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
I’ve got two cars for this.
Saturn SL2 – The GM shitbox I dismissed when I was 6 years old cause I was young and didn’t know any better. It’s the economy car that does everything great and doesn’t complain. 38mpg easy, plastic everything so no rust, lighter than a Civic, more power/torque than a Civic, super economical in all the ways a Japanese OEM is, but at a significantly lower barrier to entry. Pretty sure these still go for <$1k today. Honest American transportation.Chevy Volt – First PHEV I’ve owned. Convinced me that PHEV is the way to go in the immediate future. Saved $300/mo on gas, which paid for the car it’s self when financed. It told me how much energy is actually used to transport in the context of household power usage (1 lightbulbs pulls 60W, Volt charges at 2kW, cruising at 60mph is ~10kW, accelerating at WOT is 110kW), and how much is energy is wasted when driving a regular gas vehicle. It told me that maintenance on the traditional ICE components on the Volt is almost nothing – just an oil change a year. It convinced me that you don’t need >30kWh for a battery (until the charging network is comprehensive), and that everyone should want some form of energy recouperation.
Every car nut needs to drive an econobox hybrid or EV.
For me it was a VW as well. During the 80’s my ex-stepdad was a chronic cheapskate. This meant a never ending series of the cheapest daily drivers possible. These included but weren’t limited to a late 70’s Plymouth Volare, Dodge Omni hatchback(with the worst manual shifter ever), and a yes, an early 80’s Oldsmobile Delta 88 with the worst engine ever made; the GM gas-converted to diesel engine. By God he had a nose for some of legendarily bad cars.
During my Senior year in high school I bought a 1986 VW Jetta 5-Spd 2-Door. What a car. It drove, rode and did everything better than any domestic car I had ever driven or ridden up to then. The switch gear was better, it didn’t have all the squeaks and rattles and the A/C was the best I’d ever felt. It was quick, efficient, reliable and even converted my mom to German small cars.
Now, I wouldn’t buy a VW today but that little Jetta showed me how good cars could be in an era of some awful Detroit iron.
1999 Dodge Caravan SE. It wasn’t fancy. 4 cylinders, 3 speed auto, one sliding door, unpainted bumpers, steel wheels, I think it even had crank windows.
But it was roomy AF, and it had working A/C. Total game changers for extended camping road trips. If it was 115F outside I wasn’t sweating buckets. There was surplus room so stuff wasn’t packed in so tight everything had to come out to get the one thing need. The spring door made getting in and out easy. I could even wriggle between the front and back seats without too much trouble. And it still got great for its time gas mileage.
Its the vehicle that changed everything for me about minivans.
Mk7.5 GTI
My 1985 BMW e28. I didn’t know a car could feel so good from the switch gear, the handling, the suspension, the turbine smooth engine. I had driven old Saabs, alfas, VW rabbits, MGs. I was like, wow I can’t believe this is my car.
A high school friend had a 70s Plymouth Roadrunner that was insanely fast, at least in a straight line. That made me understand what muscle cars were about. The first car I ever bought was a pony car.
The other one: on my first job, my coworker’s BMW E30. That changed my attitude from “BMW owners are just seeking status” to “Whoa these cars actually are better”. The second car I bought was a BMW. (I kept the pony car, making for a decent garage.)
1988 Jeep Comanche SporTruck. Purchased it on a fun trip my friends and I concocted where we would buy cars in Los Angeles and drive them home to western PA. I quickly realized that that small pickup with a 5 speed manual and 4.0L engine was absolutely brilliant. Sold it at the end of the summer and regretted it instantly. Took three years for the reason and right replacement Comanche to pop up. I had bought a very dilapidated farm and had no logical vehicle to clean it up with. The same week I found the perfect 1990 Comanche Eliminator for sale within a days drive of home. I bought it and have really discovered how amazing small trucks car be. They are easy to drive and fit places, yet it still has a sizable six foot bed. It can tow 4k lbs rated, I’ve done more. On top of it all, it gets way more attention than any of my other cool cars, including the Austin Healey Sprite, it’s ridiculous how many people love that little Comanche. I love my pickup even though previously I would only own sports cars or sedans.
