This is a list of every car I've owned/leased

"Kat Callahan" (kyosuke) 07/28/2014 at 19:36 • Filed to: car history

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Although Kat's heart belongs to Honda and BMW, here's a list of everything I've driven. Some pictures will legitimately be of the cars I owned/drove, but others will just be random pictures of the models pulled off of Google. When I say leased, that means a company car, basically. I might have had to pay something or not at all, but I wasn't responsible for anything, so in some cases, I do not even know the year.

1992 Mazda 323. Technically my mother's car, this is the car I learned to drive on (well, that and a 1976 Crown Victoria owned by the school). My mother purchased this vehicle after our 1985 Chevy Celebrity died. She didn't replace it until the mid-2000s, a decision she regrets. I used to tell her not to get rid of it—it makes an excellent rally car:

My first car...

1998 Ford Escort zx2. I hated this car, it was absolutely awful. I was essentially forced into purchasing it (with my own money, no less), because my father was convinced it was a good purchase. It wasn't. It ended up being wrecked in a combination of a fraud set up (a woman intentionally made me rear end her, she was backing up, she had dozens of lawsuits for all sorts of reasons all over the state) and then being driven into a ditch. I don't miss this vehicle at all.

2000 Honda Civic "DX" EK3. Pretty much my pride and joy until she (and no, I don't have any particular issue with thinking of vehicles as having a gender, as long as male vehicles can also exist) was stripped in front of my house while I slept. I had a fair amount of stuff in this vehicle, but at least I got the cash value back for quite a bit of it:

For engine, D16Y8 SOHC VTEC head on D16Y7 block, custom tubing CAI, A'pexi N1 Full Catback Exhaust, EX ECU, Greddy Exhaust Manifold.

For Interior: JDM Civic Type R MOMO Steering Wheel, JDM Civic Type-R Shiftboot, JDM Civic Type-R Carpet, S2000 Black Leather Front Seats, Si Gauge Cluster w/ Reverse Glow Gauges EX Door Panels with red cloth door inserts, Integra GSR Leather Rear Seats, EX arm rest with custom red fabric, Del Sol black leather e-brake boot, and the 1996 USDM Pocket Cupholder which is a visual match for the Civic Type R one.

For Exterior: VIS OEM Carbon Fiber Hood, JDM Civic Type-R Front Grill, JDM Civic Type-R Front Lip, JDM Civic Type-R Rear LIp, Civic Type-R style Ionized Head Lamps, and fairly simple 15" rim with Kumho Ecsta Supra 712s

Supension/Braking: Eibach Sportline Springs and a Ractive Front Strut Bar.

Audio: Clarion CD/CDRW/MP3 Head Unit, Infinity mid-ranges, Clarion tweeters, Clarion 6x9s, Sony Xplod XS-L1037 Subwoofer, Sony Xplod XM-D400P5 800 Watt Amp, Audiovox 5.6" LCD screen, Lasonic In Car DVD Player.

2000 BMW 3-Series, originally a 323i, de-badged, had a 240 HP inline six in it, Bose audio system, and apparently had had custom suspension work. The original owner wanted a sleeper and apparently had the money to invest in it. Everything was done either with the dealership or the dealership was aware or something. I'm not really entirely clear, but it was a certified pre-owned, and I never had any issues with it. It screamed. Sold when I moved to Japan. This is a picture of the actual car.

Daihatsu Mira, year unknown. First car when I moved to Japan. Don't recall much about it except that it was red and it was cramped and it was slow.

Mitsubishi Minica Guppy, year unknown. Mine was navy blue. Utterly destroyed when a delivery truck driver slammed into me in an intersection after failing to stop when going down a hill (he was going way too fast). It was a wonder I wasn't killed. Police showed up and determined it was not my fault at all, legally. I continue to have a perfect driving record in Japan.

1993 Daihatsu Opti. Also cramped. Also slow. Boring.

2002 Toyota Camry. Cost? Free to me. Uh. It's a Camry. Comfortable enough. Bigger than I liked. Sold it for $4000 with a lot of mileage on it in 2012. Pure stock, and I was running on steelies. This was just about point A to point B.

Did not drive in Kitakyushu, MONORAIL 4EVAH.

Mitsubishi EK Wagon, year unknown, but probably pretty recent. More room than the other kei cars, but nothing to write home about. I drove this on the mountains of Initial D, but it really wasn't worth it.

2006 Toyota Corolla Spacio. This thing has a lot in common with the 2002 Camry, the interior is really similar. My mother has a USDM Corolla sedan, and it seems much smaller and not nearly as nice as the Spacio. The Spacio is basically half car, half mini-van. Microvan? Apparently it's a compact MPV. In Japan, it's called a "space wagon." Okay. In any case, it sits six and has an amazing amount of cargo room. It has quite a bit of pick up and go with its VVT-i engine, but I ultimately find it boring. This is actually sitting outside right now, I return it tomorrow afternoon.

2000 Honda Logo Sportic TS. Basically what happens when Honda decided to try to build a smaller Honda Civic hatchback with basically barely any more size than a standard Kei car—but then go crazy with it, tossing on Type R lips and side mirrors, giving it a three point leather wrapped steering wheel, oh, and did I mention all wheel drive? Even though it only has like 90HP, this thing is zippy and corners amazingly. Just what you need for Gunma. With only 130KM on the odometer, immaculate interior, well maintained internals, and a price tag of $973, I'd rather have it than the much younger Spacio.

How about you, what's your car history?

liquid_popcorn > Kat Callahan 07/28/2014 at 19:46

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No pics because work computer, but here we go.

2000 Dodge Dakota Sport, 4.7L V8, blew up. Sold for scrap.

1996 Jeep Cherokee Sport, 4.0L I6, 5-speed, 3" Rough Country lift, no stereo, no cupholders, all awesome. Sold because I am an idiot.

2010 Ford Focus SE, auto, boring as hell. Sold as soon as I got a job that paid more.

1983 Volvo 240DL, B23F, 242GT sways, single round headlamp and grille conversion, upgraded some bits but mostly just maintained it. Recently sold to a friend.

2013 GTI Wolfsburg, 6sp. Bought with 83 miles, totaled with 22,000 and change 8 months later.

2015 GTI Autobahn DSG/Light Package, purchased for the wife. Haven't been allowed to change anything yet, but we'll see if that lasts when we go to Vagfair Aug.10. I'm thinking Stage 1, then I have about 2k in stuff I've bookmarked to do...and I hate the wheels.

1984 Westy Rabbit, 2.0ABA swap, 5sp ACH swap, coils, crosshair headlamps, OEM roof rack, Euro turn signals, 143k original miles on the body. Just got it last month, will be changing many things soon. Currently shopping for 15x7 square or staggered wheels in 4x100, so feel free to send suggestions.

AM3R > Kat Callahan 07/28/2014 at 19:57

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I'm still shocked at how desirable those ek3 parts are. People STILL want to try to steal them. I know a guy with a bone stock, low mileage Si that he keeps locked in his garage. He drives it to the track (Summit point 1.5 hours away, VIR 4 hours away). Even though it's got a low-jack he doesn't let it spend a night outside. He let's his mint E30 325i sit outside instead. It's an auto, so not worth stealing I guess haha :)

Kat Callahan > AM3R 07/28/2014 at 20:00

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Yeah, I got cased. They were pros. They pulled up in the night, police think they had air compressed tools, but nothing too loud, and just took everything. I came out the next morning to find a shell (I had wheel locks, so they didn't take those). It was a total loss. What hurt wasn't the money aspect anyway—it was the fact I'd spent all those (wo)man hours on it.

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > Kat Callahan 07/28/2014 at 20:17

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No pics, because phone:

1998 Mazda Protege LX 5-speed. What a fun little car! The LX got the 1.8 Miata engine modified for transverse mount, 4-wheel disks with no ABS (still the best feeling brakes I've ever used, even if not the most powerful...) passive rear steering on independent rear. The handling limits were absurd for a bland looking little sedan, especially with upgraded sway bars and good tires. Died of "too expensive to fix" brake issues with just shy of 400K miles on it... (the LX had unique and hard to source calipers...)

1992 Alfa Romeo 164-s. God I loved that car. 3.0l 12v V6... Fast, reliable, comfy, and the sound... Oh man... The SOUND! Sold it with just over 400k miles. Still miss it. I put over 100k miles on it one year because I just drove it all the time.

