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Name a car your parents owned you thought was goofy but now is cool.

SteveSS

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Maybe not cool, cool, but you wouldn't mind owning it. My folks had some awesome cars in their time and I knew they were cool at the time. I mean to ones that were just cars but now you'd like to have. Mom had a 1964 Ford Galaxie. It was a 4-door so I didn't think much of it. My cousin Pat was older and he put some Cragars from his car on Mom's car, for some reason he was driving Mom's car for a while. I was surprised. I asked why and that's when he told me it had a 390. I was about ten years old. I really like the rear end of those cars.
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Folks had a lot of cool cars back when, they had a taste for certain cars, rarely more-doors, mother was always into verts, dad always wanted big motors (lol if you rode with him, you’d know why). T-birds, Pontiac GP/GTO’s, Olds Cutlass, later my dad liked Caddy’s and Lincolns, had a couple Mark III’s. My mother really liked the ’65 GTO my elder brother bought as his first ride, so she bought one, a vert. She didn’t keep it long as the get-up scared her, especially through one winter. Non-posi and spinning the old poly’s too many times, she couldn’t manage..
 
Dad and mom had a 62 SS Impala convert. Small block and a glide.
Us kids froze in the back seat of that during winter.
We hated it, I would like to have in now.
 
My parents didn't have a car that went goofy to cool it was one or the other. 49 Olds Super 88 4Dr 54 Olds 88 and 64 Olds Starfire vert and a 98 Olds vert. The 98 was close to goofy to cool. The 64 Olds Starfire was cool always. Yellow black top/interior, 3.54 posi a chambered exhaust, nice growl to it.
 
In 1964, my dad bought his first new car, a Jeep Wagoneer. I thought it looked incredibly goofy, compared to the forward look Chrysler wagons of the early 60s. The car was heavily optioned, with a top of the line interior, and a two door, no less. For the only time in his life, my dad was ahead of his time, with the first incarnation of a luxury SUV.
 
A 1955-56 Rambler. Push button trans. Kind of cool today, or is it goofy cool.
 
Was a fan of pushbuttons even before I got a ride as a 10-year-old, in my uncle’s ’64 Sport Fury. My folks had one once, in a ’57 Mercury, remember playing with them. Got my *** burned when I pulled it out of park, lol. My uncle took off with it in 1st flooring it manually shifting it, hearing the buttons click and screeching tires. Said then, I’d like one someday; ’64 was the last year for those. 30 years later got one and still have it. Had some cars I’d like to have back including 4-speeds I relish and miss having. BUT, those buttons are the only thing in the way.

They were legendary back in the early 60’s, couple of iconic drag racers used them. One had a ’64 button setup installed in his new ’65 drag car when they went bye. At the shows, get a kick out of all the people looking at the button shift telling their kids and grandkids about them.
 
1966 Ford Econoline Travel Wagon camper. Hated it then. I know some consider it kind of cool now. But I would never want one after a trip across country in this one without air conditioning, and windows in the back that only swung out a couple inches. That's me with the family dog in the first picture.
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I was Class of '75 in High School:
Mom's Car: 1970 Mercury Cougar XR7 W / 351 Cleveland, 3 sp auto, Posi, White on White W / White Vinyl Top.
Not really the car you want a teenage boy to learn how to drive in, but that's the one I learned in!!

Funny how my Dad always used to say, "Mom, the rear tires are getting thin, I think we'll need to get a couple new ones soon".
Mom let me drive her car to school and back a few times a week, very exciting days !
That car was fast as heck, and you could fry the tires all the way across the intersection.
I learned that tires were expensive, so I had to fork out some dough to keep my DAD Happy, He pretty much knew it was me...HA !!

At my High School, there were plenty of big block RR's, Super Bees, Coronets, Savoys, Ford Torinos, Mustangs, Camaro's, GTO's, Chevelles and Firebirds.
It was whatever was cheap and almost all of them works in progress, and those guys drove the heck out of 'em !!
The younger FR and SO kids rode their bikes to school, and thought the JR's and SR's were crazy bastards !
Too many fast cars and motor heads at my High School growing up, me included.
That Cougar XR7 gave them all a run for it sooner or later !!
Fun Times and a great car.
 
