OOOOHHYEEEAAAA the best beater was a 67 caddie sedan d ville. I cut the roof off and when you turned ,the doors would open then close. It took some gettin used to. I had a friend at the auto shop on base and I'd dump the requisite 2 quarts per tank-o-gas right outta the oil change barrel. I miss that car. sorta
Mine was a '73 Pinto wagon. I hauled everything in it. Ran it out of oil twice, still ran. I used oil from a friends drag car in it since it was free. Never failed me in 2 years of service
1970 Opel Kadette. Back during the fuel crises, and I was driving a hundred miles into NYC each day. 1.1 liter motor, dual carbs, four speed, rear torque tube. Four snow tires. Installed a second Opel 10 gallon tank on the other rear fender, and a 64 Chevy 20 gallon tank over the rear axle. 40 gallons plus 35 mpg gave me some range. Put over a quarter million miles on that thing (started with two Opels from the junkyard for $150 each, one had a good body and the other had a good motor). Rebuilt the motor once with JCWhitney parts. Car rusted like crazy but I was still able to sell it after I was all done years later for $350.
Let's hear it for the Pintos! Mine was a 74 Pinto wagon and man did it like abuse. Never let me down and always came back for me. Definitely one of the best cars (let alone beater) I've owned.
First was my 66 Nova stationwagon "The car that wouldn't die" had a knocking wrist pin 194 six cyl.for the 50K that I had it and was still going when I passed it along..Second was my 77 Chevy truck that was starting in on its second million miles on the third engine when I retired it..my 86 Chevy truck is over 400K on its second engine...my 64 Riviera is over 500K on its first overhauled 425..
"74 Vega Kammback(Wagon). Replaced the #3 piston when I burned a hole in it.Put it back together and it ran for over a year until... I Replaced the block with an IECO one after I overheated the original one(when the "temp" light goes on it's too late.....) Lots of "over the hill" runs to Santa Cruz via Hwy 9,17 and San Jose/Soquel Rd! A Jetski would slide right in the back for trips to Anderson and Coyote Reservoirs. Used it for lots of "camping" trips with Girlfriends I ran Castrol 20-50 in it with 0 problems I still miss that car......
1973 Chevy Vega i got for FREE in 1977...the female owner thought the motor was shot, but was just overfilled with motor oil. drain some oil and new plugs and was ready to go. beat the crap out of it for one winter and sold it in the spring for $300 i was late for work one morning and was in a rush....did a rolling stop at a stop sign the same time a guy in an old van cut the corner. my front bumper creased his left rear quarter panel....no real big damage to either vehicle. accident could be 50/50 fault. i'm checking my car as he is to his van. he walks over to me and the first words out of his mouth after seeing my vega was "do you really give a shit about your car?" after i said no , he said he didn't either and let's call it even
Similar to this one but not slammed and no visor. Red oxide primer. Styles have changed. Back then we would have primerd the paint. My 47 Chevy woody wagon. Notice that the tags were Historic almost 30 years ago. I had garage projects for 20 years and I wanted to drive an old car to the rod runs. (they were called rod runs back then) It had a cracked block so I swapped in a newer used 216. I put some yellow 15" Chevy truck 8" rally rims on it. It was a blast to drive....3 on the tree. I drove it to the Western Maryland Cumberland run one Sept. The front shocks were built into the upper control arms and were worn out. I was able to get the front tires off of the ground during rod jousting... really! I dumped the clutch and the front end came up. Just as it reached the top I let off and stabbed the clutch. Of course it did a nose dive and just as it reached bottom I repeated the process. It took a couple of repetitions before the front tires caught air for a slit second. My buddy got bruised up while hanging out of the rear window trying to spear the rings. The crowd seemed to love it because we got a big cheer on our next run. I sure wish I had a picture of that. Before I sold it there was fungus growing on the wood. The flat mushroom type shelves that grows on the bottom of dead trees. I overheard one guy tell his buddy is astonishment..."He drove that thing in here!!" I just grinned. Don't knock it if you ain't tried it! It's better in a beater. I must have pounded the babbit out of it because it started knocking when not under heavy load on the way home. It made it all the way home. It was still knocking when I sold it.
There's been plenty......... A '66 Nova comes to mind. Bought it to deliver Domino's in back around 1986. Even wrote it off as a business expense that year! Think I paid $400 for it.
1976 Ford Courier pickup. My dad bought it new, went to my sister then to me. 465,000+ miles on Valvoline 30w no rebuild. It might still be out there running.
in 1964,had a 57 Ford wagon[was a inline 6,it blow up]put my Y-block from my A roadster in it after selling off some of the roadster parts,she run great for 5 years,tell getting a 54 v8 Stud 2dht that was even better beater,all gave me lots of time to work on my rods and racecars,cus the beaters needed near nothing.
After giving it some more thought,,I believe the 32 Ford pick I own NOW is the best beater I have ever owned!HRP
A '77 Ford LTD 2-door hardtop, with smogger 400M v8 and auto. It had some ridiculously high California-only rear gear that let it fly down the highway. Smooth, fast, surprisingly fun for such a big car. After the PCV froze one winter day, making most of the oil blow out the filler, I started feeding it oil from the case of nondetergent straight 30 I kept for the mower. After the blowby started fouling the air filter I mounted a catch can (Folgers can) in the vent line. When it filled up I "recycled" it.
