Post up your favorite cars and car stories!

[LUFCinMakati]

Spent most of my life in the Motor Trade, so as you can imagine I have had a few cars, I think the best all round car was C215 Mercedes CL500. Was as comfortable as an S Class, handled like a sports car and would return 25mpg even when driven hard, I couldn't tell you how many I have had but you couldn't count them on 1 hand. 

Other notable cars, where the MK1 Golf GTI I had at Uni, SL55AMG, Porsche 911 964.

Having worked with many Brands the most reliable was Mazda, the worst was GM (Vauxhall), the 2 worst models i have encountered were the Vauxhall Frontera and the first generation Merc M Class. M Class was built in Alabama and was absolute crap, 15% of our sales and 75% of our customer complaints. 

[Tommy T.]

Okay... maybe totally off topic and so, I am sorry...

But this seems to be the proper venue to express one of my dreams:

I always wanted to just one time drive or even ride in a car with (how many horsepower?) maybe 1,000 or more and feel that kick of power from the standing start to the 1/4 mile end...

And I have second dream too... to ride in a jet that accelerates going straight up. I know I won't realize these, but those are my biggest dreams... whatever that's worth to the rest of you...

[OnMyWay]

1 hour ago, Tommy T. said:

Okay... maybe totally off topic and so, I am sorry...

But this seems to be the proper venue to express one of my dreams:

I always wanted to just one time drive or even ride in a car with (how many horsepower?) maybe 1,000 or more and feel that kick of power from the standing start to the 1/4 mile end...

And I have second dream too... to ride in a jet that accelerates going straight up. I know I won't realize these, but those are my biggest dreams... whatever that's worth to the rest of you...

These days, I'm sure those are both achievable if you have the dough!!!!!

[OnMyWay]

2 hours ago, LUFCinMakati said:

the most reliable was Mazda

This is surprising as in the U.S., over the years, Mazda did not have a good rep.  Here in the Philippines, they seem to have a rep as a high end line.

[LUFCinMakati]

7 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

This is surprising as in the U.S., over the years, Mazda did not have a good rep.  Here in the Philippines, they seem to have a rep as a high end line.

Our warranty claims were $5 a car, however fair to say Mitsubishi & Suzuki were pretty good too. 

Yes they are rightly seen as a high end Japanese Brand here,  disappointing that Berjaya haven’t done as good a job here as they have in Malaysia where they are flying in all aspects. 

Probably the most recognized car dealer in the world in Jack Barclay Rolls Royce & Bentley in Berkeley Square, owned by Berjaya Philippines.  

[OnMyWay]

3 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

Since we are in reminiscing mode... I will revert back to motorcycles for a momentary flashback...

My first bike was a Honda 165 with open straight pipes. Never got a ticket, and it wasn't fast, but it was cheap to run, never broke down and I was a poor taxi driver making barely minimum wage. I still had my monster Buick LaSabre slider, but that cost a lot in gas after the Arab Oil Emgargo, so the bike won out always...

I can cover my first and last bikes in one post, because they are one and the same!  (Sorry, I think I told part of this story on the forum a few years back!)

When I was 17, still in high school, I was working part time enough to save some money.  An older buddy bought a brand new Honda 350 street bike, and a week later I had an identical one, even the same color, red!  We had a great time cruising around Southern California.  My sister and her husband (I think, not sure which year they married) were in university at UCSB in Santa Barbara.  This was 1973, I think, and Vietnam was in prime focus.  Lots of protests at UCSB, etc., etc.  It was also a huge party school and I really did not like being at home with my parents.  Lots of conflict there during those years too.  So every few weeks, I would ride the Honda up the coast and spend the weekend at my sister's apartment.  Party, party party!  I didn't care about the weather and I would make the 2 hour ride rain or shine!

During school days, I rode the bike to school everyday.  There were no helmet laws at the time so I usually didn't wear mine when going to school, about a one mile ride.  I usually rode it hard, but considered myself a somewhat careful rider too.  One afternoon after school let out, I was leaving to go home.  One block from the school there was a small traffic light intersection.  As I approached, the light was red and a van was waiting in the left lane to go straight.  I was slowing down in the right lane, and as I got near the van, the light turned green, so I started to accelerate.  As I passed the van, boom, there was a car sideways in front of me.  I never even had a chance to touch the brakes, slamming into the passenger door of the car.

An idiot going the other direction decided that he was in such a big hurry that when the light turned green, he accelerated hard to turn left in front of the van waiting at the light.  He could not see me and I could not see him, due to the van.  Lucky for me, the fact that I did not hit the brakes saved me.  I launched upward, flying over his car, rolling over in the air, and doing a perfect landing on my neck and shoulders, where my momentum rolled me up and and on my feet!  No helmet!  Someone was watching over me that day!  There were probably several witnesses standing on the corners and they could not believe I was not badly hurt.  Other than a few scrapes, my only injury was from my right thigh hitting the handlebar when I launched.  I had a dent in that thigh muscle for years.

The bike was totaled.  And that was my last bike!

[Tommy T.]

40 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

The bike was totaled.  And that was my last bike!

My God!!! You are so lucky, OMW!!! I had a few close calls, but never like that... You, my friend, are on one of your several lives down the road...

Yeah... I rode my Triumph Daytona 500 sans helmet for a few years... I was lucky too, but never with such a close call as yours... I drove so drunk one night that I fell off the bike when trying to kick start it (no electric start so kick was it!). Possibly the best luck I ever had was that I could not kick it to start until I was sort of sober enough to get up on it and start it. But I don't remember any of my ride home... and I paid a toll along the way and parked it perfectly on my porch... Next day I was shocked!!! I was such a really STUPID kid in my 20s... Amazing that I survived...

[bastonjock]

Fat lady ( bikes pet name) just passed our government test called an mot ,not bad for an 19 year old bike , this was a honda made in Ohio

[Tommy T.]

6 minutes ago, bastonjock said:

Fat lady ( bikes pet name) just passed our government test called an mot ,not bad for an 19 year old bike , this was a honda

What is that... a V-8? Holy shit!!!!

[Tommy T.]

1 hour ago, OnMyWay said:

These days, I'm sure those are both achievable if you have the dough!!!!!

Hahaha... not today.. and not likely in this lifetime... That's why it is and will be, I guess, always a dream!!!