As a kid, what car/cars rang your bell....

[Jonnyuma]

That's cool. I was there for a short time just for radio school from possibly October 83 to March 84. I hated it there. I'm from where it's green and it was pretty brown there even in the "winter". You broke down in Pheonix? did you stay there? I lived there for a year too.

I was actually going to stop and hang with a marine buddy of mine anyway. Essploding the radiator on I-10 convinced me to get a job. Met a girl from Scottsdale and stuck around for 20 or so yrs. We kept moving west, the Californians kept coming east, we eventually got so far out (trying to leapfrog the sprawl) that it was impractical to even try to work in town. We sold our place for almost 3x what we paid and left a couple yrs ago.

 

[Revhendo]

When I was a wee pup, my dad brought home a brand new 240Z. It only stayed for a day (he was hiding it for his boss, I think). A year or two down the road, a guy on our street had a 59 El Camino all jacked up, hot rodded and loud. You know exactly what it looked like. When I got into jr. high, I got a ride in a friend's cousin's 70 442, my first experience with a big block 4 speed (it's like crack). Walking home from that school every day I would stop and talk with the guy at the little gas station who had a red 68 Charger. That car would take a Kawi KZ1000. There was also this menacing 63 or 64 Nova with a flat black paint job, radiused rear wheelwells with dirt track tires on slotted mags and pizza cutters on the nose. This bad boy sat low and flat at a time when everything seemed to be jacked up. Never saw under the hood, but it sounded like hell unleashed when it was running. I can't imagine why I bought my first 69 Charger at the tender age of 15..........

 

[no462of12K]

grew up with mopars-none quite like the 67 GTX-had to have one-got one in 1977-one owner and still have it today

 

[zdillinger]

I had (still have) a bunch of cars that I would have given anything to own, hell even to just drive once.

1963 Ferrari 250 GTO
1965 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe (the original Cobras are nice but far too common for my tastes).
E Type Jaguar
1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa
1955 Porsche 550 Spyder

You can probably see why my "Brand X" project cars have always been Datsun Z cars. Kinda sorta similar lines to the first three, if you squint your eyes. My first car love was, and always will be, the '63 250 GTO, but I don't have millions to spend on the real thing so a close-enough Japanese facsimile will have to do. I've been thinking about doing a re-body 250 kit car on a Z Car with a Jag V-12 and downdraft Webers. Would be a very cool car. I figure I could do it for around $30k.

 

[zdillinger]

Speak of the devil... A 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa just sold for $16.39 million, which is now the record for the most expensive car ever sold at auction.

http://www.topgear.com/uk/photos/ferrari-250-world-record-auction-rm-auctions-2011-08-25

 

[Revhendo]

I had (still have) a bunch of cars that I would have given anything to own, hell even to just drive once.

1963 Ferrari 250 GTO
1965 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe (the original Cobras are nice but far too common for my tastes).
E Type Jaguar
1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa
1955 Porsche 550 Spyder

You can probably see why my "Brand X" project cars have always been Datsun Z cars. Kinda sorta similar lines to the first three, if you squint your eyes. My first car love was, and always will be, the '63 250 GTO, but I don't have millions to spend on the real thing so a close-enough Japanese facsimile will have to do. I've been thinking about doing a re-body 250 kit car on a Z Car with a Jag V-12 and downdraft Webers. Would be a very cool car. I figure I could do it for around $30k.

Do they still make the rebody kits for the Z? I saw one and thought it was pretty cool. I'ld do it with an LS motor, though. Cheap and easy power, way lighter than the Datsun sixer, easier to get power out of than that Lucas inspired, Darwinisctic Jag 12 holer.

 

[Rolling Thunder]

I remember around age 12 getting a ride in my neighbors 65 GTO 4spd car....WOW what an impression being thrown back in seat through all gears.

 

[zdillinger]

Do they still make the rebody kits for the Z? I saw one and thought it was pretty cool. I'ld do it with an LS motor, though. Cheap and easy power, way lighter than the Datsun sixer, easier to get power out of than that Lucas inspired, Darwinisctic Jag 12 holer.

Yeah, they still make 'em. http://www.thunderranch.com/gto.html

The LS motor would be a good choice too, but if I'm going to put the effort in, I'd want a 12 cylinder, for looks and for the somewhat proper exhaust note.

 

[greenmonsta79]

My grandfather owned a Dodge,Chrysler,Plymouth dealership here in town from 1965 to 1991 and I have many people tell me their first car experience from when they bought a "one of those hot Dodge cars with the bee on it!"
But as a child I was first introduced to Mopars through the Dukes of Hazzard and I have loved Mopars ever since (plus being a family affair it was born and bred into me!) Maybe that's why I am building a 69 Charger "General Lee" :icon_thumright: Mopar or Nocar for me!

 

[Jonnyuma]

Yeah, they still make 'em. http://www.thunderranch.com/gto.html

The LS motor would be a good choice too, but if I'm going to put the effort in, I'd want a 12 cylinder, for looks and for the somewhat proper exhaust note.

I just saw a rolled-over E-type (coupe) on Craigslist today, Portland Oregon, I think. I don't know if it was a 12 cyl, but it must've been cheap if it came up within my search parameters!

 

[Tang72]

When i was a kid my dad had traded a lawnmower for a 1972 dodge charger then traded a van for a mildly built 68 440 and tossed the 318 for it. That car really was the coolest thing in the world to me and it was a Big Block (hey, i grew up in the 90s all i knew is it was awesome) That now belongs to me and is nearing the end of the long body work road. I miss driving my Mopar but im finishing the build my dad started 15 years ago. That car is still my favorite.

 

[zdillinger]

I just saw a rolled-over E-type (coupe) on Craigslist today, Portland Oregon, I think. I don't know if it was a 12 cyl, but it must've been cheap if it came up within my search parameters!

Dang, too bad I'm all the way over in Michigan. If it was a 12, I'd be all over it and just store the motor / trans until I'm ready for it. If it was cheap, it was probably the 6. Nice to know they are still out there, although there's one less now.