describe a favorite old car you used to own

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back in the late 80s, i really loved my '88 plymouth reliant that i bought while in the army. it was a base coupe but with automatic. for an american car it was solidly constructed, no squeaks or rattles ever. it was the smoothest-riding car i'd ever driven, it flattened out all manner of road bumps, it was underpowered on hills but elsewhere could keep up with traffic. had a bit of road noise which had the salient effect of drowning out the moaning engine which at least ran smoothly/didn't vibrate. the seats were basic but supportive on the long haul, and were comfortably upholstered in textured cordovan velour fabric. it had a column shifter which freed up floor space for my long legs [no tranny hump in the middle]. it got me 2,750 miles from springfield VA to tacoma WA in 2 and a half days of solid driving. as soon as i arrived home, some GD drunk rear-ended me [nearly killing me in the process] and totaled it, it had 4,600 miles on it and was still under warrantee. it was the first new car i ever got to drive home.

Black Mustang with a camel gold hard top and interior. I don’t know the year but I drove it in the mid 80s. I think it was 70s. Will ask my brother today.


Edit: He said it was 1978.

Volvo 360GLT 3 door hatchback. 5 speed manual.

Engine at the front being a 2000cc Porsche re-designed Volvo engine crammed into in a lightweight body origionally designed by Daf to use a 1300cc engine. An aluminium drive shaft to reduce the revving weight of the transmission between engine and gearbox so it accelerated quick compared to its power output (Which was somewhat de-tuned to make it last). A rear mounted 5 speed gearbox to give excellent weight distribution which gave excellent handling. Car was light enough so I could wheelspin in 3rd gear from a standing start. Could wheelsp n down a straight road at a 45 degree angle and hold it at that angle for as long as I wanted. Handling was so predictable with its lowered Porsche designed suspension. Won towcar of the year award every single year the car was in production... An achievement that no car has achieved since.
Would do 40 mpg or above on long trips even when towing a caravan (Trailer). Would do an extra 20mph top speed above the 120 mph top speed the speedometer would show as speedometer was used for a few of the slower 3 series models. Was just a fantastic car that was a lot quicker then the official figures would quote (The engines took 75,000 miles to run in and didn't really start to properly "Open up" until they had done 120,000 miles. They were easily capable of 500k before a rebuild as were fitted with sleeves and were non interfearance engines so if the cam belt broke the engine had no other damage).
The 2,300cc turbo engine Volvo also made was the same size so some 360 owners made this upgrade, and with this upgrade, the 360's were seen giving Dodge Vipers a race around a UK racetrack. The 360's would catch the Viper up on the corners due to their superior handling but the Vipers would have the edge on the straight though admittedly the Volvo had the 2.3 turbo engine which as standard was just under 200 bhp (Standard 360GLT engines were 120bhp which was more than enough for a lightweight car).
Most 360's be they the GLT or lesser versions (Still good) ended up as drift cars though they made good rally cars in their time (Volvo never got involved in rally or race events).
Due to having side impact bars and other safety features on a 1970's designed car (Sold in the 1980's to early1990's) the insurance was a lot cheaper than other cars of a similar engine size.

VW LUPO. It was a nippy little car and fun to drive. Quite roomy inside for a small car. Passengers would get in and be surprised at how spacious it was. Very reliable and economical. Pretty solid too. I had the Lexus back lights which looked cool too.

One of my favorite old cars that I used to own was a 1980s-era Honda Civic. It was a hand-me-down from my older brother, and when I first got it, it was pretty beat up and had seen better days. But I loved that car, and I spent hours working on it, fixing it up, and making it my own. I added a new stereo, new wheels, and a new paint job, and I even put in a new engine. By the time I was finished, it was a completely different car, and it was a real head-turner. I ended up keeping that car for several years, and it was my trusty ride through college and beyond. I still have fond memories of that old Civic, and I wish I still had it

Never forget with the Volvo 360GLT just before I went to part exchange it for a newer Volvo 480ES, and because I knew I only had the last day or two left with the 360, waiting for a gap at a large busy roundabout I revved it up high and really let it go when asuitable gap came up in the traffic. I expected to leave two black lines on the road as the car would wheelspin in 3rd from a start if I revved her up, but I was in first.... But instead of spinning the back wheels, this time she gripped and shot forwards at such a rate! I went to quickly change to second and heard a noticable bang and realized the front wheels of the rear wheel drive Volvo had been in the air with the sudden acceleration! They must have gone up nearly a foot off the ground by he bang I heard when they came back down. Never had I really gone for it by revving her up like that, as normally I would only rev to around 2500 revs and that was enough to spin the rear wheelsnif I let the clutch go suddenly.
Another feature of those engines was the excellent engine braking they had. My brakes failed on a twisty 1 in 3 road going down from Harlech Castle while on holiday and I managed to get it into 1st gear and the car went down under engine braking alone. That road is one of Britains steepest roads. Another occasion I had a woman tailgating me and as I was fed up I dropped it down a gear and suddenly let go of the clutch and heard the rear wheels momentory lock up and then heard the car behind lock her wheels up to avoid hitting my car. I didn't touch the brake at all! Could lock the rear wheels with egine braking alone! Later had a 740GLT and a 940 that both had similar engines with similar engine braking.
Interesting cars! The 740GLT was actually lighter than a typical Ford Fiesta despite its size, and noticably quicker in accelerating than the Volvo T5 I later owned. The740GLT had auminium body panels in a late 1980's car!

my 2004 toyata avalon xl with column shifter and front bench seat [japanese taxi fleet model], rode like a slightly firmer-sprung cadillac or lincoln. it was library-quiet, engine barely audible and ran as smoothly as a sewing machine. probably the smoothest-riding most level-handling car i'd driven. you couldn't hear it running at a stoplight. it was the closest toyota came to building a roomy old buick. had saddle-colored velour upholstery, my favorite. that bench seat was just right for my 6'3" frame, like sitting on a living room couch that was firmly upholstered. hadda sell it when i had to move on short-notice. i still miss it.

i briefly had a '93 Chevy Lumina base sedan, i liked it because it was the same chassis as the Cadillac sedan de ville, and rode like a Cadillac, what was different was it was several hundred pounds lighter and didn't have the Cadillac hydraulic dampers but still rode as good as the Cadillac, in that it floated over the bumps without letting me hear or feel them, it was just as though the bumps just weren't there. had a smooth v-6 engine that you couldn't hear running unless you opened the hood. large bench seat up front was comfy, very roomy car. wish i'd been able to keep it, i borrowed it from somebody.

^^^how long ago did you own that one?

/\I was eighteen.Stupidly sold it.
A true classic except it did enjoy drinking gas.

in high school i 'inherited' our family vehicle which my sister drove before me (and my brother later inherited it too ha ha) but it was a white 1977 Audi Fox 4 speed manual. it was an awesome little car! it had a blaupunkt stereo tapedeck with excellent speakers and it was a 4 door hatchback so i could cart many friends if they wanted to squish themselves illegally into the back. it also had a cute "face" with the headlights and the audi insignia and the taillights were like fox ears. later when i got my 2007 subaru forester i realized one of the reasons i also liked it because the taillights were similar to the audi fox