Getting my own car finally! ITS A BOAT!

NaughtyusMaximus

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
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Well, its an '88 Mercury Grand Marquis. But it's ALL MINE!
73,000 miles on it, and its in perfect condition - literally. It was my Grandmother's car - she hasn't really used it in the last 7-8 years because my Grandfather is the one who drives most often, and he has his own car. Anything that *was* questionable about it has been replaced with new parts (catalytic converters were once removed).

It has about the same gas milage as the '85 Volvo 740GLE that I'm driving right now, and thats with a V8 engine. Its blue, complete with shag seat covers! ;)

I'm not sure about the quality of the sound system in it, and am going to replace the deck in it for sure, and maybe the speakers as well (depending on their quality) as soon as I get the money to.

Heh, the volvo I've got now is damn nice to drive, but there are too many things going wrong with it (its a lemon). Firstly, all the instruments are intermittantly working. Its nice to know what your speed, engine temp, and gas levels are... Secondly, theres a bad seal on the engine mount somewhere that leaks oil like a bitch. In the last two years, more money has been spent on it than its worth. It *is* in my parent's name, so its not really mine even though I'm the one driving it. The BEAST (grand marquis) is ALL MINE!
:)!
 

Sluggo

Lifer
Jun 12, 2000
15,488
5
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Those are great cars, some of my favorites. If you are lucky its black or white and looks like a cop car, so people drive really good when around you. And they are so comfortable, its like driving around in your Barcalounger all day. Ahhhhhh :)
 

Ornery

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
20,022
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Man, I owned the '77 and '78 version of that car. If yours ends up being anywhere near as reliable, you're going to be spoiled forever more.

A friend at work bought one new in 1990 and drove it till last year without an ounce of trouble. He only bailed on it because somebody slammed the side of it.
 

NaughtyusMaximus

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
3,220
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;) My sister was the friendly recipient of a '77 Buick Regal from the same grandparents four years ago or so. I swear the body of the Mercury looks almost exactly the same as hers was (she blew the transmission on it a while ago, and it would have cost more than the car was worth to fix it).
 

Asha'man

Senior member
Oct 15, 1999
773
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I remember my Buick LeSabre with which I toured the US...

Looved it....slightly larger than the Volvos I drive back here.

It was more like my couch in front of the TV than driving a car....

Good luck with your boat !

Asha'man
 

squirrel dog

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 1999
5,564
48
91
put a real good wax job on it,you wont regret it.Do not raw hide it. you dont want a trans failure.
 

Viperoni

Lifer
Jan 4, 2000
11,084
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Make sure you polish up those white walls nice too.
They're a pain if you have the meguairs stuff like I do, but even with the (crappier) spray on stuffs the tires will look good.
 

geno

Lifer
Dec 26, 1999
25,074
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I drove a '91 Grand Marquis for a week, too big for my tastes! But that doesn't mean it's not a nice car, that V8 is a welcome change from my 2.2 when it comes to peeling out ;) I know someone with a Chevy Caprice of around the same year as yours, he put a Dynomax muffler on it and pimped the thing out: trademark cheapie chrome wheelcovers, chrome windshield wipers, and green domelights. I dunno if he did anything else, it's been a few months since I've seen him, but man that car is a trip :) Have fun with it!
 

Viperoni

Lifer
Jan 4, 2000
11,084
1
71
gen, if I had crap tires I could probably peel it in the dry too ;)
but really, these old boats with the massive low end torque peaks just totally break loose in the wet, I mean I could hold the brakes lightly, punch the gas, and instant the tires would be pushing 30 miles and hour....probably hit about 50 if you really hated your tires ;)
 

NaughtyusMaximus

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
3,220
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;) Oh, there'd better be whitewalls on those tires. My grandparents live on Vancouver Island, and I'm in Vancouver. They're bringing it over in two weeks, and I haven't seen it in a while, so I don't remember. But hell, if I'm going to be driving a Grand Marquis, it'd better have whitewalls!

This car will be my new baby.

;) heh, I guess you could say that it was owned by an old lady who only used it once a week to buy groceries...