1997 Buick LeSabre Limited "carzilla". Bought for $600 with 175K on it. big, cushy, comfortable, reliable as dirt and just as exciting. that 3800 V6 would pull down 30mpg on the highway... Trans blew up at 315k miles, sold for scrap for $300. Not bad for three years of ownership. No other money put into it beyond oil changes and a set of brake pads.

2000 Toyota Corolla CE 5-speed, loved that little 1.8 vvt-I engine, spunky! Last of the good Corollas IMO. Died in a collision, not my fault.

1998 Volvo V70 AWD. Fast, soooooo comfy, heavy, good in snow. Revised boost controller and a chip-tune. Eventually the extra boost killed it at 210k miles.

2011 Hyundai Elantra Toring GLS 5-speed. Surprisingly spry, loved to run, got it's best fuel economy at 85mph. great car really, but I traded it for my FieSTa, worth SIGNIFICANTLY more than I owed on it as trade-in.

1982 Volvo 242 race car. Fully done up as ex-SCCA touring. Built b23 converted to twin Weber 45-DCOEs, shankle bars, heimjoints, limited slip, IPD springs, lengthened control arms, adjustable Bilsteins, manual rack, megajolt ignition, full cage, no interior, recaro race seats, no radio. 4-speed with electronic OD (lockout defeated, 8-speed, with clutchless range switching!) pulled like a god damn train, sounded like an 80s rally car, handled like a fucking dream, too fast to drive on public roads. Rode like an iron bar on a chassis test vibrator. Sold it this spring :/

2014 Ford Fiesta ST. Love it, everything they say is true. Molten orange. Sunroof, no recaros. I have wide shoulders.

AM3R > Kat Callahan 07/28/2014 at 20:22

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That really sucks. Whenever I move into a new (for me) house I wanna make sure it has a garage. Luckily my E90 hasn't been targeted but it's a bone stock 328i so not much appeal I guess.

Thieves are crazy, I read a thread on a G37 forum where a car had it's wheels, custom rear bumper, and supercharger kit stolen while the owner left it outside his apartment complex while he was on vacation.

Luc - The Acadian Oppo > Kat Callahan 07/28/2014 at 20:23

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OH GAWD YES! I LOVE KEI CARS!!!

beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard > Kat Callahan 07/28/2014 at 20:36

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130 KILOMETRES?

OK I go. most photo's aren't of the actual cars because they predate me owning a digital camera.

Only broke down twice, once was a clogged fuel filter $8, second was when the original timing belt broke at 350kkm's. $16 for belt and $12 for idler.

<1990 or 91 Ford Corsair. Sold the Corona for $500 after it developed an leak. Corsair had black glue from the rear window seal that would drip down onto the back seat on a hot day. The poor thing had been mistreated by it's previous owners, I replaced all the valve stem seals and it ran well for a year until it lost compression in cylinder 3. I'd recently got a new job so I figured I'd upgrade to something actually nice.. but first a few bonus cars that I borrowed until I bought a new one.

<1981 Corona, same colour as pictured. This was my brothers when he was learning to drive so I took it frequently when he wasn't looking. It had a 1X motor, which was actually a Holden Starfire motor built on the Toyota production line, as such it had slightly more HP.. but it still needed to downshift to go over it's own shadow. Sadly it was stolen from the supermarket carpark and never recovered.

Finally we get to the car I would own for 8 years: A 'dark emerald pearl' 6M1 Green Toyota MR2 Bathurst. Bought with only 118kkm's from a guy with an amazing house, Despire it's sporting name the Bathurst was the lower trim of the two options available in Australia. Cotton seats, 3S-GE putting out a factory 125kw.

I fettled a little bit with extra power but it was more than enough for a daily driver. I was still on my P's so the turbo was out of the question at the time. I fettled with the suspension a little, and put slightly wider wheels on it to make up for it's lack of turbo.

I drove the shit out of it everywhere I went. It never missed a beat in the 120kkm's I put on it. I have memories blasting down Conrod straight at 2:00 in the morning at speeds I should have gone to jail for. (of which the police showed up later looking for us because the locals there take a dim view of hoons on Mt Panorama)

Sadly the only photo's I have to show you are of it's demise.

I stopped for a pileup on the highway and was rear ended hard enough to bend the seat frame back and my head hit the read window with enough force to smash a small hole in it. Yay me.

several stitches and an insurance check later and I bought a rev1 Turbo with change to spare.

Crappy iphone 3 photo's not withstanding, this car is in fantastic condition for a 24 year old. 110,000km's on the odometer currently.

The previous owner in Japan kept it in great condition, and the Australian owner before me kept it garaged continually.

Slightly more power than factory from a manual boost controller and unknown brand exhaust put on by the Japanese owner (also a big dumb BOV that goes TISHHHHH). Not as pretty as the green one was, but faster and louder.

I like it, but I don't love it like the old one. We'll see how I feel about it after I fettle with the suspension.

NaturallyAspirated > Kat Callahan 07/28/2014 at 20:39

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Let's see...

- 1988 Chevy Cavalier. Free to me. The valvetrain rattled like it was full of gravel, and I had to top off the transmission fluid periodically, but it got me where I needed to go.

- 1995 Ford Taurus SHO. I "accidentally" bought a fun car when I was intending to buy a practical one. This is the car that set me on my way to being a gearhead.

- 1974 Dodge Dart. Had the 225 CID slant 6. It got a lot more attention than I'd anticipated. Sold it when I moved to the middle of the desert, because wing windows and under-dash vents are not enough sometimes.

-1989 Ford Taurus SHO. Picked it up for a few hundred bucks, and the aircon worked.

- 1996 Jeep Cherokee. Modified it for rock crawling. Realized too late that a lifted rock crawler makes a poor daily driver.

- 1999 Ford Taurus SHO. I really liked this car, although the gas mileage was quite poor.

- 1990 Mazda Miata. An absolute blast to drive. DD'ed it for several years until I got rear-ended by a Suburban.

-1998 Ford Mustang. Base model v6 with a manual. Back seat was useless for humans with legs and a head. Slow. Handled poorly. Sold as quickly as I could after replacing the comically bad shocks.

- 1998 Subaru Legacy Outback. My current DD. A pleasing combination of practicality, fun, and reliability.

Kat Callahan > beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard 07/28/2014 at 21:00

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No, 130 THOUSAND KM. I wish only 130 actual KM on a 14 year old car!

beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard > Kat Callahan 07/28/2014 at 21:17

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don't we all. It looks mad, I suppose it's a sporty predecessor to the Jazz/Fit?

Kat Callahan > beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard 07/28/2014 at 21:23

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That is exactly what it is. It's the direct predecessor. In 2001 the Fit replaced it. I like the Logo's lines a lot better though, because it looks so much like my EK.

beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard > Kat Callahan 07/28/2014 at 21:34

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you're right, kind of like if an EK and a facelift Daihatsu Charade had a tiny baby.

Kat Callahan > beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard 07/28/2014 at 21:43

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Basically, it's like an EK front end smooshed onto a Daihatsu Charade hatch, but with the rear lights of Starlet/Glanza V:

Here's the Glanza:

But you're right the way the doors look, that's a lot more Charade than Glanza.

trmoore09 > Kat Callahan 07/28/2014 at 21:44

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Here we go: (year purchased)

97 Dodge Avenger ES - needed something more reliable so we sold it. (2003)

05 Neon SRT - Had for 7 years, and then traded it + $3k for: (2004)

2003 S2000 - had for ~9 months, traded in for Scion xB (2011)

2004 4Runner Sport: traded for E90 M3 (2011)

2008 E90 M3 6spd - Owned for ~9mo. Was starting to fall apart and wife went back to school so we traded in this and: (2012)

Scion xB - for: (2013)

Mazda CX-5 - still have (about 1 yr) (2013)

97 BMW 328is - owned for ~9mo. sold and bought: (2013)

2002 M3 LSB - bought in April (2014)

Vimto > Kat Callahan 07/28/2014 at 21:46

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1. 1999 Suzuki Esteem 1.8 GL automatic

2. 2007 Toyota Tacoma reg. cab, 2.7L I-4, 4X2, 5 speed manual

3. 2011 Mazda2 Sport, automatic

4. 2012 Nissan Versa 1.6 S, 5speed manual

5. 2007 Mercury Grand Marquis LS

fhrblig > Kat Callahan 07/28/2014 at 21:55

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I don't have pics of every car I've owned, but here goes:

1980 Pontiac Phoenix LJ 5-door. My stepdad bought it for me in '91. Utterly terrible. It had the Iron Puke 4 and a 4-speed manual. It was so unreliable that he gave up on it and traded it for car #2.

