Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

roadburner

stickguy said:

One thing about wranglers though is they all seem to be customized, but that’s generally OK. As long as matches your taste! And if easily reversible.

On my 1999 I replaced the cracked OEM exhaust manifold with a Banks Engineering stainless steel header.
I pitched the pathetic sealed beams and went with Hella E-Codes fitted with Osram H4 Night Breaker bulbs. The fogs also got Night Breakers.
I replaced the OEM shocks with Bilstein HDs and went with a larger steering stabilizer.
I replaced the front and rear speakers with MB Quart coaxial drivers.
Externally I added OEM Jeep sill guards to the doors and tailgate- and I ashcanned those bulbous plastic bumper extensions with the plastic caps Jeep used on later models.
I’m going to replace the AM/FM/cassette with a reconditioned AM/FM/CD with an auxiliary input.
My only wish is that it had a six speed manual rather than a five speed- but at least it has three pedals, as all proper Wranglers should have.

roadburner

tifighter said:

There's a nice Wrangler Islander (remember those?) on BaT right now...

I never cared for the YJ; the Quadra-Coil suspension on the TJ was a massive improvement- as was the return of round headlights and Trevor Creed’s handsome and functional instrument panel.

tifighter

stickguy said:

Didn’t see an islander but this one seems nice.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2005-jeep-wrangler-29/

My bad - closed yesterday. But pretty well-preserved.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1991-jeep-wrangler-islander/

tifighter

BTW - this is sorta fun to see

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1989-pontiac-grand-prix/

pensfan83

tifighter said:

BTW - this is sorta fun to see

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1989-pontiac-grand-prix/

So.Many.Buttons

tifighter

I want the seats for my office.

stickguy

RB, what model is that 2005 I posted? Are they a good vintage?

graphicguy

tifighter said:

BTW - this is sorta fun to see

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1989-pontiac-grand-prix/

I'm strangely attracted to that car. Assuming it's not going to sell anywhere near the current bid, though.

stickguy

I love that Pontiac. If cheap enough I would buy one for my spare car. Relive my 20s! My wife will love it if I replace my car at lease end with something I desperately wanted/had/looked at but couldn’t afford in the mid 80s to early 90s range.

Let’s see, that would include an 85 626 turbo, 87 GTI (might as well do a 16 valve), wedge celica GTS, 86 mustang GT, and an assortment of other oddballs that will come to me eventually.

stickguy

Right now though I’m leaning hard toward a wrangler. That might last until halfway through the test drive of course.

pensfan83

More BaT fun....

We could all pass this badboy around/

@fintail special/

@roadburner specia, and I remember this one

I'll duel stick for this one.

Love this

fintail

That 'mog has a look. G is a fun color combo, but era I might avoid, so much W211 inside those - 00s and even teens Gs can be parts-binny.

This is my speed

They don't build em like they used to

Ditto

stickguy

holy moley I love this one. would be absolutely perfect. For the right price! though I would be just as happy with a fixed roof (with a sunroof of course!)

oops. Edit: here is the link. Not sure if this one was posted yet.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1985-toyota-celica-gt-s-convertible/

I also love the Mustang GT. I grew up 5-10 minutes from where that one is, so I know the area well.

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

Didn’t see an islander but this one seems nice.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2005-jeep-wrangler-29/

That’s a real nice example. Up here they all rust on the frame by the rear axle. I’m not sure I’d want one as a daily driver unless I lived on a mountaintop.

oldfarmer50

My BIL had one just like that, non-turbo. It was so futuristic for it’s time I nicknamed it ‘the spaceship’. 200 miles a year? That seems a shame. Especially for a car that will probably never be collectible.

tifighter said:

BTW - this is sorta fun to see

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1989-pontiac-grand-prix/

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

I love that Pontiac. If cheap enough I would buy one for my spare car. Relive my 20s! My wife will love it if I replace my car at lease end with something I desperately wanted/had/looked at but couldn’t afford in the mid 80s to early 90s range.

Let’s see, that would include an 85 626 turbo, 87 GTI (might as well do a 16 valve), wedge celica GTS, 86 mustang GT, and an assortment of other oddballs that will come to me eventually.

