Favorite Car

Paul Douglass

Member
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S E Washington State
Surfing the internet this evening I ran this picture.

SunbeamTiger.jpg

Sunbeam Tiger
I bought one in 1966 after I got out of the service. It was my favorite vehicle of all I have owned, and absolutely the most fun of any. Had to get rid of it when the children can, I have never forgiven them....:rolleyes: It had a Ford 260 cu. in. engine, four speed and I could beat a Corvette through a quarter mile. Corvettes had a higher top end though. The list price at the time was $4100. Mine was the same color as this, my wheel rims were a little different, liked mine better. Mine didn't have the scoop and louvers on the hood. That looks nice. Don't know if that was an add-on. Looks nice though. The guy that posted this picture is a retired Navy Capt. He said the same thing, his favorite of all the cars he had had in his life.


What was your favorite, if you had one?
 
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My favorite car was my 1972 AMC Javelin AMX. Bought it off of my dad who bought it off of the insurance company. It was a stolen car, recovered, owners rejected it. Trans and motor issues, front bucket seats snapped off, dash torn out, right front fender dented. It was less than a year old, I was 12 when I started payments. Put a 350 chevy with 400 trans (automatic) in it, took seats from a '69 Camaro and put them in, lake pipes, crager SS wheels, Mickey Thompson N50's on the rear. It was fast and pretty.

My favorite truck, my current '03 Dodge Quad cab 4x4. Good mileage, great ride, hauls everything I have asked it to do, been a loyal and dependable vehicle. Sold the Javelin after we bought the farm, might keep this old Ram forever on the farm.
 
I've had a number of favorites through the years...it'd be hard to pick just one. My '67 Mustang was the easiest to work on and fun to drive. It was a stock 289 with the automatic transmission, but it was still a cool car..My '80 Chevy short bed van was, well, it was a van with a bed and very few windows and I played in a rock band...what can I say? :whistling: My '87 Jeep Wrangler was a ton of fun to drive in town and in the mountains. My current vehicle, a 2001 Lexus RX300, is the most comfortable and feature-loaded of any I've owned. It drives like it's on rails, can go way faster than the law allows, and has been absolutely reliable for its 135,000 mile life. (I bought it used 10 years ago, but have put the last 100,000 or so on it myself.) It's starting to get a bit long in the tooth, though. Some of the smaller electrical things (like power door lock actuators) are beginning to fail, and being a so-called "luxury" SUV, they're not cheap to replace. I'd say my biggest gripe about the Lexus is the cost of repairs. I figure I'll probably drive this one into the ground. Not sure what I'll end up replacing it with or when.
 
My favorite car was the first new car I ever bought. 1968 Plymouth Road Runner. Hurst 4 speed 426 hemi.
I had a 69 corvette that I had to sell when I got married. I loved that cat too.
My 2006 Hummer was the most fun car to drive that I could ever imagine.
 
1966 Buick Riviera.
1966_buick_riviera_by_compaan_art-d3nku0o.jpg
I bought it in late 1968 after returning from Vietnam. Bought it back in PA while I was stationed at Ft. Dix, NJ while I was waiting to get out of the Army. 425 C.I., 425 HP, Rochester quad carb. And the same dark green as the one in the picture. It had power windows and power seats and IIRC weighed in at a svelte 5000 lbs.

Drove it back to SoCal after I got out in June with a cousin who came out to visit for the summer. At freeway speed [65-75] it was like you were in your favorite chair and would deliver 21-24 MPG. It had a drum type speedo that went to 155 MPH. In west Texas I opened it up. When I looked down at the speedo it had gone around and was at 5 MPH. I figured with speedo error I had to be going at least 145-150 MPH. It was still very stable at that speed but was starting to get a little light in the front end. I looked at the gas gage and I swear you could see the needle going down. Of course I didn't look for very long. The rest of the trip was at normal speeds.

What a car. I still wish I had that car even though it would be very long in the tooth by now.
 
1994 Mustang. Only car I bought with my Dad in tow. He encouraged me to get that car. I was looking at something much more mundane, like a Plymouth. Glad I listened to him. Also one of the very rare things I ever did with my Dad.
 
