'86 VW GTI with 1.8 liter, assembled in PA. Great handling, mileage, and reliability. I bought it new and kept it 11 years. I Loved that car. My '97 VW GTI with 2.0 liter is probably a better car overall (more reliable and slightly more powerful, but mileage is not quite as good). I like it a lot, but it never has really grabbed me like the first one. This one is 12 years and 220K miles young. Maybe I’ll keep it another 100K or so. Maybe by then I’ll start to love it as much as the first. But I doubt it.
I LOVED my 1988 Ford Festiva. It was small, cheap, and had a great personality. Sure I had to use a broken pen (which came with the car) to turn on the windshield wipers or to eject a tape, but I loved it and drove it all over the country. If they still made them, I’d probably buy one!
Mine was a 1979 scout II .It had a 304 v8 with a 4 speed . The only drawback was the backseat
.It was a long wheelbase twodoor.If there was more than two people they had to CLIMB in the back.
-1970 Chevy Chevelle 307 with a powerglide
-1980 Chrysler New Yorker - bought it from a coworker’s father for a song in 1992. Drove it for 6 years and it never let me down. Comfy, big old boat of a car.
-1994 Chrysler LHS --had it for 10 years and still my daily driver. Very little trouble and have been through a lot with that car. Which makes it hard to get rid of. Still runs good/no rust/uses very little oil at almost 250,000 miles.
It’s a toss-up between my first car - a 1972 Volkswagen Fastback with no AC and, for all practical purposes, no heat - that was my first car, and the 1981 BMW 320i that I had years later. Both cars were fun to drive and full of interesting car quirks and personality. The VW had the battery under the backseat and the engine in the back, which was so cool to all my friends (we were juniors and seniors in high school at the time). The BMW was so comfortable to drive - I’ve been in nicer cars since then, but nothing ever won my heart like that car did.
Hands down, my 1988 Dodge Daytona Shelby Z. The 2.2 Intercooled Turbo engine never hesitated, stumbled, or gave any sign it wanted to do anything other than rev up. The cockpit was perfect. I had ALL the gauges, 16-way adjustable seats and a suspension tuned by Carrol Shelby himself. The steering was razor sharp, unlike anything I’ve driven, from BMWs to my current Infiniti G35 Coupe. I could not get the car to lean. The steering was fast – a very quick ratio. It was light, fast and had styling ahead of its time considering the rice-tuner craze was 10 years away. It was rare. Daytonas were around, but the Shelby Z model was, and is, very rare.
'67 Mustang - white. paid $600 for it. Hunk of junk when I got it with 100k+ on the clock. 6 banger and 3 on the floor, burned oil like a sheik even using SAE 50 racing oil.
'74 Vega - brown. paid $300 for it. Teeth missing from the flywheel and auto tranny = crawl under the car with a wrench every so often to crank it around to make it start. Only one of 2 auto transmission cars I have ever owned. Engine had been replaced with one with iron sleeves - so no issues (other than the missing teeth) while I had it. Gave it to my folks when I was done with it, since there was $0 resale value.
'79 Fiat X1/9 - silver. my first new car. Probably the most fun to drive (the memory makes the bad stuff fade and the good stuff seem better). In reality if you ran the headlights and the AC (with electric cooling fans for the radiator) you would run the batter down. Fuel pump, alternator, exhaust gasket, and more went bad in 4 years - plus some “Italian body highlighting” (rust) as well. A real attention getting with the targa roof, front and rear trunks, and mid-engine. Go cart handling, but not a lot of power.
'83 Rabbit GTI - red. my 2nd new car. Lots of fun, but FWD hurls major chunkage. Geared too high for freeway travel. Red paint faded bad. Only got $1,200 when I got rid of it - VW reliability had folks staying away in droves. For the times, I had real good luck with this car with just CV joints being the only major problem.
'89 Civic Si - red. loads of fun for a FWD car with few issues - ignitor failed (should have heeded the recall sooner), muffler rusted out, AC leaked - but pretty good. Running strong and quick when I sold it - for top dollar (Honda resale value). Another car I would not mind still owning.
'94 Altima - beige. needed 4 doors to haul the kids. Got a rare manual Altima and even autocrossed it for a couple of seasons. Not too hot resale value, but zero issues while I owned it. Decent performer with the manual. A decent, but not exiting ride.
'96 Miata M edition - dark blue. the start of my multi-car life. Beautiful moonlight mica paint w/leather interior. My first convertible. Pull a roll bar in it and autocrossed it and drove it on nice days. RWD and ABS. Decent resale, but I sold during the winter. Needed more power, but driven on the street on race tires was GLUED to the road.
'98 Contour SVT - maroon. replaced the Altima. A real sleeper. Possibly the best exhaust note of any car I have ever owned. Still FWD, though. Tight back seat. Loved the car. Got pretty good money for it when I was ready for something new. Another car that I would not mind still owning. I put an awesome stereo and alarm in it and other than the FWD was a blast.
