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Posted by: Pat Garvey Mar 19 2007, 08:40 PM

Just spent a nostalgic week with my parents/in-laws. Guess i know where I get my moto-DNA.

My father-in-law, who dies last week once had, as his premier car, a first-run Cobra! I never knew it! '64 289. kept it for 3 years, before deciding it wasn't a "family" car. Traded it for a Cadillac.

My father had 2 hemi-Dodges. A '55 and and a '56. Two-tone paint on both (black & red). Bought my Mom a deuce coupe in '60. She hated that car! Traded it for a '66 VW, which she still misses at age 93.

My 2nd car (after the beer wagon hand-me-down '60 Dodge) was a '66 Dodge Dart GT (I'd KILL to have it back). 273 cid, 4 speed, balanced blueprinted & dyno'd at 304 hp, Edelbrock, dual carter AFB's w/postive linkage. 6 mpg.

So....why have I spent 35 years with a 1.7 914/4?
Pat

Posted by: iamchappy Mar 19 2007, 08:48 PM

My Dad had some nice early Tbirds and a bought a new 64 Mustang 289 that was replaced with a new 68 390 AMX, after that nothing fun.

Posted by: Michael N Mar 19 2007, 08:52 PM

Cars in the family growning up were 1964 T-bird convertable w/ 390 and a 1970 VW bus (60 miles per hour, only if down hill in a hurricane). Wish the T-bird was still in the family.

Posted by: Crazyhippy Mar 19 2007, 08:58 PM

Dad had a 76 corvette... Sold it the DAY i turned 16???

I learned how to drive in it though.

Also had some really neat cars pre-me. 55 2dr Cheby Nomad, Big Block Impala, Monster Maverick. Watched him break a front u-joint w/ no driveshaft loop when i was 7, maybe 8... Back of the Impala went straight up, and the rear end went straight back... Made for a LONG night.

Posted by: ws91420 Mar 19 2007, 09:03 PM

Sunday go to church car and family vaction car 72 Lincoln Continental til 1989.

Posted by: Eric_Shea Mar 19 2007, 09:04 PM

Fun was a 1968 Galaxy XL-500 GT. Yes... all the goodies.

Work was the bug. We had a couple combie's for camping (hence I learned to rebuild T1's regularly)

Posted by: Eric_Shea Mar 19 2007, 09:05 PM

Very cool...

Posted by: orthobiz Mar 19 2007, 09:05 PM

Back in the day, my dad was an Oldsmobile guy. We had a light blue '98 1963 and a gargantuan '88 1973 that I learned to drive on. I hated that car. Through the years he never had a fun car. Never, ever drove mine, never had the desire. In college I had a 914, Capri, Alfa Spyder.

Guess my car bug was a spontaneous mutation and not inherited!

Paul

Posted by: swood Mar 19 2007, 09:07 PM

Each other...crazy.

Posted by: Jeffs9146 Mar 19 2007, 09:08 PM

67 Mustang Convertable V8 289. Dad gave it to me when I graduated from High School.

I wish I still had it! I wrecked it and thats when I bought my first 914!

Posted by: kpex914 Mar 19 2007, 09:11 PM

my dad had a '64 T-Bird Hardtop and two 914's.

Posted by: drewvw Mar 19 2007, 09:20 PM

my pop was always a british car man. He had a '58 AH 100-6 he loved and drove it till it was hinged in the middle.

when I was a kid there was a '54 corvette with a blown engine in the garage until I was about 6. He sold it to a guy in washington state who thought he could restore it in 2 weeks for his high school reunion.

He also has a '71 240Z (original owner) and 60' bugeye which we still own...

Posted by: Aaron Cox Mar 19 2007, 09:22 PM

dad had an Jag E type... v12

has his eyes on an early 911 right now...

Posted by: skline Mar 19 2007, 10:12 PM

My dad liked little cars and sporty cars, I remember an XJ140 Jag project, a 62 Karman Ghia, a 63 Volvo P1800, and a 64 Alfa Romeo spyder among others. He is where I got my car restoration values from.