Mine was a '97 Wrangler, what a fun mobile it t'was...
Blast_O_Fun.JPG

Always been Ford guy when it comes to trucks. Had an 87 F350 dually that didn't understand the concept of 'not possible', what a beast she was. But my favorite truck is our current, F150 2001 that we bought in 2000, have yet to put 50,000 miles on it {we have no life LOL} She rides as well as any car I've ever ridden in.
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And that boat^ was my favorite water ride...1961 Starcraft Holiday 18' with a 120 Johnson OB...I tore out every thing top to bottom and redid it all over a summer a few years back...sadly had to let her go due to finances :(, yeah it hurt, it was either the boat or the wife, and :huh: well.........I figured I could always find another good boat:D
Piece_of_Heaven.jpg
 
Paul, just by coincidence, my neighbor across the street recently pulled out a car that he had stored in a barn for 20+ years. I think it's also a Sunbeam Tiger. Don't have any particulars on it though.

I had (2) favorites that I wish I still had. First was a 1958 Chevy Convertible, red/white top. Second was a 1960 T-Bird Convertible red/black top & hydraulic trunk.

The '60 T-Bird had a 430 Lincoln engine in it.. To say it was competitive would be understating its "beastly" nature. Not as fast off the line as some, but its top end was scary. Took on a Plymouth Fury on Interstate US 95N, pegged the needle, left the Fury in the dust, blew a rod(s) & lost the engine. :( Needed a tow home. Had to rebuild the engine! By the way, the needle pegged at 140 on the speedometer. Don't know how accurate that was, but it was the fastest I've ever been in a car; the dotted lines became solid.
 
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We used to watch those Sunbeam Tigers race. With V8s they were rockets. The regular version, the Alpine, is still one of my wifes favorites.
As to my favorite car. If it was the one I had at any given time and actually ran, that would be my favorite. I have had some doozies. '48 Olds straight 8, Studebacker Eagle, LaSalle, etc.
 
I don't really like cars - but

My favorite car that I owned was a 65 Fairlane Station Wagon with a 289
I liked the Datsun F10 hatchback - this was maybe my favorite - but close to the Fairlane.

I like a 64-65 red mustang ragtop - never owned one - never will.
I don't take care of cars and it would not deserve me.

I have never really had a "good" car. All were "used" and most with high milage.

My highest interest in a car is how low cost overall I can go - per miles driven can I go - including maintenance.
I chart everything on every car.
I am a VERY VERY anal person.

I can't stand cost analysis based on opinion of loose calculation
I am very fact's based

My lowest cost car was my Nissan Maxima at about .04/.05 cents per mile for the life of the time I owned it.
I got near 100,000 miles on the car and paid $2,000 for it.

I have owned over 30 cars and trucks in my lifetime - so far.
 
My favorite was my 1956 Chevy Bel Air Convertible, V8 straight shift with four bbl carb. Wish I still had it. Color was yellow and black. Of course gas at that time was .25 a gallon too!
 
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1983 Porsche 928S. At that time Porsche claimed the 928S to be "the fastest street legal production car sold in the US" I bought it as a midlife crisis car from a fighter pilot at Aviano AB in Italy. Drove it very fast in Italy, Germany, France and Belgium for four years, then, because of gray market car legislation in the US, I shipped it back to the states, had it converted to US specs and shipped it back to Italy where I drove it another few years before bringing it back home with me in '92. It sat in my driveway with very little driving time for a few more years before I finally sold it. It was a beautiful car, solid as a rock, but god awful expensive to repair, just wasn't the same thrill at 55mph as it was at 140 mph:). I still have the custom Porsche bike rack up in the attic.
928S RomanticRoad.jpg
 
1983 Porsche 928S. At that time Porsche claimed the 928S to be "the fastest street legal production car sold in the US" I bought it as a midlife crisis car from a fighter pilot at Aviano AB in Italy. Drove it very fast in Italy, Germany, France and Belgium for four years, then, because of gray market car legislation in the US, I shipped it back to the states, had it converted to US specs and shipped it back to Italy where I drove it another few years before bringing it back home with me in '92. It sat in my driveway with very little driving time for a few more years before I finally sold it. It was a beautiful car, solid as a rock, but god awful expensive to repair, just wasn't the same thrill at 55mph as it was at 140 mph:). I still have the custom Porsche bike rack up in the attic.
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I've always dreamed of Porsche. I've wanted a Porsche 911 since 3 days before I was born!
 
My 1971 Fiat 124 Sports Coupe. I had it up to 114 mph, it cornered like it was on rails, and I could beat an MGB GT in a quarter mile. Missed it when I gave it up. Years later, I saw it rusting in a farmhouse driveway.
 
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