My 59 Vehicles

#1 – 1972 Dodge Colt Wagon

My first car : a 1972 Dodge Colt Wagon I bought in July of 1976 for $800. It was mostly green with so many rust spots my friends named it "Cancer". It got me through most of my high school days, despite several months without a starter motor and a week without headlights.

#2 – 1969 Ford LTD 2 Door Hardtop

Car #2 : a 1969 Ford LTD I bought for $250 in May of 1978. You can see the 'custom body work' on the passenger side where it sideswiped a jeep on the freeway (no, I didn't do it, I bought it that way).

#3 – 1979 Mazda GLC Wagon

#3 : a 1979 Mazda GLC (stands for Great Little Car) I got brand new in April of 1979. I learned to clear the snow off the roof before opening the sunroof from this car, didn't like the lap full of slush I got at the first stop.

#4 – 1969 Dodge Coronet Wagon

#4 : 1969 Dodge Coronet I got in June of 1979. I fixed it up and sold it to Free Wheeler Pizza for a Prep Vehicle.

#5 – 1970 Ford LTD 2 Door Hardtop

#5 : a 1970 Ford LTD I bought in January of 1980. This car marks the beginning of my love affair with huge 70's Fords. With it's 429 CID Ford V8 it could haul 7 people and a boat up Parley's Canyon at 80 MPH. (at 7 miles per gallon, of course)

#6 – 1973 Ford LTD Country Squire

#6 : 1973 Ford LTD Country Squire that I bought in May of 1980 for parts for car #5. After I had taken all the parts I could use my brothers and I had a lot of fun with it and a sledgehammer.

#7 – 1969 Chevy Chevelle 2 Door Hardtop

#7 : 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle I got in July of 1980 from a co-worker that was moving to Helena, Montana. It didn't run and looked like it had been through the siege at Marion (Utah history), but it was free and I planned on fixing it up : never happened.

#8 – 1972 Olds Custom Cruiser

  #8 : 1972 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser I bought in March of 1981. Sorry I don't have a picture of it ( just picture the car on "That 70's Show" ). Picture is not the actual car I owned, just one of same make and model. I bought it to pull the engine out of and put it in the next car, the 442. But as I was driving it down to Dan Hopes house, the engine froze up, which worked out since we were planning on rebuilding the whole thing anyways

#9 – 1968 Olds 442 2 Door Hardtop

  #9 : 1968 Oldsmobile 442 a friend and I bought in May of 1981 to rebuild and sell at a profit. Didn't make much money off it, but we did have a lot of fun driving it....

#10 – 1968 Ford Mustang

#10 : 1968 Ford Mustang, October of 1981. My first Mustang, and I still haven't gotten it out of my system. Had an automatic with a 289 CID V8. Moved pretty well, and I mad the mistake of trading it for a Mercury Capri. Wished I'd kept the Mustang, wish I still had it now.....

#11 – 1978 Yamaha 250 Enduro

#11 : 1978 Yamaha 250 Enduro, June 1982. Spent 3 weeks in the Southern Utah Deserts riding around on this thing. Sunburned my neck so bad I still have the scar from it. But it was fun.

#12 – 1972 Ford Pinto

#12 : 1972 Ford Pinto, July 1982. Old Navy vehicle, still had "Navy" on the door in dirt, where they didn't bother to get off the glue from the sticker. I bought it for $160, beat the crap out of it, (Rockford "U" turns, dirt roads, brodies into snow banks, etc..) for over 2 years, did a total of $2.30 in repairs and then sold it for $150. Financially, the best car I ever had.

#13 – 1978 Buick Regal

#13 : 1978 Buick Regal, November 1982. One of the classiest cars I've ever owned, power everything. Used the power door locks to lock myself out of it with the radio, heater, wipers, defogger and lights on while it was running, at 1 am in the middle of a snow storm. Spent an hour in the cold waiting for my little brother to get there with the spare keys.

#14 – 1974 Ford Mustang

#14 : 1974 Ford Mustang, January 1983. Fun car, but really just a Pinto with an Italian designed body on it.

