Dream Car garage, WTF edition

[Stew]

Was just thinking on my way to work of some vehicles I like that would make others go "WTF, why?????"  Cars that may threaten your card carrying status as a car guy, but you like them anyways.  Rules are few.

 

1.  Up to 5 choices

2. production cars only

3.  State your case for that vehicle like it was on trial for murder and you are it's only defense. 

4.  Have fun!

And go!

[A Horse With No Name]

1965 AMC Rambler wagon...neighbors had one as a kid....always thought they were well proportioned. Always liked the 1965 Malibu wagon as well.

Rambler Ambassador.

[Stew]

1.  PT Cruiser GT:  Stuff the SRT4 engine and transmission, with larger wheels, better suspension and brakes, and some nice exterior enhancements and you have a decently fun little retromobile.

Dodge Caliber SRT-4:  This one was never popular and only lasted 2 model years.  It may not be the best looker, but it provides a surprisingly good handling demeanor with 285 turbocharged HP, and big Brembo brakes.  I kind of like the look too.  Too bad it didn't make it to the 10 model year when all Calibers got a drastically improved interior....

The Amphicar:  Not a particular good car, or a particularly good boat, but there is some coolness in it's ability to provide the ability for both.

 

90s Olds 88 LSS:  Yes, it is pretty much the Oldsmobile version of a Buick Lesabre, but it did have a few tricks up it's sleeve such as the Supercharged 3800 Series 2 V6 in it's later years.    It reall doesn't take too much output to make one of these a bit of a sleeper.

Late 90s Buick Riviera:  See above.  There is just something about this big coupe I completel loved and of course I am a huge fan of the SC 3.8 V6

 

[A Horse With No Name]

Riviera is a car I would actually really lust also. To me this kind of dovetails with our thread on the Lincoln Continental and the image of Lincoln. 

GM was working on revitalizing its luxury brands in the 1990's, and Lincoln was building....a Continental that was actually less Luxurious and had less deign features than the Ford Country Squire wagon my father bought in 1975, twenty years earlier....

Had a co worker that had a beautiful one in silver back in the day, like an idiot he swerved to avoid a stray dog at 60 miles an hour (the car, not the dog) and hit a tree.

The Olds I would replace with an Aurora....how many Olds powered cars raced at Indy during the early 2000's?....The Aurora was the swan song of a truly great American brand, and one of the  end points to what the Old GM was.

[Stew]

Got to thinking, gonna pull the Riviera and replace it with:

200 Limited Platinum V6:  I just like the basic look for some reason.  you can get leather, the 8.4 Uconnect, heated seats, the V6, and even paddle shifters for an MSRP of less than 28k.  It is also quick, 0-60 in 5.7 seconds per C&D.

3 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Riviera is a car I would actually really lust also. To me this kind of dovetails with our thread on the Lincoln Continental and the image of Lincoln. 

GM was working on revitalizing its luxury brands in the 1990's, and Lincoln was building....a Continental that was actually less Luxurious and had less deign features than the Ford Country Squire wagon my father bought in 1975, twenty years earlier....

Had a co worker that had a beautiful one in silver back in the day, like an idiot he swerved to avoid a stray dog at 60 miles an hour (the car, not the dog) and hit a tree.

The Olds I would replace with an Aurora....how many Olds powered cars raced at Indy during the early 2000's?....The Aurora was the swan song of a truly great American brand, and one of the  end points to what the Old GM was.

True, I honestly have such a quirky taste in cars there are many i could have included.  The Aurora, the 98 STS, the last gen Elderado, the Lincoln Mark VIII haha. 

[A Horse With No Name]

Those supercharged full size GM cars of the nineties were what I was hinting at in the Crazy Uncle edition of the Dream Car garage.  Glad you brought this one out. Lots of good times with friends in these back in the day, they rode better than many modern Luxury cars and would easily pull thirty plus plus on the road driven responsibly, beating things like the IS200T and the Acura TLX I was talking about in the other thread in terms of real world fuel economy.

