[SSW]

The list isn't really that long for me.

Despite buying/leasing at least 100 cars/trucks in my lifetime, the only car that I owned before that I wish I still had now is probably my 1976 Truimph TR6.

If this list can also include motorcyles, I wish I had my 1998 Ducati 998 back too.

Otherwise, I'm happy w/my current stable to vehicles, which includes a 2000 911 C4 Cab, 2002 MR2 Spyder, 2002 Ford F250 7.3L Diesel, 2008 335i, 2012 MB ML350 and 2014 Z51 7MT Corvette Stingray Convertible.

[JM98]

Wish I had pics of all my old cars:

1987 Camaro Berlinetta
1985 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1989 520i (Euro Spec)
1991 525i (Euro Spec)
1989 325i (Euro Spec)
2006 325i Sedan
2008 Mini Cooper S
2010 Mustang GT W/Track Pack
2012 VW Tiguan
2006 Acura TSX
2003 Mustang Mach 1
2015 Scion Xb
1973 F250 Camper Special
2009 BMW 135i
2002 Civic LX
2013 BMW 128i

The most fun was my first car (Camaro), I thought it was fast at the time because I didn't know any better. It was loud and stiff and fit all my friends but looking back made like 135HP, interesting how we remember old cars.

[visionaut]

Lots of prior vehicles, but only 5 that I can say I've loved...

'71 Plymouth Duster 340
'76 BMW 2002
'86 Dodge Shelby GLHS
'92 Subaru SVX LS-L
'16 BMW 435i GC

The good thing? I still own 3 of 'em.

[baege]

Originally Posted by visionaut

Lots of prior vehicles, but only 5 that I can say I've loved...

'71 Plymouth Duster 340
'76 BMW 2002
'86 Dodge Shelby GLHS
'92 Subaru SVX LS-L
'16 BMW 435i GC

The good thing? I still own 3 of 'em.

interesting I always wanted a duster 340 and an Omni GLH-S....do you still have the duster or the shelby?

[visionaut]

Originally Posted by baege

interesting I always wanted a duster 340 and an Omni GLH-S....do you still have the duster or the shelby?

Sadly, those are the two I no longer have. As an old Mopar fan myself, both of those were very different and extremely fun to drive: the one a legit V8 muscle car I learned to drag-race in — the other, a turbo-charged FWD hot-hatch that was a super autocross car and ‘sleeper’ street machine. The only commonality was the ‘hot motor in a lightweight body’ formula, and they were both black.

So my third keeper is the Subie. The SVX (aka Alcyone) is an unusual AWD GT, designed/styled by Guigiaro, built to compete with the 928S. It was a landmark car with a boxer-6 that marked Subaru’s entry into performance vehicles (pre-WRX). Mine’s #107 off the production line, also black, and is now the 6th oldest survivor in the US.

Tom

[erickonphoenix]

I was writing out a list of my cars and the corresponding circumstances I purchased them but, it started looking like a blog post. So, I opted to sketch out this crude graph to simplify the narrative.

[Humdizzle]

i dont think i've ever bought a car i didn't like except for my f30 335. i research the hell out of my next car, read the forums, and watch reviews for months before pulling the trigger.. then i search autotrader nationwide for the one with the exact options... so i'm rarely ever disappointed.

i've liked everything from my current gt3, to the 458, to my 3 M3s... even my civic and FRS when it comes to smiles per dollar.

[New2Roundel]

I'm almost 45 and haven't owned that many cars. I dislike the whole transaction process of cars. I have owned the following, in order:
-86 Peugeot 505 GL wagon, first car and a and-me-down; a complete dumpster fire of a car. Will never own another French car

-85 Jetta coupe: I was young and attracted to the new paint and GTI wheels. However, after owning it for a little while, it was clear that the car was in an accident and safety of the structure was compromised. I had this car about 6 months

-93 VW Fox Polo: This was my first decent car. It had low miles and decent paint. I probably put 80k miles on this car and in that time one rear shock blew and the exhaust manifold cracked. Super solid otherwise. This got me into modding, changed out the stereo/speakers, added sportier shocks, and sportier tires. Not much, but I got a taste for it.

