Car Love: Sleds That I've Owned

[Bromontana]

I disagree, just based on my many experiences growing up in friend's 240DLs I have to say that they're a cool car.

Mom drove a white one for about 10 years, think it was a 91 or so with the trunk seat. I used to sit back there after sneaking smokes. Great car for the time. Dad got a 95 or so 5 spd sedan after with an I5.. cool car too. Sporty and a functional, mostly reliable daily. Mostly.

[Rip'nStick]

1971 Cadillac Coupe De Ville: grandma's car I used to borrow when I was 16 and first got my license. 472 cu in engine could lay rubber with gas pedal halfway down. Backseat was bigger than a twin bed and was put to great use with girlfriend. Parents should have known watching me pull up to take their little girl for a lunch date. Later inherited and then I gave it toa friend

1982 Mazda 626: bought shortly after escapades in caddy for $2,200. I wanted a Honda Civic ccvc but this is what i could find in used car lot in Santa Rosa and could afford at the time. Came with rx7 rims and low pro tires, put a decent stereo in it and with the sunroof, I was rolling at 16 in little Town in NorCal. Loved this car. Had a cosmetic accident senior year and gave it to a friend when I left for college.

1998 Toyota Tacoma: bought new right out of college with new job in aerospace for $12k on SuperBowl Sunday. Told the manager he had to cover the cost of sandwiches but I wasn't paying any more. Camper shell made this a Mammoth ski bum rig. Sold to friend for $8k. To small but decent donuts on dry pavement.

1998 Toyota 4Runner: always my dream rig, still my daily driver. Taken all over the West, up windy, rocky, snowy roads to the far out places. Not a day goes by when I get in that thing and don't think, damn what a good rig. I don't think I'll ever sell it, maybe give it to a friend or kid.

Couple of commuters, Prius, Corrola, all do a decent job.

Miss my 1982 ford tioga class c RV. That was a solid for more than a few multi month adventures in PNW and Utah/SW

Sitting on a good chunk of change and a less committed life and was thinking about getting some sexy car but haven't decided.

[guroo270]

1993 Acura Integra - dumped 10k in aftermarket into it and used to track it.
2001 BMW 330i with every option - best all around car I've ever owned or driven
1973 BMW 2002 - happiest car to drive... when it worked.
2006 Subaru Forester XT - It's so damn practical I can't get rid of it, even though I've got the new car blues. Just made the last payment, too.

[Caucasian Asian]

1982 Nissan Stanza- The Nipsan. Fun little first car. Drove decent in the snow with good tires, and I cut a hole in the back seat to make a ski pass through.

1983 Volvo 245GL- Silver, with tinted windows and 15" Turbo rims. Suspension had 250k on it, so it sat down in the weeds. Put 2 12" JBL subs and a 3cu/ft box in the back. Cops always waved me through check stops because I was driving "Mommy's car".

1986 Toyota Celica- Red, front wheel drive, rotten muffler. Replaced the muffler with a cherry bomb, and put the stereo from the Vuvla into it. Sub box reduced the cargo space to the size of a gym bag. That car was kinda obnoxious.

1988 Saab 9000SPG- Just sold this a few months back, could have been an episode of Roadkill. Drove it for two years before I got a job that provided me with a truck, and it got parked for ten years.
The guys that bought it drove up from Vancouver, threw a new battery in, fired it up, and drove it away. The alternator died 5mins down the road, and they pull into and auto parts store and replace it in the parking lot. Proceed to drive it back down to Vancouver. On premium fuel that was put in when I parked it.

2014 Subaru Outback- Wife and I traded her XC90 T6 in and bought this for cash. She drives it mostly. No complaints.

The work trucks-
1998 F-150- What a hunk of crap.
2003 Chev 2500HD- Duramax. Loved this truck. 33" tires, torsion keys, lift blocks in the rear, and a straight pipe exhaust. 'Berta.
2008 F-150- Meh truck. Nothing great, nothing bad.
2010 F-150- Still meh. Huge back seat.
2012 Nissan Titan. Great truck. Goes like a raped ape. Bad on gas. Hit a Dodge 2500 two winters ago. Dodge left on a flatbed, Nissan drove away.

