Sixty8panther

Yeah, I do know the people at the local RMV by first name. Also, my insurance company gets so confused & flustered every time I walk through the door, they've been known to say things like: "WHAT year is this Buick?!" "What exactly IS a Datsun...?" "Why can't you just own a NORMAL car for once?" "Did you buy another vehicle?"

Only the Monte Carlo qualifies right now... Camaro will make it semi-redundant.

I'll take one off their hands. Don't even SAY that!!!

You're preaching to the choir.... I'd even take an ecotech powered RWD coupeif it was like $22K. We need a 21st century version of the '61 Tempest or in more modern terms, a 4-cyl Fox-body.

LOL, funny $h!. Last summer while cruising in the '76 LeSabre hardtop Julie and I encountered a Prius at a red light, the driver was chain smoking and Julie thought that was super hypocritical, blowing carcinogens and flicking cigarette butts on the ground.... So now I'm extra happy that I ate Wendy's today in the banana boat. Gotta love the dollar menu. $.99 - Jr. Bacon Cheesburger $.99 - 5-piece Chicken Nugget That's THREE animals. Pig, Cow & Chicken.

That is a crime against the automotive world. The exact opposite of Jay Leno's super-cool, RWD-Toro. I was about to say... ta hell with the Euro-Stang, that fuselage body Plymouth(?) looks sick!

The 301 is a TRUE Pontiac motor, it's the same basic block as a 326, 400 & even the mighty Poncho 455. I have not heard much in the way of negativity towards the 301, but I'm not all that familiar w/ them either, perhaps if there is some history of problems with them it is because it is a product of the 1970s, not so much Pontiac.

The Versa is not much less hideous than the Pr-iss.

Thanks guys. The Poncho is powered by it's original 301, a REAL Pontiac motor. WMJ: It was a shipment of sex toys that went to the GOP headquarters, get it straight.

oh, and before I forget (damnit it's midnight!!!) here's that super cool Pontiac coupe. Yeah, it's another cheesy '77 GM land yacht coupe, but when (if ever) have you seen one of these!? If I had $3500 kicking around and I was looking for another toy I would seriously consider it.

It's been fun, it's been real but unfortunately the '62 Special's time with me was short. (and sweet) To all you who care, the car's in good hands. It will be getting a mild restification, possibly as early as in the next few weeks. The new owner is a true car guy, he's into old school RWD/pushrod stuff and his plans for the 198-powered baby-Special are to make a nice summer driver out of it.

http://www.cheersandgears.com/forums/index...showtopic=22625 sky-blue, baby-blue, light-blue metallic... poetic license.

It's 11:00pm & by 3:45am I'll be preloading UPS trucks so I'll make this juat a quick synopsis for now: XP715 bought a 1977 Cadillac off of me last May, as you probably already know. I had nicknamed it the "Banana Boat" since it was Naples Yellow, my daughter Sofia, who was then 3 years old LOVED the car. She was legitematelly upset with me when I sold it. Over the past few months I've been thinking more and more that I miht want the '77 back... but meantime I kept myself busy with my usual car-orgy of buying & selling. But after having owned 40+ cars in my 12+ years since I turned driving age the Banana Boat remained the biggest case of "the one that got away" I missed it even more than I did my '68 Camaro. Recently XP mentioned to me that if & when he finds the prefect box-burban ('74-'91 Suburban) for a daily driver I can finally buy the '77 Cadillac back. This past Saturday, in my never-ending quest to sample as many of my many, many, favorite GM classics I bought a '62 Buick Special that had the potential to be a daily driver. It had sat for a few months but ran/drove/stopped etc... So I bought the car, and as god is my witness as crazy as it sounds 1.5 hours after it was started up for the first time since last summer I drove it to work & delivered Chinese Food in it for the next 5 hours, without incident mind you! Mean time, as much as I was in love & awe of my new '62 Buick with only 73K original miles on it, XP was busy dreaming and loosing sleep over a certain super-solid '90 Suburban (with barn-doors, a MUST) that was about 2-hours away in a small town of New Hampshire. Well at 4:00pm today I traded my lovable and dead reliable 46 year old classic Buick with those signature (beautiful) surf-board fenders & sculpted sides, for said 1990 Suburban. It's a 2wd baby-blue Burb. w/ high miles, but is so rust free & clean it boggles the mind! The car lived 99% of it's life in Texas and all the mialge is obviously just from higway miles becuase the truck drives and rides like a vehicle with 10% of what the odometer states. So this cool used-car dealer & classic car afiscianato up in New Hampshire now has my '62 Buick Special and is going to give the car the care, attention & love it deserves, his "weekday toy" '90 Suburban is sitting in XP's driveway & as of 2 hours ago I once again own the "Banana Boat". WIN, WIN, WIN! That's my story, it's been a crazy day. Thank God my wife was understanding & was willing to take a rain-check on V-day. And most of you have already seen the "Banana Boat" seeral times but here's my favorite pic. of the car, sitting next to my '59 Buick LeSabre.

