The cars, trucks and motorcycles I've owned

My Cars, Trucks, Motorcycles, Airplanes and Helicopters

The Cars and Trucks I have owned over the years.

'64 Fiat - I bought this car when I was 14. I paid $20 for it; I bought it from one of our neighbors who had hit a horse with it which had broken out the right half of the windshield. Since it wasn't really highway worthy I used it mostly driving the extensive fire lane network in the thousands of acres behind our home.
'47 Dodge Panel Van - I paid $100 for this van when I was about 15, as with the fiat, I used it mostly in the fire lanes though once in a while I did find myself cruising the highways despite the fact that I never registered it. I wish I had the van today, it was in very good shape when I owned it, it didn't have a single rust hole in it.
'70 Chevrolet C10 - I kind of confiscated this truck from my older brother who was in prison at the time, when I was 15 or 16. I used this truck all over the country. I abandoned this truck when I tore the clutch out of it while downshifting at high speed since the truck didn't have any brakes; we had long used them up.
'66 Buick Electra - I confiscated this car in the same manner as the above mentioned truck after I tore it up. I thoroughly used this car up also, toasting the engine while racing a friend of mine who was driving a Buick Grand Sport. My engine overheated, but I kept the pedal on the floor until it was completely smoked. I coasted to the side of the road and left this car right there.
'65 Mercury Montego - I bought this nice car from my dad when I was 16. I used it to drive to school until I quit a couple of months later, then to drive to work after that until my older brother crashed it, he never could drive worth a crap.
'65 Pontiac Catalina - I bought this car when I was 16, I paid $50 for it. I used this car for a year or two until my older brother crashed it to; yeah, the same one as above.
'62 Chevrolet Impala - I bought this car from a friend when I was 16. I didn't need it, so I cut the top off of it for fun since it was summer and back then nothing had air conditioners in them. It had a 250 ci 6 cyl engine in it so it was under powered as could be, but fun to drive.
'61 Pontiac Catalina - I bought this car when I was 16, didn't need it either, but I had a car addiction and since I had two or three other vehicles at the time. I never drove it hardly at all.
'64 Ford wagon - I bought this car when I was 17, and drove it quite a bit though it was ugly as sin with that baby shit green color, it was extremely reliable.
'64 Buick Wildcat convertible - I bought this car when I was 17 from a woman who was selling it to spite the man she had just divorced. He knew what he had; I didn't know what I was buying. I used it off and on for a year or two before selling it. This was the most valuable car I ever owned; it was one of only eight ever made. This car came from the factory with a 401 CID engine, 4-speed manual transmission, and twin four barrel carburetors. It was in cherry condition and fast as hell, but I had several other cars and didn't need it; didn't know what it was worth and sold it for $100. Today, it would be worth more than $1,000,000. Makes me sick every time I think about it.
'70 Dodge Charger - This was another high value car I owned, one gorgeous and fast machine. I paid $1,500 for it when I bought it in 1976. I used it for a couple of years until the tranmission went out, where I coasted over to the side of the road and abandoned it, just walked away. Another one that makes me ill, it to was in cherry condition and would be worth well over $20,000 today.
'69 Chevrolet Nova - I bought this car in Portland OR in 1979 and used it for a year or two. I drove it to Wisconsin in January of 1980, just before Mount St Helens blew. This car was powered by the old 250 ci 6cyl engine which didn't have a lot of horses, but it had a lot of torque. I towed a 6x12 tandem-axle U-haul trailer on that trip to WI. Towing that trailer, this car was like a tank in the snow, I know, I crossed the Rockies with it on that winter trip.
'72 Buick Lesabre - I bought this car in 1980 to replace the old Nova that was pretty used up. This was when full-size cars were really full-size.
'76 Ford Pinto - This car was given to me by a guy I was working for at the time, I needed a car and this one wasn't worth much, but it was reliable. It used as much oil as it did gas, smoked like a freight train, the timing belt jumped everytime I hit a snow drift, but I was good at coasting over to the side of the road and popping it back on.
