Cars you OWNED and Loved to drive

[Terry]

71 convertible 4 spd vette ( paid $3000 for it in 77' and sold it to pay for flying lessons

) , 99 Volvo S80, ANY race car I ran professionally except I NEVER want to run a dwarf stock car again, drove one on dirt last year and could not stop spinning....

 

[Patman]

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71 convertible 4 spd vette ( paid $3000 for it in 77' and sold it to pay for flying lessons

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It's too bad you didn't still have it, you could've probably sold it now and had enough money to buy a small airplane!

 

[dailydriver]

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Mustangs: 1985 GT, 1991 LX 5.0, and my current 1998 GT Convertible. The '91 was a "notchback", fastest of the bunch. I'm actually quite mild-mannered as a driver, but one morning I was idling along the curb while my kids were standing at the curb waiting for the school bus, when someone blows by at 70mph on our country road (speed limit is 35). I was naturally indignant at someone driving this speed when children are present, so I immediately became a civil police officer for the day.... and I can see why the highway patrol liked these cars.... I had the guy chased down in less than a mile, pulled up beside him and waved my finger, "DON'T YOU DO THAT BY MY KIDS!" (I was running totally on adrenaline at this point.) Probably very stupid, but I never saw that happen again. That car had guts out the wazoo.

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My brother had a '91 notch. The thing ran mid-high 13s at the track (he special ordered it with nothing but air, power steering, radio, auto trans for ~ $12.5K) BONE STOCK! He also autocrossed the #@$%! out of it (even took a few local F Stock trophies). DEAD ON RELIABLE, NO PROBLEMS! He sold it to get his first Vette, a used low mile LTI '95.

 

[ARB1977]

72 Ford Mavrick was my first car although the inline six needed major work still have fun wrenching on it.

97 honda civc 5 speed learned to drive a stick when i bought it.

My pride and joy my Tacoma, nothing like owning your first truck.

 

[carock]

OH, WOW..

1963 Lotus Elan - fun between breakdowns, glad that era of my life is over

1962 Aston Martin DB4 GT - Way too expensive to repair, but probably the world's best ever road GT.

1967 Beetle - with a few different engines, the best was an 1800cc with twin standard Strombergs and ported heads. Don't go too wild with a Beetle was my lesson.

1959 Abarth Monza - maybe it will run again someday

1983 Fiat X-19 with 120 hp "ROCKWELL ROCKET" motor - the best car I ever owned, fun, fun, fun and cheap and fairly reliable

1967 Porsche 911S - The one car I really want and will probably never own.

Now, I bought my first ever American car - Yank Tank - 2007 Mustang Convertible. Hooo wheee that thang is fast

 

[ThirdeYe]

My Integra is a blast to drive. Sporty when you want it to be, and economical when you want it to be. I love the quirky powerband of the engine too. It goes relatively slow under the 3k rpm mark, but as soon as you go over that little hump, the car shoots like a little rocket. Love it! The double wishbone suspension is great as well and I love the turning radius. Such a cool car

 

[SFCP]

2000 Dodge Grand Caravan. The sound of the egnine as I crank it just gets me going? The smoth sleek look of my withe minivan sailing down the highway. The black tinted windows look cool. I love the factory hub caps. so cool.
the power I get from the single exhaust just rocks. That 3.3 blows the doors off all vehicles on the road...(if it were mounted to a little red wagon).. LMAO!!!

 

[73 BGT]

1st car I ever bought new was a 1971 Vega. What a POS. THEN...1970 428SCJ Mach 1 c-6 auto. 1970 351 Cleveland Mach 1 4spd. (Most wheel hoppin car I've ever drivin.) 1969 RoadRunner 383 4.11 4spd. 72 Gran Torino Sport 351 Cleveland(the ultimate sleeper) 84Camaro,91Camaro Both v-8 5spds (wifes daily drivers). 73MGBGT Still drivin in summer and my all time favorite is my current ride. 2004WRX 5spd. Handling and performance at 27mpg.

