This should have happened a year ago, but you know how it is. I’ve been so engrossed with our new van, I rather forgot about the old Dodge Chinook moldering away in the lot behind our house (out of sight, out of mind). But I finally acted on it, and its found the right new owner. So I feel good about it leaving, especially since it made it to Tillamook, 140 miles away, without a hitch.
But then why not? We put 40k miles on it all over the western half of the US, and it only let us down once, and that was due to my stupidity (not carrying a ballast resistor). Happy trails!
I did have a minor issue about getting it running this time. It had been almost a year since the last time I started it up and took it for a drive, but it always chugs to life (with a plume of smoke) once gas gets to the dry carb. Not this time. Dry as a bone? Fuel pump bad? I just replaced it two years ago. No, it’s still got a good suck when I put my finger to it. Hmm. Clogged fuel filter? That brought me to a stop on the way home from our last really big trip to Glacier. No, it’s still ok. Move on down the (gas) line. Aha! right where the line gets to the tank behind the rear axle, there’s a short rubber connecting piece, and its…whole upper half is missing. Some rodent must have liked the taste of it. Easy fix; got some in the garage.
And then it…started right up. A rented pressure washer took off the green sludge and accumulated grime. I cleared out the last of our things that had lived in its storage compartments, and replaced them with a few parts I had bought but never put on, most importantly a new heater blower motor. That was of course fully disclosed to the new buyer, as well as its other various issues.
The new owner is the father of a young woman who rents the little cottage behind our house and cleans our AirBnB unit, and he’s a very practical guy, who understood exactly what he was getting into. That was critical for me, because this old rig is going to require that from time to time. I sold it to him for about the same ($1200) I paid for it in 2002. I put maybe another $1200 into it. It was probably the cheapest 40k miles a motorhome ever cost.
Before he came to pick it up, I parked my Promaster in fornt of it at the curb to get a couple of comparison shots. There’s more than a few similarities, such as their loadspace interior lengths (12′), and interior headroom (about 6’3″), and overall length. The biggest difference is the wheelbase, which is 129″ for the Dodge and 159″ for the Promaster. The Chinook’s rear overhang was a problem a few times in rugged terrain, and I had to re-do the holding tank outlets as they hung too low. Even a driveway ramp was a problem before I improved that.
The Promaster has FWD, yet its turning circle is much better than the Dodge; it never fails to amaze me how tight it can turn. And its huge windshield and higher sitting position make the view out front absolutely superb. never mind the comfort of its seats and other amenities, like huge leg room and no intrusion into the cab from the engine; the little V6 sits down low in front of the axle line. That makes a world of difference. As does its almost 100% better fuel economy (19-21mpg vs. 10-11). And no more emptying that stinky blackwater tank. I’m so glad to be rid of that.
The giant windows in the Chinook will occasionally be missed, like when sitting at the beach on a windy day. But they created a lot of condensation on chilly nights.
The Chinook’s fiberglass body is of course a bit wider, but that’s turning out not to be an issue. The galley in the Promaster is much better configured, as are other aspects (a full detailed write up is coming after it’s completely finished).
What am I going to miss the least? Wondering if the 360 v8 will stall when I pull out into a highway or across an intersection. Or if the lights will all work, due to an aging electrical system. Or…
And what will I miss the most? Riding with the memories it made over the years. And the burble of the V8 when it was working hard up a mountain slope.
What do you miss the most and least of a former ride?
A more detailed write-up of our years with the Chinook is here.
Sad to see the camper go. FWIW, I’ve been looking for one but I’m afraid of the rot that the traditional wood frame camper bodies get. A fiberglass one like your old Chinook sounds like a better solution.
I miss every car I sold. The ones I regret selling are: ’77 Wagoneer, ’67 Continental ’79 Mustang pace car replica, ’79 customized shortbox G-van. All were relatively rare vehicles, and I would really enjoy them today, for looks, style, function and uniqueness.
I’ve looked for replacements and they’re all pretty expensive nowdays, and worth much more than what I sold them for.
I’ve owned and sold 4 Chevy pick ups (2 c/k series, and 2 S10’s). I liked them but don’t regret selling because more modern pick ups are better in almost every way.
Those do sound like cool, unique rides.
Surprising that they look so close in size parked end to end. I’d always assumed the Chinook would dwarf the Promaster.
