Found out my dad had a Merkur XR4Ti

"CB" (jrcb)
09/17/2016 at 20:56 • Filed to: None

Why he never told me this, I’ll never know. Mum says it was one of the best cars she’s ever driven. She says he traded in his Loser (Laser) for it. Anyone else have any cool family vehicles they didn’t find out about until later on?

DISCUSSION (29)

My X-type is too a real Jaguar > CB
09/17/2016 at 21:00

Nope my father always reminded my Mother of the 66 Sport Fury 383 4 barrel 4 speed she made him get rid of and she always reminded him of the 64 Sport Fury automatic he traded in on the 66. Neither one of them missed the 68 sport fury 318 Automatic that replaced the 66.

CB > My X-type is too a real Jaguar
09/17/2016 at 21:02

Damn. I mean, they’re all legitimate gripes?

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > CB
09/17/2016 at 21:03

My dads coolest cars are his Ford Galaxy 500 7 liter, which he didn’t have for long because it got like 1 mile per gallon, and he was a highschooler in 1977. Then his 1978 Volvo 242 which is the reason my mom asked him out.

My X-type is too a real Jaguar > CB
09/17/2016 at 21:04

After that kids 2 and 3 showed up so it was station wagon time. Dad did go on to have a 1st gen bronco and international scout.

Nibby > CB
09/17/2016 at 21:07

marry him

jimz > CB
09/17/2016 at 21:07

nothing withheld, just stuff before I was born. Mom had a 1970 Sport Fury 383, and after they got hitched they had a ‘63 Impala. Not like that one was anything hot, it was a white base piece of shit they called the “refrigerator.”

edit: just to let you know how shitty cars were back then, my dad bought a 1973 Mercury Cougar XR-7 brand new. By 1977 it had been put into the garage on blocks to “preserve it” and they bought new outer quarter panel skins and a trunk floor.

Old cars were absolute pieces of shit.

MultiplaOrgasms > CB
09/17/2016 at 21:09

V4 Ford Taunus Wagon

My X-type is too a real Jaguar > My X-type is too a real Jaguar
09/17/2016 at 21:10

Oh and funny story about the wagons in 1974 the local Ford dealer was driving a cougar XR7 and my father made a deal to buy it as a demo, then my mother found out she was pregnant with me and he had to buy the dealers wife's country squire wagon demo instead.

Phyrxes once again has a wagon! > CB
09/17/2016 at 21:10

Growing up my dad had a 69 camero convertible yellow paint and black top and interior with a manual. He sold it in the mid 80s as it was starting to rust to pieces.

Birddog > CB
09/17/2016 at 21:11

I was almost born in the front seat of a 1971 Mach 1. Dad sold it to buy a 76 LTD sedan.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > CB
09/17/2016 at 21:12

Grandfather had a classic Mini. My dad had a Renault 5, Renault 8, couple of old Fiats (this is what happens when you grow up about 20 minutes from a dealership which specializes in French cars. I should take the 5 min drive from my dorm at some point to show you guys all the Peugeots), I came home from the hospital in a Jetta VR6. While we are talking about Merkurs, I helped my dad build a G5 Rally car from a 1985 (serial 298) and white road car (1985, serial 301). We joke that we need to find numbers 299 and 300.

My X-type is too a real Jaguar > jimz
09/17/2016 at 21:13

Absolutely my father bought cars every 2-4 years because that's how long they took to rust away.

Spridget > jimz
09/17/2016 at 21:13

Not all old cars out. Almost everything American from about 1974 to 2013 is terrible, but don't generalise all old cars.

TheHondaBro > CB
09/17/2016 at 21:15

Not really, but I recently learned that my grandfather used to be a big rig driver in Iran and would bore his cylinders to increase displacement, and my dad did a wheelie in someone else’s Trans Am in college.

Spridget > CB
09/17/2016 at 21:18

Here’re some interesting cars in my family history:

-My mom had a XJ Cherokee.

-My maternal grandfather had a 1970 Dodge Superbee and a ‘55 Chevy project car.