-94 VW Corrado SLC: This was my affordable dream car being a huge VW fan. I still own the car and I've done a lot to it and with it. It's a great vehicle. It sits at about 84k miles.

-85 Jetta coupe: Not the identical car as before and it was much better structurally. This was my first foray into have 2 cars---one to daily and the other for fun. The paint wasn't in great shape, the engine needed some work, and the odometer didn't work when I bought it---it was stuck at about 176k miles. I fixed what I needed to keep it on the road. It was a great car for $700. It was called "the turd" (the interior was brown, the red faded into brown in some spots, and the car wasn't very nice in general).

-99 Jetta GL: Given the shaky situation with the 85, it eventually became evident that something newer was in order. I found a 1st yr mkIV Jetta 2.slo. It drove like a Rolls Royce compared with the mkIV. I wanted to do some visual mods to the car, but only ended up putting on some accessory VW (Rave) wheels. The coil pack went and ended up taking out the cat. Overall, it was a decent car and a big upgrade to the mkII. However, it was also horribly boring to drive.

-06 GTI: Big thing were going on in my life around the time of this car. Mainly, I just got my first real job that paid real money. The mkIV was getting more and more boring the longer I was driving it. It had >100k miles. I mean it was just time for a new car, right? As a big VW guy, I always thought a prerequisite was to own a GTI (although I was a bigger corrado fan). The magazine reviews and catchy commercials sucked me in. I drove one of the first mkV GTIs in the area (I think it was technically VWoA tester car) and I LOVED it. 6 months later, I leased a package 0 (base) GTI. I loved it. It's the only car I've owned that I look back fondly on. I sold it after about 16 months into ownership however.

-08 Crossfire: When I owned the GTI, I liked it, but also started to realize that there is a life outside of the VW brand. And that there is a world outside of fwd cars. I happened to come across a thread on a forum about chrysler taking like $12k off the price of the Crossfire. That got my attention as I liked the crossfire I sat in at a dealer several years earlier. Plus, the car was assembled in the same factory as the corrado. I found a manual transmission car at a good price and bought it. The car itself was fine, the service was terrible. I mean absolutely atrocious. After about a year of ownership, the car was back at the dealer to fix something the dealer did wrong or neglected to do at all. I could start an entire thread on this car, but in the end, at about the 2 yr mark, it was time to move on. I paid about $26k for the crossfire; chrysler paid about $16k in warranty work.

-2012 Mustang GT: I needed something different at this point. I've done the german economy car thing and I just did the european "sports car" thing. The American muscle thing was an itch that needed to be scratched. The performance envelope on this was much higher than anything I've ever owned before. It was my first V8 as well. It was a great car for a mustang. The coyote motor was beautiful. It sounded great. But over time, the cost cutting that Ford did to keep the car relatively cheap, irritated me.

-2011 e92 M3: Never a big BMW or even an M guy, one drive in this car had me sold. There's reason why this car was twice the price (when new) of the Mustang. I liked this car quite a bit. After 5.5 yrs of ownership (longer than any other car I've owned except the corrado), it was time to move on.

2018 GC SRT: I didn't replace the m3 with this---both cars lived together for a little while. This is the first vehicle I bought since I got married, so it was a joint purchase. I wanted something that could tow a vehicle, was fairly reliable, and wasn't huge. I think the triple black styling is what sold my wife on this. And while I love the styling as well, I've never owned a OHV V8 (the peugeot was an OHV I4 however). And I can't say no to as much hp as I can get away with. I've had this vehicle coming up on 2 yrs. I dig it. It's not a sports car, but I like the muscle-SUV swagger of this vehicle. It's loud and brash, even stock.

