Ole Reliable

[Grumpy Bear]

2 hours ago, PunchT37 said:

How bout the sound of it coming towards you at wide open throttle? About 6400 rpm`s on that engine.

 

Let er rip. 

[Grumpy Bear]

3 hours ago, Silverado4x4 said:

Thought it was called Ol Reliable instead of Old Reliable. 

 

Noted and corrected. But not Sponge Bob's net, right?...RIGHT??  

[Atlas]

My truck just rolled over to 1,400 miles. Does that count? 

[Atlas]

Ok, that got a laugh out of Karnut. The highest in the fleet is 29k, how about that one? It's 25 years old 

[KARNUT]

37 minutes ago, Atlas said:

Ok, that got a laugh out of Karnut. The highest in the fleet is 29k, how about that one? It's 25 years old 

2001 31k. Had 21k in years 1.5 driven only once a month since. 

[Grumpy Bear]

Late 90's Bonneville 3800

(photo from Google)

 

 

My stepsister and her husband translated sign language and were on the road constantly all over North America. So pretty much a long haul over the road example. This was the closest photo I could find to show the year and the condition of their car. Dad did most of the services on this car. It was sold a few years back when they got an assignment in Croatia fetching $5K on a very clean example with 400,000 miles on it. It sat at dads a few months awaiting their return but the assignment turned temp into long term. 

 

My brother-in-law is not a car guy but a good driver of moderate driving habit. As the length of road trips varied so did the service intervals and greatly. Dad used Warren Oil Synthetics in this car. SuperTECH, Mag 1, Costco and middle of the road Walmart filters. Motor used very little oil. Always on the top half of the stick no matter how long they were on the road. 

 

I expect had they stayed in the Americas they would still be driving it. Service 'type' is a big factor in the equation. 

[Atlas]

1 hour ago, KARNUT said:

2001 31k. Had 21k in years 1.5 driven only once a month since. 

 

That's a car from my youth. You would have been the talk of the school if you had one of those as a kid in high school back in 2001. Integra Type-R's, Civic Si's, Mitsu Eclipses, those were all hotter than HOT. Well, I didn't think so, I could appreciate them, but they weren't cars I pined after. It's good to see that you're looking after yours after all these years. I was always into V8's and American muscle. The first Fast and the Furious movie came out that year.

 

This is the car I wanted back then, and have now. Just like mine:

 

 

Edited October 31, 2025 by Atlas

[KARNUT]

4 minutes ago, Atlas said:

 

That's a car from my youth. You would have been the talk of the school if you had one of those as a kid in high school back in 2001. Integra Type-R's, Civic Si's, Mitsu Eclipses, those were all hotter than HOT. Well, I didn't think so, I could appreciate them, but they weren't cars I pined after. It's good to see that you're looking after yours after all these years. I was always into V8's and American muscle. The first Fast and the Furious movie came out that year.

 

This is the car I wanted back then, and have now. Just like mine:

 

 

That’s my wife’s car. I wouldn’t have had it this long. My brother and I at that time were frequent flyers at test and tune on Friday nights. We laughed at her when she bought that car. She was driving a Z-28 before it. My son got it. My brother was racing his 79 little red truck he bought new and still has. I was still messing with my 94 Impala SS. I have to admit I appreciate the car a little more now. Her Genesis is quicker than most of the hot rod I had in the 70s. My first car was an RX3 Mazda. One year later I traded it in for a 74 barracuda. 

[OnTheReel]

What about owning multiples of the same vehicle & generation? Had FOUR 1986-1992 Toronados. This 92 was the last one I owned and the only one that I have a picture of since they pre-date the digital camera era! 2 had well over 200k on the 3.8s. Love me some comfortable big coupes. Sad that this type car isn’t even made anymore. 
Along the same lines, had 1995 and 1999 Auroras. Still one of the most beautiful cars GM ever made, especially in the pearl white. Totally reliable in spite of having an offshoot of the Northstar V8. Didn’t have a ton of power but made a fantastic sound under hard acceleration. And coming from your typical American V8 it felt like it would rev to the moon. Red one had 175k when swapping it for the white one, which was a cream puff.

