Today, while looking through YouTube, I stumbled across a video of me driving my now-sold 2014 BMW i3, and I couldn’t help but feel and say aloud: “Man, I really miss my old i3.” My wife, probably thinking I’ve gone crazy, then reminded me that I have a much nicer version of the exact same car sitting right outside. She has a point.
It has dawned on me that I’m a sucker for nostalgia when it comes to my cars.
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It’s one thing for me to feel nostalgia for my first car, this burgundy Jeep XJ:
Or the vehicle I’ve owned the second longest, my Jeep J10:
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But it’s a whole other thing to feel it for this:
I bought that car only 26 months ago, and roughly a year ago I decided that I loved my i3 so much that I wanted to buy a lower-mileage, higher-range version of it that would not only be more practical, but that would also last longer. My gray BMW i3 made me fall in love with the model to the point where I decided I wanted the very best version of it. Here you can see the two i3s in the topshot of my article about decontenting:
“It’s the same car.”
That’s what most people would say when they see the photo above, but I see two rather distinct vehicles. There are three reasons why I miss my 2014. The first is that, to me, it is a more interesting piece of automotive history. The BMW i3 in 2014 was simply an out-of-this-world marvel of engineering, while the BMW i3 in 2021 was an outdated and expensive EV. When I look at the photo above, I see a moonshot on the left and a tired EV-veteran on the right.
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Beyond that, the 2014 was a purer example of the i3. It didn’t have a big battery (which was the point of the Range Extender), it was relatively lightweight, it had super skinny tires, its front end wasn’t as aggro, and the interior was simply perfection, and hadn’t yet been cost-reduced.
Which version of the BMW i3’s famous “Giga World” interior are you most fond of?
(Notice the slight change in leather color, change in armrest color, and change in fabric pattern). pic.twitter.com/tUkNakP9Pm
— David Tracy (@davidntracy) June 4, 2024
And of course, there’s the memory of that i3. It was my first, and it was the car that made me fall in love with i3s. It was also the car that introduced me to Los Angeles, as I bought that vehicle shortly after my arrival.
I almost kept that i3, actually. I was going to use it as my commuter, and my gold i3 was going to be my “minty” rare one. That’s a bit nuts, and even I was able to discard that idea from my brain. The BMW i3 is the perfect commuter car, and to treat one as a collector car that just sits in my garage — especially since I don’t have to commute to work every day — is a bit absurd.
I love my too-expensive 2021 BMW i3, and the decision to sell off my 2014 is one I’m quite happy with, especially since the thing went to a good home. But man, if nostalgia doesn’t put up a fight.
Luckily, I have covered some of the most prolific car collectors ever, and I’ve seen how in some cases those collection can get out of hand. Nostalgia is often a main culprit behind the struggle, and my gray BMW i3 reminds me just how much of a powerful force that can be. It will be a tough one to face as I stare down the reality of having to part ways with either my Jeep J10 or my first Jeep XJ now that I’m a family man.
I recently read the Reddit post “I want to keep my first car forever. Is this something everyone feels but grows out of?” and, between that and all those videos of “Grandpa getting his dream car,” it’s become clear that it’s not just me. Car Nostalgia is just a hell of a drug.
I still see my first car (a 2001 Mitsubishi Lancer) around sometimes. Even though it’s now been modded beyond recognition, I still wonder what it would be like if I still had it.
I get it. I spend an inordinate amount of time browsing Marketplace for cars I’ve owned in the past.
Some are just of curiosity, others with a deep longing.
My first vehicle was a 73 Chevy K10 pickup, a shortbed “squarebody”. I drove that all through high school in the mid 90’s, selling it in the early 00’s to buy an FBody. That truck was thirsty to the tune of single digit mileage, was terrible to drive, and rode like a covered wagon.
And GODDAMN do I miss that thing! I’m constantly looking for another, but these are legit collectibles today. I might end up going with a square Burb, since they’re the most reasonably priced, though they’re climbing too.
Yeah, it’s a hell of a drug.
I miss the hell out of my van, although I wouldn’t pay for the exact old one back unless for very cheap. But I’m still looking for another conversion van, high roof this time, but even then, I know in my heart I won’t get to relive the same high school/college vacation and day trip experiences of it being loaded with friends and laughter. Maybe something close, occasionally, but even more infrequent than they already were back then, even.
