High school "Sweathearts"

[rang-a-stang]

I have been wanting to post a thread like this ever since I saw S/C397's post #41 here:
Post a Random pic thread

So, go back in your pictures and look for your highschool ride(s) and tell a story(ies). I assume many of you "loved" or absolutely hated your high school ride. Tell why. Also, why do you not have it any more (or do you?). Extra credit is awarded for FSJ/AMC/Jeep and anyone that still has it. Also, it does not have to be "your" car but it has to be in your immediate household; so "my uncle from Pennslytucky let me drive his AMX once" does not count but "My dad let me drive his Hemi powered bucket-T every weekend" does.

I'll go first (both mine are loves but I am hoping for some stories of someones rust bucket that you absolutely hated, too):

I had about 4 different cars in high school. These are the 2 I loved.
1) 1968 Cadillac El Dorado. I bought this for $2k in 1994 dollars. I saved every penny I earned over my junior year of high school to buy this car. To this day it is a my 3rd favorite vehicle I have ever owned. 472, FWD, EVERYTHING worked, interior was immaculate (other than the wood trim that pealed). It was an abandoned car at my girlfriends house when I bought it. I put $1000 into it to get it running again, dual exhaust, new tires, slammed the front (it had torsion bars so I turned 2 bolts), and put air shocks in the back that gave it a wicked stance. It also had huge glass packs which sounded magical at idle and WOT. This FWD car would do burnouts for days! These pictures make it look almost as nice was it was in real life (it was REALLLY NICE).


The transmission started to have issues and I could not fix nor afford to have it fixed. I sold it to a guy in San Diego (I told him about the trans) and I think I made a profit... I think I sold it for about $4k in 1995 money. I only owned it about 8 months but oh, was it an awesome 8 months!

2) 1971 VW Super Beetle. This was my first ever "project" car. I bought this car right after I sold my Caddy for about $1000 and it was a bone stock, complete but disgusting, good running VW. I put in a built 2 liter motor with dual carbs, electronic ignition, etc. I had a sweet Scat interior in it, too. Factory sunroof. This car ran high 13's at Pomona! I shaved the front turn signals (moved them to the bumper), added fiberglass 2" wider rear fenders, and smoothed the rear apron. Notice it has the same license plate I run on my Mazda today.


After about 3 years of teenager hackery this car ate itself. A buddy gave me a 68 VW baja bug that had no engine/trans and my drivetrain when into that, then it got sold. I parted the rest of this bug out and ended up cutting up the body and chassis in the late 90s and dropping it into a scrap metal bin. Back then the Super Beetles were valueless and everyone wanted the 67 and earlier bugs. I probably put $8k into that bug over the 3 or 4 years I owned it and maybe got $4k back but it was worth it! That bug was soooo fun! I have said before; at heart, I am an air cooled VW guy, mostly cuz of this car...

Who's next?!

[goldhammer]

First car was a '53 Chev p/u, not running. Was a gift from one of Mom's friends. Found a '63 GMC short narrow that had rolled. Had the 305 V-6, 4 speed. Not a straight panel on it. Bought it for, IIRC, for $100.
Neighbor with a welder helped me put the 53 body on the 63 chassis. Had to buck hay onto the truck and put it in the barn for his help. Still kind of think he got the better end of the deal, around 20 acres of hay total.
Used that truck for most everything, and started my affairs with 4x4's. Only time I haven't had one was first three years in the service. The last year I picked up a '73 blazer with the 203 case.....what a dog.

[MysticRob]

What would you choose?

The year was 1988.
I was 17.
I was given a choice between an early 80s Japanese station wagon or a 67 Camaro with a 327 and powerglide 2-speed auto.
I of course chose the Camaro.
It was probably a bad idea looking back at it, as that engine was just spent, round cam lobes and all, so Dad and I spent months rebuilding the engine. That was a great experience, but it never was very fast, nor well equipped, and I eventually ended up having to sell it after I got fired doing donuts in the parking lot at work.

[johnsonic]

Whoa! I wrote a novel. Here goes!

TEMPO:
1993, a white two door '84 ford tempo. Drew racing stripes on it with sharpie, I think maybe even horribly drawn 'sponsor' logos. Every inch of the interior was written on.

The plastic linkage in the shifter broke so used a spatula to depress the lock mechanism.

Would occasionally shoot a spark plug out of the engine on the highway.

S10 BLAZER:
Next ride was an '84 s10 blazer with a "freshly rebuilt motor" by the owner. It had the 2.8, not a great engine. Well, fast forward a few months & it was a cloud machine every time the PCV decided to shoot out of the grommet.

Pulled the heads and found really deep channels on the sides of each piston. The rebuilder forgot to put the spiro locks in and the wrist pins were sliding out. Surprised it even ran!

Won a $500 Pep Boys gift card on the local PBS auction, put it towards a new rebuild. Installed it in the parking lot of the student housing. Had 10 roommates in a 2 bedroom house (I was the lucky guy who got the couch & lived out of a rubbermaid bin) - everyone helped out in some way. We're timing it and my buddy is turning the distributor and goes too far - rips the distributor wiring. Never ran right.

Drove that off of a 5' wall by accident on my move to Colorado. The back glass shattered. Somehow it made it all the way up I-70 to Aspen. Totaled that car outside Moab when looking down to change my CD, and looked up to see the yellow and black diagonals on the end of a guard rail. Flipped the ride, got ejected, woke up on the pavement. Managed to sell the motor for $400 though!