So I think it is fair that I blame it all on him I sure miss my dad.

Posted by: LowGT Mar 19 2007, 10:19 PM

My father-in-law had a bug and a bus, but was never mechanically inclined.

My grandfather was a welder for GM, and my father has been a mechanic his whole life. My grandfather still drives his 69 Nova, and still way too fast. He's the only old person I've ever ridden with where you constantly have to remind them to slow down! He's 86 now, and still romps on that thing like a 20 yr old.

My dad had a Vega wagon with a 283 in it, Fairlane 500, and a NovaII with a 327. That was all before I was born though. He is much more subdued now with his Buick LeSabre, go figure.

Posted by: jd74914 Mar 19 2007, 10:20 PM

Have him go for it

My Dad was out of a fun car for a while until he got his 71 911. He loves that car now (and has the horsepower bug so we're collecting parts for a really hot 2.2L )

In his youth he had a hotrod Ford F-1 with an Olds 303 (I'm restoring it again now), a few rodded Pintos , a 72 Chevy K10 with a hopped up 4bolt main 350, and his favorite and last, a 70 914.

Posted by: effutuo101 Mar 19 2007, 10:47 PM

Dad had a 64 Futura coupe (my first car) and my mom had an Impala. They settled down and bought Toyota's. Before I was around it was all about the Merc's. Grandfather on one side had a two door lincoln Continental and the other grand father had a 64 1/2 mustang fastback and a model A..

Posted by: Midtowner Mar 19 2007, 10:48 PM

My father had a Karmann Ghia but bought a 1973 914 2.0 because "the wiper blades work better". At least, that is what my mother reports. This 914 is now in my garage and is the car that got me into cars. Thanks Dad!

Posted by: jhadler Mar 19 2007, 11:03 PM

Austin Heally's, MG's, Alfa's and Fiat's made up my parents pre-child stable of cars. I don't remember any of the cool cars though. My folks had to <gasp> abandon an AH 100-4 back in the early 60's when the motor overheated and siezed in Denver on a cross-country trip. I always wondered what wound up happening to that car...

There were certainly plenty of cars in the later years. But the "cool" ones were all pre-child. Oh well...

Okay, so the Taxi Cab Yellow Pontiac Tempest, and the short box Ford Bronco were pretty cool too...

-Josh2

Posted by: Porcharu Mar 20 2007, 12:04 AM

My dad had a 59' Ford Ranchero that he swapped a 12.5-1 427 with a 3 speed with electric overdrive. The 4 speeds couldn't handle to power and always broke under stress. The car is gone but he still has the engine (it went thru something like 5 cars) That thing was scary fast - bias tires, 4 wheel drum brakes and over 450 hp.
Now he has my nice docile 178mph 67' Mustang that he keeps wanting to drop that 427 into.
Yes he is the source of my car "issues" - thanks Dad!!!

Posted by: highways Mar 20 2007, 12:15 AM

Dad had a WWII Williy's Jeep when he was 14. Then with mom they had an Austin Healy Sprite I think. Then they bought mom's dream car, a white Jaguar MK2... or there abouts. That car couldn't even drive around the block without breaking an axle. In the 1980's the Ambassador of Kuwait sent some representatives over and bought the Jag to add to his 100+ car collection. Then in 1991, during the first gulf war, Saddams sons stole the Kuwati Ambassador's car collection and hid the cars around Iraq. Dad also had a 76 Westvalia camper that we drove like a tank. And dad bought the 73 2.0 914 from a dealer- previously owned by Ernie Ball. I still have that one. Time to go install my new Boge's and Shea's front caliper's!