My dad traded his 42 Chevy Aero fleetline (first year of the fastback)in, for an almost new....... Renault Dauphin. (I think he was probably unemployed at the time). What a pile of, well, you know. He spent many years in his later life, looking for a 42 fastback to replace his.
Now, considering how few Renaults survive, I'd like to have one. It sure did get good gas mileage. Fun little around town runner. 20 hp, if I remember right.

Oh and it was a Ren Alt dolphin, NOT a Ren oh Doe fan.
 
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The only car that I could care less about was a 51 Plymouth Cranbrook......it was the car they carried me home from the hospital and I remember it later on. I learned how to shift a 'tree' shifter in that thing while sitting beside my mom. For some reason, I was enamored at an early age with shifting and cars.
 
Cranbrook
lol, yeah the Cranbrook! Good thing mopar eventually came up with some of the greatest handles for their cars. No Cranbrook II or III..
 
I was Class of '75
Class of ’73 here. What a golden time to snag awesome muscle cars for the cheap. Had a ’67 GTO vert junior year paid a grand for it, then a ’70 Cuda BB, 4-spd vert for around $1500. Damn, wish I’d have KEPT them. Fun – while it lasted.

Before getting the GTO, was lucky enough to drive my mom’s 66 T-Bird often, she car-pooled and her co-worker liked the gas share money, letting her drive most of the time. My dad got a new set of tires on the bird, go figure, he looked at them 6 months later peeved they were worn so badly thinking crap tires. Nah, it was the kid driving it, lol.
 
My dad traded his 42 Chevy Aero fleeting (first year of the fastback)in, for an almost new....... Renault Dauphin. (I think he was probably unemployed at the time). What a pile of, well, you know. He spent many years in his later life, looking for a 42 fastback to replace his.
Now, considering how few Renaults survive, I'd like to have one. It sure did get good gas mileage. Fun little around town runner. 20 hp, if I remember right.
I remember when the Renault showed up....thought it was a weird name....
 
Class of ’73 here. What a golden time to snag awesome muscle cars for the cheap. Had a ’67 GTO vert junior year paid a grand for it, then a ’70 Cuda BB, 4-spd vert for around $1500. Damn, wish I’d have KEPT them. Fun – while it lasted.

Before getting the GTO, was lucky enough to drive my mom’s 66 T-Bird often, she car-pooled and her co-worker liked the gas share money, letting her drive most of the time. My dad got a new set of tires on the bird, go figure, he looked at them 6 months later peeved they were worn so badly thinking crap tires. Nah, it was the kid driving it, lol.
I 'gradiated' in 69....what better year was that!?? :D And dad looked at me a time or two about tires on his 69 New Yucker 440 lol. The only thing good about that car was the 440! The rest of it was junk and he kept it less than a year but man, that 440 was strong and never missed a beat when I was in control of it :lol:
 
lol, yeah the Cranbrook! Good thing mopar eventually came up with some of the greatest handles for their cars. No Cranbrook II or III..
Btw, I called that car the Crapbrook not too long after that :D
 
I remember when the Renault showed up....thought it was a weird name....
If I’m recalling it correctly, Renault and Chrysler partnered up in the late 80’s? Wife and I purchased our first new car, an ’89 Eagle. The touted European style car my wife liked. In-law worked at a Chrysler dealer and got us a deal on it. Think it was the worst car we ever had. Damn the electrical problems it had, costing us a bundle to have repaired. At 60k put it up for sale. A guy that came to look at it asked if the well-known electrical problem these cars had by then, was fixed. Said yes. He bought it..
 
Class of ‘91 here

My dad had a ‘90 Geo Metro, 5-speed, 3 cylinder, 1.0L/50hp engine.
Took my road test on that car.
It was goofy then and it’s still goofy today to me, if you can even find one in that combination.
The only reason I’d want one today is it touted 53 city/58 hwy mpg.

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