Favorite: 2000 Chrysler 300. Nice size for me, very comfortable, good ride. Huuuuge trunk. Hit a pothole so big that it sheared the lug nuts and the wheel came off…insurance totaled it due to suspension damage. Sigh.
Definite runner-up: 1978 Jeep Wagoneer. Used it as a work truck for a couple years. Much character. Got rear-ended in it and insurance totaled it. Sigh. But, they paid out twice as much as I paid for it.
Least favorite: 1984 Ford Tempo. It had 0 power, nothing about it was nice.
My favorite was a 1968 Triumph TR250. Inline 6 with 4 speed trans and electric overdrive. Very fast convertible, and cornered well. They only made them one year.
I also loved my 1972 VW Camper. It was always ready to go camping. Throw in some groceries and take off! Didn’t do so well on the hills, but no one could pass it going down the hill! A lot of fun!
My favorite? Hands down it was this 1967 Austin Healey 3000 Mark III. I got it in the summer of 1970 - Paid $1,600 for it. Amazing car! Impractical as all get out, but what fun to drive. I sold it three years later and replaced it with my least favorite car of all time. 
Least favorite? This.
I got it in 1973 from my mother. I had it for two years. I lost count of how many things went wrong with it: the differential (who has to replace a differential on a two-year old car?), two water pumps, the alternator, the transmission (!!). The called it “the sexy European” because every time you took it to the shop you got fucked!!
Oh, someone mentioned a convertible which brings up another of my favorites that I had. That would be a 1996 Chrysler Sebring convertible. Mine was green with a black top and gray leather interior. I really liked cruising in the Black Hills in that one.
Thanks! The “fifth generation” (2005-2014) Mustang, of which mine is one, takes some styling cues from the late 1960s “fastback” Mustangs, and it’s one of the things I really like about the car. They’ve just formally announced the “sixth generation” Mustang (for the 2015 model year), and they’re doing away with the retro styling, unfortunately.
Out of probably a dozen cars there was only one I wasn’t just bonkers over and mainly that apathy was driven by the fact I was a poor, unemployed student when I bought it so naturally it wasn’t my first choice. '73 Celica, green with a decent enough 18 RC engine.
The others I’ve very much enjoyed, '66 Impala, '73 Riviera 455, '69 Corvette, '77 280Z, '87 300ZX, '90 Jeep Cherokee, '97 Lexus LX, ‘05 Porsche Cayenne… but my favorite probably was an '88 560 SL (mine not pictured). That car was beautiful and when I’d get on the highway and hear that big ol’ 5.6 humm… total bliss. I kept that one for years, it was hard to part with. Now admittedly, my latest is starting to gain on it a wee bit.
Favorite 1973 Gremlin X. Had a 304 cu in engine and a three speed manual transmission, dual exhaust, and a 22 gal tank. A fill up lasted forever, the car was quick. Damn I wish they’d make that car again.
Least 1975 Chevy Chevelle Laguna After driving the Gremlin, this felt like a tank. The windshield washer wouldn’t turn off so the washer fluid was always dry. The idle was set too slow and it stalled. The auto choke turned off too soon and it stalled. Fucker dealer sold it to me WITHOUT A SPARE TIRE! Had to buy a wheel and a spare.
I have liked all my vehicles. MGB, Fiat 127 Spyder, Ford Mustang, Ford Contour, Ford Explorer, Ford F-150, Mazdaspeed3. The MGB and Fiat were a fair amount of trouble, but to be fair they were old when I got them. I still liked them. The Fords were almost trouble-free. If I had to pick the least favorite I guess I’d say the MGB due to the electrical system.
My favorite is probably my current one, a 2008 Mazdaspeed3. My 90 Mustang GT would be second because I had it in my 20’s and had some fun times in it, but the Mazda is actually faster and has 4 doors.
My mom had a 1986 Cutlass Supreme 2-door with those same factory chrome wheels. It was Medium Gray and didn’t have the landau vinyl top, so it had a very clean look. It also had RWL (raised white letter) tires and almost looked like the 442 without the tacky gold stickers and accents.
