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 October Wagon of the Month

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stewzer55
Wagoninabox
bamalongroof
benn
lakeffect
silverfox103
MalibuSSwagon
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MalibuSSwagon




Posts : 580
Join date : 2014-01-12
Location : NH

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PostSubject: October Wagon of the Month   October Wagon of the Month Icon_minitimeThu Oct 16, 2014 8:49 pm

Well, I was selected as Wagon of the Month for October! Thanks for the honor Tom! I apologize for posting this late, but I closed on my first house September 30th, and it's been a whirlwind of madness the weeks leading up to the closing and for the weeks after, Jessie and I are settling in quite nicely now.

October Wagon of the Month House_zps8053dda2

So, I guess my obsession with b-bodies started from the beginning. In my younger years, I would spend alot of time at my grandmother's house while my parents were taking vacations or weekends off in the summer months. I would then get plenty of passenger seat time in her 1979 Caprice Classic sedan. I still remember many things about the car, how she told me she bought it new at the local dealer, that it was a leftover they bought in 1980. The sights and sounds are things that are familiar, the click of the turn signal relay, the whine of the TH350's first gear, the expansive dash with the long sweep speedo and the curious circular arrangement of warning lights. I still recall the time we were sitting in the car and she told me the clock stopped working, well I started playing with the adjustment knobs and it started spinning again! I was less than 10 years old at this time and already fixing cars! ha.

Well, time wore on and in 2000 my grandmother wanted a newer car. She had found a 1993 Caprice with 49k on it and was offering up her car for $2000. I wanted it bad but being 16 at the time, my parents did not want me to have an unreliable old car. Before I could offer up an argument, however, my uncle snapped up the 79. He did offer up his 85 Caprice, but being a retired Dallas taxicab with 300k miles, didn't seem like a wise choice even at $200. You can waste alot of free time thinking about what could have been, but back then I knew zero about fixing cars. My Dad said it needed a radiator and other things, and would not be a great car. I went with it, but I know now my Dad does not like the land yachts. Oh, and the 79 Classic? Only took my uncle 6 years to run it into the ground. Sad That still makes me mad sometimes. I may get a 79 Classic someday as a tribute to my first big car love.

So, after High school I got a 1992 Honda Accord Wagon, I know some of you say boooo but that was a great car, extremely reliable with no major failures. I drove the car for exactly 10 years, on the tenth anniversary I sadly had to retire the car due to lots of rust. Which sucks because it still was in perfect mechanical shape with 250k miles on it, even still has the original clutch in good shape. At it's peak it was a good looking and driving car.

October Wagon of the Month 100_0211

You can't hate it too much it was still a longroof Wink But I still had dreams of a b-body wagon all along.

In September 2013 my grandmother passed away. I inherited her 1993 Caprice Classic sedan. At the time I made a hasty decision that I regretted for a little while. I was unemployed at the time and while not broke, was not comfortable spending money. The car needed tires, tuneup and shocks. It was also not a wagon, and I really didn't have the connection with the car like I did the 79. In fact the first time I rode in the 93 was when I drove it home after the funeral. So I sold it, which was regrettable for many reasons. One was that I had to retire the Honda and then was without a car for a while and had to borrow a vehicle. Not very smart. But, I did like driving the car. Which lead me to purchase my current baby.

The 1993....shouldn't have sold it..

October Wagon of the Month IMG_20130927_162845_zpsf29ea31d

So, in January 2014 I found my 1992 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser. Found it thru a craigslist ad posted on the local b-body forum. It was too good to be true. I am a closet Oldsmobile fan so the car appealed to me immediately. Went ans checked it out and I was sold. It was a one owner car with 92k miles. The older gentleman who bought the car new passed away, and the widow consigned the car to the garage where it had been serviced it's whole life, to sell it. Man it's nice! It had new tires installed, fully serviced and a new front to rear line put on by the garage. I took it for a test drive and got lost! I was 2 hours from home in western Mass and was just having a good time driving the car. Laughing So, as you may well know I bought it. After checking it's condition on the lift and it was in excellent condition for an older New England car, I gladly paid the $1999 asking price. And contrary to my parents thoughts on old GM cars, it's been pretty damn reliable. Only had to replace the distributor right away, the original was corroded and junk inside, causing a stumbling issue. It was not a very expensive nor difficult repair. It's been a great car that I have taken a few road trips already this year, and have already racked up 10k miles since purchase, and look forward to many more.

