My 1992 Saturn SL2, back before they changed the design to make them look like every other car. When I drove it home the teenage boy next door said it looked cool. Fun to drive, very reliable, and it saved my wife’s life when some clown ran a red light and plowed into her at the driver’s side door.
My replacement Saturn, which lasted a good long time, was like every other car and not nearly as good.
2006 Honda Ridgeline. Owned it 10 years and only had one part failure, a wheel speed sensor quit working. $32 and 15 minutes I was back on the road. Loved the 2 way tailgate and the trunk in the back. Traded it in on my current vehicle, it had 212,000 miles and still ran and drove like new.
A 1987 Plymouth Turismo Duster I bought in 1989.
That car “fit” me perfectly, didn’t sit too high, sit too low, and the length of the front cushion fit the bend of my legs/knees perfectly. With the 2.2L engine and 5 speed manual transmission it was a great car to drive.
Alas, after some bad advice from a mechanic, the timing belt broke at 140,000 miles and a $12.00 part was going to cost $200.00 in labor to install. I sold it to a coworker who was going to fix it. It sat for 20 years slowly sinking into the ground. I was there when the scrapper came and picked it up. The top side looked great but the bottom side was so rusted it fell apart when he pulled it into the trailer.car
The car that replaced it was a 1998 Dodge Neon R/T 2 door, my first brand new car. Lots faster and handled much better, but it never “fit” right nor could I get comfortable driving it like my Duster.
I can’t do it.
1996 BMW Z-3.
Before they came out, one day I was driving down Pacific Coast Hwy in Malibu and someone was doing a photo shoot of the car in a parking lot overlooking the ocean. I pulled over and stared in awe. Then the James Bond movie came out featuring the car. A short while later I got a new job that doubled my salary so I got the top of the line one with all of the leather and bells and whistles, Atlanta Blue, just like in the movie.
It lasted me a long time because I was only home on the weekends to drive it. Once I finally got rid of it, it hadn’t even gotten to 100,000 miles.
My 2003 BMW 325i. It was comfortable, understated, and drove well. I felt it lived up to their “ultimate driving machine” motto. I traded it in for a newer BMW, but they’ve lost something since that period.
I’ve had a fair number of cars, most of which I really liked, but my absolute favourite personal vehicle wasn’t a car at all, it was my beloved Honda CX500 (the pic below is not my pic and not my bike, but mine was virtually identical).
It was a beautiful bike with a water-cooled engine and shaft drive and more than adequate highway power. Riding it up and down hilly country roads in the early evening, with the temperature gradients between different elevation levels, it felt just like flying! Definitely a wonderful “one with nature” feeling!
My favourite is our current 2020 Toyota Prius Prime. I charge it up on my employer’s dime (though still have to pay for parking), it’s quiet as heck, takes about $30/month in gas, gets about 65 US mpg city and highway averaged, is sporty enough for me (it’s surprisingly nimble and fast off the line, but I’m not racing for pink slips) and is in a very attractive bright blue. It’s the only vehicle I’ve ever cared for; it just fits.
I own a low-production classic roadster. It’s totally impractical but it’s low & wide & loves the twisty-turnys country roads. It’s all about the journey & not so much the destination. It gets great smiles per gallon & " 'vert therapy" is a real (& wonderful) thing!
#1 would be our Gramman American AA1B airplane. A little yellow 2 seater that my wife and I flew all over the place for about 9 years in the 1990s.
#2 was my 1967 Camaro that I bought for $1800. Put a Corvette 327 (365hp stock, but it was built out to,me much more) in it, Fixed the bodynand repainted it, and it was a fantastic car. Sold it to help pay for college.
#3 1971 Datsun 240-Z. Best sports car ever. Until it rusted out and had to be scrapped.
#4 1999 Kawasaki KLR-650. I still have this one, but haven’t ridden it for a year. When I was working, I often foolishly took my life in my hands and commuted with it on the freeway. But it was a hoot.
Ditto. Mine was a canary-yellow RS (hidden headlights and integrated bumpers). 350 w 4bbl. It was my first car in '74, and my first GF and I could have been the inspiration for a few Meatloaf songs.
