For those who drive, what was your first vehicle?

[Nitro]

I'd like to have a dollar back for each time I had to pay a fine for running tubular steel exhaust headers back in my day

 

[Cali Cat]

My first car was a land yacht. A green 1970 Buick Electra.

 

[Destination Unknown]

That was a long time ago and I have worked a lot of machines since then. If I remember right it just needed a battery and tune up. I bought a used 6 volt battery, plugs, points, condenser, rotor and distributer cap. You have to remember, I was only 14 at the time and did not have any help, so this was a fairly large project for me. My parents wanted me to do this on my own. After I got it running and got plates for it, they told me that I could not drive it without insurance. That was something that I did not expect. However they helped me out and added it to their insurance. Once I started driving it, I found that it would not charge very well and wanted to overheat because the fan belt was loose. I could not tighten it because the adjusting tab on the generator was broken off. This was a inline 8 cylinder engine, so it was possible wedge a 2x4 between the generator and the block to tighten the fan belt. This worked so well that I never did get another generator. I just had to smack the 2x4 every so often to keep the belt tight.

On one car I used the 2x4 trick to keep the engine from falling out when the car rusted out around it. That would be a subject for the thread "The biggest piece of crap you ever drove"

 

[Nitro]

My first car was a land yacht. A green 1970 Buick Electra.

I had a green 1972 Buick Centurion convertible I called the hotel

 

[Rayner]

Why did you call it that? My Ford ranger's name is puddles. I'm sure you can figure that one out.

I had a green 1972 Buick Centurion convertible I called the hotel

 

[Nitro]

On one car I used the 2x4 trick to keep the engine from falling out when the car rusted out around it. That would be a subject for the thread "The biggest piece of crap you ever drove"

I had a '77 Camaro come in my shop with a rusted out floor that had a field stone placed on top of the catalytic converter that kept the passenger from burning their feet and getting them dragged off by the roadway
The biggest POS I ever owned had an emblem on the radiator grille that when translated said Fix It Again Tony

 

[Nitro]

Why did you call it that? My Ford ranger's name is puddles. I'm sure you can figure that one out.

I called it the Hotel because it would comfortably sleep two adults on the seats
That car was HUGE
My Centurion had a 455 4 barrel dual exhaust from the factory

 

[Judge]

The biggest POS I ever owned had an emblem on the radiator grille that when translated said Fix It Again Tony

Which one? X 1/9? 124? 850? Or another model?

They had style but no reliability. All dressed up sitting in a garage waiting to be repaired.

 

[Rayner]

Wait nitro Owned a Fiat? That's suprising. Just as I began to see you as a musle car guy you bring out your inner italin super car fan. What's next you're going to say you owned a KIA?

I called it the Hotel because it would comfortably sleep two adults on the seats
That car was HUGE
My Centurion had a 455 4 barrel dual exhaust from the factory

 

[Nitro]

My Fiat was a 128 model that I got for free. Geez I hated that rattletrap and scrapped for $50 about six months later

Rest assured Raynor,it's American muscle all the way for performance with a preference for cubic inches over cubic dollars when it comes to making power.
I owned a ton of 84-88 Toyota trucks over the years because they were so durable under the hood. Too bad they didn't understand how fast their frames and bodies rusted

 

[Nitro]

This was my first high performance vehicle I built when I was just 14. It was a combination of a VW Beetle front pan assembly combined with the rear drive assembly and suspension out of a my '64 Chevy Corvair that was bought for the build. When it was all together,it had a 180 horse Corvair Corsa engine in it out of a '66 model with four Rochester one barrels on it. It was just deliciously crazy to drive
https://www.aspiescentral.com/media/volksvair-woods-buggy.6291/

 

[Rayner]

I'm fond of American made muscle despite never owning a muscle car. The modified 572 Cubic Inch Large block Chevy when it flexes it's muscles it pull like a locomotive. Even before granddaddy decided it wasn't good enough for him and rebored, restroked, swapped camshafts, and added a two turbos.

You should have seen my granddad's face light when he was finnished.

