SAmadei

Thats it! Thats the crazy limo I spotted in Atlantic City about 3 months ago. That thing is HUGE... but not illegally long. Atlantic City has taken to having illegally long limos impounded. That must suck for your sweet 16.

Well, as Z28, mentioned, the pictures seem to show lots of surface rust and bad paint... the truck looks saveable. But the real story is underneath... the cab corners and rails, firewall, etc. I'm not immediately familiar with the parts availablity on the '50s trucks, but you need to need to be sure these parts (or substitutes, if you're willing to modify) are available. The frame needs to be checked over, as well... though a S10 frame could be swapped in for a more modern ride and handling. You also need to ask yourself what you want... a concours resto is going to be more expensive, but if your will to restore it to a fun to drive truck, you can cut a lot of corners and make your own modifications. Part of the problem here is that $2500 is not a whole lot for the remaining parts... steel is expensive right now and when these are gone, they are gone forever. You need to visit it and crawl all over it for a long time. Its been listed for a while, so it mush need some work that is scaring off the casual tire kickers... low ball him at $1500 or $2000, like Z suggested and see how he feels. Its a complete truck... thats a bonus. I see a lot of $2500 projects start out as much less. Keep in mind, its not a cheap hobby... and its not always easy. But thats what makes the final result so much more special to you... your friends can't just have one unless they can right some big, big checks... and in the end they will not have the pride of building something back with one's hands.

Not really GM-merch related, but its close. I recently picked up a '71 AMC AMX (HERE) and a '72 Ford Falcon XB (HERE). On the packages, and on the website, the AMX is credited to being designed by Chrysler LLC, and born in Auburn Hills, Mich. The Ford is attributed to being Dearborn, uh, born. I'm sure the Aussies and AMC'ers would disagree. Really wish Hot Wheels could get it right, but they probably claim somewhere that they invented Matchbox cars in 1953... 15 years before Hot Wheels' appeared.

Haven't found the Ute either..didn't realize the CTS-V wagon had been out that long...will pick 'em up on eBay eventually if I can't find 'em locally.. Yeah, I was going to post a photo of it when I got it, but when I realized it was a 2010, I figured everyone who cared already seen it. Its a nice piece... but its at the other house, so I can't post it.

Got the red CTS-V wagon a couple months ago... its a 2010 release, though. Still haven't found a Atomic Green Ute though.

Vega... 1971 Motor Trend Car of the Year. Car and Driver Best Economy Sedan 1971,1972,1973. By the time the H-bodies came out, the Vega engine was fixed and the bodies were getting proper rust proofing. These were the two big problems the Vegas were known for. Even the UAW sabotage problems were mostly fixed. Besides, the Skyhawk never even got the Vega engine... it was 3.8 liter V6s only. Otherwise, the H-bodies were sporty and roomy for their size... putting a 3.8 liter V6 in one probably made it quite quick. Monzas could be had with 305 V8s. Today, these are at the dragstrip and most are scary fast. Lots of these on Pinks All Out. I've had numerous friends and family with Vegas, Pintos, Gremlins... and the Vegas were best. The Gremlin cheated by being a chopped Hornet, so the interior room suffered... and the Pinto was just junk overall... though I know some people still thrashing them 30 years later. You can't compare these to modern cars in stock form, but if you put a LNF, 6 speed, rollcage and a MP3 player in them, I'd rather have the Vega/H-body over nearly any modern compact.

