You're offered $10k to drive from now on the vehicle your family had when you were a child in today's society, would you take it?

[TAnsley]

Probably not, they aren't very safe. Horrible braking distances and handling, they're an accident waiting to happen. However, my dad had a Karmann Ghia when I was a baby, and a Beetle Convertible right after that. I might take the Ford Torino Convertable, but I'd skip everyone one of those crappy Ford, Mercury, Olds, and Cadillac cars they owned in the 70s-2010s.

 

[John VN]

Parents won an early 60's Olds 88 I would be OK with.
My sister bought a new Powder Blue '67 Mustang that would be OK, my first car was an early 60's VW Beetle that would be OK, the Factory Ordered Chevy Nova 396/350 would be OK but I cancelled the order due to the 1970 GM Strike and instead bought a 1968 Acapulco Blue GT 350 Shelby that would nice to drive right now -

First off, my dad worked for Ford from 1960 to around 1970. That being said, we had one of every car Ford made during that time period (type of car obviously. No trucks).
There were lots of those cars I would drive today even without the $10k.
If you want me to pick one, it would be the 1967 Shelby GT500 Mustang convertible.

Wouldn't mind that one either

 

[mrodgers]

I actually did, not for $10k. My first car was the family car hand-me-down. It was the family car, then the work car, then dad got a company car and kept this car for when I turned 16.

I wrecked it and got the 2nd family car and mom got a new car. So I drove both cars from when I was a kid.

Neither car is something I would want to drive today. I didn't want to drive them 30+ years ago.

 

[kanerf]

Dad had a Mercedes with the 6.9 liter V8. I would love to have that car. There was a flaw though. It had pneumatic suspension and was leaking somewhere. You would park and go into the mall and when you came out it was sitting on the ground. You had to crawl in and start it up to get the pump system going to bring it back up to normal. Super fast though.

 

[Moliphino]

My parents had a pretty sweet Chevy van when I was a kid. Very cushy seats, the back seat could fold down into a bed, there was a table you could install in the back, it had a built in cooler and soda machine (that we never used).
By the end of it's life, though, it was kind of a hot mess. Would only run on premium, had trouble starting, and belched black smoke often.

It was a great van, but I have no need for such a big vehicle.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

Oh heck yes

For some reason my family had several cars when I was a kid, any of which would be pretty darn cool still today. What I remember would be, a Plymouth Duster (reminds me of those Limu Emu commercials), Olds Cutlass, and my dad kept an old 60's Chevrolet truck. The cars always seemed to be replaced with a newer model every few years, but he kept that truck until the 90's before selling it and buying something modern.

 

[goofyernmost]

The first car I remember was probably his 1948 Buick. I don't know what model it was but I remember it was black.



I was about 5 and my memory of it was one Christmas Eve after returning from my Grandparents house we pulled into our driveway and it struck me that there was no snow on the ground. I went into a complete panic because I couldn't figure out how Santa was going to get there if there wasn't any snow. How would the sleigh be able to land, etc. We were in the car at the time and my dad told me that Santa's sleigh had attachable tires that he could use for landing with no snow. That eased my mind until we got into the house and it hit me that we didn't have a fireplace either. My parents assured me that they would leave the door unlocked and that calmed my nerves and ended my curiosity.

Yes, I would like it if it were in good condition, but I suspect that finding parts for a 74 year old car would be a challenge, but it would be worth a lot of money in good condition.

 

[luvnwdwgal]

No. My dad was a mechanic for a local Chevy dealership. I grew up with lots of different vehicles. I wouldn’t give up my new Subaru though.

 

[Princesca]

The first car I remember of my parents' was this behemoth Pontiac something or other. It was basically a land yacht. The gas bills would kill me. The other early contender was my dad's Pinto, and I would prefer not to die in a giant automotive fireball, so that's also a no. LOL.

 

[Princesca]

My parents had a pretty sweet Chevy van when I was a kid. Very cushy seats, the back seat could fold down into a bed, there was a table you could install in the back, it had a built in cooler and soda machine (that we never used).
By the end of it's life, though, it was kind of a hot mess. Would only run on premium, had trouble starting, and belched black smoke often.

It was a great van, but I have no need for such a big vehicle.

I think my aunt and uncle had this van. I remember we ate meals in there sometimes, in early days of family camping. I kinda wish I had something like that now.

 

[MICKIMINI]

Dad had a Red TR3 so you bet! Better yet, there currently is a restored TR3 in the garage in British Racing Green.

 

[Moliphino]

I think my aunt and uncle had this van. I remember we ate meals in there sometimes, in early days of family camping. I kinda wish I had something like that now.

It looked a lot like this, without the bump out on top. Even had the blinds in the windows. Awesome for traveling with family, not so practical when I'm the only one in my car 90% of the time.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

YES! My dad drove a brand new ‘68 Chevy Malibu with mag wheels. I loved that car, but he stopped letting me drive it after I took it to our local ice cream hang out for our high school. Next morning he says to me, “ Where did you take the car because all the mag wheels were stolen.” Oops

My parents drove a 67 Chevy Malibu station wagon in Fawn (a tan color). They still have it, but it needs to be fully restored. They get offers on it all the time. Folks where they live in Southern California cover those cars. They want them for surf wagons.

 

[Magical2017]

One car was a Cadillac. The other was a Vega. Heck yeah, I would. $10 K is a nice investment or trip. Let's pretend this is all tax free, too.

 

[Walt's Dream]

You betcha! My dad had an early 60 something Dodge Dart convertible with stick shift on the steering column. White with red seats. Our dog loved to go riding with us. I learned to drive a stick in our church parking lot in that car...with Sam in the back seat grinning!

 

[EveDallas]

Absolutely! They really knew how to make cars back then - it was practically indestructible.

 

[goofyernmost]

Absolutely! They really knew how to make cars back then - it was practically indestructible.

Well, they were physically solidly built, but dependability wise they were a nightmare. The were far from mechanically indestructible but it was simpler to work on. Everything was mechanical nothing was computer controlled. It's just that we don't have that situation anymore. Maintenance alone was a nightmare! Tires wore out at 12K or sooner, oil changes every 3K, Air filters were oil bath not paper filters, no power steering or AC, sparkplugs and points every 10K. The best car from back then could not be trusted to go on long trips without experiencing mechanical breakdowns, flat tires, overheating and so on. If you got 60K miles out of a car you were extremely lucky whereas today it is normal for any vehicle to make it well over 100K. Big and solid can be said for them, but for todays practicality and dependence they just would not measure up to the cars that we complain about today. And don't get me started on gas mileage. Even in 1963 when my dad bought a Buick LeSabre, with a big engine and it got 6 (six) miles per gallon. Premium (high test back then).

 

[SharonZ]

For $10,000 sure, my Dad always drove a newer Mercedes.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Not a chance. My dad had a Reliant Robin. I'm pretty sure only UK members will know what this is but it's a 3 wheel car that you only needed a motorcycle licence to drive.

HAHA many a comedy video was made tipping Robins.

HAHA they messed with it to get it to tip quite a bit easier but it's not like it was all that difficult in the first place.


To answer the thread maybe. We had a civic wagon. The old CVCC. Not too terrible a car actually.



Ours had the optional 1.5 liter CVCC transverse carborated 4. I think it had something like 88 horsepower. The base 1.3 liter non cvcc had something like 69 horsepower HAHA.
But ours got 31 mpg (great for the time) and the 1.3 got 34.

We laugh about its specs now, but this is probably one of THE cars that destroyed Detroit. It was more affordable and though it wasn't a drag racer, it was fun to drive and held up over the long haul too. The biggest drawback was the Air conditioner was an aftermarket dealer installed option. So you lost the glove box. The front passenger got the bulk of the air.