What was your 1st vehicle?

[neurosis]

I went through a lifted truck phase and was a dedicated Chevy/GMC man. We'd go to Indy every summer for the big truck show and would see this happen every year to some dumb ass with a half ton Chevy on 38" tires with a 12 bolt rear end.

It was so dumb because 14 bolt, full floater rear ends were soooooooo cheap and you could convert them to 6 lugs, if wanted keep the shitty Dana 44 up front.

Back when I was in to jeeping I planned on putting 36" tires on a 97 TJ.  I put a ford 8.8 rear end in it because it had disc brakes and they were practically a dime a dozen (lots of broken Ford Explorers filling junk yards). The first thing I did was put a c-clip eliminator kit on that thing. 

[SuperHoneyBadger]

My first was a black 2004 Honda CR-V, 5 spd manual - I have not seen another one in the wild ever. Had to move the week I got it, folded a queen size mattress in the back. Then a king on the roof later on when I helped my brother move.  I bought some Accord rims and winter tires for like 200$, absolute hero in the winter. Thing was a little tank, but the clutch was abused by the previous owner.

[Jeff]

1981 Grand Prix.

Mom and dad bought it new with the GM 350 diesel.

They made a diesel Grand Prix? I never knew that.

[ghuns]

They made a diesel Grand Prix? I never knew that.

Late 70s to early 80s. GM had a glut of Olds 350 blocks. Gas prices were still high, diesel was cheap and somebody got the wild idea to build an Olds 350 diesel.

It wasn't a bad idea. Olds engine blocks and internals were sturdy AF. Just poorly executed. They were largely responsible for turning off a whole generation to diesel power in passenger cars.

It was an option in most GM rear wheel cars of the era.

It made sense for us because we bought bulk diesel for the farm. Nice to just pull out of the garage, drive up to the pump by the barn, and fill her up. Oh, and 'off road' diesel wasn't taxed at the same rate.

Our GP was a bad one. Very bad. The thing barely made 50K miles before dad gave up on it. Dad later bought a 1983 Olds 98 land yacht at an auction for a couple hundred bucks. He was the only bidder. It had over 100K miles on it, so he figured it had to be a good one. You had to clock its 0-60 time with a calendar, but it always started, even below 0, got 25MPG, and rode like a comfy couch.

When he was done with it, he parked it in the barn just to have a spare car. It just sat in there around 5 years. I was driving a 3/4 ton, 4X4 Suburban on 38s and gas $$$ was killing me. I gave him $200, threw a battery in it, and drove it back and forth to work for a few years until the tranny went out.

I sold it and the old junk motor from the GP for $1000.

Turns out, people had discovered that you could convert those diesels back to gas and they'd make crazy HP. They were super popular with local short track stock car racers and there weren't enough to go around. 

[Del.]

Pontiacs were the Edsels of modern times. Pieces of shit.

[Smit]

Pontiacs were the Edsels of modern times. Pieces of shit.

Has anything changed?

[Del.]

Has anything changed?

They don't make them anymore do they?

[Smit]

They don't make them anymore do they?

No they don't. The name Pontiac still has negative tones to it.

I've heard GM might be bringing the brand back, starting with a hybrid.

[Del.]

No they don't. The name Pontiac still has negative tones to it.

I've heard GM might be bringing the brand back, starting with a hybrid.

I had 2 Pontiacs. They were a nightmare for me. Spent thousands on repairs.

[Smit]

My wife had a Pontiac minivan that was great so we bought another when we were ready to replace it. We had so many troubles we traded it in before the warranty expired.

[Del.]

My wife had a Pontiac minivan that was great so we bought another when we were ready to replace it. We had so many troubles we traded it in before the warranty expired.

Same here Larry. I had the Ford dealership come look at my 2 yr old Pontiac at the Buick dealership for a trade. They took it and I saw the car a year later at a tire shop and told a woman driving it that I used to own that car. She said she wished I still did and that it had been a nightmare. Pontiac Grand AM

[Del.]

That car reminds me of Barney's car he bought and Gomer brought a list a mile long of stuff that was wrong with it.

[ghuns]

I had 2 Pontiacs. They were a nightmare for me. Spent thousands on repairs.

We had quite the family fleet of Bonnevilles from the late 80s-90s. That 3800 V6 was about as bulletproof of an engine as anyone's ever made.

[gcode]

Turns out, people had discovered that you could convert those diesels back to gas and they'd make crazy HP.

makes sense, the engines were probably built like tanks to handle the high compression required for a diesel engine

My dad bought a GM diesel car in the mid 70's.
He was very proud of it. I thought,
"what the fuck were you thinking??? you're an engineer. you should know better"
I kept my mouth shut though.
He had nothing but trouble with it and sold it at a huge loss about 6 months later.

[gcode]

That 3800 V6 was about as bulletproof of an engine as anyone's ever made.

My MIL had a 2003 Buick with that engine.
It ran like a top when we sold it in 2024