I also thought the '86 front end was the best looking. It was the last year with two separate headlights but had the cleaner-looking grille like the '87 models. It also had the 307 4-barrel V8 but it was paired with the standard 3-speed Turbo-Hydramatic 200HTM. There was a 4-speed 200HTM-4 version optional and it improved acceleration and fuel economy a bit. But both versions of the 200HTM were notorious for premature failure when paired with the 307. Most lasted only 50-60k miles. Reverse went out in Mom’s just after 50k miles.
The 307 was hardly a powerhouse in terms of horsepower, which was rated at 140hp @ 3200rpm. But it did make plenty of torque and did so at very low engine speeds- 250lb-ft @ 2000rpm. So there was sufficient grunt for decent acceleration without needing to push the engine beyond 3500rpm or so. But the best part of the 4-barrel carbs is the jet-engine-like WHOOSH! as they opened up and guzzled fuel!
The Cutlass Supreme and it’s variants were one of the best selling cars of the early to mid 80s for a reason- they were good looking cars that drove pretty well for the era.
The sad thing, and the proverbial ‘writing on the wall’ for the Cutlass Supreme and its kind, was that a 1986 Honda Accord LXi 4-door with a 2.0L 110hp 4-cylinder and 4-speed automatic would leave the Cutlass with a 307 V8 in the dust flat-out! 
Favourite: Porsche 911SC.
Least favourite: Chevy Sprint
(Not that I didn’t like the Sprint; it’s just the least favourite car I’ve had.)
I have a 2006 Mazda3 s Touring 5-door that I bought new in 12/2005, but I came very close to trading it on a 2007 MAZDASPEED6 in late 2007. It has a slightly more powerful version of the 2.3L Turbo in your MAZDASPEED3 (but it also was a larger car), but it required an all-wheel-drive system to put all that power to the pavement. And the AWD system was very problematic in some of the cars. So I just kept my '06 and learned to be content with my 160hp 2.3L non-turbo…until I got my CX-9 last year!
The Sprint barely qualifies as a car, it’s closer to a golf cart! I knew a girl in high school who had one with an automatic transmission. A 48hp 1.0L 3-cylinder engine and 3-speed automatic- the Barbie Dream Car could blow it off the road!
:eek:
It did better than a neighbour’s '70 VW Beetle! Pretty zippy in comparison. And I had the standard transmission.
FWIW, the Porsche came after the Sprints. (I had a 924 before the Sprints.)
I’ve liked most of my cars, I guess. The favorite was probably the 2006 Chrysler 300 AWD. The poor man’s Mercedes, if you will. Black, V-6, ran good, very comfortable, very quiet. I do have a soft spot for my '98 Wrangler Sahara, though. Black/black with a tan leather interior. I also like my Prius, but I really hated selling the Chrysler.
The one I disliked the most was a 1985 Ford LTD station wagon. It had all the bells and whistles:power doors and windows and a booster amp for the stereo. But it was an uncomfortable ride for some reason. At 11,975 miles the torque converter crapped out; still under the 12,000 mile warranty, so Ford ate it. Then one of the power door lock motors conked out at two years. I didn’t bother to replace it. Then the tail pipe rusted through in front of the muffler while I was on an extended road trip with a car full of kids (wow, Dad, look at the sparks!). I sold the damn thing in 1989 and bought a 1988 Plymouth Caravan.
But the absolute worst car was a Fiat Panda I bought in Europe in about 1991. Cheaply made, uninsulated from road noise or anything else, underpowered, ugly and cramped. I sold it in under a year to some guy who promptly totaled it.
I dunno, man–that ad’s getting my blood pumping. Radial tires… Styled steel wheels… Flow-thru ventilation (what the fuck is flow-thru ventilation?)… and even soft vinyl front buckets. Admit it–you still wake up dreaming about that car. 
Man. They sure as hell have uglied that car up, haven’t they?
