My grandfather (not pictured above, that’s a stock-photo gentleman) drove a gold 1972 Chevelle. I know it was a base model, because it had the wheel covers seen in the topshot (which we exclusively called hubcaps back then), and I recall my Dad talking about how it had a V8, not the six-cylinder, so there was a 307 under the hood. I don’t know how Papa wound up with the Chevelle (which he almost certainly purchased used), and he was never one to talk cars much. He once noticed a crack in a tire’s sidewall and “repaired” it with duct tape, so suffice it to say, he was not a wrench.
My grandmother drove some kind of large early-70s Buick sedan, I want to say a LeSabre. All I recall of this car is that it had a green vinyl interior (all the better to stick one’s thighs to) and air conditioning – a delight in the humid summers of New England – but she never turned it on, because it “ruined the engine.” I’ve heard of planned obsolescence, but installing a Ruin Engine button right in the dash was a bold move for GM.
In case you missed it, “What did your grandparents drive?” is the question I extend to you. Some of the gang obliged with their own answers:
Antti Kautonen
I’ve mentioned my granddad’s white Corolla, but he traded it in for a very, very grey Ford Escort 1.6 Zetec in the early 2000s, with grey velour seats. Somehow it was a car that was even more invisible than a basic white Corolla with unpainted bumpers. Eventually when he gave up driving and the Escort wouldn’t pass roadworthiness inspection, I helped him sell it instead of wanting to get it for myself as a hand-me-down car.
It’s also why I like the first-gen Focus so much, because it actually showed so much design and engineering intent compared to the Escort, which was “just there.”
The Bishop
Are you over fifty years old? Then, by law, your grandparents owned a Dodge Dart or a Plymouth Valiant with a Leaning Tower of Power Slant 6 and an automatic. In most cases they were dark metallic green with a black vinyl top; my own grandparents had a two-door “Swinger” model, despite the fact that they were very much not swingers. I’m not sure they even knew the meaning of the word.
Your parents probably inherited it in the eighties as a “third car,” which meant you were not getting a new (145 horsepower) Z-28 for your sixteenth birthday.
Thank you, Antti and Bish! Your turn, gang: what did Mee-maw and Pee-paw get around in?
Top graphic images: GM; DepositPhotos.com
All of the grandparents consolidated into 1 list:
90s Plymouth Sundance 2 door, 01 Corolla, 90s Cadillac STS, US only 2nd gen Focus, early year Chrysler Pacifica and a 2020 ish Equinox. Missing a few but very grandparent spec rides 🙂
On mom’s side, I barely recall grandpa had a DeSoto sedan, probably a ’51 or ’52 Custom 4-door (I was maybe 5 when he passed away). Grandma didn’t drive. On the paternal side, I never knew my grandfather but grandma had a baby blue ’55 Ford Fairlane, then traded it in on a new ’64 Ford Falcon. 2-door sedan, white, base model, with the Thriftpower six and 2-speed Ford-o-Matic. She drove that until she couldn’t drive anymore. My dad tried to give it to me to take to college. I said…no thanks…
While I was alive… a blue over blue ’88 K2500 (that would later be mine) and a blue over blue second gen Town Car. On the other side, the ’88 Comanche my dad now has, an 80s or early 90s Jimmy, several Goldwings, an ’07 Pacifica, and… something similar to a Cavalier whose name escapes me. After some Googling, it was an Achieva.
Would be cool to know what grandpa on dad’s side drove before that because that puts us into the realm of pre-WWII cars to start.
The last cars my grandparents drove were pretty average: 1999 Ford Explorer, Buick Lucerne, Chevy Silverado 1500 LTZ Crew Cab, Chrysler Town & Country.
They did have some sweet rides in their history (except my paternal grandfather). On my Dad’s side there was a history of Delta 88s with GM diesels that my grandfather used for his traveling salesman gig. My grandmother drove a fantastic gold on gold 1984 Lincoln Town Car for years. It replaced her AMC Gremlin Patriot Edition with the Spirit of ‘76 appearance package. Mostly I remember the Lincoln, the ‘97 Skylark, and the Explorer (I ended up owning those last two).
