My parents' old...

KCRam

This is more for people over 40, but the younger crowd can chime in too.

Of all the cars your dad or mom owned, what's the one you would love to find and restore in 2011, even it wasn't exactly classic or historic?

For me, it would be my dad's 1972 Mercury Montego MX. It was green-gold metallic with a white vinyl roof, dark forest green vinyl interior, 351 Windsor under the hood with a C4 automatic. Dad had it for almost exactly 7 years (March 3 1972 to March 1 1979), rang up over 210,000 miles (2nd engine, 2nd transmission at the time of trade-in), and even saw duty as an unmarked police car when Dad became a cop in 76... my sister and I even got him the suction-cup cigarette-lighter revolving red light for Christmas one year, and he did get to use it.

That car took everything Dad dished out and then some. To his surprise, he even saw it on the street about a month after he traded it... was easy to tell it was his from the huge aftermarket bumper guards.

Anyone else?

kcram - Pickups/Wagons Host

stever

Oh sure, my dad's '53 blue Buick. He liked to beat Caddy's off the line at the stop light.

Although if I found it and restored it, I'd probably hate driving it. Maybe mom's '65 Ford Galaxie 500 would be more fun.

fintail

I was born right around the time Jimmy Carter became president...so my parents didn't have any real cool cars.

Bloated T-Bird? Pass. Ciera? Pass. Tempo? Pass. A few Taurus? Pass. S-10 Blazer? Pass a billion times. And the list goes on.

But my dad liked to have a hobby car, and for a few years had a 60 Ford Country Sedan, red and white on red and white. It was the coolest old car, sadly, he sold it on a whim (sold within hours of being on offer) and I never saw it again. It could be a cool cruiser.

bhill2

Although if I found it and restored it, I'd probably hate driving it.

Yes, I have the same fear. When I was too young to really remember it my parents had a '51 Studebaker Commander 4-door. I wouldn't mind having it, but would probably hate driving it. Another example was their '64 Rambler Classic V-8. I learned to drive on that one, and loved it at the time because its 3-speed auto allowed it to outdrag Powerglide Chevys from stoplights. If I drove it now, I would probably think it was a tank. One that I really would like to find, however, is their light blue '68 Volvo 122S with the black interior. I even liked the bread van shifter in that one. If I found it and restored it however, I would add overdrive.

iluvmysephia1

I do have one. It's his Baby Blue 1966 VW Fastback. I would love to own that car now. 4-speeds on the floor that IIRC (which I probably don't) shifted fairly easily. I totalled the car once frolicking in the snow. I ran it into a large landscaping rock. I cut my wrist and my friend and I both bumped our heads on that blunder. Apparently Dad loved that car, too, because he went to the expense of getting it fixed. And no, it wasn't cheap to fix!

This was the one I learned to drive manual tranny on, too. Great rig! :shades:

bhill2

You know, your reference to the accident in your father's VW fastback reminds me that I had a somewhat similar one in the Volvo I described above. A friend of mine and I were blasting down a dirt road toward a curve and a kid coming in the other direction in a '59 Ford crossed into our lane and hit us more or less head on. Being a Volvo it had shoulder harnesses, and despite being stupid kids we were wearing them. It almost certainly saved our lives. Like your father, mine had his fixed. I do believe that incident is one of the reasons I would love to find it and restore it.

iluvmysephia1

right on! I was actually really impressed by how well the '66 VW Fastback protected both us punky 16 y/o's. I was playing in the snow...doing donuts and then I spun out and headed towards an open spot in the furniture store parking lot at Perrinville, WA. Perrinville is just north of Lynnwood, WA, about 15 miles north of Seattle, where I grew up. I actually grew up in Edmonds, WA, which harbors a Washington State ferryboat route that runs from Edmonds to Kingston. One day I might want to return to my homeland. I'm living in northern Idaho right now-about 311 miles east of Seattle, so really not all that far from the homeland.

But when I came out of that last donut I gunned the gas pedal and told my friend "watch this!" I headed straight for an open spot of the lot, then realized I was heading towards doom-dome and hit my brakes of all things! Dumber than a sack of glazed donuts!