2007 997.1 turbo: This is what replaced the M3. I recently purchased the car, so I don't have a lot of experience with this example. I will say that my rationale for purchase this isn't terribly objective. Frankly, a switch flipped with me regarding the M3. It was simply time to move on. And I always wanted a Porsche sports car. I was thinking about the various Cayman 718 4.0 offerings. But really, my dream was to own a 911. One drive in the turbo really shocked me with the experience. And it was less expensive than the GTS 4.0 that I would have wanted. Win-win!

[whyzee125]

2007 Dinan stage 2 335i (will always be my favorite car I've owned)
2002 Toyota 4Runner limited (will probably always be the best car and my second favorite that I've owned)
1993 Toyota Supra NA 5 speed (bone stock--what a beauty!)

[ANP202]

Past
2004 A4 “ultra sport” manual
2012 BMW 328i auto
2008 Audi A5 3.2 manual
2008 BMW M3 manual
2011 BMW 1M
2013 Audi S4 DSG
2016 BMW M4 Comp manual
2017 Shelby GT350 manual

Current
2018 JL Rubicon auto
2006 330xi auto (daily)
2018 BMW M4 Comp LCI auto

Favorites M3 & M4 with slight edge to manual M4, need another manual soon!

[fgpalmer71]

Originally Posted by VisualEcho

-84 RX-7
-86 MR-2
-87/88/89 Starion ESiR
-97 MX-5 Miata
-01 S2000
-05 Impreza WRX
-05 MX-5 Mazdaspeed
-05 Impreza WRX STi
-06 Exige
-18 IS 350 FSport

Your post brought back memories of what ALMOST was for me! At 16 I had picked out my 1st car....a black Conquest turbo. My dad and I went to test drive it....in the rain. We knew the sellers personally and they said to get on it. We left, went 1 block, I turned right and gunned it and before we new it we had done a complete 360. I thought dad was going to be impressed at my young skills and ability to keep it together and control the slide. He looked at me and said turn this MF'er around right now. My mom owned a Molly Maid franchise.....my 1st car ended up being a blue ford escort station wagon, which when dirty clearly showed where the Molly Maid bonnet decal had been on each front door! Lol

[VisualEcho]

Originally Posted by fgpalmer71

Your post brought back memories of what ALMOST was for me! At 16 I had picked out my 1st car....a black Conquest turbo. My dad and I went to test drive it....in the rain. We knew the sellers personally and they said to get on it. We left, went 1 block, I turned right and gunned it and before we new it we had done a complete 360. I thought dad was going to be impressed at my young skills and ability to keep it together and control the slide. He looked at me and said turn this MF'er around right now. My mom owned a Molly Maid franchise.....my 1st car ended up being a blue ford escort station wagon, which when dirty clearly showed where the Molly Maid bonnet decal had been on each front door! Lol

Yeah, not a good car to accelerate hard in the rain in hahaha. Glad it worked out ok, but so sorry about the Escort Wagon .

[ragingpanda]

-1999 Honda Civic EX
-2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9
-2006 BMW 325i
-2008 BMW 135i
-2007 BMW 335i

I absolutely loved the Evo. I had done all the usual bolt ons and tuned it on e85. I am certain that I would still be driving it today if it had not been stolen from me. I still miss it a lot but my upgraded turbod 335i kinda sorta fills in the void (it certainly helps that its completely paid off and can work on it).

I test drove some of the newer BMWs and they just don't do it for me with the lack of steering feedback.

[Roadroach]

1977 Toyota Celica GT (liftback, 5-sp) - Canary yellow, bought used while in High School. I was stylin' with my sheepskin seat covers. Blew the head gasket when the thermostat froze up and I ignore the temp gauge - rebuilt the 20R motor myself and sold it a year later.

1984 Honda CRX 1.5 - White, 5-spd. First new car. Bought when the CRX was first intro'd (had to drive 200 miles to find a dealer who had one).

