4 Wheeled Wonders

Well, since thejeepjunkie decided to throw down the gauntlet in his blog, I accept the challenge and will, attempt to, list the 4 Wheeled Wonders I thought I needed in my life at the time. Unlike thejeepjunkie though, any further remembrance of 4 Wheeled Wonders owned will be posted in future blogs.

But first, a couple of The Lockhorns cartoons I have had stuck to my bulletin board for a number of years. I find them cute and, mostly, true.

Might partially explain my current marital status. But happy nonetheless.

Where ever possible, I have used actual images of the 4 Wheel Wonders I have owned, but, needless to say, in my youth, posterity was not something I really considered. Plus, I can't seem to find the hard copy file of mine titled "Cars". Did I accidently bring that to the Ozarks last summer? Need to get with the bus on that one.

As thejeepjunkie mentions, my first car was a 1968 Chevy Belair inherited from my grandpa, Man. He tragically passed and I got this. It had rusted out rear 1/4's and lower front fenders. Two speed automatic and a 307. Moved to Florida in this car where it died a slow and painful death.

Next came either a 1966 One Ton Panel or a 66 VW bug. Since I loaded the panel photo on first, I will mention it now.

Bought this from Leonard Crable and was told it had bad ball joints. Well, at the time, I knew nothing of ball joints. Drove this old truck to Florida with the front end shimmying the whole time. Learned real quick about ball joints. This one ended up in a junkyard in Freeport, Florida.

Bought this old bug, yes, that is thejeepjunkie standing next to it, while living in Florida. Decided one day to take it out into the woods on some lumber trails. Hit a swale at about 20 mph and smashed in the front where the spare goes. As you can see in this image, that has been repaired.

Next, I think, I owned the beige 68 bug in the right of this image. The other two bugs belonged to the bus and that is one of my dad's Ford Pickups to the far right.

Then, briefly owned a rusty 73 Chevelle that I bought from the bus.

Next came a 1970's era Westfalia camper. It had the same roof as this but was blue as opposed to the orange in this image.

After that I got ahold of 72 Volvo 144. It was new wave two tone. The entire car was blue except the driver's side rear door was white. It is toward the right in this photo. My dad's 66 Bonnevile convertible and his 66 Catalina Sedan are to the left.

Next came a couple of Peugeot 504's. Diesels with a 5 speed. Mine had the US spec headlites as opposed to the European one's in this image. One winter in the Ozarks, I changed out the motor for another my dad picked up somewhere. I put the throwout bearing in backwards and did not realize it until I had completely buttoned everything up and had put the bonnet back on that old beast. Take about pissed at myself!

My first new car was really a truck. 86 Mazda B2000. It was a sweet one black, grey interior, chrome wheels. One of the few around town, at the time, that didn't have those funky graphics all over it.

For a short time I owned a diesel Oldsmobile. Couldn't get rid of that thing fast enough.

My senior year in college, I acquired an early 80's Accord

but with headlights like this image. Moved to Florida the second time in this car.

When my daughter's mom and I hooked up, she owned a copy of the 79 Prelude shown below. It was a real fun car to drive.

She later acquired a Mazda 626. We sold that to her nephew when he headed off to college. It was in pristine condition but after the time it spent in St Louis those four years, it looked like this.

I also had an 86 Civic.

We bought this Camry after selling that Mazda to Shawn. As an aside, this is a "before" shot of our first home. We were moving in when I snapped this.

I traded that Civic in on this 88 Cadillac Fleetwood D'Elegance. Luckily it had the 4.9 motor vs the 4.1. I piloted this car on the racetrack at Sebring one year, the day after the race. Dr. Dudley and I camped out and when we awoke the next morning, we were the only ones around. When leaving, we did a quick lap and got the hell out of there. Oh, and the "after" look of our new home. On the reverse of this photo, Maureen had written "John's new toy".

For a time I owned the original Jeep Commanche. 4 cylinder, 5 spd, no air. thejeepjunkie and a buddy, Justin, tried to roll a big rock up into the bed using the tailgate and bent the hell out of it. Sold this truck for what I bought for, the only time that has ever happened to me.

This is one of my favorites. 88 Jeep Cherokee Limited. I wanted another one but thejeepjunkie would not let me. He feels they are to hard to work on. I dunno, but Lil Jim has my dad's old one and it is still going strong at 170K.

This is a shot of (l-r) my sister's, my dad's (now Lil Jim's) and mine taken during a vacation in the Carolinas many moons ago.

This is the house where I presented my BMW 325 to my wife on Valentines Day. This was one Thanksgiving. The cars in the driveway are (l-R) thejeepjunkie's 92 Accord he still drives to this day, my previously mentioned Commanche, Maureen's Camry, Mom's 88 Accord with a stick, my Cherokee and my buddy Patrick's then new Caddy. Circa 1993-4

And while Maureen didn't want this car, she loved driving in it. My dad's Cherokee in the background.

After I bought that my first oleragtop, I traded my Jeep in on this Honda minivan for Maureen. We sold that Camry to my buddy Justin as he was headed off to college.

I then owned a VW Jetta, not this one but one in good shape. Even thejeepjunkie commented on how nice it was.

Sold that and bought a Hunter Green Sable wagon of this vintage. Sold it to a painter after replacing the head gasket.

Then I bought my second oleragtop off ebay. RIP.

This is my daughter several years ago up in Virginia. One time I asked her if she would like to have this car when she turned 16. Exasperated, she turns to me and asks, "Dad, how many miles will be on it by that time?" Ah the wisdom of a five year old.


The absolute worst deal of my life. Leased this Jeep. Thought I had bought 65,000 miles when I only bought 48,000. Cost me $5,000 to get rid of it! Stupid!!

Simultaneous to owning that Jeep, I bought an 88 E350 for a work van for $500.

Also had this baby. Not as cool as BBBob's but a real work horse.

Bought this baby just for the parts, wheels and tires. Sold it back to another junkyard for $50 less than I paid for it.

Ahhh, Casper. 355K and still kicking.

One of my current daily drivers.

And the other.

I know I have left some out as the timeline of where I was living at the time has gaps in the vehicles I have owned. But that could be another post.