1983 Chevrolet Celebrity V6, 4-door sedan. This car was awesome; it got me through high school, and then ended up with my older sister while she was finishing college, and then back to me. Sure, some things broke on it like the speedometer and the driver's side door, but it started and ran even when it shouldn't have. It was one of the best cars I've ever owned.

1987 Honda Civic CRX DX. This was the 12-valve automatic version. It was slow, but fun to toss into corners and got good mileage.

1991 Mercury Sable LS. This was actually my first ever CD player, too; it had the factory CD/Cassette combo and the electronic old person dashboard. It was ok, I guess. My sister drove it for a while, until someone hit her head on while she was making a turn. She was fine, the Sable was totaled.

1987 Chevrolet Sprint 5-door. This was as base as base cars get. I'm amazed the original owner sprung for the AM/FM radio. Slow as a glacier, but still enjoyable in its' own way. Clutch fried itself and I traded it in instead of fixing it. That was a mistake.

1981 VW Rabbit LS 3-door. I bought it for $500 and only had it for 2 months before the brakes failed. I sold it for $250. Fun while it lasted, though.

1987 Acura Integra RS 3-door. I hated it. It had an automatic and also was not fast, but at least it was unreliable too. Seriously, I think I bought the one bad car Honda produced in the '80s.

1988 Chevrolet Sprint 5-door. Compared to the '87, this was the Luxe Brougham edition. It had AC that worked, aftermarket cruise control, and even a rear wiper. 2 weeks after I bought it, it threw a rod and left me stranded 10 miles north of Walsenburg, CO. We put a new engine in it eventually and I had it for a year or so.

1993 Geo Prizm LSi. Nice car, actually. It had the aluminum 1.8 with a 5-speed and I got it cheap. T-boned an idiot without insurance (his fault), and it took nearly $2k to fix, but this was the first time I'd ever had full-coverage insurance with a low deductible so it was not bad. Afterwards, the cruise control wouldn't work right. Well, it would, but only if it was over 80 degrees outside. Never figured that out.

2001 Oldsmobile Alero GL 4-door. The Alero was a decent car, even if it was beige (literally). This was the first time in my life I'd ever owned a car whose model year was the current calendar year (for 6 days). It was reliable for me for 60k+ miles before I sold it to my sister who put another 100k on it.

1991 VW Passat GL. I bought this when I was going through a financial scrape, and long story short I ended up not needing it. I played with it a bit, but at 200k miles it had some issues. I replaced the front motor mount and the thermostat and it drove fine, then donated it to an aunt of mine that needed a car. They had it for several years before it died.

2001 Hyundai Accent L 3-door. Bought with only 39k miles in 2005 for $4k. I got this right before losing my job. I ended up using it as a delivery vehicle. While I owned it, I think it was the most miles I'd put on a vehicle in such a short time frame (110k miles in 18 months). It wasn't a bad little car, but Hyundai had not quite figured out how to make a reliable car. The transmission and clutch had to be replaced at 80k. It blew sensors right and left.

1998 Buick LeSabre Custom. Bought to replace the Accent for courier duty, also for 4k. It was immaculate and the previous owner had only put about 11k on it per year. I got it right in time for all the problems to start.

2005 Dodge Caravan SWB. Replaced the LeSabre. It only had 50k on it, but unfortunately the transmission was made by Chrysler. It chewed through two torque converters. Too bad, it got 25+ mpg and otherwise was completely tolerable.

2009 Ford Ranger XL. This was the first time I'd ever bought a new car. I chose it because of the $4500 rebate that helped me get out from under the Caravan. Great truck. It was the only RWD vehicle I've owned, and I discovered that people are full of shit when they tell you RWD sucks in the snow. RWD is a blast in the snow! I've written here lots about how much I loved it.

2012 Fiat 500 Sport. Bought because I'd had my truck for 5 years and was ready for something different. This Fiat is probably the best equipped car I've ever owned; only the Sable came close. I've always wanted a sunroof; this has it. All power, manual transmission, great wheels, and is a blast (if not actually fast).

Kat Callahan > fhrblig 07/28/2014 at 22:04

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Interesting to hear your Celebrity was reliable. I seem to recall my mother's was always doing ridiculous things. Funny thing about the Zx2, I almost ended up with a red Oldsmobile Alero coupe. My father refused. A shame, because I recall it was really nice looking. I don't know if it was a special edition or what, but it looked a lot meaner than any Olds I'd ever seen, something like this:

beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard > Kat Callahan 07/28/2014 at 22:05

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I can see it for sure, I've been looking at Jazzes and Starlets as a possible DD. Your Logic would be a good split down the middle. Pity they're not on the import list :(

Kat Callahan > beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard 07/28/2014 at 22:08

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BTW, here's my EK's rear hatch just to compare:

fhrblig > Kat Callahan 07/28/2014 at 22:17

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I don't know if I like that body kit, but still pretty good.

Yeah, I've heard the 2.8 V6 wasn't GM's most reliable engine, but in this Celebrity it was downright indestructible.

beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard > Kat Callahan 07/28/2014 at 22:28

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dat fart can tho ;)

Agrajag > Kat Callahan 07/28/2014 at 22:36

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I don't have pics for all of them :(

First car:
1989 Pontiac Grandam. $800. Good fun. Had the cats removed and magnaflow muffler installed. Quad four motor made a beautiful sound.

The rest all overlap as I've had 2-3 at one time since, and I don't recall specific order.
1979 Camaro Z/28. $1100. So much fun. Sold to a friend who needed a car.

1986 Dodge Ramcharger. $600. Lost to rot, but I still have that hood ornament. Would buy another one in an instant.

1994 Thunderbird. $1600. Coldest A/C that has ever colded. Incredible handling, but woefully slow.

1990 Isuzu Trooper. $1000. Bought off of my older brother. Lesson learned, don't buy cars from family.

1987 Chevy Celebrity wagon. $500. Stalled at a traffic light. Engine was seized.

1975 Suburban. $250. Had this one for about 6 years. Died(oil pump failed engine kaput) at the same spot as the Celebrity. Refuse to drive a Chevy on that road again. This one I had such a close attachment to I could never buy another one.

1994 Caprice Classic(police car) $4000. I'd rather not talk about it .

2006 Rabbit. Too much. My first new car. Named it Harvey(see it does happen) after the movie. Which no one ever got besides my father.

2009 GTI. $18K. Love it to pieces. Unfortunately it has been at the dealer waiting for a new engine since June.

My most recent purchase. 1982 240d. $1600. Just as slow and amazing as they say.

twochevrons > Kat Callahan 07/28/2014 at 22:42

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1976 Triumph 2500TC (Current status: R.I.P.)

I got this as a well-used hand-me-down from my parents when I started driving. Absolutely wonderful first car – not fast, but the torquey straight-six, rear-wheel drive and manual 4+overdrive transmission made for a fantastic driving experience. When I bought my next car, it went on to my brother, who drove it until it developed terminal body rot earlier this year.

1984 Rover SD1 3500 (Current status: Sold, probably dead :( )

Determined that my first car purchase would be something interesting, I bit off a bit more than I could chew. It was a fantastically uncouth V8 hoonmobile, but excessive fuel consumption, never-ending rust repairs and impending transmission death were not really compatible with a student budget, so after a year of wallet-draining fun, I downsized to something only vaguely more sensible.

1993 Citroën Xantia (Current status: sold, missed dearly)

I bought this car as an economical commuter a week before an unexpected change of circumstances cut my commute in half, which would have made the Rover a much more sustainable prospect. Still, I rank it as one of the best cars that I've ever owned – it was incredibly cheap, absolutely immaculate, and Citroën's hydropneumatic suspension really is as amazing as everybody says – it rode like a luxobarge, but could attack corners with the vigour of a sports car, and the rougher the road, the better it got. However, it was around this time that I got married and moved to the States, forcing a reluctant sale, and the beginning of the next phase of my car-owning career.

1996 VW Cabriolet (Current status: Held together with duct tape and wire ties)

My wife had owned this for a number of years when we met. Minnesota winters and many hard miles have not been kind to it – the roof leaks, it's full of rust, and it has one of the most thoroughly disagreeable powertrains known to man, with a gutless and agricultural engine coupled to a horrifically indecisive and slow-witted automatic transmission. Still, I have a soft spot for it – it's actually a lot of fun to drive, in a slow-car-fast kind of way, and nothing beats having the top down on a good day. It's been retired from daily use, but we're too attached to it to get rid of it just yet.