Close second is the pickup truck I recently lost to a traffic accident. 3/4 ton, diesel, crew cab, long bed 4WD w most of the bells and whistles. Modified with extra jib crane, grill guard, full-length side steps, and auxiliary tanks plumbed into the fuel system (>2000 miles range). I’d gotten it exactly the way I wanted a truck, and had covered over half the US in it. But it died of violence, probably saving me in the process. And after expenses, settlements, and the insane price increases of pickups, I couldn’t bring myself to spend so much replacing it. So I have a decent substitute, but I’m not crazy about it. I hope it doesn’t know that. 
FTR: None of my cars/trucks are used in security questions or passwords, so I don’t think there’s any risk talking about them.
The '78 Chevette I had in high school and the first couple years of college.
Total piece of shit. Drove like it was the child of a golf cart and a drunk hamster. Accelerated like a brick sliding down a ramp and steered like a meatball in spaghetti sauce.
But it was an exquisitely simple machine. I knew what every single thing on it was for and I got the chance to replace nearly everything at least once over the years. Nowadays there’s bulbs and filters and everything else is attached to the computer somehow. Not the Chevette. Driving it may have been like being on a riding mower with a big cardboard box around me, but I could open the hood and look at the tiny engine sitting in its cavernous space, and work freely on anything I wanted.
Since then I’ve owned many vehicles better than that stupid, terrible car. But I’ve never loved any of them.
This is definitely irrational. But it’s not exactly nostalgia either, because I’m fully aware how much it sucked. Nevertheless: that’s my car.
Absolutely the 2003 Subaru Impreza I drove in San Francisco (for about 15 years from 2005 through to when we left in 2019). Absolutely awesome car, took it up to Tahoe innumerable times in massive blizzards and ice, and it went in the direction you pointed then steering wheel, no matter what.
Would have it again in an instant, though number of kids I have now would make it somewhat impractical.
My favorite was probably my '98 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX. Five speed, turbo, AWD, big honking spoiler on the back. That thing was a blast to drive. But I had the worst luck with tires - three flats in three years, plus having to replace a bent rim after my wife drove through a giant pot hole. After dropping $250 on a replacement tire for the third time, I finally decided to sell it.
(The vehicle that replaced it, the legendary Hyundai Santa Fe with the date display that couldn’t do leap years, I had for 13 years and never had a single flat.)
1987 Subaru Brat (the last year sold in the U.S.)
That’s not my photo but that was the color.
I had the dealer remove the “Brats” on the pillars. It looked more dignified that way.
That was on my short list when I bought the VW GTI.
The dumb reason why the Mazdaspeed3 didn’t win? It looked like it was smiling at me.
I’m sure it would have been just as exciting to drive as the GTI, though I couldn’t un-see the smile.
My wife’s favorite car is the one she still drives and refuses to sell: A 2005 Saab 9-2X Aero. Basically a Subaru WRX in Saab clothes, Saab did upgrade the car with better looking sheet metal, alumimum bits in the suspension and steering, an STI steering rack, and upgraded interior and soundproofing. We bought it new at a $10,000 discount when Saab shut down. It’s fast, handles like a dream, AWD, and in 18 years it has needed nothing but scheduled maintenance, a clutch, and a speedometer gear. It can also be repaired by any Subie dealer.
Sheesh, I dunno, I really really loved that old 61 Bonneville I used to have. I’d trade it for my 03 Chevy S10 though, the one with the tiny 4cyclinder engine and manual transmission. That thing never gave me one problem in 12 years of driving it, and I bought it used. There’s a motorcycle in my past, but it’s better off left there.
I had a 2009 Honda Element. It was basically a Tardis on wheels- it felt much bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. It was relatively sporty, and got decent gas mileage. It also functioned as a camper, since I could remove the back seats. I could store our bicycles in it without having to take their wheels off. My dogs loved it.
The only reason I got rid of it was because I’d gotten a camper trailer, and the weight was more than the Element could handle.
If Honda came out with a plug-in hybrid version, I’d buy a new Element tomorrow. I miss that damn thing.
1955 Chevy pickup. Original straight body, original slant 6. Bought it from and old guy who had it from new. Paid $400 in the late 70s.
Looooved that vehicle.