Mid Week Match-Up: Find A Daily For A Grounded Kid
It has to be a parent’s worst nightmare: your kid crashed and totaled his little sports car. Luckily for DT’s Northwest correspondent Gianni, his son walked away from the accident with little other than a busted nose. Same for the Miata. For this week’s Mid Week Match-Up, we are going to find a new penalty box daily driver for Gianni’s kid — budget no more than $5k.
This is what a Miata looks like after it jettisons a wheel at 35mph and finds a telephone pole. Thankfully, Gianni’s kid is okay, but he learned a valuable lesson about wheel studs, torque, & driving a Reliant Robin.
As much as I would love to recommend some late model understeering economy car with a slushbox (oooohh…maybe a Prius), I think a better punishment would be a slow/stodgy classic that’ll only work one third of the time you need it. Like this 1971 Jaguar XJ6 barn find located here on eBay
bidding for $3,050 with 2 days to go, located in Dalton, WI.
What do you recommend? Comments below.
Scroll down to the '63 Galaxie.
The steering and brakes on that thing will teach you a healthy respect for limits. And you'll find the lateral g adhesion of the vinyl bench seat even lower than that of the Chinese rim protector grade tires available for anything resembling stock size wheels.
Of course there's a bias at work here (beyond the pun on tire ply orientation), I grew up driving one of those.
On second thought, I bent ours once at age 16. Maybe better find something truly disposable. Ford Ranger?
As for that Jag, let me google 'LSA crate motor 6L90' and tinkle off the purists…
Colnago new under $3,000
I am glad to hear that he is OK. Scary stuff
[img] colnago.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/CX-ZERO-BRYL.jpg[/img]
As for the Miata…did it push the engine down the tunnel? I mean, Lemons cars don't need a hood anyway…
Sadly they do in fact need a hood. The rules don't specify how much of the hood must remain, but they added some verbiage to prevent body-less ElCaminoized abortions like the E28 and E34 our team entered.
Seems like the engine sits a little higher, but I didn't look at it very close yet. It still makes me feel bad when I see it's sad frog eyes staring at me when I take the dogs out.
After a crash, what else can you buy except for a Volvo?
How about the slowest of the safest. Stick though:
1984 Volvo 245 Diesel Wagon – $2200
olympic.craigslist.org/cto/5289436899.html
I will note that, back when they were widely available and cheap, the Volvo 240 and W112/123 Benzes in diesel or four-cylinder Otto form were the universal answer to Kid Car. The rule was 'more chassis than engine, more brakes than chassis'.
I will also note contrapuntally to the above remark that one of the more memorable rides of my life was a flog through a local residential neighborhood in the passenger seat of a Volvo 240 driven by a high-school friend.
I bought a 1984 Volvo 245 Diesel in Olympia, WA last year and drove it back to Southern CA. It goes past being safely slow into the dangerously slow category. Mid 1980s traffic included significantly fewer 300hp minivans and 3/4-ton Brodozers, so I'm sure it was fine then. Today though you really have to drive like your life depends on it to make any progress in traffic.
On second thought, maybe that's ideal for a kid who just wrecked his sports car.
Anything old/diesel is always a good idea. Slow and steady.
The 740s also tend to be stone reliable and tractor-simple. When the kid moves out, he can swap a 5.0 into it.
Gianni, along these lines you may want to consider a Mercedes-Benz 240D (W123 chassis). This was the non-turbo 4-cylinder diesel, and available in the US with a 4-spd manual.
That would force your son to be on high alert while driving, keep the speeds down and safety factor up, but offer plenty of learning opportunities for maintenance and simple mechanical repairs.
Vince and I agree that somehow the 240D w/ manual trans always feels faster (maybe just more responsive) than the 300D turbo w/ slushbox.
Here's a decent looking manual 240D in your neck of the woods for $3600.
As much as I like Volvo 240s, the diesel version is an orphan today, with very sketchy parts availability. The oil burning Benzes can seemingly be rebuilt from the ground up with new parts easily ordered online.
seattle.craigslist.org/see/cto/5337919588.html
[img] images.craigslist.org/00g0g_ekXgWfRul65_600x450.jpg[/img]
Roadmaster. The answer is always Roadmaster.
I need some clarification: is the main target to protect the kid, or punish him? That will help me in my shopping.
Both.
It's like the LAPD motto: To Protect And Punish!
