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Thread: The 'Other' Car . . .

  1. #1
    Early S Reg #1395 LongRanger's Avatar
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    The 'Other' Car . . .

    Besides the Porsche, I have the ‘other’ car. This is my regular driver that doesn’t get to stay in the garage, lives quietly out at the curb, does the daily commuting, the errands, the regular stuff. I’m passionate about this car --- I only have so much seat time, in this life ---- so I chose this car carefully.

    Criteria for the ‘other’ car are these:
    1) Reliable, durable, and well-made --- good for 200k mi or more
    2) Cheap to fix and maintain
    3) Fun to drive, with excellent handling, road-holding, and braking
    4) Fuel efficient --- at least 25mpg overall
    5) Room for four, with a useable trunk
    6) Cheap to buy --- $5-$10k

    Costs are a big issue: depreciation, maintenance, insurance, etc. To put it another way, the money I don’t spend on my ‘other’ car goes into other things, like the Porsche.

    My 'other' cars are also a guilty pleasure. Like mutts, B-movies, and roads-less-travelled . . . I love cheap cars. My daily drivers cost less than what a new 'medium-priced' car will depreciate in a year. (Or 6 months!) I go to some trouble to search out my 'other' cars, so I think they're special but, to most people --- they're invisible. To me, there's something endearing about these machines, toiling away, racking-up some huge miles, just quietly doing their job. It's also a special thrill, to look for and find some off-the-wall transpo that I can have fun driving the wheels off of, then sell for what I paid for it, a couple-of-hundred-thousand miles later.

    I don't drive junk. Their cosmetics or aesthetics may be a little sketchy, but all my 'other' cars have to work for a living, and hard. I remember one Bug I put 80k miles on --- in 18 months! But, not only are the 'other' cars functional, a lot of them have been pretty interesting, for themselves. And always fun. My ‘other’ cars have included a ’65 Corvair Monza, a ’65 VW 1500S ‘Notchback,’ a ’69 Camaro RS350, and three of these: the BMW 318iS.

    The ’91 e30 318iS is a one-year car, and the last BMW sold in this country with a base-price under $20k. That was a LOT of money back in ’91 ---- especially for a 4-cylinder. Its 136-hp M42 engine previewed the base power-plant that would go into the then-still to-come Z3. BMW would put this same basic motor in their next-generation 3-series, but, except for the TI models, those cars would weigh at least 200lbs more. The e30 version isn’t exactly powerful or quick, but it is a ball to bomb around in, gets 30MPG, and only needs fluids, filters, and tire rotation to keep going. I don’t know who bought these cars when they were new, but not many have come through in decent condition. After 19-years, it’s tough to find any clean, useable e30, especially the last ‘cheap’ one.

    I got lucky. I bought this particular car three years ago in Tucson, with 34k mi on it. I saw it on AutoTrader, then drove out and tested it, but passed on it, at first ---- too much money. I’d found another one in Texas, and was headed out there, when the Seller called me back, dropped his price, and we did a deal. There were some hose and gasket issues, but once those were fixed, like all the other e30s I’ve owned, this has been a great car.

    This car isn’t stock. It started-out as the back-up for a Real M3 that I was tweeking on, but I ended up doing all the same suspension mods to this car. I've left the mechanicals alone, but all the other mods, plus the brakes and wheels, cost more than the vehicle is worth. This car doesn’t really depreciate any more, or, at least, can't go much lower --- I tell myself that I drive it for free. But money aside, I just LOVE this little car: easy on fuel, bullet-proof mechanically, tidy and comfortable, low-key good-looking --- to me, anyway. And I’ve dialed-in just about everything exactly the way I like it. No power . . . but it corners, stops, and eats up miles like my Real M3 did; huge fun.

    And it freed-up the money for a Porsche.
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  2. #2
    Senior Member BBausser's Avatar
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    3) Fun to drive, with excellent handling, road-holding, and braking
    4) Fuel efficient --- at least 25mpg overall
    5) Room for four, with a useable trunk


    Fun to drive with challenging handling, road-holding and braking

    Fuel Efficient maybe 12MPG Hwy but it's regular

    Room for as many as you want, three in the front is comfy the rest can ride in the bed

    Best match for you:
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    Currently:
    67 3.6 Rocket "Silver"
    62 T6 Outlaw Coupe "ole Yellow"
    65 F100 Custom Cab Flairside Shortbed

    Gone but not forgotten in last 2 years:
    67S Concours King
    67 912 Vintage Racer
    68 912 Flipper
    83 911SC
    93 Mo30 968

    too many cars before that

    Early S Registry # 787
    R Gruppe # 551

    "its better to wear out then rust out"

  3. #3
    Great post; you are a true enthusiast.

  4. #4
    Moderator Chuck Miller's Avatar
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    The Porsche and Malibu in the garage... and the S-10 under the car port...

    Over 190,000 miles, but with air, windows, cruse, and a good stereo
    ... a bit more beat-up now since this pic ........
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    Chuck Miller
    Creative Advisor/Message Board Moderator - Early 911S Registry #109
    R Gruppe #88

    TYP901 #62
    '73S cpe #1099 - Matched # 2.7/9.5 RS spec rebuild
    '67 Malibu 327 spt cpe - Period 350 Rebuild

    ’98 Chevy S-10 – Utility
    ’15 GTI – Commuter

  5. #5
    Early S Reg #1395 LongRanger's Avatar
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    Mine

    Spent a lot of money the last few months, keeping my Every Day running.