#15 – 1974 Mercury Capri

#15 : 1974 Mercury Capri, November 1984. Traded it straight across for the 1968 Mustang to a guy named Pat. It was British made, and bright yellow. Another fun car, but looking back, I should have kept the Mustang.

#16 – 1984 Mazda B2000

#16 : 1984 Mazda B2000, November 1984. Great little truck. Sold it to a lawyer and had to repossess it from him. That was fun.

#17 – 1977 Ford LTD 2 Door

#17 : 1977 Ford LTD, April 1985. Ahhh, the big cars of the 70's, they don't make them like it any more. I locked myself out of this one also, had to smash in a window to get in. I chose the little window right behind the passenger door, turned out it was more expensive than the windshield, and more indestructible.

#18 – 1976 Dodge Colt 4 Door

#18 : 1976 Dodge Colt, October 1985. I learned to drive in this car, my mom bought it new in 1976 (the year I got my license). Every one of the males in my family got in a wreck in it while my mom owned it, she never did.

#19 – 1983 Ford Mustang Convertible

#19 : 1983 Mustang Convertible, April 1986. This is the car I regret selling the most. I left it with a friend when I borrowed her truck to move, she and her boss left work for a 10 minute errand that lasted 3 hours. Later she and her husband ran out the rest of a full tank of gas. They were going to refill the tank and play dumb, but I forgot to leave them the gas key. She named the car "Christine" (Stephen King) because she 'just couldn't stop driving it'.

#20 – 1980 Ford Mustang

#20 : 1980 Ford Mustang, February 1987. I got this car for parts for the convertible, after a friend T-boned a Trans-Am with it. It came with the name 'Stang, and I liked it enough to buy another 1980 Mustang (#22) to replace the parts I used on the convertible.

#21 – 1974 Mercury Marquis 4 Door

#21 : 1974 Mercury Marquis, October 1987. Another huge 70's boat. Also, another car I don't have a picture for. (Picture is not the actual car I owned, just one of same make and model)

#22 – 1980 Ford Mustang

#22 : 1980 Ford Mustang, January 1988. This one I used to rebuild 'Stang, (#20) to it's former glory. It didn't even run, and I guess I didn't even have it long enough to take a picture of it. (Picture is not the actual car I owned, just one of same make and model)

#23 – 1976 Dodge Colt 2 Door Hardtop

#23 : 1976 Dodge Colt, March 1988. I got this car when a friend trashed my other Colt (#18), which had a newly rebuilt engine. So, rather than waste a good engine, I bought this with a bad engine and switched them.

#24 – 1985 Nissan 200 SX Turbo

#24 : 1985 Nissan 200 SX Turbo. I inherited this car from my mom. She used to love racing punks in Camaros who thought a grey haired grandma wouldn't have the guts to kick their butt - most of the time she did. One time she raced me in my Mustang convertible down 7th East, concerned how she would explain to the police that she just couldn't let her son beat her.

#25 – 1984 Honda Nighthawk 550

#25 : 1984 Honda Nighthawk 550, August 1988. My second motorcycle, first street bike. I'm gonna have to get me another motorcycle when I move to Las Vegas this summer.

#26 – 1972 Ford LTD Country Squire

#26 : 1972 Ford LTD Country Squire, October 1988. We called this one the "Klingon Battle Cruiser", it was almost as big and the same ugly green. My brother's white 1977 one played the part of the Federation Ship. We were chasing each other through mud puddles in a field when I didn't quite make it through 2 trees. Hit one at about 30, did more damage to the tree.

#27 – 1972 Ford LTD Country Squire

#27 : 1972 Ford LTD Country Squire, March 1989. I loved the Battlecruiser so much I had to get another one when it died. I had to poach the doors from the old one for this one when all the windows got broken out. That'll teach it to break down on me when I'm in a hurry.

#28 – 1976 Ford Mustang

#28 : 1976 Ford Mustang, March 1989. I bought this one, which didn't run, for the sole purpose of seeing how it would look if I cut the top off. We couldn't cut into the back corners, so once the rest of the roof was cut, we had to bend the roof back and forth until the corners broke off, like that last piece on the top of a can.

