My gt (ish) dreams (long)

Back when I first got my license I started taking little drives on the weekends. Not to far at first but as I got more familiar with my surroundings I started stretching my drives into longer and longer tours of the areas surrounding my home in cincy.

A couple of years later I had the most epic drive of my life...so far. I had a 76' cutlass supreme, no one would ever confuse it for a true gt car but it served it's purpose. I had saved a bunch of money, hoping to move south but as luck would have it the day I quit my job the timing chain let go and destroyed the heads. So I used my savings to rebuild it. A buddy who was really into Old's had a set of heads that he said had been worked over by Mondello, a big Lunati cam, Edelbrock performer rpm intake with a 750 Edelbrock carb, Hooker super comp headers that went into three inch pipes and flowmasters that dumped before the rear axle transformed my pos Olds into an even louder and thirstier pos Olds. With the 3.08 gears it was a dog of the line but when you got it up on the cam and the air started flowing that thing sounded and ran like a beast.

So the weekend after I got it finished I wanted to take it out for a drive and see what it was like. Went to bed early Friday night and got up at 6 a.m. sat morning and pointed it east. Roaring towards the sunrise on a two lane state hwy with nobody else on the roads I started getting into a rhythm with the car and the road. Letting of the gas to roll it into an easy left hander and hearing that thing pop and sputter put goose bumps on the back of my neck. Coming off the apex full throttle and the sound echoing of through the valley was intoxicating. I didn't want to stop and I didn't except for fuel. I kept charging east slowing down for little towns that popped up then roaring through the country side. As the sun started to fade behind me I roared through Pittsburgh and kept pushing east until I started to get a little tired and decided I would get a room for the night and head back in the morning. The next town I came to was Altoona, P.A. I stopped at three different places and they all where booked because of some convention in town. So I got a couple hours rest in the drivers seat and then headed back west. Coming back at night through one of the twister bits ( I believe somewhere in Hocking county) pushing around 8/10ths I passed a pickup truck with four guy's in the back drinking beer and they decided to give chase. I pushed it harder and my heart was pounding out of my chest. I ran wide open down through a little town out the other side and eased off with them no where in site. The rest of the miles went by and as the sun started coming up over my shoulders I was running on pure will just to get home and clime into bed. I was completely exhausted.

But the experience has stayed with me all these years and looking back it almost seems surreal. I imagine I got a little taste of what it would have been like to take part in the cannon ball run. I've tried to recreate that experience but with the more mundane vehicles I've had since then the whole experience has been a bit lacking.

So wise GRMers what car would you use to try and get that feeling back?

I've been daydreaming about a c3 corvette with around 400hp and a four speed. Or maybe a g-body with a truck arm rear suspension and global west parts up front with about 400hp and a six speed. Or maybe something German?

What say you?

'67/68/68 Camaro, built up with good suspension and a nicely worked over 383 backed up with a 4 speed? or, perhaps an old Grand National, built up as a GNX replica (but slightly faster, with better suspension and brakes)? who knows, could be fun...

I guess a big part to me is something out of the ordinary and just feels a little bit edgy so it's a compelling drive. I read an article about a 73' international race of champions Porsche the other day that was just barely street legal . Should be perfect

M5, M5, and M5

I really wish I could have taken the long nose 911 I had on a trip like this before selling it. The sound of raw fuel popping through the hot exhaust because of the triple throat Webers was intoxicating. Couple that with the entire visceral experience of driving an old car, sights, smells, sounds and you have one awesome road trip. Yeah an Evo would be much faster but not half the fun.

Citroen SM? Of course they make maintaining an airplane look simple, but I think one would be pretty awesome for a trip like that.

It seems like what you liked about the trip was having a slightly raw car to do it in, and I can see the appeal as well. Something I've never drive but sounds nice would be an E30 M3. Something I have is my old '73 Capri, with its too-much-cam, too-big-exhaust, four-speed and funky 2.6 V6 making nice noises and all the rest that goes with having a real Ford Capri.

If you wanted something a little less rough around the edges, a mid-90's Acura Legend Coupe seems like an excellent all around ground covering machine, but I don't think it would be nearly as interesting.

5.0 mustang, cheap , raw , simple, v8, cheap,simple, 5spd , great aftermarket, and they're cheap and simple it seems.

pres589 wrote: It seems like what you liked about the trip was having a slightly raw car to do it in, and I can see the appeal as well. Something I've never drive but sounds nice would be an E30 M3. Something I have is my old '73 Capri, with its too-much-cam, too-big-exhaust, four-speed and funky 2.6 V6 making nice noises and all the rest that goes with having a real Ford Capri. If you wanted something a little less rough around the edges, a mid-90's Acura Legend Coupe seems like an excellent all around ground covering machine, but I don't think it would be nearly as interesting.

