Based on some recent shouts in the box, I thought this would be a cool topic. As far as I know, there's not been one done on this theme, but if there has been, hopefully one of the Axiom old-timers will provide us a link.

I'll start - my first vehicle was a used 1979 Toyota pick-up. It was 1984, I was 16, it was yellow. Geekiness ensued.

My favorite car was my 1997 BMW Z3, bought new. It was violet red (car dealerese for plum purple), a color that actually worked very well for it. Some of my favorite memories with the Z3 were of a trip with a friend, who had a light blue Z3, to the homecoming at the BMW plant in upstate South Carolina. Our two-car caravan got quite a few smiles and thumbs-up.

My first was a '59 Ford pickup, then I upgraded to a '69 Chevy Blazer ... my best vehicle so far was my '02 Ford F250 7.3 Powerstroke, wish I would have kept it. My wife has had a couple of B'mers but so far her best car has been her Volvo S80, great car.

We had a dream car thread... Link

The first car(s) that I got to use of my dads was a 1986 Honda Accord 5 speed and a 1977 Corvette 3 speed automatic. My dad offered me the vette when he moved out west but due to a few reasons I turned it down and he gave it to my brother. This worked out well as he's a major car guy. He has redone the brakes, exhaust, added headers and switched it to a 4 speed manual.

The first car I bought was a 1996 Plymouth Neon Ex 2 door with 5 speed. A really fun car to drive and it took a beating with no issue. I've sinced moved to a minivan...and actually enjoy it. I can't wait until we upgrade our secondary car though as I really miss 5 speed and something designed to drive for fun.

My first car was a used 1991 Mercury Tracer. Same thing as a Ford Escort. Bought in 1995 when I was 16. My parents paid for half, I paid for the other half. It was a pretty good car.

My current car is a 2006 Saab 9-3 Aero, which is the best car I've ever owned and certainly my favorite. Comfortable, powerful, a joy to drive, and excellent mpg. I just love it.

However, for a drive through wine country on a warm & sunny spring day, it's hard to beat my wife's Pontiac Solstice GXP for raw driving pleasure.

My first was a 1972 Volkswagen station wagon. I was 18 and in the Navy when I had it, what a party mobile it was .

I think my favorite car was a 1969 Firebird. Nothing like the power of a muscle car.

My first was a 1969 VW Bug. It had dual carbs, holes in the floor, and rust all over the roof, but it was a load of fun for the 10 years I drove it!

First car was a 1950 Ford Prefect; bought used from a doctor's wife in Ancaster. Paid $250



10hp and vacuum wipers that didn't work when you hit the gas, did have leather seats however. I was about 16. Unlike the photo above the car was in green.

Last year I did manage to find a diecast of this very car and in the correct colour, as it was manufactured by a company that had gone out of business about 20 years ago it was quite rare and almost cost me as much as the original car did.


Favourite car, a 1969 Z28 Camaro



Bought it new the same day I quit my job. The orange/white paint made it the car of choice for the police to pull over. Never ever did get a ticket though. Had 4:11 rear gears and could easily go through a tank in a day. Had to use Sunoco 260, cost a little above 50 cents a gallon in those days. FUN to drive.

First car was a '69 Mustang fastback that I bought in high school in the early 80s which I added some mags and headers to. The car I had the most fun with was a 1983 Porsche 930 (European model, more hp) which I bought used in the mid 90s but with very low kms. I still think about that car from time to time, as I sold it a few years ago and actually made a few $ on it. I owned a '73 VW Superbeetle as a teenager that was fun in other ways...like scraping the inside if the windshield while you're driving in the winter, guessing how much fuel you had because the fuel gauge didn't work, prying up the brake pedal with your foot after slowing down because the brakes were sticking, water leaking through dash pannel, holes through the floor, bald tires, getting stopped because the muffler ws blown/sounded like a Harley, ignition getting wet and hard to start...man I miss that car.