My first car was a 1986 Nissan Sentra. It did the job, and taught me how to drive stick. But my second car changed everything.
It was a 1994 (…wait for it…) Taurus SHO. Yamaha V6, 5 speed, intake and exhaust mods. I discovered the wonderful world of car forums, and the helpful folks on there who will help you with a problem or sell you a part. The interesting thing is, I’m not a Ford guy. But I had religiously read all the car mags through high school, and the SHO always piqued my interest. And I always loved when the car went from the long intakes to the short runners, it really did make a difference.
One day, on an abandoned country road, I gave the thing a workout. And for the first time, at 7000 RPM in third gear, I heard the engine “sing” to me. I realized that I would drive fast and powerful sedans for the rest of my life.
My subsequent lineage of vehicles proceeded thusly: 2000 Buick Regal GS Supercharged (modded and tuned), 2003 Olds Aurora 4.0 (stock), 2007 Cadillac CTS-V (stock), 2014 Cadillac ATS 3.6 (modded and tuned), 2019 Cadillac CTS-VSport (stock), and now a 2024 Cadillac Lyriq AWD (not a sedan but still).
No real interest in Corvettes or Mustangs. Give me a fast four-door and I’ll be happy. And it all started with the SHO!
First car, ’65 Mustang. I ruined the engine in spectacular fashion. Dad showed me how to rebuild an engine. Then I built a faster one for the same car, my best facsimile of Joe Sherman’s 400hp 302 i could afford. Recently the warmed-up stocker went back in. Since, I’ve rebuilt and improved a few others.
I learned I could build engines. And that I love it.
There is nothing, to me, like driving a well-built vehicle while holding the fact in your heart: “I put that crankshaft there.”
A ‘93 Geo Storm that I paid $300 for in high school. A class mate was going to charge people $20 a swing to take a sledgehammer to it and I couldn’t let a perfectly good car meet that fate. Because I only paid $300 for it I didn’t hesitate to try to fix anything that went wrong on it and learned a ton about turning a wrench.
2003 Toyota Corolla. I got ran over by one.
Oof! Glad you survived!
My dad’s friend had a ’68 C10 with a corvette 327 and a 4-speed in it and it ripped. And that was it. I was done.
It was also the first vehicle that ever drew blood, and I still have the knuckle scar from it, when I was… 14?
Has to be the Jensen Healey Roadster
1. Rare but not unobtanium
2. Awesome support from JHPS.com cars, parts, information everything
3. A premium desirability level in the Interceptor
4. A two seater with power a 907 Lotus motor.
5. The neverending challenge
T’was a ’72 Ford F100 4×4. I’m not sure how much of a “change” it really was since it was my first vehicle, but in my mind that truck marks one of those ‘life before’ and ‘life after’ points in my personal history.
Purchased when I was a junior in high school in 1989 with $400 I had made over the summer. I drove it home, but it needed work, bad. Wore out ignition, exhaust leaks, splines stripped from the short side axle, Super Swampers worn down to the nubs, brakes I’ll generously call spongy and unreliable.
That thing taught me I needn’t fear anything automotive. There’s nothing I can’t do or figure out. The whole world of possibilities suddenly opened up. I put down the sci-fi books and started reading Hot Rod from the school library and carrying around J.C. Whitney and PAW catalogs to peruse between classes. I never seriously considered paying anyone for wrenching ever again.
For me it was my 1992 Saab 900s I bought when I was 21. Before that I was only into old American rwd stuff. Everything newer (that is something after say 1980) that I had up to that time seemed incredibly boring, slow, and detatched from the driving experience. I grew up hating small fwd stuff, wanting nothing to do with them. But then I picked up the Saab for $250 in early 2009. It was eye opening for me. It was responsive, comfortable, handled wonderfully, made amazing use of it’s footprint.
While I do still have a soft spot for old American stuff, my automotive tastes broadened since then, I’ve come to adore imports, new stuff, and small cars, anything that has a bit of personality to it.
That would be my grandfather’s 1964 Ford Galaxie 500. We were never particularly close, but I was always fascinated by the old Ford he had parked outside in what could best be described as a sunken carport – it sloped downward, and had an access door to the house’s basement. In other words, the car had minimal protection from the weather. There wasn’t enough paint left for me to identify the color (a restorer would later take one look at it and inform us it was Chantilly beige), the interior was dusty with the vaguest hint of stale cigarettes, and the brakes were sketchy…but it still ran. Of all the vehicles my grandparents owned, this one was selected as the ‘keeper,’ and I have no idea why. It was my first hint, as a child who was no stranger to tagging along on a trip to the dealership, that you didn’t necessarily have to sell or trade a car. My mom inherited the Galaxie after my grandfather died; my dad liked the car enough that he had it fully restored. I even got to drive it some; one memorable occasion involved laying down rubber in a Piggly Wiggly parking lot. The Galaxie stayed in my family until we sold the house in 2006 after my father passed away…with nowhere to store the car, and not being crazy about driving it in the Raleigh area, we ended up selling it to a family friend.
It occurs to me that my ’97 Jeep is older now than the Galaxie was when I first saw it. I would definitely say that my experiences with that car taught me that maintaining is easier than restoring. Still, I wouldn’t mind having a project car – specifically, a 1960s Jeepster – at some point.
There have been more than one.
The 1981 Jeep Scrambler that I learned to drive in changed everything because I learned how to drive a manual right from the start, before I even got my license. It made driver’s ed easy.
My first car, a 1979 VW Scirocco, changed everything because it taught me how to wrench, and why rusty cars make terrible projects.
Almost thirty years later, a 1991 Mazda Miata changed everything because it finally taught me how to really drive. I learned so much about vehicle dynamics from that car. I probably still do everything “wrong” according to professionals, but I am a far better driver for having owned a Miata.
And last but certainly not least, the 1989 Chevy pickup that is currently marooned in my carport with electrical problems changed everything, because it put me on David Tracy’s radar, and led to me writing here.
1979 Scirocco for me. I was trending towards a Citation X-11 (based on swooning from Car and Driver), and went to look at one that was only 2 years old for sale, but it already had rust showing. Bought the Scirocco instead, which was totaled by an errant driver in freezing rain on I-75 who took our my car and 4 others. Michigan no-fault meant I go no money at all from anyone on that one. Replaced it with a 1980 Scirocco that I made better/stronger with the complete underpinnings from a wrecked 1986 16V Scirocco. That vehicle was also totaled; this time in Denver by an uninsured driver who did not even attempt to stop on the Interstate during rush hour and crushed my car front and rear.
At this point, I was so fed up with dumb-asses totaling my cars that I bought a diesel E-350 van so they could remember their stupidity a bit longer. This was my second pivotal vehicle. Alas, nobody ever hit that van, nor the one I replaced it with over the course of 30 years and 450,000 miles.
Those pivotal vehicles have steered me into numerous Volkswagens, diesel trucks, (and diesel Volkswagens) over my lifetime. As Volkswagen morphed into haptic buttons, SUVs, and automatic transmissions, my fun-to-drive ride transitioned to an ND MX-5.
On the truck front, that initial diesel experience of torque and (relative) fuel economy is something that left an indelible impression, all the more so now that they are quieter and orders of magnitude cleaner. When the diesels are gone, I’m going straight to electric.
I think I have a weird reverse story from a lot of enthusiasts. My first car was/is a 68 Valiant. It’s a perennial project car, there’s basically no part of it that I’m afraid of diving in to. (Ask my wife about me painting it just for our wedding having never painted/bodyworked a car before).
The car that changed the way I view vehicles is my 04 Golf TDI. I drive 35 miles each day to work and ended up realizing that a little commuter that you don’t care about us extremely liberating. The rest of my fleet is comprised of cars I feel a little bad putting 20,000 miles a year on, plus I care about them so I buy nice parts for them. The Golf is purely an appliance to let me commute affordably, and has let me view cars as ok to be boring as long as they have a purpose
….and 40 mpg helped too.
