What was your car growing up (high school car)

OldManModeller said:

In High School, I took Driver's training class in a 1970's Ford Pinto. Yes, the school's used to provide that class.

In High School, I didn't own a car, but my parents let me use their Chrysler Lebaron on some days to go to school and on dates. It was a boat. It was a tank. Seats were like Lazy Boy chairs.

Pops split in my graduation year of 1980 and gave me his 1978 Toyota Hilux pickup truck.... a 'take over payments of $137 a month' for 2 more years type of dealio. I drove that for awhile and bought a 1973 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40 in 1980 as well. Wish hat I still had the Land Cruiser.

Moved on to Jeeps in the 1990's and never looked back to Toyota's offerings for serious offroad stuff. They just don't import solid front axle vehicles to the states anymore since the Suzuki lawsuits. But straight axle's rule.

Most everything cheap was a stick shift back then.... Now I miss having a stick shift.

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I've been into solid axle jeeps since college. I have a couple in my driveway

Jon Mopar said:

I've been into solid axle jeeps since college. I have a couple in my drivewayYes Si

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Yes Sir. I currently own a 1992' YJ, a 2021' JT Mojave, a 88' Dodge Ram 1500, and a 2017' Ford SD ALL with solid front axles. But also, a Jeep Liberty with IFS for my wife's a run-around-town 4x4.

If Toyota started importing solid front axle vehicles into the States again... I would be onboard for one.

OldManModeller said:

Yes Sir. I currently own a 1992' YJ, a 2021' JT Mojave, a 88' Dodge Ram 1500, and a 2017' Ford SD ALL with solid front axles. But also, a Jeep Liberty with IFS for my wife's a run-around-town 4x4.

If Toyota started importing solid front axle vehicles into the States again... I would be onboard for one.

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You're a man after my heart! I love YJs. We've had those years back. Is yours a 4.0? Is it a sport or Sahara etc? I've had a couple of TJs as well. My best friend has a 94 YJ Renegade that I would love to have. I currently have a 98 Grand Cherokee and an 04 Gr. Cherokee (last of the solid axle Grands). My daily is a new Ram…but I'd love a 80s D150.

Truth be told, my yard is full of Mopars. More than there are days of the week haha

Yep,

My mistake... my 1/2 ton Ram 4x4 is a D150, not 1500. Doh.

My wife's daily is our 2017 Challenger Scat Pack Shaker.

Mopar to the core here. But I own Fords and a BMW too. I like Chevys and, well, most all of them from the States, Germany and Japan.

Not too particular but Mopar is 1st.

My D150...

Jon Mopar said:

You're a man after my heart! I love YJs. We've had those years back. Is yours a 4.0? Is it a sport or Sahara etc? I've had a couple of TJs as well. My best friend has a 94 YJ Renegade that I would love to have. I currently have a 98 Grand Cherokee and an 04 Gr. Cherokee (last of the solid axle Grands). My daily is a new Ram…but I'd love a 80s D150.

Truth be told, my yard is full of Mopars. More than there are days of the week haha

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My 92' YJ is a 4.0 Sport. With JK Rubicon Dana 44s swapped in. 4.10 ring and pinions and 35s. Dumped the Dana 35 and 30 long ago.
The wife and I used to be Jeep clubbers. Ran a Hammer trail once with it. In early 2000's.
My wife wanted round headlights so I swapped in a TJ grill.

When it comes to serious 4 wheeling... for me it's Jeep. There's only one.

Eric

OldManModeller said:

My 92' YJ is a 4.0 Sport. With JK Rubicon Dana 44s swapped in. 4.10 ring and pinions and 35s. Dumped the Dana 35 and 30 long ago.
The wife and I used to be Jeep clubbers. Ran a Hammer trail once with it. In early 2000's.
My wife wanted round headlights so I swapped in a TJ grill.

When it comes to serious 4 wheeling... for me it's Jeep. There's only one.

Eric

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And here I am a lover of square lights and 80s stuff…XJs and such lol. I always liked YJs but settled for TJs later on, because the YJs are all gone. I suppose you can't please everyone. I was the VP of my local Jeep club for a while, but I never got too extreme…I hated scratches lol.

I remember in 97 Jeep adverts saying "they claimed real Jeeps don't have square head lights…so we fixed that" haha.

Regardless the shape of lights, I'm a Jeep guy to the core. I'll always have one beside my other Mopars.

First car was technically my parent's, a 73 Datsun 610, no way I'd have chosen that thing on my own. By the time I was in 10th grade the job as a bus-boy allowed me to by a better one, 1968 Fairlane 500 2-door. Mine only had the 302, but I could afford it for $500 when the Mustang I really wanted was too much at $750.

Edit: Jeeps...my college roomate had a CJ7 I always liked, but I bought a JK in 2016. Rubicon Hard-Rock edition, the 2-door has an INSANE turning radius, and the hard top was seldom on it, even in winter, Texas and all. I did trade it in on a more practical 4X4 though, currently still own the Raptor that replaced by Jeep.

mustang1989 said:

You always know how to give a guy a good laugh Steve. lol

Cool rides nonetheless buddy.

