Whether we’re talking cars you’ve owned in series or multiple vehicles in your stable right now, I gotta believe they represent a pretty varied range of styles and use cases and capabilities, even if you’ve stuck to just a few brands. I suppose there’s a non-zero chance some of you have owned nothing but lightweight roadsters and currently have a pair of Miatas in the garage, but I’ll be very surprised if you pop up in the comments.
As for the rest of us, there’s probably a pretty good swing from first car to current car, if only because you can likely afford a lot more car now than you could when you were shopping for your first set of wheels. And tastes change, too; you don’t see too many car folks who are still 100% committed to the same machines that excited them back when they had a subscription to Import Tuner. But whatever the reason, I’m confident your car history includes vehicles at some distance from each other on the norm-core to extra-spicy spectrum.
… which brings us to today’s Ask. Speaking for myself, my normalest car is about as regular and basic as it gets, the humble Dodge Omni/Plymouth Horizon. The example below is positively exotic compared to the “America” version I owned, which was the cheapest of the cheap. It did have a digital clock and a radio (as I recall, the clock was in the radio, but I may be wrong), however, so not totally Spartan. Mine certainly did not have those wonderful wheel covers, or two-tone paint, or a pinstripe. I could only dream.
As for my “craziest” car, well, a Mustang GT isn’t that crazy. Mine wasn’t even a Premium; for the same X-Plan price, give or take a few hundo, I could get a loaded V6 (this was 2012, pre-boostang) or a base GT. This was the first year for the Coyote engine, so the V6 was never a consideration. Lots of fun, lots of tickets, lots of rear tires.
Your turn:
What’s The Most Normal Car You’ve Ever Owned And What’s The Craziest?
Top graphic images: Chrysler; Toyota
Well, I think my most normal & most crazy are actually the same car! My first car.
When I turned 16 in 1979, we were at a family friend’s for dinner and my dad said something about it being a big occasion as I had just gotten my driver’s license that morning. The friend’s response was to offer me their old car that had been parked in their garage for quite a while taking up space. So, I bought it for $1 that night and that’s the car that got me through high school.
It was a 1968 Chevy Caprice, grey with a softop – so, definately the most normal car I ever owned on that level.
However, the condition of that car was what made it totally crazy and only a poor high school kid would ever put up with it. It was a massive hunk of iron, a solid 75% of which had turned to rust in the northeast – chunks of the lower body panels would come off if you hit a pothole. There were big openings in the floor of the trunk and items would occasionally “escape” – a bunch of golf balls on one memorable occasion. The softop leaked like a sieve, and my dad’s solution was to liberally apply some boat varnish which gave it a very, uhh, unique look. Due to the moisture, it developed some unique looking upholstery stains (and smells). I think maybe the heater worked. But that big V-8 ran like a trooper, and I could take it into downtown New Haven (a tough town back then) and park it anywhere and never worry about it. I loved that pile of junk!
Most Normal – 1991 Ford Ranger
Most Unique – 2011 Chevy Express 4500 with an ambulance body.
Most normal would be my 84 Cutlass. Everyone had one. Mine did have the V8 pushing out an enormous 140 hp.
Craziest would be my 2012 Mustang Boss 302. That thing was racecar racecar racecar every day. 80K miles as my daily driver, I was not always comfortable but was always amused.
Most normal car? I guess that would be my current Ford C-Max Energi.
Craziest? My 1990 Ford Festiva.
Now you may ask… what’s so crazy about a Festiva?
Well… after I bought it, I had a 900W stereo installed. 600W of the 900W was used to drive the two 12″ subwoofers that took up ALL the trunk space.
When cranking it up, it gave you a back massage when sitting in the front seats.
Ahh. A man of taste. One of my ‘craziest’ was a ’92 Cavalier similar to your Festiva except, for me it was 1200w of the 1500w system that was dedicated to the subs that filled the trunk.
The length of the sub-bass sound waves would have been several times longer than the length of the car!
Most normal would probably be the Mazda3s I’ve had as daily drivers. I had a 1st and second gen, both served me very well. Or maybe the 2002 Silverado I had.
Craziest would probably be the Honda Beat I Imported in college with my brother. We’re both over 6′ tall yet we somehow managed to fit. We paid for it with the money we were supposed to use for college and had to sell it before the spring semester to keep our education going. The other crazy thing I’ve had is my former Richard Petty Driving Experience stock car. I still have it. That one’s a project though and I’ve only driven it once or twice.
Most ‘normal’ car? Either the ’92 VW Jetta GL or the ’05 Mazda 6 sedan.
