Is having a car with a functional engine enough to have fun?

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Brainfewd@reddit

5 years? Try 10. And then sell it at a significant loss.

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Brainfewd@reddit

Woah, Mr Bagriders! I’m a fan of your work! And your guest visits on Revival Motoring Podcast™️

Also my buddy works for you lol.

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hey thanks a lot for the kind words! and love to meet a fellow RM fan out in the wild! i've had a blast being a guest on that show and listen to every episode. i've known Josh for many years, since the Gengstout days, man what a trip its been. is your buddy here in VT or one of our remote guys?

on the project car note -- i'm on a good track to NOT hit that 10 year mark with my OG project car (my WRX wagon), which has been in my shop on dollies since November 2021. i've been distracted by many things over the 5-ish years (including becoming a Dad) but I just wrapped up my 132507th side project so I'm gonna get that car back on the road this summer, I'm determined!

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Brainfewd@reddit

Lanky Pete is the guy (I just realized I don’t even know if he’s still with you guys lol). Been a revival guy since day one due to Fourdoorphil. I’m the far side of NY but hoping someday I can make a donut meet there based around another trip or whatnot.

Glad to hear the project is going to see some light! My main car is together and down to little things, currently recovering Recaro LS’ for it. I just buy a new project though, and it’s currently only about 1/4 of a 1948 Chevy pickup, so that might end up being a 10 year lol.

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john_at_bagriders@reddit

Pete is the man and is indeed still with BR! Phil is also the man, and I've known him for a good long while too, back when he had a Subaru! I'm in a similar boat re: donut meet, given northern VT is close to nothing (except canada) its not exactly a "pop over for the meet" type of thing but something on my to-do list for sure.

Scoped out your post history a bit, are the Recaros for the E30 Touring? If so, perfect choice IMO! I almost bought the E30 touring Bag Riders owned for a while (for YT content some years ago) but passed on it, and glad I did. I'd never have made the time for it, and the new owner just finished a nice resto! I wasn't there, but that car was in our booth at Riverside Chattanooga a few weeks ago

The '48 sounds like one hell of a project! You may know Zak DePiero, he built an absolutely sick hotrod around the cab of a '47 Autocar. Obviously not the same thing, but a similar "foundation" so to speak!

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Brainfewd@reddit

Funny how small this world is, I went to school with Pete at RIT before he transferred. I was following Phil from the c10 forum days when he started Goldilocks, and now he prints stickers for me!

Recaro’s are indeed for the wagon. It’s my first bucket list car and I’m so happy to have it in the garage.

I know of Zak through Revival, such a cool project! I’ll probably be in a similar boat as him.

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TeamFoulmouth@reddit

Having it on stands and building it while enjoying some cold 1s with friends is where the fun is at..after that, it just takes up space in the garage cuz it never gets finished!

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poutine-eh@reddit

my first car was a 75 rabbit with 52 Hp that burned oil… was a lot of fun

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Bulocoo@reddit

I've always done "rolling refit" restomod.

Example - By a running vehicle - no rust bad paint in need of work.

First job for me is put it on stands and 100% replace/ refurb the brakes.

The next thing is usually suspension. It's a big job.

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gmehodler42069741LFG@reddit

Having a cheap car with no payments is the most fun, then you can invest and save for a toy you are passionate about.

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IntheOlympicMTs@reddit

It’s more than enough

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Alas93@reddit

I prefer my cars without an engine

nothing more fun than having the car sit there half apart in the garage so I can look at it while drinking a beer and think about how great it'll be when I one day finish rebuilding it (I never will and will sell it as a roller in 5 years for a loss)

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doug-demuro-is-daddy@reddit

I bought my 1969 Mercury in high school which ran and drove and kind of stopped as my first project. I think being able to drive it around motivated me to make it better. 9 years later I drove the thing to work and back yesterday. It depends on your plan and skills and budget but it’s nice to have a running project

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SpaceCat72@reddit

It's more fun to drive a slow car fast, than a fast car slow. I love beaters and sleepers. Just find something to work on. Don't tear it to pieces, it will never be whole again. Find a project to drive and play with. At the same time

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frozt@reddit

I can afford a faster car, but I bought a slower to save money. Ended up driving it faster than a fast car every take off. Needs to be stick shift though.

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OkCartographer175@reddit

You also need tires

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Slappathebassmon@reddit

Pfft. Actually having a car is not fun.

The fun part's endlessly discussing in online forums which car you would buy.

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IAteTonysLoMein@reddit

I prefer to jump straight to judging what other people bought

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cyn_ou@reddit

You forgot the part where you also have to be 15, have never driven before and talk shit about anyone that doesn't own a G80 or svj

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Slappathebassmon@reddit

Oooh you're right. That's actually better.

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CaptainHubble@reddit

And listen to advice on a model by people who neither own a car, or have even ever driven that model.

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NikkorMatt456@reddit

I've got to admit I find Freiburger's YT channel a great watch. I guess the fascination with Dusters is okay, but turning the junkyard Mustang into a good-looking driver made it all look very tempting. It can't be that easy.

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theytrynabecrayy@reddit

I mean, why do so many people love MX5s? Aside from the way it looks and its popularity, the whole appeal is the driving experience. and it’s far from a powerful or fast car.

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Prestigious-Hyena-72@reddit

More fun than the public bus

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VW-MB-AMC@reddit

If you like the car, yes. The car I drive the most is an old VW Beetle with 34hp. It redlines at 4500rpm and can reach 125km/h in 4th gear without a head wind. It is just as dangerous as 1000+ hp at a fraction of the cost. We even get good mileage.

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RaggaDruida@reddit

Some of the most fun cars I've ever driven include:

-2nd gen Fiat Panda, just such a lovely light car to throw around, especially with a manual transmission.

-BMW i3, being super light with instant torque is just something, such an underrated car!

-Suzuki Cappuccino, now this is a proper sportcar made within kei car limits, a friend struggled endlessly to get one until he could and when I drove it I understood why.

So no, hp is not important, weight is, the lighter the better, especially as it will require less effort to put it on those jackstands!

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Crazy_Judgment_4186@reddit

A working car is already enough to have fun, driving it, learning it, and actually using it beats a build that never gets finished. You can always upgrade later once you know what you really want.

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bangbangracer@reddit

I still remember when we were in high school, we'd steal trays from the McDonald's. What you'd do is put the trays under the rear tires of a front wheel drive car and put on the hand brake. I can't believe any of us are still alive.

You can make your own fun. You don't need power.

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Boa-in-a-bowl@reddit

I drive a functional car but it's a 2007 Ford Taurus with 266,000 miles and counting on it so that car is pretty damn boring, so I can definitely say a functional car is not guaranteed to be enough to have fun unless you consider constantly chasing vacuum leaks exciting

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inphinitfx@reddit

It depends on the rest of the vehicle. A working engine in an oversized tank, is gonna be slow. A working engine in a roadster or hot hatch can be fun.

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wpmason@reddit

Define fun.

Some people have more fun in the garage than on the road.

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