I guess I fit in this category except for the Nash thing.....

__________________
83 300CDTurbo 307,000
2005 Honda Element 266,000
56 Nash Ambassador Country Club Special 34,000(under restoration presently)

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/car-audio-multimedia/125099-123-install-extreme-dynamat.html

Why would you pay good money for an AMC? You must be some kind of weirdo or something ! Seriously, though, the old AMCs (particularly Ramblers) have the same kind of frugal appeal as VWs. The Rambler American, then the Gremlin, competed directly with the VW Beetle.

__________________
1982 300D, black w/ palomino leather, 203K
2001 E320, champagne, 105K (Mom's)
1999 Dodge Dakota, squeaky & battered, 142K

83 240 Volvo Wagon - first car that I tinkered with,
82 240 Volvo Wagon Turbo
88 Saab 9000
Mercedes 300D 1983

That is my list of European cars so far, they are great!


Other notables, a very reliable 1990 Subaru wagon, lots and lots of Land Cruisers including a 1987 diesel HJ60 from Canada and my current land cruiser, a 1971 FJ55 with a Cummins 4BT in it, and others. I also have a neat 1969 FSJ sitting in my driveway that is pretty cool, with a Buick 350 (factory) in it. I am 26 and have had probably 15 cars (at least?)

__________________
Andre Shoumatoff - Park City, Utah
Diesel Engine Conversion Community

1980 jetta
1984 jetta gli for the wife
1981 westy

my jetta replaced by a 1987 sable ls
her gli replaced by an integra ls-now the 17yr olds car
1981 westy sold
sable and westy replaced in 1993 by a grand caravan

__________________
currently
[1981 300 td tdidi 165500 dark brown/palamino-Brownie-mine-3k miles of ownership
1983 240d 162+++ Anthricite grey w/ henna red interior and hella lights-wifes car-Red

the above two cars are for sale
and can be seen on the cars for sale thread here. pix also available.


240d-144+ Manilla Yellow w/ palmino interior-greasecar kit-Blondie-the college kids car

23" gt 21 speed still on original tires-still got the nubs
21" khs tandem

Never into Volvos or Saabs. I did high school in western CT where every snooty yuppie and their snotty kids drove them. My family drove VW's. 84 Rabbit, 84 Quantum wagon, 88 Scirroco, 88 Quantum Synchro Wagon (gave itself to save my Mom, T-boned by a drunk in a Town Car). I got caught in the musclecar thing. 1975 Dodge Dart Sport, factory 360 with Holley, duals, emissions delete. 1972 Firebird, 455 Pontiac w/every trick in the book. Effortlessly removes tread from tires. College, 1981 Chevy Caprice Classic w/built 400 smallblock. Great party car. 1985 Dodge Shelby Charger, good power, handled like a slotcar and decent mpg-finally! The the pickup trucks, 88 Mazda ExCab, 72 Chevy C10 shortbed with Corvette engine, 4speed and 4.11's-fun but not practical. 95 Chevy W/T1500, excellent truck, 150K+ sold to brother, never had a single problem, not one. 93 Chevrolet C2500HD, most reliable vehicle I have ever owned. Never had a single problem, never let me down, 212K and going strong. 89 VW Jetta diesel. Gutless but cheap to own/run, fantastic in snow, reliable. TMU but WAG'ed at over 300K. Great little car. I had wanted a MB for years since going to diesel. I found my 84 300D after looking for 2 years for what I wanted. Ebayed and satisfied. RT

__________________
When all else fails, vote from the rooftops!
84' Mercedes Benz 300D Anthracite/black, 171K
03' Volkswagen Jetta TDI blue/black, 93K
93' Chevrolet C2500HD ExCab 6.5TD, Two-tone blue, 252K

Interesting...

I've got a VW TDI and an MB 240D. I really like the look of the Volvo 240D's also, but need to learn more about them.

I went to look at (and help the owner start) a 300D a few weeks ago. He had two Volvos sitting there in his driveway.