#29 – 1980 Buick Skylark 4 Door

#29 : 1980 Buick Skylark, March 1989. Busy month for me and cars. This came with a V-6 and an automatic and was so gutless I replaced them with a 4 cylinder and 4 speed. Smaller engine, but was much faster.

#30 – 1980 Toyota Corolla Wagon

#30 : 1980 Toyota Corolla, June 1989. I bought this from my little brother. This picture was taken at midnight during a full moon, on the Bonneville Salt Flats. The salt reflects the moonlight so well it gives it an eerie sense of daylight out there. We went out there one time with no moon and it was so dark we almost lost the car just walking 10 feet away.

#31 – 1980 Chevy Citation 4 Door

#31 : 1980 Chevrolet Citation : April 1990. Yup, another parts car. This is where I got the engine and transmission for the Skylark (#29). My brother used the back axle for a trailer, so it looked pretty damn funny being towed away, it's back end dangling while it rolled on it's front tires.

#32 – 1985 Jeep Wagoneer

#32 : 1985 Jeep Wagoneer, August 13, 1991. The biggest financial disaster of my automotive career. I bought it for around $8,000, put $2,000 into it and sold it for $3,000. Net loss $7,000 (for 1 year of ownership). It had the same V6 as my Skylark, the added weight made it even more gutless. 12 MPG and slow, terrible combination. It was an excellent 4 wheeler.

#33 – 1965 Ford Falcon 2 Door Sedan

33 : 1965 Ford Falcon, July 15, 1992. This was a fun little car until the brakes went out on me. It had a single well master cylinder, so I entered the road from my driveway with no brakes at all. Good thing I wasn't getting off the freeway at the time.

#34 – 1984 Cadillac Cimarron 4 Door

#34 : 1984 Cadillac Cimarron, Aug 21, 1992. I got this car for free from my dad, it was basically a Chevy Cavalier with power everything.

#35 – 1985 Nissan 200 SX Turbo

#35 : 1985 Nissan 200 SX Turbo, April 3, 1993. This is the same car as #24, I sold it to my older brother, and then bought it back. I really shouldn't count it twice, but what the hell I made up the rules.

#36 – 1984 Jeep Grand Wagoneer

#36 : 1984 Jeep Grand Wagoneer, March 19, 1994. My second Jeep, another financial blunder, I spent $1,000 fixing an oil leak just to be told it needed another couple thousand to fix the engine completely. Excellent 4 WD system, but I wasn't having much luck with their engines.

#37 – 1978 Mercury Grand Marquis 4 Door

#37 : 1978 Mercury Grand Marquis, Jan 28, 1995. I paid $240 for it, and it came with a full tank of gas. The rear end gave out in Wellington, on the way back from Lake Powell. Since it would have cost me over $200 to tow it back to Salt Lake City, I just packed up all my stuff into my brothers Suburban and left it there. (Picture is not the actual car I owned, just one of same make and model)

#38 – 1990 Chrysler LeBaron Convertible

#38 : 1990 Chrysler LeBaron Convertible; Jan 22, 1995. This was my recapture of #19, my Mustang Convertible, and every bit as fun. I called it my Ervil Edition LeBaron, with the Rulon Allred interior, (after the rival polygamists Ervil LeBaron and Rulon Allred). The mess in the background was my garage, which fell on the car right after I got the it repainted.

#39 – 1985 Chevy Caprice Wagon

#39 : 1985 Chevy Caprice Wagon, March 9, 1996. What can I say about other than it was big, real big. And great for camping.

#40 – 1966 Jeep Wagoneer

#40 : 1966 Jeep Wagoneer, Sept 18, 1996. My last attempt at a Jeep. Another one that turned out to need a new engine, and never worked right. It is currently residing on our property in Duchesne and stays there because it isn't street legal. (picture on right shows what we did to it).

#41 – 1990 Plymouth Sundance 4 Door

#41 : 1990 Plymouth Sundance, June 9, 1997. Another great little car that got me around, until I decided I needed a different car.