Also owned two S10s and two 1999 Rams at the same time! Most would think it’s kind of boring to buy the same car twice (or four times), but nothing wrong with going with what you know…

[OnTheReel]

56 minutes ago, Atlas said:

 

That's a car from my youth. You would have been the talk of the school if you had one of those as a kid in high school back in 2001. Integra Type-R's, Civic Si's, Mitsu Eclipses, those were all hotter than HOT. Well, I didn't think so, I could appreciate them, but they weren't cars I pined after. It's good to see that you're looking after yours after all these years. I was always into V8's and American muscle. The first Fast and the Furious movie came out that year.

 

This is the car I wanted back then, and have now. Just like mine:

 

 

Nice! I’ve spent the last 10 years trying to find my 96 or one identical to it.

I didn’t really love the LT1 and the newer cars like yours are so much better. But it’s sentimental so what can I do…

[Atlas]

15 minutes ago, OnTheReel said:

Nice! I’ve spent the last 10 years trying to find my 96 or one identical to it.

I didn’t really love the LT1 and the newer cars like yours are so much better. But it’s sentimental so what can I do…

 

Modern Camaros are my obsession...even I don't understand it! I've had too many to list. I love them all, the LT1's LS1's, V6's, the manuals, the automatics.... I'm also a huge third-gen fan too. I've always got my eyes peeled for low-mileage IROC-Z's.

[KARNUT]

30 minutes ago, OnTheReel said:

What about owning multiples of the same vehicle & generation? Had FOUR 1986-1992 Toronados. This 92 was the last one I owned and the only one that I have a picture of since they pre-date the digital camera era! 2 had well over 200k on the 3.8s. Love me some comfortable big coupes. Sad that this type car isn’t even made anymore. 
Along the same lines, had 1995 and 1999 Auroras. Still one of the most beautiful cars GM ever made, especially in the pearl white. Totally reliable in spite of having an offshoot of the Northstar V8. Didn’t have a ton of power but made a fantastic sound under hard acceleration. And coming from your typical American V8 it felt like it would rev to the moon. Red one had 175k when swapping it for the white one, which was a cream puff.

Also owned two S10s and two 1999 Rams at the same time! Most would think it’s kind of boring to buy the same car twice (or four times), but nothing wrong with going with what you know…

Rear drive big cars were my favorite. Especially from GM. We found a replacement with our 2011 Genesis. Contrary to what we expected that it would fall apart in five years. We still have it. 

[Atlas]

Nothing stops my heart like seeing one of these GM rear-drivers. Mostly because they're usually sitting in a median, or behind a concrete pillar for an overpass, clocking speeders. It's been a while since I've seen one, I doubt very many are still in service. I always thought they were neat, though, and would be fun to own. Maybe not in full PPV livery. I do like the black wheels.

 

[KARNUT]

27 minutes ago, Atlas said:

Nothing stops my heart like seeing one of these GM rear-drivers. Mostly because they're usually sitting in a median, or behind a concrete pillar for an overpass, clocking speeders. It's been a while since I've seen one, I doubt very many are still in service. I always thought they were neat, though, and would be fun to own. Maybe not in full PPV livery. I do like the black wheels.

 

You could own one they were called Chevy SS. My wife wouldn’t part with her Genesis. Yea I know. Happy wife…. 

[Atlas]

1 minute ago, KARNUT said:

You could own one they were called Chevy SS. My wife wouldn’t part with her Genesis. Yea I know. Happy wife…. 

 

A lot of people think that... But the Chevy SS / Pontiac G8 are not the same car as the Caprice pictured above. The Caprice was bigger. Also from our old Holden friends down in Australia.

 

I do like the SS / G8 though. Can't believe what they're still selling for, it's crazy.