Memories + "Uncool" Cars
#1
11-20-2010 | 12:26 AM
Guest
Posts: n/a
Memories + "Uncool" Cars
It's sometimes ironic what will trigger a memory.
On Halloween, I went with my sister, nephew and friends to watch the kids trick or treat. One of the houses we visited was the one in which my grandparents lived during their "retirement years". Standing in front of it, I "flashed back" to scenes from Halloweens long ago of my sister, our cousins and me as kids eager to show Gram and Gramps our costumes ... and, of course, to get candy. As we walked away from the house and walked past the driveway and the telephone poll that damaged my 1981 Monte Carlo Sport Coupe, I caught a glimpse of the garage behind the house ... and almost immediately flashed back to a few "uncool" cars ... that sparked different types of memories.
I have plenty of memories of/with "cool" cars, including...
...Dad's 1968 Impala...
...my parents' 1976 MC...
...our neighbor's 1972 Impala coupe and 1976 Buick Regal sedan...
...my aunt/uncle's 1970s LTD...
...my grandparents' 1972 Impala sedan...
...(and) my MCs and Caprice Classic...
...BUT here are a few with some "uncool" cars....
1978 PLYMOUTH HORIZON hatchback sedan, FWD, orangish
= Grandparents purchased new, right before they retired and moved to Elgin
= replaced their "blue Chevy" (Gram's nickname for it), a 1972 Impala sedan
= Somewhere, I have a pic of this car with my parents' ("my") 1976 MC that Gram took while we were all in Wichita KS one summer.
1982 CHEVETTE hatchback sedan, RWD, tan
= Parents purchased used, September 1984
= replaced "my" 1976 MC...and thus, I hated this Chevette.
= When I got my permit to drive, I had to drive this car [not the 1981 MC SC that I wanted to drive], if I wanted to drive at all. I soon grew to like it....
= I was a bit disappointed when they traded it in for a 1990 Corsica.
1987 CELEBRITY Eurosport sedan, FWD, silver
= next door neighbor purchased used, early 1990s
= replaced a light green 1976 Buick Regal sedan
= I washed/waxed this car every summer. A 1998 Lumina sedan replaced it in the early 2000s.
= The FWD Celebrity sedan and coupe (which replaced the RWD Malibu, ~1983) were replaced by the new FWD Wbody Lumina sedan and coupe. The Lumina sedan had 2 generations (1990-1994, 1995-1999) before the "impala" name took over, 2000-today. The Lumina coupe had one generation (1990-1994) before the "monte carlo" name landed on the FWD Wbody platform, 1995-2007.
...HONORABLE MENTION:
"Blue Bandit" 1988 CELEBRITY WAGON owned by college friends.
1988 TOYOTA NOVA / Ch#$r%*et COROLLA sedan, FWD, light blue
= Grandparents purchased new
= replaced their 1978 Plymouth Horizon
= Just about every car my grandparents had purchased were ones that my grandfather wanted. This time, Gram got to choose...and she wanted her Nova. I couldn't persuade her to buy a MC....
= I cleaned this car every year. Once, the day after I cleaned it, they were hit in a local grocer store parking lot.
= We took this car to Pine-Apple Orchard in Maple Park IL a few years in a row and to Milwaukee WI one summer.
= My parents bought this and kept it for a few years before it died completely.
1990 CORSICA LT hatchback sedan, FWD, malachite metallic (green/grayish)
= Parents purchased new
= replaced their 1982 Chevette
= During our 1991 road trip to California, Oregon and Washington, we traveled through, among others, Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park, and I did MOST of the driving. At the top of the drive through Glacier National Park, it was quite foggy. Someone behind us was right on my tail the entire drive up, so I pulled over at the top to let that car by ... and then we traveled SLOWER with them leading than we had with me leading...!
