What car did you own, and would give anything to have back

[Evan Smith]

My first car, a '71 GTO, 400, 4-speed. Manual steering, drum brakes, what a thrill to drive.

[MWNorris]

Originally Posted by jdee1212

I have two

70 1/2 Baldwin/ Motion Camaro L-88 4 speed
73 Trans Am 455 SD

Sold the camaro in 74 for $1500 with no motor to buy a 69 firebird stocker Who knew?

Joey Dee

Joey, I Still have my 73 Super Duty. 2nd owner since '78, paid best friend $2500 after he spun rod bearing street racing, got mad, and drove it home. Oh yea, has column shift auto (no console)
The pic is circa 78 also, lol., cut a hole in ceiling of my Mom's garage to hang chain hoist, LOL Dad wasn't happy!!!

[Doug Blackley]

Had two that I wished I still had. 68 Camaro conv that I never really finished but built a few different 350's for it. Had a 'glide but swapped over to a Muncie M22 which certainly made for some "spirited" driving with manual steering and manual 4 wheel drums. The other I regret doing what I did to it was a 69 Chevelle SS396/325 4 speed hardtop. Paid 800 for it to use as a winter car and ended up parting it out. Put the 396 in the Camaro for a while and put the 12 bolt under it also. Interesting thing was that the Chevelle rear was a bit wider than the Camaro rear and that allowed me to put a pair of N50/15's mounted on a standard pair of Cragar SS wheels instead of the reversed ones I had to use before. Will say that running D70-14's up front and the N50's out back made for some hair raising stops. Last motor I had in it was a 060 over 350 with a pair of 660 center shooters on a tunnel ram that ran very strong. Couldn't stop or turn too good but was sure a blast to drive. The end of the Camaro is still a sore subject though and a validation of never questioning your instincts.

[GarysZ24]

Well I bet I'll shock a bunch of guys here but I have three cars, that no one would imagine me ever owning since I race a fwd Cavalier:

1. '66 Chevy II, with a 283 and a powerglide. I found a Rochester 4GC carb, and would've made it into an eventual K-M/SA if I'd have kept it. But I didn't have the heart to have to use it as a daily driver, and didn't have the bucks to buy something else for a street vehicle.

2. '67 Chevelle, also with a 283 and 'glide, with a 2bbl carb on it. I bought a 327, and some pieces that should've hopped it up, but instead of having someone like "Verle Stevens" build it, I ended up going to a shade tree mechanic that worked on my '73 Div. 5 Street ET winning Pontiac Ventura (back in '81)...that was a mistake!

3. '66 Impala 396/325 2dr coupe, with (egads) a 3spd tranny!!! I should've let the shop I bought the car from repair the carb, but I thought I'd support my local service shop, and the jerk obviously dropped either a nut or bolt into my intake manifold, and couldn't reach it, so he built the carb, slapped it on the car, pushed it out of the shop, and within just two blocks of driving it away from the shop, I hear this "BLAMM" sound, and that was the bolt or nut going through my block cracking it, and ruining my efforts to race at Bandimere with a mid-to fast side of Street ET race car. I wish I'd have known some of my racing buds up there better then, I could have sued the shop for ruining my engine, but I was a 21yr old that didn't know any better, and a first gen racer, so I had no backup...

4. Now the easiest car (to work on), that also was my most successful raced vehicle was my '76 Chevy Vega...I bought that car new, and definitely wish I could have it back (since I won 7 bracket races in 8 final rounds, including Denver South High Schools last known equivalent of a state championship by winning the "King of The Hill" title at Bandimere Speedways Memorial Day Dragfest)! I also made the semi's at the first Div. 5 ET finals in Marion Sd. with the car, after filling in for other racers who couldn't go to the race (I was the fourth alternate, since I finished 14th in their points standings that year)! So if anyone out there in Co. comes across a Cream colored hatchback with the vin "IV77B6U220942", let me know...I'd love to have it back, as that was my winningest race car ever...it may have been the slowest of my raced cars, but I was inspired by George Williams' Vega, and wanted to do what he did. The last time I saw that car, it had a pontiac 151 and a 4spd in it. When I bought it, it had an original 140 4cyl, 2bbl carb, and a Turbo 250 automatic in it. That car would've been much easier to hop up than my Z24 (no computer)!!!