You never forget your first.
I remember my first… she was a hot mess that made my life hell.
I was talking about my first car. And girlfriend. Damn.
With most of my earlier cars I more romanticize what could or should have been with a different example, namely one in better condition. Ex: I wouldn’t mind having another VQ30/MT Maxima, but not the one that I had as my 2nd car, because it wasn’t the best buy I could have made, it was just a consolation one because I didn’t act quick enough or the buyer changed his mind on selling the other Maximas I looked at.
With other cars I’m usually good about reminding myself of my reasons at the time for selling. The ’07 Accord I should have kept, but among the reasons I didn’t I think one I hadn’t really considered until reflecting was that I was in part excited I could choose to sell it and get something new while I wasn’t under any stress over something needing fixing like all my cars before then. But I also know I maybe should have held onto the ’01 I had before it a bit longer, and held out for something a little more interesting.
I go through this again when I see similar GTIs to mine now. A buddy asked me if I missed mine when we saw one stopped at a light recently. I do, but I also didn’t want to spend on the upkeep when I could tell some of my needs in a car were starting to shift (and some of my wants already had). So far I’ve been validated on that front, and I know I can always get another one in the future if the itch really swells and timing is right. But it was all a lot harder last night when I saw an identical looking one parked on the street (likely not mine, the history report said PA before the link went dark). Being a warm summer night didn’t help either.
What is this nostalgia thing you’re talking about? Out of all the cars I’ve bought in my life, all of them are still parked in the garage.
I probably have a big psychological problem since I humanize every car to the point they hold so much sentimental value I can’t sell them. Plus I put a lot of money in them and nobody is paying that.
When I went to trade-in my dream car for my current car my roommate sent me a slideshow with pics of my car set to that sad “I will remember you” song used in Humane Society commercials and I legit cried.
Lmao that’s cruel.
I had a 2009 GTI that I adored. Two doors, six speed, in Tornado Red. After it got totaled I got a VW CC, but never felt any real affection for it. When it died on me, I didn’t even get an engine replacement quote, I just traded it in. I ended up with a 2014 Sportwagen TDI, six speed, in Tornado Red. Under the bodywork it rides on exactly the same platform as my GTI did. Some suspension upgrades and a tune later, it’s nearly a GTI wagon…that gets 40+ mpg highway. The GTI could hardly manage 30, and took premium.
I loved several of the cars I’ve owned, but there’s only one that I’d still have if I could and that’s less nostalgia and more that it came closest to fitting my definition of the perfect car, something that isn’t made anymore, with almost the right amount of modern without all the crap. Of course, now it’s old, so many of the benefits of cheap and easy repairs would be a frustrating hunt for dwindling parts and worries about it getting hit by idiots. The rest are great for the memories and, really, it’s difficult to separate the car from the time and the people. While I have great memories of some of the cars themselves, those cars out of context aren’t as appealing. I loved my early 80s Subarus, but I can’t imagine driving them today (or a different one altogether as they’re both long gone).
And still nothing about the final leg of the taxi.
I feel the same way when watching Cannonball Run II with Jackie Chang and Richard Kiel and some weird horizontal monitor stuffed into an ’83 Starion. Haven’t seen a live one in forever.
I love car culture, but I’ve only owned 3 in my lifetime and there was only a short overlap when I owned two simultaneously. Storage has always been an issue.
It’s going to be like that final Game of Thrones novel…
“I’m too busy reminiscing about vehicles I don’t have to finish a simple ‘we made it to Galpin’ story.”
That is pretty much what GRRM said!
First car was a 9 year old Altima from my mom. Not nostalgic for it. It was fine, I put a lot of km on it driving across northern Ontario.
2nd car was my Protege5. Sometimes miss it a little although it would be mostly rust at this point. It was fun to drive. Good times with it but I’ve moved on.
3rd car is my Mustang. Yeah, I love it even though it is a 2011 and missing a tonne of technology that newer cars have. I plan to never get rid of it.
4th to 6th – series of winter beaters. Don’t miss them. They were appliances that did their job. I don’t miss the stove I tossed when it died and I feel the same way about these cars.