 

[JHZR2]

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My brother had a '91 notch. The thing ran mid-high 13s at the track (he special ordered it with nothing but air, power steering, radio, auto trans for ~ $12.5K) BONE STOCK! He also autocrossed the #@$%! out of it (even took a few local F Stock trophies). DEAD ON RELIABLE, NO PROBLEMS! He sold it to get his first Vette, a used low mile LTI '95.

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Mustang w/ auto trans...

I knew a guy that got laughed at for buying an AT Porsche - laughed at all the time no less.

Im suprised people dont laugh at AT-equipped mustangs, camaros and vettes more often. Maybe its because us Americans love the AT so much???

JMH

 

[HawkeyeScott]

1995 Camaro. 3.4L 5 spd. Bought rebuilt in 1998 while in college for $7900 (37K miles). Pretty car, well built, quick but efficient. I killed her in an accident with a Durango. Miss her still.

But I used the money to buy a 1994 Jeep GrCherokee, my first 'grown up' car. Loved the versatility it offered, until she died in an another accident with an old guy who rear-ended her.

Now I drive a 1997 CrownVic.

 

[Jim 5]

1980 Mazda B2000 - Pickup - I loved this vehicle because it was my very first set of wheels. This little truck enabled me run the landscaping business that helped me graduate with no student loans. Plus it took me and my junk across the country to university and back every summer.

1983 BMW 635csi - Still what I believe to be one of the nicest BMW designs around. Silky smooth 3.5L inline six. Good high-speed cruiser, but not super sharp in the handling department. It's too heavy a car.

1991 VW Corrado - Great handling car with a raspy little 1.8 supercharged 2v engine. It made 160 HP, which was alot in that day. Dead solid at high speed. Best handling front wheel drive car I've ever owned. Interior was fantastic, and on par with Audi's of the time. Reasonably trouble free. Like most VW's, it suffered from electrical gremlins.

1990 Toyota 4Runner - With the 22RE engine – and the removable fiberglass rear top. Good competent little truck. Couldn't live with only two doors. This truck introduced me to off-roading. Not one thing ever went wrong with this vehicle.

1966 Ford Bronco - My first restoration project (more resto-mod). Unstoppable off-road. Stone-age simple to work on. I got over my fear of totally disassembling my vehicles with this one. The only thing that I didn’t disassemble and rebuild on this was the C4 automatic transmission and the diffs. Groovy retro looks, and soft-top fun. (Don't anticipate selling this one - in storage most of the time).

1998 Chevrolet K1500 - 5.7L vortech engine. Tons of torque. Really good competent truck. Only issue was fuel pump and LIM gaskets, not to mention literally 8 broken shoddy pot-metal interior and exterior door handles. Ran this one out to 170K miles without any significant troubles.

2002 BMW 330ci - Best performing car I have ever owned. Extremely competent on the track. Powerful (to me), and can deliver 34-37 MPG. Consumer guide best buy. Has been more trouble free than our Acura 3.2 TL. (still have this one - but am considering trading on a BMW 550i due to the arrival of a new baby girl).

2003 Acura 3.2 TL - silky smooth engine, very comfortable. Fast in a straight line, but slow in corners due to suspension that is too soft, and tires that are too skinny and hard. Perfect car for the wife, and has been very trouble free. Excellent city car, and fantastic long-trip mobile. (Still have this one - considering trading on a Honda Odyssey due to new baby)

2004 Chev Avalanche - Bought to replace the 1998 Silverado, and to have as a winter vehicle. Very comfortable and surprisingly practical. 5.3L engine is dramatically different than the old 350 vortech it replaced. Way less stump pulling grunt in the low rpm's, but winds up way better in the higher ones. A nice engine all the same. This truck has been relatively trouble free. I'm not in love with the appearance of the truck, but it is an ideal fit for all of my requirements. Gets worse fuel economy than the 5.7L 1998 Chev K1500 than it replaced. The avalanche weighs significantly more I assume. (Still have this one)

 

[Patman]

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I knew a guy that got laughed at for buying an AT Porsche - laughed at all the time no less.

