I Don’t Really Hate Cars
I write a lot about pedestrian-friendly environments and getting rid of highways. Some of you probably think I’m some car-hating liberal that wants everyone riding around on a beat up old Schwinn. Ironically, I’m actually quite the car nut.
First we have my list of cars up to and including my current, Toyota’s cute Scion xA:
2006 Scion xA (basic, fun and cheap)
1999 Audi A4 Avant (my third Turbo, fun car and you get very used to the secure handling of the Quattro AWD system)
2000 VW Golf (my first new car, disappointing gas mileage)
1986 Saab 900 Turbo (something to drive when the other Saab was in the shop)
1986 Saab 900 S
(I also owned a 1970 Volvo 145 & 1982 Volvo 244 w/Right Hand Drive but didn’t really drive them)
1987 Volvo 740 Turbo (purchased in late 1992, had over 200K miles!)
1988 Mitsubishi Mirage (bought it in 1990 after moving to St. Louis)
1984 Dodge Colt (a Mitsubishi product, my first manual transmission)
1979 Ford Fairmont Futura (purchased the day of my junior prom)
1975 Mercury Monarch (lesson one; never buy a silver car from the 70s at night)
1971 Dodge Demon (ugly car, reliable “slant 6” engine, borrowed from my brother)
1974-1/2 Ford Mustang II (I was only 15 when I bought it & sold it, never actually drove the car).
For a while in the mid 90’s I owned three Volvos. I only drove one, a stunning 744 Turbo sedan. Boxy never looked so good. I served as the President of the Missouri & Southern Illinois Chapter of the Volvo Club of America. This car was totaled on New Year’s Eve, I forget what year, with 296k on the odometer — it still had the original engine, transmission and turbocharger. I’ll never forget that day the guy in the Mazda 626 made a left turn right in front of my Volvo! Yeah I know, geek.
The funny thing about Volvo is how consistent they were, before being bought out by Ford. Take the old 140 Series that came out in 1966. At the time it was considered a funny little foreign car. The same basic platform, albeit much improved, ended production in 1993 as the 240 Series. By that time most considered the Volvo a large car.
I’ve always had a fascination with foreign makes. Many a day was spent in high school driving around looking at old MGB’s, Triumph’s, Saab’s, Volvo’s, and even the occasional Fiat. I could never get my father to agree to let me get one and my older brother’s partially restored 1955 Ford F-100 pickup rusting on the driveway didn’t help matters. In hindsight it was a good thing as I am not mechanically inclined.
Speaking of our driveway, it could easily hold 9 cars. It was three wide by three deep, four if we squeezed close. The garage would only hold two cars, my parents (ok, Dad) wanted a 3-car garage when they built the house in 1966 but at the time that was considered excessive and the subdivision rules required two — no less, no more. Driveways could be as big as you liked and sidewalks were optional. One of my older brothers now lives in a subdivisions that requires a three-car garage…
Today I am very economy minded but in my youth I loved the idea of a big Mercedes or Rolls Royce. It is the smaller car that peaks my interest these days.
I do have a “if I won the lottery” list of cars that I’d purchase. Not that I’d drive them much, they’d mostly be works of art that happen to have internal combustion engines. You’ll see from the list I tend to prefer imported sedans from the 1970s.
Ok, here is the list in alphabetical order by make:
Alfa Romeo, the classic Spider
Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint (designed by Bertoné)
Alfa Romeo GT/GTV6 coupé from 1974-86)
Austin Healey 3000
BMW 2002 (mid 70s, predecessor to the 3-series)
BMW Isetta (Steven Q. Eurkel from the TV series Family Matters drove one).
Citroén C2V
Fiat 131 Sedan, 124 Spider and the X1/9
Ford Fiesta Mk1 (designed in Detroit but built in Germany this was Ford’s answer to the VW Rabbit. I had a major crush on the top of the line “Ghia” model.
Jeep Wrangler, probably the new 2007 4-door “Unlimited” model
Land Rover Defender (the British version of the open top Jeep)
Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9 (huge gas guzzling engine in a huge sedan, JR Ewing drove the “basic” 450SEL with the smaller V-8 engine)
Mercedes-Benz 280CE (M-B’s mid-size coupe from the 70s, beautiful proportions).
MG: MGA and MGB-GT (2+2 version of the classic MGB
Peugeot 504 (early 70s) & 505 (later model from late 80s).
