I really like my current vehicles. The Vette is awesome in a powerful way and the Honda is awesome in a gas saving way but my favorite car ever was the one we called the "Litttle White Car". Lil White was a Mitsubishi Starion and it was one sweet ride. For starters it only cost me $17k brand new. It was cute, quick, functional and not at all annoying in any way. The White car set a standard that has yet to be matched to this day. I fitted it with a trailer hitch to pull sailboards, motorcycles and jetskis. The only downside was dreadful gas mileage, especially the way I drove back then....

The two things that stick out as having no equal were the seats which wrapped around you like a glove holding you in place and providing good lumbar support and the climate control which was fantastic and almost always did what you wanted it to automatically and for when it didn't it also had wonderful manual controls with big buttons. The cuteness, speed, turbo-whine, hatchback with fold down rear seats, handling, and low cost were just icing on the cake. I miss my baby.

Tell us about your baby......

 

Mr GM

The climate control is one of the things I HATE aobut my Vette. It is very annoying. For starters only some of the controls lite up so using it in the dark is a crap shoot. Another annoying thing is that you must cycle through all the options while looking at a tenny tiny display to see where the air comes out. The most frustrating thing is that it will not let you blow recirculated air on the windshield on the theory that the air outside is dryer (which may be true most of the time), however when it is raining I promise that the air inside is dryer. When I can't see cause my windshield is foggy and the stinking sysem will not allow me to do what I want, I scream bad words about GM.

None of this would be so bad if the Japaneese had not already produced a better system back in 1988!!!!

 

I don't have one single car that was my favorite. Several of the vehicles I have had were special to me and I enjoyed the hell out of each of them. For example(s):

1967 Volkswagen "Baja Bug" with Porsche Super 90 engine and Judsen supercharger. A blast to drive and take off road. Won several TSD races. Still remember the autocross where I had to drive blindfolded and my wife had to give driving directions.

1971 Volkswagen campmobile. Couldn't get out of its own way but gave us many memorable trips.

1976 GMC Suburban 4x4. Built to my specifications down to selection of axle ratios. Probably the first SUV, with leather seats, two air conditioners, 4 speed manual transmission, etc. Towed a 27 foot trailer across the country and back (on the road a year). Great family vehicle.

1989 SAAB 9000 CD Turbo. Quiet, fast, great handling.

2002 SAAB 9-3 Convertible. Lots of fun!

2004 Volvo S80 2.5T AWD. Factory delivery in Sweden, drove through Europe before having shipped back. "Hulda" is probably the most comfortable car owned to date and legendary Volvo safety construction saved my wife when she was t-boned by a GMC 10 passenger van.

2006 Highlander Hybrid 4WD. Brought back the "techie" in me. Having a blast and helping the environment. Still cant get over the absolute silence when stopped at a light and the eerie feeling when it glides off. Great gas mileage. Like driving in a video game, trying to get the arrows going in the right direction.

Also had a lot on very non memorable cars (Studebaker, Plymouth, Fords, Mercuries, Volvos, Toyotas, Chryslers, Dodges).

Might also be interesting to see what everyone considers their "least favorite". Mine was a 1993 Mercury Cougar. Pink with white leather upholstery. High performance V8. A real impulse buy (my wife called it my pimpmobile). Worst piece of junk I ever owned.

I realize this is a long post, but thanks for the opportunity to think back. Brought back a lot of memories. Never realized how many cars I have owned over my lifetime (and I dont consider myself old).

 

It was a 1966, VW MicroBus, the last year of the 6 VDC electrical system but it had a 1500 cc engine. No AC, it was cold in the winter and I always carried my tool box and spare parts. But it ran and ran and ran and gave me from 28 to 30 mpg. It was the first car I bought with my own money in 1971. It also led to getting "How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive: A Manual of Sept-By-Step Procedures for the Complete Idiot" by John Muir . . . one of the best written, shade-tree engineering books I've ever enjoyed.

I took out the seats and put a single, wire-frame bed in the back with one end supported by the engine compartment. Under the bed was a great place to store stuff and have space left over.

A simple, straight forward engine, adding exhaust headers, mechanical advance distributor and radial tires really helped. Then everytime I heard the "plinkq plinkq" sound, I would park that night with my wheels over a curb. The next morning, I'd crawl under, adjust the valve backlash and be ready to roll for another 2-5,000 miles.

Sitting over the front left wheel gave a unique perspective and made precise steering easy. However the lack of crush space meant a head-on would be most likly fatal. The windows slid open and closed or were hinged.

I had to rebuild the engine when I came back from Okinawa and unfortunately used Permatex. I had a permanent oil leak fast enough that I never had to change the oil but slow enough that I didn't want to open the case again.

Eventually the steering 'slop' and emerging vehicle safety and emission inspections meant it had reached its design life. By then, I was using just public transporation and let it go. A couple of years later, I bought a Cherokee 140 and Yamaha 550 bike to get to and from Hyde Field. But that is another story for another time.

Bob Wilson

 

I have had over 10 cars so lets see...
My favorites were the 73 Porsche 914 - fun, fast, 38 mpg but lots of weird things that would go wrong like the clutch cable would break ever so often and the engine wouldn't start sometimes after getting gas (vapor lock). I had a dream it would be totaled on 2/14 so I sold it on 1/30 and on 2/15 the buyer called me back and said it was totaled on 2/14 by two drunks hitting him at the same time. He was ok.

2nd favorite was the 74 Honda Civic Hatchback ($2200 new) - fun for everything

3rd favorite was the 85 1/2 Toyota MR2 - wow similar to the Porsche in cornering and mileage, but what a small trunk.

Other favorites were the 88 RX7, 78 Subaru 4x4 SW painted like the Star Trek Enterprise with curtains on the windows and almost 'woody' like. Used to do all the Subaru 4x4 rallys.

more later

dan

 

1959 Oldsmobile 98:

http://www.hubcapcafe.com/i/cs2003/olds5901.JPG
http://www.globalcar.com/img/16011501.jpg

Mine had the "Elevator" **** underneath the dash.

The car rode really low and if something was in the road you pull the **** and
hear a "Kshhhh" sound as the airshocks inflate, raising the car up higher.

An older guy I worked with said when the car was new it was really something to pull that **** while doing a brake stand, then let off the brakes.

Probably not good for anything except the visual!

I drove my'59 Olds 98 from Minnesota to Georgia and after a few years was junked out for a rust bucket.

Note that the photos are not my own vehicles. Unfortunately.
Terrible MPG but absolutely love the style.

 

My current car (HCH-03) is my favorite this far. It's almost at 100k miles and I've spent a whopping $80 in out-of-warranty repairs.

I'd love to try a Prius next, since my driving patterns have radically changed since 2002 when I bought the car. I used to drive 90% highway, 10% city. Now it's the other way around, which makes it Prius-friendly.

But thus far, the HCH is hands-down my favorite.

My least favorite car was my 1981 Chevette. Of course I got it for free, so I can't complain about the price. I inherited it was 115k original miles and went to 225k miles before it got STOLEN. Yeah, somebody actually stole that ancient, rusting, leaky bucket of bolts!

 

'89 Mazda MX-6 GT Turbo

Practical and fun, only downside was severe torque-steer.

 

Well I've only had 2 cars... and the HCH is my favorite. Before that I had a 95 Civic sedan, I liked it a lot too... but it was just getting old and it was time for a new car. My mom called me the other day and said it's not starting anymore so it's a good thing I got a new car when I did, otherwise I'd be stuck in Georgia.

 

I'll always love the first: 1973 VW Super Beetle.