My first car was a hand-me-down of a hand-me-down (parents' car, became my older sister's car, and then was my car)... It was a plain, and boring 1982 Oldsmobile Firenza 4-door in "off-white" (ie:beige). It got me from point A to B with my friends who didn't have a car, so it was OK. The best part was about a year into it I learned how to properly repaint a car. It then became glossy black with red mag wheels from some older, and much cooler Olds. Topped off with new red body-molding (you know, that 1.5" wide rubber/plastic piece that went down each side of the car), and red wiper blades... Keep in mind, Michael Jordan and his red/black combo was huge back then...

My favorite car isn't some fancy BMW, Volvo, or Saab, or a cool sports car like a classic Firebird (my dad owned a 1967 Firebird)...

I am someone who would love a really nice car, but my money seems to go towards the "family hauler" (minivan) that gets used way too much and needs to be replaced way to often, and my kids are in activities that cost us about $400 a month during the school year, so my favorite car is my slightly modified 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP that I have right now. It isn't perfect, but boy is the supercharged engine fun, and it is in great shape and in a great color too.

My first car was a 1989 Mustang LX, black with red interior. 4 banger good on gas, not so good in the snow. So 2 years later I upgraded to the XL sport, 5.0 liter 220 HP, 0-60 in under 6 seconds, red, black interior, lots of fun in the summer, and even worse in the snow. My dad worked at Ford so I got a discount on new cars.

My fav. car I have ever owned was my 1994 Thunderbird.

My dream car is the Aston Martin DB9, or DBS, I'll take eithe one.

paul

Hay I owned a white '75 Corvette with a red interior for several years and I absolutely loved that car, seems like the faster it went the better it handled ... I remember driving to Daytona from Orlando and doing over 135 mph on I-4 with the tops off, I don't know how we ever made it past those days.

I bought my first car when i was 17. This was in 97. The car was an 82 camaro with the 5.0 v8. It was abviously abused by the previous owners...who knows how many owners it has had before me. I later discovered someone played with the odometere. I htink it had 240K miles when i got it. I drove it for a year before selling it and getting a firebird.

Ford, that's a nice-looking Ford!

My first was a 1965, powder blue MGB just like this one.




Below was my second car shown in my driveway. 1971 MGB in British racing green purchased when I was in Vietnam.

Dang Jack, you didn't get started with driving until later in life I guess, huh?
(I kid because I care!)

My neighbor has a couple of those MGB's, even has rare MGA Coupe ... very slick cars!

My favorite car I owned was a 1983 Volkswagen Camper van. My dad bought it for me in 1999 when I was a junior in highscool.

It had a sink, a fridge, a table, a two burner stove and two beds. (The back seat folded down into a bed, and the top popped up to form another bed.) Here are some pictures of what the van looked like: (non of these are the actual van, but the first pic is the same color... the ugliest brown color you can imagine )






Here is a link to an image that shows the inside:
http://www.freewebs.com/ourwestfalia/P5090012.JPG

I got into more trouble with this car then you could ever imagine. You can imagine the look on the face of the father of any girl that I had a date with when I rolled up in a vehicle with two beds in it

Lots of camping, lots of road trips, and lots of fun.

Sadly, I went to visit my girlfriend in Oklahoma city one night (about 130 miles away) in the middle of a snow storm. I hit a slick spot on the turnpike and lost control. I distinctly remember flying off the road at about 60 miles per hour and going air born into a several foot drop-off. I had skillets, pots, and pans from my stove flying all around my vehicle and past my head at incredible speeds and making incredibly loud noises as they slammed around the interior of my van. My vehicle landed on two wheels and tossed, turned and rolled onto it's side where it finally came to a stop. My windshield was gone... so I got out of my car through the void where a windshield once kept the bugs from smacking me in the face during many-a-memorable road trips that would never happen again in that same wonderful van.

I am seriously thinking about getting another one of these though! Some people still call me "V-dub" from fun we had in my VW camper van.

