didnt think id miss driving mine everday this much

Topic: didnt think id miss driving mine everday this much (Read 1596 times) previous topic - next topic

didnt think id miss driving mine everday this much

November 15, 2011, 10:55:22 PM

i have a 87 sport with a 5.0. im only 19 and i it was my first car. its been in the family since new in 87. it was a dealer demo car and was built in early july of 86. when i was born i came home from the hospile in it and ive loved it all my life. i started drive a lil over 2 years ago. and i drove it everyday and everywere. its been to ocean city md witch is about 210 miles from were i live 7 times in the past two years. and i almost put 25k on it last year. about a month ago i bought a 95 f150. its now my daily driver.
Im happy to have finaly replaced the bird and it gets to be enjoyed like it should be. but i miss driving it all the time. you get noticed in it. its easy to drive. handles nice and is just a fun car to drive, unlike the pick up.

didnt think id miss driving mine everday this much

Reply #1 – November 15, 2011, 11:14:42 PM

AMEN to that.. my first car was an 88 sport.. i miss her dearly

didnt think id miss driving mine everday this much

Reply #2 – November 16, 2011, 12:47:30 AM

My first car is my '84 Cougar, it's been in my family since early '86, and was my now deceased Uncle's car. It's immaculate and people stare and break necks looking at it. Even as a Welder, I throw clean shirts, blankets or jackets on the seats and floor so I can drive it even during a work day. I love that car as much as my two kids(yes I'm very, very serious). I'm 23 now and I will die with that car. It's my lifetime Resto-Mod project and as a fantastic base to start from, it will be even more perfect when I'm done.

Good luck with the 'Bird dude. I loved driving mine in and out of Highschool. Treat it right, it'll treat you right. Post up some pics!!!!!!

didnt think id miss driving mine everday this much

Reply #3 – November 16, 2011, 01:36:46 AM

Quote from: cougrrr302;373096

I love that car as much as my two kids(yes I'm very, very serious).

i don't have any kids because of fox body cars.. not a whole lot of :nannerbang: going on around here! i know, i know :makefun: :(

didnt think id miss driving mine everday this much

Reply #4 – November 16, 2011, 10:07:52 PM

Quote from: 87tbird5.0;373085

i have a 87 sport with a 5.0. im only 19 and i it was my first car. its been in the family since new in 87. it was a dealer demo car and was built in early july of 86. when i was born i came home from the hospile in it and ive loved it all my life. i started drive a lil over 2 years ago. and i drove it everyday and everywere. its been to ocean city md witch is about 210 miles from were i live 7 times in the past two years. and i almost put 25k on it last year. about a month ago i bought a 95 f150. its now my daily driver.
Im happy to have finaly replaced the bird and it gets to be enjoyed like it should be. but i miss driving it all the time. you get noticed in it. its easy to drive. handles nice and is just a fun car to drive, unlike the pick up.

That's a cool story. I want to ask you something and please don't take this the wrong way:

I have a 1985 Cougar. That car is 26 years old (actually 27; it was built in 1984). I was in high school in the late 1980s and these cars were late model 'new' cars at the time. I have a hard time thinking of my Cougar as being an old classic car. In my mind it's still a new-ish car and the ones from the late 1960's, well, now that's old.

I had a friend in high school whose father had an old Ford Galaxy. In 1988 when I saw it, I was thinking "wow now THAT is an old classic car".