1986 Honda CRX Si - Red! Fuel injected!! 91 freaking ponys! woot!! This car gave me my nickname while in college (lil' Red Roadroach). Near the top of my list of favorite personal cars. Cheap to buy, cheap to run, and stupid fun. Punched way above it's weight for the day.

1966 Ford Mustang GT Fastback - real factory GT but looked like crap. Bought it from a high school girl who had gotten it from her dad (she didn't want it anymore because it didn't have AC). I think I paid around $1500 in '89. 'A' code with a C4 slushbox, open diff and some rather anemic ponies. Could rip a decent 1-tire burnout. After all these years (and many many mods later - mexican block 302 dyno'd at 360 hp, T5, 9" trac-loc with 4.10 gears, shelby-drop A-arms, reverse-eye rear springs, etc etc etc) this silly thing has taken up permanent residence in my life. I know I've probably ruined whatever collector value it had as a factory GT since it's no longer even close to original - don't care. Never selling it.

1992 Honda Civic Si - needed more than 2 seats and, as a college grad, I needed a more 'adult' car than the CRX. Big letdown from my CRX.

1993 Ford Mustang 5.0 LX Liftback - wanted a more streetable, comfortable car to compliment the '66. Teal (actually, reef blue) so very 90's. Filled up the rear with triple Nakamichi Amps and a couple of massive Kicker subs. Oh. Yeah.

2000 Toyota Celica GTS - Sybil. That's what this car was. Happy little commuter car until the cam phased over (around 7k or so?) and then a banshee wail - for about 2 seconds until time to upshift and then she dropped RIGHT off the cam again. About equal amounts fun and frustration.

2007 Mazdaspeed3 - my only real "family" car. Needed to haul the elementary aged kids to school and that was a pain in the Celica. Stupid quick for a grocery getter in slightly modded form. I got real good at cleaning/replacing sooted up EGR valves. Sold it after oiling issues on both the factory and replacement turbo's (installed 3rd turbo, got it sorted and quickly sold).

2006 BMW Z4 3.0si coupe 6-sp - not outstanding in any one area but impressive as an overall package. Put 90k miles on it in the last 5 (?) years. Metric sh!tton more reliable than my Speed3 (but I don't pick stoplight races with it). I keep looking at gently used 987.2 Caymans but just can't part ways with the E86. It may just end up permanent residence with my '66.

[fgpalmer71]

Originally Posted by visionaut

Sadly, those are the two I no longer have. As an old Mopar fan myself, both of those were very different and extremely fun to drive: the one a legit V8 muscle car I learned to drag-race in — the other, a turbo-charged FWD hot-hatch that was a super autocross car and ‘sleeper’ street machine. The only commonality was the ‘hot motor in a lightweight body’ formula, and they were both black.

So my third keeper is the Subie. The SVX (aka Alcyone) is an unusual AWD GT, designed/styled by Guigiaro, built to compete with the 928S. It was a landmark car with a boxer-6 that marked Subaru’s entry into performance vehicles (pre-WRX). Mine’s #107 off the production line, also black, and is now the 6th oldest survivor in the US.

Tom

ALWAYS loved the SVX. I'd have one if I could find one in good condition......needle in a hay stack at this stage! Beautiful SVX my friend!

[Churchen]

I'm 27 on my 7th car.

1999 Pontiac Grand Am is where it all started for me. After that went out, I joined the military and was stationed overseas so I didn't need a car.

Came back home on leave one year and bought a 1972 Buick Skylark. Car couldn't run except by the grace of God. Got the carburetor rebuilt. Eventually sold it off to some guy who exports old school American cars to a wealthy Norwegian guy overseas.

After that, I got myself a 2013 Mazda 3. It was a good car, fantastic gas mileage. I decided I really need something with AWD or 4WD for the winter. Bought a 2014 Jeep Compass.

The Jeep was my first actual taste of anything really...technological. I had also never been able to drive in the snow before. It had a nice interior, and I liked the cargo space.