On my Mom’s side it was distinctly cooler. My grandpa had an orange VW Beetle (which is hilarious considering he was 6’7”) that was replaced by a ‘72 Chevelle SS in Sequoia Green. My grandma usually had some kind of wagon after getting rid of her Chevy 210. There was a 1964 Rambler Ambassador wagon, a Country Squire in the mid-70s. Growing up I remember most my grandma’s line of Town & Country minivans and my grandpa’s various trucks (a gorgeous 1994 Ford F-150, a base model S-10, a GMC Jimmy, a Dakota).
My paternal Grandfather was high up in the Australian Air Force, while serving he was driven about in a bullet proof Humber Super Snipe. Then in retirement he had a Ford Falcon XP 2 door coupe, I think it was a 1964 or ’65. My grandmother refused to sit at home during the WW2 so she enlisted and became a mechanic. After the war she had a variety of Holdens from an HR through to a WB Statesman, and latterly a VE Commodore.
All their cars were very well looked after and would have just been traded in at the dealer for the next one. I’d hate to think what the older cars would be worth now.
I like your grandma.
Well my dads parents never owned a car. Grandpa walked to work. He was an accountant for the railroad. Moms parents owned during my formative years owned a Ford Fairlane 500 and a Chevy Chevelle SS. How did these diverse youngsters hook up? My dad was digging a ditch for the power company in my mom’s parents backyard.
Maternal grandparents were frugal, MN farmers. Grandma had a ’70 or ’71 Nova 4-door, seafoam green, with an I6 and an automatic. No A/C, no power anything. Various GM sedans after that I don’t remember. Grandpa drove a series of Ford pickups until the early 80s, when he got talked into buying a Dodge D100 that he hated. Eventually replaced that with an ’89 K-1500.
Paternal grandfather was a minister, grandma never drove. First car of theirs I remember was an early 60s Chevy they gave to us in the late 60s. Then it was a mid-70s Caprice (first car I rode in with power windows/locks), followed by a Pacer. Didn’t see them for a few years in the early 80s except for fly-in visits (rentals), then they moved from south TX to CO and he drove a Mercury Grand Marquis. Last car he had was a late 80s Crown Vic.
Grand Marquis and Crown Vic, proper grandpamobiles.
My maternal grandfather bought his last car brand new in 1969. He was very specific in his tastes, so it was a special-order Mercury X-100 Marauder. The X-100 package should have come with bucket seats, a centre console, and a two-tone paint job with the trunk lid and deck painted in matte black – but those weren’t to his taste, so he ordered his with a power split bench, all-blue paint and (to my chagrin) a white vinyl roof.
He drove that thing daily, and maintained it meticulously until he died young in 1983. That car became my mother’s, and my sisters and I drove it some in our teenage years, delighting in what seemed like an enormous monstrosity by the early ’90s. The 429, with its 11:1 compression, didn’t take kindly to the low octane unleaded fuel at the pumps in those days. Even with all the storebought additives meant to boost octane and make up for the lack of lead, it always pinged away and seemed a bit anemic. That was until we started sneaking it out to the local airstrip and surreptitiously filling the old girl with 100 octane avgas, which woke up the 360 sleeping horses, made things a lot more fun and left lots of rubber on some rural highways.
The Merc lives on, stored in a shed on my sister’s farm and brought out occasionally for local car shows, where she displays it with the original bill of sale and special order documents from 1969. I hope grandpa would be proud.
The oldest Grandma car I can remember was a Ford LTD- I guess it was probably a 1975 model year. It was canary yellow. But I really liked my Grandpa’s Cressida he had later. The stereo looked like a high-end 80’s hi-fi unit.
Hmm, I was fortunate to have my maternal grandfather with me through my entire childhood and the car I most vividly remember there was a white on red velour Plymouth Reliant K. Always driven with foot to the floor probably because it had to be. Still, good memories of a very mundane car because Grandpa. Unfortunately my paternal grandfather passed when I was 4 years of age and I sadly only remember a few vague images and never got to know the man by being able to grow up with him in my life. Dad’s Dad was a GM lifer though. My parents had a rather nice ‘78 Olds Holiday 88 Coupe in maroon over a tan interior that they had until I was about 14. I would have to ask my parents but for some reason there’s a part of me that thinks this may have belonged to my grandfather right before he passed. I was likely told this a veritable eon ago and may only vaguely be remembering it now.
When my dad was young my grandparents had a ‘57 Chevy – one of the good ones. By the time I was old enough to remember they had a late 80s Delta 88 and an early 90s Buick snoozemobile.