Posted by: faux916 Mar 20 2007, 07:51 AM

Dads still has
'62 Galaxie XL500 convertable
'63 T-Bird
Factory Five Cobra

Had
'66 T-Bird
'55 ford-several
'66 Charger
'70 camaro
'69 camaro
'68 Camaro
'67 Camaro
'57 Chevy
'71 Mustang Fastback
'73 Mustang Grande
'77 Mustang King Cobra
'49 willys Pro Street
'80 something Merkur XR4ti piece of crap
and many others I am missing

Posted by: SGB Mar 20 2007, 08:11 AM

64 Olds Rocket 88
67 Olds Vista Cruiser
67 Austin America
74 AMC Gremlin
72 Honda Civic CVCC
73 Ford 500
76 Volvo 240
76 260 Z
84 Golf Diesel
90 Jetta GLI
91 MB 190
97 Passat
02 MB 320

Posted by: rick 918-S Mar 20 2007, 08:27 AM

My real dad was just like me. He had several hundred cars. Most all exceeded the cool factor. Some of the ones I remember:

47 chev bone stock
55 lincoln Capri
55 ford (the bumble bee) two tone black and yellow
55 chev 350-4sp beam axle front
55 chev leadsled custom 57 vette style pancake hood and grille 58 Impala tail lights I custom painted it for him 30 years ago in aztec gold, pagan gold, gold flake and pearl scallops. I ecperimented with using enamels as the base coat and had binder added to Centari mixing clear as a clear coat and it worked.
57 turnpike cruiser
55 hillman panel
57 morris minor
63 Impala SS
64 Impala SS
65 Buick Wildcat
41 Hudson with a Pontiac 389
47 Plymouth with a ford inline 6
a host of Cadillacs and Lincolns

Posted by: Headrage Mar 20 2007, 09:15 AM

My Dad had a '55 Corvette convertable. Snap in plastic windows, straight six with triple side draft carbs.

Traded it for a Model "A".

Posted by: johannes Mar 20 2007, 09:23 AM

In the early sixties my father owned a Simca Plein Ciel a few weeks ...
Totaled the car (no injuries)...

After that he only owned "serious" cars.
That's why I bought a 914

Posted by: Ferg Mar 20 2007, 09:35 AM

My Dad owns a Fleet Leasing company, so his toys and his Daily drivers change about every 5k miles... Some of the highlights I remember as a kid:

1978 TA silver with the blue thunder chicken LOL
A Bricklen safety orange (my brother killed the battery first night showing all the kids in the neighborhood the doors go up and down LOL)
Deloreon (what a pile)
1987 Mercedes 560sl

Corvette's of every year (he's a vette guy) my fav's were:

1982 Collectors edition, silver with the fade on the side ect
1984 He had the first one in West MI for a while, quite a attention grabber
1991 dark bronze, car I learned to drive stick on
1992 Twin Turbo Stealth (small town cops, see below LOL)
1993 Polo Green (cops in my small hometown still looking for that one...)

I go back this summer, right now he's got a 01 vette roadster, and a 04 SLK AMG package roadster. I'll be snagging one of them to up to Northern MI to the 356 Registry meet in June.

Ferg

Posted by: Tobra Mar 20 2007, 09:40 AM

TR-3, XKE series 2(silver), XKE series 3(baby blue,V-12),911 carrera cab

all Dad's cars, but I remember Mom flat smokin' some fool in a Smokey and the Bandit Trans Am from a roll, jumped on it hard in first, caught 2nd and ran away from him

Oh yeah, had a '67 Buick Riviera big block that was pretty nice. They sold it to one of Mom's friends, whose son promptly wrapped it around a light pole.

Posted by: sk8kat1 Mar 20 2007, 11:36 AM

my first car 1966 T-bird white w/ the landau top and the 390 ..I really miss that car

my moms evryday driver when I was groing up 1970 bug .. robins egg blue

Posted by: Scott Schroeder Mar 20 2007, 05:30 PM

We had some fun cars. Mom drove a VW square back that my dad kept in almost concour condition. Little yellow car - man I would love to have it today. She traded up to a two year old 1979 VW bus that was in nearly the same shape - had this giant sun roof and a way cool cassette player. My dad drove a 68 Cutlass untill 1974 - thats when he bought his 1971 914-6 that a neighbor was selling. I need to see if he has the serial number and see if anyone on this list owns it. It was the lighter orange with black. Plate number was California blue/yellow 787-ELU. Even had a factory bra that covered the entire front hood. I would love to find that car....
He sold it in 1981 to buy a 930 (from the same neigbor). It was a tad blinged out for dad - red piping on the seats, speakers in the headrests, red piping on the mats and the wheels were polished with the red background. I dont think he ever took that car over 70 mph. Unfortunately he thought it would be silly to own such a car when we moved to colorado - so it went away. He had a company car and mom traded the bus for a full size blazer. Other than some grey market Audi 100's and my grey market GTI, things were pretty practical until about 15 years ago. Since then we have been collecting and restoring all sorts of stuff - most of it british and all under the premise of investment. We try to keep at least a 50% debt to equity ratio - not including our personal time we have invested.