#42 – 1985 Ford F250 4x4

#42 : 1985 Ford F250, Nov 1, 1998. It looks like hell but runs great. It has a 460 CID V8, heavy duty suspension and tow bar, 4 speed manual transmission and 4 wheel drive. Yeah, it has a lot of rust on the bed, but it has almost 300,000 miles on it and burns no oil. Don't have it any more, I sold it to my nephew-in-law.

#43 – 1970 Ford LTD Convertible

#43 : 1970 Ford LTD Convertible, Jan 5, 1999. Classic, convertible, bright red naugahyde interior and huge. How I love this car. It sloshes over bumps and corners like a shopping cart, but it gets the looks when I cruise around in it with the top down. I still have it, and plan on keeping it for a while.

This is officially the car I've owned the longest, over 8 years. There is only one car in all the 52 that I've owned that passes even half of that amount - that's the 1999 Mustang - 6 years. Of course the old LTD has seen 9 other cars come and go in that time, but as you can see from the pictures below, she's still looking good as ever.....
September 11, 2014.  Sold my baby today.  It just needed a lot more work than I was ever going to get around to doing, so I decided a couple thousand dollars was better than a big, immobile garage paper-weight.  Kind of sad, but at least it's going to someone who will fix it up the way it deserves.

#44 – 1999 Ford Mustang

#44 : 1999 Ford Mustang, July 19, 1999. I would have bought the convertible version except for 2 things; I already have a convertible and I couldn't afford the extra 7 or 8 thousand dollars. There were only 3 Mustangs with a 6 cylinder and manual transmission in all of Utah, all of them red. Had to have a clutch, couldn't afford the GT, so I had to take red. I like it. A lot.
Well, I sold the Mustang. Yeah, hated to see it go, but I'm trying to get rid of the credit card debt, so I had to. Figure when I get the cards paid off I'll be able to get a brand new one. The good thing is that I used some of the cash to get the LTD legal and now I'm cruising around in that. Nice!

#45 – 1985 Plymouth Voyager

#45 : 1985 Plymouth Voyager. [as most of you know by now, this one turned out to be a big disaster. The tranny was messed up, and even worse, the frame was bent. Yes, it is now just a planter in my yard, although I'll probably donate it to the National Kidney Foundation for the tax write off.][ Even the kidney foundation wouldn't take it, I had to put an ad in the paper "Haul it away and it's yours, no charge". You wouldn't believe the number of people who called, say free and they'll take anything. ] Yes, a minivan. Well, I needed something to commute to Brockbank in (don't want so many miles on the Mustang) and a more economical way to get to the land. And, well, um, yeah, the fact that Capt. Janeway of Star Trek Voyager is my hero did have something to do with me choosing a minivan, the Voyager in particular. I did pay only $275 for it and it runs pretty good and other than the color (Gold) it looks pretty good. I will have to put about $300 or $400 into it to get it legal (windshield, taillight lens, wiper motor) but for a total of $800 it's going to be a great deal. I hope.

#46 – 2000 Chevy Metro LSi

#46 : 2000 Chevy Metro LSi (which stands for 'not a whole hell of a lot of extras' ). I know, a Chevy. But for $7,500 for a 2000 with 17,500 miles, Ford didn't have an option as good. It's small. Way small. It is in really good shape and it will get me from home to Brockbank and back every day without the stress I had when trucks threw rocks at the Mustang. And since it is front wheel drive, It'll do much better than the Mustang would. It will do everything the Voyager was supposed to do, and it even still has 2 years on the factory warranty, plus a 30 bumper-to-bumper from the dealership. Brand new tires (still has the little hair thingies new tires come with), air conditioning, 5 speed and a HUGE 1.3L fuel injected 4 cylinder. No power windows, no power locks. AM/FM Stereo (no, I didn't forget to mention the cassette or CD) And I can even get it, the Mustang, the motorcycle and the LTD in the garage.

