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
Daniel Ross at Alien Soil has been doing Five for Friday for some time and I always enjoy it. He borrowed the idea from someone else and I’m borrowing it from him.
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