Rover P6
smart fortwo
Sunbeam Alpine/Tiger
Toyota’s Land Cruiser FJ40 (like a Jeep Wrangler) and FJ60 (like a Jeep Cherokee, very United Nations)
Triumph TR6
Triumph Dolomite sedanVolvo 780 Turbo Coupe (actually designed & built by Bertone in Italy, stunning lines).
Volvo 122
Plus I’d have a long list of bicycles, scooters and motorcycles. I’d need a very big space for storage/display. Again, I don’t think I’d drive most. To me they are works of art.
So there, the urbanist has a car fetish. For me I want the car to be an option, something used for those trips when I am not walking, biking, scootering or taking some form of mass transit. The car should be simply one of many transportation choices, not the only choice. As I seldom buy a lottery ticket I just don’t see this collection coming together anytime soon.
What cars have you had? Which would you buy if you won the lottery and why? Or would you move to Amsterdam and not have a car at all (hmmmmm…)?
– Steve
That 1971 Dodge Demon is badass. Why’d you get rid of it????
Actually, a lot of those can still be spotted on the Southside (esp. Carondelet) albeit in backyards and alleys.
I only bought the best:
1965 Corvair (2-speed automatic – would hit 50 mph in 1st gear).
1975 AMC Gremlin (sold to my sister)
1971 VW Bus (sold to buy a . . . )
1980 Toyota Corolla wagon (totaled)
1983 Honda Civic wagon (sold to buy a . . . )
1990 Geo Storm (ex-wife got it)
1970 VW Bus (totaled)
1981 Jeep Scrambler (still have)
1970 VW Bus (died a slow death – got $60 for it a junk yard in scrap value)
1990 Mazda Miata
. . . . maybe I need to think about something from this century . . .
My first car was a 1967 Volvo 122S. Mine was a 2-door. It made your list of dream cars.
Yes, it’s true: aldermen have impeccable taste.
At least the virtual ones.
Having owned both a Vega and a Pacer I am unworthy to join in any car discussions. If I were to have a dream car, though it would be a fully restored 1965 Ford Falcon station wagon. One imprints on these things at a young age.
This is going to be boring.
My first car was a 1993 Chevrolet Corsica in an electric blue color. I had that from 1998 until 2005.
Then it was a 1993 Ford Tauras Wagon that was good for hauling things but terrible for gas mileage.
Now it’s a lovely white 1992 Ford Ranger Custom truck with an extended bed. It’s ex-government, so it’s in great shape with low miles. It gets decent gas mileage for a truck, and has helped me rescue countless architectural treasures as well as buy and haul my own materials to save a ton in rehab costs. The bosy is old enough to be very square and plain, much like old Volvo vehicles.
I’m going to have to join the “Amsterdam” crowd. While in today’s America I really have very little reasonable choice but to own a car, and I don’t find myself cursing the gas pedal everytime I press my foot on it; I do, on a level of principle, believe that the personal automobile is the single most destructive invention of the 20th century. Both on a social and environmental level.
Imagine a society without cars… the only things we lose are millions of acres of suburbs, a growing sense of boredom and despair in our youth, the vacancy in hundreds of thousands of buildings across the country, and highways that divide our cities . And what do we gain?
A much more close knit society – without the car people have no motivation to spread out;
greater support for arts and culture (more people – and interests – in one place);
convenience (everything in walking distance),
less fear crime (there are more people on foot to see it and prevent it from happening),
a more rich sense of community – we confront each other in all of our travels, we aren’t isolated behind the wheel.
better, cheaper, and more efficient public transportation – everyone uses it.
I can think of a hundred other things, but I think you get my drift. I can’t think of a single good thing the automobile has brought to us. massive oil consumption? nope. Global warming? nope. Trade dependence with dictatorships? nope. Suburban sprawl? nope. The rising crime rates that resulted from falling property value, a growing racial isolation and declining diversity? nope. The consumption of millions upon millions of acres of land, forest, etc for paved highways and endless suburbs? nope.
High-speed personal mobility…. there’s one. Gee, what would I do without that?
While I must accept that the automobile is necessary at this point in my life (and my geographic location), and I don’t think I’d be better off without one: I DO believe society, our environment, and our quality of life would be better off without them.
I own a car, even though I can’t drive (I hope to remedy that soon.). I bought a 1971 Karmann Ghia when I thought we’d be moving to a different part of the North Side that is a) much rougher than our current block and b) not served by nearly as many busses as Old North is. I worked some nights then, and could not fathom taking the bus home that late and then having to walk there. So I own a rusty Karmann Ghia which currently resides in St. Charles.