- Patrick

__________________
1982 240D. 198k, Marine Blue/Blue, 4 Speed, Crank Windows, No Sunroof, No Rust, No Oil Leaks
2001 TDI. 197k, Lagoon Blue/Black, 5 speed, Chip, G60/VR6

I saw a Volvo diesel wagon today at a car lot. I think this is the one I drove last spring. Heavy black smoke under acceleration. 4 or 5 sp manual. Great diesel sound. Body was great, not a speck of rust. Interior had seen better days. I almost bought that one last spring. even that one would have been less trouble than my wagon.

__________________
Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

yup, 4 Saab 900's one SPG, all red with tan guts. Didn't really plan on it, shoot I don't even like them that much, but they kept falling into my lap a price I couldn't refuse.

No VW's

All the Saab 900T's with 5-speeds I've ever seen had NO 2nd gear syncro after 110k miles.

Fun as hell to drive! I just wish they were built better.

Per my sig, I have a new saab turbo and still have my beloved, smashed 300D. I convinced my father to buy a second car, a 96 non-turbo w210 E300D!

My brother has the best in terms of a fun car... 94 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4: what a car to have as a HS senior!

JMH

__________________
Current Diesels:
1981 240D (73K)
1982 300CD (169k)
1985 190D (169k)
1991 350SD (113k)
1991 350SD (206k)
1991 300D (228k)
1993 300SD (291k)
1993 300D 2.5T (338k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (442k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (265k)

Past Diesels:
1983 300D (228K)
1985 300D (233K)

Learned to drive in a '74 99 EMS, silver with the alloy soccer wheels. Then progressed through a dozen aircooled VW's to the 1.5 and 1.6L VW diesels. Got my first '73 220D 15 years ago, then went on to a BMW 318i, a Scirocco, a '76 2002, several Vanagons, a Passat tdi and finally arrived at my current '87 300TD, '84 300D and '89 Vanagon.

BTW: I recently purchased the three accessory gauges from an '84 Saab Turbo at the local pick-a-part. One of them is a 0-100 degree F temp gauge. What's the purpose of this gauge? Is this simply an ambient temp gauge? But, why would it stop at 100 degree F?

Volvo ambi temp only goes to 100F as well( I have a collection of Volvo parts, and no Volvo really, so sad). VW has a VDO oil temp gauges, which I always thought was a DAMN fine gauge to have, dunno why others do not.
Get the correct sensor for the gauge too, sometimes hard to match up the right one.

Maybe if it's over 100 it's considered "plenty darn hot"

__________________
One more Radar Lover gone...
1982 VW Caddy diesel 406K 1.9L AAZ
1994 E320 195K

Does it ever get anywhere near 100F in Sweden? Maybe that's why.

__________________
AlexTheSeal: hack mechanic, inadvertent drifting champ, builder of infernal devices, professional epistemologist

'87 300D Turbo, roadtrip mileage champ (for sale!)
'92 Isuzu Trooper, mudder extraordinaire (for sale!)
'82 Honda Silverwing, cockroach of motorcycles
And various boring daily drivers...

Mmm.. Could be.. Could be..

__________________
One more Radar Lover gone...
1982 VW Caddy diesel 406K 1.9L AAZ
1994 E320 195K

I used to have a 16V Jetta. It was a fun car though but I don't know if I would ever drive one again. I just don't think the extra maintenance costs of the 16V over the 8V are worth it.

Scott

__________________
Scott
1982 Mercedes 240D, 4 speed, 275,000
1988 Porsche 944 Turbo S (70,000)
1987 Porsche 911 Coupe 109,000 (sold)
1998 Mercedes E300 TurboDiesel 147,000 (sold)
1985 Mercedes 300D 227,000 (totaled by inattentive driver with no insurance!)
1997 Mercedes E300 Diesel 236,000 (sold)
1995 Ducati 900SS (sold)
1987 VW Jetta GLI 157,000 (sold)
1986 Camaro 125,000 (sold - P.O.S.)
1977 Corvette L82 125,000 (sold)
1965 Pontiac GTO 15,000 restored (sold)