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A semi-chronological listing of vehicles I've owned
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button below
to see old photo - the real thing.
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Austin Healey 100-6 (1957)
My first sports car, and what a treat it was. I had many wonderful
adventures with that car and learned a lot about vehicle maintenance. I paid
$600 for it, drove it for a couple of years and sold it for the same amount.
That sort of thing never happened again.
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Triumph TR-4 (1962)
This car had some interesting features; a racing-style gas filler in the
middle of the back deck, red leather interior, and overdrive on all 4 gears.
It started out white like this one but eventually I painted it a deep, dark
blue and built a black, vinyl covered station wagon-like hardtop for it.
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Jaguar XKE Coupe (1964)
2400 lbs and 250 horsepower - an incredibly fast car! Mine was light blue
with gray leather interior. This is the car I was driving when I got my first
job at Dow Chemical - as a janitor. The Dow Credit Union made it way too easy
to buy and switch cars.
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Austin Healey Sprite Mk2 (1965)
This was Linda's first car and a lot of fun. I learned to do a valve job in
below freezing temperatures and installed a fake roll bar in it too. Never
to leave something that works just fine alone, I scrounged up an old
Morris Minor steering gear and converted the car to right-hand drive. Made
for scary riding for a passenger, especially when passing on a 2-lane road. |
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Alfa Romeo 2600 Sprint Coupe (1964)
Ours was kind of purple and had a 5-speed transmission and power windows.
Traded the Jaguar in on this when rust started taking it over but it wasn't
a very good decision. It only lasted a couple of years before water began
showing up in the engine oil. I tried to fix it but eventually sold it cheap
letting the new (informed) owner figure it out.
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BMW 600 4-Passenger Coupe (1957-58)
This cool little car had a flat 600cc, 2-cylinder engine and a top speed of
nearly 80 mph. I bought it with the idea that I'd use its frame and drive
train to build myself a Lotus Europa-like sports car. I sold the body to a
fellow to use on an ice boat and eventually sold the rest to another
experimenter.
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Austin Healey 'Bugeye' Sprite (1958?)
Just a fun foray/diversion, these cars were notoriously under-powered but so
much fun to drive. A younger couple saw it and couldn't live without it and
I gave in - pretty easily. |
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Lotus Europa Type 46 Coupe (1967)
This was the most interesting and fun-to-drive car I've owned. 1,400 lbs.,
1400 cc, 78 hp mid-engine and only 42" high. A totally unique driving
experience. It regularly got over 40 mpg - which is good because it had a
small gas tank. Lots of great memories of driving this one. Sold it to help
fund our move to the UP.
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Sears Allstate (PUCH) (1968?)
My first motorcycle experience; 50cc 2-cycle engine with a top speed under
30 mph. I bought it in Midland and rode it home to Coleman - probably 35
miles by back roads and it seemed to take forever. The most I can say is
that it got me started with bikes. My Dad even gave it a ride. |
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Triumph 650 Tiger (1970)
What a nice riding bike! I put a lot of miles on mine including a ride to
the Upper Peninsula with another couple. After a few fun years I had some scary near misses on 2-lane highways and sold it. |
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Triumph 750 Trident (1972?)
I got over it and bought this three-cylinder, 750cc road bike. It was a
little smoother riding and had a lot less engine vibration than the 650 twin.
Really a fast bike; 0-80 in less than 6 seconds but actually I just rode it
easy. I sold it to help pay for our land purchase here in the UP in 1976.
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A few notes:
The dates given are probably pretty close but maybe not quite accurate.
Obviously I've owned many other vehicles since 1976 but none as much fun as
these listed.
When I was 14 my Dad let me buy a 1948 Chevrolet FleetMaster convertible. I
used $100 of my savings and he contributed $20 for Bondo and paint plus $80
to buy four new tires. Yes, $20 per tire kind of dates the transaction. I
pretty much learned to drive in that car on the back roads near our family
cabin near Farwell, MI.
If I could have any of these cars now ... I'd probably go for the Jaguar or
Lotus. - -
- The Jag was in some ways an old English car by design; manual choke,
starter button on the dash (& another under the hood), mechanical hand
throttle and wonderful smelling leather interior. And such a beautiful,
drivable sculpture!
- The Lotus was English also but much less sophisticated; Non-adjustable
seats, snap-in plastic side windows, pretty noisy, but absolutely the best
handling car I've ever been in. Every trip was a temptation for adventure
and I gave in to that temptation for many memorable adventures.
Steve |
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