Cheap "collectible?" Gassaver vehicles

[northboundtrain]

I'm drooling over this one

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...4268&rd=1&rd=1

I think it almost looks like a miniature 1st generation camaro which I think is about the most beautiful and bad *** looking car ever make.

[OdieTurbo]

Originally Posted by The Toecutter

Oh man, a Civic VX engine in a 1,600-1,700 lb Spitfire Mk I or II? Judging by power to weight ratio, that'd do 0-60 mph < 7 seconds and maybe even get better mpg than a Civic VX!

Oh, the fun to be had with such a car...

Ah yes, if only I had some spare money lying around... I had engine issues with my Mk II Spitfire, I was seriously thinking about putting a little 1.9L from a late 90's Ford Escort in there.

I think Toecutter knows this too, the Spitfire or GT6 would be an easy conversion to most any engine. Lots of room, simplicity of design, just fabricate up a bell housing, some motor mounts, and tweak the springs!

[brelandt]

How about a VW /karmann ghia?

I love them and when's the last time you saw one? They are tiny!

Not sure what their MPG are but has to be fairly good?

As for the Storm. My friend had one. 1990 model. I love them as well, but had to work on it a lot. The weirdest thing was that the muffler sucked itself in then blew off while traveling 75 on the freeway. Never in my life have i seen that happen before! Other stuff where radiators, went through 2 in 5 years and other little things, mainly all the problems were exhaust related, from the cracked manifold all the way back to the exhaust tip.

Again, I'll still get one!

If I had the money I would buy 2 more Suzuki sidekicks. I love mine!

[BumblingB]

Sidekicks are neat. Had one new back in 1991. What was neat about it was it had JDM options but was US spec. It was a JX model - red with grey interior. JDM extras were chrome wheels and autolocking (on the fly) hubs. I put a dent in it the first day I had it! Took it to the beach and did some rock crawling, went over a rock wrong and put a small dent in it. Later I put a matching gel coated hard top on it, had tinted sliding rear windows. Really cool! The day in 1993 I took it to the "Lemon Lot" (for sale by owner lot) there were NINE Sidekicks and Trackers for sale!!! I sat with the truck and sold it in 3 hours. OCD does have it's upside. I've never had a problem getting rid of a car.

Those storm wagons are cool. There has been one for sale on the used car lot down the road - been there a year.

[The Toecutter]

I think Toecutter knows this too, the Spitfire or GT6 would be an easy conversion to most any engine. Lots of room, simplicity of design, just fabricate up a bell housing, some motor mounts, and tweak the springs!

That's one reason why I acquired one. The easier it is to shoehorn an electric motor into it, the better.

If I had the money I would buy 2 more Suzuki sidekicks. I love mine!

I HATE those things! It's not just the bad fuel economy for having an engine as small as it does, or the craptacular .48 drag coefficient. It handles like a shopping cart with a bent wheel, it's as speedy as a forklift, it has all the grace of a bumbling Rush Limbaugh on oxycontin, has all the sex appeal of Gary Busey, and when floored it sure does go like a constipated snail! The ride quality is like getting groped by a hairy uncle with a well-endowed butt crack and all the trim pieces in the interior rattle worse than Michael J. Fox on crystal meth.

But when I get the chance, I will be glad to do some efficiency mods on it and give it some A-B-A testing. It is OBD-I, maybe Yoshi's gauges could help? I'll have to speak with the master sometime.

[rh77]

Originally Posted by The Toecutter

rattle worse than Michael J. Fox on crystal meth.

Parkinson's Disease is not a laughing matter -- even if it effects a celebrity.

-Rick / RH77

[The Toecutter]

If I were afflicted with that horror later in my life, I'd have no choice but to accept it and try to laugh at it as best as I could; it certainly doesn't sound as if it would be easy though. We're all slowly dying as soon as we're born, and after all is said and done we all wind up in the same state of being. Just another one of those quirks found in humanity that I just find to be funny, horrific as it really is. I, just like anyone else, could eventually suffer from it, and not a damn thing I'd be able to do.

[Matt Timion]

Originally Posted by The Toecutter

That's one reason why I acquired one. The easier it is to shoehorn an electric motor into it, the better.



I HATE those things! It's not just the bad fuel economy for having an engine as small as it does, or the craptacular .48 drag coefficient. It handles like a shopping cart with a bent wheel, it's as speedy as a forklift, it has all the grace of a bumbling Rush Limbaugh on oxycontin, has all the sex appeal of Gary Busey, and when floored it sure does go like a constipated snail! The ride quality is like getting groped by a hairy uncle with a well-endowed butt crack and all the trim pieces in the interior rattle worse than Michael J. Fox on crystal meth.

But when I get the chance, I will be glad to do some efficiency mods on it and give it some A-B-A testing. It is OBD-I, maybe Yoshi's gauges could help? I'll have to speak with the master sometime.

Toecutter, I know you're trying to be witty, but can you do it without simultaneously attempting to offend everyone in the world?

[brelandt]

Well, I'm counting on the haters. Gets me all the Sidekicks I want for cheap!

In reality I just got 34.53 mpg in mixed city/ highway driving without doing any codfishing or what not.

I do hate the very low gears, bad CD and lack of power but I love having the option of removing the top and driving it on the beach when I want!

Also, it's pretty relible. I have no sqeaks what so ever coming from the dash or seats. It does have a few rattles under the suspension but hey it was totaled into a ditch and put back togeather with a welder and sheetmetal from a wreaker in someones garage.

I think you have the BIG 4 door model? Never drove one of those. Might have a different outlook on them if I had?

[UfoTofU]

I've ALWAYS wanted a Subaru Justy (the AWD model)

Little tiny tin can with AWD, now wouldn't that be fun?