Anyway, for me, the favorite is probably still my 1969 Olds Cutlass sedan. When it was actually working, which was probably something less than half of the time, it was just a blast to drive–that Rocket 350 V-8 engine just purred down the road. As it had, so far as I know, the original suspension, the ride was delightfully sloppy, and it had that old-school power steering–the kind you could do with a fingertip. Sadly, it had a cracked heater core, which led to the infamous incident of me driving up the highway with billowing white smoke coming out of every single orifice the car had. Oops.
Second is my current ride, a 2013 Mazdaspeed 3. Zoom-zoom.
No real hates, though I suppose I hated the Cutlass at times. My Honda Civic and Hyundai Elantra were both fine and dandy, just boring. The Scion xB was fun, though it had a brutally stiff ride and no cruise control; it also got shoulda-been-totaled after I’d only had it less than six months.
I’ve only owned 3 motor vehicles in my life, with #3 being very recent (owned for 2 weeks at the time of this writing)
First car was a 1997 Chevrolet Cavalier. I called her “Pocky” after the Japanese snack because I was in some kind of Japanophile stage. My parents chipped in for half, and we officially bought it the day I obtained my driver’s license. It’s only faults were the fact that it was your everyday, nearly invisible four door sedan and it loved blowing air compressors so my A/C was rolled down (literally with the hand crank!) windows. It rarely gave me any trouble other than that what so ever. It’s life ended when the parts holding the gas tank to itself rusted away and shattered upon impact with the ground.
My second car, and so far favorite was my 2000 Volkswagen New Beetle named Luna, after my virtual pet dragon in a video game. It had some kind of weird paint job (officially called “Batik Blue”) that would change to Blue / Purple depending on the available light. It was fun as all hell to drive. Torque-y enough to piss off people who thought she was slow, yet still light on the gas despite being a gas engine. I hear the 1.9 Diesel engines could get close to 40 MPG.
Speaking of engines, she had a 2.0 whose job it was to burn straight through 4 quarts of oil inside 1000 miles. Didn’t matter what kind of oil I used, either. I just learned to keep a few quarts in the trunk and keep it topped off.
It too had trouble with air compressors, so my A/C was again rolled down windows (this time electronically). Unfortunately, she started requiring very significant repairs all at once, which made it very difficult to keep her on the road or in my garage. Just recently I sold her to my mechanic who could do the repairs and still profit after reselling her. I understand she already has a new owner. I keep looking for her on the road, but I’ll likely never see her again. I’m still kind of broken up about this.
Car #3 I’m still getting used to. It’s a Buick Century which was owned by my recently late grandfather. My father had inherited the car as part of the estate. When my Bug started showing signs of expensive repair, we decided I would take the Buick as a stop gap while I save up for Car #4. No idea what I’ll be getting then.
Yeah, what’s with all the new cars and the ugly ass front ends with those stupid looking slit headlights. I saw a commercial for the 2014 Jeep Cherokee and couldn’t get over how fricken’ UGLY it was.
My current '13 WRX is fun, but all in all the softest spot in my heart is for my CRXs. I’ve had three, though the Barbados Yellow '89 Si with a ZC engine swap was probably my favorite.
Honda was at the top of its game in those days (although I owned it when it was a decade old)…and the tiny, tossable CRX was loads of fun. Mass-market cars just aren’t that light and simple anymore. Easy to drive, fun to push to its limits, superb handling, easy to work on…it was a blast. Who needs power steering and power locks/windows and all that junk when you can have a pure driving experience?
When I got my WRX, I had a heck of a time finding a bare-bones base model in a decent color. Everyone apparently wants to pay thousands extra for a sunroof and leather and heated seats and a nav screen on the stereo…I want the lightest, simplest, fastest car for the money. Oh, and a manual transmission, of course. I really like cars that ONLY come with a manual, like the CRX Si, the WRX, the old CTS-V…that just screams “this is a driver’s car, no exceptions.”
I owned a brand new 1989 Honda CRX back in the day. It wasn’t the Si trim, just your basic model with manual 5 speed. I loved that little car. Lots of fun to drive and yes, push the limits.
ETA: I drove that car for 14 years and about the only things I had repaired or replaced were the alternator and the ignitor - one week away from the five year warranty expiring.
