Vehicle ownership. Highlights and low.

[Fatbob103]

High Point.
Chev Camaro Z28 when I was 22 years old.
I was king of the kids.

Current High Point picking up my GU Patrol from the panel shop after a full respray and colour change.

Low Point was hitting a roo and then the engine blowing in the Patrol on a trip to Sydney 3 days after picking it up from the respray. It hasn't even been washed and polished yet.

Hopefully the built turbo Barra going into it brings the High points back.

[arm79]

Originally Posted by Sprintey

Gee the E series is getting a good rep in this thread.

If I could find another in the combo I last owned I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

I still regret selling it.

[Sprintey]

There's been a few EL Ghias come up in that burgundy colour over the last few years. They either have the cream colour or light grey interior. More rare with Tickford body kit.

Our ED GLi Classic (with the 10 spokes) was white, I've seen a couple like it appear in Futura trim. A poly green GLi Classic wagon would be enormously interesting too... they are almost unobtanium.

[Sprintey]

Originally Posted by Interceptor

IMO its pretty much Ford Australia's sweet spot

Yep and it got the sales to back that up. They nailed it.

[Crazy Dazz]

Originally Posted by arm79

I remember when Great Wall first came to Australia and all their models scored like 1 star in the crash tests and A Current Affair (I think it was them) did a report about why people were so in love with buying these pieces of trash.

One couple bought 2 people movers said their only motivation was they could get 2 of these things for the price of a Tarago or something similar back in the day. They weren't concerned for the safety or quality, only that they could get 2 for the price of 1.

I wonder how they are going? If they are still alive?

My uncle bought a Jolion Hybrid to replace his ancient and very rough VZ Commo. He thinks its the ducks guts. But is incensed it doesn't have a spare wheel, only a wheel in a can and a road side assistance plan. But still bought it anyways.

Everything is a Bargain, at the right price. But these things are never cheap ENOUGH.
With most of the Chinese crap, you're literally better off buying something decent that's a year or two old, and done maybe 25kk. It will be cheaper, more reliable, and a better long-term prospect.
I hired a car recently and opted for the smallest & cheapest which was a Suzuki Swift. They "upgraded" to the next level, which was a MG (HS?). I drove it back to the Hotel, got straight onto their complaints line, and demanded they give me the Swift.
I literally don't understand how it's possible, in 2020+, to make an engine and gearbox that terrible.

[Crazy Dazz]

Originally Posted by Sprintey

Gee the E series is getting a good rep in this thread.

Yeah Nah
The EL was a great car. Good Engine and Transmission, decent handling, nice interior, and beautiful exterior styling...
If only they'd released it 10 years earlier, instead of the turd-on-wheels EA, we might still be driving Falcons.

[kevino]

Originally Posted by Crazy Dazz

Everything is a Bargain, at the right price. But these things are never cheap ENOUGH.
With most of the Chinese crap, you're literally better off buying something decent that's a year or two old, and done maybe 25kk. It will be cheaper, more reliable, and a better long-term prospect.
I hired a car recently and opted for the smallest & cheapest which was a Suzuki Swift. They "upgraded" to the next level, which was a MG (HS?). I drove it back to the Hotel, got straight onto their complaints line, and demanded they give me the Swift.
I literally don't understand how it's possible, in 2020+, to make an engine and gearbox that terrible.

The engine transmission and turbo are just not coordinated on that older mg hs.

Tell me about the Swift-was it the new 24 model?

[LG17]

Cruising down the highway in a Triumph Stag just listening to that burble from the little 3 litre V8.

Parked by the side of said highway waiting for it to cool down so I could top the radiator up after it boiled again...

[janddbone]

Wow. Makes you think.

High. XJ Cherokee. Just the best all rounder I have ever had, if I had to have only one car, this is it. Perfect combination of ability, style, power, weight, space, simplicity.

Low. HZ Kingswood SL Sedan. It was a simple thing to keep going, however that's it. It was just awful.