For that vintage I always wanted some of the Buick’s from the early 90’s like the Reatta, Riviera and even the Regal coupe. They weren’t that special performance wise but I think the styles aged well.

jmonroe

tifighter said:

BTW - this is sorta fun to see

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1989-pontiac-grand-prix/

In 1991when Son #1 graduated from the State Penn (maybe it was Penn State) anyway, when he was out, he bought a '91 Grand Prix and he had all those buttons on the steering wheel for the radio. At night when they lit up it almost looked like a Christmas tree except all of those lights were red. He laughs about it today but at the time, he thought it was pretty cool. It was a nicely equipped Grand Prix, even had HUD. Kinda ahead of the times back then, given it was a domestic.

jmonroe

imidazol97

jmonroe said:

State Penn
jmonroe

Do folks in PA call it the State Penn? LOL

corvette

My 1997 Grand Am had a lot of audio buttons below the steering wheel (not in it since it had an airbag). That was really nice, and one of the few things that I missed when I upgraded to a VW Jetta.

roadburner

stickguy said:

RB, what model is that 2005 I posted? Are they a good vintage?

It's a Sahara; 4.0 I6. No real big problems.

jmonroe

imidazol97 said:

jmonroe said:

State Penn
jmonroe

Do folks in PA call it the State Penn? LOL

Only the ones that didn't go there.

jmonroe

pensfan83

stickguy

man, BaT is really trolling me today. I love this one too. So add it to the Jeep and Celica as fun options for a 2nd/spare car.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1998-bmw-z3-22/

roadburner

stickguy said:

man, BaT is really trolling me today. I love this one too. So add it to the Jeep and Celica as fun options for a 2nd/spare car.



https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1998-bmw-z3-22/

I'd buy that for my DD if I didn't already have the Clubman; I would try to track down a hardtop- although that's easier said than done.

tifighter

Guessing you guys missed this one from yesterday, but also pure gold-

cutlass

tifighter

graphicguy said:

tifighter said:

BTW - this is sorta fun to see

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1989-pontiac-grand-prix/

I'm strangely attracted to that car. Assuming it's not going to sell anywhere near the current bid, though.

Me too. I can't explain it either.

fintail

That GP is amazing preservation piece. As so many are spending time at home, and BaT attracts an audience of apparently over-monied speculators and impulse-buyers, any predictions of where the bidding will end?

Anyone remember an early 90s kids movie "Josh and S.A.M."? A nearly identical car plays a lead role:



That design aged well, and auction car has an amazing interior no doubt many degrees better than a standard model. HUD is surprisingly not insanely uncommon in those, from my anecdotal observations.

Sandman6472

We had a 1985 Olds Cutlass Supreme 4-door sedan, white with blue vinyl roof, blue cloth interior and those same wire wheels. Our interior seats weren't that fancy though but with two car seats, then three after 1987, would've been foolish to have. It really was a great vehicle for us. The Delta 88 we drove home was too long for our garage, so back it went for the Cutlass.
Her folks came a few days later, flipped my wife the keys and drove away in her 1979 Buick Skylark coupe. She was so happy and must admit, was so nice that her folks were that generous with us as I was the only one working back then and it was a bit of a struggle.
Do remember that Tires Plus lost the locking key for the wire wheels and had to order us a new one from GM. After that, always made sure it was handed back to me after any kind of work!

28firefighter

That M6 on BaT is sweet. Lots of cool cars seem to come out of Portland.

qbrozen

well, I throw in an oddball. I'm probably glad this is too far away to make sense to ship.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1980-mercury-zephyr-wagon/

corvette

Looks a lot like the Family Truckster.

explorerx4

How do you tell the difference between a Fairmont and that Zephyr, maybe the grille?

ab348

Some of you guys need to come over to the "I spotted an (insert obscure car name here) classic car today!" board where we discuss those BaT oddballs like that Zephyr.

qbrozen

explorerx4 said:

How do you tell the difference between a Fairmont and that Zephyr, maybe the grille?