1985 VW Scirocco (Current status: project car hell)

I bought this as a barn-find with only 30,000 miles on it, thinking that I'd need my own transport. It didn't take too much work to get it back up and running again, but as it turns out, I really didn't need a car – public transport is excellent where I am, and I'd be loath to take such a famously rust-prone car out in winter, anyway. It's currently sitting in that weird limbo where it runs and drives perfectly well, but there's a lot that still needs doing to make it properly nice. It's been in storage for the last couple of years while I decide what to do with it. I am ashamed about this.

1956 MGA Roadster (Current status: sullenly leaking diff oil in the garage)

Another barn-find. This one belonged to my father-in-law, who bought it while he was a college student, then stored it in a barn after kids and marriage made it a less practical prospect. He gave it to me as a wedding present, and I set about resurrecting it. We've got it running and driving again, but its lack of any form of weather protection and still-unproven reliability keep it restricted to short trips.

2011 VW Golf 2.5 (Current status: less broken than any other car we have)

A few days after an embarrassing incident in which the Cabrio died in downtown traffic, my wife brought this home, announcing that she wasn't going to put up with the Cabrio's cantankerousness any more. Fair enough. I'm rather fond of it, and I think that the VW five-cylinder is very underrated, if somewhat excessive in a car this small. I'd have gone for the TDI, though.

1996 Volvo 850 R Wagon (Current status: such vacuum hose. Much dry rot. Very boost leak. Wow)

Simultaneously the cheapest and fastest car that I've ever owned, I snagged this as a non-runner in rough shape for a very fitting $850 . It was a totally unintended purchase, and a huge gamble, but I got lucky. A day's worth of polishing and some electrical voodoo later, I have a once highly-potent gentleman's express that nowadays can barely outrun my wife's VW Golf. It's proven itself as a capable hauler of plants, tools, and IKEA furniture, and should hopefully provide reliable winter-beater service for a good few years to come. Which is good, because after the trauma of the whole experience (there was about 24 hours between me seeing the advert and a dead Volvo showing up in our driveway), my wife has now banned me from Craigslist.

Kat Callahan > twochevrons 07/28/2014 at 22:50

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Your wife is wise. You collect stray cars the way I collect boat shoes (I only own seven pairs).

norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback > Kat Callahan 07/28/2014 at 23:00

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I've driven three things so far. First time I drove was an 07 Camry Hybrid, first time after my permit was in a 07 or 08 Prius, and I currently am learning in my moms 2012 Impreza. Rather broad range for being 16.

twochevrons > Kat Callahan 07/28/2014 at 23:06

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My wife is an incredibly patient and understanding person, as well as being a true car enthusiast in her own right. She was raised by a combination of air-cooled VWs and cats, so she entirely understands both my incessant need to fix things, and the whole taking-in-strays business. The Volvo was going to go to the junkyard if I didn't buy it, so I HAD to rescue it! Plus, I currently count a similar number of loafers in the hallway in our place, none of which belong to me. We all have our vices. Mine just happen to be rather large and unwieldy.

By the way, nice to see some familiar cars on that list! I've never really got into the Japanese-car scene (although I have no aversion to it), but back home in New Zealand, JDM cars are all over the place (with no local car industry, new cars are hideously expensive in NZ, so used imports from Japan are very popular). A friend of mine had an unreasonably fast tuned Honda Logo that could leave my SD1 in the dust. Of course, there was the whole good-natured "lawnmower engine" vs. V8 ribbing going on, but it was a serious piece of machinery!

Kat Callahan > norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback 07/28/2014 at 23:08

2

...you were a year old when I got my drivers license. My first car is the same age as you. *blink blink blink* Surreal experience.

norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback > Kat Callahan 07/28/2014 at 23:11

0

That's both kind of cool and kind of weird at the same time.

Kat Callahan > twochevrons 07/28/2014 at 23:14

1

Yeah, see, in the States we didn't get the Logo, when I started asking around if any of the leaving JETs (Japan Exchange and Teaching participants) had a car they would part with, I got a few notices. A fellow Gunmanian, messaged me and said, "Buy my car, here's some pictures." And I was like, "What the heck is that?! Looks like someone took an EK3, made it four doors, and squished it smaller." When I went down the internet rabbit hole on European, Kiwi, British, and South American tuner forums I found a plethora of information. The TS model was intended as a track base trim level, and I've definitely got plans for it. It already does 0-120km/s really quickly. The D13 motor may be small, but it's hardly pushing anything and the car just flies. After a test drive, a personal inspection, and a check of the documents, I said, "It's mine."

Tossing in an Integra DC5 Recaro racing seat on the 31st.

PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power > Kat Callahan 07/29/2014 at 04:57

1

No pics because lazy.

1966 VW Bug. learned to drive on it 2 summers ago.
1990 VW Golf MK2 Diesel. 289,000km's when the odometer stopped working in '08. perfected driving on it, and it's 40hp tractor engine.
2012 VW Jetta 2.5SE 5-speed. mom's car, but I love using it!
soon to be: Juke NISMO, FiST, GLI...

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > Kat Callahan 07/29/2014 at 06:13

1

To be fair, 130km on a 14 year old car probably means that it's in terrible condition. Cars tend to deteriorate when they're not used, and a 130km car was probably driven for a couple of test drives, sold to the 10th buyer and promptly parked in a garage for 14 years.

Valuable to collectors. More trouble than you'd think for normal drivers.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > twochevrons 07/29/2014 at 06:21

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What a kickass little progression :) bar the VWs, that could very easily be an alternative reality version of my vehicular history. Great taste :)

liquid_popcorn > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t 07/29/2014 at 08:49

1

Any pics of the 242...? I have a Volvo thing.

liquid_popcorn > trmoore09 07/29/2014 at 08:49

0

Out of curiosity, why did you trade the S2000?

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > liquid_popcorn 07/29/2014 at 08:58

3

she wasn't pretty, but that only added to the sleeper-factor. Had a side pipe on it when I first got it, converted to a straight pipe with a cherry bomb, at least it didn't require earplugs to drive after that.

MonkeePuzzle > Kat Callahan 07/29/2014 at 09:20

0

stripped in front of your house!? they didn't even take it somewhere else!? makes me sick to my stomach!!!!

twochevrons > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 07/29/2014 at 09:22

1

And that means a lot from somebody with a collection such as yours! Thanks!

The whole VW thing is a bit of a love-hate relationship for me. I'd never really had any exposure to them (aside from my father briefly owning a Mk1 GTI when I was young), but my wife's family are all VW nuts, so I was forcibly brought into the fold. They have a lot going for them (the 2.5 Golf is surprisingly sporty), then, invariably, something phenomenally stupid goes wrong and I have to fix it.

liquid_popcorn > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t 07/29/2014 at 09:32

0

Awesome. I had a baby blue 244DL. Slow as hell, but awesome. I'd love to get a 122 at some point once I'm done dumping money into the Rabbit.

Kat Callahan > MonkeePuzzle 07/29/2014 at 09:37

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YUP.

trmoore09 > liquid_popcorn 07/29/2014 at 09:38

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We had the E90 M3 at the same time and we were driving about 2000 miles or more a month, and we hated putting so many miles on the M3. (It already had pretty high mileage when we bought it). So we traded it in for something we could put lots of mileage on and not worry about (and new with a warranty and included maintenance).

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t 07/29/2014 at 09:40

0

protege was an '89, not a '98. they were bland by then, stupid number-dyslexia...

trmoore09 > trmoore09 07/29/2014 at 10:02

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Pictures of said cars (some of them):

(not the sti)

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > Kat Callahan 07/29/2014 at 10:04

2

I love these sorts of discussions :)

1st car: 2002 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2l (bear with me, it gets more interesting) - current status: still chugging away in my cousin's possession

Not the car itself as it wasn't nearly interesting enough to take pictures of, but it served me well. If people say something like 'it's only got 200bhp so it's not enough power to get into trouble' then they don't know what 'not enough power' means. This thing had 78bhp in a modern, strong and importantly relatively heavy shell. Really not enough power to get into trouble. Still, I did my best:

I got forced off the road once and hit a 2ft tall concrete drain. Threw the car into the air, bent a wishbone and an engine mount. Replaced them and it was right as rain. Right when I started driving I stupidly pulled out in front of a RAV-4 at low speeds. CUV: £150 worth of damage - Corsa: nil.