Dad still loves Audis. He drived the a-4 and mom has the TT. He has been looking at the A8 recently as the A-4 is getting old. He is a pretty big guy and I think he would be more comfortable in a bigger car. He loves my Sliverado!

Posted by: 914wizard Mar 20 2007, 06:24 PM

Lots of 40's and 50's era hot rod cars before I was born. These are all the ones I remember:
1960 MGA
1961 356 B Super 90
1964 Austin Healy Sprite
1964 356 SC
1964 Volvo 120
1967 Fiat 850 Spider
1968 Fiat 850 Special
1971 914 1.7
1971 Datsun 510
1974 Ford Capri
1984 911

Now he is back to Hot Rods again
1928 Model T Roadster with SBC V8
1940 Ford Coupe with SBC V8

Posted by: faux916 Mar 20 2007, 07:39 PM

[quote name='sk8kat1' date='Mar 20 2007, 09:36 AM' post='877147']
my first car 1966 T-bird white w/ the landau top and the 390 ..I really miss that car

That was my first car too. But it was black on black with white interior.

Posted by: mattp Mar 20 2007, 07:41 PM

Dad had some cool cars, money was tight but:
68 GTO
66 Ponitac Lemans
87 buick grand national
some real early 30's hot rods way before I was born

I got it from him, I keep getting smaller and smaller cars

73 buick century
77 Nova (2 dr, buckets, 390 horse 350, posi, lowered slightly, real sleeper)
84 mustang GT
87 Mustang gt
74 Triumph tr6 (stil have it, 3x webbers, lowered, all poly suspension, stiffer springs, high compression, headers, lots of fun)
91 prelude
jeep wrangler
jeep grand cherokee (I lost my way there for a while)
94 BMW 530
90 carrerra targa
suburu wrx
infinitui G35 coupe (daily driver now)
75 914

eventually Lotus Elise

Posted by: Luke Mar 20 2007, 08:01 PM

Up until I was in High School Mom drove a '64 GTO ... I still have it ..

Dad had a good list early on ... '35 coupe .. '58 Impala, '55 Chev .. Hot Rod (I still have), 67 El Camino, '50 Chev Truck, model-A ... and some 80's/90's junk .. ending out with his hot rod '74 Stepside ..

Posted by: jim912928 Mar 20 2007, 08:32 PM

My Dad taught me how to drive in his 72 GTO...what a way to learn! He's now 81 and tools around in his restored (took him 5 years) 57 TR3....hmmm....where did I get the car bug from ? lol

Posted by: dflesburg Mar 20 2007, 08:33 PM

When I was a little boy, Mom had a 69 Merc Montego with a big block.

She got rid of that because she said Ford paint sucked. And gas was getting expensive, like 25 cents a gallon or something crazy like that.

Posted by: 914forme Mar 20 2007, 08:38 PM

Dad had a 64.5 Mustang Conv,
A 67 Lotus Elan
A Lotus Europa
A Triumph Stag
and a 914-6

Posted by: bernbomb914 Mar 20 2007, 09:20 PM

my Dads coolest car was a Bristol 401 Solon witha stage 2 bristol engine which he wore out . then he went to Shelby and put in a 260 V8 It was called the Businessmans Express he also had a 41 ford woody. My most exotic car was a 62 ACE Accea cp with a stage 2 bristol motor. had to sell it when I had my 3rd child. I wish I had that car now