[liv2ski]

Just to represent those who've never owned a cool car:

If I won the lottery, I would pick up an Alfa 4c as my fun car and pay whatever it takes to keep my Tundra going forever.

Looking at this thread got me to thinking about all the cash blown on cars for the family, trips, etc, etc. While there are a bunch of great memories with it all, I may have been wiser to be much more moderate in my expenditures and likely a retired ski bum by now, so keep doin what your doin. Stuff is just stuff.

[guroo270]

That thought is the only thing keeping me from jumping right back into car payments.

"I love my car. It runs like a top. You don't need a new Golf Wagon. Save your money." I probably say that to myself 5 x's /week. I tinted my windows and spent a grand on new timing belts, plugs, and a few other things.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

1974 Dodge Dart "Swinger"-first car
1969 AMC Ambassador- aquired after above car blew up outside Hawthorne NV from tow truck driver for $200. Drove to Mexico and back home to WA, threw a rod two days after returning home.
1970 Ford Econoline Van- bought from dad for $400. Great vehicle for partying and work. Rolled it off the levee on night, it was like a barrel.
1975 Toyota Corolla coupe- bought for $1200 in 1988 from some grandma in Walnut Creek, it had 30k. What a great rally car.

Everything after that is pretty boring.

[Tippster]

I've only owned 5 cars in my life:

-'68 VW Bug. Dad bought it in '77 whn we moved to the US to use as his commuter car. Wouldn't start one day in '80, so he left it in the car port, then told me when I turned 16 in '82 that if my friends and I got it running it was mine. Took apart the whole engine and put it back together (a couple nuts & bolts left over) and it ran. drove that thing for nearly 2 years, then gave it to Good Will for a $500 tax credit.

-'77 Saab 99 GLE Wagonback. Bought it in college to haul DJ gear around. LOVED that car. Surprisingly quick, mechanical fuel injection & a distributor. Probably got 30mpg too. When I got out of school I sold it to buy:

'74 Ford Bronco. 302 and 3 on the floor manual. 3" lifts all around, fiberglass body panels and hood. Soft top w/roll cage. Bought to move to Vail. Transfer case blew within 6 months. Power steering blew around a year later, along with the clutch, because I used to rip it around washboarded dirt roads in the State Bridge area chasing rafts for whitewater phtography. When the power brake master cylinder finally kicked I sold it to some kid for $500. He sank $3k into it and later I heard he sold it for nearly $8k. Fuck.

'97 Audi A4 Quattro 1.8T. First car after a long hiatus of just driving girlfriend's or wife's cars. I lived and worked in the city and had no need for a vehicle (other than my motorcycle.) Got it in 2003 when we had our second kid. Fun as hell to drive but I probably didn't baby it enough. In 2009 I traded it in for:

'06 Mercedes E350 4Matic Wagon. Certified pre-owned w/only 30k on the odometer. At the time Mercedes offered 1% financing and a 3 year warranty on their used cars. No brainer, since the other car we were looking at (a Passat wagon) was more money. First automatic tranny car that I ever called mine, and yep - it's fucking boring. Fantastic car in the snow tho, especially with Nokian WRG 2s. My kids will learn to drive in this car. Still don't drive it that much - it's about to finally break the 80k mark.

[that dude who did that thing]

I'm 6' tall and you're a misogynist bigot even if you're just a pathetic poseur alias troll.

"Buster Highmen" giving others crap for misogyny and all of you just let that slide? Come on, people, there is comedy gold in plain sight here, and you'd rather talk about the not particularly notable cars that you've owned?

[iceman]

1971 Pontiac Catalina Safari wagon. Plowed it into a pole on Long Island, knocked out the power for 100,000 people (really). Walked away. It did it's job.

1985 Chevy S10 Blazer. Total POS. Blew the transmission but had shelled out for a warranty, got it fixed and then sold it.

1986 Saab 900. Wife's car. Bent the unibody hitting a manhole cover that was under some leaves, sold it.

1993 Saab 900 S convertible. Wife's car. Great car but she left the roof down in a sudden unexpected monsoon. Those things hold water btw. It was never right after that.

1990 Chevy K1500 Stepside Z71. Badass rig. Had a kid, had to sell it.

1994 Jeep Cherokee. Should have kept it.

2000 Jeep Cherokee. Bought used last year. 115K. Letting the kid drive it at school. I want it back though.

2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee. That thing was loaded, Offroad package, towing package, leather, good stereo. Put about 150K on it and traded it.

