Classic car spotting this week.

Watch my Whisky

These were the butt of so many jokes / New Jersey-based insults for so many years, but they've picked up tremendously in value. I always fancied a 1LE in white.

Aroxx

I still have a bunch of pictures of my first car. 1987 Z-28 Camaro. Basically my birth year. Which IIRC was rare because most of the Gen3s were IROC-Zs. She was a bit of a bucket of bolts and duct tape. Loud and not really that fast. I had to have a stick shift and it had to be a V8. The T-tops were a bonus and never leaked. I put the sweet seats in myself. That transmission was garbage and I had it rebuilt once and rebuilt the rear-end myself once. The clutch throw was about 2 miles long. The syncros would go on 2nd gear and you had to get fancy with it. The doors weighed about 800 pounds. One time the horn malfunctioned and I had to rip the horn cover off and pull the wires to get it to stop. The horn would kind of fade in and out as I was driving it was hilarious. Then I just left the cover off and from then on to honk the horn I would just grab the wire and touch the contact. Ahh the way back machine. She's a classic now. Gen3 was the best.

Edit: And no, I never crashed it.

Scarecrow Boat

Oh man, this takes me back. My very first car was a '84 Z28 Camaro 5 speed with 24k original miles. I was 15 at the time and working for the second summer in a row at my first job, which was at a local farm owned by a good family friend. I spent the summer waking up at the crack of dawn, bailing hay, taking care of varying farm animals, and driving varying tractors. For my 15th birthday, my parents took me to another good friends house and surprised me with this car. However, WITH the stipulation that I pay them back in full, which was several thousand that they paid for it. Seeing as I was already working, all of my earnings went right towards the car. Anyways, my dad purchased this from his friends father who happened to be the original owner. The original owner rarely drove it and mostly kept it under wraps within his enclosed garage, so it looked brand new inside and out. Ran really well too. The V8 purred, and when you needed it to, it roared. I remember the black vinyl seats being a nightmare to get into during peak summer heat. Funnily, I loved that the gas cap was hidden behind the license plate. This car was everything to me but looking back, I have no idea what the hell my parents were thinking when they decided this would be a good first car. I remember the day we purchased this, my dad drove me home in it... he smoked the tires in first, second, and chirped third. My mom was absolutely livid, but that moment started so much for me and my dad. I was 15, so I couldn't drive it yet... so between then and when I got my learners permit, my dad taught me how to wrench on cars. We built up the engine even more. I shake my head now as I write this but I absolutely loved every minute of it. This was my very first big purchase and this car and experience taught me so much. It was my baby. I cared for it, respected it, maintained it and learned how to do all of those things with my dads help. It opened my eyes to cars and working on them. It lasted with me through high school. I eventually had to sell it as I made a cross country move from Virginia to California and it unfortunately couldn't come with me.

Don't mind the date on the photos as it was set wrong. This was actually in 2003. Next to the car is 15 year old Scarecrow Boat looking rather upset. Likely because I was paying for a car only for my dad to enjoy driving around lol! (The weird glare on the pillar in the second image is a glare in the photo album).

That car led me down a path of wrenching and my curiosity in taking things apart and put back together so I could learn how they work. Whether it be repairing broken vintage film cameras to use them to working on airplanes (I have my pilots license). After that car, I bought a 94 Honda Accord EX 5 speed coupe. Gutted it, did extensive suspension work, and did a H22 long block engine swap with a lot of other performance work. After I finished that project, I bought my third car, which was a 2006 Honda S2000. That didn't last long as stock... carbon fiber hood, roof, trunk, extensive suspension work, and extensive engine work including individual throttle bodies. I was single, living just outside LA, and working a very good job and all of my money went into my cars. It was a blast. I number of years ago, I had a significant hard drive failure and lost so many images, so I unfortunately don't have anything to show for those.

UncleBuck

Outside the Omega Museum in Biel a couple of weeks ago.
My second car, a true POS that was under-powered and broke down daily.
But I loved it so ......and truly a chick magnet. Instrumental in meeting my wife!

UncleBuck

Outside the Omega Museum in Biel a couple of weeks ago.
My second car, a true POS that was under-powered and broke down daily.
But I loved it so ......and truly a chick magnet. Instrumental in meeting my wife!

Waltesefalcon

I've owned two Spitfires, a 66 MkII, and a 79 1500. The 79 was a daily driver while I was in college and it drove all over the western US. The 66 was one I bought a few years later as a restoration project. I loved both of those cars, but honestly, I wouldn't go back to one after owning my Miata. While the Triumphs were fun, they were abhorrently slow and generally not good in the highway. The Miata easily keeps up with highway with highway traffic, despite its age, and it's as much fun on twisty roads and the track than either Spit was.

DrmexicoII

And presumably doesn't rust quite as aggressively?

Waltesefalcon

I've never had rust issues with any of them, but I don't live in a place where cars rust all that much. From what I understand NA Miatas are known for having rust issues back east.

Arancio601

A friend touristing in Roma today. On his way to getting arrested. Until he fast talked his way out of it with frantic gestures to the landrover

RI Omega Fan

Not mine ~

Yes, that’s Jay Leno. Super nice guy.

Waltesefalcon

Mine is not concourse ready.