#47 – 1989 Ford Ranger 4x4

#47 : 1989 Ford Ranger 4x4. Update of the Update: This truck has now been owned by all the Rossi siblings. Danny originally owned it, I bought it from him, Alex bought it from me and now Alex sold it to our sister Lisa. All 4 of the siblings that grew up together have now owned this truck. Update : Well this one has now been owned by all the older Rossi brothers. I just sold it to Alex (in order to get the F250), so Danny has owned it, I've owned it, and now Alex owns it. Keeping it all in the family. You may say, "Hmmmm, looks familiar." Well, there's a reason for that, you've probably seen it in some of the Ranch pictures. That's because I bought it from Danny. Needs some work, but it runs pretty good, and I got it for a good price. So, I guess the Wrangler is going to have to wait a while. But at least this way I won't have to shovel the snow off the driveway, just stick it in 4WD and I'm home.

#48 – 1985 Ford F250 4x4

# 48 - 1986 Ford F250 4x4. Well, I sold the Ranger to Alex and bought me another truck. 460 CID and a 4 speed. Sound like anything else I've owned? #42 - 85 F250, same engine, same tranny. Could pull a house up Parley's Summit at 50 MPH (and 4 MPG). One of my old students came by a month or so ago and said he was selling his truck, we had already discussed how similar it was to my old one. The price was right and Alex wanted the Ranger, so I decided to get it. Very unlike me, eh? (NO!). Anyways, Alex & his Ranger, Danny & his Jimmy and me and the new F250 go up Lambs Canyon to play in the snow. Had a blast, only got 'almost' stuck - that means it took a bit to get it out. Well, the truck performed perfect, except I really could use some better off road tires. So, I get up the next morning and try to start the thing up, and nothing. Nada, zip. Not even a whirh, click or the buzzing of an almost dead battery. Son-of-a-%#&($. Just bought the damn thing and already it's busticated. So, I try jumping it. I try putting the LTD's battery in it. I try wiggling the wires to the starter button (oh, did I mention that the ignition switch is messed, so they installed a starter button?). I try messing with the clutch cutoff switch. Nothing. And it's blocking most of the driveway. Scream, yell, kick things. Still doesn't want to work (no, I didn't put any new dents in it or break anything else!). Damn! So, squeegee the Mustang out of the garage and around the truck and take it to work. In the snow. Still fuming at the truck. Even more on the way home when the roads are ugly. I get home, try to start it - still silence. Hmmm, maybe I should call Kirk and see if there is a little quirk that I should know about. Duh. Guess what? Yup, one little thing - sometimes the wires to the starter button come loose and need to be tightened down. So, while I have him on the cell, I go out to the truck, tighten the wires and try again. Surprise, surprise, it starts cranking! Yeah! Moral of the story - what may seem like a big problem sometimes turns out to be nothing - just call the guy you bought it from.

#49 – 1989 Nissan Pickup 4x4

#49 : 1989 Nissan Pickup.Ok, so the idea of having a 4WD to drive on a regular basis, especially in the winter, was a great idea. But at 7.5 MPG, the F250 was a little expensive to drive. So, when the Aide to the Special Ed teacher right next door offered me the pickup that has been sitting in her driveway for 9 months for only $300, yup, you guessed it, I jumped at it. I've had it about 2 weeks now,it's legal and it runs. Good deal. It still needs a little work here and there (new slave cylindar for the hydraulic clutch, new main bearing in the transmission) but for now it's getting me around at a lot more than 8 MPG.

#50 – 1968 Ford F250

#50 : 1968 Ford F-250 (2WD). Picked this one up from a friend for $1,500. I told him it was a classic, even looked it up it's value, but he only let me talk him up $500 from his original offer. He's got a 70-something Chevy 4X4 and just picked up an 98 (I think) police cruiser (for only $1,000) so he wanted to get it out of the garage, and figured I'd give it a good home, and give him visitation rights. It's in great shape, he put some work into the carb, new radiator and some new body parts so it has no dents or rust. Anyways, I wanted something that could make it up to the land with a little less work than the Nissan takes going up those hills, and the blast of cold air coming in the rot hole in the door was getting a little old. Plus, now Fords out number other brands in my driveway, and I have a couple classics.