I'm not trying to rain on your parade, but I can't leave this post stand unanswered. Unless your going to add to that paragraph about how living IN your Challenger DOWN BY THE RIVER is going well, you're numbers aren't working. In the real world rent, utilities, food and clothing are costing people more than the $1K you are earning. So either you steal a lot or live with your parents/sugardaddy. You got a helluva deal, no doubt about it. I feel your logic is somewhat flawed, however, because you are using used car dealer pricing. What is your total term? Can you pay it off early and save interest payments? Some loans are precalculated. A dealer is unlikely to give you $20K for your car right now... and selling it yourself is where you are going to discover that people are going to expect you to undercut the used dealers. There IS depreciation here... Even if you do have the ability to flip it and recoup 100%, that window of opportunity will shrink FAST. There is a reason it was sitting on the lot... demand for it must be soft in your area... that affects resale. There's nothing wrong with changing your oil every 10K. Many oil engineers have agreed to it, off the record. However, oil companies want to sell oil and car manufacturers want to find any reason possible to deny a warranty claim. I've done the bulk of my driving in 3-4 cars with 15K+ oil changes... with no engine problems to 200-250K... the reasons the cars were put out to pasture was everything else. OTOH, my GF's Corolla was bought new, has had 3K oil changes religiously, has 50K on it now and sounds worse than my 230K Bonneville. Clickity, clickity Clack... Changing your oil daily would not help save you from driving without coolant, rubbing every curb on the way home, trying to outrun the cops, putting diesel in the gas tank, etc. You past posts indicate that you have a very narrow criteria for cars you want... and your preferences are for cars that people beat the snort out of... Camaro, Firebird, G-body Regal, etc. Even if the oil gets changed daily, some F-body owners are going to do horrible things to their cars. How many Camrys, Impalas, Tauruses have you owned to compare to? Carfax? Useless unless you are looking for obvious problems. Carfax only gets data at certain points, and they get more from some states than others. They don't get data points from Shady Bob's Trusty Auto Shop to band-aid the suspension damage from the car chase. In theory. In practice, grandma specials are great... the problems are overplayed. My friends and I have enjoyed crazy, cheap, reliable mileage from granny cars. Ask around here about a car named Marie.

Croc has given you some very good advice. One thing I'd add is that in this economy, that jobs aren't guaranteed... even if you find one, it might not last. For this reason, I would suggest finding another LSS (or similar) owned by a little old lady, purchased for dirt cheap. Insurance will be low. You know its basically reliable. Well, the total paid for a new car is going to depend heavily on the terms, and $3500 isn't going to seem as much if the Cruze turns into $40K+ of actual payments. And that doesn't factor in the cost of the mandatory insurance requirements during the term of the note. Well financing a used car saves you the new car depreciation hit, but in my experience most financing deals for used cars are awful. I'd rather pay cash now... by choosing a somewhat cheaper used car. Problem with that plan is that once you have the car, getting rid of it if its costing too much is a problem... financially and for many, emotionally. Get yourself something super affordable and give yourself time to save up a nest egg/emergency fund... so you can shelter yourself for any drought. A nicer car will be waiting for you in a couple years.

Well, each his own. I would not abuse a $32K SUV any more than a $60K one.

In my neck of the woods, SUVs are only fun if you don't mind getting it all scratched up off road. Scratches and dents are part of the 4x4 experience...within a week of buying my Grand Cherokee back in '00, I had it on rocky and muddy trails at 12k feet, drove on a 50 mile washboard dirt road, got a few scratches from tree branches, etc.. Well I agree, and thats great if you have a $4000 SUV... its another thing if you have a $60K Escalade. I've had two "SUV"s... a $180 Eagle Kammback (Gremlin body) and a $700 '76 Blazer. Both lots of fun. I would not take anything costing $10K+ where I've taken them. A scratched up expensive SUV is even worse for me, since I like black/dark colors. But my point is, a $20K+ SUV is a daily driver, but not a fun driver. A sub $10K SUV full of scratches can be both, IF, you are willing to be taking your boss to a business meeting (not being held at the top of Mt. Hood) in your scratched, dented up POS. ;-)

Very interesting how different the '60-'66 GMC and Chevy VIN encoding is. Did you get the Serial Id Number? Use this page to decode for the best guess at the year: http://www.lmctruck....ll.aspx?Page=10

In my neck of the woods, SUVs are only fun if you don't mind getting it all scratched up off road.

I believe the current gen Accept did have a 3 door, but it was kinda awkward looking and I haven't seen many of them. I wish these all came with 3 doors, as its the only way I can think of trying one out. I can't get in the door on these as sedans. The Metro used to be very popular as a 3 door... and relatively good looking, IMHO. Edit: typo.

I was under the impression that the different nozzles were for the other direction..i.e. preventing putting gasoline in a diesel. Gasoline has the smaller nozzle, so putting gas in a large diesel filling neck is easily done... big Diesel nozzle into smaller gas filler, not so much. Anything is possible if you try hard enough.