[PepeLePew]

Low: Climbing a steep hotel multi storey carpark ramp and the 351 in the ESP boiling and quitting part way up a ramp. They were gratefully patient to let me leave her until she cooled a tad on that ramp. Ok that wasn't great but my biggest POS was a LH Torana 253 manual what a bucket.
High: Cruising the Glasshouse Mountains in Qld, in my regency manual EL XR6, Gorillaz Clint Eastwood on my 3 way Oz Audio set, run shining in the open roof. One of those memories that just sticks with you, utopian, car in tune, tunes sweet and crystal. (after crossing the Hay Plain on the overly low/stiff suspension at 160 cruise and nearly going airborne avoiding a pack of emus crossing the road). I loved that EL, faultless and missed. She made that moment.

[smoo]

Originally Posted by janddbone

Wow. Makes you think.

High. XJ Cherokee. Just the best all rounder I have ever had, if I had to have only one car, this is it. Perfect combination of ability, style, power, weight, space, simplicity.

Low. HZ Kingswood SL Sedan. It was a simple thing to keep going, however that's it. It was just awful.

Unsure if you’re being sarcastic re Jeep comments but if not, I can relate.
I messed around with a couple in my early 20s, picked them up for under $2k to beat on them off road and up the beach, held them flat everywhere and couldn’t kill them. The 4.0 could sit on the limiter all day.
The power to weight made them really perform off road. Tight rear LSD and they could also do a decent burnout in the dry.
In saying that the largest tyre I ran was a 30” AT so wasn’t too hard on the axles. I took the front sway bar off for huge wheel travel.
I ended up daily driving this one and it would get 10-11l/100km.



This tempted my mate to also buy a couple, he set the red one up for under $6k all up with 4” lift running 33s.
His next one he ran 35s but kept breaking rear axles.

[Franco Cozzo]

That 4L I6 era was peak Jeep, everything else since then has been a joke reliability wise.

[Jack91]

Originally Posted by prydey

It couldn't possibly be that other people have different tastes and different requirements from their vehicles, could it??

The amount of people who use their diesels for what they were bred for is minuscule. They go into huge debt to tow a caravan twice a year and try to justify it to themselves with the "diesel reliable" wives tale.You might as well get something older and better built and save some money.
I think if so many people weren't always trying to keep up with the Joneses, we'd still be able to buy new versions of a lot of the cars we loved from this thread. Instead, people started buying garbage so they kept making it.
Noone could honestly say they'd take the looks/interior/feel/sound of a Ranger or similar over a HSV or FPV of the same value. Yes, there's a use case obviously, but in any instance it could be filled with a car 10+ years old.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by Jack91

The amount of people who use their diesels for what they were bred for is minuscule. They go into huge debt to tow a caravan twice a year and try to justify it to themselves with the "diesel reliable" wives tale.You might as well get something older and better built and save some money.
I think if so many people weren't always trying to keep up with the Joneses, we'd still be able to buy new versions of a lot of the cars we loved from this thread. Instead, people started buying garbage so they kept making it.
Noone could honestly say they'd take the looks/interior/feel/sound of a Ranger or similar over a HSV or FPV of the same value. Yes, there's a use case obviously, but in any instance it could be filled with a car 10+ years old.

Is ironic that if the govt try to influence what cars people buy the general consensus is that the govt should butt out and let people buy whatever car they choose....

And yet it's perfectly ok for individuals to suggest what is best for others.

I started in falcons. I'll never go back. I'm not stupid rich or unaware of what's available. I buy cars that I like and that suit my needs.

I don't have a lot of 'lows' in my car history but in general every car I've bought has been better than the last.

XF, EA, EB, EF, EL, BA, BF2, FG, Territory and now Everest, and yes, the Everest is the best I've owned so far.

I challenge anyone to name a ford that will suit my needs better than the Everest. It's an impossible challenge because guess what... How can someone else possibly know what my needs are except for me.