That’s the best way to sell a vehicle: fair price, and a grownup who knows what they’re getting into. When I sold my horrible 1978 Gold Wing I had one guy who came to look at it, was all enthuiastic about getting his first motorcycle even though he wasn’t very handy and I flat out told him “Look, you don’t want this bike.”
When I sell a vehicle I miss the good times, when everything was working and out making memories. I don’t miss the maintenance..
They’re both full-sized vans. The Chook’s rear body is a bit wider, and has that raised center section of the roof, which the Promaster doesn’t need, because of its lower floor.
I suppose I most miss my ’73 Toyota Corolla S-5 Coupe, what the import tuners now call a “Mango.”
The S-5 slotted between the base coupe and the SR-5, and had most of the SR-5 mechanical bits but left off the wheel flares and styled steel wheels (see picture).
I don’t miss our 2002 Alero on any level. It was nicely featured, but materials used, driveabilty and reliability were all subpar.
Clicked the wrong button. Here’s the picture, and no, that’s not my younger self…
I’m glad I had the opportunity to see your Chinook in the metal and fiberglass this past summer. As well as the ProMaster, which seems like it will be a fine traveling companion. Of my own recent vehicles, I miss the larger bed size and low end torque of my T100 vs my Tacoma, and I sometimes miss the mpg of our Prius. As far as the older vehicles, I miss them more for nostalgia than any tangible reason, whether practical or emotional.
Excellent question, Paul!
Of my first car, my Holden Astra, I miss not having to care about what the car looked like. Visibly, it was a beater. My current car got a scratch on it recently by the driver’s door from some rude individual and it infuriates me every time I see it because the car had no cosmetic flaws. If I’d gotten a scratch on the Astra, I wouldn’t have cared.
Of my second car, my Ford BA Falcon XR6, I miss the custom exhaust and the vibrant purple paint. I don’t miss the temperamental air-conditioning or the very slow fading of said paint.
Of my fourth car, the Subaru Liberty (Legacy) wagon, I miss the sat-nav… not because I ever used it for directions because it was out-of-date but because it’s nice to have on when you’re driving around, to see what roads and possible shortcuts are nearby. You can’t really do that kind of “incidental” map viewing on one’s phone while driving. But I don’t miss not having a proper AUX jack… that was a pain!
Awwwww, the Chinook was almost like the official CC mascot. OK, one of them.
Oh boy, what do I miss and not miss? Depends on what day you ask. Today I miss the great ride, comfy chairs and V8 grunt of my 1994 Club Wagon Chateau. I do not miss filling up the 35 gallon tank or the annual cleaning of tar/gunk from the light mocha lower body sides.
The visual from in October of 2006, shortly before it went away after 11 years of ownership.
I miss the sheer fun of my 1984 CRX 1.5 5-speed.
I probably miss my ’68 Coronet R/T the most. I built it from the ground up and I tend to get attached to cars when I wrench on them. It was barely running and had a rusty trunk and quarters when it got it in 1998 but it ran good, looked good and was faster than it should have been when I sold it 3 years ago for my Road Runner. I wish I could have kept them both but the RR is my dream car
DUDE. That’s a thing of beauty! Great color and those Keystone mags/RWLs tie it together perfectly. Hopefully it went to someone who is keeping it up.
thanks! I sold it to a guy up in New England who made it sound it like he really wanted the car; he turned out to be a classic car dealer, who then sold it to another dealer in Texas and I have since lost track of it. I would have rather have sold it directly to someone that really wanted it, but I needed it sold and that was the highest offer. At least when I saw it listed at the Texas dealer, they were asking less than what I sold it for to the New England dealer so that made me smile. Whoever ends up with it is getting a great car.
Dan you have and have had some really nice cars! You need to do a COAL series sometime.
Thank you Vince, I appreciate that. As per your suggestion, I have started to do a couple of write-ups on my current fleet, I hope to have a couple done by the end of the year. There are some very talented writers here and I admit its a bit intimidating; I think its easier to build a car than it is to write about it!
To be quite frank, I’m in awe of your collection and have been hoping you’d write it up. With cars of the stature of yours, you needn’t gild the lily with florid prose. Plain English will more than suffice. If you need a hand and Paul is otherwise busy, I’ll do it.
Seen this car once in the comments, when you talked about the factory defect! (Tilted R/T logo). The car really looked stunning
I’ve sold many cars that I miss dearly so picking just one is about impossible. However, it’s most easy to say which one I miss the least… my colossal sh*tpile ’75 Volvo 164E. By far the most unreliable car I’ve ever owned. Wait, that’s not entirely true… it really was quite reliable… I could rely on it breaking down with nauseating regularity. That turd had the electrical system from Hell, it ate alternators like they were M&M’s. There’s a special parking lot in Hell for that gawdawful car.
