I've had a love/hate relationship with my 1989 Chevrolet Silverado for around 8 years now. It's undergone a rebuild and respray, has a typical crazy Yanky wallow to the ride, the steering is fragile and at worst lethal, the interior trim quality is poor and you have to keep all the joints greased or it sounds like a seriously squeaky bed ... it smokes on start up and the engine service light comes on if the fluid level slops on a corner. The model I drive is the 5.7 V8 and it is ... when all considered ... a petrol heads dream! I drove this car to Hamburg a couple of years ago and stuffed every Merc and BMW I came across. Mid range acceleration is 'awesome' and the top speed is scary! It will do 140mph with an eagerness to do considerably more. OK, so I tweaked the box and suspension and brakes, but it's reasonably stock ... it turns heads where ever it goes, whether that's London, Hamburg, Amsterdam or Chalfont St Giles and arrogant middle England hates it more than a refugee camp development on the village cricket pitch. You will get treated like a socially dysfunctional village idiot by huge swathes of the rurally challenged and Porsche / Bentley / Audi S8 and Mercedes drivers will all give you one of those down the nose looks of contempt ... HOWEVER ... it's more fun than French kissing Paris Hilton with a mouth full of Werther's Originals, curiously more sexy than Britt Ekland in The Wicker Man, more practical than a Sheraton sideboard and returns 30mpg on a long run! I use my Chevy every day and during a ride through Holland, had people wave at me with friendly faces (OK, we all know the Dutch are crazy).
I'd love an Alvis TD21 drop head, a Six Cylinder Railton Coupe, a 911 with whale tail, a 1963 Bentley, an Aston DB9 and yet, I'm stuck with my waxoyled Chevy!
I took it to a Stately Home to meet Lord & Lady Toffly and the Estate manager said she thought it was the Carney's turning up!
This car is bench seat Bedlam!
Aside from the quirks in the opening paragraph, look out for earthing problems, the starter motor connections, the bushes and the fuel system too ... that aside, it will give you hours and hours of undiluted pleasure!
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