What is your car's life story?

Topic: What is your car's life story? (Read 1288 times) previous topic - next topic

What is your car's life story?

July 13, 2009, 07:25:56 PM

I thought it would be neat to hear about where everyone's car came from or any interesting stories about its life.

My car was bought new by my aunt in Louisiana and she drove it until about 1993 or so when my dad purchased it and brought it up to Indiana. It had around 70,000 miles at that point. He drove it on nice days and put about 117,000 on it until he passed it on to me in 1998 or so. I then drove it through High School and college. I can't tell you how many times I street raced the car during those years. I can tell you I got pulled over 13 times by the time I graduated (the town cops were cool guys and just liked to mess with us youngsters). My best friend had an '84 Monte with the 305...I could beat it very easily. There was also a kid with a '86 IROC with a 305 who I could beat from a 70 mph run, but never could hang with in the corners. All the drag racing caught up to me the summer after I graduated High School as I wrecked the car while racing my best friend... cleaning out a ditch and in a state troopers front yard no less.

I had lots of dates, fun with friends, went to my hs proms, and even drove it to my wedding. I sure put a lot of fun-filled miles on in the process. Ahhh the memories. Anyone else have any stories they want to tell?:D

What is your car's life story?

Reply #1 – July 13, 2009, 08:29:53 PM

My car was bought new in Atlanta GA with 1 mile on it. Guy who owned it drove it back and forth from GA to SC. The guy I got it off bought it in SC and moved to NC. Thats when I bought it. Now has a whoping 188k miles on it and sits in my garage. Not much of a story. Now my camaro has a story!

What is your car's life story?

Reply #2 – July 13, 2009, 10:06:11 PM

Quote from: Live Fast;282087

Now my camaro has a story!

do tell!!

What is your car's life story?

Reply #3 – July 13, 2009, 10:16:11 PM

my car was bought new in texas and sometime when it was about 2 years old it was in a bad accident, the car was cut in half and had another car welded onto the back half from halfway up the windshield and the middle of the door jambs is an 87 bird. I bought the car from "numb nuts" in may of 2004 almost completely trashed and slowly put life back into it.

What is your car's life story?

Reply #4 – July 13, 2009, 10:46:00 PM

Hmmmm.
Since I played in a rock/ metal band when I bought the car 20 years ago, any stories I told will probably get me arrested and divorced.
I'm just gonna say it's worth all the work to save it.

What is your car's life story?

Reply #5 – July 14, 2009, 09:27:09 AM

daminc,... ur the man!!!!!

What is your car's life story?

Reply #6 – July 14, 2009, 11:27:40 AM

My car was sold new in Los Angeles to the first owner who kept it until 1993. Then a woman named Susan R. from Ojai, CA bought it and kept it until 1998. Then somehow it migrated to Sherwood, AR, and the third owner bought it and only kept it a year. Then they sold it to the fourth owner in Pocola, OK who kept it until 2001.

The fifth owner from Fort Smith, AR bought it in 2001 and the car sat in a field behind a body shop for 6 years presumably because the transmission was shot, the rear air bags were shot, the radiator was leaking, the alternator was charging at 18 volts, and the whole car was pretty well trashed.

Then my dad came along in 2007 and bought it for 475.00, and I took it under my wing and spent well over 15x that restomodding it. :hick:

Before:

After:

What is your car's life story?

Reply #7 – July 14, 2009, 11:33:36 AM

Quote from: 5.0 bird;282153

My car was sold new in Los Angeles to the first owner who kept it until 1993. Then a woman named Susan R. from Ojai, CA bought it and kept it until 1998. Then somehow it migrated to Sherwood, AR, and the third owner bought it and only kept it a year. Then they sold it to the fourth owner in Pocola, OK who kept it until 2001.

The fifth owner from Fort Smith, AR bought it in 2001 and the car sat in a field behind a body shop for 6 years presumably because the transmission was shot, the rear air bags were shot, the radiator was leaking, the alternator was charging at 18 volts, and the whole car was pretty well trashed.

Then my dad came along in 2007 and bought it for 475.00, and I took it under my wing and spent well over 15x that restomodding it. :hick:

Before:

After:

nice save man...those are sweet cars.

What is your car's life story?

Reply #8 – July 14, 2009, 12:10:21 PM

Quote from: daminc;282102

Hmmmm.
Since I played in a rock/ metal band when I bought the car 20 years ago, any stories I told will probably get me arrested and divorced.
I'm just gonna say it's worth all the work to save it.

LMAO that's great!

I vote his cougar for the most interesting/mysterious life trophy (sorry Dan

)

What is your car's life story?

Reply #9 – July 14, 2009, 12:24:32 PM

Mine was bought originally by the Budget rental car company in Worcester mass. My grandmother bought it from them when it was about a year old with around 20k miles. In 2006 when she was sick I bought the car for a whomping $100.

50tbrd88, how did you find out all that infromation? Names and everything? I'm trying to trace back my 72 cutlass 442 but can't seem to get any futher than about 10 years back.

What is your car's life story?

Reply #10 – July 14, 2009, 12:38:45 PM

I have a 1988 Tbird with the 3.8

My car spent 1988 with Hertz. My parents bought it shortly after in 1989, with only about 20-30,000 miles on it. for 11 k.

They put 86 Bird rims on it, then they moved to Clearwater with it, then I was born. I was driven home from the hospital in this car, making it my first ever car ride.

