Art & Inspiration Why do you like Ford, Chevy, Dodge,etc

raised by Fords, now owned by Chevys - fastest was a Ford - Coolest was Buick Riviera (oops, how did that happen?) - figure that our rides own us more than us them

 

'The first car I ever bought was a project 1929 Model A CCPU at 16. It had a stock 265 SBC. So. I was screwed up from the start. I raced on dirt circles for a good portion of my adult life. If you wanted to win races you ran Chevy motors. Pretty much for parts availability. So all I've ever known was Chevy SBC's from 265's to 434's.
I had a friend ask me to help him get a 302 Ford running. I told him all I knew about those fords was that the distributor was on the wrong end and it turned backwards.
I'm a Chevy motor guy all the way, but I'm not so brand devoted to bodies.
I presently have 2 model T's with SBC's.

 

We always had tri-five Chevys. Never had a Ford I liked, had a couple of 318 Dodges that were absolutely bulletproof.

 

So true, Lol, came home from hospital in a Ford, dad always had Ford trucks, Brothers had cougars (later cameros and GS buicks)Bought my first Mustang at 19, Even like Ford Blue...

That being said I like American made!

 

I guess I’m the odd man out .
I ended up Mopar,,,mostly ,,,,,,but I wasn’t raised that way .

My Daddy always drove a Lincoln .
The ones I remember were the 59,,,and later the 58,,,,,and lastly the 65 ,,,it had suicide doors .

All of these cars were close to 10 years old,,,but still in good condition, when he owned them,,,,,because he didn’t buy new .
My favorite was the 58,,,,it was two tone,,,,,,light yellow and white top .
Man it was cool,,,,,,power everything,,,,,,even the rear glass was power and lowered into the trunk area .
It was very fast too,,,,,he always said it was the strongest of them all .
If I remember correctly the motors manual list it as 375 HP ,,,,,a lot for 1958 !
He owned it in about 1967-68,,,somewhere through there,,,,,man it was fun !

By the way,,,,I still call him Daddy because he has earned my respect many times over .
He’s 92 and still the toughest man I know !

Tommy

 

I don't discriminate with brand loyalty however I was raised GM (Holden). The major players; GM, Ford and MOPAR did things differently here in Australia to the rest of the world with English marques also being popular as a Commonwealth country.
I currently spread the love over a few marques in my garage; Ford, Oldsmobile and Chevrolet and briefly once had a Buick and English Ford (DD).
I've even thought about a MOPAR as I've never owned one. Any North American based car, pre and post war, gets me interested however I appreciate most things with **** or wheels.

 

I never really "got" brand loyalty, but most of my favorite post-war cars are Mopar. Dodge/Chrysler/Plymouth had this thing with big cars with lots of torque that speaks to me. I love old cars in general though, there are very few pre-70 cars I'd kick out of bed.

 

Worked for gm dealers so I’m not a big fan except old stuff
Owned my first 350 about 4 years ago. Installed and worked on plenty. Never owned one. No complaints. Hopefully it holds up as well as the 302 we built in high school. Still going since we put it together in 88.
I ended up with a bunch of gm parts through trading over the years I’d get ford parts cheap from my gm buddies not smart enough to know how to use em.
I got a couple mopars on the floor patiently waiting.
They’re all great and they all suck at the same time.
But I did grow up hating all 6cyls. I had to drive em in HS. Now I got a pile of stovebolts and luv em. Same for the leaning tower of power. Both the 223 ford and 235s I had were some of the most dependable things I ever owned.
Now I got a pile of big caddy’s. Crappy top end design but dang that torque.

 

After meeting you in person, and spending some time sitting around eating hot dogs and talking hot rods, it's easy to tell that you're a man that was raised up the right way. You are a good man Tommy, and a tough man in your own right. But I have no idea what happened on the dodge thing lol... just kidding buddy.

 

raised in a chevy family. they feel right and have always treated me well. never walked away from one. I have owned all different makes and have good and bad experiences. I have a varied collection of cars including Buick, Porsche, Mercedes, jeep, dodge and GMC but I love my chevy the best.

 

WHAT!! Hell man, I'd have never thunk it I still think we might be long lost family though

 

I caught a lot of flack from my friends when I bought my dodge truck, but I wanted a regular cab, short wheelbase shop truck, I just didn't know how hard that was gonna be to find. Turns out, I like my truck.

 

Didn't hurt my feelings, just a lame excuse to not like a certain make of car.

 

my dodge is a square body single cab short bed that I now only use to plow snow with and do yard work.....the snow and the yard have been winning the last couple years

 

LoL,,,,,,well Lloyd,,,,Mopar is not for everyone .

