There are sometimes moments in a car enthusiast’s life where everything changes. Maybe you try a car that’s outside of your norm, and it opens your entire world. Perhaps you’ve become a parent and you sold your fun cars for a minivan or crossover. Maybe, you did something with a car that put you on a totally different path. Cars are powerful in how they can change the trajectory of your life. What car changed everything for you?
The car that changed my life the most is the Smart Fortwo. My love for Smarts is such a huge part of me that I intentionally named myself after Smart’s parent brand, or, I suppose most correctly, the woman the brand is named after. However, that won’t be the car that I’m talking about here. I have a personal story that I want to tell at a later date!
Winter 2019 brought the car that changed me for another time. Earlier in the year, I bought my first truck, and first car paid for with my own money that wasn’t a Smart, a 1999 Ford Ranger. This $800 truck made me fall in love with Rangers, but I ultimately disliked my tired 4.0-V6 model due to its lousy 13 mpg and wiring short that took out the TCM. Then, I had a Ford Festiva that I tortured myself with.
Sadly, as winter fell, my 2012 Smart was parked and down due to a seized alternator, bad engine mounts, and what I thought was a bad starter. I worked a low-paying job, and local mechanics wanted to charge a small fortune. But I did have $900 on me, and I put the money into something I was interested in since I was a kid: diesel power.
My first diesel car was a 2005 Volkswagen Passat TDI wagon. Sure, it had a ginormous turbo boost leak that reduced 60 mph acceleration to 43 seconds (I’m not exaggerating there), but it was a whole new experience. For the first time in my life, I had a car with leather seats, room for five, and a trunk so huge that I was able to fit an entire Honda scooter in it. Oh, and it got 33 mpg, which wasn’t far off from what my tiny Smarts got. I saved the image from the Craigslist ad:
I found out that kid me was onto something. Diesel power is great! But this Passat was more than just a car. It got me through one of my roughest financial periods, never giving up on me even when I could barely afford to put diesel in the tank. It also got me through one of my worst heartbreaks.
But, I think, most importantly, it taught me that cars outside of my norm were actually really fun. I had never seen a Passat as a car I’d own, and yet, I loved mine. The Passat opened me up further. I always had a dream vehicle list, but I never thought that I’d be capable of owning dream cars like a Saturn Sky Red Line, Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI, or a Buell Lightning. Now, I also wanted to experience all kinds of cars. If that Passat was so nice, what else was I missing?
The Passat was Genesis. I sold it and embarked on an adventure that has led me to today, where I’m still shocked to say that I own a decent number of my childhood dream cars. I’m also so happy that I’ve been able to experience so much, from the Acura NSX to a gosh-darned diesel-electric locomotive.
I don’t want to own another Passat TDI again, but I thank it for being an important milestone. How about you? What car changed everything for you?
Top graphic image: Mercedes Streeter
Our first Nissan Leaf. It showed me what life with an EV could be like and helped us become an all EV family.
Extremely bland answer: 2016 Subaru Outback.
I grew up with boats. Not watercraft, but large, floaty cars like Ford LTDs and Buicks. Cars that did their best to disconnect you from the outside world as you drove. As is the way, my first three cars were hand-me-downs.
The first was an 89 LeSabre, which sadly met its end due to old brakes and a sudden stop right after a turn by the soccer mom in front of me. In hindsight, it would have been an easy fix, but I grew up working on homes, not cars.
The second was a 1995 Ford Windstar. Great for road trips, but a shit box nonetheless. I wasn’t sad to see it go, but it did give me a love of minivans.
The third was a 95 LeSabre. The engine blew on that when it got 20 years old. The difference here was that I was now an adult, and could afford to buy my own car.
I wanted a wagon, and the only one that looked right was the Outback. I test drove the 6 cylinder, but ended up with the 4 because I hate leather seats, I wanted better mpg, and it would have taken weeks to get one in the spec I wanted.