A friend of my dad had a similar vintage Volvo with the same issues – it was so bad that they ended up giving him a new one (which proved to be a much better car). Oddly enough, my sister had a ‘75 144 that she bought in 1990. It served her well for the few years she owned it, and she sold it to her husband’s nephew and bought a new Honda Civic.
I miss the wrap around rear window my old Saturn SL1 had. That thing virtually eliminated all blind spots. I do not miss the fact that it failed smog on its first attempt nearly every time I took it to be tested.
There are many vehicles whose 2018 values make me wish I still had them, such as my 1962 Porsche 356B, my 1960 Lancia Appia, my 1959 Volkswagen transporter pickup truck, my 1961 Econoline pickup. But then again I owned these before I owned land or garage space to shelter and store them. So I suppose I should be grateful that I didn’t have to deal with the logistics of keeping them around for all those years.
Among the many others, I miss my 1966 Dodge A-100 van, SWB, /6, the most. Really would like to have that today.
My 1966 Valiant Signet hardtop and my 1967 Volvo 122S SW were nice but regular sedans and station wagons have never really suited my needs.
Today I have what pass for ‘classics’ in the sense that the newest one is 22 years old (’96 Aerostar cargo van). (Plus an’86 Nissan truck, an ’88 Toyota truck and a ’91 Geo Metro cockroach). I want to tell you that late production Aerostars are under appreciated. I drove mine (175K on the clock) on a 1900 mile trip last month without issue and averaged 26.5 mpg. It has roll-up windows and you can actually work on it! I will probably miss it. (As with all elderly daily drivers make sure you keep the cooling system current, meaning near new, and change fluids regularly).
But I still want that A-100.
This hits right at home with my ’96 Aerostar, bought in August 2012 & owned for 5 1/2 years, right up to this past March. What I miss most compared to my 2011 Ranger: 400+-mile-range without the low fuel light coming on, being able to seat up to 7 or 8 passengers AND all their luggage (never got a chance to do), having a vehicle distinct enough from everyone else’s to identify it in a parking lot (somewhat fixed with the camper shell), the sound & performance of the 4.0L Cologne V6 on the open road (until the trans died), the “space age” styling from the 1980s. What I miss least: tight engine compartment for even basic maintenance, worrying about getting replacements for certain parts in case they failed (I’m sure the Chinook has the same problem), no option for all-terrain tires in the factory size, trailer hitch clearance compared to a pickup (found that out on steep driveways), waiting for the engine to warm up in the middle of winter when going to work in the morning (no, I did NOT let it sit at idle while waiting). You know what you COULD do to the ProMaster for nostalgic purposes? Give it the same pinstripes as the Chinook, it even has the body paneling for it!
I have made this same comment here a few times before but the car I most regret getting rid of was my 1988 Mustang GT convertible. I regretted that decision nearly from the moment I made it but it was too late then to do anything about it.
The car I was happiest to see leave was a 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix; not because it was a bad car because it was not. However, it had an insatiable appetite for power steering pumps, requiring a new one every six months. As long as the car was under warranty this was merely an inconvenience but once the warranty ran out I wasn’t about to be out of pocket feeding its habit.
I miss owning a stick shift. When I sold my Contour SVT in 2010, I sadly suspected it would be my last manual transmission.
As far as things I don’t miss, I had three cars that leaked from some place or another. What a huge pain to have to deal with a wet seat or trunk or whatever… every time it rained. Glad I don’t have that problem anymore.
There are quite a few I miss, but I’d say the one I miss the most is my old Custom Cruiser wagon. Between my parents and me, there was a B-body GM wagon in my life for nearly 25 years. My Custom Cruiser was originally owned by my mom. After my parents split up, I helped her find a newer car and found this Olds wagon that had no woodgrain and was very clean. Turns out, it was used for the first few years of it’s life as a flower car for a funeral home. After many years of owning bare bones station wagons, mom finally had a fully loaded car. I looked after the car for her but I ended up buying from her because it was such a nice clean car (clean B-bodies were getting hard to find by then).