How do you at age 19 see these 80's Fords?

didnt think id miss driving mine everday this much

Reply #5 – November 16, 2011, 11:39:54 PM

like everything else in life it's relative. You value what you value/what you're exposed to. When i was young my dad had an 87-88 GT hatch, possibly with a roof, i can't recall. I remember it because i clearly recall knocking out the tail light when i was riding my bike along with the memory of riding home in the hatch, watching the night sky through it after the circus (Barnum and Baily @ the Centrum). I remember those cirspoogestance but i don't really know why. My dad died early so I guess you just hold on to whatever. The earliest memory of performance was the 87 Tbird I had. Not that it was much of one. Still, it was a very nice car (not just as a first car). My very close friends parents had an econloline van with a V8. They were Ford people and that's where i was most exposed to them. Once we expressed our interest in modding my car did the performance bug bit. I never considered modding a car till that point. We learned about the difference between the sport and the Mustang GT. We swapped the engine and ECU. Converted to M.A. Built the trans with a Beauman shift kit, clutch pack, and 373 gears. The car was so much fun for me at that age. Then it died out with responsibility. Silver blue had to go. I had several since but that's the one I miss. That's not to say I'm not happy with the 2000GT. Long story short, I've learned, enjoyed and look forward to the future. Currently I have a high compression, forged, , cammed, ported head long block 4 valve ready to go with an S trim. Even now i feel like I'm to far behind the time with all of the crazy oem nonsense out there. Ford made it so the SBF can no longer compete. certainly not at THAT level. 650HP Mustangs off the show room floor. Crazy.

Later, things are a touch different. I had great plan for my 88 sport but i abandoned them for a stang chassis despite having almost everything i needed for a decent, proper modular swap. Yep, I sold out. I don't regret it but i miss my t-bird chassis. This is where halfbreed emerged. since it's completion, I've pushed it so very hard (to my abilities)

didnt think id miss driving mine everday this much

Reply #6 – November 16, 2011, 11:47:47 PM

^ Wow nice wall of text! :) ^

didnt think id miss driving mine everday this much

Reply #7 – November 25, 2011, 10:33:36 PM

Quote from: ThunderCat_1985;373184

How do you at age 19 see these 80's Fords?

I know the question wasn't directed at me, but I'm 23 and I figured I could throw my 2c in.

I think its sort of a tricky question when you say "80's fords" because the foxes in my opinion, don't fit in with most 80's fords. Typically when I think 80's Ford, I think of ugly old escorts and taurus's, and crown vic's for some reason. For the most part, I find a lot of them ugly. And that's just my opinion. But really I find a lot of brands from the 80's to be ugly.

Now, Fox Birds/Cats, and the late 80's Licolns are on a totally different scale. To be honest, I never even knew these existed until I picked up my Cougar when I was 19. And at the time I bought it b/c I just wrecked my truck and I needed something quick and cheap for DD. My plan at the time was just to drive it into the ground while I worked up some cash to buy something "nice". But somehow, as with most owners of these cars, it really started to grow on me and I started reading about the history of them and learning about them. Now I can't get enough. Its sort of an obsession. And my wife hates it cause I spend more time on my car than I do on her sometimes. She's reading this as I type right now lol.

I think it may be a personal thing, b/c of my experience with my car, and of being a part of this community for so long. But at the same time, I've always loved late 80's Towncars, and that has nothing to do with personal experience. I think I have a very strong bias towards our foxes, so I don't look at them like I look at any other car, and it's kinda hard to describe how I feel about them. But for 80's Lincolns, and the occasional well kept Crown Vic/Grand Marquis, I do stop and think, "wow that is a nice classic car". To me, they are classics. They haven't yet achieved the rank of "old" to me, although 83/84 foxes do kinda have that feel, but I still dig em. Now, 70's birds, yeah. Those are old. lol. But I still would not mind in the slightest to own one of those either.:D

I do understand your point though, b/c a couple of years ago I had an 02 Frontier, which now would be close to 10 years old, but I still see those running around on the roads and think of them as new-ish trucks. The same goes for 99-03 Cougars, and even SN95 stangs, some of which at this point are as old as 17.