October Wagon of the Month 001_3790

Thanks for reading wagon family Smile
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silverfox103
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silverfox103


Posts : 3342
Join date : 2008-11-05
Age : 75
Location : Littleton, NH & St. Simons, GA

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PostSubject: Re: October Wagon of the Month   October Wagon of the Month Icon_minitimeThu Oct 16, 2014 9:17 pm

Eric

Thanks for sharing your story. No need to apologize, buying a house is a lot of work. Like the new house and looks like a good size garage. Lot of you guys will remember Eric from WF. See you Saturday.

thanks again!

Tom
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MalibuSSwagon




Posts : 580
Join date : 2014-01-12
Location : NH

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PostSubject: Re: October Wagon of the Month   October Wagon of the Month Icon_minitimeThu Oct 16, 2014 9:24 pm

Thanks Tom. The garage was one of the selling points of the house. 24x40, I can fit the Olds and the C10 inside, and still have room for 2 more cars.
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lakeffect

lakeffect


Posts : 3892
Join date : 2009-08-18
Location : Rochester NY 14621

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PostSubject: Re: October Wagon of the Month   October Wagon of the Month Icon_minitimeThu Oct 16, 2014 9:35 pm

It was a pleasure to meet both of you at Wagonfest this summer!
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benn

benn


Posts : 557
Join date : 2011-12-22
Location : Ontario, Canada

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PostSubject: Re: October Wagon of the Month   October Wagon of the Month Icon_minitimeThu Oct 16, 2014 10:28 pm

Great story! Me and my girlfriend enjoyed chatting with you guys back at the microtel. (We were the people who brought the civic lol) hopefully well see you next year!
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bamalongroof

bamalongroof


Posts : 761
Join date : 2013-08-23
Age : 70
Location : Huntsville, AL

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PostSubject: Re: October Wagon of the Month   October Wagon of the Month Icon_minitimeFri Oct 17, 2014 12:11 am

Enjoyed your story hope to meet you at WF VA. Jeff
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Wagoninabox

Wagoninabox


Posts : 509
Join date : 2011-07-11
Location : Seattle Area

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PostSubject: Re: October Wagon of the Month   October Wagon of the Month Icon_minitimeFri Oct 17, 2014 11:36 am

Great story! Funny how so many of us have regrets on letting certain cars go.
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stewzer55

stewzer55


Posts : 730
Join date : 2013-11-10
Age : 34
Location : Columbus, Ohio

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PostSubject: Re: October Wagon of the Month   October Wagon of the Month Icon_minitimeSun Oct 19, 2014 4:50 pm

Nice wagon and congrats on LROM!
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brokecello
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brokecello


Posts : 3478
Join date : 2009-05-28
Age : 45
Location : Greenville, SC

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PostSubject: Re: October Wagon of the Month   October Wagon of the Month Icon_minitimeMon Oct 20, 2014 12:45 pm


Thank you for sharing! Nice wagon!!


Chris
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Sprocket

Sprocket


Posts : 6123
Join date : 2008-11-04
Location : Palm Beach County

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PostSubject: Re: October Wagon of the Month   October Wagon of the Month Icon_minitimeMon Oct 20, 2014 11:27 pm

Congrats. Love the color combo on your 92, IMHO the best color combo of any of the breed.
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81X11

81X11


Posts : 9876
Join date : 2010-06-23
Age : 49
Location : Round Rock Texas

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PostSubject: Re: October Wagon of the Month   October Wagon of the Month Icon_minitimeTue Oct 21, 2014 11:20 am

Nice write-up and good story. Like you Olds a lot.

Oh and "the click of the turn signal relay, the whine of the TH350's first gear, the expansive dash with the long sweep speedo and the curious circular arrangement of warning lights." sure brought back memories for me too. First the '78 Impala that my best friend bought at 16 and we ran around in all through high school, and then the '77 Caprice I rescued and fixed up for my friend years back.
Both had that same dash...sounds...and lights.

Memories! Thanks!
October Wagon of the Month Clean1977CapriceClassic006
October Wagon of the Month Clean1977CapriceClassic007
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autoarcheologist

autoarcheologist


Posts : 295
Join date : 2014-08-22
Location : Portland, OR

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PostSubject: Re: October Wagon of the Month   October Wagon of the Month Icon_minitimeThu Oct 23, 2014 12:43 pm

Great story!
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