The Deadly Dinosaur

I haven't been very good about blogging recently. Yesterday my parents came up for Easter festivities (normally they would have it at their house, but the rainy season revealed leaks in their roof. They're front room is going to be getting a new ceiling and paint, so all the front room was going to be in the garage... but turns out it isn't yet) and I've got a camera full of some pictures from that. I bought myself a laptop at the end of last year, I think I've made mention of it here, but it could do with an in-depth post. Janice, I finally got running last week, but now begs a question: is it better to have a car that won't start, or one that won't turn off??? Always something. For the first time I used some software to do my taxes online. For the first time, I had my taxes rejected.

THEN, last night I went to the Once Upon A Win website, and here THIS is!!! Another idea I'd had for a series of posts!!! All the cars I've owned....

While this wasn't the first car I ever owned (that honor goes to Mav I), but was the first car I ever purchased. Mine was nowhere near as cherry as this fine specimen, it was missing the grille, and one of the front fenders and the bumper were bent up some. It was a rusty copper color, sprayed over the original quirky AMC purple color. I would have rather had the purple. It had no radio, and the ignition was popped out of it when I bought it. The previous owner won it in a bet. He had bet the other owner that he could get it running cheaply and easily. He did this by putting a toggle switch and push button in place of the ignition switch. I paid $160 for it, if I remember correctly. The 258" six cylinder engine ran rough, having a dead cylinder due to a burnt valve, but other than that it was fine!!!

Shortly after purchasing it, I gutted most of the interior. Carpet, back seat, dash and instrument panel, heater and air conditioner (hell, neither of those worked anyway!!!) all got yanked out and tossed. The front seats stayed, they were out of some other AMC, probably a Hornet and were in great condition, even if they matched nothing else in the car. Also, they folded into what is likely the closest to a bed of just about any car ever!!! I had heard Ramblers and later AMC's were renowned for that feature. Probably around 300 pounds or more of not so pretty fat was quickly removed. Something car makers today could learn from, just losing considerable weight does wonders for performance, handling and mileage!!!

I put in a slick little instrument panel from a Toyota pickup, bought a straight front bumper and pair of front fenders (I don't remember what was wrong with the other side's fender, but I do remember buying two of them... wouldn't have done that for no reason... both replacements were the original purple that mine had started as!!!) and held the pertinent paperwork to the firewall with a magnet!!! On one of the back pillars, I hand painted "The Deadly Dinosaur". Rebuilding the carburetor was the only thing required to get it to pass smog, amazingly, what with the dead cylinder.

I bought this car before I was married. Not long after getting married, my wife's Mustang died from lack of oil. She drove this for a few months while we saved up for another car. While driving home, she got her first speeding ticket doing 80 MPH on the freeway. She also had her first accident, some fool running a red light that she had been in the middle of an intersection to finish her left turn. Put a flat spot on one of the new fender replacements, and completely caved in the side of the little Toyota she'd hit. Probably would have gotten their car fixed up by our insurance, but then they started lying about three extra passengers in the car needing medical assistance (there was just one person in the car, the owner's brother) and I think our insurance company told 'em to pound sand or they'd file insurance fraud against them!!! Good times!!! One night, someone hit and run clipped Dinosaur while she was parked by the corner near our apartment. Made a tiny little dent in the rear bumper and knocked the back end over about a foot, but tore off a big piece of side trim and all kinds of dirt from the underside of the other car. I would have liked to gotten a look at the other guy!!!

After we got another car, my sister wrecked hers, and we loaned this to her. Her dipshit boyfriend managed to destroy the lifetime starter I'd put in it and kill the battery, and I had no place to store it. Ended up junking her, for $100 if I remember correctly. Seems like everyone has some car from their past that they wish they still had, and this is one that's on my list. She was never pretty, but FUN!!! A curb-jumper built like a tank, amazingly good mileage, easy to work on (I think I was able to do an oil change from the top of the engine, without even having to jack her up to fit a drain pan under) and a theft deterrent in itself!!!

*Edited in February 2019, RIP Once Upon a Win, link removed, pictures updated. SOMEWHERE I've got actual photos, but the first image is close to how it could have looked at one point, the second is close to how it looked when I got it. Never had a grille. Also, the rear window when I got it had no latch and just kinda flopped back there. I ran a screw and big washer through it and semi-permanently closed it!!!