If I won the lottery, I would put the money into, say, the Mullanphy Emigrant Home or the 14th Street Mall, rather than a car. After finding out how much a fancy paint job for a car costs, I’m getting much more interested in the idea of making my Ghia an art car, and I might as well still do it if I won the lottery. (Designs are already swirling in my head….)
Of course, were somebody to offer me a biodiesel converted yellow school bus that I could use to give tours of the city, I probably wouldn’t say no. 🙂
Until the Ghia is in operable shape and I know how to drive it, though, I will be riding around town on the bus and on my beat-up old Huffy.
Steve Patterson, fellow gearhead … who would have ever guessed?
My list:
1972 Toyota Corolla coupe (held together by bumper stickers until engine seized on the way home from the lake April Fool’s Day 1985)
1974 Ford Pinto Wagon (first car I bought, engine also seized)
1976 Datsun F10 Wagon (navy with a light blue passenger door and a yellow hood … on loan from my then-stepfather)
1981 Dodge Omni (burned oil so bad we called it the Demon Dodge.)
1964 1/2 Ford Mustang coupe (still have in storage)
1996 GMC Sonoma 2WD pickup (driven 130k miles back and forth to Carbondale and traded in on …)
1999 Chevy Tracker (sold to my parents when we bought my current ride …)
2003 Jaguar X-Type Sport (AWD, stick shift)
then there’s my husband’s history:
1966 Plymouth Belvedere (gift from grandma, traded for work on …)
1967 Ford Mustang Convertible (our only automatic, in storage)
1979 Plymouth Horizon (recently witnessed still traveling around Central Arkansas)
1985 Mazda B2000 pickup (on loan from his Dad)
1995 Mazda Miata (our first NEW car, traded in on …)
1999 Mazda Miata (still have)
2004 Mazda RX-8
If I won the lottery . . . we’d buy any one (or two or five) of the beautiful buildings in the City with beautiful garage doors which would house the Mustangs and . . .
a Triumph Spitfire (pre-1972)
a Jag E-type convertible (British Racing Green, of course)
a British car mechanic to work on the cars above
a DeLorean (stainless steel)
a newish Chevy Avalanche (kept loaded with camping and scuba equipment)
and the Tesla roadster discussed in the electric car thread.
In many ways I see Josh’s point, but I don’t blame the machine. The Europeans have cars but still have viable cities with public transit.
But this has always been a distinctly anti-urban nation. Some hints of the splintering apart were seen with the introduction of the train and the streetcar suburbs like Webster Groves and Kirkwood. Affordable cars (circa Model T) and subsidizing roads just gave the public a means of expediting the process.
I love my jeep wrangler, especially now that I take the metrolink to work I don’t fall prey to it’s gas guzzling rath.
I disagree. Cars suck. The car culture is one of the primary contributors to many of the problems with the world: pollution, wars in the middle east, loss of community, missplaced municipal resources…..I can go on and on and on.
Anyone who calls themselves an environmentalist and still drives a car around as their primary transportation is deluding themselves. Cars suck.
Plus they kill people, but that is another story.
At the risk of alienating roughly half the readers of this blog, I must confess that I am a car enthusiast. Yes, cars have contributed to many of society’s problems, but they have also given us freedom and convenience like no other invention. And unfortunately, death, wars in the Middle East, and pollution would still be part of reality even without automobiles powered by internal combustion engines. Like Steve, I’d like to have a fleet of cars that function primarily as static works of art, with the occasional Sunday drive just for fun of course.
Anyway, here are the cars I’ve owned, past to present:
1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme
1987 Buick Regal Limited
1993 Plymouth (Sundance) Duster
1999 Mazda Protege ES
2003 Mazda Protege ES
2004 Mazda 6 (my current ride)
If I won the lottery, I’d buy a garage or two along with the following cars- a couple of nice daily drivers along with a mix of classic European, American, and Asian cars…
First, I’d probably keep my Mazda 6, but if I did trade it in, I’d probably get something with just a few more luxury features at a higher price point, like an Acura TL, an Infiniti G35, or a BMW 330i.
Then, I’d get a small SUV for additional cargo room on longer trips, something like a Mazda CX-7 or a Nissan Murano.
Next, I’d get a new Mazda MX-5. I’ve always been a Miata fan, but I really like the new ones the best.
