Trivia about cars you own/owned...

[2011G6E]

Thought this might be an interesting discussion point...

What interesting trivia do you know about a car or cars you now own or owned in the past?

I'll kick it off with two interesting points about cars I own/owned...my Celica and the XC Fairmont we used to own back in the late nineties into early 2000's.

My 1982 Celica RA60 was the last of the rear wheel drive Celicas, but interestingly Toyota wanted to start with a "clean slate", so they opened a brand new design studio, and to get a "fresh input" into the new model of Ceclia they were to design, no member of the design team was over 25 years old!


Next is the 1979 XC-Update Fairmont GXL we used to own...I still miss this car.

It had been a one-owner car, and the papers were in the glovebox, still with the sales invoice from a Ford dealer in Brisbane.
The interesting part is that it wasn't sold new until December 1980...I always wanted to look up the former owner and ask what sort of a deal he got when buying it...I mean, it would have been sitting on the showroom floor amongst the much newer looking and up to date XD's by then, and would have been for some time.



So who's got some interesting trivia they know about cars they own?

[302 XC]

My XC was bought new from the local ford dealer closest to where I live now, the original owner lived within 5 Ks from where I live now the 2nd owner owns the property next door, the car was the only new XC in the day in town,spend 99 % of its life in the local town ...
Anyone who has lived in town beyond 20,30 years knows the car and both owners and now the third owner,sorta cult status for the locals
Ive still got the original handbook manual with the original owners details, and the first rego recepit

[MercurySilver]

ive got nothing

but boy oh boy thats a nice xc

[Road_Warrior]

Circa 2001-2003 I owned an ex-pursuit VT Commodore that I discovered later on had been loaned to model maker Biante to make a 1:18 scale model police car, had the same licence plates, VKI identifier and everything:



I had a couple of people stop me and commented that they owned the model and recognised the rego of the car. I sometimes wonder what has become of that car as the bloke I sold it to didn't give a stuff about its background.

[2011G6E]

Originally Posted by Road_Warrior

Circa 2001-2003 I owned an ex-pursuit VT Commodore that I discovered later on had been loaned to model maker Biante to make a 1:18 scale model police car, had the same licence plates, VKI identifier and everything:

image

I had a couple of people stop me and commented that they owned the model and recognised the rego of the car. I sometimes wonder what has become of that car as the bloke I sold it to didn't give a stuff about its background.

That's an awesome one!! I always try and find a model of whatever car we happen to have at the time, but man, finding you own the exact same car that a company made a model from...amazing!

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

That's an awesome one!! I always try and find a model of whatever car we happen to have at the time, but man, finding you own the exact same car that a company made a model from...amazing!

Yeah it was special to me. I know to a lot of people it is "just a Commodore" but the unique history of it was pretty cool. Plus it went like sh-t off a shovel.

It was used by the WAPOL Driver Training Unit, which is why the Police were able to spare a pursuit-spec car for the model makers to scrutinse (because it wasn’t in full time use) and through those guys I was able to find out a lot about the car, got some photos of it being put through its paces at Barbagallo Raceway and the old Caversham strip, and of course I was able to find out why it was eventually removed from service - one of the officer cadets binned it into a tree.

The only differences between the model and the actual car is that the model has HSV seats in it from the VT era and a “Series III” badge on the back whereas the car was a Series II. A bit of artistic licence on the part of the model designers I guess.

The BA I own now (and have had now for 7 years) is also an ex government fleet car, from the then-Department of Child Protection, I wondered why for the first 6 months I kept finding broken glass in nooks and crannies inside, I found out later that the regional office from where it came used the car to do a custody seizure of an at-risk child and someone at the premises put a brick through the car’s windscreen during the brouhaha.

[mcnews]

Biante Model Cars bought my E49 Charger to make models from. 39,200 miles, concours conditon show winner. Had been in hard cover reference books, Australian and American magazines.

One my earlier Chargers was also used in TV and print RAC adverts for a while.

[LG17]

I had a 1965 VW 1500 sedan and discovered that if you were a bit too careless in the back seat, you could start a fire as the battery is located under there.

[DBourne]

My old XR8 doing 60km/h would easily pass a Porsche 911 turbo that was doing 58km/h.

[TheSneakiness]

My old AUII Ute was lovingly nicknamed the Axe due to some stupidity on my behalf.

On a cruise on the Sunshine Coast a few years back I misjudged the length of a carpark and promptly hit the wooden bollard at the top of the spot. Left a small indent in the front bumper.

