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Least: 86 Toyota Celica GT Just a lame vehicle all-around. First FWD Celica. Sister had an 06 GT-S which was a substantial vehicle.
Most: Tough one... Other than our 71 Plymouth Roadrunner, I would have to say our; 07 Saturn Sky Redline. We own both...
When I was 3, I had a fire engine (metal) pedal car. I would stick my father's magnetic flashlights on the hood at night. It was very powerful as it had a (5 year older) brother powering it many times.
My next car was my '71 Pinto. My first Adult car. I bought it from a friend with 99K miles on the ODO in 1979. I put about another 150K on it before selling it. This is also the car where I learned basic mechanics. It was modified, I put the Pinto wagon anti-sway bar on the front, wide 14" tires all around and it cornered flat. Combined with the cam, 4B Carb, Multi-Spark ignition and milled head, it scooted. A blast to drive, extremely reliable as it was extremely simple. 5 speed transmission (borrowed from a '8X? Mustang) and oversized exhaust. Capri interior. I was thinking about cutting in T-Tops when I decided it was time to upgrade to...
My 1980 RX7. Small, compact, great handling, but low power. My best compliment was when an older guy looked at and noted that "I must have to beat the ladies off with a stick." Although I bought it used, it was still a looker and friend noted that my self-esteem seemed to increase after buying it. I drove it for about two years before the engine popped. The early failed engine and the rust disguised by new paint made this probably the worst car I ever owned. Even though I loved it, it became too much trouble with all the rust so I sold it. The next car I purchased was
a brand new 88 RX7 Convertible. Those of you familiarizer with this forum have probable read about this (maybe a few times too often). I saw it when I walked into the dealer showroom and decided I had to have it. This car now has 202K miles on it - all but 3-7 driven by me. The man who complimented my old 7 was wrong, this was the car I needed a stick for. Twice women have stepped off the curb at a stop light, got in, and wanted to go. This was my eastern seaboard car. It's gone from Orlando to Montreal and almost all places in between. I don't think however that I have ever had this car west of the thirteen original states. Interesting. I'll have to change that. I put 35K miles on the vert in the first 6 months I owned it. Too much. In order to slow the miles down, I got a commuter...
My 1985 Jeep CJ7. I purchased this car from a co-worker. One day she came into the office and mentioned that she wanted to get rid of it because it wouldn't start. She offered it for $1.00 I was the fastest to respond and bought it from her sight unseen. I took a new set of spark plugs and some carburetor cleaner out to her house, fired it up and took it home. Even though it had a rust hole in the floor in the back (sheet metal, pop rivets, a bottle of rustoleum rust converter and a can of white paint cured it's ills) caused by it's ripped roof, this car was a money maker for me. Although I paid a buck for it, it had a dollar 35 in the ash tray. First thing I did when I got it home was to have the canvas door stolen. I thought this might be a bad omen, but the insurance company paid $1000 for the doors and I got a new JC Whitney roof and doors for about $300, along with a bikini top that ended up being all I ever used in the Spring, Summer, and Fall. The Jeep was a lot of fun too, my roommate and I would go out and find back roads that lead to double track trails. We would drive up and down over 5' high banks of creaks and through the water. Half the time, we would come home with mud all over the car and all over ourselves. When moved to the south, it would have been difficult to take both cars, so I let the jeep go for $3500.
Now living in the south, in a relatively small city, I became well know. People would see me and say, "you're the guy with the red convertible right?" The driver door was damaged when I took it to Sears to get an alignment. I'd been waiting two hours and had not gotten a beep that it was ready, so I went back to the store. As I approached the counter I could see something was wrong and asked them, "what'd you do to my car?" They explained that the mechanic had left the door open and lowered the car onto a 55 gallon drum that crushed the sheet metal from the bottom up. I went to look at it and asked where the mechanic was. They told me he was in hiding because everyone knew how much I loved that car. I told them, it was no problem really because you are going to fix it. They said they would be happy to "have the door pulled and repaired." I told them "they were mistaken." "When I came in, that door was perfect. When I get it back it will also be perfect. I will take it to a body shop, they will order a new door frame and new skin, they will transfer the mechanicals from the old door to the new and you will pay for it." They didn't argue, they just paid the bill when the car was done. But while waiting for the car to be repaired, I decided to buy a...
