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Old 11-14-2016, 10:19 PM
Electronic M's Avatar
Electronic M Electronic M is offline
M is for Memory
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Pewaukee/Delafield Wi
Posts: 14,762
Bought my second car this week!

Now that I'm commuting daily to work and winter is closing in having a winter car to rust in place of my Mark V, and hopefully not slip on wet and or snowy/icy pavement is paramount. I also want to save for an older classic so low price point has merit.

Here it is!



This 1979 Bill Blass Edition can rust in place of my 1978 and the smaller 400CID motor and rusted away metal will make for less mass to cause skidding.







Okay every darn thing you've just read except for the first paragraph is basically a big joke.............Although I did briefly consider getting a much rougher Mark V as a winter car (I love how a 460CID-V8 can start to heat the car within i residential block's drive). I technically bought it late last week and it is more of a truck than a car.

I've been wanting something that can pull a HEAVY classic on a trailer without modifications (my lincoln could with gusto, but do I really want to add a hitch and change the suspension?), handle well in winter (and not make me feel bad exposing to salt), and be able to hold a large TV console inside without exposing it to the elements. I considered a number of platforms and options...As someone that has spent a lot of time sitting in Hondas (god help my poor back) I was disappointed that most can't even tow something half their weight and tend to resell out of my budget, I was strongly leaning towards a Chevy Suburban (or another GM on that chassis), but the folks hate most of those and I could not seem to find a decent one that was not in some VERY bad neighborhood. GM's variously labled S-10 based SUVs were high on my list (since a friend swears by them), but most are on the edge of major maintenance mileage points, beat to heck, or snapped up instantly from the overwhelming sea of lesser examples.

What I finally went with was a $2800 110k 2002 GMC Envoy. With the same inline 6 engine that my friend swears by in the S-10s, and the optimum axle ratio for towing she should be able to handle up to 6200lbs of TVs, and or towing home a 40's or 50's car to add to my fleet...Not to mention select-able 4WD for winter driving. I lucked out in responding to the add in the 1st half hour and getting off work a bit early to see it.



There is the predictable wear of a cheap used domestic car: some bad body work both noticeable (tail gate), and hard to notice (correct factory color repaint, and drywall screw attachment of body panels hidden under said panels near the passenger headlamp), cigarette burns in the drivers seat, a lighter and ashtray yet no recognizable smell (I can fix that! ), undercariage spare tire mount not correctly set up, check engine light, and some small odds and ends I'll have fixed soon or manage to ignore till spring. But all in all it is a good truck. I'll admit I was gambling on the check engine light (which owner said just came on) being something minor, and almost passed on it because of that light, but that turned out to be a good gamble...It got the price down, and changing the $36 single connector single bolt timing sensor fixed it. One nice thing about this car was the guy that sold it was well to do and had sunk a good chunk of change into getting it safe to replace his wife's car (she did not want it though), suspension, steering, exhaust, brakes, etc had been gone over and I saw many shiny new parts bolted to the somewhat rusty undercarriage. It's got it's warts, but none seem to be in the parts needed to go down the road. One thing I really like is the fold flat rear seats....Soo much better for sliding consoles in and out!


So what do you think?

I now have Ford and GM products so I think once I have more dough again (it will be a while) I'm going to hunt down some "Forward Look" Mopar to help round out my menagerie of large American automobiles.
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