My first car was a '73 Buick LeSabre four door. I know all about point ignition, carbs and attaching a 4-barrel to replace the 2-barrel and do my part to accelerate the global warming trend. I miss the car really. I grew up in Idaho close to the Wyoming border and Yellowstone park. Winter sucks there and the car was finnicky to start.
But if you feathered the gas right for about ten seconds after you started it, and then let it warm up, it was the bomb. More heat than you could want, even in -30C ambient. If you started slipping, gun it and the tires would dig right through the snow and find road. And doing cookies on ice in that battlecruiser was an amusement park ride that you (kind of) controlled.
My only gripe is in '73 Buick made a 350CI that was different than a Chevy 350CI, and the whole top of the motor from the manifolds up was incompatible, hence parts were rare and expensive, especially in the dark days of BBS only 'net and no Ebay. Ironically it was more than a teenager like me could afford to maintain despite the fact the hooptie was worth maybe $500. But I do miss that car, carbs and all, a lot.
|