I’ve only had 4 different cars in my life, really only 3 that I legally owned (the first one was in my parents’ name but it was “mine” in the sense that it was the car I drove). It’s hard to pick just one favorite; they all had aspects I liked and disliked.
1988 Buick Park Avenue: My parents bought it for me from an estate sale; it was literally an old man’s car. It was one of the last cars I would have picked as a teenager, but I have to admit it was comfy. And having the biggest car of my friend group, I was the one who drive the carpool to school and made a small profit collecting gas money from my friends’ parents.
1995 Saturn SL1: Best fuel economy of the bunch. I could get 40 mpg on the highway as long as I didn’t use the air conditioner. But the interior had lots of annoying rattles, which I understand was a common affliction of Saturns.
2009 Toyota Corolla S: Well, it was a Toyota. It was a boring, reliable commuter car. Until the one day it wasn’t, and it overheated and died on I-80.
2019 Mazda MX-5 Miata: I used the death of the Corolla as my excuse to buy the sports car I’ve always wanted. It is absolutely my favorite to drive. Even just taking a left turn at a traffic light a bit faster than one would in an ordinary car puts a smile on my face. But it is admittedly the least practical car, and the least comfortable on a long trip.
Ideally I’d want the Miata as my fun car to drive around town and on weekend drives in the country, and the Buick for long drives on the freeway.
I always felt the Mazdaspeed3 looked a little too “boy racer” for my taste. I’d love it if Mazda brought it back, but as a more subdued hot hatch, like the GTI.
As God is my witness…a 1975 Chevy Vega wagon. I apparently had the only good one ever made. Bought it in Chicago and it was great for city driving. Easy to park, easy to service, heating and A/C worked very well, plenty of room in the back, decent gas mileage I put in an (early) bi-amped sound system that was more than I ever expected. It was as much as I needed as a newly-married graduate student.
Bought it for $1900 and sold it 50K miles later for $1500.
1973 Gremlin X with a 304 engine, dual exhaust, and 3 speed manual. It also had a 22 gallon gas tank and a fill up lasted for weeks. Quicker than hell and a lot of fun to drive. It even had an 8 track!
For nostalgia: 1975 VW bus. My first car. Straight and clear canary yellow body, curtains in the windows, and a Blaupunkt Seattle tape deck. Neither the gas gague or the odometer worked so I took to carrying a full 5-gallon jerry can and a funnel in the back. Great for camping, road trips, or running down to the store. It blew up on me on a rainy Friday evening coming into Portland on I-84. I sold it to an old hippie for $300 (this was in 1997).
My current vehicle, a new Kia Soul, is the perfect blend of comfort, economy, and practicality. I’ve had cars that have had more cargo space and some that ride smoother and/or quieter, and at least one that had better mileage. But none that have had all three. My only gripe, besides the fact that it doesn’t have a manual transmission, is that it isn’t comfortable for long, like 2+ hour drives, but that’s not an issue that really comes up.
My green 2003 Kawasaki KLR650. I’ve had way bigger and more modern bikes, but the Killer was the best bike around town hands down. Comfortable ergos and a tractor like engine. It would just float over rough pavement. It got stolen from me and returned as a pile of junk
The smiling assassin! I’ve never driven a GTI, but it could be even more exciting - as I said, the power delivery was really quite something. Although you could also drive it sensibly, which I liked.
Interesting, I never thought of mine that way - albeit I had it in non-Aero trim, which meant a much smaller rear spoiler than the more common ‘Aero’ version. There were few obvious differences from lower models in the UK, I think the front was basically the same, the door mirrors slightly smaller (big deal!), and just a subtle “MPS” badge at the back. Oh, and the (single) exhaust was about the diameter of a bean can, but again, not too in your face. Mind you, this is the Generation One I’m talking about, the Gen 2 was lairier with a big bonnet scoop.
When I was 8 years old, Mom bought me a Honda 50 MiniTrail, over Dad’s wise objections. I’ve had a lot of fun cars and bikes since then, but none brought me that much joy.
For a while here it seemed like every kid that wasn’t old enough for their license had a Honda Spree. It was a huge fad and one of my cousins was at the forefront. He started a club, organized rides, talked numerous people into getting one. One summer you didn’t see him unless he was with a crowd of people on scooters. I’d swear on a thread like this he would say Honda Spree.
He doesn’t even remember owning one. When asked, his favorite ride was a Suzuki Samurai he bought just before he went into the army. It sat rotting in his mom’s driveway for 10 years while he lived in Germany and S Korea. Crazy…
Favorite? Probably a tie between my '67 Caprice Sport Sedan (4-door hardtop, owned '86-'89) and my '63 Studebaker Lark (owned '90-'95). I wish I’d never parted with either, but oh well…
Most reliable and cost effective? Maybe my 1983 Datsun Nissan Sentra Diesel, owned '90-'98. 42-51 honest mpg back when diesel fuel was cheaper than gas and gas was under a dollar per gallon. A close second would be the 1988 Ford Festiva, owned 2000-2008. Almost as good on gas, and its A/C worked. Both were totaled due to no fault of my own. Even though I was paid more for each than I bought them for, by the time I totaled them they were rare as hen’s teeth so there was no way to replace them with another of the same car.
It is one of my life’s regrets that I have never owned a Lancia. I think they’re (mostly) beautiful cars but I lack both the funds as well as the appropriate storage for one. So, I remain a dreamer.
My grandfather owned one but alas he passed away before I could ask him anything about it. I don’t even know what model or year it was.
My bright green Jeep Wrangler for sure, because I could have so much fun with it: putting the top down, taking out the windows, and taking off the doors in the summer (though taking off the doors was enough effort that I usually just did the top and windows); and putting it in four-wheel drive and driving around in the snow in the winter. It also had CarPlay, which was great for displaying the GPS from my phone, and it was a unique, eye-catching color.
Yeah, my Wranglers (three of them) were the most fun, mainly because I could access areas that a normal car couldn’t. I do like my present car, a 2016 Mazda CX-5. It has the larger engine, so it’s a good freeway driver, and is a good snow car.
speaking of which … I had completely forgotten about my Samurai …
loved it for the same reasons you mention - taking the doors out was a 30 sec. job, folding the windshield down another 30 sec.
lots of fond memories of places the sammy took me - very often with my dogs on the rear bank (I had a rear-dif-lock and it was an extremely capable OR-vehicle.)
In a way the vehicle that most closely came to the original WW2 willy’s jeep
an acquaintance of me drove one up to 6.700m (nearly 22.000 ft) in the north of Chile
It was the first manual transmission car I owned, the first convertible I owned, the first fun car I owned, the best looking car I’ve ever owned, the first car I drove on a track, and it’s the only car a cute girl who didn’t know me gave me compliments about. People in other Miatas would wave to you when you saw them and if you told people you drove one, they would often recall their own fond memories of a Miata. It’s a car with a smile on its face that puts a smile on the driver’s face. The best steering and transmission of any car I’ve owned and a nice sounding engine. Practical enough to move the nearly all the contents of a one bedroom apartment with (excluding the Queen size mattress).
It’s also the car I owned when I met Mrs. Charming and Rested. We went on our first date in it.
Probably not. I currently own a later model Miata that is faster and in many ways superior and yet, it doesn’t live up to the memory of my earlier Miatas. I almost never drive it. You can’t go home again.