2004 Audi Allroad. Still have it. 140K, runs like a champ but it has cost some money to keep it like that.

2004 Chevy Silverado K2500. Still have it. About 90K on it. Good truck but it hasn't been without issues. Brake lines were the biggest one, they rotted out up over the wheel wells, this is very common with these trucks and Suburbans/Yukons etc. of this era. If you have one get the brake lines replaced with stainless. Almost lost the wife on that deal for real, she lost the brakes approaching a major intersection.

We also have a 1996 911 Cab. Sweet ride but I never drive it, it's the wife's toy. Bought used. Main reason I don't drive it is the power seat keeps breaking and it's expensive as fuck to fix, so we just leave it set for her. Car has an SAI issue right now, common with these cars. We're trying to find a way around it, that's like a $10K repair quoted from two Indies, quoted $12.5K from dealer. Ugh. It won't pass emissions without it though.


2011 Audi S4. Still dig it.

2014 Audi Q5, wife's DD.

[Timberridge]

I've only had 4 cars...
1984 VW Gti -- My first. Bought it used and installed a turbo kit in it myself. Had to replace CV joints every 30K.
1990 E30 M3 -- Doubled as a track car. Bored and stoked to 2.5L. I want it back
1998 E36 M3 4-Door -- Another one I should have kept, but sold.
2007 Toyota FJ --completely stock, currently has 280K on it and going strong.

[basinbeater]

1990 Toyota 4runner. First car. Jumped the shit out of it everywhere I could.
1997 Toyota 4runner
1975 Porsche 911s (dad's old rust bucket. Still ran when I got it, but not well)
1986 Toyota Xtra cab 4x4 pickup. Bought it for $1600 and drove it to Chile. Sold it in Bolivia for $1700. Jumped it in multiple countries.
1991 Toyota MR2 Turbo. Had this one for 11 years. Lots of good times.
1986 Porsche 944 spec race car
2000 BMW 328i. First bmw, it was a very nice driving car. It sort of set the hook for the future.
1990 Toyota Corolla. Flipped it. Bought for $400, sold for $1500.
1987 BMW 325ix. Awesome car. One of my favorites of all time.
2004 Toyota 4runner. See a trend here?
1991 Toyota Land Cruiser. Can't believe I let this one go. Got my eye out for another one...
2006 Audi A4 2.0t quattro manual. First and last audi. Not impressed with the handling despite upgrading to Koni and h&r bits.
2003 BMW 330xi 6spd manual (far superior to the Audi) current daily driver. Close to the perfect little car.
1989 Porsche 944 turbo. Car is a beast, effortlessly eats up the miles at retarded speeds.

[BmillsSkier]

This is fun. In order of appearance.

88 Ford Tempo auto: Crimson felt interior. 0 - 60 in 24 seconds. Heavy D's Peaceful Journey tape stuck in the deck. It was the overweight lover or nothing.

85 Honda Spree. Splashed red paint a over it and restenciled the name to The Killing Spree. Crashed it into my friends garage in Bonney Lake and gave it to him as tribute.

Hahaha... this got me thinking about friend's cars that were sweet in their own shitty way.

College buddy had a '88 Mercury Topaz, the cousin to your Tempo. Same shitty red plush interior and faded red exterior. Had a sexy sticker of Baby Spice that someone put on the passenger side roof. He would always say, "whenever I think this sucks, I just look at that" pointing towards the half naked Baby Spice. First thing our roommate asked him when he got the big accounting gig out of college was, "are you going to stay in the Mercury family"?

Re: Honda Spree; in high school someone brought one to a bonfire and tried to jump it, unsuccessfully, several times over the inferno. They figured if they beat all the non-essential parts off it with a shovel that it would be light enough to clear it. It was, and it was awesome. I can still see that scooter in my mind, terrified rider, barely clearing a 10' wide pallet fire by inches.

[Mofro261]

I've only owned 5 cars in my life:

heh, I've only owned 3 ever in closing in on 30yrs. I'm very utilitarian in my approach to cars and all have served well as transportation to the ski hill.

