I guess it's all in your frame of mind ... my "worst" car was undoubtedly my
first car, a 1962 Chevrolet Biscayne that I paid the princely sum of $15 for.
Chevy's cheapest model at the time, the only options it had were the AM tube
radio and the oil filter. (Yes, the oil filter was optional!) Had to dicker a
bit, but got the battery included so I could drive it home. No license (I was
only 15), no registration ... it's a wonder I didn't wind up in jail. The price
was so low because there was a hole in #3 piston, but it still ran.
I learned a lot with that car, including rebuilding the engine twice, only to
have it hole another piston within months. I'll never forget driving through a
mud puddle and getting mud on the back of my neck! Yes, it was a sedan, but
what I didn't know was that the leading edge of the rear seat floor pan was
missing about 1" of metal ...
Transmission wore out and wouldn't stay in gear ... I learned to drive with my
right leg hung over the column gearshift and my left foot on the gas pedal.
Finally gave up when I discovered I could poke my finger through the frame rails
... donated it to the local fire department to practice putting out car fires !
Still, it always got me wherever I was going (as long as there was gas in the
tank). Might arrive in a cloud of oil smoke, but it just kept running.
Bought my next car, a 65 Olds Delta 88, for less than the parts had cost for the
old Chevy. Same story, had a blown engine, and my rebuilds didn't work for
cr*p. It was much less reliable, though, had to be towed home when I bought it,
and every time it threw a rod. Finally learned my lesson and bought a used
engine from a junkyard. Ran another 100,000 miles or so with minimal attention,
and was still running when Dad traded it off for another POS Olds.
Randall
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