The other obsession

[dixondw]

There's been some mentioning of cars in this forum. Let's talk about the ones you currently have and the ones you should have never sold.

I shouldn't have sold:

1971 Camaro w/400 small block (great show-yer-ass car for a 17 year old)

1980 Camaro Z28 (at the age of 19, I worked in a factory making a whopping $6.75 an hour, so I could afford this car and the $220 a month insurance payments)

1977 Pontiac Firebird Formula (I invested over $3K in the engine, the only thing this car ate faster than clutches was gas -100 mile range per tankful)

My latest toy was a 1984 Toyota Supra that had 23K original miles on it when I sold it two years ago. The car was in mint, showroom condition and I couldn't bear the stress of owning such a vehicle. Everytime I drove it, I was constantly worried that something was going to happen. The man upstairs must have been tuned into my paranoia as I hit a huge Buck one night on the way home from work. Luckily, the damage was nothing more than superficial scratches that buffed out.

I currently have a 1971 Torino 500 that has been in storage for 23 years; one of these days, I will have the $$ to restore this beauty to drivable condition -if I stop spending all of my extra cash on guns. :D

[steel609]

I had a really, really nice 81 Nissan(Datsun) 280ZX. Didn't sell it, as a guy pulled out in front of me in an intersection while I was doing about 60mph, and removed the entire front end. :mad:

Currently, I have a 94' Mitsubishi 3000GT that is a pretty awesome car, and an 06' Ford F150 truck.

A car I wish I would have bought many moons ago was a 69' convertible Camaro. I could have bought it for $5000 from a neighbor and turned it down. :(

[melensdad]

When I imported this from England my wife said that I was the king of all idiots, but here is my favorite toy, parked in the back yard . . .
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y75/melensdad/Herbie%201972%20Snow%20Trac%20ST4/4.jpg
It seats 7 and my daughter will never miss school in the winter. It took 3 weeks to cross the Atlantic by boat but took 6 months to sort out the paperwork to get it through customs. I finally ended up declaring it a snow "tractor" and the import papers have it listed as farm machinery so it is actually road legal as long as I follow the tractor guidelines for road travel. But most of its time is spend driving through my fields.

If you want to know a bit more about them, here is a Wikipedia page that I wrote that gives a good overview of their military & civilian history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Trac

I also like to play with other toys:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y75/melensdad/Tractor%20Pictures/IMG_0033.jpg
I bought the green tractor (Oliver Super 55 Diesel) as a wreck, restored it, and am kicking myself for selling it a few years ago.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y75/melensdad/Tractor%20Pictures/IMG_0008.jpg
My wife HATES when I fire up this one, but she has a pool in the back now so she complains a lot less about it.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y75/melensdad/Tractor%20Pictures/IMG_0182.jpg

I've got more, I'll see if I can find photos. There is a '67 Jeepester Deluxe Convertible at the restoration shop now, that should be done by spring??? I had, but sold an Avanti Convertible, it was production #28 of the convertibles, only about 300 of those were made. I loved that car!!! Got pictures of it somewhere too.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y75/melensdad/Bug_Clear.gif

[steel609]

Ok, that snow driving tractor thingy is just cool!

[melensdad]

Ok, that snow driving tractor thingy is just cool!

Yup, I think so too!!!

Here I am pulling a Jeep out of the snow (I know people say "Its a Jeep thing . . ." but when Jeeps get stuck they call me!:) )
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y75/melensdad/Herbie%201972%20Snow%20Trac%20ST4/1P1030880.jpg


And a photo in my back 'yard' (soybean fields).
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y75/melensdad/Herbie%201972%20Snow%20Trac%20ST4/Herbyard.jpg


Here is a view inside ... before I fixed it up. The new seating is all Hawaiian bark cloth with pink flamingos, palm trees and coconuts on a black background :p
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y75/melensdad/Herbie%201972%20Snow%20Trac%20ST4/IMG_0517.jpg


And another view in my garage parked on the lift:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y75/melensdad/Herbie%201972%20Snow%20Trac%20ST4/IMG_0522.jpg

[melensdad]

Ok, that snow driving tractor thingy is just cool!

