A Salute to Cars Gone Before Their Time

[nUcLeArEnVoY]

Originally Posted by Hylton

Some guys sure know how to lay the cheese down on a black car! Was it a real SE, WS6, L78, M21 car?

It was a 78, so it wasn't an SE. In 1978, there were no Y81s (SEs without t-tops). It was a clone, which was fine by me. My favorite Trans Ams are Y81 SEs which I would've paid out the ass for a real one (not as much as a t-top one, though, even if they're rarer). The engine was its original L78 - a W72 would've upped the pricetag by a couple grand easy, so I had to compromise. And it was mated to a slushbox, and those WS6 wheels were for show, it was just a WS4. I didn't care - I didn't want anything valuable. I wanted it to be a Trans Am, which it was, and I wanted it to drive... the second of which it wouldn't do, so she had to go. My heart is still broken and I still occasionally check up on them at popular collector car trading sites to see how they're doing in the market.

I cried like a little sissy when I sat in it the last night it was in my yard before it was sent off, and no, I'm not afraid to admit it. It was a basketcase... but I loved it, and I wanted to drive it, but I couldn't afford the repairs. I was under the impression I was being sent a driver. I still don't know why such a terrible thing had to happen to me... I live in a world surrounded by wealth with me being the only middle-class person who has to work hard to get what he wants. I worked overtime, six days a week, saving paycheck to paycheck... but then that happened. I still would love to know what I did to deserve that... oh well, I guess I should just call it bad luck. End rant.

I'll always hold a soft spot for Trans Ams deep down, and I wish desperately that GM releases another one. But I won't count on it. The Camaro is an easy transition, at least.

[kanys]

Originally Posted by GatorBlue371

So i was out and about, surfing the town for some hot chicas in my Veryon when suddenly...


BAM! - bi



Bambi jumps out infront of me with the malicious intent of scratching my bumper!!!!

Gotta watch out for them deer! Thankfully I do not have my own story to add, but many of these are good reads, lets me know what to look for on the road! And really sorry to hear about those who got their vehicles stolen:(.

[Zabo]

It's not quite dead yet, but it's mine and my brother's first car: a black 1996 Monte Carlo Z34. Of course it was the 3.1 POS convoluted architecture V6, but it was our first car. Mine first (being oldest XD) which I bought (ironically) from a Honda lot in Toledo. First repair stop at the local Chevy dealership turned up that it was a one owner PURCHASED FROM THAT DEALERSHIP, ironic indeed. The guy that traded it in was still registered with them as the owner..

Drove the s**t out of that car in HS. First accident I had I actually put my fist through the windshield in a fit of rage.. :S 2 more accidents and 1 front end, 1 passenger side door, and 2 side mirrors later I handed the keys over to my brother in favor of my Exploder.

That's when shit just got bad. New door resulted in the repair door I had put on cracking 2 feet in a paint cure (lol fiberglass), Thermostat went, aux fan went, burnt oil, rusted a hole though the gas door and filler tube within a year of handing it off.

40K+ in repairs over 6 years later, she's being slated this fall to be sent off to the scrap heap or lot (whichever we can get more out of) in favor of a newer car for my brother that he can at least survive college with. She was a fun car while it lasted.

RIP Monte..

[Rogue Leader]

Originally Posted by ZeeTwentyFour

Where on the island is this? or did they take her back to the boroughs?
RIP

It was stolen from NYIT in Old Westbury... I found it on 86th and Rockaway Blvd in Ozone Park.

[Hylton]

Originally Posted by nUcLeArEnVoY

It was a 78, so it wasn't an SE. In 1978, there were no Y81s (SEs without t-tops). It was a clone, which was fine by me. My favorite Trans Ams are Y81 SEs which I would've paid out the ass for a real one (not as much as a t-top one, though, even if they're rarer). The engine was its original L78 - a W72 would've upped the pricetag by a couple grand easy, so I had to compromise. And it was mated to a slushbox, and those WS6 wheels were for show, it was just a WS4. I didn't care - I didn't want anything valuable. I wanted it to be a Trans Am, which it was, and I wanted it to drive... the second of which it wouldn't do, so she had to go. My heart is still broken and I still occasionally check up on them at popular collector car trading sites to see how they're doing in the market.

