Vehicles are a funny thing. Some would say they're merely utilitarian things to get you from place to place. I've always gravitated towards the less practical in this respect, choosing the odd, slow, unreliable and far more personable rides. Sure they guzzled gas and broke down regularly but when they were running well they'd put a smile on my face on the way to work, and often changed the whole feeling of the day for me. I've had the privilege of owning some quirky rides in the past 20 years and thought I'd share some with ya... 1965 Valiant (Aka Dodge Dart)
my second '65 Valiant- a 4 door sedan
1965 Mercury M150 (aka Ford f150)
my first boat: a flat-bottom canal barge
a Piaggio p2 vespacar (pick-up)
and my current work-vehicle... another Piaggio p2



What cool/quirky/weird rides have you had?

Very nice rides you have had! Love the Mercury 150!

And that canal boat just looks sweet! Party boat???

But I can't help but see this in my head when I see your work vehicles....





haha

I haven't owned any classic cars.

Most were pieces of crap as a kid like a Vega, Delta 88, some crappy Oldsmobile, Chevy Impala, 95 Ford Probe and an 02 Celica. Wow, I have had a bunch of cars!!!
I have no pics of any of them at all though.

My first fun car was a 1992 Ford Thunderbird with a 5.0 302. Lowered to about 4", battery in trunk for better weight distro, tons of things done to it for performance - none by me, but the original owner and i can't recall all the upgrades.... but man, I loved destroying Mustangs with it just to see their faces!!

My current ride is this 07 Subaru WRX STI - currently running a custom ECU tune, short shifter, upgraded flywheel and pullies, new intake and exhaust - all told should be pushing 360 HP.



and here is a shot of me going over the Stone Bridge on part of the original Watkin's Glen Original Road Course.


No classics, but a few fun ones.

cheers!

Hardly a classic, but my first car was a 1987 Yugo    As my brother used to say. 'you go, but the car doesn't'   

It was a piece of shit, but it got me & my girl friend (now my wife) from A-B, and I have some fond memories of it! Luckily it was given to me, so I didn't part with hard cash.   

I don't have a picture of my car, but this will give you an idea of what it looked like.

Every time I hear or think about a Yugo, I think of that movie 'Drowning Mona' where EVERY car in the movie was a Yugo. It was some weird running, inside joke, but I can't help to think of it every time!

Oh and my first car, a Vega, never actually made it on the road! It was bought 6 months before my license so for whatever reason, my step-dad put it on concrete blocks. About 2 weeks before my license, the car was rusted so bad it fell through the blocks leaving 3 gigantic holes in the underside.   Worst $200 bucks spent! haha

I've only owned three cars in my lifetime. In fact, I still own my very first car.. 24 years and counting!



Robert
www.behindthetoys.com

Nice rides all round guys   


Steve, nearly spilt my beer with your ' It was a piece of shit ' comment   

Jay, that is one cool ride my friend, Respect    

We currently have a Pergeot 208   


Cheers Andy.

I love the Yugo Steve! Second only to the Gremlin. You must have been a pretty smooth talker to land your gal driving a Yugo   

A very nice Subaru indeed Jay... my buddy has a rally tuned one that has emptied his bank account, LOL, and is his pride and joy also. Do you have any plans to put some of your own personal touches on it? -or is it already beyond perfect...
 Hi Robert (Sems Fir) nice to meet you and welcome to the site. Awesome Barracuda! You must have spent countless hours to keep it looking mint. I had a '64 ( 64 and as half, as they called them) Barracuda for a few months but the body was so rotted-out that I never  managed to do anything with it but I've always wanted the real deal like you have. I am envious. Awesome detail on the red paint in the grille 
Pluses all around lads
- Julian

bedheadjulian wrote:

I love the Yugo Steve! Second only to the Gremlin. You must have been a pretty smooth talker to land your gal driving a Yugo   

- Julian

Well...what can I say? As I'm sure you know yourself Julian, when you've got it, youv've got it!      

