That ride was better than anything at Disneyland.
@jduffy13: Wrong car, those were the Audi 5000s that did that. Although this one definitely does a fine job of coaxing the driver into pressing on that gas pedal...
@Fej:
Really? Just one owner? That's almost cherry.
Really? Just one owner? That's almost cherry.
@Fej: Uhh, no deal.
@NovaloadMissesPolar: Next you'll want to know my age and weight, huh?
Although I think I got a decent deal, it wasn't dirt cheap. I paid just under $5k for this truck. I didn't even bother haggling with the seller, as soon as I saw it I knew I was going to buy it. There were a few others on Craigslist that I was looking at, all around the $2500 - $3000 range, but I would have had to spend another few grand to get them anywhere near the condition of this one. I'm selling a (not so DOTS worthy but very nice) '93 Subaru to partially pay for the Hilux in case anyone is interested...
I can add a few details about this truck, but first let me say that every time I look at it I can't believe I found such a nice '83 4x4. It has 118k original miles on it. It's all original, except it's has a repaint about 2 years back. I'm calling it a Hilux because that's what I've always called them, even though very few have a Hilux badge on them. It's just the same as how I call Volvo 122s 'Amazons'. I also call my Datsun 411 a 'Bluebird'. I think I just pick the best name to use. Anyway, if you say you have a Toyota Hilux, people (who matter) know what you're talking about.
So this truck has a two-inch lift in the back, none up front. Those are some '80s vintage Appliance steel wheels that I wouldn't have chosen myself, but since they are in such great shape I kinda love them. I might revert to a set of plain old white steelies at some point, because I love the look of those.
The previous owner had the front bumper custom made which fits the truck perfectly and he just kept this thing in beautiful condition. I think I basically interviewing for the position as next owner more than I was just buying the truck from him. I plan to us ethis truck as it's meant to be used, but I promised I'd keep it in tip-top shape. No problem.
Hey what about that sweet 25th Anniversary Blue Subaru L wagon in the background! What a classic!
I'm always surprised that Rocky can find a parking spot for the Galaxie on my street, what with all of the other DOTS cars clogging up the curbs. I think this Ford just swallows them all up.
This car runs as nice as it looks. On a nice day with all of the windows down you realize B Pillars are for suckers.
Rocky, you gotta always keep this car in Califoria - it's been wearing those black & yellow plates for 40 years!
Actually, I always kinda liked the Quicksilver, even when they were being sold originally. Okay, I was like 12 then, but still, it's not a bad looking car really. I also like the idea of it being a compact, supposedly "sporty" luxury car. Okay, so one out of three is the truth. Also, Quicksilver is my favorite Kevin Bacon movie. There's a bit of murderous malaise era hoonage in that film, by the way.
I think sitting in the heavy traffic on HWY 80 caused by the Marine World crowd after last years' MJS led to the my Datsun's eventual head gasket failure, but we'll be at this show again this weekend. Can't wait!
If I can get the headgasket changed in time, this car will be at the Motoring J Style show in Vallejo, CA on May 24. Blind drunk, apparently, the judges last year gave it an "Outstanding Car' award. Will a new head gasket secure another trophy this year?
Well, this DOTS car has left the island of Alameda. With a tear in my eye, I wished it farewell as it was transported to a boat bound for Denmark. Yup, those Europeans are looking long and hard at the deals they can have on cars in the USA because of the current exchange rate being strongly in their favor.
@Harms:
Well, I hope I didn't do anything to piss anybody off out there. If I did, my defense is beginner's ignorance, or maybe the V8olvo helped me channel the war-mongering ways of the Norse Gods.
In any case, that was my first ever race and I tried my best to keep my driving clean, the last thing I wanted was to inflict unnecessary damage to our car or make any enemies out there. Maybe I took a few chances on passing that ended up up being overly aggressive, but I don't think I actually hit any other cars, although I took plenty of hits the whole time I was out there. My recollection (the whole race is all a blur really) of the incident with the Fury was having a very narrow slice of track between a stack of tires and a huge orange blob of steel. Knowing that I wouldn't win the automotive equivalent of sumo wrestling with that machine, I tried to back off but our fenders got caught up a bit. I don't know how it happened, but when I saw the wall of orange fade off to the side I thanked my stars and just gunned it the hell out of there. Sorry about the tire, guys.
That is an awesome car! You can easily replace the A12 engine with an A15 and then it turns into a really nice little sports car. I think the Japenese cars of this era are some of the best looking cars. They took queues from European car design and American muscle cars and mashed in all into great reliable economy cars. The stock ride height and little wheels would always camouflage the sportiness of these cars until you drop them a couple inches and get some 13x7 wheels on them. Oh, and they had great named too, 'Sunny', 'Cherry', 'Bluebird', 'Honey Bee'.
Although 'Hornet' and 'Gremlin' were pretty great names too...
This weekend was a blast. Our Black Metal V8olvo was an awesome car, I had a blast driving it. This team was top notch, and I'm proud to say that my worst fear did not materialize, I didn't kill the car!!! In fact during that last hour on the track I think I may have dished out more punishment that I took, and our car is beat to hell (...uhhh, I mean the frostbitten forests of Sweden).
I was very sad to see the beautiful #39 Volvo hot the wall (I was only a couple of car behind at the time in #97), but when I found out the news a short time later it was a complete shock. Today many if not all of the Lemons teams applied blue & orange #39 livery to our cars in honor of Cort. All my best to Cort's family and friends.
There are four K cars on my block. I've put "for sale?" notes on each one of them. So far, no takers. I really want the Turbo Caravelle so I'll keep leaving notes...
the '70s Zs are probably some of the best looking cars ever made. There is not a single panel on these cars that could be designed better. And that long nose gave you plenty of room to swap in any motor you want...
@freds4hb:
I rep'ed Glenview until just a few years ago when I moved to Alameda. There is a healthy amount of DOTS-esque cars around there as well.
Why can't they make trucks like this anymore?
