The Car Thread

[reddDesign]

Well as I've stated before I'm a car nut...I'm president of a car club, director of media for a charity road rally, and am a very active member of a Mazda club...plus I LOVE my car, and have taught myself everything there is about them.

So yeah...chat about car stuff in here

Me...well I ordered some goodies for the car today...new motor mounts, a/c compressor o-rings and my 'wink' mirror came in today (have to pick it up at the post office tomorrow). Will be working on Macy all weekend hopefully...including helping the cute guy from Autozone with his car on Sunday maybe...

How about you? What do you drive? What's your favorite car? Talk it up!

[Blueberry]

Paging Mr. S - you can finally talk about your zoom-zoom on TE

[Mr. Bloom]

I won't say I'm a "car nut", but I have some zoom zoom too!



I'm the second owner, and my mechanics, Hans and Jorn, love me because I believe in fixing things and fixing them well. I have every receipt and piece of paper work going back to the sticker from late '68!

However, I am still getting used to having a car classified for insurance purposes as an ANTIQUE - it's 6 years younger than me

But, I feel fortunate to own a car that I've admired since I was 10 years old!

And my Madone fits in the trunk (when I leave the spare tire at home)

[Tuckervill]

What's a "wink" mirror?

I have never been a big car freak, but I have owned 4 red Beetles in my life time and I do know a lot about them. I really appreciate the New Beetle people and the Honda Element people I've met through the clubs I've encountered online. Such fun.

I was way more into my New Beetle than the Element. The Element doesn't require any extra knowledge because it's a Honda, but the Beetle...you HAVE to know how to change your own headlights, or pay the dealer $100, and it's NOT easy!

Karen

[melissam]

My dream car has always been the Porsche 911. For me, it has everything -- good lucks, fantastic handling, a bit of oomph, and some quirkiness (air cooled rear engine, anyone? )

I promised myself I'd by a 911 when I graduated from college. So, upon getting my first "real" job after graduation, I went to the Porsche dealership and found out that the payments would take up most of my paycheck. That didn't even include insurance and maintenance.

I had to go with Plan B for a while -- non-Porsche sports/sporty cars. I bought a Pontiac Fiero GT (not as bad as its reputation, it was my Porsche in training), a Ford Probe GT, an MGB. All were nice enough cars, but they were no Porsche 911.

After over 10 years of "real" jobs, I could afford a 911 and its upkeep, and still make the mortgage payments. I bought a used '90 911 and have enjoyed it for the past 10 years. We've been to a few track days and autocrosses. For a while it was my daily driver, now it is in semi-retirement in the garage.

Here's my car doing what it does best at an autocross school, with me in the driver's seat:

[mayanorange]

VW Scirocco junkie here... I went through 3 of them and there's a new 2009 (the last one was 1992ish) coming out soon! I'm sooooo excited.



Currently driving a Pontiac Vibe, which is fun too, but nothing beat my old 16V zoom zoom

[reddDesign]

Very nice! I almost bought an older Merc...included a hard top and a brand new soft top...but at the time needed some welding done. Looking back I probably should have gotten it, but it wasn't right at the time.

What's a "wink" mirror?

A wink mirror is a full length, paneled rear view mirror ala:


My mirror fell off so, since I do a lot of driving and road rallies, I opted for that style instead.

I had to go with Plan B for a while -- non-Porsche sports/sporty cars. I bought a Pontiac Fiero GT (not as bad as its reputation, it was my Porsche in training), a Ford Probe GT, an MGB. All were nice enough cars, but they were no Porsche 911.

Awesome...funnily enough...I love Fiero's, my 3rd car was a Probe GT (the motor/trans from that is in my car now!) and a good friend of mine owns an MGB...was his daily for awhile.

VW Scirocco junkie here... I went through 3 of them and there's a new 2009 (the last one was 1992ish) coming out soon! I'm sooooo excited.

