What is your Dream NON VW??? *

[Volktales]

We had a pretty good response to what your dream VW would be. Some such as CrazyBrit mentioned an early 911 for a non-VW choice. So how about others out there... What would you like in your garage that is not a VW. Lets keep them at least somewhat realistic because few of us are ever going to own that Lamborghini, are we? Well I will start off with a vehicle I have always liked.....







This is a second generation Chevrolet Corvair. For those unfamiliar with them, Corvairs were produced from 1960-1969 and were always controversial. They are powered by a rear mounted air-cooled flat six with choice of standard or auto transmissions. Probably they are best remembered as being the focus of Ralph Nader's book Unsafe at Any Speed. He was irritated by the early Corvairs' swing axle rear suspension, (just like VW's!) saying they were not safe. Messy court cases followed and GM didn't help matters by getting caught spying on Nader. GM changed the rear suspension to full IRS (again just like VW) for the 1965 model year. Anyway the end result of all this is Corvairs were cheap to buy when new, and still are today. All the hot rodders and muscle car guys want their big "U-MERICUN" V-8's and an air-cooled six in the wrong end doesn't float their boats. Too bad for them...



You can go to various car shows and see umpteem Camaros, Chevelles, Vettes, etc, but Corvairs are rare and capture my attention. Maybe someday....

[CrazyBrit]

And here it is. The car that I should have bought, but didn't and couldn't have afforded to anyway. It was for sale in Ontario around 7 years ago. It was a 911T, had low mileage and looked amazing. I could never afford this car now, as the prices of these early 911's have skyrocketed in the last few years. Oh well.

[Volktales]

That does look like a nice example. Up until recently, a good friend of mine owned a 1967 911S that he had owned for decades. Although needing restoration, it was 100% complete and was NOT a total rustbucket. He even wanted to trade me strait across for the red bus. So why didn't I go for that? Porsche parts are stupid money and an "interesting" issue with the serial number did not inspire confidence. He later sold it for parts but still got significant cash for it. A hell of a lot less then if the provenance was perfect...

[nanaimobeetle]

I had this up on the previous site.  I'm not sure if it should be here or under "Nostalgia Pictures".  We owned the car for about two years in '59-'61.  Post-graduate tuition as well as a new son put an end to the fun.  Trotting round with a new baby in a travel seat just resting (not secured!) on the fold-down rear seat back seems the height of folly now. Ah well...

It was a 1958 356A normal (not super), sun roof and black leather interior.  At the time, Ferry Porsche was said to drive an identical one.  (Probably not true.)  Would I like to have it now?  Hmmmmm.. Lots of fun to drive then, those dual Zenith carbs were a real nuisance to adjust, even with a Uni-Syn.  I usually had major tune-up work done by Vasek Polak, one of the top Porsche tuners in So. Cal. at the time.  It was reasonably dependable, never died on the road.  Had a bad axle boot leak once somewhere in the wilds of No. Cal. but got home OK.  The first Porsche I ever saw was a 1954 coupe, and I couldn't believe there was no engine in the front.  Then we belonged to the Porsche Owners Club of So. Cal. (not PCA), I still have the metal club badge, once attached to the rear deck grill.  A last souvenir .  For me this was, and still is, a real classic.

[rustybug61]

It feels like picking a Porsche in this catagory seems a little like cheating, but I really like the look of the old 356s too. I know nothing about them but they are kinda smexy.

[PICTUP]

What I wouldn't give to get behind the wheel of that 356 today. Strangely enough, I fell in love with the looks of these cars after taking a book out of the Nanaimo library about 10 years ago. Previous to that I had not ever really taken notice of them, being a dyed-in-the-wool Bus and truck driver. I am with rustybug61, but I would have to say they are darn, not just kinda, 'smexy'!

[CrazyBrit]

Oct 22, 2014 21:10:57 GMT -8 rustybug61 said:

It feels like picking a Porsche in this catagory seems a little like cheating, but I really like the look of the old 356s too. I know nothing about them but they are kinda smexy.

Not really. I doubt that many Porsche owners would take too kindly to having their car referred to as a V-Dub!