I cried like a little sissy when I sat in it the last night it was in my yard before it was sent off, and no, I'm not afraid to admit it. It was a basketcase... but I loved it, and I wanted to drive it, but I couldn't afford the repairs. I was under the impression I was being sent a driver. I still don't know why such a terrible thing had to happen to me... I live in a world surrounded by wealth with me being the only middle-class person who has to work hard to get what he wants. I worked overtime, six days a week, saving paycheck to paycheck... but then that happened. I still would love to know what I did to deserve that... oh well, I guess I should just call it bad luck. End rant.

I'll always hold a soft spot for Trans Ams deep down, and I wish desperately that GM releases another one. But I won't count on it. The Camaro is an easy transition, at least.

I totally feel for you bro!

[ZeeTwentyFour]

Originally Posted by Rogue Leader

It was stolen from NYIT in Old Westbury... I found it on 86th and Rockaway Blvd in Ozone Park.

WTF!?

[Rogue Leader]

Originally Posted by ZeeTwentyFour

WTF!?

Not only that they stole it within 5 minutes of me parking it, at the back parking lot of the school next to a security booth. They definitely followed me around for a few days, figured out my routine and waited for a chance to strike.

Weirdest part is they left the whole drivetrain, just blew it up.

My buddy pulled the motor and its making like 700 hp or so in his turbo GTA now, the transmission ended up in my TTA and we parted and scrapped the rest.

[ZeeTwentyFour]

well at least the heart of it is living on, I'm shocked they didn't take the engine.

[Rogue Leader]

Originally Posted by ZeeTwentyFour

well at least the heart of it is living on, I'm shocked they didn't take the engine.

The locals on the street (who told me people continued to pick at it for a couple days grabbing the battery and other small stuff) basically had told me it was dumped 2 days before I found it which means it was only in their possession for less than a day. A woman found my insurance card and called my agent (had a little sleeve with his info) who gave her my phone number. She called me and said she found the card, I asked where and she told me, then i said is it near a black car? She replied "whats left of one". So i asked her to look where the hood was and tell me if theres a big metal snail looking thing on the left side (the turbo), she said yes, and thats when I knew... My heart dropped.

[ZeeTwentyFour]

what kind of insurance was on it?

[Rogue Leader]

Originally Posted by ZeeTwentyFour

what kind of insurance was on it?

I actually had the car appraised at higher than I paid for it, and I had a stated Value policy. In the end I actually made $2,000 over what I paid. I have never been so unhappy about making money. I would have rather still had the car.

[Mr_Draco]

Wow I can't believe how easily some companies will total out vehicles nowadays.

Back in the fall my neighbor, who just turned 17, rear ended a girl. He hit her so hard that his engine compartment was no longer there. The dash was actually touching the front seats and his engine was practically sitting in the passengers seat. He wasn't wearing his seat belt and the cop who filed the police report told him that he's lucky that he didn't because if he had he would have been impaled by the steering column. The insurance company did not total the car out and said they would get it repaired. It took 4 months to have it repaired but he just got his car back last month.

[FirstLSK]

Did someone mention that we need to have the elderly re-tested on a regular basis? Where do I sign that petition?

This was my first vehicle -- 1991 Ford Ranger -- I was in the USAF at the time traveling down the highway and heading home for vacation. A 91 year old lady couldn't hold the brake pedal any more and pulled out in front of me. Skid marks were only 15 ft. long. I nailed her front-right quarter, which cause my truck to slide sideways into the oncomming traffic lane. A truck with a load of I-beam steal nailed me in the drivers door and pushed me down the highway.

My pickup before:


After:


The only thing that stopped the truck from going over the top of my truck and crushing it completely was the frame acting as wheel chocks.




Note that the steering wheel and the cab light are aligned and the bench seats overlap. The truck crushed my cab in half and then pushed it off the frame.


BTW, yes I almost died. The ambulance had to stop at 3 clinics for more blood on a hospital trip that otherwise would have took 15 minutes. It took me a year to learn how to walk again.

[Hylton]

^ That's nuts? Thank God you were saved from that one. How did they get you out of there? I would think your legs were broken and twisted in that mess.