Art & Inspiration What car would you take?

Imagine yourself on the other side of the country with only a couple grand in your pocket. You need to get home. What car would you take?

For me, I'm skeptical this will ever become a reality, but never the less I have found myself scanning the ebay listings just about every friday night for the past few months. I guess I'm eager for something like this to happen. I just set the year range for 1900-1965, list by "price: lowest first" and click on every American auto maker I see.

Here's my pick:





It's a 1962 Dodge Lancer listed for $1,897 on ebay about an hours drive away from me. Runs and drives... kinda. Pick 'er up, head east and hope she breaks down near a parts shop!

So, back to the origional question. Your on the opposite side of the country, need to get home and only have a few grand in your pocket. What car would you buy?

 

I'd book a flight

 

Something cheaper.

 

a bicycle is cheaper and more respectable than that piece of tin.

 

id drive it to the s****per.

 

A taxi to the airport!

Doc.

 

I think I would keep looking!!!!!!!

Just not my cup of tea with either of those cars.

Jimbo

 

Blackjack, I think you have found a fun way to amuse yourself, though it does mean you are wasting valuable HAMB watching time while you're looking at eGay.
As for the Virgil Exner's beautiful Dodge Lancer - it is an awesome looking little car, though it is probably not targetted right on the centre of everybody on the HAMB's sweet-spot. Lotsa people won't really get it, but some will. Don't worry about those that don't see it.
I, for one, have spent an inordinate amount of time trawling through eBay, and have built a fleet of both on-topic and O/T cars as a result.
Cross-country is a great trip, and in a new-to-you old car has all the makings of a road trip to remember. My wife and our boys picked up a couple of cars on the right hand coast and drove to the other side back in 05.
Have at it - you'll have a great time and make some great memories.
Make sure you post some pics of your trip.
Cheers.

 

The Lancer would be one of the best choices you could make. Very reliable long lived slant six engine, good fuel economy, runs fine on the cheapest regular gas, parts could be iffy but you could say that of any car over 20 years old.

Give me a few days to tinker with it and tune it up, and if I can get it to run OK and it has good compression I can practically guarantee it will take you anywhere you want to go.

 

'62 Chebby. Or train or plane.

 

The slant six in that Lancer is a reliable old engine. I'd be more concerned with electrical, brakes, and rust in the torsion bar mounts.

Interesting in that the time it took you to post your available funds went from a couple grand to a few grand. With a few grand, you should be able to find something that is in much better condition.

 

That car would be a good street sleeper with a 383 or 440 . imagine 400-500 hp and a quiet set of mufflers. back in the 80's, cars like that along with valiants and studebaker larks were called grandma's car. thats why I like them as a fast street sleeper.

 

Ditto. Get home with something dependable. Then look for a car to build.

 

That's funny! Slant six and economy in the same sentence! Slant sixes have never been known for great gas mileage! They're great engines, and lots of torque, but fuel mileage has never been their strong point! I've had a couple and any small V8 I've owned will always get better mileage. Mine never got over 18 mpg on the highway on their best day!

 

Guys, guys, guys, where's your sense of adventure? Driving across the whole continent in a beater is straight out of Kerouack!
And that Granny mobile is perfect for the trip. I love those Exner specials, though that one is maybe a bit more "special" than most......As stated, the slant six is virtually indestructible. If the body has enough remaining integrity to survive the trip, I'd say go for it. Have a lot of good stories to bore your grandkids to death with!

 

I would look for nice old pickup truck and I'd take the side roads coast to coast, no boring superslabs. There is something way cool about traveling across America in something as Americana as a good old made in the USA pickup truck.

 

Slant cars are cool. And those Exner cars are so damn ugly that they actually p*** back over into looking decent again.

Very few people hop up slant motors....it'd be different. I'd love to have my slant back (it got totaled by a piece of city construction equipment.)

 

Just make sure to pick up an extra distributor gear before you head out......them plastic ****ers break at the damndest times....