Bernie

Posted by: Dan (Almaden Valley) Mar 20 2007, 09:33 PM

Dad had 41 Ford Convertible with flat head V8
55 chevy Bel Air Convertible with 265V8 with powerglide
58 Chevy Impala coupe with 348/four barrel
59 Chevy Impala coupe with 348 with 3 twos
60 Pontiac Bonneville with 389.
62 Caddy Deville coupe with 390
63 Chevy Impala SS with 283
64 Ford Galaxie 500 Convertible with 390
65 Caddy Deville coupe with 429
69 Ford Mustang Mach I with 351 Cleveland 4 barrel, 4 speed- the car I learned to drive stick shift on....
70 Caddy coupe De Ville with 472

Posted by: Vacca Rabite Mar 20 2007, 09:49 PM

Mom had an early Barracuda in the late 70's. But it was not a "fun" car. It was just her car, and hand-down from her sister. I don't think mom ever had a fun car, and I have no idea what Dad drives/has driven.

Zach

Posted by: LarryR Mar 20 2007, 11:33 PM

My Dad has always been almost as much of a gear head as me. However, he has been more into cruisers than race cars...

a short list:

56 buick convertible
50 mercury convertible
59 impala factory tripple red 348 tri power
55 buick 2 door hard top

inspired by my tr6 he bought a 72 tr6 tripple black with wire wheels and restored it.

currently he is building a 50 mercury convertible with the drive train out of a new chrysler 300.

I think he was inspired by my 74 911 with a 96 3.6

gear head family

Posted by: John Mar 20 2007, 11:52 PM

My dad drove/still drives the 914 he bought new in 1974.

It is a little modified now.... It's what we use as "the track car"

He's also had some other Porsches:

1973 911T
1974 911
1983 930
Many many parts cars (but never drove those)

and some other less eventful cars:

19?? Chevy
19?? Corvair
19?? Montego
1972 Beetle
1973 Pontiac Grand Prix
1979 Toyota Celica
1981-82 Delta 88
198? Cavilier Wagon
1989 S10 Blazer
1991 Suburban
200? Taurus (2 of them)
200? Grand Marquis

I know he's had some others, but I've probably embarrassed him enough.

Hi Dad.





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Posted by: scruz914 Mar 21 2007, 12:36 AM

My Dad was practical during the time I lived at home. I must admit though, our 1965 Mercury Colony Park with a 390 V8 4 bbl had some pretty good dragster qualities. We also had a TR10 that Dad used to commute to the train station in. It was a station wagon model which attracted a fair amount of attention. Later on, my Dad bought a Special Edition 280ZX. I was long out of the house and never drove it. I was happy to see him driving something that was special to him.

My best friend's Dad had a 1967 TR4A IRS that was our primary transportation and wrenching project in high school. I loved that car.

My highschool girlfriend's Dad had a 1970 Firebird Formula 400, first year of the new body style and last year of any HP for a long time. Somehow, I frequently found myself behind the wheel. That car was so tight in the corners with plenty of power.

Thinking about those cars brings back some great memories!

-Jeff

Posted by: KELTY360 Mar 21 2007, 01:48 AM

My dad had a series of comapany cars; '52 Plym, '53 Ford, '55, '56 & '57 Plym, '59 Ford, etc. mostly 2dr sedans, all pretty boring. Coolest car my mom ever had was a '50 Studebaker Starlight Coupe. That's about the only one i wish they'd kept.

My car sickness is not hereditary. I must have caught it when we moved from Buffalo, NY to the car paradise of SoCal. The good stuff was everywhere, the exotic was commonplace.....and I learned to drive in a '64 Rambler American - 3 spd/od. The good news was all the great twisties in Orange County in the 60s. After all the boring cars I steered around those roads, my first car, a '64 TR4, was a real awakening.

Posted by: dflesburg Mar 21 2007, 08:33 AM

John,

That was a 69 montego, and dad beetle was a superbeetle

Posted by: Brew Mar 21 2007, 09:09 AM

My dad had some cool cars before I was around, including an XK140 and a 356, but I grew up in the back seat of a 68 GTO (see avatar) and a 61 Jag Mk.II. He's still got both, and is currently doing a rolling resto on the Jag.