My other grandma drove an ‘85 Ford LTD LX until she died. She neither knew nor cared how special it was.
My dad’s parents both spent most of their lives in the Midwest and were very practical, so naturally they leaned American. My grandpa drove a series of large GM sedans bought from state surplus auctions, but that was before my time. He did also have a brief stint with a series 3 Jaguar XKE. I remember him having an early 2000s Buick LeSabre, then two late 2000s Chevy Impalas, and now drives a Buick Encore(easier to get in and out of). My grandmother drove a series of small cars-two Ford Pintos, a Ford Escort, and then a new 2001 Hyundai Elantra, which she drove until she passed. They also had a lineage of long bed 1/2-ton pickups to take care of their small farm, mostly Fords. I remember stories of an “underpowered”GMC, might have been a six cylinder squarebody. The first one I remember was a 1986 F-150 4spd that rusted so badly you could see the road through the floor. That truck was turned in during C4C and they put the money towards a 2010 F-150 XL 4.6, regular cab long bed 2wd. That truck is still around with just under 30k miles on it.
My other grandparents(mom’s parents) were the opposite-less practical and more willing to spend money. My grandma from that side had a 2008 Civic, which was traded in for a new 2022 Civic when they moved to Florida. They took it to the dealer for an oil change shortly after and somehow got talked into trading it for a brand new Pilot. My other grandfather had a 2002 Silverado 2500 diesel that they used to tow their camper. According to my dad that truck rusted out, so he bought a 2013 F-150 crew cab new. He still drives that truck today
Mother’s side:
1971 Ford Maverick 2-door
1972 Ford Galaxie 500xl 2-door with 351 Windsor
1986 Ford Mustang LX in Bright Red
Fathers side:
Nothing notable…so sad
My maternal grandparents immigrated to the U.S. from Austria. One of Grandpas last jobs was driving his own taxi in his adopted, beloved, Detroit. I can only remember a gigantic yellow, early 1960s Dodge with all the taxi trimmings. He never talked about Austria, he always sang praises to Detroit. Eventually he would spend winters with us in the South. He couldn’t drive anymore but, as an eager new driver, I happily drove him anyplace he wanted to go. Once in a while he would say, “You’re a little fast, boy. But you did all right.”
Since I was born to older parents, the last grandparent I had passed away when I was five, so I have no reference. Some of my aunts and uncles however, were old enough to fit the bill.
The oldest on my mom’s side was an uncle, who had a Chrysler Newport with the Navajo package. If you’ve never seen one, once you have, it will be burned into your brain. Orange shag carpet, white vinyl seats with southwestern patterned cloth inserts. It still runs chills down my spine.
The other aunts and uncles all drove land yachts. Cadillacs, Olds, Lincolns.
I had to look up that Chrysler….. glorious!!
American
My grandparents had a 1990 Toyota Corolla in India. Only one problem, Toyota didn’t sell cars in India until 1997. So I asked my grandpa how he got the car, and he told me that he bought it in Bhutan. Well, Toyota didn’t sell cars in Bhutan in the 90s either…
Years later, a colleague of mine who grew up in India filled me in on how this could happen. Apparently, Bhutan is known for being a place where stolen cars and motorcycles go. So I my best guess is this Corolla was purchased new in Australia, stolen, shipped to Bhutan, then sold to my grandparents, who were none the wiser about the cars history.
I can only really answer for my lifetime.
Mom’s side:
grandmother – a series of Cadillacs followed by two Lexus LSes, the best of which was the ’70s Seville.
grandfather – various Lincoln and Cadillac company cars, then a plain beige ’82 Cutlass wagon, then ’86, ’96 and ’03 Accords.
Dad’s side:
grandmother – ’53 Chevy Bel Air. That’s it – only car she ever owned.
grandfather – Renault 12 wagon. And, late in life, a Chevy Sprint.
My grandparents (in my lifetime) all had dull cars. My grandad had a Hilux, then an Isuzu Rodeo, then 3 Ford Rangers. My grandma had a Ford Cortina, two Ford Telstars then two Mondeo’s then a Ford Kuga. Before I was born they had a run of Ford Falcons and a Bedford truck. My nan and pop had two Mazda 626s then a Corolla wagon, followed by a Mitsubishi Colt then a Mitsubishi Mirage. But my dad remembers a ‘55 Ford Customline V8 followed by a couple of Chrysler Valiants.