Driving a car that let me feel the road, could actually accelerate, and had some feel of handling changed my life. There was a near -immediate thought of, “oh, so this is why there are car people.”
I then realized that working on cars was easy after my wife needed new brakes for the third time in two years, so I slowly built up experience. Got a truck in need of body repair for free. Found a clapped out MR2 Spyder that I brought (/am in a constant state of bringing) back to life. Foxbody that I updated the AC in but still needs new strut towers. Already looking for a 5th vehicle. I’m already terminal.
Miata. I know it’s cliche, but the pleasure per dollar that you derive from even a ratty/early/well-used Miata is frankly amazing, especially before the pandemic, when prices were super-reasonable… I paid just $2,250 for my ’95 w/well under 100Kmiles and a hard top.
I’ve had other cars that were enjoyable (’84 GTI), or practical (’89 Volvo 245), or livable (’79 VW campervan), or powerful (’69 Stingray), or economical on fuel (a ’00 Golf TDI), etc… but in terms of simple driving pleasure w/o much expense initially or over time, the NA/NB Miatas are hard to beat, even at today’s post-pandemic pricing.
I happen to have been online car shopping/browsing today for a bit, limiting myself to just a few models that (to me) seemed to be semi-rational choices for my needs. My picks included the Mazda MX-30 EV despite it’s very short range and the fact they only sold 600 of them, another first-gen Volvo XC-90 (but w/the 3.2 6-cylinder and AWD this time), the Mazda CX-30, and finally the Mazda CX-5 (2017 and up). A half-hour skim of cars for sale near me (LA) showed that of these finalists for my next car, the CX-5 makes the most sense by far, simply because there are a lot of them out there, which means that you can get one more easily, and at more competitive prices. You can find a nice 5-to-8-year-old CX-5 for LESS than both the MX-30 and CX-30, even though the CX-30 originally cost less than the CX-5. As much as I like my first-gen XC-90, even the youngest one will still have hoses, belts, bushings, and other rubber bits that are over a decade old, and it’s a car that came out in 2003, but there are more than a few under $10K.
I casually plan to sell my motorcyle and at least one (maybe two?) of my cars (keeping only the Miata for sure/for now) and get a new daily, something more modern than I’m used to (so, perhaps a 2017+ CX-5 with the non-turbo engine) for comfort/safety reasons. It probably won’t ‘change everything’ for me, but I hope/expect to enjoy it. 🙂
For me it was an AE86 Corolla I bought right out of college. I grew up with German cars, started with a Corrado then a couple e28 BMWs that were loaned to me by my older brother.
A good friend of mine introduced me to Initial D and I got hooked on the underdog story and started looking for one. I remember finding one on om Ebay and buying it from my T-Mobile Sidekick while at work as a video game tester for EA.
That car was an eye opener for driving dynamics. It was light, balanced and getting into the upper revs was thrilling. I was hooked on “slow car fast”. I also only played 80’s mixes in it so it felt like a time warp with every drive.
I ended up selling it for another AE86 drift car that stuck around for a few years before selling it to help pay for a wedding.
One day soon I’ll get back into another one while cursing how expensive they’ve become.
I’ve only owned two different vehicles to date: my old conversion van, and my current 2012 Prius v. Love(d) them both for different reasons, but I’ve modded both in various ways. But they’ve both helped me learn that vehicle enthusiasm comes in various forms, even if I don’t know (for example) one Mustang or Corvette generation from the next (yet).
1930 Ford Model A closed cab pickup. It was our family car (for five!) in the 1970s; dad took the bus to work and mom schlepped us three kids around.
Later, it became a hobby car. I drove it to high school, took it to prom, etc.
Everyone is talking about Ford’s $30K BEV pickup being a “Model T” moment. From the perspective of affordability and manufacturing, I agree. However, starting and driving (living with) a Model A is way easier for a customer than life with a Model T (although a Model T was a major step from a horse or similar).
My ’71 Peugeot 504. It was the first car I had with a sunroof/moonroof. I’ve been unable to buy another car without one.