[Itsme]

Originally Posted by Jack91

The amount of people who use their diesels for what they were bred for is minuscule. They go into huge debt to tow a caravan twice a year and try to justify it to themselves with the "diesel reliable" wives tale.You might as well get something older and better built and save some money.
I think if so many people weren't always trying to keep up with the Joneses, we'd still be able to buy new versions of a lot of the cars we loved from this thread. Instead, people started buying garbage so they kept making it.
Noone could honestly say they'd take the looks/interior/feel/sound of a Ranger or similar over a HSV or FPV of the same value. Yes, there's a use case obviously, but in any instance it could be filled with a car 10+ years old.

I traded my FG XR in for a Ranger, no regrets at all.
Cheers

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by prydey

And yet it's perfectly ok for individuals to suggest what is best for others.

I started in falcons. I'll never go back. I'm not stupid rich or unaware of what's available. I buy cars that I like and that suit my needs.

Anyone would think you spent someone elses money

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by prydey

I challenge anyone to name a ford that will suit my needs better than the Everest. It's an impossible challenge because guess what... How can someone else possibly know what my needs are except for me.

Ford LTL9000

[DFB FGXR6]

I'm a very decerning vehicle shopper, so my vehicle ownership lowlights tend to be regrets rather than an outright disappointment or fault of the vehicle.

2008 - That I didn't beg, borrow and steal to spend the extra money on Turbo when ordering my FG.

I was stretching the budget as it was buying a brand new Falcon sedan at the age of 21 as it was. If I was to do it again, the car would be the exact same spec, Sensation with Streetwise Blue cloth interior, ZF auto, 18-inch Y-spoke wheels, Premium Sound and side curtain airbags...............but with the turbo engine. Even though my FG only has 34,000 km on the clock, if I'd stretched to the turbo, the car would be worth considerably more now. I also regret not experiencing the Barra turbo in any of its guises.



2016 - Buying a Ranger instead of a Falcon Ute.

Look, my current PX MK II Ranger has been a great workhorse. Compared to the brutally spartan and hard riding PK Ranger it replaced, the PX II has comfortable seats (the PK had a rock-hard bench seat that you sat on not in), the ride is brilliant for this type of vehicle, and it has just the right amount of tech to be useful but without being a distraction. I also feel safe in it, the PK was lethal in the wet and had none of the modern safety nets (not even ABS). But.........................



I should have bought a Falcon Ute, it would be the last opportunity to do so. The lack of ride height wouldn't have been the dealbreaker many people seem to think it is, I just don't need it. The Falcon would have had even more seat and ride comfort, not to mention having more cabin space, especially behind the seats. The Ranger has nowhere to store anything in the cabin such as a raincoat, a winter coat, tools ect. I would also have the choice to choose which gearbox I wanted, in which case I would have gone with an automatic, the single cab Ranger was a manual-only proposition.



But the single biggest advantage of the Falcon would have been having an engine capable of doing its job effortlessly. I'd most likely would have gone for the petrol I6 but would have entertained the idea of EcoLPi as well. The 2.2 Ranger is an exercise in frustration. It has ZERO torque off idle, where it puts along till it gets to 2,000 rpm and by 2,200 rpm, its falling on its face. It's so laggy that it can be downright dangerous in certain situations. Even in normal, everyday driving, you need at least 75% throttle to keep up with the traffic. I'm told vehicles with the 6-speed auto are even worse than this. And this is not me just being a led foot, the lack of power and torque combined with a very heavy vehicle (with the steel tray, mine would easily touch 2000 kg), its just too slow, how did Ford sign off on this thing?

Price? The difference between a Ranger XL single cab and a Falcon XL Ute wouldn't have been much. Fuel cost? Well, its not like diesel is that cheap these days, and I'd happily trade an increase in fuel consumption for superior drivability in ALL road conditions.

Highlights?

2012 - Owning my boyhood poster car..............................





2017 - Owning a Mustang! I couldn't have loved that car more if I tried.....................

[CyberWasp]

It is not too late to build your Falcon Ute the way you want it as a Project sort of thing.
We are at peak Falcon at the wreckers.
They are at the age where they are being hauled off, as the cost to fix them is greater than what they are worth in cases like diff bushes ect.


As for Highlights, I like all cars for one reason or another so enjoy them for what they are. I have 3 at the moment that all offer something different.