After about a year, my cousin started driving so we gave it to my cousin. So far, she's pulled out in front of a Fiat Punto in a car park (not her fault, Punto was hooning around the car park far faster than they should have done). Fiat: written off - damage to Vauxhall: nil.

Thing's a tank.

2nd car: 1999 Alfa 156 V6 - current status: on the road, but awaiting exhaust surgery before driving

Although it sounds generous to give a fully working car (that we bought for £1500) to my cousin for free, it was for entirely selfish purposes. My dad used to drive this Alfa, but it wasn't being driven after he bought his 156 2.4 JTD Sportwagon, so I sort of said 'hey, if my cousin wants to drive the Corsa, I can drive the Alfa'.

To my eternal thanks, the deal paid off :) this is the car that properly got me into cars. The engine is an utter masterpiece, and the chassis can certainly keep up. Very fun car to drive, and I daily-ed it as my sole car on the road for 3-4 years and it's been solid :)

Currently, it's approaching the age where suspension bushes start going, and the headers are leaking a bit so it's not in regular use until I've fixed those.

3rd car: 1989 Jaguar XJ40 3.6l - current status: flattened by a tree felled in a storm, awaiting breaking down into parts

I bought this magnificent beast from my uncle for the grand total of £60. It had been sitting in his field for 3 years before I rescued it. I towed it home, gave it a tank of gas, a new battery and cleaned up an earth on the injection and it fired straight up. British reliability problems my arse ;)

I then proceeded to work on it on and off whenever I was home from university. I changed the oil in the engine, gearbox and diff, fixed lights, broken doorhandles (a common problem on early cars), sagged headlining, the radio, perished bushes, heavily leaking power steering system and finally I got all the pieces put together to convert it to 5-speed manual from the old 3-speed auto.

I got about halfway through doing that when this happened:

Storm last christmas eve brought a honking great 200+ year old oak down on top of a number of our cars, including the Jag. If it was the only project I had at the time, or the damage was limited only to panels that were replaceable, I'd be fixing it. As it stands, it's got significant damage to passenger front door, boot, bonnet and roof, with dings on every wing.

That picture only goes some way to showing the scale of the damage. This one is after we were about halfway through taking the tree to pieces, and shows just how big it was:

Very sad, although I'll be stripping it for parts to keep its brethren alive.

4th car: 1974 Triumph Spitfire MkIV - current status : chassis propped up against the wall, body suspended from the ceiling, but the engine's rebuilt!

This was it when I first bought it. We tried for a while to get the 1.3l I4 working so it could be a bit of a rolling resto, but it needed a rebuild and I had much grander plans...

I've pulled it apart for a full resto (all done by yours truly), and swapping in an injected 2.5l straight 6 from a TR6, along with associated suspension and braking upgrades to handle the speed. I've also put a lot of work into getting it back to the original weight distribution (and close to the original kerb weight) of the Mk4 I4. Lots of weight relocation and lightweight parts.

This was it not too long ago when I was mocking it up for my custom gearbox mount (TR6/saloon 4sp+od, beefier than the dinky little GT6/Spitfire 'box):

5th car: 1994 BMW 325i - current status: crashed, but being fixed (again by yours truly).

My mate had this car for a couple of years, then when he let it slip into disrepair (he's a bit of a tightarse) and the MOT was looming he sold it to me. £275 mate's rates. I adjusted the handbrake, sorted the brake light switch and welded up a big rust hole in the battery tray/boot. Passed 1st time (although it probably shouldn't...).

Drove it around for 3 months, great car, until I overcooked it trying to kick the tail out on a wet roundabout:

I got the car back home, and assessed the damage. Whole front clip bent beyond repair, bonnet knackered, n/s wing bent, headlights smashed, fan smashed and radiator bent. After scouring scrapyards for replacement parts, I've finally got everything together (except I want a better quality front clip). Should be put together again soon, then I'll drive it for a little while again and then sell it :) this is it at the moment:

6th car: 1996 Lada Niva - current status: blown front diff, but otherwise working. We've got the parts, we just need to fix it.

Me and my dad decided we needed something with proper offroad utility to move stuff around the field at our new house. After looking at £4000 Defenders, and driving my uncle's Ford Ranger 1 (utterly, utterly horrendous ride when unloaded), we found this little low-mileage Niva for £1000 with potential diff damage. Went, bought it and found that the diffs were fine, it was something caught in the rear drum. Mileage was definitely wrong as this thing is a bit knackered, but it's an utter workhorse. Real plucky little car :)

Then the diff did break.

Bought a new diff, and it's entered the long list of things I need to do :)

7th car: 1989 Fiat X1/9 - current status: same state as the Jag, flattened and awaiting parting

This car I didn't mean to buy. I'd already got lots of projects, and I could do without another. However, it caught my eye and I put a lowball bid in to satisfy my curiosity.

It stuck, and I was the proud owner of a £330 Fiat X1/9 :)

Got it back, worked on it enough to get it started and running and get a bit enamoured with it. Enough to work out that it probably had a head gasket issue. Started debumpering it and then the same tree that flattened the Jag also landed on the Fiat, except the poor little Italian took even more of a battering :(

I'm going to part it out and try to make enough money to get another one. Very cool little cars, although I'm growing more and more fond of the Uno Turbo-swapped ones...

8th car: 1992 Jaguar XJ40 4.0l 5sp - current status: daily driver

Right, final one on the list :) since my first Jag got crushed, I've been idly searching through eBay for a replacement. I've never really had the money to go and buy one, but then this one popped up and it was very, very nearly perfect for what I wanted. It's a later 4.0l car, so more powerful, torquier and with a lot of the bugs ironed out compared to the early cars. It's a factory 5sp manual car so no faffing about with trans swaps, and it's a gorgeous colour (one of the 3 I like on these cars). The only thing that's not perfect is it's a sunroof model (in my opinion useless weight high up in the chassis and another place for rust to take hold).

Up for £1500, drove 74 miles to go and look at it. Paid £1440 for it and drove it back home. I then proceeded to drive it 266 miles in two days, during which it didn't skip a beat. Since then, I've driven it nearly 4000 miles in two months and the only slight hiccup has been a leaking clutch slave forcing me to drive home without a clutch once (and promptly fixed that night).

This is the only car to date that I've bought with my own money that has been on the road and driving when I bought it, and I'm worried I'm getting used to it ;)

It's still got a bit of work to do. The boot leaks and I can't find out where from, the petrol gauge doesn't work and it's got a little bit of rust on the front wings next to the cills, but nothing that isn't eminently fixable :)

Next on the list:

I've got a bit of a list of cars I want to own before I die, and the more of them I can buy while they're still cheap and available for sale the better.

I'll be selling the BMW, and the Fiat and Jag will be parted and the shells scrapped, so I'll have some space.

I'm thinking a nice Alfa 75 3.0l would be good, or a GTV6 if I'm more flushed with cash. Other options would be a Rover SD1 2600 (which I would swap a Rover V8 into and use the 2.6l SOHC I6 for a future TR6 project), or a Rover P6 3500S.

I also really want a V12 XJS which I would strip of extraneous weight (but keep the interior mostly stock), tune a little and turn into an E46 M3-fighter.

On the smaller, nippier end of the market, I'd really like to replace my poor little Fiat. Preferably a turbo swapped one, although I'd be open to doing that myself. I also really want an MGB GT V8, and something with a Triumph Dolomite Sprint engine swapped in (either a 2-door Toledo or a GT6 Mk2 with a knackered engine).

For now though, I'd just like to get the little Spitfire on the road :) that's going to be a right little monster

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > twochevrons 07/29/2014 at 10:16

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Thanks man, you flatter me :)

Sounds exactly like I'd have expected, although I may not have guessed the sportiness bar GTIs.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > trmoore09 07/29/2014 at 10:46

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What problems did you have with your E90? Mine's been pretty solid so far (I'm coming up to 70k miles).

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Kat Callahan 07/29/2014 at 10:47

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Just realized it's been 20 years since I got my license...

'86 Toyota Camry - slow car fast, right?

'88 Acura Legend sedan - my dad's (loved this car)

'91 Honda Accord sedan - bought from my brother, traded to my dad (for my sister)

(back into the Legend for a while)

'05 Mazda 3s hatch - bought new - drove like stolen for 7 years and 90k miles

'08 BMW M3 sedan - truly a dream car for me - good things come to those who wait!

All manual. What's next? I'd love to keep the M3 in the stable for the duration. If that proves possible, I'd like to pair her with something lighter, lower and raw-er. Elise? Caterham? Cayman S? 4C? BRZ STi?

