Cars You've Owned, Age You Were

[Hellbent]

Re: Cars You've Owned, Age You Were

These are vehicles I've either owned or LUSTED for at the given age:

ALL AGES) McDonald-Douglas (now Boeing) F-15 EAGLE tactical fighter jet aircraft

hey, when you get your f-15, pack me!

[lavagal]

Re: Cars You've Owned, Age You Were

Porsche, BMW, and even a Ferrari - what a great stable of cars by our HTers!

I got together with a bunch of my high school classmates several weeks ago. My classmate's adult son has a current stable of cars that boggles the mind. Among the wheels he owns now are a LEXUS LS 400, HONDA S-2000, two ACURA NSXs, TOYOTA TUNDRA, plus three or four other "regular" cars. How many cars does one guy need?

My classmate's car? She drives a TOYOTA MATRIX .............

I was gonna say, is this guy a fighter pilot?

[Jake's Ohana]

Re: Cars You've Owned, Age You Were

Toyota Celica GT (High school/College)

Pre-marriage (Fiancee) Honda Accord

Marriage: Honda Accord, Honda Odyssey Van (Wife drove both) later sold the Accord.

Now: own 1 car between my wife and I, I've been driving company vehicles for 13 years. Would love to own a second car for back up purposes something a little more sporty for the wife and I. The family van offers only so much in terms of satifying the luxurious feelings.

[lavagal]

Re: Cars You've Owned, Age You Were

Jake, I hear ya.
We are a one-vehicle family. We have a van. It's so nice to have it after being in a 2-door Acura Integra hatchback for 12 years and then no air conditioning for a while, with a baby, too! We'd like another, smaller, sportier, but still safe for the keiki. I do like being in all that metal.

[Palama Kid]

Re: Cars You've Owned, Age You Were

25 - 46
1972 Datsun 510, 4-door sedan; bought in Honolulu - shipped it to Bay Area in '74 & kept it 20 years with no rust - about 120,000 miles when I donated it to charity

34 - 50
1978 Lancia Beta Coupe; I gave up on that Italian car when it got too costly to maintain - drove about 100,000 miles - donated it to charity

46 - 57
1992 Toyota Pickup truck; carpeted the bed and put a shell on it - driven 92,000 miles before giving it to my daughter; it's still being driven in Reno

52 - now
1997 Toyota RAV-4; driven 120,000 miles so far

[oceanpacific]

Re: Cars You've Owned, Age You Were

DATSUN 510 - referred to as a "poor man's BMW;" my brother had a 1969 S/W and raced it; he persuaded my parents to trade-in my '61 Falcon towards it; I got "used" cars during those early years, while my siblings got new cars (my mom said that I was a "victim" of the "hard years;"

minivans - "soccer mom" stage of life; we've had them for over 18 years; also great for scouting, COSTCO runs, and other similar activities; when it was time to replace the '93 Quest (8+ years, 164K miles), I offered the "boss" any car she wanted; after she indicated the Odyssey, I asked her if she wouldn't rather have a "regular car," to which she replied that after 12 years, a minivan was a "regular car;"

LANCIA BETA - I remember giving that car a brief look before buying the BMW 320i, which also turned out to be a maintenance nightmare; wasn't LANCIA part of the SERVCO stable?

[zff]

Re: Cars You've Owned, Age You Were

My classmate's adult son has a current stable of cars that boggles the mind. Among the wheels he owns now are a LEXUS LS 400, HONDA S-2000, two ACURA NSXs, TOYOTA TUNDRA, plus three or four other "regular" cars. How many cars does one guy need?

TWO Acura NSXs? Wow! I've met several other NSX owners, but I don't recall anyone who owns two. Maybe you can direct him to this site, for local NSX owners. He may want to come out to one of the cruises that we occasionally have. (I have pics from one of our cruises here.)

