1955 Chevrolet 210 with a 283, 3 speed (Zelda). Dad bought this when I was still a teenager, but he titled this and another car ('55 Dodge) to my brother and I. Learned a little about hopping up Chevrolets with this one, and also because two older brothers had a couple of Five-Fives.
1955 Dodge with a "Super Red Ram" Hemi engine. By the time we got this one it had a lot of miles on it, but we were impressed by the Hemi engine that looked very similar to the Hilborn-injected Hemi in a friends Rayson-Craft boat. We also got to drive this boat so our older friend could ski; quite a treat for a young teen to have 500+ HP under foot!
1966 Mustang fastback with a 289 automatic. Fun car, would have been worth some loot if restored today. Got this from my Father to drive to my first full-time job. Back then you could buy a new Holley 500 CFM 2-barrel carb for only $29.95. It got the carb which was a bolt-on, along with a low restriction dual exhaust.
1966 Impala SS 327, Powerglide. This was a good old car, it would run 75 mph in 1st gear, and about 130 in 2nd. Not bad for a car that only cost a few hundred dollars and provided good service for several years with no more than basic maintenance.
1974 Malibu 350 automatic. Didn't have this one too long before trading it for a '69 Camaro. It was loaded and had a nice ride but wasn't as powerful as I liked.
1969 Camaro SS 350 automatic. My first F-body; Built the motor a bit and did the wheels, paint, etc. Had a lot of compliments until some young woman smashed into it and totaled it and her car too.
1976 HD Sportster. Got it with the Insurance money from the Camaro. I had a lot of enjoyable time on this one, and sold it years later for a little more than it cost.
1973 Vega GT Kammback Wagon, 4 spd. Cheap car, but fun to drive. The only problem I had was the clutch needed replacing; since it was my first stick-shift car I knew why. I also learned the '73 and later models got the same cast-iron Saginaw 4 speed as was in Camaros and Chevelles.
1972 Nova 350 automatic. Nice dependable transportation, and priced right. Another bargain car that gave great reliability, but since it was a 4-door it got replaced when I found a V8 Monza.
1975 Monza 350 automatic. (Mona) Still have this one and won't sell it because it's been the best car I've owned. Factory Original 350, 1 of only a few hundred 350's built, since the 49 state 262 V8 would not meet CA smog regulations, they got 350's this year only.
UPDATE: Monza Restoration - See the steps to restore an older car including new paint and interior.
1977 Chrysler Cordoba 400 V8, ran like a small 6 Cylinder. I believe I replaced or fixed something on this SOB every week... Nice ride though!
1973 Camaro 350 Automatic. Got a bargain here! It had a rusted freeze plug, and while under the car making sure it wasn't the block, discovered a chunk out of a tire. After substituting the spare and a $1 freeze plug, it ran great.
1978 Datsun B210 5 speed. Well, really got it for my girlfriend. It got good city mileage with the 1.4 liter, and 27 mpg highway (yawn). 1st & last Japanese car, the economy was not that great and I had to wind the hell out of it to get any sense of acceleration.
1985 Camaro Z28 5 liter TPI automatic. Got this when my Monza got stolen, after 2 weeks walking, the Monza was recovered the next day! Gets the same highway mileage as the 1.4 liter Datsun!
1996 Camaro Z28 5.7 liter LT1 six speed. Finally found one of these fourth generation Z's with a six-speed and no T-tops. Around here the dealerships had 90% automatics and all those I saw had T-tops. If you don't really use the T-tops why pay a grand to have the extra interior heat.
Oh yeah, do boats count?? Used to have a Rayson-Craft ski boat. It got the 327 from the Impala SS, after a little tweaking. Made a pretty good ski boat, and looked good behind the '69 Camaro tow rig.
** Copyright 1998-2001 Alan Morrison © **