After more than 10 years of ownership, the car was unexpectedly destroyed in a house fire. I had a ton of memories in that car, of both the time my mom owned it and the time I owned. it. I also did some of my first major jobs on that car, such as a my first paint job. Even though I ended up owning it longer than mom, it always felt like her car to me. My mom died unexpectedly in late 2009 and within less than two weeks after that my Custom Cruiser was destroyed.
To this day, I miss the 77-90 GM B-body cars, but I don’t know if I could ever own another wagon. After that last one, it’s just wouldn’t be the same.
Here is a pic of it in it’s final days:
Very sorry about your Mom and the car as well.
Its true that cars are ultimately just machines whose main function is transportation, but we spend so much of our time in them that they become the conduit for so many of our life memories and milestones. I guess I am too sentimental but I understand your not wanting to get another wagon.
Thanks for the kind words Dan.
I guess while I talked about what I missed most on my Custom Cruiser, the connection with my mom, I should have mentioned missed a lot of other aspects of that car. It was a great car overall but I really missed the versatility of that car most. The cargo and passenger space combo were hard to beat. Of course the thing I missed the least was the underpowered 307, which I had planned to replace with a mildly built Olds 403 had on my engine stand in the garage.
Hey, I’ve been a reader on this site for about 2 years now but never felt the need to comment until this.
My vehicle would probably be my 2001 Ford Explorer Sport Trac. It was my first car, bought used because my dad wanted a truck around the house. It was a loaded model, with power everything, leather seats, sunroof, the works. The downside was that it leaked from the differential, driveshaft couplings, and the radiator. The front suspension was shot when we bought it, as it squeaked and rattled even on flat pavement. To be fair, it was about 15 years old at this point, and had a lot of miles.
Over the course of about 18 months of ownership, I had to replace the front shocks, sway bars, and tie rods. The truck leaked all of the aforementioned fluids whenever it was parked, leading to my dad forbidding me from parking on the driveway. Also, it got about 16 mpg on average, which was quite a strain on my wallet. The last straw was when the timing chain gave out in an intersection, essentially totaling the vehicle.
I had so much fun in that car. It was comfortable, fun on dirt roads, and looked pretty cool. I have lots of great memories of working on it and driving it, and was rather sad to see it go, but it was for the best.
Hmmm. I guess the car I miss the most is also the car I had the most trouble with. However, to be fair, I knew it would be that way going in. It was a tired 71 Alfa Spider that I bought in 2010 and spent the next five years restoring. I had a great time, redoing the suspension, rebuilding the engine, restoring the interior. I really learned a lot and learned to appreciate Italian
engineeringmechanical design…where every part is beautiful, if sometimes impractical. I would still have it today, but for hubris. I decided to take the decent looking body and have it media blasted and learn light body work. I stripped it to the shell and had it blasted. I learned two more lessons from that: First, that it’s amazing what a good Bondo guy can make from a screen door. The second was learning that you have to know when to quit in your search for perfection. I took was was a decent looker and turned it into …nuthin. Well, not exactly nothing. I was left with every part necessary to build an Alfa Romeo, except the body. I now have another Alfa, same year and model, in beautiful condition. It needs nothing and yet it cost me less than fixing the first one would have. Still I miss that first one. I literally knew every bolt in it, and since it wasn’t in good condition when I got it, I feared nothing when working on it, (or driving it, for that matter). Now I have to be a bit respectful, and there’s little to nothing to tinker on, come a rainy Saturday.My lost true love, below.
“First, that it’s amazing what a good Bondo guy can make from a screen door.”
How to make someone from the upper midwest laugh out loud!
What do I miss the most of a former vehicle?
With some, like the ’69 F-100 that was in our family for 42 years, it’s the flood of memories and associations triggered every time I slid across the woven-vinyl seat and ran my fingers across the pipe smoke stains on the dash from all the years my Dad drove it…
Or the smell of my ’64 Beetle – a mix of horsehair padding in the seats and faint gasoline fumes. And the smile it gave me to drive it…
Or the sticky spots I never could seem to completely clean out of the ’90 Honda Civic in which I spilled a soda – and for months after, having my then-five-year-old son warn me, “Don’t get a medium Coke, Daddy!” at the drive-thru window…
Or the way my ’71 Vega was such an extension of my body on the road, with all the strong associations it had with my coming of age years…
Or the way my ’00 TDI New Beetle had just the right level of modern features while still capturing the gestalt of the ’64…
What do I miss least?
It’s odd, but with some vehicles, the breakdowns and repairs actually added to the positive memories I have, but with others, they were just another straw on the camel’s back.