Plus these came out at a time when you could get multiple colors and multiple options.  Again, a nice shade of the "old GM" and the way things used to be.

Was very sad to see a metric crap ton of these go to the crusher during the cash for Clunkers era.

Were I to own a modern Chryco car it would be a Three Hundred....but the 200 did have some nice interior detailing.

[Stew]

1 minute ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Those supercharged full size GM cars of the nineties were what I was hinting at in the Crazy Uncle edition of the Dream Car garage.  Glad you brought this one out. Lots of good times with friends in these back in the day, they rode better than many modern Luxury cars and would easily pull thirty plus plus on the road driven responsibly, beating things like the IS200T and the Acura TLX I was talking about in the other thread in terms of real world fuel economy.

Plus these came out at a time when you could get multiple colors and multiple options.  Again, a nice shade of the "old GM" and the way things used to be.

Was very sad to see a metric crap ton of these go to the crusher during the cash for Clunkers era.

The great things people dismissed that we will never see again.  Used to love the Bonneville SSEIs too and even the Short-lived GXP with it's Northstar V8. 

[A Horse With No Name]

Above car may be an SRT=4, but another good car of the era you are talking about from Chryco is the second gen Neon ACR.  Very rare club racing edition that handled well and was reasonably priced.  More common on the first gen neon, it was available as a second gen Neon option for awhile also. But that is not my #2 choice, that is to come...

1 minute ago, Stew said:

The great things people dismissed that we will never see again.  Used to love the Bonneville SSEIs too and even the Short-lived GXP with it's Northstar V8. 

We are lacking a lot of the creativity in the modern automotive world that we once had.  We still live in a golden age, but it has a different flavor.

Remember the Shelby Dakota?

PT cruiser is actually another great choice, actually. What I liked about it was that it brought a lot of people into car modification and enjoyment that might not have otherwise come. A lot of middle aged women around me modified them and brought them to car shows.

[A Horse With No Name]

http://car-from-uk.com/sale.php?id=56254

Check out the link for my #2 Choice, 1970 Dodge Polara convertible. Old school cruiser, last year for a full sized Dodge convertible, unique, fun, and fits our flavor of unique MOPAR products for today.

[Stew]

9 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Above car may be an SRT=4, but another good car of the era you are talking about from Chryco is the second gen Neon ACR.  Very rare club racing edition that handled well and was reasonably priced.  More common on the first gen neon, it was available as a second gen Neon option for awhile also. But that is not my #2 choice, that is to come...

We are lacking a lot of the creativity in the modern automotive world that we once had.  We still live in a golden age, but it has a different flavor.

Remember the Shelby Dakota?

PT cruiser is actually another great choice, actually. What I liked about it was that it brought a lot of people into car modification and enjoyment that might not have otherwise come. A lot of middle aged women around me modified them and brought them to car shows.

Oh, i love those.  First time a V8 was stuffed into the Dakota Engine bay.  There was also the Dakota convertible.

1 minute ago, A Horse With No Name said:

http://car-from-uk.com/sale.php?id=56254

Check out the link for my #2 Choice, 1970 Dodge Polara convertible. Old school cruiser, last year for a full sized Dodge convertible, unique, fun, and fits our flavor of unique MOPAR products for today.

ohhh, very nice choice as was the AMC wagon sir!

[A Horse With No Name]

Thanks, more to come....Got to get something done here...

[Stew]

15 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Those supercharged full size GM cars of the nineties were what I was hinting at in the Crazy Uncle edition of the Dream Car garage.  Glad you brought this one out. Lots of good times with friends in these back in the day, they rode better than many modern Luxury cars and would easily pull thirty plus plus on the road driven responsibly, beating things like the IS200T and the Acura TLX I was talking about in the other thread in terms of real world fuel economy.

Plus these came out at a time when you could get multiple colors and multiple options.  Again, a nice shade of the "old GM" and the way things used to be.

Was very sad to see a metric crap ton of these go to the crusher during the cash for Clunkers era.

Were I to own a modern Chryco car it would be a Three Hundred....but the 200 did have some nice interior detailing.

