The "What Do you drive?" thread....

[Rod Beauvex]

Yeah, what is that, anyway? I used to think it was a Roadmaster with the roof chopped off. :/ *shame*

[compu_85]

There's only 1 four door, suicide door, American convertible that I know of

-J

[Sandy G]

Originally Posted by compu_85

There's only 1 four door, suicide door, American convertible that I know of

-J

Yep, my Lincoln.. 1967, they made approx. 2300 of 'em..We THINK there are 7-800 survivors..

[marty59]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

Yep, my Lincoln.. 1967, they made approx. 2300 of 'em..We THINK there are 7-800 survivors..

I do recall some structural issues with 'em but yours does appear to be a nice clean example!

[RobtWB]

wow ... this thread has brought back memories of my '82 Mercury Lynx
was young and had $ ... didn't know any better at the time ... live and learn
bought it new from Marion Ford Lincoln Mercury
been 31 years so I don't remember what the sticker price was
a pretty little thing, 2 door hatchback, black with red vinyl interior, am radio and a/c ...

so weak the engine was I never turned the a/c on until it reached cruising speed, and had to switch it off if I was in heavy traffic and needed acceleration
enormous keys!!! what a dumb idea Ford had there
paper thin driver and passenger door window glass
interior vinyl, panels and carpet faded rapidly and driver seat cracked
dash actually came loose from firewall ... had to find a long Phillips screwdriver and tighten screws
blew head gasket for no known reason, H2O pump went out, timing belt jumped teeth before scheduled replacement
relay in a/c went out ... jumpered it rather than spend a fortune for replacement
hydraulic lifters for hatchback lasted maybe 2 years


... but it did have 4 Michelin XZX radial tires ... lasted the life of the car

don't miss the car at all

should have kept the "73 AMC Hornet Levi's Edition

[bgadow]

One of my customers was a diesel mechanic and his grocery getter for many, many years was an Escort diesel. Had to be a rare bird! Early 80s. He may still have it. One thing I always used to notice about the (gas) Escorts was how buzzy the engine was. I'm guessing bad motor mounts? Never noticed it with the Focus.

I still see a fair number of K-cars on the road. Lots of older folks who don't run their cars too hard...one couple I know have been running a Reliant wagon forever. I probably see a half-dozen Aries/Reliants for every Citation these days.

Re: weak engines, I was dating this girl and she had a genetic disposition for lousy cars. (among the jewels she drove while I knew her were a Chevette, a turd-brown 4cyl/4spd 83 Ranger and a Buick Regal that must not have had any shock absorbers left at all-one of the most dangerous things I ever drove) At one point her parents managed to buy a used Geo Metro 4dr with a 3 cyl and AT. I remember us all piling in the car one night, they were going down the highway at maybe 50mph and decided to turn the AC on. Comical-it really was like throwing out an anchor. I think it lost 10mph!

[marty59]

I knew someone that had a diesel Chevette years ago!! Ok, it was his girlfriends car at the time but I did ride in it once!

[Jon A.]

As I recall, the 1961-69 Lincolns used suicide doors to ease the stress on the then-new unibody construction.

In Canada, the Pontiac T1000 was badged as the Pontiac Acadian. It and the Chevette were produced until 1987.

I knew someone with an '84 or '85 Oldsmobile Omega. It ended up needing an engine job when someone dropped part of a spark plug into the head, which blew a hole in a piston when the engine was turned over.

[egrand]

Originally Posted by RobtWB

wow ... this thread has brought back memories of my '82 Mercury Lynx
was young and had $ ... didn't know any better at the time ... live and learn
bought it new from Marion Ford Lincoln Mercury

Wow, I remember Marion Ford. When I was a teenager my Dad's Town Car had the water pump go out on the way home from KY and had it fixed there. Must have been a weakness with the 351 because two years later it went out again when we were in Branson.

When I was at SIU I used to walk up to Vogler Ford in Carbondale when they were on the strip and look at all the new cars and get brochures. I actually won a car from them at a Saluki baseball game. I had the choice of taking the car or taking $100. I took the money. That should tell you how good the car was!

[Jon A.]

Originally Posted by bgadow

One of my customers was a diesel mechanic and his grocery getter for many, many years was an Escort diesel. Had to be a rare bird! Early 80s. He may still have it. One thing I always used to notice about the (gas) Escorts was how buzzy the engine was. I'm guessing bad motor mounts? Never noticed it with the Focus.

Not really, they pop up on eBay every now and then. The Escort and Lynx were available with a diesel engine for the 1984-87 model years. The diesel engines were Mazda-built and are known for cracked heads.

[Kamakiri]

I know about a dozen quick fixes for Chevette problems. That's the problem with having been in the parts business for 25 years, you're left with a lot of outdated useless knowledge

I remember the days when parts stores were stocked with whole aisles of e-brake cables, carb kits, ignition tune up stuff, and bondo. Not so anymore. I laughed pretty hard when a guy ahead of me in line came in for points and condenser for a 1995 Mercury Grand Marquis, and everyone in the store including the manager couldn't find the application .

I came up to the manager and said "Ford hasn't used points since 1974".

Newbies.....

[bgadow]

That last story, talk about the blind leading the blind!

Whenever I think of an Omega I think of a customer I had, and older Scottish gentleman (least I think that was where he was from, his accent was hard to peg.) He kept that Olds as clean as a pin, and it was a really pretty shade of green. Often wonder what became of him and that car.

[Sandy G]

Originally Posted by marty59

I do recall some structural issues with 'em but yours does appear to be a nice clean example!

Well, yes, & no. When they were introduced for the 1961 model year, there was a resonance that manifested itself at hiway cruising speeds..The solution was to place 4 50 lb weights in the front fenders & the tail, they acted as harmonic balancers. Occasionally, a convertible could be parked on uneven ground in such a way that the doors wouldn't open easily.. The WORST thing was to be rear-ended in a collision, they tended to collapse at the rear edge of the back doors. My car, I've had it to an indicated 100 MPH, & it had PLENTY left, had I wanted to "Press the Issue"... But I backed down, as I thought, you're in a 25 yr old car w/questionable brakes, loosy-goosy front end, no top..So I slowed down to a mere 70, as if that would have made a whole HELLUVA lot of difference..The problem w/these barges was their WEIGHT... My pervertible weighs in at something like 5500 lbs..W/o me in it. The only heavier production cars were the Caddy Fleetwood limos..After a couple of panic stops from hiway speeds, stopping was an article of Faith.. But most of these were driven quite sedately, so they never really had to explore the limits of the car's suspension/braking abilities..

[RobtWB]

egrand,
have purchased a bunch of vehicles from Marion Ford
82 lynx, 4 ranger pickups, hyundia tiburon, a ford contour that the salesman told me was the 1st of that model they had sold, and a mercury mystique
once was a great place to buy vehicles...but the new owners have destroyed that place...woudn't wish that experience on anyone now
never have purchased from Vogler...I drive within a block of their old location on hwy 51 every day...think they still own the building and use as a parts warehouse

[jbivy]

Well my daily driver is an '89 Ford Probe, basically a rebodied mazda 323.

as for my projects..

1966 volvo 122s wagon
1964 honda trail 90 motorcycle
1939 dodge roadster pickup
1939 plymouth roadster