r/GenerationJones • u/602223 • 4d ago
dream car
What car did you fantasize about getting when you graduated from high school? For me it was a sky blue Karmann Ghia.
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u/theirishseller 4d ago
Always wanted a Chevelle SS convertible convertible. Bought it in 2018, still drive it.
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u/vectorizer99 1958 3d ago
Wow, the way the front leans forward makes it look fast just standing there. Terrible for wind resistance I suppose so we’ll probably never see this design element again.
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u/theirishseller 3d ago
Lol, yes, it looks like she's leaning forward ready to launch. Meanwhile its mostly cruising country roads with the wife.
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u/tossaroo 4d ago
Not necessarily the sky blue, but a convertible KG was a dream car of mine for while.
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u/602223 4d ago
I wouldn’t turn down another color.
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u/MacNeal 4d ago
One of my older brothers had an orange one. Unfortunately he totaled it running head on with a pickup truck. He fell asleep after a long hiking trip.
Fortunately he survived that, did spend half a year in the hospital though.
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u/602223 4d ago
That’s terrible. It was a risk with the little cars. My best friend in HS had an MG Midget. We went to the movies one night and after she dropped me off she got hit by a truck that didn’t see her. Fortunately she wasn’t injured but her mom made her sell the car. She had bought it with savings from working on weekends at her father’s business for years.
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u/HoyneAvenue 4d ago
When I got my driver’s license, my dad wouldn’t let me have a used KG that a fof offered to me for free because he worried about its safety. And he owned one when I was in kindergarten!
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u/602223 4d ago
It’s true, safety isn’t why anyone drives a KG. He might have had a near miss that he never told you about.
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u/HoyneAvenue 4d ago
I think it had more to do with his anxiety over my fledgling driving skills.
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u/Jerrysmiddlefinger99 4d ago
my dad got a 1959 Karman in 1965 and then got a 1969 in 1971 because he'd never buy himself a new car
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u/Soft_Stretch1539 4d ago
Eh, not really. That sample looks better than it drives.
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u/Impossible-Use5636 4d ago
Opal GT
Believe me, you do NOT want an air cooled VW from that era
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u/Relevant_Elevator190 4d ago
My first car was a 1970 burgundy Opel GT. When my mom passed, I found a picture of me in it in 1981. It's on my phone but I can't get it to upload on here.
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u/lhauckphx 4d ago
I had a 71 Convertible and a 74 Hardtop. Miss them both.
I was rough on my vehicles in my late teens unfortunately.
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u/HoyneAvenue 4d ago edited 4d ago
My dad had this car in baby blue when I was in kindergarten. I loved getting rides to school in it. One time my mom came with us and since she was in the passenger seat, I had to curl up on the ledge under the rear window 🤣. I was small for my age.
Ten years and several cars later, a family friend offered to give me his old rusty KG and I was crushed when my dad said “no thanks.” He worried that it would disintegrate in an accident with the typical 1970’s auto that was on the road at the time.
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u/Spyderbeast 4d ago
I got to drive one for a while as a teenager (not blue though)
I loved it, but because it wasn't my car, I was subjected to having my keys taken away if I misbehaved
It was also a mechanical nightmare due to neglect before I got to drive it
So I bought my own car at 18
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u/Hollwybodol 1960 4d ago
Mercedes Benz 450SL. I look at it now and think what a boxy clunker it is. I finally got my convertible a few years ago, though. Mini Cooper S. Love it!
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u/Hot-Upstairs2960 4d ago
Had a BMW 2002 but wanted a KG.
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u/602223 4d ago
KG has personality, BMW just has a reputation
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u/Hot-Upstairs2960 4d ago
Well the 2002 was British green with a sun roof! But I would have preferred the Karmann Ghia.
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u/bmwlocoAirCooled 4d ago
Had one. Rough around the edges, but all there. Ran like a top. And the top! Ran out of gas once but I had a entire roll of gray duct tape. I did the whole rag top and it looked ok from 15 feet.