7th is my current Kia Soul. It has been a great vehicle. When it comes time to replace it I may miss it a little for a while but again, at the end of the day it is an appliance.
Nostalgia can be a helluva drug. I bought back my ’02 WRX last year from the friend I sold it to (needed $ for a big roof repair and RX had dried up locally), and then remembered how many little things annoyed me about it. I sold it again (for good) a few months ago.
I saw a Facebook memory of a BaT listing for a Lil Red Express truck that was only 2hrs away & made me long for my old one. But I do remember all the reasons I only drove it occasionally (AC didn’t work well, it stayed in lower gear WAY too much at 40ish mph, hard to start sometimes). …so maybe a different one??
I am nostalgic for a lot of the cars I have owned, but I think the memories I made with the cars are as important as the cars themselves. Within weeks of selling my last car I forgot that it left me stranded, made me cancel plans to wrench, and was a terrible daily, but I made some great memories in that car, and haven’t had enough time to make new memories with its replacement.
I would re-buy every car that I have owned, but I have great taste, so it’s easy to feel that way. mostly /s
Yep, I’m definitely nostalgic about many of my prior vehicles, some because of how fun they were to drive, but more often because of what was happening in my life at the time I drove them.
I think when we romanticize cars, it’s often because of how much actual romance occurred during the time we drove them. For example, while I loved driving my (2) Honda S2000s, nothing compares to the nostalgia of the ratty ’72 Ford Galaxie I drove during my college years. The car was an absolute boat to drive, however, the things that occurred IN that car during that time would make for a pretty interesting novel about coming of age in the late ’70’s and early ’80’s.
The significance of the cars in our lives seems more about whatever car we happened to own during pivotal years. Still, I wouldn’t mind having a few of them back just to feel what they were like again.
Here’s my short list of cars I’d love to own again:
’70 Duster 340
’83 Civic S
’86 Maxima SE
’86 Acura Integra
’92 XJ Cherokee Laredo
’05 S2000
Yea this is how I ended up owning 2 S2000, 2 B5 Audi, a E430 and CLK430. Not all at the same time, but nostalgia bug hit and I bought some cars I used to own.
I had an ’82 Celica GT back in the mid to late 80’s that I miss to this day. It was my second car but my first stick and it was freedom in a jet black, louvered, limo-tinted package with a stereo system that shook the earth. Yeah, that 22R made less than 100HP and a current gen SUV would outperform it in every possible way but none of that matters because it features prominently in so many great memories from that time in my life. Godspeed Mobile Party Unit, you were an amazing ride for 18 year old me.
You had me at louvers. As a kid I thought those were so cool.
I miss the first 3 cars I ever owned because they were all special to me in some way.
My 2013 Ford Focus was the car I learned to drive stick on (5 speed) and was also my first track day car. It was also rewarding to modify.
My 2001 Honda S2000 had one hell of an engine, the darn thing felt like a race car and I loved it for that.
My 2003 Miata was there with me through a difficult time in my life and I spent every cent I had turning it into the ultimate back road weapon. It was also a real pain in the butt to keep on the road some times, but I still miss how raw and analog it was. I’ll always be deeply nostalgic for that car.
Frankly I disagree. I would have bought an i3s over my Leaf if they still made it. For all its faults that ICE range extender is convenient.
Without the range extender I agree it is outdated.
I’m nostalgic about the brief 3-month period (my first semester in college) when my first car 1971 triumph spitfire ran and drove with minimal issues after the thrash to save it after a 20-year hibernation in a field. After that it started its monthly attempts at self-immolation and ever seal eventually failed. Still have it and will fix it properly but it was so good for a while.
A truck I have actually sold was my 1984 k10. Aside from a transmission failure due to serious overheating during towing (no cooler on a turbo 350) it was great. Everything was worn out, bullet holes, but it always started and did some insane off-road shenanigans. 14mpg all day. Its replacement 2010 GMC Sierra is a poor substitute and even with overdrive and fuel injection, get 15.5 mpg while breaking everything except the motor and trans itself.
Yeah, I’m looking for another square body for a work truck.
While I currently have 5 vehicles in my fleet, I don’t buy or sell vehicles very often. The last time I did was 2.5 years ago, and before that it had been 10+ years. One of my cars I have owned since 21 years old and I’m now 45.
Sometimes I get jealous of people I know who go through vehicles frequently since they get to experience a variety of cars tapas-style, but conversely, not cycling through vehicles very often means I’m REALLY committed to let go of a vehicle when I sell it and I don’t have any regrets. Sure I have fond memories of the vehicles I’ve sold in the past but I can’t think of any that I wish I hadn’t sold or would REALLY like to get back.
I don’t know if it’s a coping mechanism or just how I’m wired, but I don’t really get nostalgic for my bygone cars.
I miss certain attributes of them, I savor the happy memories of have of driving them, but I don’t usually regret getting rid of them when I upgrade, and I don’t find myself hanging on to things too long very often either.
I miss my 88 Sami because of the freedom it offered me, and the feeling of absolute independance. Whenever I look at one now, all I see if the cosntantly broken exhaust, it’s propensity to break down every 3 weeks, the snow blowing in the windows while driving, and the piles of snow I had to clear off the seats before driving, the utter lack of accelleration above 40, the punishing ride….. It’s fun to remeber the feelings driving that thing gave me as a newly minted driver, but I do not want to go back to one, or that time of my life.
When I look at Samurais today, I also reminisce about all the good times we had. Then I shudder at how much a good one costs nowadays.
Someday I’ll spend stupid amounts of money on the best one I can find to relive those glory days, but today is not that day.
If I compare my tintop to my 13 Civic Si, I get FAR more enjoyment out of driving my Si than I ever got out of the old Samurai, it was my first car so I loved it; but it let me down almost every chance it got. The Si is just such a good driving car.
The Sammy was always a different kind of fun, but I get it.
Cars I’m often nostalgic about:
Tell me about the fourth XJ…
It was an impulse buy that was a bit of a basket case. I was living in Houston and bought it in Dallas at the tail end of a vacation because I was looking for one, and didn’t want to take Megabus back to Dallas after an awful ride up. I paid $600 for it and it made it back to Houston fine! It was a 2wd 5spd that I was going to convert to 4wd. I was pretty adept at XJ mechanical by that one (it was my 3rd), but a lot of what it needed was other stuff. For example none of the locks worked and it would all have to be rekeyed to match the column that was from another jeep after a theft attempt. Gauges didn’t work, AC didn’t work, stereo didn’t work, interior was destroyed. Took way longer than it should have to get it registered, and it decided to belch black smoke during the emissions test for some reason. But still passed.
Fixed a couple things and sold it 2 months later for more than I bought it for, went and spent $3400 on an 01 2 Door 4×4. Good upgrade.
I’ve debated converting my OG XJ from auto to manual, but honestly it seems like a PITA.
“Car Nostalgia is just a hell of a drug.”
You’re absolutely right, David. I’ve owned, literally, scores of cars. Although I’m now living in a 2 car household (yawn), I have absolutely lost sleep at night thinking about the “what ifs” and “why nots” of cars past. To this day, I regret selling my 1988 Saab 900 S hatch…it was such a clean AZ car, and I established my wrenching foundation on it. I’d actually noticed it was listed for sale by a subsequent owner 8 years later, but someone beat me to it. Damn.
What was it about that car? Was it mostly that it’s what you learned to wrench on? Was it your first car? Was it a great version of that car?
I really think it was just a memorable series of experiences all around. It was first listed for $1,000, but I managed to talk the seller down to $400 over several days. It also helped me that it had an idle issue. At the time, I worked for BNSF as a conductor, and had to ship out to Montana on a run. Because of that, my wife and her sister picked it up from the seller for me, having to nurse the idle just to make it home, which was helped by it being a 5 speed.
Once I got back, I did a lot of firsts on it. I did a headliner replacement, fixed the idle issue, tuned it up in general, got a replacement OEM hubcab from eBay for it, replaced the fuel pump, fuel filter, myriad marginal sensors, and even did my first bodge to address the missing backlights for the instrument panel. I bought a 3 way pivoting cigarette lighter-powered light fixture attached to the front of the housing to illuminate it at night.
It still wouldn’t take more than 60% of a tank of gas and the first time I road-tripped it, the old brass core radiator blew up on me. I was a good 40 miles from home and had to nurse it from the gas station where it puked out half its coolant, all the way home in the hills of North Dakota. I was trying my damndest to make it home without blowing the head gasket and, luckily, I managed it. That was a very nerve-wracking drive.
But I still loved it. I loved the form factor, the (likely) Earl Scheib respray, the turning radius, the fun, rev-happy B201 engine, and the mostly pretty good gear box. It was my first full classic car experience and it was a car I always wanted as a kid. I remember loving how the C900 hatches looked like some futuristic scally cap scooting down the road.
To be sure.
My first (two) cars were 1979 Toyota Supras (based on the not-so-pretty second-gen Celicas, but with longer hoods to accomodate the two extra cylinders). While I don’t actively pine for them, it would be nice if one were still in my garage. I also really miss my ’84 VW GTI, even though it was a Westmoreland-built car and forever rattly. Along those lines, I definitely wish I still had my first couple of real computers, an Apple ][+ and //e, with all their slots filled with interesting cards (Videx Ultraterm, Z80 CPU, Novation AppleCat modem, and more that I can’t recall) and a little steel filing cabinet full of copied 5.25″ floppy disks.
The fact that David’s late-model i3 is such a great color ought to provide some solace re: missing his early black one. 🙂
Yeah, it is. As a guy who currently has a Subaru GL vaguely similar to my first Subaru GL, I can confirm it’s thoroughly illogical. The entire time I had my first Subaru, I complained about its lack of power and how lame it looked compared to any of the cars I was dreaming of. I didn’t even think twice about saying goodbye when I got its replacement – a 1990 Mustang GT.
In hindsight, I missed the Subaru more than the Mustang. (Yes, I went back and bought another foxbody when I was older and enjoyed it for a while), but the Subaru became somewhat of a holy grail since so few examples are left. Now that I have one, things are different. Will I keep it for the long haul? Probably not. But it was worth it for the nostalgia and to show it off to people who never saw a car like it.
The only car nostalgia I ever am able to beat back is when I see a Corvair. There’s always a split second of “I should get another Corvair!” and it ends as soon as I remember everything I dealt with while owning that Corvair. Cool car, but not for me.
Holy cow I also was about to post on my nostalgia for my GL wagon and saw this. It’s weird how this car sticks around in memory. I remember popping the hood for the first time seeing a spare tire staring me in the face. Or spending summers trying in vain to repair rust that grew at an exponential rate. The thing was just quirky and oddly memorable and I can’t really pinpoint why, just that it was.
1982 GL Wagon was my second car. Had the low range transfer case and the center headlamp. Drove to the scrap yard with under 80,000 miles because the rust had given it 4 wheel steering… you could tell the rear wheels wanted to go a different direction.
Got something like 35 bucks for it by weight.
With the underpowered 1.8 and the 4wd, that thing went like crazy in the snow, but the salt took it down early in its life.
Corvairs are better conceptually than in practical use in my experience. A friend of mine in college ran out of lease miles so he had to drive his Corvair which was restored in the late 90s by the original owner. This was about 2016. My friend was used to driving appliances, not air-cooled rear engine cars that need little adjustments constantly. Cool car though – a 1960 model with a Powerglide so quite slow as well.
Same here. I ended up having to daily drive my 1965 Monza convertible. It was also a powerglide car and it was very, very needy. It loved to foul spark plugs, it loved to vapor lock at the fuel pump, it had no working heat and wasn’t an AC car and it leaked a reasonable amount of oil for a Corvair.
On the flip side, people loved seeing it on the road and everyone had a happy story about a Corvair from their past that they loved even though it fell apart. Also, mine never did sling its fan belt.
They certainly have personality. My friend had the gas heater but was too afraid to use it. My friend did a dorm room rebuild of only one of his carbs as it was leaking fuel pretty badly. He did a good job but forgot to adjust the mixture screw or any linkages afterwards so the car ran shockingly well cruising but would stall at every stop and barely start. He was amazed when we actually adjusted the second carb, and it didn’t stall. Apparently, he had been driving it like that for 4 months. Luckily the fan belt pulleys had been replaced with the later style by the time he got it, so no fan belt adventures.