    Fixed a roasted ABS unit, replaced the brakes

    Rebuilt the head

    Had a blown KONI, so stuck in new set o' Bilstein Sports, LCAs, bushings, re-align

    Re-shot a front quarter in single-stage, after the 5-year-old two-stage started going 'off'

    Last little incident involved a sudden episode of some v-high frequency vibration, somewhere in the drive train. Car was buzzing so bad, I couldn’t see anything out of my rear-views. By the time everything got sorted out, I’d replaced the trans (synchros were pretty crunchy, anyway), the diff (4.10 w/LSD --- finally), and re-built the drive-shaft. And as long as we’re in there, anyway --- flush all the fluids, swap in some better pads, chase down some leaks/squeaks/etc. Throw in a coupla weeks of Rental Car, and with all the money I’ve spent, I coulda put a pretty decent down payment on that VW TDi I’ve been dreaming about all these months

    But I didn’t. Even with 200k mi . . . I’m still smitten

    I also finally fitted a Recaro SPG that I bought specifically for this car, almost three years (and three moves) ago

    Wow

    Aside from the almost venereal pleasure of seeing all that GRP and alloy, slathered in logos, greeting me when I pop the door, this is just about the best $1300-or-so bucks I’ve ever spent on anything for a car that doesn’t get dirty/worn-out/replaced. Plus? --- I get to touch/feel/use it . . . all the time. And from my shoulders, down my back, up both thighs, to just behind my knees --- every frickin’ part of me that’s in any contact with this seat is totally/utterly/sublimely supported. Make that attached. Really does feel like I’m part of the car now. Was a little worried, at first, about maybe getting sore or stiff sitting in this thing --- zero give in the shell and not a lot of padding anywhere. But it feels wonderful, being in here, secure, comfortable

    Can’t believe I didn’t install this thing this sooner. Changes the whole character of the car, too. Hyperactive now

    Seat’s bolted into a frame bolted directly into the factory anchor points in the floor. No folding/tilt/fore-aft. No adjustment period . . . unless I’m using hand-tools and re-aligning/removing/re-drilling/etc. And that’s not happening. Not any more. I can see every gauge, reach every control. Don't know about anybody else . . .

    Car is SO mine
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    Last edited by LongRanger; 03-30-2012 at 04:04 PM.

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  6. #6
    BBauser, that's a beauty !!!

  7. #7
    The other car



    Criteria for the ‘other’ car are these:
    1) Reliable, durable, and well-made --- good for 200k mi or more -> Check, currently 281k miles
    2) Cheap to fix and maintain -> check
    3) Fun to drive, with excellent handling, road-holding, and braking -> check
    4) Fuel efficient --- at least 25mpg overall -> not so check...
    5) Room for four, with a useable trunk -> room for four and six beer crates
    6) Cheap to buy --- $5-$10k -> check

    And there's even a Porsche logo on it

  8. #8
    Senior Member
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    The other car... is our swagger wagon: The Sportwagon.

    1) Reliable, durable, and well-made - check
    2) Cheap to fix and maintain - as long as I do the work myself, check
    3) Fun to drive, with excellent handling, road-holding, and braking - does passing a 'Vette in the rain at Lime Rock (twice) count? check
    4) Fuel efficient - check, though my previous 330i could get 30 mpg cruising at 110 mph. Or so I've heard.
    5) Room for four, with a useable trunk - 4 + stroller + dog + luggage, check
    6) Cheap to buy - er, maybe not yet.

    Entirely stock except for ZHP front control arms and Koni FSB + Eibach Pro Kit all around. The type 96 wheels (7.5 x 17) are heavy and tramline a bit on rural roads and kinda curb rashed, so I have a set of type 42 (7 x 16) waiting for the current tires to wear out, which is probably end of summer. Type 42 wheels are a 16-inch version of the BBS RK made by BBS for BMW. Not super easy to find, but not expensive either since folks are usually trading up in size.

    For winter we have been running Blizzaks on steelies, but they're 8 years old and just about worn out. Local guy sells Hakkapeliittas so, you know, why not?

    _MG_0644.jpg

  9. #9
    Early S Reg #1395 LongRanger's Avatar
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    The Every Day . . .

    . . . quietly doin' what she does best . . .

    . . . work . . .

    . . . groceries . . .

    . . . Home Depot runs

    No payments for almost 7 years, now . . .



    . . . just payin' for my Porsche




    Good Little Horsie!




    And I'm gonna turn this odo over. Watch
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  10. #10
    Member
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    I have two 'other' cars. My 1994 Honda Civic Coupe pictured here to the left. You can only see the rear tires and the trunk in this shotDSCF4056.jpg. You can clearly see the open sun roof next to the red buildings at WSIR. I am the second owner. Long distance at 70 mph is 40 miles to gallon avg. Next is the grocery store car.Corvair 3.jpg. I had heard that Corvair designers looked very hard at the early 6 cylinder cars.

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