I know I kinda wrote a book there but I just felt like getting that out there, if you don't mind.:)

didnt think id miss driving mine everday this much

Reply #8 – November 28, 2011, 08:47:43 PM

I miss the extreme comfort of my 88tc. Since then Ive had cars that handle better, are way faster, way more practical, better on gas, etc... but nothing nearly as comfy.

didnt think id miss driving mine everday this much

Reply #9 – November 29, 2011, 10:56:38 AM

Quote from: shame302;373202

Then it died out with responsibility. Silver blue had to go. I had several since but that's the one I miss. That's not to say I'm not happy with the 2000GT

I know we haven't agreed on much on this forum, but I'm with you on this. My bird was a wreck, needed rocker panels, proper floor pan patches, a trunk floor, lots of body work and plenty more. I didn't have the time to do that, nor did I want to spend the money to pay someone to restore it. I sold out, I bought my Genesis Coupe. I've been looking for another bird, but I know it'll never be my first car again, and that attachment will never be the same. First car, I swapped the motor, and transmission, most of the interior, lots of stuff. It was a project that never ended. But driving you're project everyday is tough. Especially when working, in High School it wasn't too bad. Part of me wishes I sold my 72 Cutlass 442 and kept the bird, but from a monetary standpoint, the Cutlass is and forever will be worth at least 3x as much. All cars are money pits, and to make them what we want, we end up losing money, something I haven't really accepted yet...

Quote from: bhazard;374052

I miss the extreme comfort of my 88tc. Since then Ive had cars that handle better, are way faster, way more practical, better on gas, etc... but nothing nearly as comfy.

Very true. My new DD, would drive circles around my old bird. Hell, it's drive circles around and stock 87-88 bird in any configuration, and some that aren't, but it's just not the same. Buying a car from the factory that will run 13.5 out of the box in the quarter is not as fulfilling as building my first car that stock would run 16.xx.

Not a day goes by I don't miss my Bird. It was just too far gone. I recently called and tracked it down, it was crushed. :/ I got my monies worth out of it, but I wish I parted it out. It was my grandmothers, and it would have been nice to keep some parts of the car. I still have the original 3.8l motor, and I'm going to make a coffee table out of it.

I stick around here because you guys are great, helped me a lot throughout the past 5 years. I'll sell what I have left here, and stay in touch. The guys on the new Genesis Forum as all as*holes, it's impossible to buy from a legit seller or get a quality aftermarket piece.

didnt think id miss driving mine everday this much

Reply #10 – November 29, 2011, 01:01:34 PM

you know as far as the comfort thing goes, I miss my 96 too. In fact, I think I actually preferred the ride in my 96 over my 88. I know I loved the interior in that car for sure. The 94-97 MN12 cars had one of the best interior layouts of any car of all time IMO. I often wonder if I didn't have so much work and devotion into the cougar when I decided to send my 96 off, would I have done it the other way around...

Either way I've had 8 different vehicles over the past few years, and none of them come close to the 88 or the 96. If I hadn't needed a truck for work I would have absolutely kept my 96 and just fixed it. I'm thinking that after I get out construction, (which hopefully could be next month), I am probably going to sell my truck and either just drive my 88 or get another MN12 car.

didnt think id miss driving mine everday this much

Reply #11 – December 09, 2011, 06:24:50 PM

idk what to really call the late 80"s fords. there not old but not new. now some ppl u ask say cars like mine and fox body stangs shouldnt be in a classic car show. i think they should be because they are pieces of ford history. usualy the guy saying that is the dude with the 2010 v6 mustang in the show thats fanced up to look like a gt or a shelby. now new cars i feel can be at a car show but there needs to be a limit. our cars we can make different and special. new cars are cookie cutter cars yeah some might have a different bumper,
but they dont have the soul behind them like ours that have stood the test of time,miles,abuse,and love

didnt think id miss driving mine everday this much

Reply #12 – December 09, 2011, 07:37:01 PM

Quote from: 87tbird5.0;375117

our cars we can make different and special. new cars are cookie cutter cars yeah some might have a different bumper

i have some ideas to really make a new rustang stick out from the others, but people would cry.. 'why would you do that to a new mustang, eeehhhhh, piss and moan..' the guys that buy the new stangs have no real sense of customiaztion when it comes to them.. they just throw body bolt-on's at it and change the wheels, they're pretty boring in my opinion