Kansas Bob tagged me with this on Facebook. Normally don't go for most of these memes, but this one I couldn't resist. Thought I'd do it here instead, but I might post it there too.
Want to play along? Answer for yourself on your blog or Facebook or here in the comments.
- What is your first "vehicular" memory? That's hard to pinpoint. I guess it would be riding in Dad's 1965 Barracuda in a Styrofoam car seat. Mom and Dad were ahead of their time, I had a car seat as a toddler in the early 70's, but it was just a kiddie chair that they ran the seat belt through.
- What was the first "amazing" vehicle you ever saw? The first car I remember being awed by was an early 70's Camaro. It had to be a '70-'73 because I remember being awestruck by the 4 round tail lights as they went by going the other way on the interstate. I still love Camaros to this day and a '72 Z-28 RS is high on my favorites list.
- What car did you learn to drive in? 1977 Cutlass Supreme, Mandarin Orange with a Light Buckskin landau top, side moldings and pin striping. 350 Olds (not Chevy) V8 with a 4 bbl.
- In what vehicle did you have your first date? Probably that same '77 Olds, maybe Dad's '80 Citation 4 door hatch.
- What vehicle do you most remember riding or driving to school? Well, I drove the Olds many times, then I drove my '76 Camaro (more on it later), but one of the most memorable was riding with a friend for early driver's ed classes (he took early bird Chemistry) in his '68-ish Chevy Nova with 3 on the tree. It barely ran, looked like it had been attacked with a ball bat and was various shades of blue plus black primer. We called it the bruiser.
- What was the first vehicle that was yours alone and where is it now? I always considered the '76 Camaro mine, but I think I technically shared it with my sister. I found it in a junk yard a few years later looking for parts for my next car, a '80 Chevy Monza.
Have you ever totalled/wrecked a car? Describe.
I had an '80 Chevy Monza 4 speed hatchback (at right, it started brown and ended up blue. Click the picture for a larger shot.) that had 9 altercations with other vehicles, only 2 of which were my fault. Probably 3 of them should have been considered totaled, but I didn't have the money so I took the insurance money (except the time I was responsible), went junkyard shopping and put the car back together. It had no less than 3 complete replacement front ends while I owned it.
- Your worst vehicle? Wow, this one is really hard. I've owned some deuseys.
- That '76 Camaro, lime green metallic with 11 rust holes. Three replacement panels, a full gallon of bondo and a Maaco paint job later it was sort of OK. Saved it from the wrecking yard for a coupleof years anyway.
- The '80 Monza had door hinge pins that would fall out while you drove. I'd then have to ask my date to get out first so I could climb out the passenger side. Oh, and when my girlfriend was in the car, the heat wouldn't work. Before picking her up and after dropping her off it was fine (and she still married me!) The clutch cable froze and tore a hole through the firewall and then there was it's habit of catching on fire, which it did twice. Had to be push started in the end so I always parked at the top of a hill. Sold it to some guy who bought it for his wife, poor woman.
- The '88 Nissan Pulsar that followed was good looking and fun, but was a real money pit. Spent $5,000 in 3 years just keeping it running. Alternator, couple of timing sensors, a nw ignition coil, three sets of tires, two exhaust systems and it needed both, plus a steering rack, speedo gear and shocks, when I traded it.
- Then there's the '88 Grand Caravan SE that Dad gave me that ate a transmission and engine (and AC compressor, radiator, nearly lost a window on the street and the steering column almost fell apart), my current '99 Honda Odyssey which is on tranny #3 (but has otherwise been great, and Honda paid for both transmission replacements), my current Mazda3 has had some issues and an '88 Celebrity - 'nuff said.
What's your current vehicle, and what's the most favorite vehicle you've had?
Same car, my '05 Mazda3 5 door. Love the way it looks, love the way it drives and still do at 51,000 miles. I also currently have the aforementioned '99 Honda Odyssey EX (180,000 miles) and my toy, a 1960 Thunderbird Convertible.
- What is your dream car? Although a Corvette ZR1 is a very close second, I'll say the Audi R8 V10 for it's exotic good looks, supercar performance and Audi design, fit and finish:
Image credit: Autoblog
# 6 & #8 - My memories are much the same as yours, Doug. However, I don't think we shared the Camaro - that was all yours! As you know my memories also include a Monza - mine ended up with a warped head gasket that "Tiny" (who was anything but) tightened down for me since I didn't want to sink a lot of money in it. I kept a case of oil in the trunk since it burned a quart of oil every 250 miles. My white cloud followed me wherever I went and I sat at many a traffic light asphyxiating all within breathing distance. I eventually sold it to a kid who thought he would put in a big, new engine and race it. Hmm... I wonder how that worked for him.
#9 & #10 - I now have my dream car - a Suburban - it really is fun to drive a big, solid truck-like vehicle. My other dream car would be a Pacer. :)
Monza's are great for drag race cars because they are light and accept a good sized V8 pretty easily.
I like how you say your big ol' Suburban is 'truck-like', that's cute. :-D
I had forgotten about your Pacer fascination. Here's one that Dad and I saw at the Arthritis Foundation show last year.
I did mine on my blog too.
Enjoyed reading your motor history.. I wanna see that T-Bird convertible!
1. My first vehicular memory is a little fuzzy, but it was in my dad's 1935 Terraplane in the winter at night. Another was on the frozen ice of a lake somewhere. There were a lot of cars there and we were spinning around on the ice and the sun was shining.
2. It probably was a mid-forties Lincoln Continental. I remember, though, being really impressed with the 1953 Corvette when it came out. I still would like to have a 53-55!
3. 1950 Buick Super hardtop. I took my driver's test in a 1955 Olds 98 4-dr. hardtop.
4. My grandfather's 1954 Cadillac 62 4-dr. My dad drove.
5. 1937 Pontiac 6 4-dr. in high school, then 1951 and 1958 Mercurys. I finished with a 59 VW in college.
6. When I got married, Beve and I bought a used 1960 Dodge Pioneer slant six convertible, just before leaving for 2 yrs. active duty in the Army in El Paso, TX. I sold it in El Paso and bought a 65 Cuda. All cars before that were purchased by my dad and in his name.
7. No, but my 65 Barracuda was totalled when my wife was driving it! A step van came out of a parking lot and t-boned it in the left side. Beve had stitches in her arm and head, but otherwise was just shook up.
8. This is hard to name just one, but they all fell into the same category and were owned about the same time. 1976 Camaro (Doug's), 1977 Olds, 1979 Monza (Doug's), 1980 Monza (Jenny's) and 1980 Toronado. Note-all GM cars! I switched to Chrysler products after that.
9. Current: 1956 T-bird, 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz convertible, 1997 Chrysler Sebring (which just hit a deer) & 2007 Chrysler T&C van. Favorite: 1951 Mercury 2-dr. stick - no permanent modifications, just removed hood ornament, fitted side pipes and 56 Olds spinner caps. It was british racing green. I also liked my 65 Barracuda w/Hurst-shifted 4-spd.-red inside and out!
10. Too many to name. I just want to get my 57 Caddy on the road this year. I can't afford a 53-55 Corvette!
Dad - Donuts on a frozen lake, that sounds awesome.
Going from a '58 Mercury to a '59 VW had do be a shift.
Thanks for sharing, we've got to get a list of all your cars together, Grandpa's too.