1997 Corsica/malibu sedan, FWD, "old man tan"
= I purchased new, late 1996, so my 1979 MC could be stored during the winters
= Perhaps my fondest memory of this car was a road trip my sister and I took, headed to PA for the family reunion. Through Chicagoland, the car got an orange "dust" on it. In PA, we were stuck on the Turnpike for over an hour due to an "overhead erection".....
3 of the cars mentioned above are in this pic:
http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/coll...708r8_jpg.html
...1 is in this pic:
http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/coll...705r8_jpg.html
What memories do you have with "uncool" cars?
Cort | 37.m.IL.pigValve.pacemaker | 5 Monte Carlos + 1 Caprice Classic |* 06/2011.RT=us66+NW USA*
** RE-LAUNCHED 3rd gen MC (1978-80) FORUM! ** > http://thirdgenmontes.proboards.com/index.cgi
"A dead end street is just a place to turn around" ... Wynonna ... 'Rock Bottom'
On Halloween, I went with my sister, nephew and friends to watch the kids trick or treat. One of the houses we visited was the one in which my grandparents lived during their "retirement years". Standing in front of it, I "flashed back" to scenes from Halloweens long ago of my sister, our cousins and me as kids eager to show Gram and Gramps our costumes ... and, of course, to get candy. As we walked away from the house and walked past the driveway and the telephone poll that damaged my 1981 Monte Carlo Sport Coupe, I caught a glimpse of the garage behind the house ... and almost immediately flashed back to a few "uncool" cars ... that sparked different types of memories.
I have plenty of memories of/with "cool" cars, including...
...Dad's 1968 Impala...
...my parents' 1976 MC...
...our neighbor's 1972 Impala coupe and 1976 Buick Regal sedan...
...my aunt/uncle's 1970s LTD...
...my grandparents' 1972 Impala sedan...
...(and) my MCs and Caprice Classic...
...BUT here are a few with some "uncool" cars....
1978 PLYMOUTH HORIZON hatchback sedan, FWD, orangish
= Grandparents purchased new, right before they retired and moved to Elgin
= replaced their "blue Chevy" (Gram's nickname for it), a 1972 Impala sedan
= Somewhere, I have a pic of this car with my parents' ("my") 1976 MC that Gram took while we were all in Wichita KS one summer.
1982 CHEVETTE hatchback sedan, RWD, tan
= Parents purchased used, September 1984
= replaced "my" 1976 MC...and thus, I hated this Chevette.
= When I got my permit to drive, I had to drive this car [not the 1981 MC SC that I wanted to drive], if I wanted to drive at all. I soon grew to like it....
= I was a bit disappointed when they traded it in for a 1990 Corsica.
1987 CELEBRITY Eurosport sedan, FWD, silver
= next door neighbor purchased used, early 1990s
= replaced a light green 1976 Buick Regal sedan
= I washed/waxed this car every summer. A 1998 Lumina sedan replaced it in the early 2000s.
= The FWD Celebrity sedan and coupe (which replaced the RWD Malibu, ~1983) were replaced by the new FWD Wbody Lumina sedan and coupe. The Lumina sedan had 2 generations (1990-1994, 1995-1999) before the "impala" name took over, 2000-today. The Lumina coupe had one generation (1990-1994) before the "monte carlo" name landed on the FWD Wbody platform, 1995-2007.
...HONORABLE MENTION:
"Blue Bandit" 1988 CELEBRITY WAGON owned by college friends.
1988 TOYOTA NOVA / Ch#$r%*et COROLLA sedan, FWD, light blue
= Grandparents purchased new
= replaced their 1978 Plymouth Horizon
= Just about every car my grandparents had purchased were ones that my grandfather wanted. This time, Gram got to choose...and she wanted her Nova. I couldn't persuade her to buy a MC....
= I cleaned this car every year. Once, the day after I cleaned it, they were hit in a local grocer store parking lot.
= We took this car to Pine-Apple Orchard in Maple Park IL a few years in a row and to Milwaukee WI one summer.
