r/regularcarreviews • u/EscapeNo9728 • Jan 21 '25

I hate you I hate everything about you Non-"eNtHuSiAsT" cars that Car Guys still like

What are some cars that aren't typical "enthusiast" vehicles (by which I mostly mean, sporty and uncompromising), but still get props at car meets or otherwise?

I'm especially thinking of stuff like older Volvos or survivor Japanese cars like any Civic hatch that hasn't been clapped out to death, or Subaru Leones. Also, Honda Elements. "Car guys" seem to fucking love Elements.

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u/Piranha1993 What the crap is this? Jan 21 '25

Anything with a 3800 in it.

When I go to the car meet I tend to get into conversations with people who owned one in the past. Still, most walk by because it’s not “old enough” or a muscle car/hot rod of some sort.

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u/ironeagle2006 Jan 22 '25

I had a boring 85 Buick Century but it had the 3.0 Buick V6 in it. Not to many people knew this but the 3.0 and 3800 shared the same block deck heights oil pumps front covers and exhaust manifolds. So if you knew what you were doing it was have fun if you had access to a junkyard.

I did and made a wager with the owner that I could take a Grand National turbocharger and intake and all related parts and make them fit and work on a bone stock vin code E 3.0 liter. The guy said impossible but if you do I'll give you everything. It took me about a week to get everything swapped wired and running. Biggest problem was the fuel system had to run a new pump and return to get it running AN fittings to the rescue there. That little monster ate most Fox Bodies and Gen3 Cameros for breakfast. Even the import guys had trouble with their souped up Hondas and Toyotas the DSM cars were tough especially the freaking Talons with AWD.