It's a good time to be a car guy (or gal)...

Tom McParland > Kat Callahan 07/29/2014 at 10:48

1

Cool list Kat...that DX was pretty awesome. Here is mine-

92' Chevy Lumina 3.1 Euro coupe- My first car I bought it from my uncle, for 2k it only had 28k miles because he only drove it to the bar and his house. I hooned the crap out of that.

'95- Prelude Si 5spd. My grandfather on my mom's side passed away and left me some money. So I did what any other intelligent 20 year old would...I bought car. This was my first real car that had any performance credentials. I didn't really know how to drive stick when I bought it, but my mom had me practice in a big parking lot for about an hour...then she was like. Ok. you are good, be careful. I ended up doing some mods like an Apex-i cat back, headers, and cold air intake. I also had Euro taillights (it was cool then) and a coilover suspension. Had I known then what I know now, I would not have gotten the coilovers, handled like crazy but you felt every damn bump. Hit a pot-hole and the car would buck like a bronco.

'04 Mini Cooper S- My girlfriend in college (now wife) was (still is) a wheelchair user, getting her chair in and out of the Honda was a pain. So I ordered a brand new Cooper S indie blue with white stripes, waited 3 months for delivery. First brand new car, I loved that thing then some dumbass at a local aftermarket shop cut my sunroof drain when they installed my XM radio, short version of the story the car flooded from the inside out. GEICO totaled the car for 23k in 2007 (cost in 2004 23,500).

'05 Legacy GT wagon- I took the payment from the mini, paid off the note, used some for our new house and the rest on a down-payment for a pre-owned LGT 5spd. Great car, I miss it every winter. Ridiculously quick and comfortable...then I went through 2 clutches in 20k. Mechanic said possibly the gear ratios were off and suggested I trade it in for something with a warranty.

'10 Mazda3 6MT- Budget was tight at this time, so I took my Subie to the local Mazda dealer they offered my 13k for the LGT (KBB value was 12,500) they had one manual trans car on the lot, it was black (I will never again own a black car). Lease payment was 230/mo...I figured I would lease for a few years then trade it in for something nicer. 3 years came and went, and there was nothing else I liked that I could afford. Because I drove only to work and back the car only had 19k miles (I was allotted 36k). So trade value was 17k, lease buy-out was 13k. That was a hell of a pre-owned buy.

I'm still driving the Mazda...and I'm eyeing up a MK7 GTI, but who knows how many times my mind will change.

BarryDanger > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t 07/29/2014 at 10:50

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Pics of the Volvo please. You can't just write all that goodness in one paragraph and leave us hanging.

BarryDanger > trmoore09 07/29/2014 at 10:54

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The V8 M3 was starting to fall apart? Elaborate please as everyone (See DriveTV) says these things are bulletproof.

trmoore09 > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 07/29/2014 at 10:55

1

Mainly just a couple sensors here and there, but no huge issues. The motor and tranny are almost bulletproof from what I hear, it's the sensors that fail. The main issue we were starting to have (and the main reason we got rid of it) is that the throttle body actuators (2) were starting to stick and were going to need to be replaced. They cost $860+ each without installation. We only had it for about 9 months, but overall it was pretty reliable. It just isn't cheap if/when it has to be fixed (because BMW + ///M fee).

trmoore09 > BarryDanger 07/29/2014 at 10:58

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I should have been more specific. What I meant to say is that it had sensors failing, and my wife was going back to school, so we couldn't afford it. Here's my response to someone else that asked too: "Mainly just a couple sensors here and there, but no huge issues. The motor and tranny are almost bulletproof from what I hear, it's the sensors that fail. The main issue we were starting to have (and the main reason we got rid of it) is that the throttle body actuators (2) were starting to stick and were going to need to be replaced. They cost $860+ each without installation. We only had it for about 9 months, but overall it was pretty reliable. It just isn't cheap if/when it has to be fixed (because BMW + ///M fee)."

trmoore09 > trmoore09 07/29/2014 at 11:00

1

Just for more context, ours had 96,XXX miles when we sold it.

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > BarryDanger 07/29/2014 at 11:01

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http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/she-wasnt-pret…

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > trmoore09 07/29/2014 at 11:02

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I bought mine two years ago with some remaining warranty, thankfully, and got a few things taken care of (AC evaporator, which is a known issue, some worn trim, other minor issues). Since then, it'd been pretty solid. I did have a low pressure fuel sensor go out, but that wasn't terribly expensive. I picked up an EasyCare TotalCare extended warranty to get me to 85k miles, and I've been sending off for Blackstone reports. In another year, I should know whether it's a good idea to keep mine "for the duration", which I'd really like to do, or move on.

Beautiful E46 and great history, by the way.

trmoore09 > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 07/29/2014 at 11:09

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Gotcha, warranty is good. We bought ours with 76,XXX miles, and got a third party warranty (Warranty Solutions) and they covered NOTHING. I think we may have also had the fuel pressure sensor go out as well, but I'm not 100% sure. As long as you have money to replace sensors here and there (and tires.. lol), you should be fine. I'd keep an eye on your actuators too.

Thanks, it's been a fun few years. And also, we are considering buying another E9X after my wife graduates from nursing school. The MAIN reason we sold it was because she was going back to school and we couldn't afford the maintenance and repairs that come with it. We also wanted a nicer DD (we were using the xB to keep miles off of the M3). We've put 30k on our CX-5 in the last year.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > trmoore09 07/29/2014 at 11:24

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Sucks about the crappy warranty...

Hope it works for you to get back into an E9x - says something about the car that you're willing to go back to it, even after the troubles you had with one! I've actually got test pipes and a BPM Stage II tune in my garage right now, waiting to go on.

Hope the CX-5 is treating you well. My wife has an '08 Cx-9 with over 140k right now, and my last car was an '05 3s hatch. Mazda's putting out some great stuff right now - hope they can keep it up for many years.

banjo cat ghost of oppo past > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 07/29/2014 at 11:27

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How much of a pain in the ass was the Jag headliner to replace?? Where my other car is stored, siting for years in the grass is a 90's Vanden Plas Majestic in burgundy(with the burgundy wheels) that has peeling clearcoat, an effed up chain smoker's interior and a sagging headliner and I still want it so very badly. It IS the car I want to be driven home from bars/strip clubs

Dem tray tables...

trmoore09 > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 07/29/2014 at 11:32

1

Yea, as soon as they refused to cover any sensors that had to be replaced, or the actuators, we canceled it and got our money back.

Thanks! It was a super fun car and would be worth having to pay for service every now and then if we had the money for it, we just didn't at the time. I would get an 09+ for the new Nav and to get away from the potential motor issues of the 08. We'd probably get an E92. We have the CX-5 for hauling stuff around. Let me know how the test pipes and tune go! I'm sure that'll open it up a decent amount. I always wanted to do some performance upgrades, but never got around to it. Maybe next time around. I saw a Fire Orange E92 around town last weekend and had to stop and take a pic. I would love that or a frozen color (if you can't tell, I like rare colors).

The CX-5 is great! Fun to drive, no real problems. We had transmission problems, but they replaced the whole tranny under warranty. My parents have a new Mazda6 and it is great as well! I love Mazda's whole lineup right now, just waiting on a CX-5 (maybe) and Mazda6 (eventually) diesel!

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > trmoore09 07/29/2014 at 11:43

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That Fire Orange is so wicked... would definitely love to have it, but with 3 little ones, I need four doors.

Hope the next Speed3 is epic, and that they bring back the Speed6 and the Mazdaspeed Mx-5, too. Oh, and the new RX-7/MX-7/RX-9!

banjo cat ghost of oppo past > liquid_popcorn 07/29/2014 at 11:51

1

Visit Seneca Lake/ Watkins Glen there's a huge Volvo yard along the east shore wine trail owned by a scca Volvo racer who has at least one 122, plus a 242GT and a ton of other fun stuff....sh*t I might drive the 35 minutes and wander around right now

liquid_popcorn > banjo cat ghost of oppo past 07/29/2014 at 12:33

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Little far from me, but if I'm ever in the area I'll have to stop by, haha. I'm about 300 miles south.

banjo cat ghost of oppo past > Kat Callahan 07/29/2014 at 14:22

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1. 92 Toyota Camry - dark green, gray fabric Hand me down from my father to my sister to my brother and finally to me. As a budding car person and bit of an odball I decided to line the dash with that neon green glow wire my junior year in HS.