The Pontiac Parisian they had up just a few posts ago would do an excellent job at both.
dailyturismo.com/2015/12/born-in-canada-1985-pontiac-parisienne.html
For one not already featured on DT, try this one. Need to do a quick torque converter swap before a long and miserable cross country road trip.
atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/cto/5329162694.html
When I was 17 I slid my Dad's 1977 Corvette off the road in the rain on a hairpin turn in the North GA mountains. No damage other than to the flywheel protector thing which bent up and made a screeching sound. He had let me borrow it to go cruising instead of my suffering in my 1979 Pontiac Grand Prix that got no girls.
My punishment? 3 months no license. No driving. I had to take the bus to and from school, which was an hour and 15 minute round trip each way, requiring me to get up at 6 to meet it at 6:20 in front of the house.
Just sayin'
Unfortunately he goes to school at a Technical College about 10 miles away + swims for the H.S. team and they practice about 5 miles away at 5AM. If he still went to the traditional H.S., he could get a ride to practice and school + walk home. Since he doesn't, he'd have to take the public bus which doesn't really work in the 'burbs, so he needs a car. I'm getting up early to get him to his 7am class for the next two weeks, but no way I'm getting him to swim practice at 5…
Was it his fault the wheel fell off or was it faulty parts? I'm sure you taught him the fact that lug nut torque is mildly important…unless he grossly over-torqued the lugs or his was oblivious to the horrible wheel shaking if he under torqued them, I'd say it wasn't really his fault.
His fault. He made it 0.4 miles up the road before it fell off (I measured).
@AbnMike, maybe it was your dad who should have been grounded. Just sayin' 🙂
How about a 2010 Ford Police Interceptor?
kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/oakville-halton-region/2010-ford-other-interceptor-sedan/1107077159?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true
This way, he can never speed, cuz all the traffic in front of him will slow down to the limit.
I agree with your suggestion, an Ex police car is the way to go. Cheap on repairs and if he uses seatbelts, resonably safe. I did that with my son when he was a teen and it was 4 months later when I got the call. I had it towed to the garage and they put in a new rear end and wheels and he was mobile again for under $ 1K. You can't do that with sports cars or imports.
may need some tlc
[img] images.craigslist.org/00606_atXqisgcECU_600x450.jpg[/img]
A little sandpaper, a little bondo, hello Uber…
Big thumbs up on this one. I drove Checkers through high school and college, learning basic car maintenance and repairs as I went along. The first one was passed on to my younger brother as his high school car. He tried to wreck it with a 40 mph road departure, but it was pretty much indestructible.
Upgrade to shoulder belts and the "protect" part of the equation should be covered.
Can I have what's left of his miata?
We are going to part it, but if you want to make an offer on the whole car you can email me gianni at dailyturismo dot commie.
I suggest a truck!
losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/cto/5342191266.html
Give him a Bus Ticket for 6 Months!
Great idea, why didn't I think of that!
Doesn't work. See my response above.
VW cabriolet, he can still learn how to properly torque stuff on it 🙂 I think this one has an airbag even.
Cabriolet
I had a '84 GTI two Miatas ago and that is what he learned to drive a manual in. So, I'm done with mk1 Golfs.
Funny, his friend has a Cabriolet, and they don't have the same thoughts about someone who drives one as my generation does…
This will keep him on the straight and narrow… Well, maybe not narrow.
Quincy Wannabe
That is a cool wagon!
youtube.com/watch?v=iO_UM3rmzJc
Barn finds had like a 85 ltd wagon with 15k ex coroners rig for $1500.00 i hear it is dead slow ! lmao
Here is a local one is this a good deal ?
premium-motors.com/view_vehicle.html?vehicle_id=1022
Buy the Red Dodge V-10 dick extension PU that crashed doing a burnout in the previous listing. Clip about 4-5 ignition wires, tell him it is an old GM V6 and he'll have no will to hoon about. It is already smashed up, so no pressure.
Seriously, I am glad the young man is ok. It really is only sheet metal. Oh, and monstrous insurance rate hikes. Have fun shopping. Congrats to the person who used my choice, the Checker.
They don't run forever, it just feels that way!
If you squint really hard, the front end of the kid's Miata looks like a Bugatti Veyron…
Just repair it mechanically but not cosmetically from his allowance. Best lesson ever learned. thanks Dad!