As far as mind-boggling stables of cars, I saw one that has to be one of the most impressive in Hawaii. Here are a few pictures (click on a pic to see a larger image):



In addition to the cars in these pictures, he also has a Rolls, a BMW 850i, two Corvettes (one of them is a Z06), and IIRC, a Mercedes.

I was totally floored. I've met people with some expensive cars, but I had never seen a private collection like this before.

[oceanpacific]

Re: Cars You've Owned, Age You Were

Yup, TWO NSXs. Seems a bit evident of WANTON EXCESS. One red, one gold. Personalized license plates, too: NSXE and NSXE-2. He's on the Big Island.

He also has a BMW 850 ...........

My brother, an auto mechanic, has owned his 1966 Lotus Elan since 1978.

[Keith H.]

Re: Cars You've Owned, Age You Were

Well, my car list is as short as doc1456's and I'm not as young as him. I don't believe in changing cars every 4-5 years; I intend to keep mine until they die.

1987 - 1999 (ages 15 - 27): 1987 silver Nissan long bed pickup with camper top. Technically my dad bought it as a company car; I "inherited" it when he died and it became mine. Had my first driving lesson in that car; had my first fender bender in that car, both on the same day. I won't go further into it. It served me well until it suffered catastrophic engine failure on the Likelike.

1999 - present (ages 27 - present): 2000 model dark blue Suzuki Esteem station wagon that's now starting to show its age. I drained my savings for it, but I had the satisfaction of it being all mine from day one.

[Linkmeister]

Re: Cars You've Owned, Age You Were

I wrote all that up back in 2002. Must have been a slow news day.

I still drive my 1997 Geo Metro. I bought it off the Budget lot in 1998 with 13K on it. It now has 46K.

[oceanpacific]

Re: Cars You've Owned, Age You Were

I wrote all that up back in 2002. Must have been a slow news day.

I still drive my 1997 Geo Metro. I bought it off the Budget lot in 1998 with 13K on it. It now has 46K.

That's a good piece of writing: I enjoyed it and reminisced about the parallels with my own experiences. Especially about the Ford Falcon.

My parents bought a new '62 Falcon: they traded our '56 Chevy station wagon (265 cid small block V-8). The Falcon had the 144 cid I-6 (blue valve cover), not the 170 cid (red cover).

I got my '61 Falcon in 1967 for $844, with the 144 engine, three-on-the-tree manual transmission. I dolled it with new naugahyde (spell "vinyl") upholstery, carpet with 1" foam underlay, furry rear deck mat, 4/8-track tape player, Goodyear Boots wide (78-series) tires (triple white stripes), and ............ matching GT racing stripes! Talk about delusions of grandeur! With that 144, it was "all-show, no-go."

This Falcon was traded for my brother's new '69 Datsun 510 wagon, which he modified and raced with out in the Puna district.

My '96 Acura RL was purchased in October 2000 with 36,000 miles on the clock. Today, after nearly 6-1/3 years of effortless driving, I have 131,000 miles on the odometer. I expect to make it to 250,000, even if I get a new vehicle sometime in the future.

[Fat Jeff]

Re: Cars You've Owned, Age You Were

'69 Buick Electra 225 Dad's car...The old "Deuce and a Quarter". That car was frickin' HUGE. In high school, after a basketball game I transported 11 friends to the burger joint in that beast (all stacked cord wood style). Age 15 (learner's permit days)-16

'78 Pontiac Lemans Mom's car...Now we're talkin' Smaller, lighter, and even with a choked off small block Chevy V-8, faster than the ol' Deuce. Had lot's of good times in this car until we moved to Florida, necessitating the purchase of the Mustang. Age 16-17