2. 98 Chevy Tahoe Limited (exact match in the pic)- gray leather, heated seats, ballerific for the good chunk of my senior year I got to drive it. V8 made great noises and enough torque to lift its hulking body during aceleration. Fold down seats came in handy whilst exploring my chiseled young rower's body with team mates from the school up the lake because the girls in mine barely knew us rowers existed. It also helped me evade cops after a frat party a girl and I snuck out for in the warm spring months of my senior HS year. After the police blocked off the culdesac entrance my only option was pressing the 4wd-low button and tearing ass/sod through the aggressively sloped, snowy back yard of Cornell's richest frat and escaping out their private access drive. Statute of limitations should be up on that one. I put those valvestem lights on this one, too...teehee!

3. 1992 Audi Coupe Quattro , spotless Tornado red, Gray leather with heated seats, accessory gauges clad in wood, my first love.

Those wheels were rare as sh*t too. First car purchased completely with my own money at the end oh highschool and took with me to college. Think finding a fresh E30 is hard?!I was heavily interested in Audi and dared, doubledared...nay DEFIED my local small dealer to find me either a CQ or an Audi 90 that I could eventually swap in the turbo engine from the UR S4/6. They did it! At auction they found my Tornado red CQ (the best condition of any CQ I had ever come across to this day) and a navy blue 90, also mint that sold in a week. It wasn't quick, esp when I went to Colorado for college, but after a K&N cone filter and a chip...my god the sound of an n/a Audi 5cyl! That extra chorus member makes some magical howl once you got up in the revs completely different than anything else. I would later become an Audi salesman and I swear these cars drove as solid as any beloved VAG vehicle today, stainless steel doors made a solid thoonk when closed...I'm finding/ restoring another one.

3.5 1 993 black VR6 Corrado w/ automatic spoiler!

I got this on loan while it was being discovered my Audi's engine would never run again due to a plastic timing gear every 7A engine owner knew to replace with an aftermarket brass piece because that nylon timing gear was prone to stripping, making valves meet pistons...which it did. It was a friend's fiance's she wasn't using. Had worn out motor mounts so I couldn't stomp on it but the straight pipes made the VR6 sound fantastic and the black stiched leather with the low roofline made the interior a comfy, intimate space. It was also fun to play with the auto-spoiler in slow traffic with Porsches and other quirky 90's cars that had them.

4. Oldsmobile Bravad a . Blue neons hidden in the grill and under every seat that pulsed with the music because f*ck it I have to drive a Bravada.

I got this after being dragged from Colorado for cheaper in state NY tuition, had to leave the Audi there so I was barely sane ha. This was just as comfy as the Tahoe with tan heated leather and a squshy ride but goddamn I hated it purely for gas mileage-1/4 tank every trip to campus. Like the Tahoe at least it had plenty of room for getting down with the seats folded. It helped me out more than I gave it credit for in perhaps my headiest of college days filled with Dave Matthews weekend concert camping, moving my friend out of the University o West Virginia, towing my other friend's Mazda MX6 to his auto college, coaching my HS rowing team... neons pulsing all the way just because I was so spiteful of owning another gas guzzling SUV I found a humble Truckin'/RC shop on my college commute to do it while I was in class.

5. 1992 Mitsubishi GSX Eclipse - Her Name is Yoshimi...she's got a black belt in Karate...

So its either Yoshimi from the Flaming Lips song, or Mako in honor of the character from the new anime Kill La Kill . Ditched the Bravada, had the shakes for another quirky sports coupe. I was lucky to find it on ebay after an Issue of Sport Compact Car convinced me the 1st Gen GSX had the best bang for the buck, and they were right. $2500 got me 2900lbs, a rear viscous LSD, 300ish quick spooling horsepower from an evo3 ported turbo, mild head work & other goodies before I even touched it. I still have this car in project mode purely because of the violent acceleration and how easily it can take an Sti's lunch money. It went from red with tan fabric to scion silver, then to Jaguar's British Racing Green with black leather because I wanted a BRG colored car and found a vocational school to paint it. Did I mention it was violent?

I could write the most about this car, its further mods and how its raw nature and speed has entranced me... but our relationship is much like the Flaming Lips other song of the same album, Unit 3000-21 .

6. 2008 Mk V Wolfsburg Edition 5 spd. Yes that is my car with me driving/ winning a rally cross on way- too expensive snow tires. Still sold their chewed up carcasses.

Chaaa really wish I had bought out this lease...Black leather, heated seats. One may have guessed my ass will sit in nothing less.Even though its pretty clear this chassis is better than the current editions, if only the interior materials it still felt a little underrated. If I was ever late for my internship at the track and had to speed through the open countryside, with better kumho rubber this thing would just squat and take the highspeed sweeping turns. Mighty nice body rigidity and the 5speed was smooth and direct other than VW's notorious mile-long clutch pedal.

Honorable mention: 2002 Toyota Camry SE...

Apparently that means sport edition so it has revalved shocks, a strut tower brace, "sporty" steering wheel and a spoiler. When the suspension was still fresh it actually did a great job on all the curvy stuff . not my car but one I drive if need be. Heh I'm driving at Watkins Glen opening day and had a TON of fun because the pace car was sick of going slow and just left us all to follow the 100mph straightaway speed the other traffic was pushing us to.

Parents just never got rid of it after buying a van for our big dogs and thought I might need it when I don't carpool or bike or none of my cars are working. With 130k miles and our never-straight roads the suspension is completely shot now but its just as reliable as any Camry.

whosewoodstheseare > Kat Callahan 07/29/2014 at 16:45

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Great article. I love learning more about other people's car histories. Here's mine:

1989 Nissan Sentra Hatchback manual (inherited from Dad, brother): It felt like driving around in a baby pool. Wibbly wobbly. Lasted for 194k miles, and I treated it like crap. Bless you, Nissan.

1995 Honda Civic 2 door manual: So much road noise. Unbelievable, really. You'd think it was made of aluminum foil. Loved to shift this car though. Honda is brilliant with manuals.

2003 Civic 4-door LX auto (present car)-inherited wife's car. Slightly less road noise than the '95 Civic. The stock radio/speakers are fantastic though. I've been in newer luxury cars where the qualify wasn't as good. Really strange. It's a tank, has lasted 140k miles without anything breaking. I've changed the spark plugs. That's it. I demanded the mechanic find something else wrong so I could pay him more money, but he couldn't find anything else.

Next car: I always thought I'd love a hot-hatch, but I've test-driven a MS3, Fiesta/Focus ST, MK6 GTI, and C30, and haven't fallen for any of them. Weird.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > banjo cat ghost of oppo past 07/30/2014 at 04:27

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Duuude, mine doesn't have little tray tables. Must just be the Daimlers :)

I didn't really do a fantastic job of it to be honest. The glue I used seeped through as you need special upholsterer's glue. Other than that, it's a matter of finding some cloth in the right colour, cutting it roughly to shape, taking the trim off around the edges and carefully glueing it up there. A little tricky to make sure there are not creases, but if worst comes to worst you can try and find a replacement headliner that'll be the right shape (or just use the original if it's not stretched).

The bit that does the actual sagging is a layer of fibre-board that provides insulation from the roof. I just glued that directly to the metal of the roof and that seemed to work :)

They're very fun cars to drive :) turn in and roadholding is better than any car of that size has any right to be, and they might be heavy but the 4.0ls have bags of torque. Surprisingly capable hustling through tight country roads. Very balanced :)

banjo cat ghost of oppo past > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 07/30/2014 at 10:36

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I'm glad I am hearing more and more the 4.0l's are very robust because I always thought well detailed Jag engines were cool but if things went way south dropping in a small block is compelling... there are a few companies that sell mounts to make it easy enough. Actually I need to replace the headliner in my Mitsu...as mice are living in it. Really I need to just burn out the entire interior

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > banjo cat ghost of oppo past 07/30/2014 at 11:19

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There's a couple of reasons Jag engines have got a bit of a bad rep.

The first is that the V12 is a little maintenance-heavy. The V12 XJS is a supercar engined GT that you can buy for the price of a used hatchback. That tends to breed owners that don't pay for routine maintenance.

The second is that the old XK engine was built down massively to a price. Jaguars, especially the E-Type, were known for their stunning value (and Sir William Lyons for his extreme cost-saving attitude*). As such, nearly any component that wasn't vital or visible was of the cheapest quality they could get (principally all the pipes for cooling and oil transfer and electrics).