Low, I have said in other threads VK Commodore with the Fuel Injected 202. Loved the looks White Berlina with Brock Grill, CSA Elite Wheels, Rear Deck Spoiler, all colour coded, Full K-MAC Suspension kit.

But Thieves Loved It, and the thing came home on a tow truck more often than not, EFI Computer was replaced several times, Fuel Pump and other electrical gremlins.

It was the reason for my 1st Mobile phone purchase back in the day a NEC Sportz so as to make it easier to ring for a Tow when needed.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by CyberWasp

It is not too late to build your Falcon Ute the way you want it as a Project sort of thing.
We are at peak Falcon at the wreckers.
They are at the age where they are being hauled off, as the cost to fix them is greater than what they are worth in cases like diff bushes ect.

I think if I was to buy a Falcon Ute, it wouldn't be for workhorse duties now. That would mean an XR6 Turbo, which I've been unofficially looking for going on 5 years now. The problem is, I'm just too specific in what I want, so finding one has proven difficult. Contrary to what many would think, most turbo utes are manuals, but I want an auto. I also don't one that's been modified, or driven to the moon and back, with leather trim, and not black/white/silver. I'd never be happy otherwise, so I'd rather go without.

[Jack91]

Originally Posted by prydey

I challenge anyone to name a ford that will suit my needs better than the Everest..

Ok.

[Sprintey]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

I think if I was to buy a Falcon Ute, it wouldn't be for workhorse duties now. That would mean an XR6 Turbo, which I've been unofficially looking for going on 5 years now. The problem is, I'm just too specific in what I want, so finding one has proven difficult. Contrary to what many would think, most turbo utes are manuals, but I want an auto. I also don't one that's been modified, or driven to the moon and back, with leather trim, and not black/white/silver. I'd never be happy otherwise, so I'd rather go without.

Yep for our needs we've been looking at lots of things and what we specifically like has been very hard to find in good order. I guess we were spoiled back then. Compromise begins to creep in.

[Franco Cozzo]

I'm the shitbox fleet king, but here are the fun ones from the past:

LV TDCI Focus:



A few of us here on AFF bought LV TDCI Focuses (Focii?) new around the same time in 2010/2011, me, yellow festiva, ratmick and we also had ol' kevino (emphasis on the ol' part) had the previous model (LT) around the same time as we all had our LVs.

I beat the absolute shit out of that thing,

I managed to Bradbury my way to the final round of the 14 and over bracket at AFF Heathcote 2015, someone broke out so I got the win there, and a bunch of others didn't hear the shitty PA system at Heathcote Park Raceway so missed the call up to the track, so the final come down to me in my diesel Focus and a LW Focus ST

I got absolutely wrecked,



Ran a 16.32 with reaction times of a sloth,

I ended up winning the participation award (lol) and the runner up of the 14 and over class:



I was also a sponsor of one of the classes, so I made my sponsorship back

I gave the car for free to a mate of mine in 2023, I put about 230,000km on that thing, its still alive with over 260,000km on the clock now but she's a bit tired.

How can you justify selling something like that you've abused the shit out of its whole life

Its my mate's daily, when he's not driving a truck, he uses my old Focus as the shitbox weapon and its still ruthlessly abused just like I did to it



Look! there's Franco at AFF Heathcote!

I picked up this EFII for $700 of a mates grandma, we were visiting her, and she wanted to downsize to a smaller car, she wanted to go Ford again but I talked her out of it because the Fiesta had the shitty DSG in it, so I steered her towards a new Mazda 2 instead, Mazda only offered her $300 trade in on a new Mazda 2, so I'm like **** it I'll give you $700 for it,

She bought it in ~1998 and was the second owner,

Factory fitted LPG, which was never used by mates Grandma





Which I hacked out soon after

This is peak car - complete with old person seat covers, window winders, a button for the AC and knobs/sliders you move to control fan speeds, vent positions and how hot/cold you want it:



Had a ported/polished/cammed CMS head floating around the workshop, so that went on.

Ran a 15.75, crossing the line on the 1st to 2nd gear change over at ~120km/h, BTR 1st gear + 3.08 diff ratio.