-My maternal grandmother had a 1962 Pontiac Tempest convertible.

-My maternal grandparents also had a 1974 Chevy Suburban and an Olds Diesel.

-My paternal grandparents had a Peugeot 404, VW Bug, VW Dasher, and several VW Golfs.

-My dad owned an EF Civic before they were cool.

jimz > My X-type is too a real Jaguar
09/17/2016 at 21:19

yep, I forgot to finish my thought and say the reason they bought the quarter panels and trunk floor was because the ones on the (four year old) car already had rust holes in them. It’s sad; when I was little I was fascinated with that car; I remember my (5-year-old) self being in love with its sequential turn signals. I’m just glad I was able to drive it a few times in high school before it rotted away to unsalvageability. the sequential turn signals were one of the things which pushed me to buy a 2010 Mustang GT.

My mom limped a 1972 Plymouth Duster all the way until 1985, and it had holes in the floor, holes in the fender, holes in the rear panel around the taillights, both torsion bar anchors had to be re-welded after breaking. the Slant Six was the only durable part of that car.

Old cars were garbage.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > CB
09/17/2016 at 21:19

My Uncle had a ‘77 Firebird(bought it new), ‘69 Mach 1, and a Baja Bug at the same time before he married my aunt.

CB > TheHondaBro
09/17/2016 at 21:19

Now that’s pretty cool.

Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street. > CB
09/17/2016 at 21:20

After showing my mom my white/red Corvair, she informed me that the first car she had an accident in was a red/white Corvair that she was embarrassed to drive around in in high school because it was damaged in said accident.

My X-type is too a real Jaguar > jimz
09/17/2016 at 21:20

One more story Dad bought a scout in 79 it rusted through so quickly the body tub was replaced under warranty, he then had massive amounts of rust repair done 2 years later by 1985 it needed to be rebuilt a 3rd time so he bought a s10 blazer.

jimz > Spridget
09/17/2016 at 21:24

it’s funny how you tell me “don’t generalise,” right after you generalized four decades of american cars.

Land_Yacht_225 > CB
09/17/2016 at 21:30

From 1980 onward my father drove a Dodge Omni, Plymouth Horizon, Acura Integra, and a 1999 GLS 1.8T New Beetle.

Before this miserable econo-crap, he had a 1968 Cougar 302, and a 1974 Camaro Z28. Where the disconnect occured, who knows. I’m just glad I got him hooked on the X350 XJ8 Vanden Plas 5 years ago.

Scary__goongala! > CB
09/17/2016 at 21:38

My dad told me once he was really close to buying a GNX brand new.

The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock > CB
09/17/2016 at 21:44

My dad sold cars for a used car lot in the 80's so he always had something different. His first car was a 1971 Monte Carlo 350/4spd, had a 1978 Corvette for a short time, then a red 1986 iroc-z, then after he got married my mom & him bought a 1990 Taurus SHO. Sold that after my sister was born in 1993 then bought an AWD Astro. There are also lots of motorcycles scattered in there.

Nymphicus Hollandicus > CB
09/17/2016 at 21:51

Several actually, my uncle had a Datsun 240z or 260z, my mom had an 80s Toyota Celica, grandmother had a Oldsmobile Rocket 88 and another uncle had a 60s Jeep CJ-5. Man my family had some cool cars back then.

interstate366, now In The Industry > CB
09/17/2016 at 22:01

Nope. I remember my dad’s cool cars. The 2 1st gen Mustangs, the 1977 Cutlass that was faster than a Malaise Era car had any business being...

DipodomysDeserti > jimz
09/17/2016 at 22:59

There’s a ‘66 GMC long bed and a ‘73 CL450 in my driveway right now that are still going strong. Sold my ‘63 Corvair last year. In the desert cars live forever.

Under_Score > CB
09/17/2016 at 23:46

Before I was born, and my parents had just gotten married, my mom had a Celica and my dad had a Probe. But I’ve known about those my whole life.

dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford > CB
09/18/2016 at 00:13

My dad’s first car was a 1977 Ford LTD wagon, so that’s neat.