83' Subaru GL wagon, picked up when I was 17, girls I dated though it was my parents car. What kind of teenager drives a 4wd wagon? One making 100 trips to the mountains in winter. Drove it hard from 17-21 and transferred the title to my younger brother, official sale price on the title was "one extremely cold beer."

91' Toyota 4Runner. Picked in up in 91' with 3K on the odometer from a couple who found out they were pregnant with their second and needed a minivan instead. Traded it in 10 yrs and 120K later for a new

01' Volvo XC70, 2 days before the 9/11 bombings. 14 years and 185K later, it's about to get transferred to my 16yro. Not sure what the replacement will be but unlikely to be another Volvo.

Not counting the wife's rigs of course; the miata was a fun car to drive.

[Foggy_Goggles]

All of my rigs have been practical, boring but reliable for the most part. When I finished with them, they were all pretty much done.

86 Escort - good basic transportation
89 Civic - same as above, capable of surprisingly high speed
86 F150 - 302, moderate lift, stick. Good rig despite 86s having some funky systems including 3 fuel pumps, wierd pre-computer vacuum lines. Died a slow death after sucking a bunch of mud through the exhaust while boggin'. Push pull or dragged it to the dealer in trade for
96 Ranger - Still running at 200K when I traded it on
2005 Dodge 1500 Quad Cab - mechanically fine beat on work truck

I got my money's worth on all of them. I think I've only been left of the side of the road twice. The above mud boggin incident and the Dodge blowin the motor at 163K.

[Bcar]

S4s suck? thats a new one... rolling eyes at DD who clearly doesnt know #@$% about cars with that statement...

'88 Turbo Coupe
92' Escort GT
'93 Escort LX
'01 M3
'02 M3
'95 Exploder
'02 S6 Avant
'06 Sabbaru 92-X Aero
'06 GX470-current
'01 M Coupe -current and keeper for life!
'02 Exploder-current
Next: Cayenne turbo or E55/E63 wagon or 535xi touring or

[4matic]

1969 Nova 6 Cyl auto.
1973 Vega GT wagon. Good handling car. Too bad they melt after 50k miles.
1972 Mustang Fastback 302 auto. Good looking car. The last of the big mustangs. The only car I've owned that would be worth more.
1970 Opel Manta. It was ok. Well built.
1978 Rabbit Diesel. meh.
1980 Subaru sedan. Boring.
1982 Plymouth Mitsubishi Sapporo. Great engine in that car. Burned Clutches.
1987 Mustang GT Fastback. Worst car I've ever owned. A death sled. Good engine.
1989 Toyota MR2. Good handling car. VERY small.
1983 BMW 528E. Great car. Fun to drive. Owned for 20 years till totaled
1992 Mercedes Benz 300E 4matic. Driving above my pay grade. Put 200k miles on it.
1989 325IX. Too small. Loud.
1992 Porsche 968 cpe. Fast, great handling. Very expensive to maintain. Lots of little things wrong.
1993 Mercedes Benz 300TE 4Matic wagon. East coast car with some rust. Good car though. solid, quiet.
1994 Mercedes Benz 400E. Poor gas mileage.
2004 Mercedes Benz E500 4matic Sportswagon. Still own this one. Bought it drunk one night on ebay during financial crisis.
2009 Mercedes Benz CLK550. Fastest car I've ever driven. Mercedes understates the power of this car. Too small. Seats uncomfortable
2007 Mercedes Benz CL600 Brabus. Car is a beast. 0-60 in 4.3 in a 5k pound car. No problems three years. Car growls. Still own it,
2012 Mercedes Benz S550. Pedestrian. Girlfriends car. Very nice car. Still own it.

Bikes:
1966 Honda 50
1973 Honda 175 scrambler
1983 Honda V45 Magna. Great bike...if you're a lesbian. shaft drive is nice.
1987 Kawasaki 1000k Eliminator. Fag bike. junk. Dangerous and poor handling.
1987 Honda VF700F White with Ohlins shock. Great
1987 Honda VF700F Blue. Great
1986 VFR750R. Iconic 4 time world Superbike champion. Lindeman suspension. Fox shock. The sound was magic.
No more bikes. Had my fill. Never down.