And with a few, it would be the realization that the car not only wasn’t living up to my expectations, but that it never would…
As many an old-car classified ad has said over the years: “Too much to list”! More to the point, going into detail about what I do and don’t miss about each of my past cars would bleed off some of the pressure gradually building toward my finally doing my stint in the COAL mines, and that is something I really want to accomplish.
So instead, for this post, and coming from the perspective of very recently having made an agreement that will officially end my decades-long involvement with old cars, here are things I miss or regret: Opportunities missed, misspent, and fumbled. The sense of real interaction with the machine that’s absent with today’s everything-by-wire, everything-by-ECUmobiles. Being able to spot my car in a crowd from any reasonable distance, because it’s the only one like it around. The real, noticeable improvements wrought by routine maintenance. The “aHA!” moment when offboard diagnostics come up with the right answer. Recreational wrecking yard trips; hunting and pouncing on parts. Vent wing windows. Pushbutton automatic transmissions. Column-shift automatic transmissions. Real, actual gauges and meters on the dashboard. Kickswitches to change between high and low beam. Pullswitches (not push) built into the turn signal stalk to change between high and low beam. Pullknob switches for the headlamps, with inbuilt dashboard light rheostats. Various different starter motor sounds (notably the one everyone talks about in that regard). Standard-size headlamps. Standard-size radios. Hydromechanical automatic transmissions. Turn signal indication that’s an actual, mechanical tick-tock, not a simulation played through speakers. Personality and temperament with moods in accord with ambient temperature, altitude, humidity, how hard the car’s been working lately, and how thoughtfully it’s being treated by the driver. Sight lines through big glass area and narrow roof pillars. Actual, real keys with heads the size and thickness of at most a 25¢ piece. The thumbs-ups and smiles. Getting to hear and talk about my-relative-had-one-of-those and don’t-see-many-of-those-any-more. Getting to be a sought-out expert about the particular kinds of cars I spent so much time with, in, and on.
On the positive side of the ledger: I don’t miss the much greater need for upkeep and repair. I don’t miss yesterday’s wipers, defoggers, heaters, air conditioners, door-window-trunk-body seals, seatbelts and safety engineering in general, dirty exhaust, having to amass and store an arsenal of service literature and spare parts, having to fight with the insurance company every time something happens, having to worry extra-much that something will happen. Having to talk about my-relative-had-one-of-those and don’t-see-many-of-those-any-more. Having to be a sought-out expert about the particular kinds of cars I spent so much time with, in, and on.
Miss the most: my ‘91 Miata. I took it down to bare metal, fixed the rust (it had been driven year round in Minnesota for 9 years by the time I got it) and repainted it, I replaced the entire suspension (with a used stock suspension out of an ‘04 Mazdaspeed Miata), plus the brakes from a ‘94, new top, new interior, basically rebuilt the whole thing. I was researching turbo/engine swap/etc possibilities, but never got around to doing any of it. I met my current wife not long after finishing the suspension work… and she HATED it. Like, threatening to push it in the street and set it on fire, hated it. If you ever went on Miata.net, “Tuesday Thread” comments were bandied about regularly, too. Once we had our first child, my wife and I had an “either it goes, or I do” type argument, and so the car got sold. Obviously I have some emotional issues tied up with it, but I miss that car every time I see another one, or drive on a road that a more fun car would be nice to pilot down. My mother-in-law actually currently owns it, so I still see the car, where it’s been in a shed on their property for the last 11 years. (The bad pic is of my actual car, it’s the only digital image of it I have, all the pics I took of it were on film) They’ve put just over 6,000 miles on it since I sold it to them… and my in-laws have been told in no uncertain terms not to sell it back to me. 🙁 Its hard to write about it without getting worked up… we really can get very emotionally attached to our cars!
The car I miss least, was the ‘84 Ford EXP I had in 1990. It blew the head gasket three times while I had it, and the last time the timing belt snapped, bending all the valves. It had a myriad other issues (water leak from the cowl that filled the interior with water every time it rained, so there were holes in the floor, it randomly wouldn’t start and the dealer could never figure out why, among other things) Anyway since the motor was bad, it was surprisingly rusty, and I was just DONE with it, I basically gave it to the junkyard even though it was 6 years old. And the final kick in the pants from it was, 2-3 weeks after it was gone, I got a recall letter from Ford basically giving me a free engine for it. Grrr.