The AJ6 doesn't really suffer with either of those problems. Early engines can suffer from head gasket failure, but it's not necessarily more common than many other engines of that era. Other than that, I haven't heard of any major failure points :)

*he's on record praising a Jaguar dealer for saving the price of fitting a new carpet by rotating the old one so the bit on show looked new.

Dann > Kat Callahan 07/31/2014 at 06:59

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In chronological order:

1977 Mazda 323 1.4l hatch, originally a faded gold, repainted an awful fawn enamel

1983 Toyota MX62 Cressida sedan, white

1980 Mazda 626 sedan, white

1981 Toyota Corolla KE55 wagon 1.3L, light green

1983 Nissan 280C sedan, dark metallic blue

1979 Chrysler Sigma (Chrysler/Mitsubishi Sigma Galant E) 2.0L wagon, metallic green

1977 Toyota Corolla KE30 sedan 1.2L, mustard

1990 Toyota Corona EXIV ST182 2.0L pillarless sedan, gunmetal grey, jap import

1988 Fora Falcon EA S-Pack sedan 3.9L TBI, light metallic blue

1988 Volvo 740GL sedan 2.3L, white

1980 Volvo 240GL 2.1L sedan, beige

1975 Holden HJ Kingswood 25th Anniversary 3.3L, Contessa Gold/White roof

1988 Nissan Pulsar Vector (Sentra) N13 1.8L sedan, dark blue

1989 Nissan Pintara (Stanza) U12 2.0L sedan, metallic silver

1992 Holden VP Commodore S-Pack 3.8L sedan, white

1990 Nissan Pulsar Vector (Sentra) N13 1.6L sedan, white

1985 Mazda 929 HB 2.0L sedan, metallic light green

2000 Hyundai Elantra XD GLS 2.0L hatch, turquoise

1996 Hyundai Excel X3 GS 1.5L hatch, white (2nd car/beater)

2001 Mitsubishi TJ Magna Advance 3.5L sedan, metallic beige

2005 Toyota Camry ACV36 Altise 2.4L sedan, metallic light green

Keith O'Toole > Kat Callahan 07/31/2014 at 09:34

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I'm getting old, let's see if I can remember:

01 '67 MGB

02 '86 MR2 (auto)

03 '84 300ZX AE (turbo, analog)

04 '85 RX7 GSL-SE (2+2)

05 '86 CRX

06 '86 Mighty Max (2wd)

07 '79 RamCharger (318, removable top, auto)

08 '91 Probe GT

09 '94 MX-6 (4cyl)

10 '01 Civic EX

11 '03 Jetta (auto, 4cyl)

12 '05 Liberty (auto)

13 '06 Grand Cherokee (auto)

14 '77 Scout Terra

15 '00 Wrangler

16 '03 Ram 2500 (CTD, 4dr, longbed)

17 '89 928 S4

These are just the ones titled in my name. Not counting parents/family cars I drove heavily. I'm sure I'm missing some in the middle. MG was a birthday present when I turned 14 in 1991, the 928 was a project I picked up last year. The MX6 is when I met my first wife, the Scout when I met my second. #13-#17 still are with us (Ram & Grand Cherokee are daily drivers, Wrangler is sunny days, 928 is running but a bit finicky, Scout is yard art right now.) I actually liked the Liberty. And the Probe turbo was *way* underrated from the factory. I wish I'd kept the AE Z31 and the 2+2 GSL-SE. Never seen either of those again (analog guages were rare in the Z31 AE, 2+2 in the GSL-SE, or any FB, is almost unheard of.) And yes if it's not labeled auto it was manual (yep Ram is a manual.) Assume 4wd on the jeeps/trucks unless noted.

Sweet Trav > Kat Callahan 07/31/2014 at 09:44

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1986 Monte Carlo SS - multiple colors. Factory 5.0l V8 - spun a rod because i was a 16 year old in a V8 Muscle Car. Sat in storage until later...

1997 GMC Jimmy - My dad's truck, 237k and the last 20 without an oil change, my dad wanted to kill it to justify getting a new truck, and couldn't. Given to my sister as a trade in on a new Trailblazer after my dad got his new truck.

1999 Chevy Blazer Two door - My Mom's truck, the wheel base was so short and you were so high you felt like you were going to be sick, even on short trips - Traded in during cash for clunkers for a Saturn Vue for my mother

1986 Monte Carlo SS again. this time restored, new paint, Built 5.7l, Built 200-4R trans, rebuilt limited slip rear end. Still driving it on nice days.

1993 Chevrolet 12 passenger van. Given to me by my dad's friend so i didn't have to drive the Monte Carlo in the winter. Halfway through the winter, freeze plugs rusted through and the coolant fell out. back to driving Mom and Dad's rides in high school.

1998 Malibu. Was my sisters car before the Trailblazer, the single worst car in the history of existence.

1992 S10 - 2.8L 5spd Manual - where i learned to drive a stick, with throws just shorter than a tractor, and exactly .57HP on tap this was a tank, lived on after meeting a guard rail during a Michigan snow storm, but died when the number four rod let loose and punched through the side of the block at 198k

2005 Chevrolet Cavalier LS, Honestly, for the bad rap these cars get, not a bad car. the final year of the vehicle had the great 2.2L Ecotec I-4, but was unfortunately saddled with an automatic transmission. This one met a grizzly death at the hands of a patch of ice and the rear end of a GMC envoy.

2014 Ford Fusion, The perfect A-B car with style and a pretty well sorted chassis. I wish it had a little more power on tap, and its not particularly good in the winter, but so far 9000 trouble free miles on the clock and the most comfortable seats in any car ever.

capriciavi > Kat Callahan 07/31/2014 at 10:28

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Pictures all not mine:

First car: a 1 997 Renault Twingo

It was a little shitbox but it was MY little shitbox and it lasted forever - not even my stepbrother who managed to break every car managed to make a dent in it. I wasn't always around to drive it (at one point I spent five years abroad) so whenever somebody else in the family needed a car, it got passed around. After almost nine years of ownership, my dad gave it to the guy who painted his kitchen during their reno. I hope he enjoys it. It had let me down quite a few times but I totally loved it with that irrational love you have for.. well, your little shitbox.

At one point or other my Twingo required lengthy repairs so my sister and I shared her 1995 Ford Fiesta Ghia for a few months

It had a better engine and more oomph but overall was a far less reliable car than mine (and the seats were awful). The clutch just went at one point, which brings us to the time when my sister and I drove our grandmother's sky-blue (and terribly rusty) 1997/8? Opel Corsa. The less I say about that car, the better.

Moving on.

Met my boyfriend and as my sister was using my Twingo as whatever she was driving at that point was dead as a dodo, I started to drive around with his Mk3 VW Polo .

Nice little car but as an automatic it's quite slow and does not accelerate very well. It's still around, my sister is currently driving it because her car is recently just broke.

Last year, I inherited my dad's 1997 Volvo V70 . For as long as I can remember, this has been my dream car. It was huge. It was a diesel and has this satisfying noise when you start the engine. It's still one of my favourite noises ever.

Ours was green and the interior was leather and wood and it was just so fucking NICE and high end. The reason why I am speaking in the past tense is because in April some fucktard smashed into my boyfriend who was just minding his own business as he was waiting to turn left. He was unhurt but the car was an insurance write-off and I was so upset. For me, this car represented family and it was a big fucking deal that my dad gave it to us.

So we bought another one with the insurance money.

Current car: 2002 Volvo V70 D5

The interior is not quite as nice as our previous oldschool brick but I love it. And it's *ours*.

capriciavi > twochevrons 07/31/2014 at 10:34

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I love your post and want to congratulate you on your Volvo - I have owned two V70 bricks so far and the 850 is their predecessor. I see quite a few of them around and they just have so much POWER, which what nobody who does not drive them expects. I had much more fun on the (German) motorway with my Volvos than I had with any VW or other zippy small car. Hah.

twochevrons > capriciavi 07/31/2014 at 11:11

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Thanks! I really, really like it. I'd love to upgrade to a later V70R one day, but for now, it is just fantastic, especially given the price.

The 850 is definitely most at home on the motorway – they're just such civilized, relaxed vehicles. The interiors really are lovely, too. I've never tried a diesel one, but the turbocharged engine in my 850R produces a ludicrous amount of torque at low revs, making overtaking hilariously easy.

I still like zippy small cars, but for any long-distance driving, I'm taking the Volvo.

JohnPlayerSpecial > Vimto 07/31/2014 at 16:17

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Yay another 4-banger Tacoma owner!