@Andy    I'm glad you didn't spill your beer, I wouldn't want to get the cleaning bill.

man some very cool rides you all have/had for me my first car was a 78 dodge duster and then a 78 buick riviera
but my main passion was my bikes my first one was a Yamaha 185 exciter then a Yamaha 650 heritage special then a 500 Honda silverwing but my fav was my Honda Cx500 Turbo which is the only one I have a photo of

Excellent taste in Bikes my man! My gal and I are avid riders. These are our current bikes:

oh so very cool I just love the beemer I always wanted a K75or K100 like the police ones that is my fav type one day I will get another one I really miss riding

Most of my car pictures are not digital one day I'll scan them.  I've owned dozens of cars none that would be considered 'sweet' but many had character  

Our race team will campaign this beast this year.  I'm still not allowed to drive    but navigating is sweet   

aussiejames wrote:

You guys are trying to recreated scenes from the Mad Max movies.  

  Panels are getting wrapped for the sponsors.
Will look similar to this when done:


I did own a 4 door version of the 'Mad Max' Falcon
stock pic:

Sweet rides  

My current ride in the summer time.



My first car was a 1978 2 door Ford Granada and the first bike was a 1978 Suzuki GS1000. I don't have any digital pics of them.

Good to see some love for the bikes out there

So I currently have two and a half bikes in the stable right now although there are a couple more on my list if the right item comes up. Just missed out on adding another one this week but wasn't quick enough on the phone. In retrospect that's probably not a bad thing.

So bike number 1 is my Suzuki C50 Boulevard (also known as the VL800 K9). Since this photo I've added a Saddleman seat, Switchblade removable screen, removable panniers and phatboy2 risers but she's overdue for a service and a really good clean. No, she's not still covered in all that dust!



Bike number 2 is my current cafe project, a '79 XS650 which started out looking like this:


but is currently looking like this:


With a little motivation I'm hoping to finish stripping the rest of the electrical harness tomorrow and maybe even get it down to the bare frame. Don't expect a lot of updates on this one, it's a very slow build and I only do small amounts in fits and spurts. Ultimately it will be completely rebuilt from the ground up, re-phased, elec ignition, possible brake upgrades and of course a new paint job.

Once I've finished this one off I'll be looking at either a Yamaha SR 500 or a Honda CB550 as my next cafe project. All depending on what bikes are available at the time. Still, at my current pace I'll have a few years before I need to worry about that.

And the half bike is one that my Dad and I bought together late last year and he's currently looking after it and doing a little resto work on. This is one to keep in original condition because let's face it, it's already perfect (well except for those ugly saddlebags, they're gonna go)  It's a 1955 BMW R50 and it's currently on the other side of the country from me but I hope to visit soon!

AJ I love that one you are navigating that would be so much fun hopefully they will let you drive it one day.

Those are some sweet bikes guys.  Dax that '79 Yamaha XS650 looks very similar to the 1983 yamaha 650 heritage special which I owned a while ago it was a fun bike

Here's mine:



In no way a muscle car.. she's perfect on the tight & twisty English country lanes & 'B' roads I have commute on & used every day, whatever the weather. I've owned her since factory fresh, nearly 5 years now, & intend to keep her as long as humanly possible.

Does anyone else collect small scale (or toy) versions of their vehicles?

Thundershot wrote:

Here's mine:



In no way a muscle car.. she's perfect on the tight & twisty English country lanes & 'B' roads I have commute on & used every day, whatever the weather. I've owned her since factory fresh, nearly 5 years now, & intend to keep her as long as humanly possible.  

My Pops has the first generation model (still in mint condition too) and the damned thing corners like it's on rails... they are indeed fun toys.

Thundershot wrote:

Does anyone else collect small scale (or toy) versions of their vehicles?

I haven't looked at them in a while... man they need a good car wash!

I also have an RC 1/10 scale non-rally, street race body for one of my RCs.

cheers!

I have a model kit of my Honda CX500 motor bike that I am working on.

Yeah, I've got a small scale model of my Honda. My avatar Chewie is riding it.

Although, of course, it's the stock version and would require some mad skills to modify to look like my bike. (I spent two winters chopping my ride). I have to admit that it's very satisfying having miniature versions of my possessions that I can lord over like a giant. Gives me that God-like perspective, you know, and feelings of being really, really big. You know, uh, ok, I'll shut up now.