Most Ridiculous Car You Ever Owned

[Sterno]

In the early 70s I was in the military but lived off base with three roommates. We were at Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, New York, a lot of the time (when we weren’t in SE Asia). My roomies and I were all southerners and none of us had ever encountered road salt. We all had new cars and didn’t want to take a chance on rusting them out, so we decided to buy a beater to drive back and forth from the base … a 25-mile drive each way.

We found a 1963 Lancer for (wait for it!) … FIFTY DOLLARS! So, we each pitched in our $12.50, bought the car and drove it for almost four years. That little thing NEVER failed to start … even at 30 below. But it did have some … erm … issues. The floor was so rusted out you could see the road from any seat. We ended up spot-welding some sheet metal over the gaping holes. The heater/defrost didn’t work. But with parkas, bunny boots, and gloves, we stayed warm enough. But the best thing (worst thing?) … somebody painted the ENTIRE CAR (including the chrome bumpers and wheels) with BROWN HOUSE PAINT!!! That thing looked like a leper driving down the road, peeling paint chips off and generally exuding an aura of quiet desperation.

Frankly, it was an embarrassment to drive. But none of our cars rusted out and I bet that Lancer is still running.

[Norm201]

Sounds just great or awful.

I once had a '68 I believe, Rambler. A faded mint green. Bought it as a winter beater. It had the old vacuum assist wipers. The faster the engine rev'ed the faster the wipers would go. At a stop light I had to hit the gas about 15 seconds prior to the light turning green just to get going. It drove like a tank. One time at stop light I started to try and get out of my own way and I hear a big bang of sorts and did not move. I tried again and it slowly chugged forward and gradually gained speed. As I looked out the rear view mirror I saw a big puddle of what I guess was transmission fluid. Got home and threw in some of that magic transmission stop leak and sold the car to a couple of kids with the understanding that the transmission could go anytime! But I did not say it already did! That's the last time I ever tried to hide a defect.

Look pretty much like this only a lot worse!

[justafiesta]

79 trans am hand painted by someone very think with some kind of paint. Lol. The tranny where the linkage bolts screwed in were stripped so always had to crawl under it and reattach the linkage (once a month or so).

77 rabbit, leaked oil like a sprinkler when I bought it for $100 as well as the shifter knob was litterally on the center channel. The guy said I think the tranny is falling out. Oh and the sunroof was duct tape shut on inside and outside. Valve gaskets, a "c" clip on the bottom of the shift that was missing and some effort replacing the sunroom track and it was great for several years.
Oh and it was white on top and dark nasty green on bottom. It looked terrible.

[MGREEN11]

A 1973 purple AMC Gremlin. Rust-bucket with a straight six and 3-speed. As ugly as it was, it was a fast bugger!

[FXSTi]

I had 1987 Ford Escort GL which burned oil really bad (think smoke screen). I was pretty broke but I saw a car so funny looking that I had to have it. It was at a dealer which was known for shady deals and crappy cars. My buddy and I checked out the car I wanted, and found that it was in good mechanical shape. This pal of mine suggested that I put gear lube in the engine of my Escort to stop it from smoking long enough to trade it in.

The dealer took my car for a test drive, and offered me $800, which $200 more than what I was buying.

What I bought looked like this:

Not actual picture.

Mine was a 1977 in that color with very faded Texas paint. It only had 79,000 miles on it and everything worked fine. I usually got right around 8 mpg, but could (and did) carry lots of people and beer, in grand style.

[BigEd]

Bought a used 1984 Olds Delta 88 for a grand from a Colonel. Plenty of power and smooth on the highway. Put 60,00 miles on it. Around 150,000 miles, anti-freeze started to get into the oil (probably a warped head or cracked blocked). Made a deal on a new car and asked if they would give me anything for a trade I left at home. They said if I could drive it onto the lot, they would give me $500. I made it the 20 miles to the lot stopping twice to refill the radiator with water.

[Audrey]

My Fiesta. It's the only car I've ever bought myself.

[Flagstang]

if ridiculous means fast then I would vote for my 2007 mustang gt. It was scary and sometimes more then scary. It had a ford racing whipple it kit(550hp). It had a ford racing exhaust, short shifter and wheels and tires. often I would forget the power of the car and turn in to hard or something and scare the crap out of myself.

[ironlion]

In '78 my parents bought a 1966 Chevy Impala off of the neighbors next door as my high school beater. My family was moving out of northern Ohio, headed for Indiana, and I was being left behind to live with neighbors and finish my senior year. The thing was (no joke) primer grey and totally unreliable. It sat with the engine frozen solid for two weeks during the Blizzard of '78, and when it was running drank oil and passed smoke like a four-pack-a-day wino. I had (and still have) zero automotive mechanical skills so the poor thing just slowly decayed as I eeked out the final months of high school. The morning after our graduation ceremony I left town with my parents, never having done anything to find a buyer for the car. For all I know it was towed as abandoned.

In '79 I inherited a '72 Ford Ranchero in the palest green imaginable. It was purchased new by my grandfather 'cause it had a V8 302 and was useful around his vacation place in the country. He drove like a maniac and was often a bit sloshed, so the poor beast was pretty beat up by the time he stopped driving and it went to my older sister. She christened it "Emma" and used it to commute to college for a couple of years. In the fullness of time I got it as my go-to-college ride. The manifold was holed and the body was dented and rusting but the tires (Tiger Paws by Dunlop) were good and the engine wouldn't die. Kept her for a year but had to give her up when I started living on campus and couldn't afford the price of parking stickers and upkeep.

[psi chick]

ridiculous ideas - a 450 fhwp neon or a 650rwhp TT mustang....take your pick.

bought it just because i could.....a 1959 edsel. in that lovely yellow. got it for $200 with a cracked windshield and a clogged fuel line. couldn't pass it up. ugliest thing i've ever owned, but damn what a fun car to drive lol