Don’t laugh: A 2.3 1987 Audi 100 I should have kept for eternity. Other than a leaking steering rack which I replaced with a 2nd hand unit it was dead reliable (this was in the EU where the cars never suffered from any American viruses). Precise handling, OK performance, comfortable and rust free. But I was a student living in a place where public transport covers 90% of all areas, and is efficient, so I stupidly let it go. Sigh.
No laugh here.
I’m a college student, who does everything by bus, and I’m trying to restore my 93 Audi, an 80 Avant TDI
Not laughing: Had a 1985 Audi 5000 Avant 5-speed, purchased used from original owner. Good handling, efficient performance, comfortable highway cruiser, avant-garde stylish. Only problem in 4 years a driver side window regulator. Surprised wife didn’t take it in divorce (it was getting up there in mileage, the car, not the wife). No longer needing family car, sold it couple years later. Now wish I’d kept it, a future classic ?
I really do miss a beater I picked up a few years ago after hitting a deer in my Hyundai Sonata.
I bought a 98 Hyundai Accent for $300 from an acquaintance
It was pretty beat up the exhaust was shot ( we don’t have inspections here).
It was noisy had a huge hole in the dash. But it only had 98k miles and ran like a champ with working ac and a little flip up sun roof.
I sold it to a friend for $400 after 2 years and about 25k miles. He still drove last time I saw him.
I really wish I had kept it and fixed it up. I never see these cars anymore.
I had a ’10 Challenger R/T I bought new from 11/10 until 7/18. I really liked that car, and decided another Challenger would replace it. The new one is an ’18 R/T 392 Scatpack.
In every way, the new car is superior to the old one, with one exception. The Harmon-Kardon $1500 stereo is a huge disappointment. The bass is better than the modified system in the old car, but the basic sound of it, unless it’s at blast level, is pretty bad. I’ve got some extra cash and I’m trying to fight the urge to put the same speakers I had in the old car in the dash to see if that improves it. I don’t think it could hurt, but at $300 plus to do, I really wish someone with more money would try it first.
I miss my 1987 VW Vanagon Westfalia camper the most! Having previously owned a ’73 Westfalia and an ’82 AdventureWagen, I aspired to what I thought was the “ultimate” VW camper, the Vanagon Westfalia. I took an Amtrak train from San Francisco to Grand Junction, Colorado in 2000 to buy it, based on a Craigslist ad, and having completed the transaction, I then the drove it home from there in ‘as is’ condition. Made it home through a rain storm, but with no mechanical issues! The camper had sagging front springs and A/C that didn’t work, not to mention a generally worn out shift mechanism, but otherwise it was in serviceable condition.
In 2005, I had some extra cash available and decided to have the Westfalia gone through from stem to stern, including a 2.3L performance engine rebuild, full repaint, new canvas for the top, new Mercedes wheels/new tires, stiffer springs, bigger sway bars, bigger brakes, etc. Around $30K invested all in all. “Invested” is probably not quite the right word. “Spent” is more appropriate. I enjoyed my greatly improved Vanagon Camper for several years after, including numerous trips into the Sierras with family, and by myself all over the west coast. It had improved power, braking, handling, and all in all it was a great daily driver as well as camping vehicle. BUT, over time, it proved less than reliable, with nuisance issues like running hot (never could pinpoint the cause), CV boots constantly splitting open (likely due to inferior aftermarket quality + increased ride hight), etc. So in 2013, not having the space to properly work on the camper, not trusting it to make long trips any longer, and no longer inclined to work on vehicles myself, I finally realized it was time for me to find it a good home with someone else. Plus, I wasn’t able to store in indoors, so it was slowly showing signs of surface rust in our SF marine climate. I eventually sold it to someone local here in San Francisco and haven’t heard from it/them since. I assume (hope) it is having a good life. if not, I prefer not to know about it.
Not wanting to give up camping, I replaced the Westfalia with a late model Toyota 4Runner and a tent trailer, both of which have been completely reliable and trouble-free. It has been a good tradeoff for me, but I still miss the Westfalia’s unique capabilities, idiosyncrasies and fun-to-drive factor. However, I don’t miss the feeling of dread with the Westfalia that I’d be stranded somewhere due to some mechanical or electrical failure. The 4Runner has been bullet-proof but somewhat boring to drive, but at this point I will take “boring” over break-downs.
Well, My dad is going to take the Cadillac from me and use it as a spare car, getting rid of it for my new (used) car to take its place.
