I suspect most people who remember their parents’ cars don’t think of them with any particular fondness beyond nostalgia for happy times spent in them (or vivid memories of the time the dog threw up halfway through the four-hour trip to Nana’s, that sort of thing), and may not even recall what the cars were, even if the memories of sitting in the wagon’s way-back are otherwise indelible. And while encountering a car from childhood might earn a wistful “My Mom had one of those,” an ordinary person probably isn’t hot to acquire the blast from the past.
However, we are not ordinary people, and I suspect many of you would love to own cars that were once your parents’ daily drivers. I know I sure would, and I’m not even talking about Dad’s Volkswagens squareback and Beetle, MG Midget, or Datsun 280Z – or Mom’s Jeep J10 Thriftside, for that matter, though I loved all those cars.
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No, the one car I would most like to have from my days as a passenger would be my Dad’s 1986 Nissan Maxima, which was exactly like the one Doug dives into here:
I have fond memories of this car seeming like the peak of luxury and technology for 1986, but nostalgia aside, I just plain love it. I really miss the crisply-folded era of 1980s styling, and this generation’s straight lines and slab sides really do it for me, not to mention those wheels.
In a very close second, there’s Dad’s 1982 Celica notchback, seen here in a brochure pic:
I actually prefer the look of the “regular” Celica as above over the puffed-up GT, and I like the notchback better than the hatch bodystyle. You may disagree!
Mark Tucker piped in with his own reply to today’s Ask, replying, “Oh, I have a great answer for that AA: my dad’s Fiat 128 sedan. I’ve written about it on Opposite Lock.”
Yeah, that’s hot.
Your turn:
What Car Did A Parent Have When You Were A Kid That You’d Love To Have Now?
Top graphic image: Nissan
Either dad’s 78 El Camino SS or mom’s 1988 Buick Regal LS coupe. Yeah, the 2.8L in the Regal was a piece of shit, but it was a good looking car and it had the full digital dash.
I had an 89 with I think the 3.1? Mine only had the digital speedometer. The gas gauge and odometer were both analog and broken… Car never rolled over to 84,000 miles, even thought it probably had 220,000 on it.
The 3.1L was a much better engine than the 2.8L, trust me.
1969 El Camino. Small block V-8, damn fast, and absolutely crap brakes. Horrible fuel economy as well.
But it was fast and handled reasonably well by 1969 standards. It was a great road trip car, again by the standards of the time.
So why would I want to have it? Would be a reminder of a truly great man who I was blessed to have as my father.
Might be stretching the question a bit, but the grandmother of one of my classmates in Sunday school had a 2011 Acura ZDX bought new. Probably would have been a good fit for my current lifestyle given that I currently drive one of its competittors at the time.
A close runner up would be a baby blue Toyota Cressida that one of my parents’ neighbors had up until the pandemic. I don’t think I’ve seen a similar one outside my neighborhood, but the head gasket problems and the limited parts availability scares me.
OMG, 1978 VW Bus / Transporter. Ivory/Brown paint, aircooled fuel-injected flat-four engine with an amazing 67 horsepower, but much more torque. Optioned with the auxillary “gas-heater” that could run independently of the engine. If Minnesota did not salt the roads, it would probably still be alive.
’49 Ford Woody wagon absolutely. Sold to a surfer about 1967. One of the starters of the woody wagon surfer craze. I’d also like their ’71 MGB.
Mazda 323. The one with the pop up headlights.
It looked great and it was fun. A family car like no other.
About a year before I was born, my dad sold the S/C Rambler, so I never got to see it, but I’m told it was fun.
When I was about 12, my best friends dad bought a Taurus SHO and I would love that thing.
How about before I was a kid?
Before I was born my parents had a pair of BMW 2002s. Then I came along and they got a 1976 Volvo 244.
I learned the basics of driving stick on that Volvo – my dad taught me enough to back it out of the driveway.
Ten years later they were looking to replace it and the last couple contenders were a Chevy Astro and a Volvo wagon. I was in my A-Team phase at the time, so I was pounding the table for the van. I hope a 10-year-old’s favorite TV show wasn’t the only reason they went with the van, but…
That Astro did pretty well for us. I took it with me when I drove off for my third attempt at college in 99.
But yeah, I’d still pick one of the 2002s if I could.
My Dad had a 1961 Austin Healey 3000 in 1967 to 1968 when I was in high school. Bought used, it had a questionable clutch. I recall he was trying to get it moving from a stop sign on a hill, using second gear and the clutch was slipping with no movement of the car. At 14 years of age I told him to use first gear to get the car to move, and so it did. I believe he was so used to a 3 speed trans, he naturally used the down and back to the left second gear thinking it was first. Point is, be aware of your surroundings and situation wherever you are and whatever you drive.
My Dad had a 914 when I was in elementary school. I know Porsche purists say it’s not a true Porsche, but I though that car was pretty cool, although completely impractical when Dad came to pick my and my sister up for a visit. My stepdad had a lot of cool cars, but the one I wish I could have now is the Chevy Nomad.
I have an unhealthy appreciation for the ’77 Thunderbird my family had.
There was also the more wholesome Jeepster Commando.
My parents never had anything cool or anything I’d like to drive again.
Well, maybe my dad’s early 60s Ford and Chevy pickups with three on the trees might appeal to some. But not me. Much. Likewise, the ’65 Olds 88 Dynamic in which I took my DL test. It seemed pretty ferocious at the time. I’d took it out to our local 1/4 mile a few times after I got the DL. It would roast the right rear tire, or if I got it rolling, loft the front end a bit. Either way, 0-60 in 10 seconds was the best it would ever do.