'74 Chevrolet K10 Pickup - This was a pretty good truck that I used for a couple of years before the same brother of mine who had crashed my other cars somehow wound up with it, and just like my other cars, once he got his hands on it, I never saw it again.
'76 AMC Matador - I bought this car from my sister and used it for a few years, it was the first car I owned that had a factory air conditioner that actually worked.
'76 Chevrolet C10 Pickup - I bought this truck for the engine, a 454. I drove it for a year or two before pulling the engine to put in the next truck I had.
'72 Chevrolet C20 - I bought this truck and took out the 350 putting in the 454. I drove it for a couple of years before pulling the engine and junking it in Florida. This was one rusted out old truck, I got tired of sweeping up the rust every morning.
'74 Ford F250 - I bought this cherry truck in Florida from my brother-in-law in. My worthless second wife crashed it. The truck was a total loss, terrible, it was worth a hell of a lot more than she was!
'79 Ford F150 - I bought this truck to replace the one my useless second wife had crashed. It was a piece of shit just like her. I never should have never taken either, but I kept them both for a while longer.
'81 Buick Skylark - This was the first of several cars I bought or confiscated from customers at my shop who either didn't pay their bill, or just didn't want to pay the price to fix their cars. I bought this car from a customer for that useless wife, it was much better then she was.
'78 Chevrolet Malibu Wagon - This was a pretty good car, fast as shit. I had put a new engine in it, and fixed it up a bit.
'86 Chevrolet Astro Van - This was a really good van, I bought it from a customer of mine. I lost it in my divorce from my useless second wife, then bought it back from her later. I gave it to my daughter later.
'81 Dodge D250 - This was one of the best trucks I ever owned. I bought it in 1989 with a 318 that was knocking; put in a rebuilt 360 but the fuel mileage sucked pulling trailers (6-9 mpg), which I did all the time. So, I converted it to a Chevrolet 6.2 diesel which I had aquired and rebuilt. After putting in the diesel, this truck got 17 mpg all the time, pulling trailers or not, and had much more power. I drove this truck for more than ten years then gave it to my daughter who drove it a few more years. Together, we put well over 300,000 miles on that truck.
'78 Pontiac Firebird - I bought this cherry condition car from a customer of mine, but never drove it. I had it for several years then sold it to my nephew.
'93 Chevrolet Cavalier - I bought this car from my dad in 1999 after I finally got rid of that worthless second wife of mine.
'01 Saturn - I bought this car from my sister. This was the first car that my third wife and I owned.
'04 Saturn - The other Saturn was so good, we bought a second, third, and then a fourth which is not on this list as I bought it for my wife, not myself.
'07 Saturn - We bought two of these at the same time, one for myself, and the other for my wife.
'87 Chevrolet S10 - I needed a truck and found this one of which the body was in excellent condition though it needed an engine. I bought a 3.4 camaro engine and rebuilt it to replace the 2.8 in this truck.
'86 Chevrolet C30 - We bought this truck to pull our first RV, a 32 foot 5th wheel. It was a good deal, we paid $1,200 and sold it for $2,900. This truck had a 454, it was a gas hog; 10 mpg without a trailer and 6 mpg with it.
'96 Chevrolet C3500HD - I Bought this cherry truck with 45,000 miles on it for $4,500. Though we didn't know it at the time the engine, a 6.5 diesel had cracked heads. The onwer was a real scumbag lier; during the teardown of the engine, it was obvious that he had already been in their and didn't fix it. I rebuilt it and we drove it for three years (60,000 miles) and then sold it for $6,100. In the end, this was the cheapest vehicle I ever owned since I started tracking the cost of ownership in 2004 (see below).
'03 Chevrolet 1500 - We traded one of our '07 Saturns on this truck which my wife is still driving today. This truck is in really nice condition.
'12 Ram 2500 - We bought this truck new in November of 2013 to pull our third travel trailer which was to heavy for the Chevrolet 1500. This is the truck we were wanting as it is equiped with the Cummins 6.7 which gets excellent fuel mileage. This is the best vehicle I have ever owned in many ways, but mostly in the quality of the truck over all. The power the engine puts out makes it a pleasure to drive any time, especially when someone thinks they're gonna beat me to the next light or bottle neck.
'06 Saturn Vue - I bought this knowing it needed an engine, but since I needed an airport car, well, I bought it.