You're considerably more optimistic than I would be. Dad's cube van got a tank of diesel and whatever the mix ended up, the engine ran on it... in fact, he couldn't shut it off. At all. He limped back to the gas station and between the mechanic and my father's mechanical skills, they got the engine shut off... after a draining, it ran OK. Of course, that was back in the carb days... FI would have shut the engine off. But knowing how much rental companies charge for simple things like lockouts, I'd had to give them back a car with any hint of diesel in it.... but that's me. I'm really surprised that they have federally non-conforming nozzles out there. In my area, its unheard of. And NJ was real hardline about that tank filler size when we converted the Cutlass from Diesel to gas.

Psst... 1982. I'm sure the 1980 X-cars were hard to stomach in the sticker department, as well.

VW is spelled Ford on the steering wheel now?

I would build (or commission to build) a 1st gen Firebird or a '67/'68 Bonneville as an EV. I'd still buy an AMG CL65, and a bunch of pre-2009 GM classics. I'd build a racetrack and sponsor a new series of Cruze demolition derbies.

I'm not sure I'd get too overconcerned about it. When dealing with cars 15 years and older, its likely that most of them have spent at least one long period unused in that time. The worst part of a 1.5 year vacation is the dry start. Unfortunately, they already restarted it (as I understand... the photos show a spinning alternator), so the damage is done. Its minimal, but you never know if its the final straw. And virtually nobody is interested in attempting to prelube a distributorless Chevy engine, even if they know how to. Obviously, if you buy it, I would see that all the main fluids and filters are replaced. For the uberparanoid, include the serpentine belt... I would run the old belt a bit, however, to have it buff the rust off the pulleys, rather than have your new one do that. A good inspection of the brakes, suspension, electrical, ignition and exhaust would be a good idea, to ensure your not sitting by the side of the road. I'd replace the wipers, as I never seem to get more than a year out of them anyway. Tires could still be fine after 1.5 years... I'd only decide that after close inspection. I've had tires 10 years old be fine... and then there are some that dried out after less than three years. You can determine the build date on tires made since ~1999 by looking for a 4 digit stamp in the sidewall... first two digits are the week of manufacture, second two are the year. Your expected use of the car will come into play with how quickly you need to replace these. Then drive it. Probably the worst unknown about a car that has been sitting it that small amounts of corrosion/hardened plastic seem to play havoc with parts that were likely on the way out anyway. A few window switches might get slow, a few bulbs blink out, some new squeaks and groans. Some of these problems will go away on their own, as the vibrations of motion wear the corrosion/hardened plastic off... some won't. Overall, I don't think 1.5 years of sitting is that bad... considering in classic-auto-land many park jobs are considerably longer. Plus these are very robust cars. I've been considering pressing the '86 Buick wagon back into duty... and even though its been sitting longer, its not going to get half of this treatment, as its a disaster, I only expect it to get from A to B in a grumpy mood. ;-)

But, but, then what will Chrysler be able counter the Cadillac ATS with... and the Cadillac Luxury Urban Concept? Oh, wait, maybe Sergio doesn't need to move Chrysler there... good. Seriously, though, isn't this is kind of late to be making this decision, considering the Caliber replacement needs to be here in 2012? Either this means that Chrysler is scrapping a nearly complete design or the Dodge version is nowhere near being ready.

Well style is one reason, but more importantly its because one size does not fit all. Typical little baby sedan doors are a compromise, such as those found on tiny, little Malibus, Impalas, Chargers, G8s are a severe hinderance for my ingress/egress. Only sedan doors that I find comfortable are on the DTS and old B-bodies... H-bodies are marginal. If your car hinders my ingress to my car, I move your car. Actually, I have considered those awful scissor hinges as a solution to tight parking.

Yeah, Chrysler is the ticket. GM is out of the question due to the last 15 years of sticking it to us. I could likely live without an new El Camino, considering that Dodge is selling that cheap V8 sport truck, that I can drop into the weeds. Interestingly enough, we are only 14 years from importing the Ute ourselves. Honestly, I don't think GM will beat that window.

More Here.

<snip!> Read more Here

GM would not be happy to hear that its drivetrains barely able to get 35 mpg in a Cruze were getting 45 mpg in a 45 year old Chevy II.