'79 Ford Mustang Moving to South Florida the land of ZERO public transportation required me to get a car of my own. This was as bare bones a car as you would dare get in Florida. 4 cylinder, 4 speed, A/C and nothing else. Only had the A/C cause this was Florida. This I drove up until the day I got on the plane to Hawaii. It drove me to my senior year of high school, and to college too. I drove it to my first jobs, and also on yearly road trips to as far away as Chicago (my home town). It endured what is now called the "tuner treatment" 20 years before it became a movement. I tricked out the suspension, motor, and finally got a radio into that sucker. Also had the darkest tinted windows known to man. I drove that thing hard and put 113k miles on it before I let it go. Age 17-22

The Bus, aka Fasi's taxi My first couple years here were spent on the big limo or Foot Express. Age 23-24

'79 Honda Prelude Ah yes, silver with the burnt orange interior. Crazy dashboard radio with the nested knobs on the side, and the pretty big sunroof that was my saving grace as the car had no A/C. Rust and business needs dictated a new ride after a year. Age 25

'89 Astro Van The business was growing quickly and I needed a van to get stuff around. Another stripped down car. Two seats, rubber mats, no A/C and a AM radio. I drove this a long time until I sold it to the White Rasta from the Big Island who bought it to use at his nursery. Age 26-36

'98 Chevy Blazer That was waaaaaay too long without A/C. Now I had it, along with more power stuff than all my previous rides combined. Great car until it's final year when it became a garage queen. Age 37-43

'07 Honda Pilot EX-L WOW! Now this is some kinda wonderful! Rides great, quiet, powerful, plenty of room for my rapidly growing family (3rd row even!). It's been a dream...right up until that !@#$% tow truck driver hit it while it was parked at a gas pump at Costco. The loaner I've been driving while the body shop fixes it, has served as proof that the Pilot was a great choice. Present ride.

One funny thing, Mom's LeMans, the Mustang, the Astro, and the Blazer were all WHITE. When it came time to get the Pilot I was saying "any color but white". I chose the "Dark Cherry Metallic"

[oceanpacific]

Re: Cars You've Owned, Age You Were

DARK CHERRY METALLIC! Sounds similar to the MERLOT on my '95 Mazda Millenia, a bit brighter than BURGUNDY. First time I ever picked a red color on a new car.

In my earlier years, I chose metallic colors (silver, gold, blue), but they can fade due to UV exposure and can flake off. I've pretty much covered the entire color spectrum, but have lately picked white cars. My RL is PEARL WHITE. The '96 Accord is in the shop being painted FROST WHITE - the former TEAL GREEN metallic was "burned-off." I avoid BLACK and other dark colors - shows the dirt and requires constant cleaning.

Hope your Pilot comes back restored back to original condition.

[Fat Jeff]

Re: Cars You've Owned, Age You Were

DARK CHERRY METALLIC!

Hope your Pilot comes back restored back to original condition.

Well I got it back yesterday...ummm, I guess it's OK. The whole experience was soured by having to point out some overspray and scratches to some un-affected areas. Thankfully they were able to polish out the minor surface scratch and got the overspray off. I was just surprised that my untrained eye found this stuff so easy (or maybe being the guy that makes the payments gives me super vision!). The complimentary wash & wax that finishes the job left much to be desired, so I'll spend some quality time this weekend making things right (lot's of wax to remove from creases, door jams, etc.).

[Palama Kid]

Re: Cars You've Owned, Age You Were

LANCIA BETA - I remember giving that car a brief look before buying the BMW 320i, which also turned out to be a maintenance nightmare; wasn't LANCIA part of the SERVCO stable?

Sorry, I missed this question. Actually, I dunno the answer 'cause I bought my Lancia at a Santa Cruz auto dealership ... cost $7,000 for a one-year old Lancia with around 200 miles on the odometer. The reason I kept mine so long is that I found a reliable & reasonable repair guy. Soon after he quit to become a photographer in Napa, I had to get rid of that car.

There were so few on the road, I used to wave at another driver who also drove a white Lancia Beta coupe in Santa Clara.

On TV, I think I saw a Lancia in the original Herbie movie as a competing race car. I think.