Yup, I think so too!!!

Here I am pulling a Jeep out of the snow (I know people say "Its a Jeep thing . . ." but when Jeeps get stuck they call me! )
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y75/melensdad/Herbie%201972%20Snow%20Trac%20ST4/1P1030880.jpg


And driving in the snow.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y75/melensdad/Herbie%201972%20Snow%20Trac%20ST4/Herbyard.jpg


Here is a view inside ... before I fixed it up. The new seating is all Hawaiian bark cloth with pink flamingos, palm trees and coconuts on a black background.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y75/melensdad/Herbie%201972%20Snow%20Trac%20ST4/IMG_0517.jpg


And another view in my garage parked on the lift:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y75/melensdad/Herbie%201972%20Snow%20Trac%20ST4/IMG_0522.jpg

Out back along the river:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y75/melensdad/Herbie%201972%20Snow%20Trac%20ST4/0.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y75/melensdad/Herbie%201972%20Snow%20Trac%20ST4/HerbField.jpg


I've added several safety devices including a color GPS mapping system and a pitch and yaw indicator. These little things are capable of climbing serious slopes and its almost impossible to tip them over, but driving them at night in an area with a lot of rivers and streams can make for some harrowing adventures so the GPS keeps me informed of the locations of the rivers and the pitch/yaw indicators help when I am climbing or descending the banks.

[steel609]

You should paint it yellow, and park it outside a school with a sign that says

"Don't worry kids, you'll never have to miss school again for a snow day"

The looks on their faces would be priceless. :D

[melensdad]

You should paint it yellow, and park it outside a school with a sign that says

"Don't worry kids, you'll never have to miss school again for a snow day"

The looks on their faces would be priceless. :D

Yeah, but that would be mean. I like that :cool:

[dixondw]

I agree with Steel, that Snow-Trac is one of the coolest things I have ever seen! I wouldn't mind having one of those excavators either. Here's some pics of the Toyota before it went off to NJ.

[steel609]

I knew I had some pics of my 3000GT and just found them.

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff184/steel609/Mitsubishi%203000GT/23.jpg

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff184/steel609/Mitsubishi%203000GT/449749_64_full.jpg

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff184/steel609/Mitsubishi%203000GT/2.jpg

[dixondw]

Nice "slightly modified" engine in that 3000GT. A USAF friend of mine had a
'93 3000GT, he was clocked in Derby, KS doing 158. The cop who stopped him must have been dumbfounded that Mel didn't try to outrun him......he let him go with a warning.

[rob_s]

2005 GTO
Lots of people got "upset" that Pontiac called this car a GTO because they didn't like the way it looked, or didn't like the fact that it was an Australian import, or whatever. I believe the timeslip on this photo shows mid 13s, and I eventually got into the high 12s stock. The '05-'06 Pontiac GTOs were the fastest production Pontiac GTOs ever, despite a lot of old-timers faulty memories of "my ole '68 GTO did the 1/4 in 11 seconds on stock tires".

With performance like that they could call it the "Pontiac Pink Bunny Slipper" and I wouldn't care.

Traded it in on an Escalade that I drive now. Nice ride, but I miss the speed.

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q111/rob_s/me%20shooting/455938395_l.jpg

[Bryan Snell]

Couldn't find a picture but I should never have sold my 1962 Lincoln Continental. That was a dream car and I let it get away. Doubled my money on it and only owned it a year and did nothing but maintain it.

Also should have never gotten rid of my 1973 Super Beetle.

[636]

05 hemi magnum
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/CBRSCOTT/IMG_2370.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/CBRSCOTT/IMG_2369.jpg

big bottom girl!
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/CBRSCOTT/IMG_2366.jpg

[McQ68]

[QUOTE=636;5006]05 hemi magnum/QUOTE]
Oh Man, it's got a HEMI! And a picture of a guy on the door.:rolleyes:

[636]

yep,almost too shiny....if there is such a thing...

[dixondw]

I keep hearing those guys from the Dodge commercial in my head: "That thing got a Hemi?".