I will take you through the cars of my friends since mine are boring and most of this took place before I even had a license:
A VW bug with the only working brake a parking brake -- driving around town was a two person job since you needed two hands to get the thing to slow down and to hold your sides to keep from laughing. (Yes, young and very stupid)
A Ford Cortina wagon (British). 1600cc 4 cyl. Driving down the highway and hear this loud noise. Shouldn't we start (BANG!!) slowing down? The engine got real loud and the shifter comes right off, and we look in the mirror to see the drive shaft rolling away.
Any number of Plymouth GTX's -- one from evey year. Air Grabber hood. 440/383 but no hemi. Egads! The gas consumption was bad but the tire consumption was worse. No wonder there was so much rubber on the ground at every intersection.
Mazda rotary engines can be rebuilt in a basement, weigh about 200 lbs., and have very few parts. The apex seals could be upgraded. And buying several large jars of vaseline to hold the seals in place got you very weird looks at the drug store. They made good rally cars but since they had no guts at low end, did not climb icy hills worth a snot. But since they were light they could be pushed uphill (and I am still trying to catch my breath). Redline? What redline? They ran out of power before they would hurt themselves. 10,000 rpm out of a rebuilt 12A.
BTW, never give up on a rotary. Ex-boyfriend of my sister had an RX4 that had the oil light come on (very bad thing to see with a semi in the mirrors -- big semi -- as the somewhat dirty old greeting card said, I can't give you a Ferrari but I've got a Peterbilt for you). He pulled off as the engine "seized." Sold it to a high school kid and for $125 and was laughing. Until... Dad and kid came to pick up the car. Dad poured kerosene into the spark plug holes (two per rotor) and tows the car. Kid dumps the clutch. Vrooom! No mosquitoes for days after that, but everyday the kid drove past the boyfriends house for about two years.
Volvos can go fast. Especially 242's. The 6's were stones, but a 4 with the right heads and tranny were fun. They almost never rolled, but would almost roll a lot. Didn't you know Volvo made two wheelers? It's just that the other two wheels were not on the ground! Yes, I like roll cages and racing belts that are properly installed. And don't hit the ditch -- fly over it.
How about a Fiat 850 convertible with four people in it? With the top up.
My sister had a BMW 1600. Lent it to a friend. "Well, the engine temp light came on but I just kept driving and it finally went out." After dropping in a fresh 2 liter motor on the same tranny, we had a neat little rocket. Great gearing. Went real fast. Right up 'til she wreaked it.
Same Bimmer was originally bought with a jerry rigged intake system. Had a few hoses missing and a few more plugged with corks and hose clamps. Push starting was what little brothers were made for. Unfortunately, I was the little brother. Got it up to speed and by the third time of politely asking her to dump the &%$*ing gawdamned clutch, BOOM! Nice backfire! And two or three bits of tubing and hose clamps on the ground. Ran much better after that.
Same Bimmer had the turn signals on the right side of the column. More to come on that.
Dads '66 Polara wagon. 383 auto. -- big enough that you could lay a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood flat in the back... and that was between the wheel wells, not on them. Torque? (Bad pun alert) Torque is cheap! Would out drag most wannabes in Mousetangs and Fireturds (this was the 60's -- always buy the biggest and most powerful. Never buy the V6 or the baby V8).
So, back to the Bimmer. It's in the garage (sounds familiar even today, right?) so Sis takes the wagon. I hear a thump on the floor as her left foot goes for the clutch that ain't there. I grab her hand as she signals for the left turn. Remember the BMW? The one with the turn signals on the right side of the column? Hmmmm, it's an American car with an automatic and not the BMW with the turn signals on the RIGHT side of the column, and she's making a LEFT turn at about 35 mph. That would have left a mark...