Ever checked out the durocco? http://www.durocco.com/

[redrhodie]

I drive a 13 year old beater that I feel safe in, but my bikes are hot!

[reddDesign]

Hey now...my car is 16 years old and my daily driver, and cost half as much as my bike

[wannaduacentury]

Well as I've stated before I'm a car nut...I'm president of a car club, director of media for a charity road rally, and am a very active member of a Mazda club...plus I LOVE my car, and have taught myself everything there is about them.

So yeah...chat about car stuff in here

Me...well I ordered some goodies for the car today...new motor mounts, a/c compressor o-rings and my 'wink' mirror came in today (have to pick it up at the post office tomorrow). Will be working on Macy all weekend hopefully...including helping the cute guy from Autozone with his car on Sunday maybe...

How about you? What do you drive? What's your favorite car? Talk it up!

I like older cars. 80's european Volvo's and Saabs- all manual drive too. Just found a 240 wagon I've been wanting Hubby and I always have an eye out for a "project car" to buy and fix up. I'm also fond of Toyotas.

Jennifer

[redrhodie]

At least you love yours! If there's anything to love about mine, it's that


no wait, there's nothing lovable about my car

[wannaduacentury]

I won't say I'm a "car nut", but I have some zoom zoom too!



I'm the second owner, and my mechanics, Hans and Jorn, love me because I believe in fixing things and fixing them well. I have every receipt and piece of paper work going back to the sticker from late '68!

However, I am still getting used to having a car classified for insurance purposes as an ANTIQUE - it's 6 years younger than me

But, I feel fortunate to own a car that I've admired since I was 10 years old!

And my Madone fits in the trunk (when I leave the spare tire at home)

A true gem. Jennifer

[reddDesign]

At least you love yours! If there's anything to love about mine, it's that


no wait, there's nothing lovable about my car

haha what kinda car?

[smilingcat]

My younger sister got her car first thanks to mom&dad. She got a CJ5 jeep. I decided to one up her so I bought a four wheel pkup chevy short bed. totally impractical so sold it after 80k miles??? And bought something more proper, a Tercel stationwagon. I loved that car. Sadly it fell apart after 190k miles.

Then came yet another pkup this time a toyota pkup. A come-on in the ad... I actually managed to snag it dirt cheap. no radio, stick shift, hand crank window... It didn't make it to old age as it was rear ended and totalled.

Seeing how badly it was damaged my next car was/is bit more substantial. I currently drive an Audi A6 station wagon. It also happens to be our dog mobile. dawgs love the ride. It has 220k miles and still going strong. yippeee... hope it goes another 100k miles.

[badgercat]

So I don't have any sort of 'special' car, but it's sure special to me. I got my car to transport myself to and from my summer job and then my high school, which was several miles away from home. It's a green '99 Honda Civic which was 3 years old when I got it. My parents and grandpa fronted me the money when I got it, and I gave them 80% of every paycheck for three summers (when I worked 40+ hours each week), and my parents kindly forgave the balance (they didn't tell me what it was) when I left for college. My friends all thought that was a completely bogus arrangement, as all I got to keep from each check was a little pocket money, but I'm grateful that I had to work to pay off that car... unlike some of my prep-school classmates who were given new BMWs and Corvettes for their 16th birthdays and didn't seem to appreciate it at all.

I don't drive often (in about 7 years, I've put about 40,000 miles on it), but it's been so many places... I lived in IL/WI until very recently, and from there, my car went all over IL, all over WI, to Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Toronto/Niagra Falls/Boston/NYC on a road trip with my BF, rural Virginia for a service project, and then a few months ago all the way out here to Arizona where I go to graduate school. I will be very sad to see it go, whenever that day comes, just because of all the places it's taken me.

PS The autocross pic above reminds me... my BF tried to get me to do autocross a couple years back. He used to do it in his little pickup truck, and was quite certain I would have done very well with my little go-kart of a compact car, but I never got up the nerve to do it. I sort of regret that.