On the one hand, I will miss somethings about it. I will some of the gadgets it had, I will miss the somewhat comfortable ride and seats it had. I will miss some of the good times I had with it, and I will miss the power on tap it had when I felt like putting my foot down.
What I won’t miss however, are the massive blind spots, the torque steer, the long heavy doors that make parking a pain, the somewhat cramped interior, having to fill up with premium every two weeks, and the constant problems its developed with the ever gnawing fear more might come.
More negatives than positives. Over time, I might feel more positive about it and the opinion I have will balance out, but considering what ownership of the car represented in the past two years I’ve had it and the personal struggles I was dealing with and the bad times its come to represent, I’m just glad it’s going to stop being my daily driver.
Of all the cars I’ve had and let go, I think my 1987 Dodge Lancer ES turbo is the one I miss the most. It wasn’t the most expensive or fastest car I’ve owned, but I did a lot of living in that car. I got it when I was 25 and sold it when I was 36. During that time of my life, I moved twice, had my children, four jobs, commuted a ton, drove home to Northeast Ohio numerous times and generally did a lot of growing up behind the wheel of that car. Sadly, due to a flooded storage locker, I’ve lost the photos of the car so I have to use a photo from the internet.
There really hasn’t been another car quite like that one for me; maybe the one that has come the closest was my Pontiac Aztek Rally, if you think of that car as an overinflated Lancer. But I miss the turbo boost coming on, the good handling (I briefly autocrossed this car, too) and oddly the weird joys of finding AM Stereo radio stations as drove across wide swathes of the country…
It was a good car.
You haven’t hear “Be My Baby” until you hear it in AM stereo.
Do bikes count? The only thing that comes to mind is the Honda CB360 I had in 1993-94. It’s the only motorcycle I ever had. Except for scooters and an ’85 Suzuki DS80 I had as a teen. They were all fun but I never wanted to get a really fast one because I would’ve probably crashed eventually.
Newton’s Law Of Motorcycles states:
“What goes fast must fall down“
So true! The longer something goes without occuring, the more likely it is to occur. It’s just probability. I think I subconsciously sabotaged myself by keeping in slower vehicles. Because I would always at least once see how fast whatever I had could go. Usually it was pretty slow. I had gone forever without doing that but did it last in 2008. I was leaving work after a midnight shift and I left with a guy who had a Hummer H2. Not my kind of truck. In fact I thought it was hideous. But every morning he would get onto the Cline Avenue extension (the locals know what this is) and having the road to himself, or not, he would go super fast around the curvy bends of the raised section over the canal. The Hummer looked ridiculous going that fast, like a giant boxy racecar. So one morning I decided to try and keep up with him in my Vulcan-powered Taurus. 157 screaming horesepower. So there I was, floored all the way around the bends, bumping the limiter at 114 mph, not even coming close to him, when I realized that I am too old for that dumb s**t.
Indeed. From time to time I get the urge to get a bike again. I live in Lower Austria which has many deserted roads where you could see for miles ahead (Lower Austria is the one Austrian State which has flat bits – it’s our “Midwest”) – ideal for biking. Moreover, the performance you can buy costs a fraction of the modifications I’m making to my 64 Mercury Comet to have it… Nowhere as fast.
But then I think about the dubious joys of breaking bones at 57 and just say no.
For me, it’s probably the spiritual predecessor of my Mustang; being black with a gray leather interior, but other than it being a Ford rear wheel drive coupe, that’s probably where the similarities end.
The picture below is not of my car, but it appears to be a dead ringer for it… an ’88 Thunderbird LX with the 5.0L (302) V8 and all the trimmings.
What I miss:
It was the first time in my life (heck, the only time) that I had a car with every available option. That car was loaded. I read the owner’s manual from cover to cover to try to find an option it did not have. The one I did find was a button panel that would’ve allowed its power seats to remember 3 different seating positions. It was pictured in the manual, but for the life of me, I could not find it anywhere in the car. It had everything else. It made me believe that the manual went to press before Ford decided to nix that option for my car. Why would you leave just one option off when ordering an otherwise fully loaded car?
I also miss the V8 burble. Sure, a T-Bird is a quiet car, but you still could hear that 302. I’ve only owned only one other V8, a wheezy malaise era 351-2V in my first car.
The ’97 ‘Bird that replaced it was quite a letdown, as it was only an Essex powered slightly optioned T-Bird with a cloth interior. While I liked owning ‘the last T-Bird’ (not counting the RetroBirds), it was no where near as nice as that ’88. Heck, I even had an ’88 Turbo Coupe that I didn’t like as much as that LX.