I didn't bother entering the 14 and over class, because I couldn't be ****ed waiting in line, and apparently only two people entered it so what happened was it went straight to the final round and the two people who bothered entering won 1st and runner up, I think that was the end of the 14 and over class

Used it for the usual work abuse as well:



Ended up giving the car for free to a family friend, his shitful very well off adult children wouldn't lift a finger to help their old man, he had a rusty old 1991 Honda Integra with 600,000km on the clock which finally shat the bed and he had no wheels to get around anymore, nor could he afford another car as he was a pensioner. The way they treated him was a ****ing disgrace, he was over the moon when I gave him the EF, he took me out for breakfast as well.



This one takes the cake for the biggest shitbox, because how slow it was.

This come into my workshop with about 110,000km on the clock and needed an alternator, and the RRP on the alternator was $2300 + 12 hours labour to fit, because you had to pull the front of the car apart as the alternator is water cooled and housed in the engine block.

So he was like **** that give me $2000 for it and its yours, so I said deal, and thats how I randomly come into ownership of an E38 BMW 735iL Highline

It was affectionately nicknamed Adolf.... because top of the BMW family, being German, and should be punished by death for their heinous war crime of putting the alternator inside the engine block and everything else of having this shitful huge DOHC engine crammed into the engine bay.

I threw it into an intersection with all the steering lock and swung it around hard with a single pegger (Imagine spending ~$200,000 on a new car and it doesnt even have an LSD) I got about one loop in and it immediately ingested a shitload of oil blowing a mad cloud of smoke out the back, and the fanfare of the engine light coming on, turns out the way the oil system works in those things they didn't like being treated like it was competing in the burnout masters at Summernats - what a fragile piece of shit.

I also had an F100 at the same time, we went camping out in one of the local state forests, and we were all to meet up in suitable vehicles, my mates all took their 4x4s



I drove like 20km into the forest on access tracks in it, self levelling rear suspension was working overtime but it was smooth as butter, it was hilarious watching a bunch of P platers in old 4x4s airing down their tyres looking at me dumbfounded as I drove into the forest in my 7 series

I got rid of it, was just way too slow, ~2000kg car with a 3.5L V8 with a whole 177KW/320NM torque or something lame, it was absolutely hopeless. They tried to do the whole small displacement with all the tricks in the book like more gears and variable valve timing, but there's no replacement for displacement.

If that thing had a proper gearbox (4L60E), normal rear suspension and an engine by a manufacturer who actually knows how to make a proper V8 (See GM), it would be peak LWB sedan the rest of the car was absolutely mint.



I saw this, one of the workers at the window frame factory near my workshop, this was his daily driver, I randomly offered him $7000 for it and he thought about it for a few days and took me up on his offer

Don't have many photos of this anymore, but had a 1981 F100 at the same time as the 735iL, freshly built cammed 351C, intake manifold, 600 CFM carb, the usual basic modifications, the thing absolutely ripped, and it did 35L/100km all day every day to match

We put it in a race against my 735iL and the F100 absolutely smashed it up to 175km/h, like it pulled multiple car lengths on the 7 series - what a joke the 7 series was.

It kept smashing off the nose cone on starter motors, and because of the sump the previous owner fitted the oldskool clapper starter it came out with wouldn't fit back on - the flexplate was worn on the edges, and it kept pushing the starter outwards when it engaged with the flex plate which would snap the nose cones off the starter.

Combined with some other carburetted nonsense, and all the negative attention I got in this thing from my friends over at Victoria Police, I couldn't be ****ed with it, ended up selling it for $12,000.

Lucky last for now, my absolute favorite car and the only one I regret moving on:



GMT400 GMC Sierra 3500, it come into my workshop right near the end of my apprenticeship for some repair work, and I was like **** yeah I need this in my life, so I bought it off the paramedic training organisation that was using it

I was still on my Ps at the time and because of Victoria's retarded P Plate laws outright banning anything turbo (except diesel) but also V8s (including diesel) this was banned for me under the 'high powered vehicle' restrictions, with its 145KW/500NM 6.5L Detroit Diesel V8

It was still kitted out as an ambulance, albeit only had red lights (not red and blue), but it still had an operational siren, and VicRoads didn't even raise an eyebrow when I rocked in to transfer an emergency vehicle into my name, it was even registered as 'GMC Ambulance'

I sat on it for like 12 months and then sold it for $20K to someone from NSW who was using it for their cosplay business to go around to events like PAX and the like - shouldn't have sold it, loved that thing.