My first cars and engines were SBC,,,,,,great engine,,,,,,,to be fair,,,,probably the best all around engine ever built .
And I say that,,,,, judging from overall ease of building,,,,power return for money invested,,,,and durability .
Chevrolet really made some wise decisions in the engine department .
Look at how many parts interchange between small block and big block,,,,or engine sizes of small blocks .
Sadly,,,the Fords interchange almost nothing between engine families .
Many on here even have trouble figuring what parts belong to what families.
High deck,,,low deck,,,,,very confusing .
Ford did use a very accurate method of casting numbers into the different components,,,,so that helps a lot,,,,,if you know all the numbers and codes .
On the trannies,,,,,different flywheels,,,,different converters,,,,,different input shafts.

Mopar,.,,,always had a strong engine,,,driveline.
Slant six,,up to the Hemi,,,,reliable and strong .

And that starter whine could scare you when it was dark outside,,,,LoL .

Tommy

 

To be quite honest, I pretty much just like American cars and some that aren’t as long as they aren’t Japanese. Growing up in a family that was supported by the American car industry, Japanese cars were like cuss words. I still pretty much think that way. I have owned pretty much all the GM brands, Fords, Chrysler’s, a VW and a couple Jags (during the Ford years) of the 150 or so cars I have owned. So, even though I said GM before, it is mainly just not Japanese.

 

Yes, and their 4-speeds and differentials prove that point.

 

I’ve also had them all, but deep down inside, I’m a Ford man. My Grandad saw to that. His first car was a 1950 Ford Tudor with a V-8. Grandpa had a 1954 Ford Tudor with a 239 and Overdrive. Dad started off with Chevies, 1969 Camaro, 1970 Monte Carlo, 1970 Vega, 1972 K-5, but when he became a Carpenter, he bought new Ford Trucks. I had a succession of new Silverados, but GM quality, their penny pinching ways, and their corporate politics soured me on GM. That being said, I still love the Small Block Chevrolet and used to bracket race one. Currently I drive an old Ranger and new F-150.

 

When I was 2 days old in 1951 my first ride was in our 46 Buick Roadmaster and I have been a Buick guy like my Dad ever since. That is all we had growing up and I still have them to this day. I always have a Chevy truck and have had other GM cars but I am never without a Buick! My aunts and uncles were mostly GM people although I had a couple uncles that were Ford guys but I never held that against them, lol. We had some relation that came to reunions once a year that drove Mopar junk, I ask my Dad when I was little why they drove those Dodges and Plymouths. He said because they were cheap and he guessed they just plain didn't know any better. I have a friend that just bought a Toyota pick up, I told him when he comes over not to park it in my driveway so my GM stuff don't catch any thing bad from it

 

Dad and 2 of his brothers "my uncles" drove Chevys, then dads sister married a Ford Guy "my other uncle"
and the Ford v/s Chevy stuff started
Love the styling of a lot of Fords, don't understand why the tri-five Fords don't have the same following, really like the 57
The easy interchange and availability of parts made Chevy stuff cheaper, in the early 70s we could go to the local bone yard and buy a 283 for $40.00 or a 327 for $60.00. Still can install a new 350 crate long block into a 55 Chevy bolt for bolt.

 

I bleed Ford blue. I did own chevies and they were cheap and plentiful but they were not the same level of quality as the Fords that I have and had. Pontiacs were the best quality of any GM product and I owned some. New vette squeaked and rattled for a high dollar sports car it was unacceptable and I did not keep it long. Fords build quality is IMO far superior to GM and this includes caddilac as I also have Lincolns. Mopars, well I was good friends with a die hard Mopar geek back in the '60's through the '70's and he bought an OT muscle car brand new, ordered it. Took delivery and drove out of the dealers lot and when he hit 40 MPH the carpet started blowing up under his feet. There was a 2" gap between the floorboard and toe board. He took it back and they offered to fix it and he declined and demanded it be replaced. He waited another two months and re took delivery of yet another special ordered car. This time the floor was absent just in front of the back seat. He walked out and bought an OT Ford KOR.

 

I'm a Ford guy, but it had nothing to do with my parents.

I'm a hot rodder...a pre '48 guy. All those hundreds of old magazines I read, taught me that since the beginning of time (well the teens anyway) hot rods have been FORDS!
Model T "gow jobs", Model A"bangers" and of course Flathead V8s dominated for almost 30 years. If you're a hot rodder, you almost have to be a Ford guy

Also, I don't cheat on my wife...and I don't cheat on my Fords...they get Ford engines.

 

That reminds me, I haven't seen a friend Brian in a long time, he could do a perfect impression of a MOPAR starter. First car in the family was a Model T Ford back in 1923, still have the bill of sale. Remember looking at the sales brochure for a 1961 Ford in the dining room with my Dad, when I was 10, later learned to drive it, and took my drivers test with it. Had a one owner '54 Chevy as my first driver, then a early '55 Chevy pick up. First (and only) new truck was a 1976 Ford. Got a ride in a 1912 Model T Ford when I was about 12, really impressed me, it is in my garage today. Looking for a good 20 year old Ford van or truck now, guess I'm a Ford guy.