[skiballs]

1986 VFR750R. Iconic 4 time world Superbike champion. Lindeman suspension. Fox shock. The sound was magic.
No more bikes. Had my fill. Never down.

I had one of these. Laided it down a couple times.

I haven't owned a car for 25 years. I've owned more trucks than I can remember. I've been driving v10 f-250's for the last 15 years.

[Art Shirk]

I'd like to hear from Bobby Stainless/Beer Drinker (same person I think?)

[Gcooker]

85' My Dad's Mazda B2200 pickup, learned to drive and learned to drive manual. Rusted out turd.
87' Honda Prelude 5-speed. 1st car I paid for. (500$) Floor was gone so it leaked badly... then froze, then frosted up the inside of the windshield. Had a shit ton of fun in this car.
03' Corolla 5-speed- Grad present for myself. 125,000 kms - mostly in the Yukon/Alaska. Ran like a champ, 4 windshields.
07' VW Golf 5-speed- fun car
09' Ford F-150 FX4 - fun truck
11' - VW Golf Wagon 5-speed- 1st kid baby hauler
00' Cavalier - 500$ winter beater, sold for 1k after last winter
07' Audi S4 Avant - 6-speed - Summer car
00' Subaru Outback - 5-speed - Winter Beater, just bought it, only has 100k kms.

[old goat]

im 6.4 199lbs 9.3/10

audi 4's are tiny as fuck, like you

have some pride in yourself

No shit? I always pictured you as 5'4, 130#. Who woulda thunk?

First car--73 Pinto. Read an article by Malcolm Gladwell the other day--turns out Pintos didn't kill people any more or less than other cars of the era, just more spectacularly. Still, that car was a POS--took both English and metric tools to do a tuneup and the transmission died getting on the freeway and I got rid of it, gladly.
Best car 81 Toyota 4x4 SBPU. Why can't they make a truck like that any more? 87 4Runner, which was basically a PU with a camper shell and back seats, was second best. Since then just boring suby's with another 4runner in there somewhere. My kids A5 is nice though.

[MMP]

69 Dodge Coronet 500, ran out of gas 2x week 1
69 VW Bug- Took the engine apart one day, sold it that way
77 Chevy Scottsdale Pickup, 350 under the hood, looked good had it all through college. after freshman year whenever anyone asked to help them move a couch i tossed them the keys
83 280ZX 2-tone, glass t tops, fun car for fresh out of college. I sold it to a guy that restored it so now i get top see it around town, dick
85 Bronco II murdered it towing a boat (20' Galaxie Bow Rider)
91 Nissan Stanza XLsomething
Town Car-Company Car unsire of year
93 Lincoln Continental- beautiful cream colored leather interior, throaty 8 cylinder
97 MB E420
03 Acura MDX -not one problem that I didn't cause. they warranty replaced the rear wiper after my garage door ripped it off.
06 X5 3.5
08 X5 4.8 (much better)
15 550i X Drive (fast)

[Beaver]

Bought my first Auto in 1983
73 Bug, POS bondo buggy, lasted one ski season until my brother seized the engine.
73 Celica, other brother threw a timing chain at about 100mph and trashed the engine. My dad made him pay for the rebuild so I had some extra work done, I could get serious rubber in 3rd gear after that. 
75 Bug, rebuilt the motor with oversized pistons and a Porsche S140 cam, went like stink.
Mazda B2600 4x4 warped the head, replaced it, dropped a valve guide, fixed it, warped the head, traded it in on
91 Corolla, drove the shit out of that little car sold it with 360k kM
81 Nissan king cab rust bucket that would not die, sold my house and abandoned it in the yard, new owner called to get the paperwork to register it in his name. He drove it for another 10 years.
82 F250 on Propane with 500k km great firewood truck
95 Corolla wagon, drove it to 398k kM
82 Volvo 240 Dlwagon, nice car but a fuel pig
91 Volvo 740 GLE wagon, nice car, went pretty decent, fun in the snow
93 Camry wagon, nice car, like a stealth mini van but blew a head gasket. Filled the rad with eggs to stop the coolant consumption and drove it to a Toyota shop and traded it on a
2001 Sienna minivan, fuck I hated that thing.
98 corolla sold this spring with 380k km burned 2l of oil per tank of gas (more than a 50:1 chainsaw)
92 F250 diesel extra cab, another great firewood truck also really good for shuttling mt bikes.
2012 Tacoma bought with 5 km now has 40k km, it’s my farm truck.
91 Celica, bought for $1100 with 197k km is my current daily driver
09 Corolla XRS (wife’s car)