[Sprintey]

"as the alternator is water cooled and housed in the engine block."

what the

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Sprintey

"as the alternator is water cooled and housed in the engine block."

what the

BMW M62TUB35

Look, its come down in price!



You could buy 2.5x EFII Falcons for the price of the Bosch alternator for that thing.

There's nothing wrong with ye olde GM or Ford style Bosch job BMW if you're listening.

[smoo]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

I'm the shitbox fleet king, but here are the fun ones from the past:

LV TDCI Focus:

image

A few of us here on AFF bought LV TDCI Focuses (Focii?) new around the same time in 2010/2011, me, yellow festiva, ratmick and we also had ol' kevino (emphasis on the ol' part) had the previous model (LT) around the same time as we all had our LVs.

I beat the absolute shit out of that thing,

I managed to Bradbury my way to the final round of the 14 and over bracket at AFF Heathcote 2015, someone broke out so I got the win there, and a bunch of others didn't hear the shitty PA system at Heathcote Park Raceway so missed the call up to the track, so the final come down to me in my diesel Focus and a LW Focus ST

I got absolutely wrecked,

image

Ran a 16.32 with reaction times of a sloth,

I ended up winning the participation award (lol) and the runner up of the 14 and over class:

image

I was also a sponsor of one of the classes, so I made my sponsorship back

I gave the car for free to a mate of mine in 2023, I put about 230,000km on that thing, its still alive with over 260,000km on the clock now but she's a bit tired.

How can you justify selling something like that you've abused the shit out of its whole life

Its my mate's daily, when he's not driving a truck, he uses my old Focus as the shitbox weapon and its still ruthlessly abused just like I did to it

image

Look! there's Franco at AFF Heathcote!

I picked up this EFII for $700 of a mates grandma, we were visiting her, and she wanted to downsize to a smaller car, she wanted to go Ford again but I talked her out of it because the Fiesta had the shitty DSG in it, so I steered her towards a new Mazda 2 instead, Mazda only offered her $300 trade in on a new Mazda 2, so I'm like **** it I'll give you $700 for it,

She bought it in ~1998 and was the second owner,

Factory fitted LPG, which was never used by mates Grandma

image

image

Which I hacked out soon after

This is peak car - complete with old person seat covers, window winders, a button for the AC and knobs/sliders you move to control fan speeds, vent positions and how hot/cold you want it:

image

Had a ported/polished/cammed CMS head floating around the workshop, so that went on.

Ran a 15.75, crossing the line on the 1st to 2nd gear change over at ~120km/h, BTR 1st gear + 3.08 diff ratio.

I didn't bother entering the 14 and over class, because I couldn't be ****ed waiting in line, and apparently only two people entered it so what happened was it went straight to the final round and the two people who bothered entering won 1st and runner up, I think that was the end of the 14 and over class

Used it for the usual work abuse as well:

image

Ended up giving the car for free to a family friend, his shitful very well off adult children wouldn't lift a finger to help their old man, he had a rusty old 1991 Honda Integra with 600,000km on the clock which finally shat the bed and he had no wheels to get around anymore, nor could he afford another car as he was a pensioner. The way they treated him was a ****ing disgrace, he was over the moon when I gave him the EF, he took me out for breakfast as well.

image

This one takes the cake for the biggest shitbox, because how slow it was.

This come into my workshop with about 110,000km on the clock and needed an alternator, and the RRP on the alternator was $2300 + 12 hours labour to fit, because you had to pull the front of the car apart as the alternator is water cooled and housed in the engine block.