'00 C5 Corvette Convertible - red. replaced the Miata. Lots of power, but really heavy and large car. Not as much fun to drive as the Miata - except for planting the right foot and going. In the shop for a week at a time many times. Once I got a Geo Metro loaner, most times nothing. Silly expensive with every option (heads up display, 6 speed, autox suspension, etc). Horrible resale value - had to about give it away. I can say I owned one, but it was not a great experience.
'01 330i - silver. replaced the SVT. Manual transmission with premium and sports packs. Awesome car, RWD - at last for a 4 door daily driver. I often wonder if I should have kept the car, but I replaced it with what I thought was better. Got around 22 mpg around town - very smooth in-line 6. No problems or issues while I had it. Has the BMW magic of ride comfort and handling that others can’t match.
'01 S2000 - red. replaced the 'vette. Got it slightly used (1,100 miles) for a STEAL of a price. Ahh, this is just right. Light and fun to drive like the Miata but with lots more power. A little tail happy and a plastic back window about the only complaints. Loads of fun a SUPER gas mileage - nearly perfect. Superb resale value when I sold it. Around 23-24 mpg around town. No issues or problems while I had it.
'01 M5 - silver. replaced the 330i. Got it with real low miles (9k) for a steal of a price. Awesome car - more power than the 'vette but leather seating for 5. Had the built in phone, NAV, TV tuner, MP3 changer, and more. Then it started to break - cam position sensors, generator, etc. Thought I would have this forever, but finally unloaded it as the prices on these were dropping. Poor mileage, around 15 mpg around town on premium.
'96 Subaru Legacy - green. snow day / bad weather car - added to the stable. With 4 snow tires and AWD it was awesome. Got it cheap, but really high miles. Sold it later when numerous things needed work - slipping clutch, door locks, windows, etc. Super in bad weather and snow, only decent mileage at 23 mpg around town. Got about 2/3 of what I paid for it when I sold it.
'05 S2000 - red. replaced the 01. Got the new 05 for below invoice and top dollar for the '01, so the upgrade was a no brainer. Glass window and 2.2l motor upgrades, not quite as tail happy. The '01 did wind to a higher RPM. 23-25 mpg around town, 28 mpg on trips - all with the top down. A real keeper, until I sold it. Resale value way down now, so I had to about give it away. No problems while I had it.
'05 RX8 - silver. replaced the M5. Got a silly deal on this car, $3,500 UNDER INVOICE when you added up all the rebates and discounts. Smooth motor, but drinks the gas (13-14 mpg in town, 19 mpg on trips) and the oil. Slightly usable back seat, but not a real 4 door - but I don’t need one now. Horrible resale value and questions of the rotary engine reliability. Still, another car I would not mind still owning if not for the horrible mileage - on premium gas. No issues or problems while I had it.
'06 xB - silver. replaced the Legacy. Needing something with an auto so my wife and kids could borrow it. Now my snow day / bad weather car. With 4 snow tires is good, but not AWD Subaru. Lots of room and I love the fist gen xB styling. I tried to talk my daughter into one (she got a Civic sedan instead), when that didn’t work I got one for me. Got a super price by taking an ex dealer loaner car with 3k on it and full warranty. No issues or problems, still going strong (as it can). Out of site resale value, if I didn’t want to keep it. Not a lot of fun to drive though and not as economical as you would expect under my heavy right foot. Remote start added for those cold / snowy / icy days.
08’ G37s - silver. replaced the RX8. Awesome car, gobs of power and every techno goodie known to man - distance cruise, nav, backup camera, MP3 hard drive, card reader, swivel headlights, etc. Hard to find a manual transmission car. I wanted a loaded manual sedan (G35) but could not find one in the colors I wanted, so I took the coupe. Really heavy and not as fun in the corners as the RX8 of the S2000. I get 17-18mpg around town, not bad given the power and weight. Dealer network is sparse, nearest one is 20+ miles one way, next closest is 150 miles or so. The stereo with all the inputs - XM, hard drive, card reader, ipod, A/V input, mp3 disc player is awesome. No problems so far.
'08 S2000 - red. replaced the 05 S2000. I got another super deal - S2000 sales are in the toilet so they are giving them away. Bad news on the 05 trade value though. The new car has skid control and different seats, but otherwise is similar to the 05. I figured '08 would be the last year and I love the car, so I upgraded. It looks like '09 really will be the last year, but I will keep this one. I have not found any convertible for a reasonable amount of money I would rather have. Sure, a boxter or 911 drop top would be nice - but that is a LOT more money. My wife even loves to ride in it - better than the 'vette or Miata. Small trunk, so pack light for trips. Still getting 23-24 mpg around town and close to 30 mpg on trips. Resale value is not good, but I am not looking to sell it. No problems so far.
You are right. It was 1993.
Could you narrow it down to one favorite?