Ahhhh, very nice.  Interesting story, my first time behind the wheel of a stick was an 01 Neon R/T.  I did the clutch no favors and left quickly when i got back to the dealership haha. 

[A Horse With No Name]

Neon RT was a very good car...my son has a friend named Alex, may ahve mentioned this before. Alex has an SRT 4 that on the dyno pulls 725 at the front wheels, more than a Hellcat out of a four banger.

Again, was good to see some people getting into things domestic and different-during the cruise nights out at Brice Road during the MOPAR nationals bunches of young guys sued to bring these...and now the same young crowd is buying WRX, GTI, Civic SI and the like.

Chryco has done a lot of stupid things in terms of abandoning customers, sadly.

[Stew]

I do agree there.  They were really booming and cranking out some nice hits for a while.  One thing that kills me about the Dart and 200 is that the midcycle refreshes seems like they were going to be very good.  A Dart SRT4 FINALLY and complete with AWD!  The lesser darts offering AWD and a turbo 4 even if it didn't completely replace the old 2.4. 

[A Horse With No Name]

On 11/4/2016 at 11:02 AM, Stew said:

I do agree there.  They were really booming and cranking out some nice hits for a while.  One thing that kills me about the Dart and 200 is that the midcycle refreshes seems like they were going to be very good.  A Dart SRT4 FINALLY and complete with AWD!  The lesser darts offering AWD and a turbo 4 even if it didn't completely replace the old 2.4. 

Sadly, too little too late.

 

Again, they need to build products they are fully invested in building from a corporate cultural viewpoint...and that is SUV's, Trucks, and the occasional specialty car.

[Frisky Dingo]

Hmm....

 

Well first up is a car I already own- 1st Gen Scion xB. I've overheard people say they couldn't be paid to drive one. Many think they're ugly. I love them. Always have. The look is unapologetic and functional, the space is enormous, the gas mileage fantastic, and it even drives great. It's still an enjoyable vehicle to drive even after 4 years, and all the fun cars I've owned and driven in the same time span.

 

 

Classic Beetle- Call it girly, call it what you will, I love these and make no apologies for it. Timeless looks, a carefree spirit in car form, and arguably the most iconic automotive design of all-time make this one an easy choice. I'd cruise this thing on the weekends and love every minute of it.

 

 

Base 986 Boxster- Ah, yes. The hair-dresser's car. The Porsche for people who can't afford a 911. The Porsche for posers. I'd still rock one. fired-egg headlights and cheap interior and all. I'd devour my local back-roads in it every chance I got.

 

 

MB R63 AMG- If driving a Mercedes van with compromised doors and a glorious, bellowing V8 is wrong, I don't wanna be right.

 

 

Isuzu VehiCross- This one is a true 'WTF?' getter. A lot of people have never seen one or even knows they exist. 

[A Horse With No Name]

Had a classic Beetle growing up, loved it.

Had a Scion XB first gen I bought brand new, was near flawless until it was totalled as a ten year old car. And even then it saved my sons life, as it was pushed off of a highway overpass and into a ravine by an errant Hyundai.

986 Boxer came very, very close to pulling the trigger on. Car in question had a Tan interior otherwise I might be driving it today.

My last three choices.

1974 Dodge Charger, last of the two door V8 Chargers and always liked these.

R 50 first gen Cooper, non supercharged.  Set it up as an auto cross car...they used to dominate H stock.

1977 Olds Cutlass...last of the really good two door Oldsmobile mid sizers. 

[A Horse With No Name]

Also loved the above AMG choice!

[Frisky Dingo]

I could have very easily just done an all-Toyota list.

Previa

MR2

Avalon Hybrid

Corolla XR-S

I4 RWD 4Runner or earlier xB pick.

 

[A Horse With No Name]

I love the second gen MR 2.

[Stew]

great picks frisky!  I had forgotten all about the Vehicross!  Like the Toyota list too.  One I thought about with Toyota is an 07-11 Camry LE V6.  talk about a bit of a sleeper vibe!