Went shopping with my dad. There was this awesome T Bird Convertible. Kinda of a burnt orange (and yes, I remember even though we are talking 1974.) The same price at the dealer next door there was a Dodge Polara (back then it is what the CHP drove)
Needless to say, I drove off in the tank, not the hot car.
We remember these things.
Had I got the T Bird, I could have sold it a few years later for 10x what it was bought it for. Seriously.
KRULL! A SKULL! BRETT HULL! AWESOME!
@Cerridwyn I’m so sorry they were being cautious instead of fun. But looking at it another way I will share my story. My dad asked me what I wanted (used of course) for my first car. I shot for the moon! I said either a yellow MG or a yellow Conv Mustang or a yellow conv Mercedes. Never dreamed I’d get anything except a ford fiesta or similar. And that would have been great too! But dad found an MG in yellow in his low price range and bought it for me. If anyone knows about MG’s, don’t worry he was mechanically inclined. He kept that thing running like a top for me until I had a car accident in it and came very close to death/paralysis. I’m not sure he ever forgave himself for letting me have such a sporty car. It changed the entire trajectory of my life. I was a senior in high school when it happened, the day after Christmas.
They probably wanted to get you that t-bird but had too many “what if” thoughts.
So being cautious with your childs life could be seen as an amazing act of love.
A CHP type vehicle sounds like it could be cool too! Lots of room for friends!
I never listen to what cars say. They lie a lot.
@rockblossom Yeah like saying “check engine” and they just wanted a bit of attention.
This was my first car (1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1):
It didn’t look like this when I got it (at 17!) - it was originally a dark olive green metallic, no fancy wheels and tires, a few dents and scratches, etc., but I gradually fixed it up and painted it. Under the hood was a 428 Cobra Jet V8, feeding a 4 speed manual transmission and limited slip rear end. It eventually got a bunch of upgrades, including a heavy duty clutch, performance cam and a 3x2bbl manifold and carb setup. And, of course, a new paint job. I had a lot of fun with that car! I wish I had never sold it, but oh well…
@macromeh I commiserate. We all wish we’d never sold our Mustangs. My Dad sold our fastback (metallic blue, dark, beautiful, perfect) to a Captain for his son. Dude totaled it within two weeks of ownership. My Dad almost cried when he found out.
Oh, ghods. On the one hand, I’ve got car stories, lots of them, both from my days as a professional in the car parts and wrench-turning trades, and from many decades of operation and repair of personal and friends’ vehicles. On the other hand, I find myself reluctant to say much online these days, and I don’t recall which of the tales may have already been related in a prior thread.
I think I’m going to lurk.
@werehatrack I usually lurk too. But I’m the goat this month so I figure it behooves me to participate.
@milstarr @werehatrack No concerns with it either way, lurking or joining. We are all here for you (I feel like I am at a meeting of some kind).
@milstarr @pmarin Lately, >95% of what I compose and get ready to post gets deleted.
@milstarr @pmarin @werehatrack Sometimes just putting things in writing is enough.
Regrets? Oh that might be another thread. Things we got rid of as near-scrap cars that are now super-collectible. And worth a lot. But to be clear, that’s not easy to maintain. For many you need a 40-car garage and a staff of mechanics like Jay Leno has.
Of course if I had that, I would love to have
Oh, that bank of old vintage VDO gauges was a beauty to behold. Sacrilege to make it electronic. Especially for $150K.
My mother had a Karmann-Ghia she ordered from the factory. She picked it up in Germany but I was very young at the time. Used for about 25 years,once it was shipped back here. We drove a lot in it including her teaching me how to drive a stickshift. A skill I hope some people get back.
@pmarin My dad taught me to drive his old Dodge pickup with a stick shift when I was 12. He wanted me to be able to drive out if necessary when we went hunting in remote areas. I made sure that all my (4) kids could drive a stick shift. One daughter still drives a car with a manual 5 speed.
@pmarin forgot to mention, the hot leaking oil was a “feature” in those days.
@macromeh @pmarin When I got my drivers license in the early 70s in R.I., you “had” to take the driving test on a car with a manual transmission. I put “had” in quotes because you could take it on a car with an automatic transmission, but then your license was restricted to driving only cars with an automatic. Of course in those days, an automatic transmission was a fairly pricey option ($300+ dollars), so there were still lots of manuals around, many of which had the shift lever on the steering column. Now these days, in Mass. at least, you must take the driving test in an automatic.
@ItalianScallion At least Texas allows taking the non-motorcycle driving test in whatever street-legal thing with four wheels and a passenger seat you please. I have no idea how they handle the motorcycle proficiency test when somebody shows up with a Polaris Slingshot.
@pmarin Still have the 1970 Datsun 260. Will never get rid of it. Only has 88k original miles. Pretty much stopped driving the death trap when I had my son. But now he begs to drive it. He, as did his father and me, learned to drive with a manual transmission. He still drives the manual Audi that he learned on. I think everyone should at least know how to drive one but it’s just too easy these days to have an automatic car.