4 years later, we moved to Wilmington NC. Again, it was the daily driver, along with my dad's '89 F150. I rode to and from kindergarten-3rd grade in the backseat, along with trips to numerous soccer games. This car also went to Dade city fl, and back to Wilmingto with me, my parents, and my brother.

5 years in wilmington went, and the whole family moved to concord NC, along with the Tbird. By this time, we had a '98 F-150 to replace the '89. We stayed in Concord for 4 years, then moved to Lecanto Fl. In 2005, i sarted to learn to drive in this car. I got my permit, and then my license. This was my first car.

2007, put American racing rims on it.

summer of 2008, I graduated High school. My then girlfriend, now fiance became pregnant this summer. I drove the car my first year of college at USF. I drove back to Lecanto every weekend, and had many joy rides around Tampa.

March 2009, my little girl was born, and she too had her first ride in this car.

As of June 2009, I recently got a '00 Ford Explorer, so the Tbird stayed home with the parents when I moved into my apartment to complete my college schooling.

I have plans, once I graduate, to convert the car to a 3v 4.6, found in the newer mustangs.

This car is the family heirloom.

What is your car's life story?

Reply #11 – July 14, 2009, 02:01:38 PM

I bought mine on March 31, 2003, the day of the "great flood". We had a torrential rain and major snow melt, which caused record flooding throughout the province. I actually had to drive through an area where a lake had overflowed onto the road to get the car home.

The purchase started out with me selling the '94 Saturn SC2 I was driving daily, then I put an ad in the local buy & sell stating something like this:

"Wanted: 1987-88 Turbo Coupe, 1987-88 Cougar, or 1983-86 T-Bird. If Turbo Coupe must be 5-speed, if Cougar must be 5.0. Will also consider 83-86 V8 or turbo 4/5-speed Cougar. Must have no rust"

That's not the actual wording of course, it was over six years ago, but it was along those lines. I had owned several Fox Birdcats by this time and I was quite specific in what I wanted. The ad ran for a few months, and I had some nibbles (including a poor condition and very overpriced 20th anniversary cat and a few basket case Turbo Coupes), and had even came within a short & curly of buying an '89 Mark VII (it breaking down on the test drive was the only reason I didn't buy it), when a guy called. He said that what he had wasn't my first choice, but I'd better come look at his car anyway. It was an 88 5.0 T-Bird. Not even a Sport or LX, but just a plain ol' base 'Bird, with manual seats even. This was indeed way down on my list (I wanted a TC, 87-88 Cat, or four-eye Bird), but he told me it'd be worth looking at. I went to his house (and drove through the aforementioned lake), and when I saw the car I had to have it. The car was MINT, with only 65,000 original KM (47k miles). Here's how it looked when I first saw it. Wel, almost what it looked like: The car had some truly stupid "personalizations" not shown in this photo, including a Firebird decal on the header panel.

I bought the car for $3k, which was on the high side of what a Fox Birdcat would have been worth then, but it was worth it. He was actually asking $4000, and I offered him $3500. He said he couldn't do that because the rims and tires were worth $1000. I told him to keep the rims and tires and offered him $3k and he took it. We yanked those wheels and put the stock 14" ones back on (with brand new tires on 'em, no less!) and I drove it home.

Here's how it looked when I got it home:

(yes, the Firebird logo came off that very day)

In the six years that followed the car has gone through some changes, most of which are listed in my sig.

What is your car's life story?

Reply #12 – July 14, 2009, 02:33:37 PM

well...
my stepdads wife bought my cougar new in 88,drove it as a grocery getter/sunday driver..
ALWAYS garage kept/maintained.
Then, 6years ago, they sold it to my stepdad for $5k, he drove it daily, neglected to properly maintain it,.. 9oil changes and so on..then he gave it to my mom,she had it for a year, smaked up the original fender and header panel, then the car sat for two years, fixed a hose on the fuel pump, drove it for another year, she gave it to me, and ive been enjoying it for the past two months....not much of a history, but eh, at least i coud go talk to the original owner!!

What is your car's life story?

Reply #13 – July 14, 2009, 03:31:42 PM

The story of my cars begins about 5 billion years ago. As the elements in the cosmos coalesced, the earth began its transformation from a molten globule of random particles to a true planet with mass, rotation and gravity. Eventually rich deposits of base elements were strewn across the planet, including iron, nickel and silicon. As life eventually came to be on planet Earth, a species known as "man" developed the use of tools and harvest these minerals to be used in making goods and other tools. Thousands of years later, a rather smart man named Henry Ford invented the automobile assembly line that further exploited the use of tools and machinery in the manufacturing process. Approximately 80 years later the assembly line in a northern part of the state of Ohio used the raw materials to create steel, aluminum, rubber and glass from the elements and assemble the automobile known as the Mercury Cougar. From that very assembly line my cars were born.

Oh...not that far back? My bad. Carry on.

What is your car's life story?

Reply #14 – July 14, 2009, 03:54:11 PM

My T-bird was bought new in Nov of '87 by my dad's cousin in Santa Monica, CA. It had every option for a LX in 88 except the sunroof. It even had wire wheel covers :hick:. She drove it up here in Sep of 2002 after her father died. I bought it from her in Oct of '02 with 109,000 miles in basically perfect condition. I can thank CA for not letting it rust out

. I've done some mods to it over the years, which are in my sig. It now has ~129,000 miles on it. Most of the miles were put on it when I daily drove it on nice days durring high school. I have some fond high school memories relating to this old T-bird