Kidding or not, you're right. I didn't buy my first car until I was 21 or 22. The first car I drove (that I can remember) was a two door, stick shift, 6 cylinder 1959 Chevy Biscayne (the cheap model) in the most bilious two-tone combination of what GM laughingly referred to as "Aspen Green" & "Classic Cream." I saw them as "barf green" & "baby-poop yellow." BLECH!





If I remember correctly, the body was yellow, including the hood over the engine, while the roof, trunk lid and top of the fins were green. Nauseating!!!

However, it was a really good, reliable, car.

The MGBs were really a lot of fun. They were a PITA mechanically, always needing something, but they were a ball to drive.

I'm boring. I got my first car from my sister in 1997. It was a 4-door 1989 Honda Civic. I unloaded that car onto Ken in 2000 and then bought a fully-loaded 1997 Nissan Maxima SE. I still drive it today.

Buzzkill!

Although, I hear the Maxima is the car of the enlightened.

<--- drives 2001 Maxima...

Nice! your dad must be the coolest dad in the world... Glad you were able to walk away from that crash.

My first car was a pretty lame brand new Geo Metro (not exactly this one, but looks pretty cool huh?) my dad bought me when I was at junior high.

not another car thread, use the search feature.

Learned to drive using my moms 77 Ford Pinto Wagon with wood grain exterior.

1st car 81 Camaro Berlinetta

Favorite car my 91 Camaro Z28

I forgot to mention that both of my cars have been manuals and the hills of San Francisco were brutal when I was learning stick.

Hilarity ensues!

I wonder what Bbigwyres first car was?!

Probably a Kenworth or perhaps a Peterbilt.

Definitely a JaloPy?

Most definitely!

My first car was a 1954 Olds 88 that I bought for $225 and sold a couple years later for $200.

My favorite is a tie between a 1987 Ford Merkur that I loved to drive but maintenance costs got too high; and my current car a 1998 Infinity Q45 with 140k miles and going strong.

It was a DIY from used subwoofer parts.
With 16 mirrors. REFLECT!

First car I owned was a 1979 GMC Suburban. Ex-contractor's truck - had holes in the wheel wells big enough that birds used to fly up in it when I parked it. Nothing cooler than opening the door, seeing a bird in it, and having to open the cargo doors and scare it so it flies out. At least until I boxed in the wheel wells with built in "tool boxes."

Favorite car I've owned is one of the Malibus, the 3.1 for guts, the 2.2eco for peppy fuel economy.

Favorite car I've ever driven - that's tough. Chev Z71 pickup and VW Jetta for different reasons (my beanpole body fit well in the truck, and the Jetta I was amazed at how smoothly it ran with an odometer that read about the same as the US National Debt.)

Car I thought I'd like more than I did - Cadillac Catera. It's a rebranded Opel, maybe I just had set too high a bar.

Bren R.

My first was a 1976 Mercury Marquis. I could put a good half forest of logs in the trunk when we went camping.

My fathers first was a Ford model T: he was very young, it was very old.

First car, sort of, was a 78 Chevy Malibu, with the CA emissions V-6. That car sucked. It was blue and rust.

First car I purchased was the 89 Civic that Peter sold me. It had a horrible revving problem that I got resolved (and I got a new clutch at the same time) 2 days before I crashed it.

Favorite car I've owned... well, that's a strange one. I really liked the peppiness of the 2 older Civics (89 and 91), but neither had A/C, and that kind of sucked. I like the (relative) cushyness of the 2001 Civic, but since it's a lot heavier and has power steering, it's not as much fun to drive. And I like the power of the Volvo 850 Turbo wagon. So I like all of them. Except the Malibu.

Favorite car I've driven has to be the Dodge Viper GTS.

My first car was a gold/rust/bondo colored 1967 two door Impala with seats with the springs sticking out. I sold it about 6 months later for $371 and bought a 1977 Triumph TR-7. My favorite car to drive was a 1981 Nissan 280 ZX. The best car that I owned is a 2000 Honda Civic EX that I am still driving with 165,000 + miles on it.