@milstarr @pmarin I look at it the opposite way: it’s too hard these days to have a car with a manual transmission. There weren’t a whole lot of cars with manuals being sold last year and even fewer in 2025. This is why I ended up with a 2024 Mini Cooper instead of a new one: no more manual Minis in the US as of 2025. Yeah, it would be nice if everyone could drive a manual just in case, but manuals are fewer and far between so maybe it isn’t that big of a deal anymore.
@ItalianScallion @pmarin Probably not that big of a deal anymore is true. Manuals are going the way of cursive writing. The Dodo bird already went that way and says it’s not fun. Just another lost art.
@ItalianScallion @milstarr @pmarin When I was younger I insisted on having a manual transmission.
Now I am older and lazier, plus the newer autos are much better than they used to be.
My Mazda sedan has a 6-speed computer-controlled auto that seems to (nearly) always be in just the right gear for the immediate situation. It also has a manual shift mode, but after playing with it for a while initially, I rarely ever use it. My Toyota hybrid SUV has a new(ish)-generation CVT that uses a magical planetary gear mechanism to do its thing (and quite well at that - no more squishy centrifugal pulleys+rubber band transmission!). I don’t really expect an SUV (basically the modern-day station wagon) to be all that sporty anyway.
JMHO
@macromeh @milstarr @pmarin I get it. The last car I had with an automatic was a big for van in the early '80s. I thought this time might be my first automatic in all that time until I found the Mini I ended up buying. My second choice would have been a 2025 Subaru, although they’re using a CVT that many owners have reported shuddering, stalling, and fluid leaks with it.
@ItalianScallion @macromeh @pmarin I definitely get it too. I don’t drive a manual now unless I’m in the z or the S-2000. Both rarely. My everyday driver is an EV. As I told my son, the older I get the more I want cush. My knees are too creaky to be driving a manual every day.
@ItalianScallion @macromeh @milstarr @pmarin I have only ever driven a stick shift, except for a rental car I had once, and a friend’s car once (which I had a heck of a time figuring out!)
@ItalianScallion @Kyeh @macromeh @milstarr @pmarin Late last year, a friend offered to sell me his Scion xB because he could no longer drive it. He’d lost his left foot, and the xB has a manual transmission.
I now refer to it as my emotional support stickshift. Its name is DriveBox. I can haz clutch pedal again! Wheeee!
@werehatrack That’s so sad about his foot.
@milstarr Yeah, it was (and is), and I’ve been seeing way too much of that lately. Peripheral neuropathy resulting in undetected sepsis that only gets diagnosed when it’s already too late. He had apparently been diagnosed diabetic several years ago, and had already lost some feeling in each foot at that point; he ought to have been more vigilant, but this is something that is allowed to slide far more often than it should. This past year, two people I know lost a foot, and one succumbed to his fifth bout of sepsis after prior episodes had cost him both feet and then a leg. You’d think that one would be enough of a wake-up call, but sometimes it isn’t. (And my PCP gets all righteous with me when my LDL hits 127. But the treatment was worse than the possible effects of ignoring it, as far as I’m concerned, so I will be employing other measures.)
@milstarr @werehatrack random rants:
I had a cardiologist that told me don’t worry about LDL anymore. Funny how that changed.
Automatic transmissions are way better than they used to be. My truck has the 6-speed Allison I think, and you can manually shift from a column button. I used that sometimes going into curves and hills, but mostly learned it knows what it’s doing, leave it alone.
We inherited a VW Jetta with Auto I think it might be a 6-speed Auto and in sport mode you can manually shift. Haven’t figured out it just seems to work; my wife drives it like we used to drive Porsches. We drove across town yesterday and I was wishing for something better than the shoulder belt — maybe a 5-point harness. On a positive note it has Fahrvergnügen, even with the auto.
EV doesn’t care just give me power, I will do it for you.
The F in FSD stands for Fucked, no?
@narfcake That must be Tesla’s new and improved AutoDrunkPilot feature.
1971 Dodge Challenger. Just a 318 engine, automatic, not an R/T; I bought it in 1980. It had been repainted and looked great other than a cracked dashpad and well worn upholstery (Nevada sun will do that). I found out a year later the repaint was crap and covered up too much bondo in the front right fender, which coincidentally a beer delivery truck later crunched in a parking lot. That was my daily driver in college and for the first couple years of work until a core plug started leaking (rear of engine block) shortly after I lost the only place I could work on it.
Fortunately my uncle had a huge back lot and shop and let me park it there for years after I moved. Eventually got it shipped to ill-annoy where I am now. Its still not running and due to shitty chicago size too small two car garages its difficult to work on, but its my re-awakened weekend and soon retirement hobby to get it going again. Fortunately it has very little rust that will need dealing with but that beer truck did a number on the front bumper and hood too so I need to replace them. I did pick up an NOS hood and fender back then but the hood got stolen from storage.
So yes, I still have my first car. I regret selling the second one (1973 Dodge Dart Swinger, green-green slant six), still miss the third and fourth, and on my fifth car now.