Notice how they said "driving around in an old Lincoln..." because Cadillac owners get plenty of REAL head! [all-riiiiight, giggaty-gigatty-GIG-AH-TY!]

Right.... so in other words a '69 Impala wagon or a '72 Electra Estate would technically be 5-doors, that would make some sense, but I agree, a hatch on a modern economy car is not an extra door.

Yup.... de javu all over again. It broke my heart to drive off the dealership lot this afternoon in a baby blue Suburban and look at my little '62 Special in the rear view mirror. I LOVED that car, absolutely was smitten by it, BUT.... not as much as I love/d the Banana Boat '77 Cadillac Coupe deVille. ...more on that later. The good news is the '62 Special is in great hands, the new owner has it parked next to his tripple red '77 Pontiac Bonneville coupe with only 43K miles. That big, luxurious 301-powered couch on wheels complements the 1962 Buick's flat black paint very well, they're both in loving hands.

I've owned 40+ vehicles in the past 12 years since I got my driver's license. Many of them are/will be missed... esp. a few of the ultra-rare classics that I was lucky enough to buy cheap and enjoy for a short time. But in the end the '77 Cadillac is "the one that got away". Sofia was just old enough when I got it to notice that dad had a different unique car every couple of weeks, & I really sold her on the yellow paint, white leater interior & luxurious ride. Even now, after about 8 months she asks me why we don't have the yellow Cadillac anymore. To that end, as much as I love the '62 Special it is a stepping stone to getting the Cadillac back. XP's quest for a rock-solid box Suburban and my desire to buy the Banana Boat back might work out very well after all... in the end the '62 will have to be sold/traded but that's a whole 'NOTHER story. I'll miss that little Buick when it's gone... what a great little solid car.

Thanks guys. I am having SO much fun driving this thing around, I've already driven it over 1000 miles. It's dead reliable and the little things that DO need fixin' or attention are so simple a monkey could do it. This thing requires nothing but the basic tools... a flathead & phillips screwdriver, pliers, wire crimping & stripping tool, a few standard wrenches & sand paper are all I've used to address all the "imperfections". DF: Whatchu talking about Willis? This thing puts out mad heat. Of all my recent vehicles only the 1992 Buick Roadmaster puts out better heat, as well it shoud with its 5.7 liter V8. An added bonus to this car is that the previous owner put a lot of love, care & craftsmanship into the car, like many of the custom, one-off or modified parts like the custom be-cool style radiator & H20 temp/oil pressure gauges. Not sure if I mentioned this but this car is yet ANOTHER case of a cosmic coincidence for me. AS it turns out the kid who owned this before the owner that I bought it from is the EXACT same crazy guy who I bought my 455-powered bicentenial LeSabre hardtop off of. The same car that is now chillin' in FlyBrian's driveway. I even still have the title from that guy to prove it. Small world.