Im suprised people dont laugh at AT-equipped mustangs, camaros and vettes more often.

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Sometimes the guys in my area with manual Corvettes will poke fun at those of us with automatics, up until we all head down to the dragstrip for the day. Then they see us automatic guys consistently running quicker than them, and they get real quiet.

 

[mikemc]

1992 Ranger 2WD. My first truck, 3.0/5 speed, red, decent gas mileage and fun to drive.

2002 Ranger 4x4. Great truck, good options, comfy ride and very good in the snow.

2003 Cavalier sedan. Amazing value. Good performance with the Ecotec, great mileage, pretty comfy road car.

2004 Mustang GT 5 speed. Holy #@$%!! Drives great and sounds better. Wanted one since I was a kid.

 

[rszappa1]

1968 Dodge charger with a 440. I installed the Six Pack set up on it...A real fun car to drive...

 

[Ken E.]

Probably the best overall car was a 1976 Oldsmobile Cutlass S with the swivel bucket seats. Most comfortable car I ever owned. If my '62 Volvo P1800S hadn't died a tragic death from a Pontiac GTO attack from the rear, I'd own her still.

 

[454MAG]

Jhrz The 6 speed guys stop laughing at autos at the track while they are side stepping the clutch off the rev limiter, breaking lots of parts and still getting inconsistent runs.
my stalled auto leaves off idle, lifts the front tire, with consistent 1.6 60 foot times and runs similar Ets to 6 spd guys with 60 more hp. Thats with a stock suspension.

 

[CBDFrontier06]

My opinion of auto transmissions was forever altered when Porsche and the automotive press proved multiple times that the Tiptronic Porsche 911 turbo posted faster times than the 6-speed. In big hp cars like this, you lose very little performance and gain a lot of convenience. I'd never buy a 4-cylinder econo car with an auto, but they're closing the performance gap between MT and AT in high end cars.

 

[dailydriver]

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My brother had a '91 notch. The thing ran mid-high 13s at the track (he special ordered it with nothing but air, power steering, radio, auto trans for ~ $12.5K) BONE STOCK! He also autocrossed the #@$%! out of it (even took a few local F Stock trophies). DEAD ON RELIABLE, NO PROBLEMS! He sold it to get his first Vette, a used low mile LTI '95.

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Mustang w/ auto trans...

I knew a guy that got laughed at for buying an AT Porsche - laughed at all the time no less.

Im suprised people dont laugh at AT-equipped mustangs, camaros and vettes more often. Maybe its because us Americans love the AT so much???

JMH

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Sorry, I don't want to make you feel bad or anything, but he has NO CHOICE but to be in an automatic car. He had a serious auto accident his senior year in high school and is not allowed by law to drive a manual.
Otherwise, I agree with you and would never own an automatic, even if they can be faster down the 1/4 mile in some cases.

 

[JohnnyO]

68 Firebird, 350/auto, my first car and still the fastest one I've owned.
85 Mustang, 4 banger/4 spd, not real fast but it handled nice and I could heel-and-toe the downshifts. First car I bought brand-new.

 

[crw]

This is not directly on topic, but something just occurred to me. Back in the '80's my father had a van that was *exactly* like the van that "Uncle Rico" drives in Napolean Dynamite. Not that I particularly liked driving it on the one or two occasions that I needed to.... It was exactly like it, from the color to the silly roof extension. Actually I think my father owned it only for less than a year.

Now, here is the scary part. We lived near Logan, UT. Preston Idaho, where the movie was shot is only about 20 miles away. The thought has occurred to me that the van my father owned and the van used in the movie are one and the same................