Favorite car I've driven was a '78 Datsun 240Z a girlfriend of mine used to own back when I was in HS. That thing was fast!

My dad has a 79' MG midget (shorn below at their house) and is a member of a British car club; there are some really nice cars in the group. I went to a "Brit's in the park" car show in Lindsay in the summertime and there where easily over 1000 cars.

[img][/img]

My first car was a 1968 Opel Cadet.

My first car was my 16th B-day present from my parents, a 1973 or was it a 1975(most likely), can't remember now, Ford Custom 500 2 dr. also known as an LTD. It had a 400M engine drank gas faster than I can drink water and floated down the road with out a care in the world. I ended up selling the car and giving the money back to my parents shortly after getting it as they needed the money more than I needed the car.

My favorite car I have owned is a toss up between, my 1970 Mustang coupe w/351C, with a mild cam that I couldn't keep the tires on and my 1990 Toyota Corolla GTS. I could get 42 mpg on the highway with the GTS and it was a bit of a pocket rocket with 0-60mph in just over 8 seconds. It handled wonderfully and I had it up to 220kmh+(136mph) numerous times. The little 1.6L 130hp engine had an 8000RPM redline and I know it went higher, no rev limiter, at least not one that I ever ran into.

I have briefly driven a Viper GTS, for sheer raw power it is hard to beat.

HAHA. My first car was the 78 4 door Malibu Classic that swallowed gas and whose tranny slipped when I breathed. I HATED that car and was glad when it died. Around the same time, I used my dad's 73 Impala. That thing was a TANK.

My favorite car was my 1990 Eagle Talon TSi, which was based on the Mitsubishi Eclipse. The turbo and AWD was great, until you had to replace the turbo. I also liked my 2001 BMW 528i wagon, but it was WAY too $$ to fix. Can't forget my 1962 VW bug either. It was redone 'Cal style', lowered, one piece windows and rebuilt 1600. No heater and rough ride but I though it was cool. Still do.

My first car was a Plymouth Horizon (don't know the year), but I bought it off the neighbor for $100 and it lasted me three years. My next vehicle was a wheelchair accessible short bus, and now my wheelchair accessible van.

My favorite car was probably the Horizon, I got myself in an awful lot of trouble in that thing.

First car was a BMW 1600ti. Never got to drive it after purchase though; the previous owner (a friend) was delivering it and got T-boned in an intersection a mile or so from my house. The car was a writeoff, so I got my money back.

He pulled the sound system from the car and sold it separately for more than I was going to pay him for the whole car.

Your voice recognition software has a secret fetish for shorn midgets.

Bren R.

LOL

My buddy has three in his yard if you ever feel nostalgic. Only one works so just make sure you buy that one.

I saw a guy the other day who bought three non-functional jet skis and tinkered with them until he had two functional ones and one carcass - or is that jet skicass?

First Car, 1983 Buick Regal. Mine was mint green and had a hardtop, not like this one.

Favorite Car 2002 Audi A4 Quattro

Do you live in Possum Lake?

Ouch. My dad had an 81 I think.

My first was a 1985 Plymouth Horizon. The hatchback was handy, but the rest of the car was a nightmare. CR called the heater "archaic" and when the thermostat died during a January trip from Pittsburgh to Danbury, I froze my buns as it leaked air like a $!?&@@&? sieve. In the 18 months I had the thing it also badly went out of alignment on a regular basis, cracked the gasket, and blew a hole in the exhaust two inches short of where it came out of the engine.

My favorite would either be the 1989 Accord that replaced it (cool air to driver's face even during heating) or the 1991 Prelude (geared insanely but a blast to drive) that replaced it after being totaled. Drive a 2002 Civic 5sp now. Not exciting, but much better mileage.

My first “car” was a Honda CB350F. My favorite “car” was the Honda CB350F until it became a pretzel.

