Lusting after stupid vehicles...

[Mudhen]

Jim to the white courtesy phone please...



http://bringatrailer.com/2015/12/16/34k-miles-sharp-1969-opel-gt/

[Jims5543]

Man, I just got back from my CPA's office and he just finished telling me to go and buy new stuff for the company before the year ends.


I wonder if this would count? I was just looking at copy machines, plotters and work trucks but this looks like much more fun to me.

[Jims5543]

Jim to the white courtesy phone please...



http://bringatrailer.com/2015/12/16/34k-miles-sharp-1969-opel-gt/

Damn you.....

I keep looking at this car, now debating buying an older truck and getting this too.

[jeff10049]

What Jim said Damn you. I had forgot about these cars now i'm thinking I need one again.
But No No NO NO no no I have enough shit to do as it is.

Jeff

[Jims5543]

I purchased an older truck, now, how do I convince my CPA (and the IRS) that an Opel GT is a good buy as a company car?

I was going to buy a 2011 Tacoma and could not bring myself to spend that kind of money, so I found a 2004 Tacoma for half the price. Plus is is not as nice so I do not feel bad using it as a work truck.

[Mudhen]

A friend sent me the link to this 'DustyOldCars' site.  Lots to look through...including this!



http://www.dustyoldcars.com/1973-Opel-GT-Runs-Drives-Body-Interior-Good-Needs-TLC-,-NH-03038/5563440

$5299!

I can take a spin over and do an independent eval if you want, Jim... ;D

[Merlin]

My tastes have changed lately. I have been wanting one of these for a number of weeks now.


I have been contemplating selling my Harley to fund it as well. These planes are cheap. ok ones are $16K and nice ones are at $25k max. They carry more than a Cessna 172, go faster than a 172 and the rear seats and door is removable, so I can live out my fantasy of using it as a flying gun platform for hunting wild boar.

[94touring]

Definitely the plane over the Harley but that's just me.   If you get something like a great lakes so I can fly upside-down I'd even go in halfs with you. 

[Merlin]

Well if you wanna go halfzies, then its lancair 320.

I just need something i can build some hours in. it also needs four seats so my wife will sign off on it. As long as i don t have to clean up baby batter in the plane after you rock out the new pussy-magnet, id split something with you.

[MiniDave]

How about  Cirrus SR 22?

[94touring]

Well if you wanna go halfzies, then its lancair 320.

I just need something i can build some hours in. it also needs four seats so my wife will sign off on it. As long as i don t have to clean up baby batter in the plane after you rock out the new pussy-magnet, id split something with you.

Lol.  See I can tell you're married and I'm single.  You want a 4 seater and I want a tandem acrobatic bi plane. 

[94touring]

How about  Cirrus SR 22?

Never did much for me.  Nice enough airplane but something about the plane having a parachute to save your butt turns me off. 

[Merlin]

I can afford a 200mph lancair at 40-60k. I sure as shit cant afford a SR22. Are they still a cool quarter-mil?

[94touring]

Yeah 750k big ones.  I prefer something classic like I prefer my cars.

[MiniDave]

Ours was a "company" plane, and it did cost $350K, it had the full Garmin glass cockpit too.....autopilot, Recarro seats and everything. It was fun to fly.....

I didn't know you could buy a Lancair that cheaply.

[jeff10049]

I want a lancair IV bad. I haven't seen any that cheap though. Their built not far from me although they don't build the IV anymore some are still getting finished by the owners and local shops. When customers use the builder assist and they get one done they fly back and forth over my shop testing it they are a performance aircraft  they sound and look badass in steep bank turn wide open.
One of my employees worked there for a while lots of aircraft stuff in central Oregon.
It sucked when they closed the columbia plant here. but we still got lancair and epic I wish epic built a smaller plane.

Cessna was stupid to try and move composite production to mexico engineers told them the climate wouldn't allow it and they never produced a single 350 or 400 that they could sell out of mexico before they gave up. But google cessna mexico and ohhh ahh were so great is all you see ha stupid media. 400 jobs and a good aircraft lost is all that came from that.