My maternal grandparents followed the Bishop’s law. They were Chrysler people through and through.
First car I remember was Grandpa’s 1971 Plymouth Valiant sedan, Slant 6, medium pea green. Zero options (not even power brakes or steering). Grandma had a 1976 Dodge Dart sedan in beige. Also a Slant 6, but power brakes and steering, cloth seats. Both purchased new. The Dart was garage kept and remained Grandma’s car until she stopped driving in the early 1990s.
The 1971 Valiant had rusted out by 1980 and was replaced by one of the first K cars sold in the area, a dark green Dodge Aries, also new. Absolutely the base model, except he upgraded to a cloth interior for $20. He was inordinately proud of the celery green cloth that Jackson got him. It lasted him around eleven or twelve years and was replaced with a used 1987 Dodge Aries wagon. it was crazy fancy for Grandpa and was his first car with air conditioning. It even had wood grain, which he didn’t care for.
He got T-boned by someone running a red light a few years after that and his last car was a 1193 Plymouth Acclaim 2-door. Basic car with cloth interior and A/C (which he had begrudgingly grown to like). He passed away in early 1997 and I’m pretty sure only ever owned Mopars.
Well those and an Indian motorcycle that got sold while he was away in WWII. My aunt was playing near it when it tipped over and my grandmother decided even stationary it was too dangerous. We never, ever, spoke of that motorcycle in the family, so I don’t have details about the model and year.
My Mom’s parents had a mixture of interesting vehicles, as he was a first generation immigrant doctor from Europe and she was a working-class homemaker. So he had, at various times, a gigantic 60’s Cadillac, a Citroen DS, and several SAAB 900 Turbos. Grandma had a wine bottle green Oldsmobile Delta 88 Custom with the 425 V-8. She was 5 feet tall and could barely see over the steering wheel. Both of them drove like they were extras in Le Mans.
My Dad’s parents were poor German/Irish immigrants who moved to the country. Grandpa drove Chrysler products up until his new Volare rusted to bits two years after he bought it; then he went to a series of Crown Victorias until they took his keys away when he was 96 or so. For his work vehicles he had a series of used Chrysler wagons that he drove into the ground. The last one I remember required tying the doors shut with the seatbelts.
Did you get to ride in the DS?
Possibly, but I was too young to remember. I have hazy memories of it in their driveway as a toddler—mainly of the brake light location. I’ll ask my Mom and see if she remembers.
My grandfathers last car was a 67 Plymouth Fury I 4 door, after he passed away my grandmother got her drivers license and bought a new 72 Plymouth Scamp with a 318 V8. She was a lead foot. When it was later replaced with a 81 Malibu with the little 267 V8, she was pretty disappointed in the power of that little anemic 267.
My grandparents drove and bought new the 1969 Galaxie 500 2 door 390 2v that I got as my first car when car and I turned 16. The am radio and door windows stopped working right from the factory.
Come from dairy farmers, grandpa used to drive the model A delivery truck with blocks on the pedals when he was 13 and his older brother would take the milk to to the porch. (G-pa was too small to lug the milk).
In later years most memorable was the red Pinto wagon with simulated wood trim. And the old Farmall that the grandkids learned to drive on.
And now I think about it, in one of my favorite pictures of him, he’s tilling a field with a team of horses. Yet I feel cool for driving a manual…..?
Grandpa H. Park Hunter drove Lincoln Town Cars from the ‘80s into the early ‘00s. He had at least one of each generation, all tastefully optioned and meticulously maintained.
He had a buddy who was into Mercedes Benz. H. Park used to joke with the guy, “Let’s you and me go out and play chicken on the highway – I’ll honk on the way through.”
When he had to give up driving and go into the nursing home, he sold me his dark green Town Car with the light brown leather interior for $400. My young family and I got many great miles out of that car, camping and pulling trailers.
H. Park had a heart attack and dropped dead on the sidewalk outside home a few years later. He was on his way to the bus stop. They found an Auto Trader with a Lincoln circled in one pocket of his jacket, and $3500 cash in the other pocket. He went down swingin’ – my hero.
He was also into old cars and had some good stuff over the years – a Model A, a ‘40s Packard (you could balance a nickle on edge atop the running engine), a couple of ‘60s Lincoln Continentals, a mint early Cougar, and a lot more. He gave me the bug for antique cars, since passed down to my son.