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Cool Machines thread


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I found that Shelby pic on an Australian site of ute's and thought it looked really cool and it also looked like a lot of money . I've only seen 3 ute's imported from Australia ..... 1 sold at a Mecum auction for good money ... in the 40's a couple yrs ago . El Camino's sold really good in the 60's and 70's and then died and haven't been resurrected . Oh yeah GM made that SSR but it was ugly and didn't sell well at all . Ute's are built and sell all over the world except in North America , we seem to want a truck that looks like a truck and rides like a car only built so high you can't hardly get in them .

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these are the cool cars I've owned. They aren't like the rest here but each had it's part to play. The photos are not pics of my cars but I never took any of myself.

pontiac_le_mans_sport_conv_8.jpg

This was my first new car. I bought it in 1973. This car was the reason I got laid in HS. It was beautiful, comfortable, and handled very well for an american car. It was average in speed for a 350ci, 4 barrel Rochester and factory drive train. I owned it until 1978; my last year in the USAF.

factory_stock_1973_rx3_front.jpg

I bought this car a year old but for only $500US. It only needed new rotor tips which, at that time, only cost me about $25 for 3 of them. About 2 weeks after I made the repair, the local auto parts guy gave me a Holley 750cfm 4 barrel carb and an adapter because he couldn't sell it. It fit right on the Cosmo and since the Wankel engine was generally starved for air and gas with the factory set-up it not only ran like a scalded assed ape (0 - 60mph in about 4 secs because I couldn't shift fast enough), it got better fuel mileage; even with the crappy Holley. I sold it to some fool kid, for $1200, who couldn't keep it on the ground and ended up wrapping it around 5ft dia Oak tree.

73_Pantera.jpg

I bought this for $1000US in 1974. I wondered why it was so cheap until about a week after I bought it and realized the tranaxle was using crutches (sawdust). I thought about sueing the salesman but then I had a cool car. The only place to get a new one was from the DeTomaso factory in Italy. It cost $1500 + $500 shipping. Still below actual value of a working Pantera. I got my first speeding ticket 140mph in a 55mph zone; I was slowing down. I think +/- 160 was it's top speed. I sold it for a small profit when I decided I didn't want to pay $1200/yr for insurance. I still owned the LeMans and it only cost me $250/yr.

1975_Laguna_S3.jpg

This is an actual picture of my car; my Dad took it the day it got home from the shop. I bought away from an idiot who was using it to chase down his friends in jeeps. What you see is after I got it back from the body shop. By this time the car was no longer a factory ride. It had a 350 HP

327ci engine with a, believe it or not, 2 speed electric rear differential from a wrecked 12cyl Jaguar XKE. It fit with only minor mods to the frame. It allowed me to have a fully supported drive line and rear independant suspension. Inside it came with split bench front seats but I switched them with buckets. I replaced the tranny with Turbo 400 (original was the turbo 350) which was much stouter and transfered more torgue to the wheels. It was still heavy and would only achieve 150mph but I could get there pretty quick. I lost it because of a long story that involved the border patrol and a trusted friend. :shithappens: but I might not have married my wife if I hadn't lost it.

These aren't the cool machines but they were to me.

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Keep in mind that only the last pic is a pic of the actual car '75 Chevy Laguna S3. I fogot to mention that my '73 RX3 Cosmo was red, not green. The DeTomaso Pantera was also a '73. The pic of the '71 Pontiac Le Mans Sport is the model and color of mine.

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I really just had 1 cool car a 1963 Studebaker Avante supercharged . Ran good , drove good , no troubles,  eyecatching  but stupid fast . I did have it up to what looked like 160 mph a few times . At that speed you can't take your eyes off the road long enough to read the speedo accurately and survive . Bought it in 1980 sold it 1982 while i was still alive . Top speed was supposed to be 178 mph . Had a Porsche 911 for almost 1 yr , bad ride , costly maintenance , horrible seats , not a well made car .. happily sold it . 1 girlfriend had a corvette ( just off warranty ) which she could afford to own but couldn't afford to drive it because if she drove it she had to fix it and corvettes do like garages so she put a for sale sign on her yard ornament and bought a Honda .

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Whelp, if this isn't going to be a "Postyourgirls.here" thread, we might as well talk about cars.

This was my first car. $500, with 65K miles on it. 55 mpg. Rebuilt engine 2.5 times. Later installed overdrive. I could rebuild one of these puppies in the dark. Went through 15 girlfriends with it, married the last one. Drove it 25 years, over a million miles.

Sorry, I only get "Invalid File" from PostImage.org, so you've got to be a paid member to see it. Hints: Brits will think I made a bet with Lucas, Prince of Darkness. They are right. And I won. 'Twas a native of Coventry. Easy to work on. (Not exactly my car, but close. Mine had wire wheels.  :yes:)

post-19450-145739674241_thumb.jpg

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....ozi  Do you think these will ever go into production or is it just a prototype . Well when i blow it up the interior makes it look like it could be a photoshop  ... someones digital creation .

First Holden Utility (Ute) went into production in 1951.

holden_fx_ute.jpg

This is the shape of the current model Holden ute.

2013_05_28_holden_ute_08.jpg

Utes even have their own racing class. That's a Ford ute in 1st place (and  2nd), my preference.

1596.jpg

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