Past Vehicles

wally509

Given I am nearly 50 and had my license since 1984 this list is pretty long so I will omit some of the real turds:

'74 Dodge Dart (first car, wrecked by one of my friends)
'73(?) Beetle with the unfortunate semi-automatic transmission
'83 Mk1 Rabbit GTI
'78 (first gen) Rx-7
'56 Austin Healey 100 (my Dad's car but I used it as a DD when home from MSOE in summers, he sold it circa 1988)
'70 Opel GT
'82 Mercedes 240D manual trans
'83 e21 320i (gift from my parents after they used it for 8-9 years/200k miles. Drove for a while and sold to friend)
'93 Mazda MX-6 LS (only new car I ever owned, would never do that again, traded for #10 before paid off)
'83 Mercedes 300CDT
'56 Austin Healey 100 (found my dad's old car in Iowa and bought it back! This was in 1994. Not a DD, still have this car)
'93 Probe GT
'94 Mercedes W124 Coupe
'94 (third gen) Rx-7 (fastest car I ever owned, yes I totaled it unfortunately not doing anything "spectacular")
'66 Ford Fairlane 500XL (not a DD, put $$ into a partial resto then almost immediately sold, that was stupid, eh?)
'83 e21 320i (item #8 bought back from friend, drove for a while and sold to another friend who traded it in w/o giving me a chance to buy it. This was ~2001 w/~250k on)
'86 Mustang SVO (used as a DD for a summer, then made into a track car when my parents gave me the '95 STS (#18))
A couple of hand me down Caddies (actual Caddies, not VW rabbit pickups) a '95 STS and '01 STS
'05 Jag S-Type
'87 911 (not a DD, still have this car)
'07 e92 328i in the traditional BMW flavor, n/a straight 6, manual trans, rear drive only. This is my current DD.
'82 e21 320is (not a DD, still have this car, looks identical to #8/#16 same color, wheels, etc)

The one I wish I had back are #3, #5 (which I did actually get back), #6, then #8/#16 (which I sort of got back in #22).

If any of you made it this far, thanks for reading...

Wally

i_love_cars

Well this is pretty funny - @wally509 had a 93 Ford Probe GT and I thought I'd be the only one on this forum who could say that.

My first car was a '93 Probe GT with a manual gearbox. I have a pic of two on an old computer somewhere but as the story goes, it's how I learned to work on cars. It had 60k miles on it when I bought it, started doing basic bolt-ons (borla exhaust, pacesetter headers, etc.) and I beat the ever-loving piss out of that thing until about 90k when the engine blew up. I spun a bearing pretty bad. I used that as an opportunity to learn how to do an engine swap. So I ordered the KLZE version of the motor from Japan, which is significantly stronger. The base power output on the US engine was 164 hp, but the KLZE was rated for 200 hp. No brainer. So I took the car to my friend's house who had a huge pull barn with every tool known to man and a lift (keep in mind we were 18 and this was 2001 so it was a big deal back then). Had the motor shipped on a pallet there and got to work. I did the clutch at the same time and installed a Centerforce which started slipping 5k miles later. I'm pretty sure it was because I was 18 and had no idea what i was doing when I installed it, nor did I probably do a proper break-in on it. Learned my lesson, replaced it with a Clutchmasters and took more care and the outcome was a lot better.

When the car had 120k miles on it, I got rid of it in favor of a '02 Honda Accord Coupe V6 EX-L with an auto trans. At first I was excited because I had my first software internship and was making decent money so I could afford a $10k used car that wasn't a total shitpile. Then I was disappointed at the lack of a stick. A couple years later my daughter was born, so I traded the Accord in for something with 4 doors and at this point i was a big bad fresh-off-the-block college grad making a whopping $50k salary (but it seemed like a lot to me at the time, lol). So I got a brand new 2007 Civic EX with a 5 speed. Man was I pumped. At the time I decided I would be happier with a more utilitarian vehicle for the sake of my daughter that would never be modified, so long as I had at least a manual gearbox again. I was never into janky rice or sinking mod money into cars that wouldn't ever be fast (i.e. fact: an EX civic will never be fast with bolt-ons. Ever).

I had always wanted a 3rd gen Acura TL since the moment I saw them (2004-2008 model years). One day I stumbled into the Honda lot and found a used 2005 TL and due to my connections at Wilde, was able to get a good price and I traded my Civic for it on the spot and paid nothing out of pocket. Well, sadly it was an automatic transmission, and I thought "nahhhh i can deal with the auto cuz it's a 3rd gen TL! I love these cars and always wanted one!".

Well I drove this base 2005 TL for a couple years and then I quit Quad/Graphics and took a $20k pay bump to hop on with a software consulting firm. I said fuck this I'm making 80k now so I can justify something with a manual trans that I truly want to drive and can justify modding. I was still madly in love with 3rd gen Acura TL so I started looking for the holy grail which was a clean, Type-S (2007-2008) with a 6MT gearbox. This is normally a car that people would require a flight somewhere across country to find. Somehow I found 1 within 200 miles and it was in Nashotah right here in our own backyard. Driven by some 60-something retired dude, I went and saw it and bought it on the spot. I still had my base TL which I sold private party after the fact. I had to have this Type-S.

This was the beginning of the end.

Here the car can be seen after a year of ownership - (for those curious about the license plate, UA7 is the chassis code for Type-S). At this point I had bolt-ons, OEM a-spec lip kit, Forgestar F14 wheels, and one of the first FlashPro tuning modules for the platform. I was making 295 whp and was able to keep pace with dastuz's e46 M3 at the time.

