Anybody owned,or had a love affair, with any of these Disasters, on Wheels?

http://controlledrandomness.blogspot.com/2...th-century.html

Yep, I've had the VW bus - actually, two of them.

Essentially, it was a "mini" bus, and somewhat begat the mini-Vans, so that must be a positive point.

Otherwise, since it wasn't a fast vehicle, one learned to be in no particular hurry and take it easy when they drove. Also, sitting somewhat above the other cars on the road enhanced one's ability to drive defensively - pretty much a must in a car as dangerous as it is, especially in a front end collision. Since I didn't have any accidents during the about 10 years I drove one of these, I'd say my experience was, like, cool, man.

Nope, I managed to avoid all those. My roommate had a Yugo though, only rode in it a few time 'cause I didn't fit the darn thing.

I'm 5' 9" and those cars were NOT built for tall people!

One car they left out was the early Skodas.I worked as a Mechanic for a Skoda Dealership here in the 60's,and they were a Pig of a car. Brakes were just about non existant,allways breaking down.A real Lemon.

5' 9" is a tall person?

Geez, now I have to wonder how many clowns they could get in a Yugo?

My dad had a Dodge Aspen and they weren't kidding. It started rusting on the showroom floor. '73 Ford pick up beds were a joke in that respect too. I had an AMC Gremlin AND a Pacer. Guess I was a glutton for punishment My friend had a Yugo(s). Ten in the back yard, in various states of repair, to keep one more or less running

This post has been edited by garmanma: Apr 28 2008, 03:38 PM

I've got over 100k miles total (a 100k after I bought them) on the Pintos I had (I liked the wagon the best). I bought all used had less problems from them than some. I also had two Gremlins , one was a "X" and moved out pretty good (no air ,manual Trans) the other a Automatic w/Air and it was a bit poochy. I liked them for the most part. Seems to me most of the newer "crossover" suv's look a lot like bigger relatives of the Gremlin Brother had a Chevette , worked for him The only Vega I ever wanted came from Motion Performance (can you say "Phase Three")

Pintos and Vegas go good with big blocks and 4.11 gears

You are correct sir!
Phase three Vega (350 ver.)

http://www.supercars.net/garages/ChevyRocks/31v2.html
Why they stopped building them
http://www.hemmings.com/mus/stories/2006/0...tml?t=printable
Shop Teacher from back in High School built a V8 Pinto
a "tubbed" and "stuffed" Pinto wagon is somewhere on my todo list.

when you go to "stuff" it. You have to knock the firewall back 2-3" with a good sized sledgehammer around the tranny tunnel. (personal experience)

I have performed many Engine and Tranny transplants,in my Workshop over the Years,but never used a sledgehammer.

Don't know how they left out the '61 Chevy Corvair !! It earned the title Unsafe at Any Speed, from Ralph Nader.
I owned one of these it caught fire twice. It was GM's answer to the VW and just as deadly.

I had a '63 Convertible, tho it never looked this good.


http://www.shorey.net/Auto/American/GM/Che...pyder%20f3q.jpg

Mom & Dad had a Corvair, the only thing that ever went wrong with it was the tail pipes kept falling off. If you laid down the backseat seatback (is that proper english? ) it turned into a luggage rack, boy was that fun for a kid. Everytime they turned a corner you slid from one side to another.

Of course that was before the government got responsible and taught us the proper way to ride in a car. So kids never do this and always wear your seat belt!

Back in the 60's, we all built Volkswagen dunebuggies. My buddy put a Porsche engine in his, I put a Corvair Spyder(?) in mine. Smoked his butt a few times

I've done sledgehammer surgery before also