87 GN for my sons first car ?

[BOP4ever]

I am toying with the idea of giving my son the Grand National for his first car.
He took his drivers test in it and likes the car. Its fairly low mileage about 60k and it even gets decent mpg at about 22-23 hwy... It would be a car to drive to school and college till he decides to get something else... Thought was it would probably still have good resale value if he takes car of it maybe better then the car I would get him if I purchased something else... It's old so Insurance would probably be cheaper... The kids at school think its kinda cool.... I could also maybe get myself another toy ... looking at a early GTO 68-69 vintage.... Might get the GN back when he is ready to get something new with his own money for the trade in value.


Downside would the chances of it being destroyed go up... Its not as safe as something new with airbags etc.... It is old and although reliable now it may turn into a pita car.... after he puts 50 k on it in the next couple years.... Am I committing auto motive sin .....

 

[tntdiablo]

when i turned 16 my dad gave me his mint 68 camaro ss,well lets just say it took me 2 weeks to blow the motor in it by street racing,you can go from there.

 

[buickruss]

I would be more worried about a 16 year old wrapppimg it around a tree. I would ask TT to custom burn a chip with Low timing and boost

 

[JOHNDEEREGN]

I would be more worried about a 16 year old wrapppimg it around a tree. I would ask TT to custom burn a chip with Low timing and boost

yep or wet streets and boost.... please dont do it..

 

[turboc87gn]

Dont do that!!!!!! Get him something older that he can learn with that he can work on and let him drive the gn on the weekend so he learns the power and rarity of the car so he will respect it..That will lessen the chances of it gettin stolen, wrecked, dented, and dinged etc..that way he will have somethin he can learn on make mistakes in and you can keep an eye on how he takes care of the gn,(and save his $$ on tickets and his license)teach him the right way and the two of you can go cruise etc when you get your goat..

Im 30 yrs old and i got my gn when i was 25, i had the chance to buy a nice one for 6000 when i was 18 and im so glad i didnt have the $$ and my dad wouldnt get it for me cause i can honestly look back and say i would have bitten off more than i could chew... Id get him an older pickup for a daily driver that way he can haul parts around if he needs them ,somethin with v8 power so hes used to havin go under his right foot, and it can sit in a school/ pk lot no problem....

 

[413turbo]

i don't want to result to name calling, so i'll just say this is the dumbest thing i've heard this year. i sure wish i was spoiled by my parents instead of having to work for the things i wanted. where's this kids mom, my mother would have never gone for that. of course, the kid up the street whose daddy gave him his old corvette killed himself in it within two weeks time. i might not win you over as a friend with this post, but maybe it'll help you keep your kid and car in one piece. I bet he's no going to drive it like your grandmother would.

 

[Otto J]

Don't do it.

 

[BOP4ever]

Hey no hard feelings if it is stupid in your opinion say it that is why I posted it.

My son is very reserved and does drive like a grand ma BTW...lol..
Must have got it from his mother....

My GN is no beast maybe a 13 second car about like a new accord probably speed wise I am afraid... So he could probaby handle the power.


I do have a TE44 and Stretch intercooler on the shelf I've yet to install though....

 

[turboc87gn]

Mine is still virtually stock and umm yea accords dont run anywhere close lmao i dont think ya give the car enuf credit how long have you had it for?

 

[L8TRH8R]

My friends and i all had muscle cars growing up. (Scott had a 67 GTO and a GN Jason a 57 Bel Air Brett a 63 SS Impala Damon a 89 Salleen Bill 69 Chevelle Shane a 69 RS/SS) Those guys all still have those cars! We all still hang out together and work on our cars and go racing etc. Some of them were rich and spoiled but some of us were not. My first car was a 67 Buick GS that I bought from a girlfriends dad. I got it for 500.00 bucks cause he thought it was blown up. Rebuilt the carb and it fired right up. I left a huge patch leaving his house and had fun in it from 15 -18 when I sold it to a friend. (He still has it) I'll be 37 in May so I'm saying this with all due respect. IMO kids just aren't the same as when I grew up. That being said, it's all i how you raise your kid. My family (grandparents) owned a Dodge dealership so we had all kinds of Mopars that I grew up around loving and admiring. So cars have always been apart of my life. Where I live (Montana) it's still like the 70's and 80'd in a lot of ways. Kids still want old cars and build them run them and most importantly RESPECT them. My son is six and already wants a Hemi Dart for his first car! And he knows what they are! IMO you know your son and his friends. If his grades are there and his peer group is a responsible one I say go for it. Chances are if he's at all like my friends and I he won't want to take it to school everyday, and will want to buy a POS with his own dough cause he'll love the car as much as his old man does, so he won't want to get it ruined by some jealous punks. (More of them around then ever!) Our cars are family and always have been, but like I said, thats the way I was raised! JMO Good luck! You sound like a great father.

 

[turbo nasty]

In a word......



NO

 

[L8TRH8R]

Case in point

 

[L8TRH8R]

My daughter is even getting in the act

 

[1987Vader]

Awesome idea...but...scary at the same time. It is not about trusting your child, it is about trusting the people that are going to be seeing your son in it and wanting to race like his friends or others. It will happen...you know this. Also one question...what climate do you live in? Do you get a lot of rain? SNOW? All scary combinations with a fairly fast out-of-the-box auto...with no airbags...full disc brakes...anti-lock brakes...etc. I was lucky enough to have a muscle car to work on as my first car...but it was HUGE!!! (An "A" body...NOT a "G" body.)

 

[vicious6]

Like handing a 2 year old an M-16. If you care for you son or your car, do not do it.

 

[BuickGN29]

yep or wet streets and boost.

That was my first thought.. catching second in the rain. (Even w/ an all stock GN)

 

[L8TRH8R]

I can understand where everyone is coming from. We all started racing BMX together then got into cars together. Dad's were friends etc. Growing up in a small town (not sure where your from) is a lot different. If I lived in a big city/large community I would never think of giving my kid a TR! But where we live c'mon I was driving in my uncles fields at 6 by 12 I thought I was Bo Duke on the farm roads. Montana is like a time warp :tongue:

 

[GNBRETT]

Sounds like a good idea to me. Gas mileage is good. They really arent very fast at all stock so he should be fine. What a dream that would have been at 16 years old.

 

[BOP4ever]

Mine is still virtually stock and umm yea accords dont run anywhere close lmao i dont think ya give the car enuf credit how long have you had it for?

Going on 3 years now.
I've not had it on then track but my IPOD dynolicous program predicts about a 13.8 to 14.0 @ 103 to 105 mph. 2.5-2.6 60 foots.

20 years ago it would have been kick ass fast but today most NA V6 cars make 300 hp.... It's fun but my friends 06 GTO would hand it a whooping with ease I think not to mention what the new Camaros or Mustangs would do to it... I gotta make it faster if I am going to keep driving it hence the TE44 and new IC... I question how much that will help though. It seems like I will have to get better heads and a bigger cam to really get the car going then probably a bigger turbo even ... I am getting off topic.... sorry. I am a touch frustrated with my GN I guess.... I wanted one back when they were new but I was to broke then I saw this one a couple years back and got it to full fill a dream, but reality is kicking my dreams butt... I wanted one since 1987 watching one beat a then new Vette. Man was the Vette guy pissed... today a vette would kick my GN so far to the curb it would be silly...
Oh well...

 

[hang10]

Its your call,you know your son better than anyone else!! :biggrin: