automotive history

Despite the fact that I am currently attempting to provide for my family as an "automotive sales consultant", I personally hate buying and/or selling cars.  It is one of the necessary evils of life, as evidenced by the fact that I am 42 years old, and still driving two of the five total vehicles purchased during my adult lifetime.

This post was inspired, in two ways, by a blogger/facebook friend, the Father of Five.  First, he recently posted a picture of his first car on facebook.  Second, during slow times at work (of which there have lately been ample), I have been skimming some of his archived blog posts and saw a post featuring his history of automobile ownership. 

I think it's a guy thing, but we like recounting our driving/ownership history.  That said, here are the rides with which I have been associated (those in red represent my actual purchases):

1.     1976 AMC Hornet Sportabout.  (stock photo)  My parents owned this car.  It was a red station wagon, with wood grain sides, a straight 6 engine and an automatic transmission.  I learned to drive and passed my test (the first attempt) in this car, and drove it a few years until I proudly purchased the '81 Rabbit. 

2.     1981 VW Rabbit.  I purchased my first car, sight unseen, from my Great Uncle Bill and Aunt Bernie. Although I had previously seen it over the years, it was in Florida when the purchase was agreed upon. It had a 4-cylinder diesel engine and a 4-speed manual transmission; and, although I'm not proud of it, my friend could beat me off the line at a traffic light in her... Yugo (he says with head hung low in shame)!  I added fog lamps, raised white-letter tires, an AM/FM/cassette stereo, a CB radio, chrome splash guards and exhaust tip, and beamed with pride at my first ride.  I did not know how to drive stick when I purchased the car, but we went to Florida over Christmas break, and I drove it back home to Ohio... pretty well mastering stick-shift driving in the process.  I drove it until there was little to no life in it, and (sadly) sold it for scrap.

3.     1986 VW Golf.  Replacing the '81 Rabbit, this vehicle was another 4-cylinder diesel with a 5-speed stick... a little more gutsy than the 4-speed Rabbit, but not much.  I owned this car when I dated and married my wife, and we drove it to Gatlinburg, Tennessee on our honeymoon.  Although it still ran great, my wife "strongly suggested" I get something "safer and more reliable" when we started having children.  I conceded.

4.     1988 Ford Escort.  Jen bought this car shortly after we started dating.  It had a 5-speed stick and I helped teach her the basics of stick-shift driving.  She owned it when we got married, but we were neither extremely fond of it, so shortly thereafter I sold it and bought a '95 Saturn.

5.     1995 Saturn SL.  This car replaced the '88 Escort.  With a 5-speed stick, this was perhaps my favorite car, to date.  Simple.  Reliable.  Comfortable.  Economical.  That's my kind of car.  The first two summers we were married, we took this car to Acadia National Park, in Maine.  I would probably still be driving it, but our family size necessitated a van, and it was the logical one to sell, due to higher mileage.  I sold it to two brothers to drive to college, and I still occasionally see it running around town.

6.     2001 Chevrolet Lumina.  This highly practical V6 automatic car replaced the '86 Golf, and it is presently my primary ride (minus the cargo "attic").

7.     2005 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT.  This V6 automatic van replaced the '95 Saturn, and it is presently Jen's primary ride.  (And, for the record, I'm a guy who has no image problems driving a minivan.  It's the most practical and utilitarian vehicle I have owned, to date, and I'm all about practical.  What's more, I'm proud to be a father of four, tooling around with a van full of kids!)