Other sleds of note:
95 Ski Doo 670, bought it from a sled head, the engine had been worked over to make it fucking fly. It died on the way up into the Valhallas one morning.
2012 Ski doo tundra LT 4 stroke, wicked ski touring sled. Not a ton of power but it never gets stuck, the clutch engages at low RPM so it doesn't dig holes it just drives away. Will do 100 kph on a flat road, will go as fast as I need it to when the road deteriorates to whoop de dos and creek holes.

[MontuckyFried]

1986 Toyota Camry - Hand-me-down from grandma. B.O.R.I.N.G. but ran perfectly.
1987 Honda Accord - Far more enjoyable car than the Camry. Got a lot of good miles out of that thing and always loved the popup headlights.
1984 Toyota Supra - Slow by today's standards, but was a ton of fun to drive and had a ton of great features for the time. Ran beautifully and never gave me problems.
1986 Subaru GL - Found it for like $200 in great shape. Best beater car ever. I off-roaded the hell out of that thing and just had a blast. Great car until the timing chain blew. My fault for not changing it with almost 200,000 on the clock, but I couldn't justify spending $800 for the work when I picked it up so cheap, so I figured I'd drive it until it blew up. I sold it broken and beat to crap for $500.
1991 Mazda RX-7 - I had the convertible. Non turbo, but had the turbo trans which gave it great top speed. Handled SO wonderfully. Loved that car, but gave it up due to extremely high insurance costs (my age at the time) and knowing it wouldn't be able to drive it for like a year while I went to basic training and tech schools. In retrospect, I should've just parked it somewhere safe and dropped the insurance for a while.
1998 Mazda 626 - With the manual, it was a surprisingly fun car to drive and got amazing gas mileage for a sedan at the time. I'd average around 35 mpg. Great car. Loved the oscillating a/c vents.
1999 Dodge Dakota - Worst. Truck. Ever. That thing sucked in almost every way imaginable. It was my ex-wife's really. When we split, she took it with her, and then it blew up like a month later. Instant karma. Haha.
2004 Mazda 3 hatch - 5 speed. Fantastic, fun little car! Bought it new and drove it for nearly 160,000 miles when I sold it due to just having too many cars. Engine ran smooth and like brand new when I sold it. Superb handling (for a FWD car).
2005 Cadillac CTS-V - Best car I've ever owned. Sold it at 100,000 miles with zero problems. Had to part ways due to Montana winters and only having a 2-car garage.
1999 Jeep GC - A really nice SUV for its day, but definitely had its share of electrical gremlins. Not reliable, but enjoyable for a beater to toss wet dogs into after a day at the river.
2005 Chevy Trailblazer - Pretty capable 4wd, unstoppable in snow, tows great, but handles like butt overall and gets awful mpg. It's been great for my purposes for it, but I can't fathom why anybody would want one of these things as a daily driver.
2008 Volvo XC70 - It's slow (non-turbo) and hasn't been my favorite car to own, but it does handle great in snow/ice, and has a fantastic interior. I gotta admit, I've liked this car a lot more than I thought I would. I'd still trade it in for a low mileage V70R 6mt, or Audi S46 Avant with stick, the moment I ever (A) have the cash in hand, and (B). ever run across those unicorns.

[Tippster]

1986 VFR750R. Iconic 4 time world Superbike champion. Lindeman suspension. Fox shock. The sound was magic.
No more bikes. Had my fill. Never down.

I had one of these. Laided it down a couple times...

This one? With the dual headlights?



That was my dream bike in College. Couldn't afford it tho, so just stuck w/my RD400.

Lifetime bike quiver;

Vespa P125E
Honda CB400F
BMW R100RS (had a partner in this one - he bought me out)
Yamaha RD400
Suzuki GS650G
Honda Nighthawk 750
'98 Buell M2 Cyclone - only bike I ever bought new. Had that thing for 11 years.
'08 Buell 1125R - current, but sick. Daddy wants a new bike.