So he was like **** that give me $2000 for it and its yours, so I said deal, and thats how I randomly come into ownership of an E38 BMW 735iL Highline

It was affectionately nicknamed Adolf.... because top of the BMW family, being German, and should be punished by death for their heinous war crime of putting the alternator inside the engine block and everything else of having this shitful huge DOHC engine crammed into the engine bay.

I threw it into an intersection with all the steering lock and swung it around hard with a single pegger (Imagine spending ~$200,000 on a new car and it doesnt even have an LSD) I got about one loop in and it immediately ingested a shitload of oil blowing a mad cloud of smoke out the back, and the fanfare of the engine light coming on, turns out the way the oil system works in those things they didn't like being treated like it was competing in the burnout masters at Summernats - what a fragile piece of shit.

I also had an F100 at the same time, we went camping out in one of the local state forests, and we were all to meet up in suitable vehicles, my mates all took their 4x4s

image

I drove like 20km into the forest on access tracks in it, self levelling rear suspension was working overtime but it was smooth as butter, it was hilarious watching a bunch of P platers in old 4x4s airing down their tyres looking at me dumbfounded as I drove into the forest in my 7 series

I got rid of it, was just way too slow, ~2000kg car with a 3.5L V8 with a whole 177KW/320NM torque or something lame, it was absolutely hopeless. They tried to do the whole small displacement with all the tricks in the book like more gears and variable valve timing, but there's no replacement for displacement.

If that thing had a proper gearbox (4L60E), normal rear suspension and an engine by a manufacturer who actually knows how to make a proper V8 (See GM), it would be peak LWB sedan the rest of the car was absolutely mint.

image

I saw this, one of the workers at the window frame factory near my workshop, this was his daily driver, I randomly offered him $7000 for it and he thought about it for a few days and took me up on his offer

Don't have many photos of this anymore, but had a 1981 F100 at the same time as the 735iL, freshly built cammed 351C, intake manifold, 600 CFM carb, the usual basic modifications, the thing absolutely ripped, and it did 35L/100km all day every day to match

We put it in a race against my 735iL and the F100 absolutely smashed it up to 175km/h, like it pulled multiple car lengths on the 7 series - what a joke the 7 series was.

It kept smashing off the nose cone on starter motors, and because of the sump the previous owner fitted the oldskool clapper starter it came out with wouldn't fit back on - the flexplate was worn on the edges, and it kept pushing the starter outwards when it engaged with the flex plate which would snap the nose cones off the starter.

Combined with some other carburetted nonsense, and all the negative attention I got in this thing from my friends over at Victoria Police, I couldn't be ****ed with it, ended up selling it for $12,000.

Lucky last for now, my absolute favorite car and the only one I regret moving on:

image

GMT400 GMC Sierra 3500, it come into my workshop right near the end of my apprenticeship for some repair work, and I was like **** yeah I need this in my life, so I bought it off the paramedic training organisation that was using it

I was still on my Ps at the time and because of Victoria's retarded P Plate laws outright banning anything turbo (except diesel) but also V8s (including diesel) this was banned for me under the 'high powered vehicle' restrictions, with its 145KW/500NM 6.5L Detroit Diesel V8

It was still kitted out as an ambulance, albeit only had red lights (not red and blue), but it still had an operational siren, and VicRoads didn't even raise an eyebrow when I rocked in to transfer an emergency vehicle into my name, it was even registered as 'GMC Ambulance'

I sat on it for like 12 months and then sold it for $20K to someone from NSW who was using it for their cosplay business to go around to events like PAX and the like - shouldn't have sold it, loved that thing.

The smaller engine in the Euro cars AFAIK were to satisfy Euro taxes which penalise larger engines.
Hence why the 5 series/E Class/A6 could be had with gutless 2.0, and the large luxo sedans can come in 2.8 litres. Then they thought it be a good idea to offer them down here.

One thing I noticed with the Australian market and Euro cars, buyers at the time seem to prefer the smaller engine offerings.
E34 5 series there’s more 530i than 540.
E38 and 39 more 3.5 than 4.4.
W210 E Class most are 2.4 v6. Australia never got the E500 5.0 v8 or 3.2 CRD, instead only the 4.3 v8 and 2.7 diesel.