 

your prize not on my bucket list to own. be careful with "playing" on eBay. more than one person has put in a low bid on something and ended up with something they didn't really want to own.

 

I say "go for it", what an adventure, but it only counts with pics and a running narrative. Reminds me of a recent thread where a guy picked up an old mopar wagon and drove it to Canada. Great read.

 

hitch hike and save the money

 

Couple of nice ones on this link from carnut. One for the street, one for the strip.

http://www.carnut.com/photo/list/dodge/dodg62.html

I like 'em!

 

I live in W. Pa. and am in the San Jose area. Always looking at cars out here and saw that Lancer. When you drive east you realize what a big country we live in.There is no way that I would make that drive in an old, untested car.I shipped a '62 Falcon back home last year that I bought for $2,000. Drove it from Oakland to the shipper in Livermore. Then from the Depot in Pgh. to my garage, about 35 miles. About 5 miles from home the car began to sputter and stall. Lost oil pressure at the top hill near my garage. Was able to coast and limp home the last mile. I had topped off the tank with premium in Oakland. I drained the tank and what came out didn't look or smell like gasoline. The oil pump had also locked up and the dist. drive shaft had snapped. Over all an easy fix at home. But,30 miles east of Livermore on the side of the road??

 

I would be going for that car if I had a job. I love those little cars and great performers as far as stamina goes.

 

I get it - adventure - look for a pick up
Check tyres and brakes maybe steering
Take note pad and digital camera - take Route 66 where you can or a Lincoln Highway get stuck, get lost find your self -
Read Travels with Charley first and let us know if you find America


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That Dodge is pretty cool.If I had the time and money I would pack up my tool box and go for it.Screw a plane or train.

 

Generally, I don't like 50-60's cars but that old **** box Mopar is ok. I drove plenty of Slant 6's,GM 230,250 and Ford 240's. They are all the same for fuel mileage and reliability with just adequate power.And Slant 6's don't like to run 3 quarts low on oil....

 

OK, I'll play this game. But I'm not going to deal with Ebay but I had good luck buying a Craigslist car.

I found three possibles that were under $2000.

I could see myself going cross country in this Plymouth for $1500. The ad says it runs great but it might need tires.





Then there is this 63 Ford Unibody pickup. Says it runs but might need some carb and fuel pump work.




Then there is this 65 Caddy. Says it has brand new tires on it and new rear shocks and springs new transmission new alternator and valve cover gaskets. Needs a little fuel system work. $1500



This has always been kind of a dream of mine but I wanted to go somewhere in the south and drive something rust free home. Maybe I'll get the chance someday.

 

I've had lots of them and never got less than 18 MPG even in a pickup truck. A slant six 225 auto Dart ******* hardtop got 26. I would expect to get 30 MPG out of a 170 cu in manual trans 61 Valiant or Lancer cruising at 55. Once I tuned it up.

I would also not strike out on a coast to coast trip in an unknown old car without carefully inspecting it, fixing anything iffy, and road testing it for a couple of hundred miles. If it will make a 100 mile trip without signs of stress you should be pretty safe. But still, keep your tools, emergency supplies , cell phone and auto club card handy.

PS $1800 does seem a lot for an unpopular car that looks that ****py.

 

This is exactly what I want to do this summer but I want something that I can restore over the winter months after having driven it "as is" this year.I would like to find something around the 5-10 grand range (mustang,camaro,corvette,etc) something I could get a decent return on when it comes time to sell but the main thing would be the drive across this great country so I am thinking to fly out to calif,nevada,somewhere dry to find a good rust free body then spend as much time as possible on the drive back east hitting every tourist trap along the way (or as money allows). The road trips as I remember from my youth are all but forgotten since it is so cheap to fly anywhere now days so I would like to travel on the roads of the past.I hope to record the trip to show what it was like to live the adventure ( and troubles I'm sure to have) along the way.

Randy