Jeff

[94touring]

Years back I interviewed to be a test pilot on the 350 and 400. 

[Shrimps]

I'm not a plane guy but know some of what you guys are talking about.  My dad built a Lancair 235.  He put in the bigger 320 engine and modified the flaps to get more travel.  He spent 12 years building that thing.  I went up with him one time in it but he ended up selling it shortly after before it ever got paint or upholstery.  That was a sad day.

[Jims5543]

A friend sent me the link to this 'DustyOldCars' site.  Lots to look through...including this!



http://www.dustyoldcars.com/1973-Opel-GT-Runs-Drives-Body-Interior-Good-Needs-TLC-,-NH-03038/5563440

$5299!

I can take a spin over and do an independent eval if you want, Jim... ;D

I wish I grabbed that red one. Even if I just tossed it in storage right now.

If you stumble across another nice example let me know.

[Merlin]

A friend of mine had a lancair 360 and it was a blast. It was real speed. I remeber flying at 2k ft and the world would be a blur around you. He sold it to fund his project for 65k. Im not ready for one yet, but it is on my list.

[Mudhen]

I went and checked this out yesterday:



Someone on the hillclimb forum I follow posted it for a friends father.  2004 with only 56k miles.  Second owner, bought in 2007 with 19k on it.  The best part - it didn't leave TX until 2014 - no rust under it like my car has.  Has the cool center nav, too - although I didn't like that you lose the temp guage.  The 'good' ends there.

Dings, rear window/taillights scratched, wheels curbed, plus the usual stuff - leaks, strut bushings torn, still needs power steering recall done (was steering real hard, too), clutch was horrible...was leaking coolant somewhere, looked like the top motor mount was gone, drivers door wouldn't unlock with handle and then barely opened from inside.  Asking $6500.

56k!  I expected a trailer queen.  I'd sort of like bringing it back up to snuff...but at what cost.  $1500 or so probably.   :(

[Jims5543]

If you have estimated $1500 why not offer $4500 for it and point out all the work it needs.  Cannot hurt to try, plus I like the color.

[Mudhen]

If you have estimated $1500 why not offer $4500 for it and point out all the work it needs.  Cannot hurt to try, plus I like the color.

Offered $4500.  He said he's going to take the car in to see about having the maintenance issues addressed and get back to me.  I think that's a good thing - tack on labor to all that stuff?  My offer will look good!  Hope he takes it to the dealer!   ;D

I think I approached it wrong, though - what about...check the car out and play dumb.  Don't know anything about MINIs, etc. so would like to have a pre-purchase inspection done.  They find all the  crap wrong with it, including labor.  Now I'm not the bad guy pointing all the stuff out and the seller doesn't think, 'hey, that guy can do all this work himself so he should be able to pay more' (even if they're subconsciously thinking it).  I'm the nice guy saying, 'I'd still like to buy it...will have the dealer do the work over time as I can afford it'.  'hey, Cooper...I'm almost done here.  I know you're hungry but it's the weekend and we can't afford to feed you on weekends...remember?'  Wear crappy clothes and show up pedalling an old crappy bike with a basket on the front...and fall over when I stop.   17.gif

If the body was perfect I'd worry less about the maintenance issues and just try to get it.  But even after the regular stuff is done the car is far from perfect.

[SoCalMiniFan]

I spend my days lusting over Mini's and their variants, 55-57 Bel Air's, and Split Window VW Bus variants. My significant other has been lusting over early 80's-90's Volkswagen Vanagon Westfalia's. She is convinced we will live in one at some point and be nomads on the the road. So she found this gem over the weekend and we've put a deposit on it so long as the paperwork and SMOG test go through on Monday. She is also convinced I'll somehow install a Subaru 2.2L engine into it but I think this was a ploy to get me involved more and if you say engine swap for more power I'm pretty much in!

I'm trying to lust over it.

[MPlayle]

The Subaru conversion could be done, but you will have to do something additional to accommodate the radiator.  That Vanagon is one of the older air-cooled ones.  The water-cooled Vanagons are more conducive to the conversion.

The 2.2l and some of the 2.5L Subaru engine conversions are even California approved.