Great thread idea!!!

[56sedandelivery]

Graduated high school in 1969 at 17 years of age. Bought my first new car, and paid cash! I worked all through high school at a Standard Oil Chevron station, and after graduation. Was also my only non-GM product. 1970 Dodge Dart Swinger 340, with a Torqueflite, and 3.91 Sure Grip. Vitamin C orange(actually Dodge called it Go-Mango, my father said Go-Man-Go) with a blacked out hood, and twin hood scoops. Lifted up with Cragar S/S on the small 4" bolt pattern, Hooker headers, Edelbrock high rise, and 650 Holley DP, a Sun Super tach, and the mandatory 8 track tape player were all added. Then, at 19, I got an invitation to come play war with my uncle; damned draft. I was a fanatic about keeping the car clean, you could lierally eat off the engine and undercarriage. Let my folks trade it in on a new Buick for them while I was in basic training. To this day, that would be the car I'd most like to have back, and my girlfriend I had at the time (she's been married and divorced three times). Butch/56sedandelivery.

[Paul Merolla]

As a little kid, I dreamed of owning a 68 Camaro...my brother had one in high school when I was about 6 or 7 and that was the coolest thing I'd ever seen. When I was 15, I spent $600 on my first car - 65 Chevy II 4 door. 194 one barrel, but some previous owner had swapped in a Saginaw 4 speed and a Hurst floor shifter. Fun car to drive to school, especially before any of my buddies could drive. (I lived 10 miles or so away, so I got a school permit.) Sold that car to a buddy who blew it up on the test drive, and bought the only 68 Camaro at my high school. That day a bunch of buddies piled in it, and we went to Missouri to buy fireworks and smuggled 'em back inside the doors. It was a rustbucket, but I always heard stories from older guys about wishing they had never sold theirs. So, in January of '90, as a senior in HS, I started dismantling it. 7 years later, it had quarters, floors, tail panel, rockers, hood, fenders, etc. and I had a mortgage, a wife, and 2 kids. Still have it, and will never sell it.

[blkjack]

70 Nova SS 396, bench seat,375hp/396,turbo 400. Stolen in 72 close....http://www.gatewayclassiccars.com/displaycar.php?stock=91&location=CHI#

[Sean Cour]

My first was a 1963 1/2 Galaxy 406 tri power, four speed. But my second is the one I wish I still had. '70 Boss 302, shaker, slats, spoilers, yellow, and black.

[brent flynn]

My Senior year in High School, with about 2 months left, before graduation(1987), i bought my 2nd '60 Pontiac 2 door post Catalina...had 27,000 original miles on it,,, 389/215hp 2bbl. It was white. I put some 5/16'' poli-locks on it, holley pump on the engine, opened the single exhaust dump...with 2.69 road gears in it, 205 radials on back, 1'' horseshoe spacers in front springs and tall front tires, it went 16.30s/85mph. I won street class with it, that Fall and a few other trophies. I had it until Fall 1990... i had swapped another 389 in it , for awhile(THanks Dad).. had 093 Tripower heads and a 4bbl cast intake...3.90 gears and Grandma cam(hehehe) and went 14.90s ... still through manifolds and single dump. Put original engine back in and sold it... Nice car...shoulda never sold that one!!!

[Larry Merk]

I sold the first race car I ever owned in 1974 and knew I would later regret it because it was such a cool and fun car. Here we are years later and the stars all aligned for me and I was able to buy it back last week, 4 days before Christmas. It has been through many hands and was covered in dirt and cob webs, like your typical barn find, but it is my old car. Talk about the coolest Christmas present EVER!!! I'm still pinching myself.

This is an original L79 327/350HP 4 speed car. Original colors are black and black. It shows 27,000 miles on the odometer. I turned it into a race car with the help of Cal Method and it has not been on the street since 1971. My son and I are going to have a ball restoring it (back to a street car).

The photos show the car at the Seattle Point Meet in 1972 (and yes, I beat Mark Coletti) and a few days ago in the trailer when we picked it up.