1981 Oldsmobile diesel station wagon. Bought in 88 when the TR was in pieces,
I had no money at all and finally got a job after a rough patch.
Designed in a hurry; it was really only a 350 gas engine with bigger bearings
and the heads shaved to get 13:1 compression. Took 2 batteries just to turn
her over. I got it from a farmer friend where it was sitting beside his barn
having been abandoned there by his dad. Had to get a wasp's nest out of air
intake in order to start. Glow plugs non-functional; so I started it with
aether every time. Drove it that way for a year and a half right through the
Montreal winter. I started it with too much aether once near the beginning of
my odyssey and cracked a head. Kept driving anyway. Couldn't get the heads off
no matter what I tried. Standing there idling for more than 45 seconds I'd be
completely surrounded in a cloud of smoke. Burned more oil than fuel half the
time. Fine when moving though. I drove it for 3 months once with no power
steering or brakes. Heavy SOB to parallel park, but I managed.
With the famous GM metal-on-metal trim, I had a line of rust holes down the
side. Honest to God looked like I had been machine-gunned. I tend to wear
fedora hats when cooler weather comes. People swore I looked like a hit man
for the mob. One guy used to make fun of me at office parties imitating me and
my hat spraying aether in the engine. Sadly, a bit later he got hit by a train
while out one night for a walk.
I recall booming down the highway heading to an exit one day with an Asian
colleague in the car. The cabin radiator let go and the car filled with a fog
of prestone. Couldn't see a damn out any of the windows. Guy starts screaming
hysterically in Vietnamese, something to the effect of our imminent death and
the dubious nature of my ancestors. Tried to throw himself out of the car, but
forgot to undo his seatbelt. Saddest thing I've ever seen. Don't know how I
managed to keep driving I was laughing so hard.
I have an almost endless series of crazy stories from that POS car. Kept
trying to fix it and wasted money I could have used to rent a jag.
Impoverished, stubborn and stupid; I must have been mad! Flogging is too good
for whoever designed that beast.
Mark
1972 TR6
Sent: Tue 30/05/2006 10:10 PM
To: Bill Brewer; triumphs@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: [TR] What's the WORST Car You've Ever Owned?
-------------- Original message --------------
From: "Bill Brewer" <bbrewer@tvwireless.net>
> What is the worst car other listers have owned?
1974 AMC Hornet, purchased new during the gas crisis. What a POS.
Irv Korey
74 TR6 CF22767U
Highland Park, IL
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