"B_dol" (bdolan40)
03/20/2014 at 17:38 • Filed to: None
4
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"B_dol" (bdolan40)
03/20/2014 at 17:38 • Filed to: None | 4
| 17 |
Everyday someone is out there buying a Honda Civic, Toyota Camry or the latest hybrid vehicle. On the much rarer occasion, folks buy truly unique and memorable cars. The sort of car men and women dream about and plan to own for longer than they would like to admit.
These types of cars, say a classic muscle car, corvette, miata, heck even a kit car often have ownership stories as rich as their brand heritage. I know a few folks on Oppo hold the keys to both interesting and more unique cars, and I want to hear their back-stories.
When did the search really begin? Why did you pick the car you did and how has the ownership experience been?
B_dol is a mid twenties engineer, daily driving an FR-S and constantly lusting after highly depreciated, often under-appreciated used sports cars.
Image from !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!
Patrick Nichols
> B_dol
03/20/2014 at 17:45 |
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Being a college student my favorite cars to be in on the weekend are whatever one is heading to dunks in the morning and anything I'm not driving at night...
on the rare occasion I do drive on the weekend something other than my own car, I prefer my dad's 2012 mini.
Reigntastic
> B_dol
03/20/2014 at 17:46 |
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Lately I haven't shut up about it, but it's relevant so I'll give my two cents.
I bought a 1993 MR2 Turbo in November of 2012, with 130k miles on it. It embodies a lot of what I value in sports cars, being lightweight, midengined, and turbocharged, but is also one of the true gems to come out of the 90s to me. The car is absolutely gorgeous, handles amazingly, and is very nimble. Fuel economy isn't amazing, but it's reasonable enough that I can manage.
I've since replaced the timing belt, MAF, deleted the EGR, replaced the head unit with a touchscreen nav/media kenwood unit, gotten some newer wheels, and fully restored and repainted the exterior of the car. I have lots more work to do on it, but in my eyes it's already stunning. I really love the car, and if everything goes my way, I really expect to keep it until I'm an old withered man. Because of the mileage of the vehicle, I don't expect it to appreciate an unreasonable amount, but at the same point I really believe it will be a collectors item down the line. Incredibly unique, and absolutely one of the best models to ever come from Toyota, bar none.
MonkeePuzzle
> B_dol
03/20/2014 at 17:48 |
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but... my weekend car IS a civic :S
alexotics
> B_dol
03/20/2014 at 17:48 |
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Which one would you choose from that picture? Surely the Cobra would upset a few Italians...
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B_dol
> B_dol
03/20/2014 at 17:50 |
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I doubt my own search for the FR-S qualifies, but I will indulge nevertheless. I was on the market in early 2012, having looked at the S2000, Miata, Mustang, GTI, 370Z and the like. Stick shift coupe, reasonably priced / in warranty was the criteria, with the ability to carry my hockey gear.
It was getting to be 5 months into my search and I really needed car, in fact I was renting an auto 4speed Corolla at the time... Nothing yet had ticked all the boxes nor elicited an irrational emotional response. As luck would have it, I eventually found an FR-S at a local dealer after chasing down a transport carrier exiting the HWY. Needless to say it was love at first sight. I had to have it! After a test drive and few weeks waiting on the right color, it was mine.
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B_dol
> Reigntastic
03/20/2014 at 17:52 |
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Great story! The 2nd gen MR2 is quite iconic, and an excellent car and platform to enjoy for a long time.
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B_dol
> alexotics
03/20/2014 at 17:53 |
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Perhaps the Porsche, tons of class... dat Cobra doh...
RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
> B_dol
03/20/2014 at 18:03 |
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We'll make this about my weekend project, as opposed to my weekend car proper, as there's more to tell, and it's less "My dad had one" inheritance.
Years and years ago, I fell in love with a '63 Galaxie 500 fitted for drag racing, with Hilborn injection and stacks. This came about when I was maybe 14, and finally getting away from appreciating cars in the manner of a kid ("hey, that Oldsmobile(?) just looks cooler than the Chevy one like it - and Cutlass is a cool name") and getting down to the nitty-gritty of what made cars tick. I still want one, but not too terribly long after that, I saw my first proper first-gen Falcon Tudor. Like a mini-Galaxie. Hmmm.. .