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Well, that Pinto had an E brake that would make for some cool James Rockford style 180's on the wet pavement. It was good for something other than eating a can of oil every day, HA!

Jon Mopar said:

And here I am a lover of square lights and 80s stuff…XJs and such lol. I always liked YJs but settled for TJs later on, because the YJs are all gone. I suppose you can't please everyone. I was the VP of my local Jeep club for a while, but I never got too extreme…I hated scratches lol.

I remember in 97 Jeep adverts saying "they claimed real Jeeps don't have square head lights…so we fixed that" haha.

Regardless the shape of lights, I'm a Jeep guy to the core. I'll always have one beside my other Mopars.

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Yeah, well the coil spring suspension on the TJs is so much better than previous Jeeps. I had a 2005 TJ that rode so much better than our YJ. Flexed much better too. Coil vs leafs.

I still have the original square (rectangle) grill for my YJ. But I don't think my wife will let me change it back after I set it up for her and her wanting a 'modern-ish WWII looking' Jeep.

My wife's YJ, with the TJ grill. It's still in CA, but soon it's coming home to Wisconsin.1 to 1 scale fellow modelers. It is the real drivable deal. My modeling skills aren't that good. Not even close.

If you figure out the Jeep's callsign or name. Kuddo's to you. A big hint is in the pic.

Be well. Model on.

Eric

The hardest part was the paint.. WWII US. And Sherwin-Williams color matched it! Love them.

But it was maybe 10 years ago that I painted it and the color fade has set in. I think that it only adds to the patina.

Be well. Model on.
Eric

Edit: Sorry, not a highjack. Carry on with high school cars.

As you were.

Edbert said:

First car was technically my parent's, a 73 Datsun 610, no way I'd have chosen that thing on my own. By the time I was in 10th grade the job as a bus-boy allowed me to by a better one, 1968 Fairlane 500 2-door. Mine only had the 302, but I could afford it for $500 when the Mustang I really wanted was too much at $750.

Edit: Jeeps...my college roomate had a CJ7 I always liked, but I bought a JK in 2016. Rubicon Hard-Rock edition, the 2-door has an INSANE turning radius, and the hard top was seldom on it, even in winter, Texas and all. I did trade it in on a more practical 4X4 though, currently still own the Raptor that replaced by Jeep.
View attachment 130808

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The Ford Raptor is incredible.
But That Jeep Rubi Hard Rock is seriously Epic. That 2 door Jeep that you had will be a museum piece. Love that Jeep.

Be well.

Model on.

Eric

65' Barracuda V8 Commando HP 273 with Torqueflite transmission, Posi-Traction rear end.

OldManModeller said:

If you figure out the Jeep's callsign or name.

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Jenny, I've got your number!

Edbert is the Winner, Winner! It's Jenny.

Did not have a car during those school years, but my first car was a used Volkswagen Golf CL, 1987.
CL was the cheapest version with boring rims, textile seats, no servo steering, no A/C and pretty much no everything. It had a low-HP 1,5 L engine and weighed a lot, so it was slow. Drove it until I wrecked it.

When I graduated in 1971 my parents bought me a '66 white Pontiac LeMans with that tonneau top. Probably a 2 speed auto and once I got it I gave it a thorough cleaning. However my dad was mechanically inept and my mom, who knew Pontiacs because her father owned a dealership in Detroit which she was part owner of while her brother ran it, but didn't know mechanics which I was starting to learn. Anyway they were told the car had about 80K miles but once I got it we saw that the engine emitted a huge amount of smoke while running. I wasn't there when they bought it so wonder if they drove it. We took it to a Pontiac dealership and they said it had 180K miles and the odometer had rolled over hiding it. It would cost quite a bit to give it a ring job. So we dumped it and they gave me the '67 LeMans that the family had been using as a second car. It was a 326 2 speed auto but was a decent car if nothing special. I took it to college in Orlando but coming home to go to JC they set me up to buy a car on my own, an ex-rental white Vega, and took back the LeMans, a short lived graduation present. The Vega was fun but anemic with that big four and a 2 speed auto. I got rid of it before it went to pieces like most did. Here's pics of similar cars from the era.

Vega was a cool looking car that was set to compete with the Maverick, are you sure it had a 2-speed?

Edbert said:

Vega was a cool looking car that was set to compete with the Maverick, are you sure it had a 2-speed?

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I just verified that and yes I believe that was the only auto the first year. Four years later I would get a Pontiac Astre version with a 3 speed auto. In between I owned a very fun and nice '73 Mercury Capri with a V6 and 4 speed and it was fast and a blast. But Vegas were really poorly made and designed even though they looked great. A buddy had a year later and it drank oil, like a quart driving about 60 miles! The aluminum silicone block engine from GM university student designers was very flawed and the cylinders wore badly. The body was a rust bucket and I saw some back then just rusting to pieces. My rear hatch window was rusting around the window frame and I did some corrosion treatment myself but had I kept it it would have got much worse. It could have been a really good car but too many design flaws. My Capri looked like this but was jinxed and got hit by a guy a month after getting it badly and was in the shop for repairs for a month. Then it had two more minor hits during the two years I owned it but I really enjoyed it.