Eventually, I had had enough of the 4 banger and the 12 gallon gas tank, and opted for a 2017 Dodge Durango.

The Durango was everything I needed it to be. I was big, it was moderately fast for its size, and had plenty of room and features. That was a NICE vehicle.

One night I ended up driving my buddies Camaro back on a road trip and I caught the bug for real performance. I bought myself a Camaro a few months later. I enjoyed it for maybe a few months, went BACK into the military, and decided I needed something practical. I came home on leave (where I am now) in the Camaro and the first night we got snowed in. I am not a fan of being trapped due to a RWD.

So...in the essence of having the Durango's luxury and AWD, and the sporty performance of the Camaro, there's only one brand I know that can really deliver that. Audi.

Just kidding

I searched for BMW's for a few days, found a great deal, and landed myself in a 2020 M240i xDrive.

I am going to be buried in this car. I am absolutely in love.

[baege]

Originally Posted by Roadroach

1977 Toyota Celica GT (liftback, 5-sp) - Canary yellow, bought used while in High School. I was stylin' with my sheepskin seat covers. Blew the head gasket when the thermostat froze up and I ignore the temp gauge - rebuilt the 20R motor myself and sold it a year later.

1984 Honda CRX 1.5 - White, 5-spd. First new car. Bought when the CRX was first intro'd (had to drive 200 miles to find a dealer who had one).

1986 Honda CRX Si - Red! Fuel injected!! 91 freaking ponys! woot!! This car gave me my nickname while in college (lil' Red Roadroach). Near the top of my list of favorite personal cars. Cheap to buy, cheap to run, and stupid fun. Punched way above it's weight for the day.

1966 Ford Mustang GT Fastback - real factory GT but looked like crap. Bought it from a high school girl who had gotten it from her dad (she didn't want it anymore because it didn't have AC). I think I paid around $1500 in '89. 'A' code with a C4 slushbox, open diff and some rather anemic ponies. Could rip a decent 1-tire burnout. After all these years (and many many mods later - mexican block 302 dyno'd at 360 hp, T5, 9" trac-loc with 4.10 gears, shelby-drop A-arms, reverse-eye rear springs, etc etc etc) this silly thing has taken up permanent residence in my life. I know I've probably ruined whatever collector value it had as a factory GT since it's no longer even close to original - don't care. Never selling it.

1992 Honda Civic Si - needed more than 2 seats and, as a college grad, I needed a more 'adult' car than the CRX. Big letdown from my CRX.

1993 Ford Mustang 5.0 LX Liftback - wanted a more streetable, comfortable car to compliment the '66. Teal (actually, reef blue) so very 90's. Filled up the rear with triple Nakamichi Amps and a couple of massive Kicker subs. Oh. Yeah.

2000 Toyota Celica GTS - Sybil. That's what this car was. Happy little commuter car until the cam phased over (around 7k or so?) and then a banshee wail - for about 2 seconds until time to upshift and then she dropped RIGHT off the cam again. About equal amounts fun and frustration.

2007 Mazdaspeed3 - my only real "family" car. Needed to haul the elementary aged kids to school and that was a pain in the Celica. Stupid quick for a grocery getter in slightly modded form. I got real good at cleaning/replacing sooted up EGR valves. Sold it after oiling issues on both the factory and replacement turbo's (installed 3rd turbo, got it sorted and quickly sold).

2006 BMW Z4 3.0si coupe 6-sp - not outstanding in any one area but impressive as an overall package. Put 90k miles on it in the last 5 (?) years. Metric sh!tton more reliable than my Speed3 (but I don't pick stoplight races with it). I keep looking at gently used 987.2 Caymans but just can't part ways with the E86. It may just end up permanent residence with my '66.

we've taken similar paths, a mix of japanese sporty and domestic muscle topped off with german precision

ps don't ever sell the e86...I regret it