Over the course of the next few years, I built a Thunderbird model from the mid-60s, and spotted a model of the '61 Ranchero as a custom - having previously seen a later model on Monster Garage, I liked the idea of the truck, and already becoming a Ford man, I was elated to see that a Falcon two-door *pickup* existed. As much as I liked it, as built the model didn't quite tick the boxes, and the idea lay dormant. I had a project car (my Land-Rover) consuming all car time, and it was more sort of a neat thing on the shelf.
Fast forward 5-7 years: I had owned a VW Rabbit pickup for about 2 years at the start of the stretch, but sold it to finish the Rover. Drove the Rover for a bit, then finally graduated to the Benz I DD now. A couple of years into the Benz, a voice had started to whisper - particularly every time I used the Benz as a cargo vehicle - "well, you know, that VW was a hell of a lot of fun, wasn't it? Come on, man: you need a ute. Uuuuutttteee". Take this with the fact that my Benz has so many miles I had a couple of maintenance scares, and I started to think - what will I drive after? On a whim, I wondered (mostly unrelated) whether a Falcon could float as easily as its contemporary the Beetle, and started pitching stats at paper to see. As an exercise, I looked at what it would take to do that, and made it a Ranchero just for fun. The idea seized me - not necessarily having to make the car an amphib, but the numbers spoke to me: a hot rod Ranchero was eminently feasible, as capable as a Mustang, the looks of a Galaxie in miniature, a pickup bed...
Somehow, this had to happen. I started pricing pieces and was not put off by what I found - though the actual base car took more than a year for me to find and purchase with available cash. Now I'm building a '63 Ranchero hot rod piece by piece. Aluminum V8. Disc brakes. independent rear suspension. Four speed...
benchslap
> B_dol
03/20/2014 at 18:17 |
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I am extremely fortunate to have two weekend cars. My newly acquired daily (because my commute went from 13 miles round trip to 95) is an 08 GTI.
My first weekender is my former daily, an 08 Boxster that only has 40k miles on it. I've owned it for almost four years and it replaced a long string of BMWs punctuated by back to back 01 and 06 M5s. And it's a keeper. I've kept it nearly twice as long as I have ever kept a car before and plan on never selling it. I love everything about it.
My other weekender is a 1973 911E coupe with 59,000 miles that my dad ordered new right after my parents got married. It is like a family member and it's been around longer than I have so it's definitely not going anywhere. So, as to your last question, I didn't choose it. My dad chose it for me. And that's part of what makes it so special.
I know I'm a lucky dog. Just keeping them nice for the next generation, like my dad did for me. He's just happy driving his '13 GTI at this point in his life.
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B_dol
> benchslap
03/20/2014 at 18:26 |
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Very cool, any pictures of the fleet?
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benchslap
> B_dol
03/20/2014 at 18:32 |
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None of them all together and none of the GTI as I actually haven't taken delivery of it yet. But here is the 911. Boxster to follow.
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benchslap
> B_dol
03/20/2014 at 18:33 |
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And the Boxster.
aberson Bresident of the FullyAssed Committe
> B_dol
03/20/2014 at 18:35 |
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oh boy where do i start with this one.
well it all started in the last week of September 2013 (it was a Monday i believe) and i was just on my way to school like the average high-schooler and a car on the edge of a yard caught my eye didn't get a good look at it but i knew i had to have it and i couldn't stop thinking about it all day so after school went to the house it was at and looked over it. Now I've never seen one of these before and have no idea of what it was and even after reading the badge on the back of it it didn't click until i saw the shift knob. It was an alfa romeo a spider in fact and my mind went back to the top gear episode with the cheap alfas and that made me want it even more i picked it up on the Friday of that week and its the 2nd car i own and love every minute of it. I mean yeah its rough around the edges but its a alfa
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B_dol
> benchslap
03/20/2014 at 18:38 |
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I approve of your choice in colors, sir! Immaculately maintained cars as well.
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benchslap
> B_dol
03/20/2014 at 18:41 |
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Thanks! Sadly the Boxster is slightly less well maintained right now because I got rear ended recently. I'm hoping it's just the bumper though.
stuttgartobsessed
> B_dol
03/20/2014 at 18:42 |
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My "weekend" car is my daily driver. Or I should say that my "daily driver" is my weekend car...
Ownership has been what you'd expect. Great until it doesn't work, then shitty and frustrating. Then I spend all my monies and life's great again!
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benchslap
> B_dol
03/22/2014 at 21:08 |
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And here's the GTI.