45+ in practice. Like I said, as long as it has a purpose. It’s purpose is to be cheap
This will be odd, but I think my car journey was turned around by the time I had to spend without driving a real car. A while back, due to circumstances outside my control, I couldn’t drive for a year – some paperwork barred me from hopping in the left seat of my 2-series for nearly a year. So, to scratch the itch, I got a Thrustmaster T300RS, a Logitech shifter, and started sim driving.
Getting to drive a near-infinite fleet of digital cars to their limit, without fear of consequence, was eye-opening. I knew of many techniques on paper and could explain how they worked, but didn’t have the space in the real world to try without endangering myself and others, or at least being super rude to the people that went through the work to set up the autocross events I attended.
Once I started sim racing, however, I finally got to practice the aspect of driving that was most terrifying IRL: understeer. Feeling the traction circle with my fingertips through a force-feedback wheel made the front axle finally click into place in my brain, and I learned how to really dance on the limit, and this time in a way that built up muscle memory applicable to real cars.
By the time I got back behind a real wheel, I had a completely new understanding of handling and was somewhat disillusioned with the high power+RWD solution to fun. I sold the Bimmer to get something more chuckable, and now I can actually push my 986 at autocross events, knowing I can handle what’s on the other side of the limit without massacring a dozen cones and severely annoying the corner volunteers. I also have a new appreciation for a well-balanced FWD platform, something I had always discounted. I’ve still never owned a FWD car, but I would actually like to get one some time.
me in may 2013: i will never do an engine swap
me in may 2023: check out this twin turbo 7.3 IDI swap i did
Thinking about it, it was not the Kawasaki motorcycle I had in the late 70’s. That gave me opportunity to explore places that I really hadn’t considered before. But it was just a little dirt bike.
I had cars starting with a mid-50’s Chevy BelAir. A Pinto wagon. A Winnebago. All good for getting things done. But the real game changer was getting my hands on an early 70’s CJ5. It was one of those moments where the world seemed to just unfold and open up. I could drive this thing out to places I could never reach, set up a campsite, then hike around, go rock climbing, cross country skiing. It was the perfect vehicle to let me escape and find excitement and fun.
The car that changed everything for me was my first car… a 1990 Ford Festiva that I bought in 1996 for CAD$2000.
Prior to buying that car, my options were:
-a bicycle
-public transit
-borrowing my mom’s car.
I traded my ’05 Charger Daytona R/T on an ’08 Mitsubishi Evo X. American Muscle? Bleah. Small, nimble cars? Bring it. That EVO was an absolute hoot to drive. Having to trade it for a ’13 Ram 2500 hurt, but I know I needed a truck for truck things at the time. WHen I added the ’10 Jetta TDI, it really made me realize how much I preferred smaller cars. Eventually this led to a ’17 Golf R, and now my ’18 Cayman. I still have the Bronco for winter, and when I need to haul more than the wife’s Acura TLX can handle, but the joy of driving a small, nimble, fast machine is so much better than a big muscle car like a Charger/Challenger/Camaro.
small cars rule!
I hit that from the opposite side: My first car was an MX-5, and I loved it, but had to get a wagon for college (my parents left the country and only I stayed, so I needed a self-sufficient vehicle), so I got a WRX.
I always missed the Miata handling, but was happy with the power, for a while anyway. I mistakenly believed what I missed was RWD, until I graduated and bought a 2-series. Besides being automatic (my first and last auto), it was everything I wanted: a turbocharged inline 6 sending power to the rear with a near-50/50 weight distribution.
I didn’t keep it very long, as I quickly realized size really is everything, and no amount of balancing or power can make a 3600lb car feel like a 2400lb car. I drive a 986, now. 2700lb is a sacrifice I’m willing to make for the extra boot and side-impact airbags.
If/when I need a kid-hauler I’m going FWD rather than accepting a saloon’s size/weight.
My parents hand me down was a ‘68 Malibu with a V-8 and auto trans plus bias-ply tires. Handled terribly. Used that V-8 hard. Then, I bought a ‘63 Renault Caravelle S – a 51 HP (at least when new) 1100cc convertible. I learned you don’t need power to have fun. Learned to use momentum! Got 32 MPG in the ‘70s gas crisis. That’s the one! Small cars forever.