What I DON’T miss about my beloved ‘Bird? – the BRAKES.
Since that car only had 14″ wheels, that did not leave enough room for properly sized rotors, calipers, and pads. That car went through brakes like a competitive eating contest contestant goes through Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs. Slowing down a heavy V8 powered car was not easily accomplished by such wimpy brakes. That was one thing going for the MN12 that replaced it; at least with 15″ rims, it had better brakes than the ’88.
I have had a lot of cars and missed a few. My first Rx-7 and Spitfire are certainly cars I would own again. The one I most miss is my 1973 Mazda 808 Coupe.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics/cars-of-a-lifetime-1973-mazda-808-coupe-piston-powered-and-groovy/
I don’t miss my old ’62 Valiant that had its engine transplanted into a ’61 Lancer. No matter what we did, it (they) was (were) underpowered, worn-out cars. Maybe one thing: they were wagons, so lots of cargo capacity.
My ’70 Torino Brougham 4-door hardtop: my one experience with a mainstream, V-8-powered American car. It was pretty reliable, too. But my next car, a ’77 Honda Accord, was fun in a way the Torino could never hope to be.
The Honda was followed by an ’84 Mazda 626 sedan. Well-build, solid, good handling, comfortable, but plagued with carburetor quirks and not-always-reliable A/C. It had the heaviest manual steering I’ve ever run into, too.
Next one was a ’93 Mercury Sable. Ample, very comfortable, smooth, good handling. The 3.8 was so great in terms of torque, and we never had trouble with the transmission. Ultimately, though, that engine was a very bad point, along with the car’s habit of eating A/C compressors. I do miss its roomy comfort, though.
A 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid followed. A thoroughly competent, terrifically put-together car, a bit underpowered. Its CVT, though, was a weak spot, developing a “judder” that felt more than anything like a slipping clutch. We got it fixed, but an unexpected inheritance led to what we have now. And the Honda was just a bit too small for us in people- and cargo-carrying capacity.
“Now” would be our 2009 Camry Hybrid. Nearly as big as the Sable, comfortable seating, utterly reliable. Not very sporty to drive, but very competent, and its fuel mileage is better than anything we’ve had except the Civic Hybrid. The car’s reliability is on a very high level, much better than anything we’ve had before. We’ve had this one over six years, and I want it to keep going.
I’ve been posting on this site for several years and I would imagine that readers know that I’m a hard core old car guy. When I was younger I went through cars much more quickly, as they were all older models. I had at least seven different cars between the time that I was in high school and when I graduated from college. (It took me a while to finish school, seven years!) Then in my mid twenties I bought newer cars and as a married man even a few brand new ones which I held onto for quite a few years. During this same time frame I went through 13 motorcycles, the last an HD XLCR, much modified, I rode for almost twenty years. As I entered middle age I started back with the old hobby cars. I’ve been through about a dozen of them and still currently have four.
The point of this is, that no matter how many different, interesting cars I have owned, and worked on, or the different experiences that I had with them, I don’t regret selling any of them. And I don’t think that I would ever buy the same exact model again. I enjoyed them while I owned them, many I held onto for around ten years. Then I moved on. I’ve still got a long list of cars that I would like to own ahead of me.
When you pile your family in a vehicle, hitch it to a trailer, and spend a whole summer crossing the continent (and back), memories are made. When said vehicle is a bit aged, but proves itself by never, ever breaking down, it worms its way into your heart. That was my 06 Sequoia, and I miss it. A lot. It became like a reliable old dog – I knew just what it could do, and how, and it just wouldn’t let me down.
Saw one like it just the other day, and had a long, long look at it as I went by. It went because the rust was getting bad, and would cost more to fix than it was worth. But even knowing that, my eyes were sweaty when the dealer drove it off behind the shop on trade-in day.
I think those Chinooks were much-loved by their owners, overall. They sold in very good numbers, and were a size that most anyone could handle.
We never had a Class B/C ourselves, eventually buying our own fifth wheel, and later, a 23-foot regular travel trailer, but the vehicle I think I miss the most was our 1979 Toyota P/U, with the small cab-over camper. This rig took us everywhere, without complaint. I added Helwig overload springs on the back to help with the weight of the camper. It wasn’t fast, but it handled fine. One somewhat unusual aspect of the Toyota was that it had an automatic behind the engine…..