1995 Isuzu Rodeo. I thought this was one of the best commercials ever made and so I decided to go test drive it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmiQYqcbsoI
My Rodeo, 4x4, 5 speed, limited slip, side bars, everything else standard, mechanically was almost the best car I ever had. Except for the fact that every 50K miles or so it would lose it's clutch. First time it was not the clutch, but the transmission was destroyed when a shop emptied the transmission, but didn't refill it. The second time, the pedal just went to to the floor. I happened to be living away from home in an apartment and and couldn't take it apart to see what was going on. Third time, I was 600 miles from home when the same thing happened. I had been careful to keep an eye on the clutch master cylinder fluid level this time, but it still did it again; and again because I was not home, I couldn't take it apart and see what was happening. Other than that, the Rodeo was perfect for the 178K miles I owned it as it became my cross country chariot. Other than the clutch problem (which turned out to be expensive enough), all I ever did to this car was change the spark plugs and the timing belt/gears on the maintenance schedule. I drove it all around the southeast and northeast taking friends with me on vacation. While I was wrestling with a bout of melancholy over a breakup, my friends suggested I go look at new cars. While looking I came across...
the 1994 Mazda RX7. This is one of the most beautiful cars ion the road (IMO). Not only that, but it is blinding fast. Not just straight line speed, it owns the corners. When it was introduced, this was one of the fastest cars on the road and for 20 years it still was. Only recently have newer cars started to surpass it in straight line performance. I am not sure if they ever caught it in the curves. At around 4.9 seconds 0-60 (slightly modified) I enjoyed the car until recently when something about the engine cadence didn't sound right. Since I have my Convertible back on the road, I decided to park the Twin Turbo until I can take it apart and see what is happening with the combustion seals. While in there I will install a larger intercooler, upgraded turbos, and a larger radiator, this combination along with a modification I will make to the intake box, should give me a 0-60 in about 4.4 seconds and a quarter mile closer to high 12 seconds. Not bad for a 27-28 year old car.
I kept the above three cars until while living in a beach town, I decided I wanted a more sporty and luxurious SUV, so I purchased a
2006 BMW X5. This car is another blast. It is close to five thousand pounds, but it still gets 23 MPG highway, it is fast for a SUV, and despite the weight, it carves the road like my RX7s. This car has been my main vehicle for all the years I have owned it. It has made the trip from the east coast to the west 3 times, gone to Canada, Key West, the UP of Michigan and many of the national parks. In fact, if I ever get it to Maine, it will have pretty much circumnavigated the USA. While BMWs are great performers, they can be a expensive to maintain. The first 50K miles were on BMW, they fixed anything I pointed to, the next 87K miles were on me, but the car caused no problems in those miles.
Now it is starting to exhibit problems associated with 137K miles on it's parts. If I'd decided to let the BMW dealer maintain it, I would have to leave retirement to get it serviced. They want about $400 just to change a light bulb ($100+ for the bulb and $300 to put it in). Another example of BMW pricing is when I'd taken it in for a recall and they did a courtesy inspection - telling me that the power steering hose was leaking and wanted to know if I wanted them changed out the bad hose for $800. I told them no of course and purchased the 2 hoses myself for about $80 and put them on in an afternoon. If you want to keep an older BMW, be prepared to shell out a lot of bucks or fix it yourself. I am in the fix it yourself camp.
After having the 2 sports cars and the sporty BMW SUV, I could not see much need to the Rodeo anymore because all I used it for was to haul lumber, so I sold it last year.
Last edited by blktoptrvl; 05-18-2017 at 11:42 AM..
Favorite car that Iv'e owned out of the hundred plus since '78 was my '86 RX7 with the Ford 5.0 swapped in:
Fun car and I had it for 5 years as a race car and street car.
Second favorite is my current E38 7 series BMW.
Least favorite was the Pontiac 6000 I had got in trade for another car and sold as soon as I could after that. Not necessarily a bad car, just really boring with little potential.
I've been lucky enough to only have cars I've had great experiences with. Even those that might appear to be cheap or trash to others I've loved having.