My first car was a Violet/Magenta Mazda Millenia 92'. Called her violet. Passed down from my dad. Loved that car, had a steering wheel that tilted up after I pulled out the keys, great for my really long legs. Too bad it blew a head gasket with 160,000...

Then I picked up a slightly used '08 Blue Nissan Versa hatchback. Love this car, great gas mileage. The hatchback is AWESOME for a college student. I throw whatever in there. Just picked up my roommate last week who had a flat tire on his bike. Threw it in the back, no problem. It's a tiny car, but it has a LOT of interior room. People sit in it thinking it's going to be a cramped fit, and they are pleasantly surprised that there is a lot of room. I have the driver's seat pushed all the way back, and a tall person can sit comfortably in the back seat. Filling up at the gas tank is a good experience, light on the wallet :-)

Hatchbacks (and wagons) are awesome in general. It's just too bad that more people don't realize that a nice little hatchback like your Versa can hold 90% of the stuff that most SUVs can while getting double the gas mileage.

Ajax, cool MG's. My father had BRG MG back in the late 60's. Looked exactly like the one in your second picture. He always said it was one of his favorite cars he ever owned, so long as it was warmer than about 40F out. Any colder than that, and it just wouldn't start. So he used to say, anyway. But man, he had a lot of good memories and adventures in that car.

There is just something magical about a little 2-seat convertible. My wife's favorite & current car, our Solstice:

In Europe, hatchbacks and wagons are kind of the norm, like SUVs over here are/were. As the SUV continues to shrink, it'll vurtually be a 'station wagon' but they'll market it as something else to try and sell more(crossover, utility vehicle).The word 'wagon' seems to have a negative stigma attached to it over here.

Thanks, Peter. They were a lot of fun. Didn't have any trouble starting mine below 40 degrees, but they required constant care to keep them running properly. Kind of a PITA. But, all that was forgotten when driving home after a gig, at 2 in the morning (little or no traffic), top down, on a warm summer night. Sheer heaven.

Wish there were more shooting brakes available in the US. Particularly Japanese ones--the European ones are awfully expensive--especially for repairs.

I put the blame solidly and singly on the shoulders of the


Ford Gran Torino wagon. Hereafter refered to as the "Torinosaurus Wreck."

Bren R.

My dad had the Mercury Cougar version with the 3rd seat that flipped up from the floor, that was my seat in the car on long trips.

The bonus of the Torinosaurus was that when we did RC car racing, it fit everyone's cars, pit crews, chargers, a compressor, parts cases (tackleboxes), and the occasional girlfriend before they realized they'd just said they would go and sit out in the hot sun for a whole day watching grown men race wee trucks around a dirt track.

Also, the upholstery springs failed at the edges of each bench, making everyone sag to the outside of the car... hit a good bump and you could be ejected out an open window.

Bren R.

We're laughing now, but some clown with more money than sense probably paid $75,000US for a car like that at the Barret Jackson Auction!!!

Nice woody, Bren.

First car = An 84 Ford Topaz that I got on a trade from my father for buying him a new Floorstander TV. Boring but served me reliably for many years.

Favorite is my current Jeep TJ (Wrangler for you American folks) Rubicon. Fun for all seasons. A convertible in the summer and increases the odds of me getting home down my very snowy road in the winter. I should probably add our spring seasons full of bright red, muddy back roads to the list too. I like to go fly fishing where no one else will find me.

Doing trails with the New Brunswick and Nova Scotia Jeep Clubs has also been a hobby of mine for many years now.

Here's me with my versa.

And a stain on your pants. Kids these days.

Then again, Tom's talking about my woody... PEOPLE these days!

Bren R.

Hey, who you callin' "people"?

You know, people pay big bucks for pants with stains on them already. I'm just saving money.

That stain resembles the same stain on US maps that always seems to be right below Oklahoma.

WhatFurrer? Anybody?

They're not taking the bait, Peter.