That became my benchmark of a quick car. Years later, my ’86 Accord LX-i could manage the same feat, in the same time and with more than twice the fuel economy and with a lot less drama. And going around corners was also a lot more fun.
Now, my ’17 Accord 3.5L V6 can do 0-60 in under 6 seconds. And is even more efficient on the freeway than the much smaller and lighter ’86.
Cool cars I remember from childhood? A friend’s mom used to ferry us around in a ’68 Buick Sportwagon, specially ordered with a three on the tree. It had the cool skylight windows like an Olds Vistacruiser. A guy down the street who traded a ’65 Buick Riviera for a Porsche 912. And a guy trying to make flying cars, that I delivered the local newspaper to, had a Studebaker Avante.
And in HS, I had a tennis partner that let me take his (maybe his parents’) ’73 450 SEL up to about 110 mph. It was so undramatic. Doing the same in the ’86 Accord on the same road a dozen years later was a different experience. The road didn’t look discernably worse than what I remembered seeing, but what the M-B just absorbed, were fairly major events in the ’86 Accord. Roads around there have deteriorated significantly in the past 40 decades, and the newer Accord does fine, but I don’t take it up to 110 on them. Well, on any. Lol.
But going back and reading a few reviews from back in the day, the 4.5L M-B only made 190 HP with a full liter more displacement. And it was only capable of a 0-60 time that old Olds could do. My mind is being blown by all this.
Mine had a green 68 Chevy C20 when I was really young that I would like now.
My dad had a 58 Triumph TR3 in blue followed by a red 64 Corvair. He went to his grave firm in the belief that Ralph Nader was an idiot.
When I was really young the folks ran through AMC pretty hard. Javelin, jeepster then finally ran a CJ-7 up into the early 90s. Any of those would be fun for various reasons. I do remember a buddies father had a mid eighties El Camino when I was in elementary school and that was a super fun car.
Every so often I’ll go down a rabbit hole looking at Javelins or El Camino for sale online.
EZPZ: 1975 Chevy Malibu. 2-door with a 2-tone blue paint job. I look at listings and pictures all the time on the off chance that the one my parents had would show up somewhere (even though I know the guy who bought it modded it in very ugly ways).
It was such a cool looking car though… and there just aren’t any others that look like it out there.
May it rest in peace, the Grey Whale, a 1974 911SC that he… bought cheap cause the lady selling it was divorcing.
Eventually, the front strut collapsed and kinda wiped out middrive.
Thing is, he got a visit from the FBI after that. See the engine in it? The VIN was erased so harsh that acid couldn’t bring it back, but it was out of a 935. Wasn’t anything we did so hey.
That thing had a no-shit 0-60 in the threes.
It outran a bear in the air once.
And the look? That’s the same model Lego used for their Speed Champion/Icons car, except in silver.
I remember it as a Very Uncomfortable Place. Like the back of a VW Bug.
We had a _series_ of amazing cars, from the 914 to the VW Bug to the Pony, a ’75 Celica Liftback GT (The 911 was bought in the 80s), to the old Solid Rust Jeep CJ7, to the ’95 Eclipse GSX (Yeah the AWD one) to the Lexus SC400 (Not A Supra but it has the engine and all the parts) to….
But I miss the Whale. And the GSX. Also in silver, smaller spoiler, and just darn pretty.
My grandpa had an ’87 Caprice Estate. 305 V8 and 4 speed automatic. That car was a boat in the best ways possible. Sitting in the third row was a lot of fun. My parents thought teenage me getting it as a first car was a terrible idea. I’ve always had a soft spot for those ever since. Kind of the automotive “one that got away.”
My parents were absolutely not car people but we had a few cool cars. My mom had a ’65 Mustang and a ’68 Lemans both dark green that were pretty sweet. My dad had a ’62 and ’66 Karmann Ghia, the ’62 was a convertible. He also had a ’77 Celica GT liftback and a really sweet ’88 Mazda MX-6 GT.
My dad’s 1967 English racing green TR250. My first memory is a vacation in Scotland with my sister and me packed behind the seats, and mom holding the baby while dad drove. Dad sold it when we moved back to the states.
My dad had a 67 grand sport convertible 3spd with a 400 or 430 he tuned and may have bored further out of a station wagon. That and a first gen ram cumins regular cab regular bed. Also some old Toyotas like a crown. My mom had a 67 and 69 Camero that would have been fun to have. My idiot uncle had a road runner he ran into a tree that could have bern quite the thing but after him in general would have been a mess.
Dark blue 1966 Ford Fairlane that my dad had. He rebuilt the engine, had it painted, finished it so it was like new. About 6 months later a driver ran a red light and totalled it. An introduction both the the pleasure and heartbreak a car can provide.
My Mom had a rally red 1965 Corvette Stingray convertible with a Big Block 396, knock off wheels, and a Muncie 4 on the floor. Before she had kids she used to race it in amateur events at the Riverside International Raceway. After my sister and I got too big to share the passenger seat (or squeeze behind it) it became a garage queen. My Mom sold it and used the money to buy my Dad out of the house after they split up. I always wanted to drive it but never got the chance.
Well, if my mom kept it, I’d probably sell it: turquoise & white 1957 Chevy Bel Air two door hardtop. Dad had a 1956 Bel Air two door hardtop in yellow.
Mom’s dad sold the car and bought her a ’63 four door Ford Galaxie 500 when she was pregnant with me.
Dad also had a ’68 two door Pontiac Le Mans, metallic gold with gold interior. It was a 6 cylinder automatic. I hated that car when I was a kid, but I have warmed up to the styling over the years.
77 Corvette, 66 VW bug, 73 Toronado