UPDATE: I decided I had too many cars so I tried to sell this one. It's in excellent condition, and I got only one offer. The guy was unreasonable, didn't want to pay even close to what it was worth, and a lot less than I was willing to let it go for. So, instead I gave it to my little brother back on October 20, 2007. He and his wife wanted to fix it up and use it as their truck. Instead, in October of 2009 they bought a 4 wheel drive 1990's Ford F250 crew cab, so they gave this one back to me, sort of. we're sharing it. They still want to fix it up real nice, they're in a class working on the paint job right now. they figured that since they didn't pay anything for it, they would pay for all the work on it and we would share it. They are also taking care of all the insurance and licensing, for my part it gets to live at my house. So now I have 4 old Fords and a newer Subaru hanging out here. Pretty good deal for all.
UPDATE: 9/1/2012 - Sold the truck today.  We found out that it was going to cost a bundle to get it painted, since we wanted it done right.  Having enough car projects on our plates, we decided to sell it, and the new owners just drove away with it.  Great truck, I'll miss it, but like I said, I have enough on my plate right now.

#51 – 2004 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport

#51 : 2004 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport. So, 7 miles to the gallon and no rear end traction just wasn't as much fun as an everyday driver as I had thought. Plus the fact that i couldn't lock the thing, so I ended up carrying my stuff with me everywhere I went. Yeah, decided to get something more economical and four wheel drive. I'd been thinking about getting a Subaru for a few months, finally decided to just do it. Went down to Mark Miller (not Larry H., because I know that guy), and said I was looking for a 4 door sedan with a manual transmission. As we were looking and not finding any he asked if a manual was necessary, to which I responded nothing but the manual was required. So he said he had a little Impreza wagon with a manual, and the rest is history.

#52 – 1976 BMW 2002

#52 : 1976 BMW 2002. I was all depressed because I think the transmission on the truck (#50) decided to go blooie on me. Haven't had the chance to look into it, but it's not shifting, unless you do it manually. Anyway, I'm at the Chevron when Barry, the old graveyard guy who is renting the house right next door to me, comes in with his brand new Scion. We're there talking about it and he says something about how now that he has a new car he's going to give his Jaguar to one of his roommates, Dustin. So I sez "that mean I get the BMW?" and he says "yes". I still can't believe it, even though I have the car and the keys in my possession, but I won't really believe it until I get the title, which I don't have yet. Well, as of today (06/21/07) I do in fact have the title in my hands. Tomorrow I'm going down to the DMV to get a temporary plate and then I'll get it insured. It may not look the best, but it is completely restorable and runs like a champ.....

#53 – 1969 Ford LTD 4 Door Hardtop

#53 If all works out right, October 13, 2007 this beauty will be mine. I found it online and have talked to the owner a couple of times, agreed to buy it for $2,000. One problem though - it's in So. California, near Burbank. So, on the 13th, Danny, Alex and I are flying down to Burbank, picking it up, getting it new tires and driving it back to Salt Lake. Hopefully, if all goes right. It's got a rebuilt engine, new paint and other than tires and a ripped headliner. You all, of course, will get to read the story and see the pictures....

Here's the list she gave me of the movies it's been in :

• Zodiac Killer
• Psycho w- Anne Hesche
• Bringing up Brady
• Apt Pupil
• Split Decision
• Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas (it was the taxi Johnny Depp rode in)
• Ali
• The Wedding Planner
• The Kid
• Metal God (Rockstar)
• Frailty w- Bill Paxton
• Pentagon Wars
• Unsolved Mysteries
• Come get Happy
• Lanshy
• Almost Famous
• My Sisters Keeper
• Autofocus