= My parents bought this and kept it for a few years before it died completely.
1990 CORSICA LT hatchback sedan, FWD, malachite metallic (green/grayish)
= Parents purchased new
= replaced their 1982 Chevette
= During our 1991 road trip to California, Oregon and Washington, we traveled through, among others, Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park, and I did MOST of the driving. At the top of the drive through Glacier National Park, it was quite foggy. Someone behind us was right on my tail the entire drive up, so I pulled over at the top to let that car by ... and then we traveled SLOWER with them leading than we had with me leading...!
1997 Corsica/malibu sedan, FWD, "old man tan"
= I purchased new, late 1996, so my 1979 MC could be stored during the winters
= Perhaps my fondest memory of this car was a road trip my sister and I took, headed to PA for the family reunion. Through Chicagoland, the car got an orange "dust" on it. In PA, we were stuck on the Turnpike for over an hour due to an "overhead erection".....
3 of the cars mentioned above are in this pic:
http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/coll...708r8_jpg.html
...1 is in this pic:
http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/coll...705r8_jpg.html
What memories do you have with "uncool" cars?
Cort | 37.m.IL.pigValve.pacemaker | 5 Monte Carlos + 1 Caprice Classic |* 06/2011.RT=us66+NW USA*
** RE-LAUNCHED 3rd gen MC (1978-80) FORUM! ** > http://thirdgenmontes.proboards.com/index.cgi
"A dead end street is just a place to turn around" ... Wynonna ... 'Rock Bottom'
#2
11-20-2010 | 06:16 AM
Monte Of The Month -- January 2013
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 5,611
From: London, Ontario
My grandparents had similiar taste in cars. They replaced a relatively cool late 70's Nova (with plad seats) with a Chevette, then an 88 "Nova" and finally a Tercel - all of them purchased new. Its not hard to see that they kept getting more senile - every car was crappier then the last. To this day I have never driven anything slower then that Tercel
#4
11-22-2010 | 04:31 PM
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 79
From: Nashville, TN
My sister's first car was a White 1977 Ford Pinto, and her second car was a Dark Gray 1984 Dodge Aries K.
My first car was a Dark Gray 1984 Doge Aries K. (got it in 1987 from the same "company car fleet" as my sister's. Had it for about a year before trading it in.)
Our next vehicles were Dark Blue Cavaliers. Hers was an '84, and mine, bought several months later in '88, was an '87. I wouldn't call these "uncool," but I certainly wouldn't consider them cool, either. Had the Cavalier for 6 years.
My 3rd vehicle was a Red '91 Eclipse RS, purchased in '94
then an Aqua '98 Cavalier, purchased in '99
a Dark Blue '01 Eclipse RS, purchased in '02
a White '03 Mitsubishi Outlander, purchased in '04
a Silver '05 Ford Focus ZX3, purchased in '06, only had it for 4 months when I flipped it
a Blue-Gray '06 Cobalt RS, purchased in early '07 to replace above
then a Sky Blue '03 Eclipse GT, purchased in December of '08, totalled in October '10
That brings me up to my Silver '01 MC SS, purchased in October of '10 to replace above.
Holy cow, that makes the MC my 10th car!
My first car was a Dark Gray 1984 Doge Aries K. (got it in 1987 from the same "company car fleet" as my sister's. Had it for about a year before trading it in.)
Our next vehicles were Dark Blue Cavaliers. Hers was an '84, and mine, bought several months later in '88, was an '87. I wouldn't call these "uncool," but I certainly wouldn't consider them cool, either. Had the Cavalier for 6 years.
My 3rd vehicle was a Red '91 Eclipse RS, purchased in '94
then an Aqua '98 Cavalier, purchased in '99
a Dark Blue '01 Eclipse RS, purchased in '02
a White '03 Mitsubishi Outlander, purchased in '04
a Silver '05 Ford Focus ZX3, purchased in '06, only had it for 4 months when I flipped it
a Blue-Gray '06 Cobalt RS, purchased in early '07 to replace above
then a Sky Blue '03 Eclipse GT, purchased in December of '08, totalled in October '10
That brings me up to my Silver '01 MC SS, purchased in October of '10 to replace above.