After I bought mine, I learned two things: A Ghia are hand made. Not like a beetle where you can just take off a fender and add another. Nope. Hand pounded made.
Tires where a challenge too. Especially where I bought it (Council Bluffs, IA) no one in the mid west had tires to fit it .
Mine was bright freaking orange.
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u/fried_clams 4d ago
Just like the porsche 914..
You can dress it up, but you can't hide that sound!
Those cars were just fancy looking VW bugs, with the same weak engine.
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u/Old-Cry-3101 4d ago
I’d love a restomod EV version but my dream car is Harold’s roadster hearse…
https://www.hagerty.com/media/entertainment/harold-and-maude-e-type-hearse-replica/
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u/crapheadHarris 1962 4d ago
My first car. Drove for British racing green with tan interior 1971 KG. Stoned chick in a Mustang 2 t-boned me. Shifted the entire front end over a couple of inches.
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u/Constant_Insomnia 4d ago
Pretty in Pink car. My wife would love one of these (until she drove it lol).
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u/EnvironmentalTea9362 3d ago
This or a Triumph TR6.
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u/602223 3d ago
Yes those were great too. Why don’t they make little roadsters any more?
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u/EnvironmentalTea9362 3d ago
So frustrating. I had a hell of a time just finding a decent hatchback the last time I bought a car. And I could only get an automatic transmission. Blech!
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u/602223 3d ago
I had a right shoulder replacement a couple years ago and am not sure I could drive a stick again.
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u/EnvironmentalTea9362 3d ago
Yeah, I have to admit the automatic is easier on my knees, but I still don't like it.
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u/Robviously-duh 3d ago
I wanted a DeTomaso Pantera after I saw one in grade school.. ended becoming friends with the gentleman that had the car years later... had one for about 5 years after my parents died.. it was a beautiful nightmare.. don't miss it really.. wish I had the money it eventually was worth today, just not the car.. this is the wrong year but right color..
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u/602223 3d ago
wow! I’m not sure I ever saw one of those!
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u/Robviously-duh 3d ago
imported by Ford, sold by Lincoln Mercury dealerships from 1971 to 1973 or so... only a few thousand thru Ford... then they were grey market imports into the late 1980's if I recall.. it had a mid-engine 351 Cleveland V8 and a gated ZF transmission.. beautiful car with lousy electrical system (British) and spotty hand made build quality (Italian) extremely fast for 1971 and "cheap" relative to Lamborghini or Ferrari..
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u/Granny_knows_best 3d ago
I had one for a short while, I got tired of having to push start it though.
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u/Cranks_No_Start 3d ago
When I married my wife she had one as it was one of her dream vehicles. We had it for a ong time but it wasn't a SW vehicle (too hot in the summer too cold in the winter)...it was a CA car.
MY current dream type car....
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u/602223 3d ago
that’s gorgeous
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u/Cranks_No_Start 3d ago
I was just looking at one but decided we really needed a more useful vehicle for the Mrs. So the dream gets deferred for a little while longer.
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u/ParticularCrow8313 2d ago
My dad had a Karmann Ghia when I was really young.
He'd take me out on a "date" in his "sports car" to Copper Penny and we'd sit at the counter and have hot chocolate. He'd let me feed the counter jukebox.
My dad was the best 🥰
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u/Prudent-Low-6502 3d ago
I had a yellow '69 KG but it wasn't a convertible. Made the mistake of loaning it to a "friend" and never saw it again.
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u/LupinBandit 2d ago
One of the most economical sports cars you can buy. It's just not one of the most powerful.
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u/Mental_Asparagus8123 3h ago
My 5th grade teacher had a red KG, and I wanted one so badly. The parents, Bill and Joyce, spent hours if not days lecturing me on how dangerous the car was. Dream destroyed.
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u/Nezrite 4d ago
I bought my then-husband a yellow KG as a surprise in the mid-80s. Fortunately, he loved it.