#54 – 1972 Ford LTD Country Squire

#54 I first saw this car about 3 years ago in the Shopko parking lot. I fell in love with it then, but it wasn't for sale. so what could I do. Nothing, except admire it from afar. Six months ago little bro' sees it in the K-Mart parking lot and gets to talking with the owner. Tells him about my LTD addiction and gives him my cell number in case he ever wants to sell it. Well, the guy held onto the phone number for the six months, because 3 days ago he calls me and tells me that some guy gave him my number and said I like old LTDs. We talk, I go look at it, we settle on a price and I get the money. $2,000. It's a 1972 Ford LTD Country Squire with a 429 CID Police Interceptor engine in it. The guy babied it, oil changes every 2,500 miles, ran only premium in it, and it looks and runs like he was telling the truth, plus according to the title he's owned the car since October of 1979. Dual exhaust, the interior is excellent, not a single tear in the cloth upholstery and the carpet is even clean, like that could be it's original color clean. The original AM/FM radio still works, although I don't have any 8-Track tapes to see if the player works. Looks like I'm going to have to take a trip to the D.I. It's beginning to show some rust in a few places, but just surface. He already told me that I'm going to need to replace the ball joints, which are relatively easy on these older cars. The only other problem I can see is getting the back door to work properly, the one that swings out and folds down too. Well, it used to swing out, but the window didn't go down, so Danny and I tear into it, get the window to go down and then try to fold it down tailgate-wise. Big mistake, it kinds got stuck between swing out and fold down. It's closed, so I can drive the car, but the tailgate won't open either way. Overall, though, another good deal...
UPDATE 7/7/2012.  I've been cannibalizing it to keep the other cars going for a year or so now, and I need the transmission for the convertible, so I put an ad on KSL.com to give away the engine if they would just pull out the transmission for me.  Today is the day it was hauled away.  The guy has a home shop where he is going to tear it apart and then he will bring me back the transmission.  He's putting the engine in a '57 Ford pickup for his son.  I hate to see the wagon go, but there were too many little things wrong with it to keep it going, and the parts were (are) needed for the more useful cars.

#55 – 1972 Ford LTD 2 Door Hardtop

#55. 1972 Ford LTD 2 door hardtop. This car was rescued from the crusher. It lived right around the corner from my brother's house, and his neighbor said he was going to junk it because he needed to get rid of it. My brother offered him $200 for it, just to save it from the crusher, and the neighbor accepted. Then they told me. And I told them that unless they really wanted it, that since it fit into my grand scheme of things, I'd take it. They agreed. So it's mine. My master plan is now 4/5 complete.

 

#56 - 1998 Ford Escort LX 4 Door

#56.  1998 Ford Escort.  I've been driving the LTDs as daily drivers for about 6 months now, and the awesome 10-13 MPG they get has been killing me, so I decided to spend $1,500 on a cheap little get around town car.   As you can read in this post, I came real close to buying another not so practical vehicle.  But reason ruled out and I picked up Lil'Blue.  The car runs great, the interior is all but perfect and the exterior is not embarrassingly trashed.  A deep scrape on the passenger side doors and a wee bit of oxidation on the paint, but nothing I can't live with.

 

#57 - 1978 Mercury Marquis 4 Door

 I found this online in June of 2012.  I'm the third owner, I bought it from a guy who got it from his best friends grandparents.  It has been meticulously maintained, I even have the 3 ring binder with all the maintenance and repair records dating back to the day it was bought where the purchaser wrote "New car as of 2-11-1978. Mileage was 24.1", and it only cost $850.

#58 - 2000 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

Click HERE for details.

#59 - 2014 Jeep Wrangler Sport 

On January 25, 2014, I went down to the local Jeep dealer to trade in my old Wrangler on a brand new one.  My plan was to come home with one that day.  Unfortunately (maybe fortunately), even on a Wrangler getting a clutch isn't that easy.  Of the dozen they had on the lot, only a couple had manual transmissions, and they were both $35,000+ vehicles.  The sales people were great.  I told them what I could afford and they tried to get me into this really nice blue one.  When they came back with the numbers that were almost $100 a month off, they didn't even try the "can't you just go a little higher?" tactic.  They just apologized that they couldn't make it work.  Then we talked about looking for a 1 year old one, looked around but didn't find anything.  We talked about my requirements, which were pretty simple: 2-door, manual transmission, air and a hard top.  He said "Let me see if I can build you one that has what you want and fits your budget."  It was late on Saturday so we decided I'd call him back on Monday to see what he came up with.
I went down there on Monday and he showed me the number, which were right where I needed them to be, so I ordered a Jeep to be built for me.  I've always wanted to do that, go into a dealership and order exactly what I wanted and have them build it for me, seems like this was the time.  The hardest part was deciding on the color.  I spent a half hour out on the lot looking at all of them, and of all things, decided on white.  I thought (still think) it looks sharp with the black fenders, bumpers and black top.  Now, I just have to wait for them to make it.