Posted by: rhcb914 Mar 21 2007, 11:55 AM

You guys all lucked out with parents driving cool cars!

The first car I remember was a 1972 Chevy Malibu wagon that was puke green!

The only reason my dad got rid of that was because driving back from the cape my parakete was in the back and got gased out from exhaust fumes coming through the rust holes in the body. That kind clued him into getting something else...canary in the coal mine thing.

After the station wagon my dad drove Dodge Caravans.

My family's car choices defined cool.

Posted by: John Mar 21 2007, 12:43 PM

What does it matter? (the montego was no bigblock)

Posted by: SirAndy Mar 21 2007, 12:53 PM

you tell me ...

that's me in my dad's car. i have no clue what it is and he isn't around so i can't ask him ...
Andy





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Posted by: Travis Neff Mar 21 2007, 02:19 PM

61 356B roadster
67 Camaro 6 cyl
70 Chevelle 2dr 307
76 Datsun 280Z
00 Trans Am WS-6
82 911 SC Coupe
06 GTO 6 Speed


Other generic cars deleted...

Posted by: 1970 Neun vierzehn Mar 21 2007, 05:10 PM

Sir Andy,
That car looks eerily like a 1958 Opel Olympia Rekord.

Posted by: Howie's 914 Mar 21 2007, 05:27 PM

My father had a 1970 914 that he traded in for a 71 911 and then had two vette's before getting into the cadie phase. He makes fun of me for getting a 914 but I love it..

Posted by: merrill Mar 21 2007, 05:28 PM

My dad's fun cars were 1926 Ford depot hack, 1927 Ford pick up, 1932 Ford model A with rumble seat. He now has a 1967 Mustang with vinyl roof. His non fun cars were Chevy citation "ticket to hell", Pinto wagon, Subaru 2 door. His tastes were eclectic at best.

Posted by: 73Phoenix20 Mar 21 2007, 07:47 PM

The Original Hotrodder...

1951 Oldsmobile Super 88... big honkin' overhead valve V8, with, like 150 hp, but... big for it's day! Fastest stock car at Daytona that year...
1959 Galaxie 500, with the 352... another big honkin' worthless V8...sold it the month after I got my drivers license and nearly scared my mother to death trying to drift the rear end around a curve, just like all the Good Ol' Boys on the dirt tracks! The Galaxie did not know the meaning of the word "Drift", but it rolled like the Titanic on it's death dive...
He decided we needed to Go Small, and started with a '66 VW Fastback, which morphed into a '68 Fastback (w/ EFI), and a '66 VW Double Cab Pickup (yeah, it's as ugly as it sounds), and then a 1969 Fastback (fully automatic! think verrry slooooow). I left home shortly thereafter and bought a 1968 911L, and a 1972 Capri 2600 V6 4spd, which showed it's ass to quite a few BMW 2002's after a bit of carb work. That turned into my first 1973 914 2.0, and the rest, as they say, is history!

Posted by: Pat Garvey Mar 21 2007, 09:53 PM

Great responses - all of them!

Looks like a mix of moto genes - some inherited, some morphed. Just goes to show that most 914 people (hate the term "teener") got into these things for some reason of their own.

If my father were around when I bought the 914 in '72, he probably would have disowned me. "Jezzus Pat, it's only 4 cylinders and a third the size of a decent V-8" would have been about what he'd say. By now, I think he'd have understood.

What the hell will the next generations collect?

Posted by: sww914 Mar 21 2007, 10:04 PM

VW powered sandrail, motorcycles in the desert.
Dodge pickup while drunk driving.

Posted by: jwalters Mar 21 2007, 10:33 PM

Ma and pa drove the venerable 1971 Oldsmobile Delta 88 four (4) door with the rocket 455 HO...

It had a matterhorn white body and green vinyl top...

Bitch would smoke the bias tires to nothingness in 5 flat....

Pa is bipolar,,,, and took me for many rides while in a highly pissed-off state of mind.....I know from experience that this bad ass ride would unleash unreal whup-ass