Very cool, good price... but I'd rather have one of these... esp. if I had $30K to burn. ----- 1936 Packard http://boston.craigslist.org/nos/car/564734478.html ----- 1957 Pontiac Chieftan hardtop http://boston.craigslist.org/sob/car/564751994.html ----- 1968 Cadillac deVille hardtop http://nh.craigslist.org/car/572571710.html

Yeah, the poor 364 needs so much at this point I think I'll throw it in the barn and worry about it later, it's cheaper to buy a replacement nailhead and drop it in... XP715 already got me an email address to a girl who has a rotted to death 1962 Buick Wildcat with a good 401. That's what will happen this spring I think. Eeeeeee-xactly! I already had a "Mad Max" '68 Camaro w/ 180,000+ miles as a daily driver for four summers, so a '62 Buick with only 73,000 original miles is nothin'. The previous owner was awsome to this car, 90% of the braking system is brand new as is the suspension and much of the motor has been rebuilt/modified for performance and or practicality. I LOVE fixing up older cars, I've already fixed about 20 "problems" that the car came with. So far I've spent $6.50 at NAPA for a break light switch, $3.80 at the hardware store for some 18-gauge wire and the rest involved just spending some time cleaning electrical contacts, tightening down bolts and very-basic maintenance. BTW: It's flat black, which I think suits the car very well... as O.B. said. Let's see... AM radio --- this car had a modern CD installed Safety --- It's got seatbelts, that's all I need Brakes --- stops great actually, well maintained 4-wheel drums stop great, esp. on a car this light Reliability --- preventative maintenance & repairs are a fraction of a modern economy car Vinyl seats --- reupholstery is cheap & simple, it has cloth seats but I think I'll be getting seat covers Cup holders --- $3.99 at autozone ....oh, and AC is for girly-girls

I made this one myself. The photo was taken in 2003, also by myself. (my ex's cats Tony & Mellon)

Remember that '62 Buick Special I mentioned? Yup, she's now my daily driver. The Mercedes sold last Thursday, Saturday morning I picked this little Buick sedan. It has the 198 cu. in. iron-block V6. This GM "intermediate" is almost as much fun as my '68 Camaro was. The true-dual exhausts, oversized carburator & recent rebuild make it quicker than I expected, this thing is quite the little rat-rod. It only cost me half of what I sold the Mercedes for. Not bad at all for a rock-solid, rust free 46 year old GM classic. So now all THREE of our cars are GM again as well as all tri-shields. - 1959 Buick LeSabre 2dr sedan - 1962 Buick Special 4dr sedan - 1992 Buick Roadmaster sedan Mean time, soon as I have the money (it's a long story) I'll be dropping a cheap 401 Nailhead in the B-59 to replace the 364 that I blew the head gasket on. More photos later...

Jacko is the opposite of Madonna in that no matter what he does he CAN'T reinvent himself.

I see your point about the clunky AC compressor. The B/D body's larger engine bay lends itself better to maintenance I guess... Still on the average, if you take off that air-cleaner, fan shroud and if need be some of those heatercore/radiator/emissions hoses and you're ready to get down to brass tacks. Still go back just ONE decade (pre-74 esp.) & you've got yourself HALF the crap & needless complication in an average RWD, midsize car, with a more spaceous and better thought out engine bay. The 1980s were so ridiculous, between all the smog equiptment like emissions hoses, charcoal canisters & other snake-oil "theoretical" band-aid technology it's a wonder that cars ran at all. I read a book once about GM where they interviewed an engineer who openly admitted that much of the 1980s devices intended to control emissions were far fetched and mostly theoretical, when all else failed they used educated guesses and pretty much just about any random jimmy-rig so that the end would justify the means. Gotta love the EPA & the green Nazis.

Sure it will, if a Wrecker brings it to the impound, it will LIFT the front wheels off the ground. I've met too many ignorant people like this in my life. '85 Dodge Dakota drivers who insist their truck has a HEMI, FWD 1988 Cadillac deVille owners who insist their car is MORE luxurious and has a better ride than a Fleetwood Brougham of the same year, Honda Civic owners who will swear their 1998 LEFT hand drive Si was imported from Japan & is JDM, it has a 1.8 liter motor and will do the 1/4 mile in 12.9 STOCK!