I don’t reminisce about cars I’ve owned in the past very often, but I do think about them, nearly all of them, from time to time. Some are tied to nostalgia, which I’m sure is true for a lot of you as well. Who doesn’t think about their first car, or the one you fixed up like new, or the one you … lost something in.
Other cars I think about because I had a ton of fun with them, and at the top of that heap for me would be my 1974 Super Beetle, 1988 Plymouth Horizon, and 2012 Mustang GT. Oddly enough, the GT was probably the lesser of those three, because A.) having fun in it tended to get unwanted law enforcement attention, and B.) I was always afraid of money-shifting its Getrag MT-82 gearbox. Between keeping my eyes peeled for the five-oh and that gearbox, the car was pretty stressful, TBH.
Other cars I think of fondly just for being good cars, and they’re all Toyotas – 1990 Corolla, 1996 Camry, and a pair of RAV4s (2008, 2015). Also a Toyota: the one car I almost never think about despite having been a regular driver: my wife’s 1992 Corolla, our first new car. Make no mistake, it did its job of providing economical, reliable, comfortable transportation just fine, and in its champagne paint and dealer-gold-plated emblems, it was even quite deluxe by our newlywed standards. Unlike every other car I’ve owned or driven regularly, I was completely unable to recall what a ’92 Corolla looked like beyond the broadest compact-sedan strokes. Likewise I couldn’t form an image of the interior at all, other than beige cloth. Even when I looked it up, I wondered if I had the right car or not.
If there’s a recipe for the perfect good-but-forgettable car, that Corolla followed it to the letter.
Your turn:
Charcoal gray metallic Honda Accord, when 99% of all Accords were that color.
1997 Integra, my first purchased car. Pretty much every car I’ve owned since has been much more exciting so it gets forgotten. A lot.
I dunno about ‘never think about’ …there are cars I’ve had that I wouldn’t buy again given my current needs/preferences, but I usually still think about them with some fondness now and then. Cars I’ve owned that I rarely think about now include:
’81 VW Rabbit convertible (auto… I bought it with a seized engine)
’79 Toyota Supra (I had two: one auto and one manual)
We leased a 2001 Sentra for my wife to commute 50+ miles each way to grad. school. Served the purpose, and got turned in early when she graduated and got a company car with her new job. Hadn’t thought about it in years…
Dasun 1200
1982 Chrysler LeBaron, silver on grey with a padded landau roof.
Hateful POS. Not one single redeeming quality. Vibrated like a Hitachi.
Gave it to my brother, he drives like an insane person.
Within 2 weeks he snapped the CV joints while turning from a stop, full right lock and flooring it. Snap.and snap.
In the early 2000’s I was driving a 2000 Acura 3.2TL. It was a great car but it was costing me a ton of money. I was freaking out about money so in a fit of insanity, I dragged my family to the local Suzuki dealer. I had seen a Suzuki Aerio wagon and thought it looked cool. I walked in with the intention of buying a AWD Stick Aerio wagon. But they turned out to be more expensive then I thought. It was at that point where I totally lost my mind. The dealers switched me to a 2 year old automatic FWD Aerio sedan. I don’t know why but I signed on the dotted line and was the “not” proud owner of this piece of crap.
I swear this car had no redeeming qualities but I felt I should punish myself for my bad decision so I kept it for a year. Once I came to my senses, I traded it in for a 02 Frog Eye WRX wagon and never looked back. Since then, I have never thought again about that terrible sh!tmobile. I don’t know if it would have been better if I had gotten the wagon with AWD that I wanted. It would have been a stick and more fun to drive, it would have had options like cruise control but it still would have been an Aerio.
I have had a few other stinkers like a 86 Grand Am or a Chrysler Pacifica but even those had some endearing qualities (The Grand Am was fun for an 18 year old to drive, the Pacifica was comfortable and had screens in it for my kid) but this was just horrible.
I almost never think about my second car, a 78 Chevy Monza (my first car was a Renault 12 wagon and very memorable). I’ve always found it strange that THAT model was named for one of the great F1 circuits.
Dodge Stratus company car. Miserable thing…
96, or maybe 97, Saturn Sedan. We bought it new. 5 speed manual, nice interior, drove blandly. Had to remember it for this comment. two tings stand out: 1. The dealer sales and service was wonderful. Had to stop the sales rep from going through the entire presentation by yelling “we’ll take it”. Engine head cracked at 60k and Saturn replaced it and anything rubber or plastic in the cooling system, plus rental car, no charge, no bullshit. 2. Plastic side panels. Had a large snow storm, decided to go up local small mountain that had plowed zig zag road to the to access antennas, etc. Up was easy, down not so, all season tires on downhill equaled instant lockup rear wheels when trying to control speed to make the switchback turn. Got through one, knew next one no way so locked em all up and slammed sideways into the nice, big, brand new fluffy snow bank from the plows. Fortunately I carry a plastic grain shovel in the winter, dug it out, slithered down the rest of the road. Not a dent, not a scratch. Went home with tail between my legs. But it was fun.
Oh my God, I had a 96 Saturn, my first new car, what a turd. That thing was the sketchyist car on the freeway.
Traded in with less 130k miles, suspension seemed completely worn out when on interstate, sketchy is the right word. Manual steering rack replaced at 100k as was binding. Underneath the plastic skin it was still steel; vacuuming it out noticed the rear door plastic sill plate was loose, was able to pick it right out, rocker panel was one big rusted out hole. Same on the other side.
A Dodge Intrepid. It wasn’t terrible (other than the time the seatback snapped off at the hinge), and it drove reasonably well with plenty of space inside, but it was utterly unmemorable in every other way. I don’t even remember which year I bought it. All I recall is that I replaced a troublesome (but so nice to drive when it ran) Saab 9000s with it, drove it for a few utterly boring years, then replaced it with a S10 Blazer that I hung onto for quite a while. The most generic, dull car I ever owned. I’m not even sure I recall the color of it.
I briefly owned a brown mid-1980s mid sized GM four door sedan that we were given after my wife’s grandparents passed. I honestly can’t remember if it was a Buick, Pontiac, or Oldsmobile. It was peak malaise anonymous brand-engineered General Motors grandparent car. We were young and broke at the time… and still didn’t keep it.
I have no pictures of it. I don’t remember driving it. And I don’t remember what happened to it – did we sell it? give it to another broke relative?
For a guy who literally keeps a web page with stories of all the cars I’ve owned, that’s the one that I don’t have included because I forgot it even existed.
https://itisgood.org/auto-biography/
Ok, I also owned an ‘80s S10 with the small 2.7(?) V6 and a manual transmission for a bit. The engine leaked coolant into the oil, so I sold it. The story of selling it is kinda memorable, the truck decidedly less so.
Mid 1970’s Pontiac Sunbird (Shitbird) with 2.5 litre “Iron Duke” 4 cylinder and self destructing 3 speed automatic trans. The engine was also self destructing from carb to exhaust manifold, as was the front suspension. I never think about that garbage scow until I am asked what car I never think about.
I keep forgetting I owned my ‘72 Blazer, which is kinda strange. How do I fail to recall having had the keys to something that felt like a derelict ski boat on a tractor chassis? Pushing it over 60 mph was like a near-death experience, especially on freeways. I guess part of it is that I didn’t drive it much because of its limitations and need for upkeep… it had a lemon of a Quadrajet that left me with an instinctive distrust of carburetors. The Toyota that replaced it is a much more enjoyable truck in all aspects except for that open top. Unless it’s raining.