What was the most beloved car you ever owed?

Wow... this brings back some memories.

In the 80's (the college years), I owned a '72 VW camper with an original Westfalia interior. The van usually had some extra clothes in the closet, a six pack of beer in the icebox, and was pretty much ready to go on any road trip at any time. It lived for the roadtrip. Color? VW called it Sierra Sunrise... I called it yellow.

Now, if you've ever owned a Volkswagen from that era, you know that they tended to have a lot of issues. At one point, the starter died, and I had to push start the engine. This went on for about eight months... until I could afford the cost of a new starter.

The seals on the vacuum system were also bad, so I had to avoid letting the engine idle, since the vacuum hoses on the engine would pop off, and I would have to get out, run to the back, and manually reconnect them... usually in traffic and at inconvenient times.

I drove from Chicago to Michigan on one very cold New Year's Eve, and almost suffered hypothermia. The heater didn't seem to be working very well, and wind chills were down below -40 degrees fahrenheit. Of course, the front of a VW camper isn't well insulated. When I arrived at my friend's house in Michigan, they immediately wrapped me in electric blankets. A few weeks later, I looked at the underside of the van, and realized that the pipe that carries heat from the engine to the cabin had rusted and apparently fallen off! I replaced it with some PVC and epoxy cement... probably not a great idea.

Another time, I drove to my parents in South Carolina. Coming out of the Smoky Mountains, it became apparent that I would not have enough gas to make it to my parents, and had no money left to fill up the tank. Since most of the trip was downhill at that point, I turned off the engine and coasted most of the rest of the way. Pulled into my parent's driveway on fumes! On the return trip, the second carburator blew out in Ohio, and started spewing gas all over the engine. I nursed the car to Detroit (same friend's house), found a used carb at a junkyard, and replaced it in his driveway before heading home to Chicago.

During the last year or so of the van's life, the windshield wipers quit. I 'borrowed' a squeegie from a Shell station, and used it as a mock windshield wiper. This involved rolling down the drivers window while moving and running it across the windshield!

Volkswagen owners seem to have commonalities... they all had tons of problems with their vehicles... enough to make a non-VW person wonder if they were insane. Despite that, they all seemed to share a huge love of the vehicle, no matter how problematic it was!

My VW died on the way to a job interview, on I-55 at County Line Road near Chicago. I had it towed home, and it sat there for about a year before finally being sold to someone that could replace the blown engine.

Still miss that van.

Dan

 

Infiniti G35 coupe!!!

 

Tough to say...my first car, a 1982 Corolla given to me by my grandfather transported me through highschool & college with many a good time with friends & now ex-girlfriends.

My second car, a new 1989 Acura Legend coupe L was the most fun to drive car I've ever owned. It was a sad day driving her for the last time to the Lexus dealer to pick up the ES300. I still see her and the guy who bought her from time to time on the road.

My Lexus ES300 is the best car I've ever owned overall, but it's nowhere near as fun to drive as my old Legend. More quiet, more powerful & smoother, but doesn't have that fun to drive factor to it. At least with the electroninc shocks I can stiffen her up for some canyon carving... I have been thinking lately that this car will be replaced by an Accord hybrid or a GS300/430 hybrid, when it comes out.

Our 2005 Prius is the best city car evar!

 

An English Ford I bought in 1958 when I began my first teaching job. It looked like someone shrunk a regular car. When I pulled up at the gate at Lackland AFB (where the school was), the guard at the gate looked at me--5'11"--and said, "Aren't you a little LONG for that thing?"

Even better, a Honda Civic Wagon I bought in the 80's. I went to the dealer to look at a Civic sedan and saw this stupid looking thing. It looked so crazy I had to sit in it, and I was amazed at the room. When I asked how much more it was than the sedan, it turned out to be less. When we went to the bowling alley with our younger two kids who were still in high school, we could all be comfortable--and I was the short one in the family!!! I regularly got 39 mpg on the highway and 33 in town, back when the 55 MPH speed limit was in effect. In fact, on one trip I got 47, two more than the EPA. My husband, however, liked to get far enough behind a speeding truck to feel safe from the highway patrol and go the 80 mph or so it was going. He got 30 to 33 on the highway.

