Post #188901 by amiotiki on Mon, Sep 26, 2005 7:35 AM

I remember dad's old MG - didn't he call it "Caroline" or something like that? He and Bruce H. used to putt around town - Bruce had a bug-eye (if my ancient memory serves me) Sprite. Such great fun to ride in.

I've had three old cars that I loved - a '61 Buick Special convertibibble, a '62 Buick Special and a '66 Karmann Ghia. My stepdad bought the 2 Buicks when I was a senior in HS (lol, then they were just old cars, not "vintage"!), with the instruction to me to make one of them drivable. Both had "issues", but the best candidate for salvation was the '62. I cannibalized the '61 for as many parts as I could get out of it, then sold its corpse. I would have loved to keep it - it was sooo sweet. White exterior, red interior, nice shiny chrome, but the ragtop was in bad shape, and I couldn't find a replacement for it that I could afford.

Anyway, I rebuilt the top end on her (yah, I'm a girl who can work on a car), and drove her until a drunk driver totaled her on Christmas eve of '72.

My next car was the Ghia, only paid $100 for her - and that was probably high. That was the ugliest, smelliest car I'd ever seen, but what potential! The window seals were gone, and the car had been out in the weather...there were mushrooms growing in the back seat...eeew. The rear wheel bearing was frozen, and she needed a battery. The nose was pushed in, all the fenders were curled under, and she was primer grey. This was a reeeaaaallly ugly car! But the engine was special. Hi/lo cam, big-bore, built in Germany for domestic use. That little baby hauled a**!

I fixed her up, painted her, and drove her for 3 years - whereupon I sold her for almost $400. A week later the front end fell out - good old failure of rust lol.

I keep hoping someday I'll find another old Ghia to cherish!

amiotiki