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 sedan
Volvo 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