Bob

 

I should also say that when I got into sprint cars, I was amazed how much power you could get out of a SBC without serious modifications. The only Chevy I owned prior to the race cars was a 58 Impala with a 348.

 

First car, at age 15, was a 36 chev 2dr standard. Drove it all thru high school. In those days, other than points and plugs you could not buy shit for an old chevy, except for JC Whittney junk. Got a model T, then a model A, and parts were never a problem again. Then, I needed a flathead v8 I thought, and what could be more beautiful than fords in the 30's? Drive train interchanges for about 20 years, and they are darn good cars. I have had my small block chevy craze, had a 55 belaire HT in the 80's, and a 57 wagon, but gone now. Also, if I bring brand X stuff to a swap meet, I bring it home again. Ford stuff sells. I am currently trying to rid myself of everything not ford on the place

 

Mr. Google will tell you

 

I give a fuck, that's who! Can't stand the whining of a Chrysler starter, too damned high pitched! GM starters just sound like starters. Ford starters sound like an anemic Chrysler starter, BUT... a flathead starter has its own sound that is unmistakable and unique, guaranteed to give a car guy a woody. They have the best sound of all. But yeah, some of us can't stand that fast-spinning crap!

 

I like the story's !!
My Grandad was Ford guy ,he owned a Flying A station , an my Dad got what ever he thought was a good deal< no matter what brand.
Me,well they are all nuts n bolts ! and I love playing with nuts n bolts!!
Yet who your talking too's fav. brand,can be fun,if you pretend to like one they hate! LOL
As for luck,with one brand or another ?: Often is owner being bad at up-keep an poor at looking over a used car before a buy.
I never owned a brand new car,seemed like trashing a pile of extra $ I never had>for WHY?
I can't even think of a big brand car,I haven't own at some point,but a give away is,next year I'll be 80,an I'm on my #18th station wagon now!
I really like a few designs by body shapes of ,what I think is there best year,of a good number of brands.
In that type list,there are more Studebakers shapes,then others,yet a lot of brands in the list. Even a few I never got,but wanted.
My first hotrod engine was The Ford "Y" block V8< still use one,in that first Hotrod 28A, I built an got running 1959. Still drive on nice weekends.
I have built an raced more small block Chevy V8's then I can remember. Along with Ford's an some real odd balls as well.
Nuts n bolts

 

Mopar spoken here!
The 1st car I drove was dad's 64 Olds. I blew up the trans in it after about 6 months.
The 1st car I paid for was a Buick, dad bought it and I had to pay him back. I made payments on that for a year. In that year I put in 3 motors, 3 sets of rear wheel bearings, and a trans.
My 1st job (at 15 1/2) was at a full service gas station that was one of the most respected repair shops in town. After the Olds experience, and going through the Buick experience, I really started paying attention to the cars we serviced at the station. In a 1972-1974 time frame, the number of cars that seemed to last the most miles were overwhelmingly Dodge, Plymouth, and Chrysler products.
The 1st car I chose to buy for myself was a Plymouth. I drove that Plymouth as hard, and maybe a little harder then I drove the Buick (with the same number of miles on it), but the Plymouth never failed. I beat on that poor Plymouth for 7 years, and put nearly 60,000 miles on it myself. I sold the Plymouth to my brother - in-law with 135,000 miles on it, and he drove it to CO and then drove it another 3 years before it finally dropped over dead at around 150,000 miles. Been driving Mopars ever since, lots of Mopars.

It seems like a lit of guys don't like the Mopar starter. The winter of 78/79 here was a brute. We had record cold temps, -30 to -40 many nights through that winter and our cars were parked on the streets, no garage even close. The only time it warmed up that winter, was to snow more, it was also a record amount of snow. We had 2 Mopars, one for me, one for my wife. She was a nurse and had to be at work at 7am. I was working maintenance at a factory and I had to be at work at 5 am. When its that cold, hearing that gear reduction starter crank over the very stiff big block and have it start was music to your ears at 4:30 am with -40 temps. Then knowing the gear reduction starter on my wife's car was going to get her going a couple hours later was reassuring. Many of those early morning trips to work I shared the roads with mostly Mopar cars & trucks. Those gear reduction starters did the job.

And for the record, if the carb and ignition was properly set up, the starters didn't have to crank very long, my stuff usually started on the 2nd revolution of the motor. Gene

 

My thoughts exactly.

There might have been some kind of continuity of company culture once, but that is gone. The industry is a revolving door.

I've somehow ended up with a sequence of VW Golf Mk 1s mainly because they're all over the place here and I dislike a lot of the alternatives. But if not for circumstances I wouldn't invest all my attention in a '70s front-drive hatchback platform.