Your Favorite Car

[LennG]

 I got to thinking yesterday what was the best or favorite car I had ever driven. In my 77 years, I have owned many cars. I have not stayed loyal to any one particular car maker, just what I felt was best for me at the time.

I didn't start driving until I was 24 and out of the service. My first ever car was a Ford Maverick that I bought while in Germany as they gave any returning GIs a great rate. I had that car for 2 years and it was a bomb.
I decided to go for something a single, mid-20-year-old would like. I bought a 1966 Pontiac LeMans which I loved.




I met my future wife with this car and for me especially it was a change from the old bench-style front seats to what was now common bucker seats. When we got married we traded that in for what was now the 'new' thing a foreign car with style, an Audi. We kept that car until we broke down on a trip and found it near impossible to get parts for when not in or near a metropolitan area.
Now the kids came along and we went thru all sorts of 'family' cars, wagons, mini-vans, etc. from the old Doge Dart, to Chrysler Town and Country to all sorts of assorted others. I also need a wagon or minivan for work so we were comfortable with those.
After that, when the Japanese started really to dominate the market, I went with Toyotas, Nissons, and a Mitsubitshi somewhere in there.
 I now drive a Subaru Forrester and love it. But it brings me to what this thread was all about, the best car I ever drove. We were cruising in Hawaii and we overnighted in Maui. We decided to rent a car and do our own thing. I rented a Dodge something but when we went to secure the car there were out of them. They offered me, at the same rate either a Dodge Charger or a Ford Mustang Convertible. I had never had a convertible in my life and never driven anything like a Mustang, so we opted for that and to this day I never regretted it. THAT was my favorite ride ever. We had that car for 2 days, cruising all over Maui, top-down and since we brought some CDs along, we had the best of Roy Orbison blaring on the radio. You couldn't believe the looks we got as we drove that car all over Maui. When we got home I looked into buying one for myself but once I saw the price I got sticker shock.
In another port, we also had an overnight and we got a Chrysler PT Cruiser convertible. Since I couldn't afford the Mustang, we did go home and buy a PT Cruiser, but not a convertible

[Bill Brown]

My favorite.

[Jolly Blue Giant]

Trying to say my "favorite" would be hard for me. I've had some great cars and I wish I had them all instead of trading them in...or in one case, totaling my Road Runner.

My first car when I was 16, was a 1964 Chevelle (283 c.i./4 bbl/power-pack heads/ Hurst floor shifter); then I got a '68 Road Runner that I hit two big trees at over a hundred miles an hour; then a '69 GTX 440 (one of 20 cars that got the hi-compression heads that only were supposed to go to cop cars); '70 AMC Rebel; '72 Triumph TR6; '72 Barracuda; a couple of cars I flipped, stole the engine and tranny, or cut-up to make into a stock car. Probably my favorite car was my Road Runner













Car I cut up for a stock car


Car I flipped and am still kicking myself in the ass for selling even though I doubled my money...duhh. It didn't look like this when I sold it, it needed complete refurbishing, but it had zero rust and was missing a driver's side window. Had sit in a barn for years, but started right up   

[Sem]

I know a lot of you are "car guys," I've just never been one myself. My strategy is to buy a 2 or 3 year old car in good condition and drive it until it needs to be towed the the junkyard. I do keep up on the scheduled maintenance religiously, especially regular oil changes. My current car is a 2005 Honda CRV that I bought with cash in 2007, after the largest percentage of depreciation happened. Today, (knock on wood) it still drives like the day I bought it, and owes me nothing. Later this year, when the 2025 autos come out my CRV will be 20 years old. It has less than 170k miles on it, and I drive it nearly every day. From a maintenance perspective it's the most trouble-free vehicle I have ever owned. The body, outside of some parking lot dings, is in good shape, (nice to be free of the winter salt/hassle). I hope to keep driving it for a few more years.

The most fun car I ever "owned" was a '93 Alfa Romeo Spider convertible. About 8 years ago my brother-in-law, who owns the vehicle, took a work assignment for 6 years in the UK. He didn't want to take the car with him, and didn't want to risk storing it for that long. So he signed the title over to me with the understanding I sign it back over to him when he returned. Better to drive it occasionally than to store it for that long. There's a lot of back-mountain winding roads around me, and my wife and I would often take it out for long rides in the country.

Here's a pic of my favorite mountain road. I'm sure I have pics of the Alfa on my old computer but, unfortunately, not on this one. Note to self: I should probably retrieve some of that data someday soon.

[LennG]

 All nice rides.

Come on Tim, you deal with cars, you must have some sweet rides.

Ed, what is your favorite 'Vette'?

[Ed Vette]

All nice rides.

Come on Tim, you deal with cars, you must have some sweet rides.

Ed, what is your favorite 'Vette'?

They were all special. I loved my 69 Roadrunner and 68 Cuda. I think however the car I miss the most was my Lincoln Continental and my 78 Trans Am. I still have the Vette, a 93 LT1 with 5800 miles.

[squibber]

When I saw the picture of the Plymouth Barracuda, the first thing I thought of was that old Barracuda commercial where a young guy is driving his mother in one and the mother calls the car "Bananacuda". Funny what the mind remembers.

As far as muscle cars, I love the look of a black '67 Pontiac GTO convertible and the Shelby Cobra.

[squibber]

Funny how I felt like I had to have a Landau roof on my '83 Cutlass Supreme because that was the in thing and it looked cool. Now I would never consider it.

[Jolly Blue Giant]

Funny how I felt like I had to have a Landau roof on my '83 Cutlass Supreme because that was the in thing and it looked cool. Now I would never consider it.

Dittos with the vinyl roofs of the late 60's, early 70's

[Ed Vette]

Did anyone own a Cordoba with soft Corinthian leather and the torsion barber with the super spention? lol

https://www.hagerty.com/media/opinion/klockau-classics/1979-chrysler-cordoba-soft-corinthian-leather/

[LennG]

 No, but once I heard that phrase 'Soft Corinthian LKeather' sort of brought a smile to my face. Haven't heard that in many years.