74 VW Bug - First car, ran on three cylinders but my dad and I took the engine apart and fixed it. Was an auto-stick so it let me get the feel for a manual transmission but without the clutch. Yes it was SO SLOW but the smells and sounds that car had still stick with me today.
83 VW GTi - This was my first "modern" car and was loads of fun as well. Only I believe 90 horsepower but still felt like a beast compared to my previous car.
85 GTi - An updated version of the above, still a little bit faster and more space.
92 GTi - You see a trend here, eh? Only problem with this one is that the engine eventually blew up but it was fun while it lasted!
93 Geo Storm - This one might be considered my "worst" car but in reality it was a lot of fun still. It had a 5 speed manual and was so versatile with the large hatchback. It was my junker that I used for everyday tasks as I had my next vehicle at the same time for fun.
91 Porsche 944 S2 - Great handling car and worthy of the brand name. Wasn't the absolute fastest thing out there with only about 210 horsepower but still what a fun machine!
02 Porsche 911 - Here's where it really started to get fun as this thing is everything you have heard and read about. Truly an awesome machine that I still have and love. Haven't had a need to upgrade it yet since it still does everything I need it to.
11 Porsche Cayenne Turbo - This is our family car but even weighing twice as the 911 is still faster in a straight line. Never thought an SUV could be as fun as this but with over 500 horsepower it too is worthy of the Porsche name.
Been fortunate enough to love all of my cars and appreciate them for each of their unique traits.
My favorite and least favorite are both the same car, my 2003 Chevrolet Malibu.
The good. Smooth ride over bumps, stable handling in the corners, V6 torque, roomy interior, great ergonomics for the driver.
The bad. Leaking intake gasket, anti-theft system stop recognizing my keys, AC control plate not working properly even after several replacements from the dealership.
Besides the Malibu, my worst was my 1978 Camaro with 250 cid inline 6 I got when it was 8 years old. Slowest car I've ever owned, smallest cargo trunk, most uncomfortable seats (front and rear), headliner gone, rotted out carpet, cracked and torn vinyl seats, and all windows leaked water when it rained. What I liked was the exterior looks and an engine that didn't leave me stranded.
So far my best is my 2015 Hyundai Elantra. Interior room is about the same as the Malibu, much more comfortable seats, great fuel economy, nearly as fast accelerating as the V6 Malibu but with a 1.8L 4 cylinder. The bad is jittery cornering in the rear end thanks to torsion beam suspension and low rolling resistance tires.
74 VW Bug - First car, ran on three cylinders but my dad and I took the engine apart and fixed it. Was an auto-stick so it let me get the feel for a manual transmission but without the clutch. Yes it was SO SLOW but the smells and sounds that car had still stick with me today.
I feel the same way. From the time I was a kid, I always knew that I wanted a VW beetle. Of course, being of the millennial generation, it was hard to get my hands on a working (and affordable) 'old' beetle, so my first one was a 1999 'new' beetle that I bought off of a guy on Craigslist for less than $1k. The car had a salvage title, with plenty of issues. When I finally got rid of it, most of the valuable working parts were shot (engine, transmission, etc). In 2010 I traded it for a used 2007 Beetle manual, which I am still driving today. I should probably get rid of it, but I'm kind of emotionally attached to the car, it's fun to drive and it hasn't caused me any major issues.
My other (new) car is a 2017 Tesla model X, but I still drive the Beetle about 50% of the time. It's still too early to pass judgment on the new car as of yet.
I don't have a least favorite car, I was always just sort of happy that I had one that functioned. The '99 Beetle caused me a lot of headaches though, as it used to break down unexpectedly, and VW electrical repairs were always so expensive. Being a student with an unreliable/expensive to maintain car was not so fun.
My first car a dad hand-me-down was a '93 white Ford Escort station wagon.. aka the shagin wagon.
The air condition worked 50% of the time the interior smelled of musty salt water (as my dad used it for his windsurfing gear) and the back speaker was blown.
I enjoyed: 48 Plymouth convertible
59 English Ford Zephyr convertible
51 MG TD roadster
64 VW convertible
10 Nissan Xterra SUV
Not good: 50 Dodge coupe
84 Chrysler sedan
Cheap: Drove company cars for 20 years. Whatever they sent me, I didn't even get to pick the color.
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