Our Antique Cars

After seeing the Studebaker Museum, I decided to list all the cars we have owned. Some are antiques but of course we don't own them now. Some of the later photos are original but many others I had to locate photos, some are the same colors while others are just the model we owned. I don't believe I missed any but memory can slip. My description of model year may also be off but close to actual.

1964 Nash Rambler. My first car belonged to my parents but I was allowed to drive it to Milan High School school in 1967.

My first real car was a 1967 Pontiac Tempest. I had that car about two years. I bought it with my own money while I worked at the local Mobile Station in Milan, Indiana.

1967 Mustang. I should have stored it somewhere but who knew then? I had added a few engine modifications to the 289 engine. It rumbled and roared quite a bit. Police did not like the loud exhaust. I finally gave up on it, costing me too much money so I bought my first new car after this one.

1971 Ford Torino. Purchased new in 1971. I was working at the GM dealer in Milan Indiana at the time. The owner at the dealership was not happy about it. It was parked right in front of the dealership every day. The only red car I ever owned because red is a target for other drivers. A driver came over the center line and hit me head on a week after I purchased it. It was repaired but the paint never matched well. It was hit a couple more times before I sold it to another mechanic at the GM dealership. His sister drove it and guess what, another accident. I believe every body panel on that car had been replaced. 

1961 Ford Pickup. My first truck,  I had this in 1969 for a short time and sold it for a profit.

1973 Chevrolet C10. Purchased new after the Torino. Our truck was tan, not real great looking.We added a custom shell on it, used as our first "camper". It also pulled our first travel trailer, a 16 foot Intrepid. We made our first vacation trip to South Carolina in it.

1961 Chevrolet, Mary's first car. Purchased used from a friend in Milan.

1973 Chevrolet Vega. Purchased new for my ride while I was a Prudential Insurance agent. OK car but we did not keep it very long. The aluminum engine was not great.

1977 Ford Van. Purchased new in 1977 for $5500.00. Ours was actually solid bright blue. We had it repainted once because the paint that year was very poor. I drove it to many fires in Moores Hill when I was Fire Chief. 

1971 Dodge Dart Swinger. Mary drove this for a while when we lived in Moores Hill. It was a rust bucket but everything worked well. Our young daughter was embarrassed to ride in it since it was rusted all over. We purchased it for $500.00 from a neighbor.

1976 Olds Cutlass. Bought it used from someone near Moores Hill. The engine started hammering a couple weeks later. Bad valve lifters were the problem so we got taken on this one. Bought cheap and sold cheaper.

1973 Chevrolet S10. Bought used in Cincinnati because we needed a pickup truck. We had just moved to Lawrenceburg in 1990. It was a good truck, cost us almost nothing to operate. A fellow I worked with bought it and he drove it for several years.

1983 Ford Grand Victoria. A big boat. We decided we wanted a better car so we purchased this used in Lawrenceburg. It had bad brakes but the dealer made it good after raising hell with them. It turned out to be a good car for a few years.

1993 Chevrolet Astro Van. Purchased new in Lawrenceburg to replace the Ford Grand Victoria. We had it until we sold it in 1999 and purchased the 1999 Ford Explorer.

1984 Explorer. Purchased used with lots of miles on it from a friend. It was a great vehicle and finally sold it to purchase the 1999 Ford Explorer.

1999 Ford Explorer, purchased new in Lawrenceburg. It was an OK vehicle but not as good as the white Explorer.  The V6 engine was a problem. My extended warranty replaced on cracked engine head. The engine always had spark knock unless premium gas was used. Gas prices were rising and we decided to get something smaller.

2003 Pontiac Vibe. My best car ever owned. It was small but very universal. I drove that car to work for 13 years, never costing anything but gas, tires and regular service. We gave this car to my grandson Zach when we retired.

2004 Pontiac Vibe. We liked our 2003 so well that we purchased another one. Mary drove this one and it was silver so we could tell which was hers. We gave this car to my sister when we retired.

2000 Jeep Wrangler stick shift. We purchased this used in 2006 when we purchased our Class C motorhome. It towed behind the motorhome and went everywhere with us. Another good vehicle, never cost us much to operate. We sold it because Mary could not drive the stick shift, then purchased our 2004 Wrangler. Drove it seven years, purchased for $8,000.00 and sold for $8000.00. Wranglers really do hold their value. Can't do that on any other vehicle!

2004 Jeep Wrangler. Purchased used to pull behind our 2012 motorhome. Here it is on a beach in St. Augustine, Florida. Mary drove this one with an automatic. Great vehicle, cost very little to operate. Drove it four years, purchased for $12,500.00 and guess what, sold it for $12,500.00.

2016 Jeep Cherokee. Purchased new last July, now our only vehicle. Tows behind our 2016 Tiffin motorhome. We wanted something more comfortable to drive, more cargo space and better gas mileage. The Wranglers got about 15 MPG, this one gets about 25 local, about 30 on the highway. Not bad for a 4WD vehicle.
Maybe this will be our last car???