My Fiat was a 128 model that I got for free. Geez I hated that rattletrap and scrapped for $50 about six months later

Rest assured Raynor,it's American muscle all the way for performance with a preference for cubic inches over cubic dollars when it comes to making power.
I owned a ton of 84-88 Toyota trucks over the years because they were so durable under the hood. Too bad they didn't understand how fast their frames and bodies rusted

 

[Nitro]

I'm fond of American made muscle despite never owning a muscle car. The modified 572 Cubic Inch Large block Chevy when it flexes it's muscles it pull like a locomotive. Even before granddaddy decided it wasn't good enough for him and rebored, restroked, swapped camshafts, and added a two turbos.

You should have seen my granddad's face light when he was finnished.

I'm gettin' excited just hearing about it

I wanted the 572 strip version for my '66 Caprice dragster project but have decided to stick with the 427 stuff instead because I already have a boatload of parts and engines. I need 8-900 ponies to run in NHRA SuperStreet class and if I watch the tune on a 427,it should be very reliable at that level. but man...the 572 is the bomb

 

[Catlover614]

I thought this light-hearted topic might be interesting and fun to share.
My first car was a 1982 Ford Escort. It was $800 and my parents paid half. I had to foot the entire insurance bill though, and that was $1500 for a year of liability coverage.

That was my 1st car too. My Escort was $1000 and it started falling apart a month after buying it. I had to replace the water pump, thermostat, and alternator. Then the brakes went out too! That Ford Escort gave me hell, lol, but it was nice not walking everywhere.

 

[Nitro]

My Caprice has been in my livery for almost 30 years now. It has been with me longer than any of the women I had

I got my start in musclecars when I was very young and they could still be had as just old used cars. Now everyone who has anything that even has a small chance of ownership wants a fortune for them.

None of my pix of my Caprice as it sits now are in digital format.If I dig some out later I can scan some. It is about 85% complete to date with a S&W Racecars 10 point roll cage in it and a lot of weight shedded by removing anything it didn't need to go down the track. I am talkin' Fox body Mustang kind of weight down from her hefty 4100 lbs. as a street machine
Here is my car as a 327 powered T350 auto 4.10 geared streetmachine a while back:
https://www.aspiescentral.com/media/old-heavy-ordinance.1510/

 

[Rayner]

Now it's a 638 Force inducted work horse, I'm not sure what the HP is. I would guess around around 450 hose power at the crankshaft. It's build for sheer torque not horse power.

I've been watching a YouTube series, where a guy is putting a turbo charged Pontiac 427 into a 1979 ford fairmont.

That particular engine made 574 HP at 5,700 RPM (5,700 was its redline I believe) with 7.2 PSI of boost, I believe it's max torque output was 634 foot pounds.

I'm gettin' excited just hearing about it

I wanted the 572 strip version for my '66 Caprice dragster project but have decided to stick with the 427 stuff instead because I already have a boatload of parts and engines. I need 8-900 ponies to run in NHRA SuperStreet class and if I watch the tune on a 427,it should be very reliable at that level. but man...the 572 is the bomb

 

[Nitro]

That was my 1st car too. My Escort was $1000 and it started falling apart a month after buying it. I had to replace the water pump, thermostat, and alternator. Then the brakes went out too! That Ford Escort gave me hell, lol, but it was nice not walking everywhere.

The 'scorts were always a nightmare when they got older.

 

[Nitro]

Now it's a 638 Force inducted work horse, I'm not sure what the HP is. I would guess around around 450 hose power at the crankshaft. It's build for sheer torque not horse power.

.

Out of the box,the street version of the 572 puts out 620 at the crank,so I am going to assume that it is much greater than that after a revamp and some huff

 

[Catlover614]

The 'scorts were always a nightmare when they got older.

Yeah, they tend to overheat and catch fire. Thankfully, that didn't happen to mine. I owned that car 8 months until the maintenance of it got too expensive. It ended up in a junk yard! 2nd car was 1992 Honda Prelude which never gave me any problems and very fun to drive.

 

[Rayner]

This 572 was originally put in a pick up truck. Would it still be 620 HP?

The drivetrain gearing between each gear is pretty wide and low. Torque converter inside the transmission multiplies engine torque 2.5 times.

Out of the box,the street version of the 572 puts our 620 at the crank,so I am going to assume that it is much greater than that after a revamp and some huff