Holy cow, that makes the MC my 10th car!
#5
11-23-2010 | 11:40 AM
Monte Of The Month -- February 2014
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 1,715
From: British Columbia, Canada
You're right, what a memory igniter... My dad owned a 1970 GTO "Judge", bought it brand new... I learned to drive on it and loved the factory 366hp thrill it gave me
... He then gave it to me (I was 17) in 1980 and he bought a Chevrolet Citation
(really think the designer of that car got canned)... I then had to sell the GOAT 
(College) and inheritted (as payment for all my sins, I'm sure) the Citation
, which luckily I think, blew an engine almost immediately
... Now the story goes into the school poverty years and had to buy a 1974 Orange Honda 4 door station wagon for $85.00 (you could watch the ashphalt go buy from the passenger seat... lol)... Once I paid off my student loans, I immediately got back in the game slowly... 1st a 1991 Jeep, then a 1995 Buick Regal GS and finally back to some muscle with my 2002 MC SS... A long journey back, but well worth it...
, cheers,
... He then gave it to me (I was 17) in 1980 and he bought a Chevrolet Citation (really think the designer of that car got canned)... I then had to sell the GOAT (College) and inheritted (as payment for all my sins, I'm sure) the Citation, which luckily I think, blew an engine almost immediately... Now the story goes into the school poverty years and had to buy a 1974 Orange Honda 4 door station wagon for $85.00 (you could watch the ashphalt go buy from the passenger seat... lol)... Once I paid off my student loans, I immediately got back in the game slowly... 1st a 1991 Jeep, then a 1995 Buick Regal GS and finally back to some muscle with my 2002 MC SS... A long journey back, but well worth it..., cheers,
#6
11-23-2010 | 12:07 PM
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 2,472
From: lakeland fl
does any one remember the pontiac t1000? it was my grand dads it was my first car i drove when i got my license. it was slowest thing i ever drove but on the bright side it was my first rear wheel drive car. man i miss that thing i put it threw heck and back and still drove till i got it on its side and never ran right ever till i traded it in for my 01 cavilier. it was a little faster it was a 5 speed it got rear ended then i got the mustang. oh i forgot that i also had a blazer as well they all craped out on me till my recent vehicles.
#7
11-23-2010 | 12:28 PM
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 1,759
From: Murfreesboro, TN
My moms first car was a 72 plymouth sattelite, then she married my dad and got a 84 chevette, traded that for a plymouth turismo 2.3 turbo, (my sisters first car eventually)then she bought a 93 ford escort lx, my brothers first car and then mine for 5 months. Then she got a 00 toyota camry, still has it, and she also owns a saturn sky.
My sister went from the turismo to a 91 eagle summit, then to a 95 grand am that my brother totalled, her husband gave her a 95 monte z34 (eventually became my second car) then she got a 00 camero convertible, traded that for a 04 envoy xuv, bought a nissan 200sx for a daily to drive to school; she currently resides with her envot, and a gmc terrain.
My brother went from the escort (got totalled by a dodge ram backing over it while I was driving it) to a dodge dakota to a 02 toyota tacoma, to a 07 tundra
I went from the 95 z34 to a ford contour when a ram pulled out in front of me and I tboned it, then while I had the contour, I got a 86 fiero iron duke. Then I flipped it for $200 profit. Then sold the contour originally to get another fiero, dude backed out, that's when I got the 99z34 im in now. Im glad to have it too... not too sure how id feel about the fiero in the winter here.