That capri sounds perfect for the job.

Never been a Ford guy but I do love how a warmed over 5.0 sounds. I'll take mine black and a notchback please:)

You're thinking Mercury Capri, I'm talking about one of these;

you wanna build something or buy something built?

Why not go dig up another "pos Olds"? There are several cars in my past that are not on anyone's radar that I want to have again. Kind of a do over but add in some age and wisdom.

One of them is a 79 mercury Zephyr wagon mine had a 200 straight 6. I would put a 302 with duel exhaust 5 speed bench seats roof rack and some cop car steel wheels and tires.

Another is a 65 T bird or my 75 formula 400.

I really want to redo my 74 Impala. Red Oxide primer, hardware cloth for a grill no chrome. (wonder why I did not get many 2nd dates) LOL

Then there is the 64 mercury comet that dad had when I was a kid. Going to do it up as a driver. This one is coming to the top of the list fast as dad is not getting any younger and I would like to go for a ride with dad again. Then tune the carb and adjust the points.. . . .

It is all about the memories. You can not re-live them you can only make new ones!

I knew which capri you were talking about, like I said nice choice. I was referring to stealthfighter's suggestion of a 5.0 mustang. After I looked at a couple on craigslist and saw how cheap and simple they were. S orry for the confusion.

I have ridden in a 5.0 Mustang once, it was a very poor example (swapped 4 cylinder with shoddy work and thousand and thousands of $ in aftermarket parts), but it was really extremely bad. Some type of european car would probably be alot more fun.

You know that the 5.0 fits into the Capri, right?

Just sayin'.

Early 1990's Eurotrash for the win!

BMW 5 series, Audi, 200, 80, 90, or Porsche 944, 928, Old School Jag, Any Volvo 850 or newer.

Yeah, the visceral excitement of an Audi 80 or Volvo 850 (non-turbo) is exactly what he's talking about here. I could see it with a Jag XJ-S that's been tarted up a bit or a 944 but the rest doesn't seem so rough & ready.

Jag XJ-S would be perfect. A Lincoln MK8, or a C4 vette with an LS3, and BOOM on the tags would do the trick.

pres589 wrote: Yeah, the visceral excitement of an Audi 80 or Volvo 850 (non-turbo) is exactly what he's talking about here. I could see it with a Jag XJ-S that's been tarted up a bit or a 944 but the rest doesn't seem so rough & ready.

I am sorry I disappointed you. My apologies.

Hey, easy now fellas. I was really trying to get other peoples opinions on what they would consider a good car to make that kind of trip in.

I could see an 850 Volvo sitting low over some lightweight wheels, kinda like the old btcc wagons. Maybe gut the interior to give it that raw feel, but cover all the bare metal with some cheap light weight carpet to keep it classy. Replace the rubber suspension mounts with something more solid and have the exhaust coming out the side in front of the rear wheel, and it would be even better if it would spit flame on overrun. Maybe even replace all the glass with lexan and just use a nylon strap to lift and lower the windows.

Yeah, I could see that being very fun on a weekend run

My thought is it would be something you would build yourself cheaply to try and get some of that feeling that you would get if you had the money to go out and buy a Ferrari or a gt3rs and then just went out for a nice hard drive on the weekend.

SA22C RX7 with a GM 3800 supercharged V6 swapped in? not the usual early RX7 swap, but could be interesting and it would definitely eat road like a proper fast GT should. you can even get all the parts to adapt it to a V6 S10 transmission from Bruton Auto, drop all that into the RX7, run a torque-arm rear end with your choice of axle, work the engine over internally to make it a bit meaner, control it all with a MS setup, set it up to spit fire out the pipes on the over run, maybe run a rectangle side pipe (AKA Nascar style, under the body) down both sides, exiting just before the rear wheels, with weld-in baffles upstream of the side pipes to keep it tolerable for the police? strip the interior out, either full cage or 6 point cage (roll bar with diagonals on the front and rear), light sound deadening material, and some carpet to keep it looking relatively nice? and of course, brake and suspension improvements

nicksta43 wrote: Never been a Ford guy but I do love how a warmed over 5.0 sounds. I'll take mine black and a notchback please:)

yes! exactly what i picture...