The Motorcycles I've owned over the years:

'76 Honda CL360 - This was the first motorcycle I had, it was bought for me by the farmer who I was working for as a gift for good work. When I quit working for him, I left it for his kids, but my useless brother later stole it from him, and neither he nor I ever saw it again until one day when I happened to stop by my aunts place in Louisville KY where low-and-behold, there sat this motorcycle where my brother had abandoned it.
'78 Harley Davidson FX Superglide - This is the second motorcycle I had, which I bought in May of 1981. I rode it well over 100,000 miles covering many states, all the way from Key West, Florida to Canada. I've have had it for over 43-years, and I still have it today.
'76 Harley Davidson XLCH Sportster - I bought this motorcycle from a good friend of mine in 1987, and then sold it to an employee to help him out. I sold it to cheap, should've kept it.
'85 Harley Davidson XLCH Sportster - I bought this motorcycle in 1990 for $1,500 so that when friends came around they could ride with me. I lost it in my divorce to my useless second wife; should have stuck her in the ground. This motorcycle was worth 100-times what she was, and 5-times what I paid for it.
'68 Harley Davidson XLH Sportster - I bought this motorcycle from my little brother in 1994, never used it, then sold it to my other little brother.
'78 Harley Davidson FXE Low Rider - I inherited this motorcylce in 2013 when my older brother died, then sold it to my other little brother.
'09 Harley Davidson FLHTCU Ultra Classic - I bought this motorcycle new in February of '09 to ride with my dad when he had bought his '09 Tri-glide. I sold it March of '16; it was one fine-assed ride but I just wasn't using it enough. The only thing that depreciates faster than one of these is a Cadillac Escalade. The market is just absolutely flooded with them. With interest considered, I paid over $27,000 for it, and sold it for $11,000. It was the most expensive vehicle I have ever owned at a final cost of over $1.10 per mile used. All things considered, it was the worst purchase I have ever made with regard to vehicles, probably with regard to eveything else except my useless second wife.

Aircraft I've owned or leased over the years:

'66 Cessna 150 N4683X - This was the first aircraft, also being the first airplane I had. I purchased it in the summer of 1998 for $15,000. I flew it from Florida to northern Wisconsin, and just had a lot of fun with it. I flew this airplane about 350 hours before selling it.
'66 Bell 47 Helicopter N7907S - This was the second aircraft, but the first helicopter I had. I purchased it the winter of 1998. It was a completely refurbished aircraft, and I billed more than 360 hours on it the first year I had it.
'66 Cessna 210 N1888F - This was my third aircraft, second airplane. I bought this aircraft during the summer of 1999. I flew this airplane everywhere. When I was stationed in Miami flying SPIFR freight, I flew this airplane to the Bahamas nearly every Saturday. I spent as much as $3,000 per month in fuel alone for this aircraft, largely paid for by the billing on the helicopter above.
'98 Robinson R22 - My wife and I leased this helicopter the spring of 2003. We used it for a while in Florida for flight training at a school we had in Keystone Heights.
'72 Cessna 152 - My wife and I leased this airplane for the flight school summer of 2003.
'76 Bell Jet Ranger - I leased this helicopter the fall of 2005 for a film contract I had in Florida. I kept it at the Rockwood airport for a while thinking I might use it for some more side work, but I wasn't able to keep it busy enough to warrant continuing the lease.
'68 Cessna 150 - I bought this airplane for the flight school we were starting in Rockwood TN in the winter of 2007..
'68 Piper Cherokee - I bought this aiplane summer of 2008 also for the Rockwood flight school.
'68 Piper Arrow N3928T - My wife and I bought this airplane February of 2019 for our personal use. This is one really nice airplane and we currently own it.

Well folks, that is the story of the Cars, Trucks, Motorcycles, Airplanes and Helicopters that I have owned in my lifetime to date. I am sure I have forgotten one or two cars or trucks, but that is the best I remember.

Cost of ownership - In 2004 I decided to start to track and calulate the cost of owning a given vehicle since it had become obvious that almost no one actually knew those numbers. By knowing this, it is easy to determine whether or not buying a given vehicle is actually worth the investment. I found in talking to most people, no one knew how the cost of purchase figured into the cost of drving the vehicle. In fact a large percentage of people would spend thousands of dollars buying an expensive new car to save money on fuel never being aware that it was nearly impossible to own the car long enough to save a single dime no matter how much fuel mileage the car actually got.

Take for example: You have a truck that gets 16 mpg on average, and you decide to buy a spanking new car that gets 60 mpg on average that will cost you $24,000. You just happen to have the cash, so you won't have to pay any interest on that money which makes the purchase price as cheap as it can possible get. Now with the knowledge that the cheapest the average person can drive a vehicle is .11 cents per mile purchase costs, it is easy to calculate how many miles you need to drive this new car before it begins to save you a penny in fuel mileage. To do this, just divide the purchase cost by .11 which in this case equals 218,181. Since you need a truck, you can't just stop driving it, so lets say that you drive this car 20,000 miles a year, it will take you 10.9 years before you save a single penny on fuel. You can see that purchasing this car is a complete waste of money as it will be junk before you ever save a penny in fuel. END