[AJ09]

This thread made me remember something about my first car;

1977 XC Falcon 500 sedan, 6 cyl 4spd man.

Was a standard Falcon but had P/S, A/C & GXL Dash & grille - the GXL bits may not have been there from day one, I'm not sure.

On the ID plate it had "Warranty Void" stamped into the plate.

It was always a mystery...., maybe someone here will know why the stamp was there..

[SSD-85]

My GT was built in Australia.

The amount of people that learn something new everyday.....

Other than that, Ive got nothing. Except what you learn about a cars history when you strip it down to bare shell.

[danzvtil]

My 99 KN Laser 1.6 LXI Man (Mazda Built) had a KIA stamp on the side of the manual gearbox.
Incidentally, the same gearbox used to rattle at idle, Ford inserted "shims" between the gears under warranty.

[revcore]

Back in early 2001 I bought a orange XD V8 panelvan with a black velour interior and was decked out in the back complete with a 12 volt bar fridge. Four months after I bought it some bloke came up to me as I was about to drive out of the Maccas car park and he said "Agent Orange....Always loved this van". Turns out it was an ex show van from the early 80's.

[K_Man]

I wish my cars had some interesting history....all I know of my current car is that it was a dealer demo in SA before making the trip east very early on its life, judging by the late 90s plates.

Mates dads old 60 series cruiser had an interesting past. Belonged to a bloke in WA that managed to do a runner on the cops, leading them to Melb where he was caught, cruiser was picked up at auction here.

Thats all I got

EDIT - now I think of it, my first car (r31 skyline) came factory painted in a shade of metallic blue from the n13 pulsar range (only on the TI) to this day have never seen another the same colour.

[grandpa_spec_F6]

My fully heckers vk commodore ... for an old clapped out 202... it ripped a mad skid bro... true story!

Real Interesting fact: my au Fairmont ghia was one of the first off the production line.

[XP6]

My old BA XLS was the 1st V8 BA ute sold in SA.

[FTE]

My walkinshaw I had years ago was the first ever "HSV" built and was given away by Wheels magazine.
I sold it 6 years ago.

[302 XC]

Originally Posted by grandpa_spec_F6

My fully heckers vk commodore ... for an old clapped out 202... it ripped a mad skid bro... true story!

Bit hard to tell from the drivers seat wether all that smoke is from tyres or valve stem seals ........

[Nikked]

AU s3 XR8.

Sexiest falcon ever.

[vbvbvb088]

My VB Commodore was one of three dual clours (mallachte green over sage green) produced for public reaction....ie two tone.

[Brazen]

Originally Posted by vbvbvb088

My VB Commodore was one of three dual clours (mallachte green over sage green) produced for public reaction....ie two tone.

Got any pics?

[wrongwaynorris]

Originally Posted by ak99

This thread made me remember something about my first car;

1977 XC Falcon 500 sedan, 6 cyl 4spd man.

Was a standard Falcon but had P/S, A/C & GXL Dash & grille - the GXL bits may not have been there from day one, I'm not sure.

On the ID plate it had "Warranty Void" stamped into the plate.

It was always a mystery...., maybe someone here will know why the stamp was there..

Press car probably

[FrogInASock]

My first car was a 1972 Mini Clubman GT. An Australian made one, not a UK import.

They only made 283 of them.

[Phil B]

My XB coupe was originally banana blush in colour, not sure how that was ever considered a nice color. Now its red pepper, much nicer.

Not my car but a really cool story.
An older man from my town owned a Model T Ford, original and unrestored that was still in very good condition and still drove. He was about the 4th or 5th owner of it. When the first owner bought it new way back, they also bought a newspaper which got left in the car and forgotten about. The second owner did the same thing without realising. They then found both the newspapers, so then each time it got sold after that, the newspapers stayed with the car and the new owners bought a paper on the day.

[The Yeti]

Originally Posted by SgtBourne

My old XR8 doing 60km/h would easily pass a Porsche 911 turbo that was doing 58km/h.

You got the little known Porsche killer pack didn't you, that's a rare car you had.

Some believe this is simply an urban legend, others that they were built for the police, but the order was cancelled due to the HWY patrol requiring additional training to be able to safely use this extra power. I personally have never actually seen one, but I believe the story's I've heard, and seen the terrified looks on the faces of the people who told me

[grandpa_spec_F6]

Originally Posted by 302 XC

Bit hard to tell from the drivers seat wether all that smoke is from tyres or valve stem seals ........

It was more a case of "which side's spinnin?"... Open Center Wheel of Fortune