Easy, badges. ;b

tjc78

The Grand Prix is awesome! A buddy of mine had two of that generation all loaded up, but they had the 3.4 V6. Very time car for the time. They both had HUD as well.

There is an 89 that has been bought and sold on BAT a few times.

oldfarmer50

tifighter said:

Guessing you guys missed this one from yesterday, but also pure gold-

cutlass

Wow, 140 hp out of a 5.0L. I always loved the front end of those.

tjc78

The 307 is gutless... but so smooth.

Ford’s 5.0 of the era wasn’t any better, unless it was the HO version in the Stang/LSC. At least theirs was multi port injected.

roadburner

28firefighter said:

That M6 on BaT is sweet. Lots of cool cars seem to come out of Portland.

Cinnabar/Silber is my favorite color combination. Even the headliner is leather. There’s a separate A/C system in the rear seat with its own evaporator and fan. Replace the catalyst with a track pipe and install a Turner/Conforti chip and that car will be almost fast- fourteen seconds flat in the quarter mile.

graphicguy

qbrozen said:

well, I throw in an oddball. I'm probably glad this is too far away to make sense to ship.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1980-mercury-zephyr-wagon/

The Griswalds could have used that!

graphicguy

oldfarmer50 said:

stickguy said:

I love that Pontiac. If cheap enough I would buy one for my spare car. Relive my 20s! My wife will love it if I replace my car at lease end with something I desperately wanted/had/looked at but couldn’t afford in the mid 80s to early 90s range.

Let’s see, that would include an 85 626 turbo, 87 GTI (might as well do a 16 valve), wedge celica GTS, 86 mustang GT, and an assortment of other oddballs that will come to me eventually.

For that vintage I always wanted some of the Buick’s from the early 90’s like the Reatta, Riviera and even the Regal coupe. They weren’t that special performance wise but I think the styles aged well.

One of my Neighbors had a Reatta. Good looking car. Don’t remember much more than that, and that’s with riding with him in it a few times. Didn’t stand out in any other way. Maybe that’s all it needed, or why it failed.

stickguy

qbrozen said:

explorerx4 said:

How do you tell the difference between a Fairmont and that Zephyr, maybe the grille?

Easy, badges. ;b

Badges? We don’t need no stinking badges!

breld

I'm a sucker for a good yellow.

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/798383049/overview/

[Deleted User]

breld said:

I'm a sucker for a good yellow.

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/798383049/overview/

You'd definitely be seen coming in that

28firefighter

I don't hate the color, but those wheels are awful...are those the standard wheels on a base S3?

breld

28firefighter said:

I don't hate the color, but those wheels are awful...are those the standard wheels on a base S3?

Yes they are. There's a black optic package that should almost be required with that yellow - the wheels in that package are much nicer.

fintail

One of the best BaT flippers, Denwerks, is in OR. I think OR, with less population than WA, held on to its oddball cars longer. This area back in the 80s and 90s was full of weird stuff too, but much of it was snapped up or hidden away as people "knew what they have".

28firefighter said:

That M6 on BaT is sweet. Lots of cool cars seem to come out of Portland.

rayainsw

Had a Grand Prix STE - 1991 – Bright Red, Getrag 5 speed manual trans.,
3.4 liter dohc V-6. Gray leather, power tilt/slide moon roof, ABS, HUD,
compass, trip computer, etc.
Seats even had individual adjustments for left & right thigh support -
handy with a clutch.
- Ray
Last clutch for me - bursitis ...

corvette

breld said:

28firefighter said:

I don't hate the color, but those wheels are awful...are those the standard wheels on a base S3?

Yes they are. There's a black optic package that should almost be required with that yellow - the wheels in that package are much nicer.

You could powder coat or plasti-dip the ones on that one.

corvette

@rayainsw - nice! I think a lot of people have forgotten the gadgets and geegaws that were offered on a lot of domestic cars in the ‘80s and ‘90s. My grandparents had a 1990 Park Avenue Ultra which had the normal power seat controls for that era, but then there were a separate set of controls that flipped up from the center seat up front that controlled a bunch of different lumbar supports, headrest height, etc.

tifighter

Hey @28firefighter - I found your utility vehicle...

Volkamino