First Fun Car

This was my pride and joy, except the bottom half was silver, not white. The orange pinstripe separating the colors made the look fantastic. Bought it new in '78.

 

This made me laugh, and think of that TV commercial with the 16-year-old who stands out in the driveway with his parents, looking at the old, ugly station wagon that his parents expect him to drive -- with him looking mortified and going, "How am I supposed to drive this?" and them pantomiming turning the key and steering, etc.

That said, I haven't had a "fun" car yet, just always a good, functional, serviceable one: First one was a used white Mercury Bobcat hatchback (which, to its credit, did have a 6-cylinder engine, and so, it actually had quite a bit more get-up-and-go than it looked like it would (because it just looked like a little-bit-nicer Ford Pinto).

Second car was a two-year-old white Hyundai Excel, which was fun to drive in that it was the only stick-shift that I've owned, and I did kind of enjoy that -- except for the time it took me four hours to drive home in terrible traffic from covering a college soccer match that took place the day before Thanksgiving.

Third car was a new white Toyota Corolla -- I finally decided I wanted a new car, no matter what it took -- that I drove into the ground for 17 years. It wound up with nearly 300,000 miles on it before...

My current car, a white 2017 Ford Fiesta. I call it, affectionately, "the little limo." It's been fine so far, although I know it's nothing special.

But I plan, someday, to get a little RED Mini Cooper, a car I've just always liked. That'll be my fun car, I hope.

 

Get that Mini with a clutch. So fun to go just from 2nd to 3rd.

 

Parents fun car is a restored 32 Ford Coupe.

 

Always liked this commercial, and I think it might speak to a lot of what we're posting here.

 

Isuzu Trooper II -- boxy but actually really good in the mud and a lot of fun
Acura Integra - silver, gorgeous, first car I ever picked out
Jeep Grand Wagoneer - not the old really cool one but the first of the reboot in the 90s - V8 engine was a monster and the seats were more comfortable than anything I've ever had in my house

 

I had a 1991 Pontiac Firebird, base model but with a V8 and t-tops. My current car (a Buick Regal) is faster, but that Firebird's growl when you kicked it down into second was unmatched.

 

Back then (late 80’s early 90’s) my buddy used to say the American cars were awesome in a straight line but ask it to make a turn? Yeah my Mustang V8 with multi-port fuel injection and that dual exhaust? Awesome sound.

 

Before I was born, both my mom and dad had Corvettes. Shortly after I got my LaCrosse my mom rode somewhere with me and I needed to mash the gas to merge onto the interstate. Car took off and she asked how many horsepower the car had. When I said 303 she said, “Jesus, that’s more than my Vette had.”

 

If you had come from the future to talk cars with me in 1985, and told me, "Someday you'll have a car that pushes 260 hp and gets 27 mpg and, oh, it'll just be an average everyday sedan," I'd have laughed my ass off at you. They don't build 'em like they used to, and I'm forever grateful for that.

 

In a V-6 nonetheless. My Mom had a 1996 Sedan DeVille with the NorthStar and I remember everyone being blown away that the card averaged 26 MPG going from Pittsburgh to Myrtle Beach with four people and a full trunk. I just took a Volvo S60 to Connecticut and back that got 31 MPG.