Here are other must-have cars for me…and I’m sure I could think of more if I tried…
1972 BMW 2002tii
1973 BMW 3.0CSi
1965 Ford Mustang convertible
1961 Lincoln Continental
1970 Mercedes-Benz 280SL roadster
1984 Mercedes-Benz 380SL roadster
1966 Oldsmobile Toronado
1969 Pontiac Grand Prix SJ
1970 Porsche 914
1971 Volvo P1800ES
“And unfortunately, death, wars in the Middle East, and pollution would still be part of reality even without automobiles powered by internal combustion engines.”
Okay, haha, I realize this is not the point of this entry and please don’t take this personally… but you ENTIRELY belittle the scope of the damage that cars have inflicted on the world. It reminds me of the people who say “there’s no such thing as global warming” just so they can feel comfortable contributing to it. Around a million people drive their cars every day through the metropolitan region. Sure their would be still pollution from factories but not enough to raise global C02 levels to such heights that it will literally raise temperatures several times their current level within the next 40 years, not to mention all of the catastrophies that would cause.
I don’t want to pick on automobile DRIVERS, I know that it’s practically impossible to survive in most cities without them. But don’t downplay reality. Yes there may be wars in the middle east, but we wouldn’t be starting or joining them. Yes there would be pollution, but not enough to wipe out the planet. YES, there would be death (a point I never mentioned) but it wouldn’t involve 1/4 of all auto owners being involved in potentially fatal collisions every year! There wouldn’t be an auto fatality rate that DWARFS the homicide/rape rate of any city. Yes, there may be some relatively limited sprawl into higher density “street-car suburbs” with a traditional neighborhood grid and local business like Webster Groves, but it wouldn’t likely stretch over 60 miles in every direction from the core.
And while they may have given us “freedom” in the sense that we don’t have to wait 3 minutes for the next streetcar and sit next to someone while we ride, I seriously disagree with “convenience’. Convenience is walking two blocks to the corner store to get whatever you need. Today in St. Louis most corner-stores and neighborhoods centers, with only a few notable exceptions, are dead or occupied by realtors or law-firms looking for cheap rent. The type of “convenience” the automobile provides is only a partial solution to the convenience it robbed us of. Yeah, it gets you to the grocery store, to your friends house who lives three counties away, to a job that is 15 miles away in a slowly moving sea of nearly parked cars… but if it weren’t for the car, you could walk to the grocery store, walk to your friends house, and walk to work and if not, be there in half the time it currently takes at a small percentage of the cost via streetcar, bike or lightrail. “convenience” in the automobile is simply a way of navigating the mess it created.
^^^I merely pointed out that the aforementioned problems would still exist without the automobile, which doesn’t exactly equate to my denial or dismissal of the negative consequences to our society caused by our dependence on automotive travel.
And it wasn’t my intent to fuel a debate about urban sprawl or global warming, as I too believe that these are two ominous threats to our quality of life that are undeniably linked to our automotive dependence.
To me, the worst thing the automobile has brought us is misguided public policy, but I don’t think the blame for that can be placed squarely on the automobile. Instead, I place it on a lack of leadership on the issue, as the automobile was prioritized over other forms of transit in most postwar developments throughout America.
The trend toward New Urbanism proves that the old ways of developing communities works just fine- automobiles can be accommodated AND dependency on them can be reduced when they are not prioritized over pedestrian access and/or mass transit options. And great strides are being made to make cars more efficient, although I believe we missed a great opportunity in this country by relaxing the tougher standards instituted in the 1970s during the energy crisis.
Again, I acknowledge that the automobile has brought about problems in our society, but it has also enhanced our quality of life in many ways. Without seriously upgrading our infrastructure, particularly rail, there’s no more efficient way to move goods from place to place even with today’s gas prices. And while it’s nice to walk to the corner grocery for a gallon of milk or a loaf of bread, the trunk of my car holds a lot more grocery bags than my lap does when I’m on a Metrobus.
I love cars, and I even find driving pleasurable sometimes. Still, I have taken steps to reduce my dependency on my car, and the main solution for me was a move to south St. Louis three years ago, where I have many amenities within walking distance, and my travel time to other areas of the city is much shorter.
Again, I won’t deny that the automobile hasn’t been entirely good for our society. However, we have a long way to go toward untangling the mess(es) you mentioned- particularly urban sprawl and global warming. I do what I can to minimize my auto dependence, and that’s any of us can really do until we as a society decide to call on our leaders for more drastic action. That said, I’m hardly in a position- and I’d never have the desire- to give up my car, and I’m hardly alone.