Newer C and E Class diesels I note nearly everyone in a four cylinder, no V6s.
Imagine paying well into 6 figures for a loaded E Class then speccing it with a 4 cylinder diesel.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by smoo

The smaller engine in the Euro cars AFAIK were to satisfy Euro taxes which penalise larger engines.
Hence why the 5 series/E Class/A6 could be had with gutless 2.0, and the large luxo sedans can come in 2.8 litres. Then they thought it be a good idea to offer them down here.

One thing I noticed with the Australian market and Euro cars, buyers at the time seem to prefer the smaller engine offerings.
E34 5 series there’s more 530i than 540.
E38 and 39 more 3.5 than 4.4.
W210 E Class most are 2.4 v6. Australia never got the E500 5.0 v8 or 3.2 CRD, instead only the 4.3 v8 and 2.7 diesel.

Newer C and E Class diesels I note nearly everyone in a four cylinder, no V6s.
Imagine paying well into 6 figures for a loaded E Class then speccing it with a 4 cylinder diesel.

South Africa had a 728iL I think which is the 735 but with a 2.8L I6 I think, I'd rather than over the trash M62TUB35, would be a lot easier to work on as well.

The 4.4L variant is way more ballsy but its got all the fancy-techno shit as well.

[Crazy Dazz]

Originally Posted by kevino

The engine transmission and turbo are just not coordinated on that older mg hs.

Tell me about the Swift-was it the new 24 model?

Couldn't tell ya.
It was surprisingly spacious, very comfortable even for a big fat guy. More than adequate for what I needed.

Only thing was I couldn't master the cruise control. I think I must have been using it wrong, as it seemed to function as a foot-down speed limiter. Made it work though, probably could have googled it if I could have been bothered.

I was visiting Canbra, and just needed something to toodle about in.

[Interceptor]

Originally Posted by Jack91

The amount of people who use their diesels for what they were bred for is minuscule

How about a turbo diesel 100 series that lives a hearty breakfast and a full engel away from its GVM loaded up with tools & parts?

Originally Posted by prydey

Is ironic that if the govt try to influence what cars people buy the general consensus is that the govt should butt out and let people buy whatever car they choose....

And yet it's perfectly ok for individuals to suggest what is best for others.

Ahh, but where people can advise you what to biy, its up to you to take their advice or not.
The gumbymint, however, will simply legislate such things and you have little to no say in the matter!

[bb_zetec]

For me....i seem to always gravitate back to the FG Series, i find these cars to be comfortable, easy to work on and just pleasant to drive, just keep your battery charged and maintenance up!

Ive owned 3 so far and the FG2/FGX is the pick, FG2 more so because of the parts availability of the Front End and more were made, FG-X specific stuff has dried up already from FOA.

Worst Cars ive owned are the Mazda 3 and Toyota RAV4...The Toyota was too boring and well...dosent feel like your driving anything, just steering really, nothing went wrong with it apart from terrible fuel economy with the 2.4 VVTI and AWD, worse than my FG ute.

Mazda 3 had poor quality paint that chipped just by breathing on it...i once took it from Brisbane to Townsville and literally looked like the front was sandblasted, Mechanically was OK but same as the Toyota...boring.

My 66 Mustang...well thats another thing, almost completed the restoration but its something i refuse to part with ever i think, owned it since 2012 and i just cant beat the looks design wise, it still looks fresh to this day. BTW..it really feels like your driving when behind the wheel of that thing!

Other worse cars are also VL Series Commodore, i had hell with poor quality electronics from GMH at the time, but i suspect Fords 80s era Electrics where just as bad, my old XF Ghia had all sorts of actuators and window failures, but heck that Vaccum LCD Dash kept working even when it was around 20+ years old at the time and everybody was intrigued by it.

I loved the feeling of being in a lounge room while driving it, you could drive for 5+ hours and not feel tired.

Cars today are just too boring, and have so many 3 letter acronyms its not funny when it comes to assistance systems that have made people less attentive, blind spot alert is particularly one of those.