When I got that wagon, everyone joked about the way it looked, particulary my hubby. Then he bought a Caravan, and I told him that, if the colors matched, they could be mother and child. Interesting thing, the Civic got its best milage at 50-55, but the Caravan seemed to do better at about 65.

Now I'm tickled pink with the Prius. My first tank (on a trip to and around Houston) showed 51 on the MFD. The milage didn't show 50 until I got on the freeway IN Houston. The next four tanks showed about 47, hurting my pride--I felt that I should probably get 50's because of the way I drive anyway. Those included the trip back with my grandkids and their stuff on a very windy day, and the others included the trip to Big Bend with extremely windy conditions. The MFD on this tank was leaving me very frustrated because at 280 miles it had bounced up and down around 49 mpg, up or down .5, but Saturday I made several trips on the freeway here in Austin, and it got to 50.5 by 350 miles. It has stayed between 50.2 and 50.5 on today's short trips. It has about 2400 miles on it now.

 

My first car -- a 1938 Dodge Sedan. It was also had the first engine that I rebuilt. As a teenager, I was proud of that car and proud that I successfully pulled it apart and rebuilt the entire engine/carb. AND IT RAN!

I certainly had better cars since (and worse) but it was the FIRST!

Others I look back on as really good cars: 50 Plymouth convertable, 1961 Chev Corvair (Sorry, Nadar), 1996 Ford Explorer and 2005 Prius.

Don't ask about the worst!

 

I loved my 98 Transam. (After we bought it, I had to learn to drive it - stick shift.) Spent the money, suped up the engine and fixed all the things inherently wrong with the newer f-bodys. Unwillingly got rid of it when gas prices started to soar and my knee started to really complain about the 405 in rush hour...

She was the hardest car I have ever had to say goodbye to. (I completely understand why by dad never let go of his 67 camaro)

 

My 1995 Tercel. No airbags, mono radio, no AC and you crank the windows. Bought it new and now have 140,000 miles. Only routine maintenance plus new wheel bearings. Car has never let me down. The paint is still shiny. I love the Prius that I got 2 weeks ago, especially for the fuel economy and the quietness, but the Tercel has proved itself a great car. I doubt very much whether the Echo is as good. We will see how I feel about the Prius in 2015. I might still have the Tercel then.

 

I didn't cry, but am coming close thinking of Hornhonker's loss. Anyway, a factory slantnose 911 Turbo:

[Broken External Image]:http://www.targaperformance.com/html/images/930S-935-SlantNoseTurbo-ds.jpg

 

While I always liked driving, I hated the first cars I bought. They were a Rambler Wagon which was cool, but got very bad mileage. A "k" car...I think it was a Chevy Citation which was an incomparable piece of junk. There were other cars, then I bought a VERY used Toyota Hilux pickup which I drove for many very reliable years, through Montana winters and California deserts, but looked so ragged at the end of it's 200,000+ miles that out of pity my dad gave me his Toyota Cressida (forerunner to the Lexus series). I got it with 125,000 miles on it and drove in reliable luxury for another 150,000 miles only doing minor maintenance the whole time. It was a manual transmission and the tranny finally gave out, but the car was in perfect condition and I planned on replacing the tranny till I rode in my friend's 2003 Prius. I decided on the Prius after test driving the Honda Hybrid. While I liked the Honda, I liked the idea of the Prius being able to stealth, and felt such an investment on my part would further the development of alternative transportation sources. I didn't care about the mileage, only the Toyota reliability. Best PAST CAR? Cressida. Ask me this question in a few hundred thousand miles and I bet I change my mind to '04 PRIUS.

 

Best car ever

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I have to agree with Dave, my new Prius is exceptional in every way and I do not look forward to parting with it for awhile.

I did have a 1963 Corvair Monza Spyder Convertible that I have some very fond memories of. Wouldn't mind having a restored one to drive on Sunday's