Best courtesy car ever

MAKG1 said:
That's just nuts. My newest car is a 2000. My VW was "made in West Germany." And the Chevy is the same age as my wife.
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Well that's impressive since Germany reunified in 1990.
I have a 2002 VW Passat and it has been very good, but I also maintain my cars well.
 
Hey as long as I wasn't being charged some outrageous rate for it, I'd almost rather see one of those than some modern econo-box. Yeah it's old, probably not reliable, not fuel efficient, etc. But a car like that has soul, it has character. It's a mighty steed not a boring appliance.
 
Pilawt said:
Last summer we made an unscheduled stop for weather in another Sidney -- Nebraska (KSNY). Fellow behind the counter at the FBO said, "If you can wait about 45 minutes for me to finish putting brakes on the boss' car, you can take that one." Turned out it was another mid-1980s Olds.

Of course the classic airport cars were the fleet of 1958 Chevys at Santa Inez, north of Santa Barbara, which rented for $5/day. In August 1972 I took a young lady there on a first date in my dad's C-150E, and we rented one of those cars. Our 40th anniversary is in June. :)

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Last time I flew into Santa Ynez a old timer was telling me about the old Chevys. Now that I restore old cars I wouldn't mind finding them.
 
I liked the Ranger we got in Greenly CO, had an outhouse for a hood ornament.
 
I have a new entry in the "Best Courtesy/Crew Car" competition....a Ford Crown Vic, formerly Sheriff's cruiser at Bottineau, ND (D09).

On my previous trip there the airport manager told me, "Help yourself to the courtesy car anytime you're up! Key is always on the hot water heater in the men's room!"

Sure enough, it was there. Enjoyed it for three hours while visiting my son's summer digs, then topped it off on the way back to the airport!

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The only courtesy car I have ever used was a brand new Hertz Chevy Malibu. If I recall, less than 700 miles and still had that new car smell and feel. Drove about 3 miles round trip; over to the New England Air Museum at Bradley International.
Now the best airport ride was the Bluesmobile which met us at the FBO in Rockland Me and drove us across to the Owls Head Transportation Museum. Another time I was there, I taxied up to their back door and picknicked just inside the gate.
 
DavidWhite said:
And by best, I mean the best worst courtesy car ever. It does run (although its a loose definition) and it will get you from point A to B most of the time.




Ladies and Gentleman, I present to you - the Oldsmobile Delta Eighty-eight. Royale edition.

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Geez, I bet that tank gets two blocks to the gallon. Highly collectable on the westside of Chicago in the 80's for all of the wrong reasons. It's probably worth flying with a folding bike in the plane.
 
K24, Jamestown, KY has a Crown Vic, too. The brakes are a bit dodgy and there are some rude noises from the engine. The solution, of course, is to just turn the radio up a bit louder.
 
coma24 said:
K24, Jamestown, KY has a Crown Vic, too. The brakes are a bit dodgy and there are some rude noises from the engine. The solution, of course, is to just turn the radio up a bit louder.
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On the plus side, when my son opened the trunk on the Vic I think he thought it was almost as large as his college dorm room!
 
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You know the more I look at that olds,

The more I think I would take it on a Sunday to the nearest SCCA event!
 
Take your pick.

1. Mercedes from Million Air.

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2. Van at University Air Center at Gainesville FL.

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At KAPF, Hertz gave me a 2012 Mercedes GL450 at no charge since I was in town just to eat lunch. However, I called them in advance and told them my plans. I arrived to find it awaiting there for me, and a golf cart to carry me out to it as well. Great customer service.


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Best ever was at Ranchero in Chico, CA back in the seventies. A red Dino Ferrari! :goofy:
The only problem was a big black lab lived in it so was pretty dirty and full of black hair.
Still, pretty cool way to go get breakfast jacks in the morning before my lesson.
 
Long time ago. Four of us took the 182 from Madison to Ida Grove Iowa, to see the RC show. Going home, nasty looking weather so we stopped to get gas and check weather, but I can't remember Exactly where!

No one around, but pretty soon the airport manager shows up, gives us his personal car with directions to town, and fills the tanks and says to just mail a check, since they don't take credit cards.....

After a great burger we topped his tank, got good weather, and off to home...did mail a check for the fuel, too...
 
Brad Z said:
Sad thing is it's still newer than 95% of the airplanes that the courtesy car users flew in on.
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LOL, so true. Reminds me of the car I took cross-country in 1993. MIA - LA and back. Scenic out but drove back straight through with a two-hour nap in the car. Yikes!
 
McCook - when I stopped there for fuel a couple of years ago there had been a bad accident http://airsafety.info/wp-content/uploads/acs120715.pdf on the ramp the day before. Local ag pilot taxied his Ag plane (turbine tail dragger) into a tiny transient Cub that was parked in the middle of an otherwise big empty ramp. Fire consumed both planes. Severe burns and hospital for the ag pilot. A very sad thing.

Made me aware of the seriousness of taxiing.
 
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mbundy said:
L00 Kernville discourteous car:

They actually charge you $30/day + 60c/mile. No AC, driver size window doesn't roll down, and every possible indicator light on the dash is on all the time.
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That's a shame for any number of reasons, including that - at least cosmetically - it looks like that Caprice deserves better than being beat up by disgruntled pilots. Not too many B-bodies out there that are still in decent shape.
 
Some good cars here, but not much beats the griswold mobile that you can have at KHEZ - Natchez Ms. It's a 1979 Caprice Classic, complete with the backwards rear seat!

If you go last minute on Thanksgiving weekend, you too, can rent this for $35 bucks a day and be damn grateful to get it. Enterprise DOES run out of cars here. LOL.
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KeithASanford said:
This car brings back great memories. My buddy's 1977 '88 was the designated drive in car. It would fit all 7 of us and we could sneak in 2 more in the trunk.
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I ran a drive-in theater for six months (one full season) back in 1976. Every weekend, we'd have kids trying to sneak other kids in with those great big trunks -- almost all of the cars had them back then. The funny thing was that they'd do the same thing when the price was $5 per carload. :)
 
A while back, I needed a crew car for two or three hours at Laconia, NH. They had a decent older car they loaned me. I put maybe 10 miles on it and stopped at a gas station before heading back since it was showing less than 1/8 tank.

I filled it up and took it back and mentioned that I'd filled it up so they didn't have to worry about the fuel for the next pilot. The two guys there looked at me in amazement. It turns out that they had been discussing discontinuing the crew car because, as they said to me, "no one ever puts gas in the car and they often bring it back dirty and with trash in it." They were seeing it as an unnecessary expense and kind of a hassle. But that afternoon they told me "you just saved the crew car." :)

They also took $20 off my fuel bill because they said that it wasn't fair for me to pay for a whole tank of gas for the car, which was some older sedan. :)

When you are given a crew car, please remember to leave it clean and put some gas in it so the pilots coming after you will still have access to crew cars. :)
 
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