Toss up between the '72 Buick 225 2dr HT, 455. or my current parts chaser and trailer tower '78 F150. No pics of the Buick but heres the PU. You'll see her again in Jo[plin towing the T. V8 4spd, cold air.
$300- 88 caviler wagon .... Never changes the oil in 30,000, every time the oil light would come on I added 3 quarts! Took that air filter out cause it was dirty.... Drivers side was hit by a snow plow so I had to enter on the passenger side. Hauled my junk and went through snow like a 4x4 ... Drove it for 3 winters.. Junked it for $50 ... I wish I still had it.
Not very HAMB friendly but what a great car: Toyota Hilux 2.4 ltr diesel. Did the Amsterdam to Dakar challange 7500 km rocks desert and dust..... No problems!!! Oil: cheap 15W40 Sorry........it's rice.....
Every winter in Chicago..I'd look for that snow beater. I'd put the rods..and race car in the garage..and look for the biggest land barge I could find cheap. 53 Buick Roadmaster..yes..in 1968 these 2drs..were $50 cars. Straight 8..could take a major hit..bounce off ruts..plow through snow..and became highway art when the old 8 would freeze and die. Wagons..old Suburbans.. Had a 60 Pontiac that hauled motors..transmission..and serve as a mobile motel..excellent heater..and could idle all night..! Many of my old beaters would be very sought after cars now..but not after I got though with them..
My current 1970 C-10 has to be my "best" beater. Two weeks ago it got my son and I home the 100 miles from the mountains in 97 degree heat with the front pump on the th400 blown out and puking trans fluid...... but she got us home and the trans died in front of the house as we pulled up. Some beaters give you everything they have and ask for nothing, not even an occasional wash, while other vehicles demand all your attention and still leave you standing on the side of the road with your d!ck in your hand. 20w50 all year long in the 100k '93 TBI motor
My first car was my best beater. 1974 Nova. straight 6cyl, 3on the tree. changed the oil regularly and drove it for a looonnnggg time. No power anything, not even a carpet was in that thing. Most reliable car I ever owned.
1990 Geo Metro hatchback. Bought it new and gave to daughter at 297,000 miiles, one clutch, one set of brakes, two sets of tires, one timing belt and oil changes every 2,000 miles. Valvoline oil and whatever oil filter was on sale.
How true! Cars I've owned in the absolutely dependable category: Opel Kadette, 48 Willys w/ SBC, Pontiac 6000, Chevy Lumina APV, Chevy 4wd p/u, one particular Jag, and some others. Cars that have required way too much care and feeding: most other Jags. One right in the middle: an MG.
My 95 Honda Civic 152,000 miles on it and runs great. Looks like crap but for $500.00 I can't ask for anything more.
'67 Mercury Caliente 2 Dr Hardtop... Little 289, power nothing. Ran quick and fast. The girls loved the bright red too!
I think most all of my cars would qualify....Mabey I shouldnt admit this... My 75 cutlass was great, The 78 sunbird w/ buick v-6 and 5 speed was economical and fun. It had a trans am appearance package which included 13" 4-lug snoflake rims just like a trans am. I'd imagine these parts are quite rare and worth something today. Then again the 78 honda accord was a good car until the rusty strut tower popped up through the hood!!!
I got all of you guys beat. In 1966, I bought a '55 Dodge Royal Lancer hardtop (Pink bottom of the body. grey top of the body, with a white roof) from "Junior" Keesling for $10.00. He was a local inebriate who drove the car to the local Legion club one winter day, got drunk, and got a ride home. It snowed like the devil that night and when Junior came back to get his car, it was seriously "plowed in", so he sold it to me for $10.00 (the price of about 30 drinks back then). I was going to the "U" at that time, so I dug it out and I drove the car to school for 3 years. (I had a pretty clean '52 Ford mild custom at the time, and I could swap tires and wheels back and forth as the situation required.) I have to mention that one of my buddy's folks had bought the car new, so I knew that the 61,000 miles were right and that it had been well taken care of. Anyway, at that time, I was building a "T" bucket, and it had a crapped out 241 Dodge Hemi that I had gotten from the local junkyard. I was finishing the bucket about the same time the front suspension on the '55 gave up, so I swapped the super running 270" into the bucket for the crapy runnng 241" and added a junkyard four barrel and manifold. I had built the car with all Mopar running gear (a Dodge 3-speed and a 4.30 rear end out of a early '50's Plymouth station wagon) and added a set of Ellingson (I'm sure you TC guys remember Ellingson's on Franklin Avenue) recapped drag slicks. That thing had no top end, but when I got on it in first gear, I could do burnouts that would put some of today's drag racers to shame. I got divorced in '75 and had to sell that car. I'd give my left nut (OK, also maybe the right one) to have this car back. There you have it; beater for 3 years and (I didn't know it then), premium Hot Rod power.
My '48 Chevy. Built it in 3 1/2 months one summer, drove it as my only transportation for 2 years before refining it. In the 5 years we owned it we put 80K kms (50K miles) on it. I seriously beat on it during that time, too. The fellow we sold it to in 2003 has been using it as a daily driver ever since. Damn, I miss that truck!! As we first built it. It looked like this for 3 years... As it looked when we sold it...
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