GW #1:
Put that $400 towards an '84 Champagne GW. Drove that until gas doubled from 75 cents a gallon to $1.50. Donated it to some society for the blind and have missed it ever since.

GW #2:
20 years later I got an '84 Champagne GW and am so psyched every day!

Also - am a much better driver now.
~j

[backroadin']

Well, my high school ride was the bus, but at least it was still a std shift one. Back when bus drivers had to actually know how to, well, drive.

In '93 I bought my first car outta school - an '84 chevy celebrity eurosport 2dr, 4sp auto with console shifter, full gauge pakage and 5star mags. I paid 700 bucks of lawn mowing cash and birthday monies. It sat out behind a friends house (his dad was a body man) and I used to sit in it when I was up there and dream about driving it. Drove it for 6 mo and sold it. The rear bumper fell off and the K-frame fell out of it, but otherwise it was cherry.

Then I got an '84 F150 4x4 longbox - red and silver w/ a 302 auto. Had 32" buckshot mudders on it. It had true duals w/ cherry bombs that exited right before each rear wheel. Also had two K/C highliters mounted on the bumper. Had to rebuild the motor, but I learned alot. That was of course my first truck and will always hold a dear spot in my heart and memory. I stuffed a cheap speaker box behind the bench seat and put in one of those equalizer units with all the slider switches and led lights. Man, I thought I was really something. Had that almost a year, but the frame was cracked.
Had an 85 Cutlass Supreme with a 307 for a bit after that and that was the last car I owned. Also the only ride I've ever had with power windows.
All trucks since then.

Not exactly high school rides Rang, but it was still fun going down memory lane for a bit!!! BTW, that caddy is awesome - that front shot is absolutely baaad@@@sss!!!

[SC/397]

IMG_0131 by Rick Jones, on Flickr
1969 AMX 290 4 speed w/3.54 gears. Beaten daily from 1974 through 1984ish. 290 changed to a 360 in 1976. I think it has about 155,000 miles on it. Transmission rebuilt twice but the 360 has never been apart.
This was actually my 4th car but I bought it when I was in High School. My 3rd car was the red 1970 Hornet in the background. I was buying that car from my Dad in 1973 after he bought the 1971 Ford F100 in the background. My second car was a 1965 Rambler American. I had that one a year before I took Driver's Ed. LOL! The Rambler cost me $50.00 of my hard earned Pig money. My first car was a 1962 Comet that I paid $25.00 for. That one never got plates but was a fun field car for us kids. There was 6 of us and I was the oldest at 14 then. We used to race the Farmall's in the field before we got the Comet. Mom was happy because the Comet although faster, was much more safe to race than the Super M against the H. - And you all know that I am not kidding about this.

[babywag]

Living in MN and the land of rusty cars had many many gems!
Favorite one...
1977 Cherokee NT 4DR w/ 401



This was on a routine roadtrip to my parents lake property boat in tow.

Before I got a hold of it full time it liked to overheat.
A new radiator fixed that issue permanently.
Learned how to wrench on cars fixing it from a years long slumber as garage art after my sister overheated it and blew head gasket(s).
Dad supervised but made me do everything.

[backroadin']

IMG_0131 by Rick Jones, on Flickr
1969 AMX

Nice! One of my all-time favorite cars!!

[JeepsAndGuns]

Still have mine and is still my daily driver.
1993 YJ, 4.0 5 speed. Bought sometime around 2000-2001 when I was a senior in high school for $7300. It had 99k on it and was all stock.
I have owned and upgraded it over the last 20+ years and still drive it almost everyday. 302k on it now.
While from the outside there does not look like much has been done, there is a lot that can not be seen I have done.

[fulsizjeep]

I got the family truckster as my second car just before my senior year in 1972. 65 Rambler Ambassador 990 Cross Country. The 287 jumped time on my dad and he replaced it with a fresh built 327 4bbl from a 66 Wagoneer. I was kind of hard on the 3 speed and replaced it with a T10 and floor shifter from a 66 Marlin. It was a sleeper for the most part and could achieve 130 mph.





Here is the whole family packed and moving to GA in 1970. That wagon could pull a load well. The white Classic was my first car.



The last year I owned the Rambler, I stepped up to a J4600

[backroadin']

Here is the whole family packed and moving to GA in 1970. That wagon could pull a load well. The white Classic was my first car.

What are you pulling there? Was there a breakdown? So many questions.......

[fulsizjeep]

What are you pulling there? Was there a breakdown? So many questions.......

Pulling a 57 Power wagon frame and running gear. No break downs. We had stopped at the LA state line on I10 to make bologna sammiches for lunch.

[jpcoutts]

My first car was a '63 CJ5. It had a steel hard top and a killer Ramsey PTO winch. I 'll have to dig out a pic. I was so happy with that rig. I even had it painted and did all of the regular stuff like brakes on all 4 wheels and rebuilt the Ross steering gear.

[dlowrance]

First vehicle was a maroon 77 Wagoneer. At 16 I was not a fan. Black front bench seat. Didn't realize how handy that would be initially. I'll dig up a pic.

[Heep-J4000]

My first vehicle was a red and very rusty 83' Toyota land cruiser bj 42 hardtop.
It had the 3.4 4 cylinder diesel with 5 speed transmission.
It was a awesome truck and never had a breakdown.
It was a good learning experience with welding sheet metal and doing body work.