BAM! We hit that large boulder and tried to climb up it all at one time. Broke the VW's horn off the steering wheel and cut my wrist with it. It was spurting blood out at a pretty good clip. I pinched the wound shut but my friend was afraid I was going to bleed out so he took off his white t-shirt and I tied it around as a tourniquet over my wrist. We hit our heads enough to leave small bumps, too. A lot of people now would go to a nearby ER to get checked out but we figured we'd better not push our luck.

Here's the kicker...Dad just had it towed to a body shop and had the front end fixed-I think the bill came to around $1,500-$1,750. He never chewed me out-not even a little "what were you thinking" line, or anything! I could not believe it!

Not that I felt good about it. Dad evidently had his own story from being in the service and buying an Anglia or something...a small sporty car...he bought it with his buddy and later wrecked it over in Europe before he could ship it back here. I think he felt that my wreck at 16 years of age too closely mirrored his in foolishness and he cut me some slack.

Or he was just simply too busy at that particular time to chew me out about the stupid wreck...which might be closer to the truth.

bhill2

Small world. I grew up in Bothell, about 10 miles south of Lynwood. Another coincidence is that my father didn't chew me out either. I never heard any Anglia-equivalent stories but it does make me wonder.

lemko

...my Dad had several really cool cars when I was little, but I'd love to find and restore his 1961 Chevrolet Biscayne 2-door sedan as it was the first car of his I remember. It was sort of a cream color with a gray cloth and vinyl interior. It was powered by a 250 cid inline 6-cylinder mated to a three-speed manual shifted via the column. Dad's car was a bit dressed-up for a Biscayne as it sported the nice '61 Chevrolet full-wheel discs and whitewall tires.

Two other strong contenders would be his maroon 1965 Pontiac GTO convertible and his 1955 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Starfire convertible.

hpmctorque

That '53 Buick must have had a manual transmission, because it's difficult to imagine a Dynaflow equipped car out accelerating a 4-speed Hydra-matic equipped one off the line.

stever

It was an automatic.

Family legends don't lie. :shades:

(Dad also told me that he put molasses in his bike tires since he couldn't afford patches, and was the high school quarterback and then put on his drum major uniform and led the band at half-time).

slorenzen

it was his LAST car, unfortunately.

He used to buy a car every couple years, and put the replacement into the "pool" for the kids to use (there were 8 kids).

He LOVED that car! Amazing power, 375 HP. He and I drove from Incline Village to Walnut Creek back in the day, and did it in 21/2 hours...

I never told mom...

isellhondas

Lemko, that '61 Chevy actually had a 235 one of Chevy's best engines ever. 1962 would be it's final year.

My parents had a 1951 Buick Roadmaster that I would love to have. It was huge, very strong and powerful. No power steering so I don't know how my petite mother ever managed.

My dad's 1962 Volkswagen bug was another one I would love to have.

I've (knock on wood) never put a dent on any car but I nearly hit a pole one night in that VW. We were down on the docks in San Pedro CA where I grew up when we spotted a wharf rat the size of a tomcat. I was determined to run it over and I chased it all over with the VW.

My buddy screamed out STOP and I stopped with my front bumper about three inches from a huge pole.

The rat escaped to live another day.

nippononly

had a brown 1970 Citroen DS for a couple of years, and I remember taking rides out into the country on Sundays with the whole family in that thing.

It was by far the most stylish car I can recall my folks ever owning - excepting the '98 Explorer of course! :-P
I sure wouldn't mind tracking it down and owning it today - if I managed to restore it, it could be my Sunday driver again, a mere 40ish years later!

That Citroen was a car that still looks beautiful to my eye today, and of course it was a standout for being one of the first cars to have Bosch fuel injection. In an age today when almost nothing automotive looks very good or distinctive in much of a way (IMHO) except for retro-styled models, that Citroen would catch a few eyes I think if I were to drive around town in it now.

I don't remember it giving my dad a lot of mechanical trouble - certainly it never stranded us when I was riding in it - but in 1975 he sold it when we moved to the U.S.

My dad also had a '75 Westfalia (pop-up top, fold-out bed and built-in fridge and all), which was mechanically and structurally the biggest POS they ever owned by a factor of 10, but still has a certain styling distinction to it that would pique my interest if I had the chance to own it today. As unreliable, underpowered, and tipsy as all the Westys were for all the years they sold them in the States, I can still understand why their cult following is so devoted to them.