What's up my longroof freinds?!?! I am a long time longroof fanatic. I am looking to get rid of the sedan I am currently commuting (80 miles a day)in. Been looking at a number of different longroofs but haven't made a decision yet. Not too many options for a 30+ mpg manual tranny wagon out there but I am not giving up. Here is the wife's current vehicle. We are the 2nd owners and it currently has just over 40K miles on it. Mods so far are: Predator with just a canned tune - AFE SII Intake - Flowmaster 3" cat-back, 275 front and 295 rear Toyo Tires I have been working on porting an extra intake manifold I had laying around but I am in no hurry to get it done. It had the Charger wheels on it when I bought it. It has all the factory packages, Navigation, Kicker Livin Loud etc. Some dyno vids back when I just had a K&N intake on it. Here are a couple other longroofs that have been in the family. We sold this '56 Pontiac Chieftain 2 years ago to fund a property investment. It was a completely unrestored cruiser that just wasn't good (safe) for the family. Here is my dad's '65 Nova Wagon. CPP lower arms, 327", TH350 Both Wagons at a local show
Welcome aboard! I know how much fun that Magnum is...my brother's got a 2008 SRT-8 Magnum...what a FUN car to drive!
Welcome; nice Magnum! My ex has a silver '06 Magnum SXT with all the bells and whistles including sunroof and DVD player. It's fun with the 3.5L so I'm sure the Hemi is a blast.
There are only a few options that fit my criteria (wagon, Manual tranny, 30 + mpg and less than $10K) Protege5, Mazda6, Focus, A4, Passat, Jetta, HHR, there are also the BMW, Saab and Volvo's but the maintenance is the killer for me. Out of those options I like the Mazda6 the most for its size and performance but it is the only car on the list that doesn't get more than 30mpg. I am also considering some hatchbacks like the Mazda3 or Vibe GT. I owned a Vibe GT before and it was a good car. It was nimble and pretty quick but it had to be driven hard to really see it. It didn't even start making power until 5500 rpm.
Welcome, and have lots of fun. When it comes to your choices of wagons, though, I would eliminate the VW. They are as expensive to repair as the BMW and Mercedes. At least the electrical parts, since they all use the same, very expensive, Bosch electrical system. How new, or how old, are you looking to go with the wagon? There are some older, very interesting, wagons out there that would seem to meet your criteria, and may even exceed them.
I hear ya on the VW thing. Quite honestly and I apologize for sounding prejudice/insensitive but I have a hard time owning one being heterosexual. There are some smog implications that make the 2000 or newer a possible benefit in the future. I looked at a '92 Accord wagon the other day with a K20 swap. I just couldn't bring myself to enter into that demographic. The car was very fun to drive. For the most part I am not a fan of 70's-80's cars though. I have direct access to pretty much any aftermarket part for pre 70's Ford & Chevy vehicles at a substantial discount so Nova & Falcon wagons are still on my radar. I haven't ruled out the 50's Tin Woody's either. The problem there is just the entry price alone will eliminate any chance to make the car truly road worthy for my needs (manual, mpg, & creature comforts).
Too bad you are having to have a manual transmission. There are those here who do not believe me, but the 85-91 Colony Park and Country Squire wagons meet all the rest of your criteria, IF you find one with the right equipment and make the correct modifications. My brother had an 86 Colony Park with the 351. It had a 70 litre (18 U.S. gallon) tank. An average fill would be about 60 litres (15.5 gallons). On that he would do 1,100 kms (670 miles) of highway driving. That is about 40 miles to the U.S. gallon. In a big woody wagon with a 5.8 litre (351W) engine and 4 bbl carb. Oh, and it was doing that when it had 750,000 kms (470,000 miles) on the engine, transmission and differential.