Then on June 7th 2013 I was driving back from Illinois and blew the infamous Cylinder 4 spark plug right out of the head and stripped the threading in the cylinder head. I had the car towed to King Motorsports here in New Berlin because I decided I'd have them do an engine build. I had just sold one of my duplexes and made a nice 30k profit so my bank account was flush and I could easily afford the cash at the time.

This took a long time. My car was in the shop until the end of August. There was a LOT of R&D bullshit we went through on cam development and dealing with Webcams. I distinctly remember being in the shop one night, working with Chad (the machinist) and Mike (the SM), on the phone with Bisimoto who at the time was selling cam regrind specs outsourced to WEbcams for Acura TLs, and we were trying to collaborate and get some info on specs, only to learn that that piece of shit Bisimoto never ever tested the cam in a J-series Honda engine. Never installed and thus never took a degree wheel to it, and we came to learn some interesting details about Honda's cam design for the J-series as a result. That's another story though.

I got pissed about not having a car. I had literally been taking the bus to work from Pewaukee Hwy G park and ride down to Cass St. on the lakefront of MKE for 2.5 months. So I always wanted a 135i as well and I decided "you know what? Fuck it i'm gonna find me one of those. I'm making 100k now so who cares, they're cheap and I'm sick of wasting my summer". So I started my search and instantly found 1 single example within 300 miles that had a 6MT. Sure enough, just like my Acura, it was here locally in Hubertus right off of HOly Hill Road. Awesome. Saw the car and again bought it on the spot. I was super happy.

As it turned out, 7 months later I had a need to purchase a house. I had a loan on the BMW but I owned the TL so I sold the TL because I needed cash for down payment. That was a sad day for me because I had sunk so much into the TL. So a guy flew in from Oklahoma to buy my TL and I was left with my lone black 2008 135i.

Here are my last moments with both cars together at the DMV:

I hung on to the badge I received from King MOtorsports when I had the engine built as a keepsake:

The rest is history - most of you know already that I hydroplaned into a concrete barrier with the 2008 135i 1.5 years ago because I was stupid and wasn't paying attention to the fact that I had traction control off in the rain with 434 ft lb to the wheels. I missed that car for about 5 seconds until I found my current 135i because I honestly just think the red looks way better than black given the body mods I have on the red one. I fell in love with the looks of my crimson red 135i and resigned myself to waiting until bigger turbo came available for the N55 platform, and now here we are and my Stage 2 turbo will be here soon.

Honorable mention goes to a 253k mile 1999 Corolla that I was given a year ago for a beater that I retired to get a Subaru Legacy GT.

And the lesson learned is to never think you'll be happy with an automatic trans. 3/3 cars I drive have a manual gearbox now.

B C

Every car I have ever owned has sucked and I miss none of them

ClassE

I've had two past project cars - both of which I miss for different reasons.

My first project was a 1995 MK3 Jetta - that I bought - sold - then re-bought a year later. As I sold it:

And my 1980 MK1 Caddy:

i_love_cars

Snap said:

Every car I have ever owned has sucked and I miss none of them

thread winnar

i_love_cars

i'm really jealous of everyone who has photos that are like, from professional photographers. Everything looks so nice

i_love_cars

suspenceful said:

I

Happily ever after.

/bedtimestory

happily ever after means you will drive it till the wheels fall off. You are not allowed to sell this car. I have not yet even seen this car.

suspenceful

i_love_cars said:

i'm really jealous of everyone who has photos that are like, from professional photographers. Everything looks so nice

Being a photographer has its downsides too. Everyone always wants pictures. And I never have any good rolling shots of my car because I'm the guy with the camera!

i_love_cars said:

happily ever after means you will drive it till the wheels fall off. You are not allowed to sell this car. I have not yet even seen this car.

Eh, we will see about that. I wouldn't mind getting an M4 in a few years. One of these years we will be at the same meet for something

HipMF

Good thread. Leason learned: Don't buy/drive crappy, forgettable cars with automatic transmissions.

My personal experience with the Geo re-inforces this lesson, yet somehow I think I will miss it. I've hauled 3 engines (two with transmissions), a motorcycle, a couch (on the roof with ratchet straps through the windows), moved into/out of the shop, moved 90% of the stuff from my old apartment, countless home depot runs for 2x4s, rebar, pvc, etc.... basicly used it as a truck for 2 or 3 years, all while abusing the hand-brake every chance I get. It's taken the abuse in stride, and has only had a couple minor issues...

but it's still a piece of crap.

wally509

i_love_cars said:

Well this is pretty funny - @wally509 had a 93 Ford Probe GT and I thought I'd be the only one on this forum who could say that.

My first car was a '93 Probe GT with a manual gearbox. I have a pic of two on an old computer somewhere but as the story goes, it's how I learned to work on cars...

Actually I had two of them, '93 and a '95 now that I think of it. How sad is that?

i_love_cars

wally509 said:

Actually I had two of them, '93 and a '95 now that I think of it. How sad is that?

omggggg +1 to infinity for taking a Ford Probe to the track. rofl that's so awesome

Earl

I mean for the most part you might as well call it a Mazda Probe from what I've looked into on those cars=P What's even Ford about them besides the badging?

KaiserRolls

Earl said:

I mean for the most part you might as well call it a Mazda Probe from what I've looked into on those cars=P What's even Ford about them besides the badging?

The lifestyle choice

Earl

Lol

wally509

i_love_cars said:

omggggg +1 to infinity for taking a Ford Probe to the track. rofl that's so awesome

Well that's all I had at the time, so...

Going up that hill on the front straight was a lot like the elevator scene from Blues Brothers with the muzac playing. Plus those things twisted up pretty bad using dot track tires, surprised the doors never popped open going through some of those turns.

andyhundley

YoungCR said:

Still one of my favorites! This was on the Facebook page at some point.

This will forever be one of my favorite E30's.

WIBIMMERS

Past Vehicles