My sister went from the turismo to a 91 eagle summit, then to a 95 grand am that my brother totalled, her husband gave her a 95 monte z34 (eventually became my second car) then she got a 00 camero convertible, traded that for a 04 envoy xuv, bought a nissan 200sx for a daily to drive to school; she currently resides with her envot, and a gmc terrain.
My brother went from the escort (got totalled by a dodge ram backing over it while I was driving it) to a dodge dakota to a 02 toyota tacoma, to a 07 tundra
I went from the 95 z34 to a ford contour when a ram pulled out in front of me and I tboned it, then while I had the contour, I got a 86 fiero iron duke. Then I flipped it for $200 profit. Then sold the contour originally to get another fiero, dude backed out, that's when I got the 99z34 im in now. Im glad to have it too... not too sure how id feel about the fiero in the winter here.
#8
12-10-2010 | 12:24 AM
Guest
Posts: n/a
*grins*
I try!
Holy cow .... I can't imagine going from a '70 GTO to an '80 Citation....lol!
Yep ... I do!
And, isn't it funny how the cars we hated and/or thought were "uncool" at the time ... we suddenly kinda wish we had back? The '82 Chevette is that car for me ... I HATED it since it replaced "my" 1976 Monte Carlo ... but, now ... wouldn't mind having it.....
Cort | 37.m.IL.pigValve.pacemaker | 5 Monte Carlos + 1 Caprice Classic |* Chicagoland Meets, 2011?
MCs.CC + CHD.models.HO.legos.RadioShows + RoadTrips.us66 = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort
"Have a happy holiday" ... Brenda Lee ... 'Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree'
I try!
Originally Posted by Crusader SS
My dad owned a 1970 GTO "Judge", bought it brand new... I learned to drive on it and loved the factory 366hp thrill it gave me... He then gave it to me (I was 17) in 1980 and he bought a Chevrolet Citation (really think the designer of that car got canned)... I then had to sell the GOAT (College) and inheritted (as payment for all my sins, I'm sure) the Citation
... He then gave it to me (I was 17) in 1980 and he bought a Chevrolet Citation (really think the designer of that car got canned)... I then had to sell the GOAT (College) and inheritted (as payment for all my sins, I'm sure) the CitationYep ... I do!
And, isn't it funny how the cars we hated and/or thought were "uncool" at the time ... we suddenly kinda wish we had back? The '82 Chevette is that car for me ... I HATED it since it replaced "my" 1976 Monte Carlo ... but, now ... wouldn't mind having it.....
Cort | 37.m.IL.pigValve.pacemaker | 5 Monte Carlos + 1 Caprice Classic |* Chicagoland Meets, 2011?
MCs.CC + CHD.models.HO.legos.RadioShows + RoadTrips.us66 = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort
"Have a happy holiday" ... Brenda Lee ... 'Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree'
#9
12-10-2010 | 07:52 AM
1979 Mercury Capri was traded in for a 1984 Nissan Pulsar NX. Little black doorstop. Call it uncool only for some insane reason chose this over an '84 Camaro Berlinetta. Did test drive an '84 Trans Am while car shopping that year, but the insurance kept anything V8 out of the picture. Intermittent electrical issues would plague the Pulsar in it's final 2 years of ownership.
Pulsar was traded in on a new 1992 Plymouth Voyager. Family Truckster. A man's gonads shrink when seated behind the wheel. Fairly reliable though. Manliness was restored when this green crackerbox was traded in on the first SUV.
#10
12-10-2010 | 08:52 AM
My folks bought a Chevy Vega new in '74. Even though I couldn't drive yet, I quickly realized what a PoS it was. What a dog! The Vega was replaced a year later by an Oldsmobile 'Land Yacht' station wagon. Though uncool, the Land Yacht actually turned out to be pretty fun during later years. Lots of room for hauling around friends... and stuff...
Augi - Don't want to hijack the thread, but I'm curious how your car got totaled by a truck backing over it??
Augi - Don't want to hijack the thread, but I'm curious how your car got totaled by a truck backing over it??