Craziest car would be the lowered, customized, and 3800 swapped bass system transport that was my ’92 Chevy Cavalier Z24. Or the ’70 TR6 I bough for parts that the previous owner dropped a Chevy 350 in.
Normalest: NUMMI Chevy Nova automatic. Hey, I was desperate.
Craziest: V6 Pinto 2-door with slot mag wheels. Hilariously tail-happy in the wet, engine was a pain to work on.
Coolest: Renault R12.
My first car was definitely my most normal: a 1982 Ford Escort four-door. My craziest–not all that crazy, really–was a 1986 Saab 900 SPG, which I sometimes wish I still had but, owing to the sunroof, didn’t really have enough headroom. Though I suppose you could make an argument for my 2012 Mazda 5, since it was (a) a modern family car that was neither a large SUV nor a full-sized minivan and (b) equipped with a 6-speed manual transmission.
Most normal: a series of VW Golf / Jettas – at least most were TDI or wagon or both
Most crazy: 1982 Diesel Vanagon. Super-slow, loud (esp. with no interior), uncomfortable, bright yellow. You’d say I was overcompensating for… something? Sins? Blew a main seal going over Afton Mountain and just kept on feeding it oil until I got home 5hrs later.
Are we limiting our operational definition of “crazy” to “fast and loud”?
At the same time, I did own:
Crazy to me: Polestar 2 performance package (1 ticket per year)
Normal: a very basic gas Chevy Blazer.
Replace the Corolla in the lead image with either a Sienna or a Fiesta and you’d have me covered.
Tough question. For some reason I have a tendency to “swap out” vehicles for something more interesting, even for my daily driver. So I have had MANY vehicles over many years.
As for most normal, it would be a toss-up between the ’08 Mazda 3, or the ’78 Plymouth Volare.
The craziest is a laundry list; what is your level of crazy?
Currently, I have a first gen Viper. Never was great at staying straight or getting traction, so it’s tweaked a bit so it has more power. It’s fine, everything is fine.
T-bucket with a big block Chrysler.
TVR 280i.
’41 Plymouth Deluxe with a supercharged hemi.
The very first PT Cruiser delivered to my state (bonus crazy points).
And too many old muscle cars that had no business being on the road.
Normal car? Probably our 2024 Trax LS. However, at $23K, it’s not really a ‘normal’ new car these days.
Craziest? Maybe my 1977 Monza Spyder. 305/4-speed, Quadrajet, 3.08 posi rear end. Either that or my 1979 El Camino with the TPI 305/700R4 and a 3.23 posi rear end.
Crazy: 1st gen Chevy Volt (2012). Felt, looked, and sounded like a spaceship.
Normal: 1999 Escort SE Wagon w/auto, blue on blue, total grandma situation
Normal – a 2006 or 7 Old Man Tan mid-level trim Toyota Corolla
Craziest – my first vehicle – a 1982 Mercury LN7. Two seater with a massive back shelf style cargo area, a bubble hatchback glass without a wiper that would collect snow in low speed driving.
This is a difficult question…
Current Most Normal and Craziest would be a 2011 Town Car L and a 2019 Vantage.
Most normal and craziest I’ve ever had? Probably the Ranger I owned for a whopping 3 days, and the Porsche 912E or the E34 M5 I regret selling.
Normal car: 200x Scion xB (can’t even remember what year it was), and the craziest was a 1970 Dodge Challenger with a 383 and 4 speed.
Normal: 82 Honda civic wagon- 68hp CVCC! It was so mid, it’s biggest brag was a 5speed badge on the rear hatch.
Craziest: 1971 300SEL 6.3, street version of the legendary red pig. Without a doubt the best sleeper I have ever driven. No one saw it coming, or going!
Craziest honorable mention: 2023 Civic type R. Its freaking boost blue!
Craziest also ran: 1960 Ford 1 ton, 3sp with a granny low. 1977 280Z, 2002 Sentra SER Spec V- killed by a tow truck, still missed.
Normal car: 1984 Dodge 600 Sedan, black with red interior.
Craziest: 2007 Scion tC slammed on BC Racing coil overs, with a ton of under hood purple powder coating, an Agency Power Cat Back exhaust, fully Dynamated, Infinity Kappa components, coaxials, and subwoofer, Pioneer single Din Bluetooth stereo, four different sets of wheels while I owned it, Cobeau racing seats, Cold Air Intake, Agency Power underdrive lightweight pulleys for the crank and water pump, overdrive pulley for the alternator, Stop Tech Stage 1 brake kit with stainless steel lines, TRD Shifter and rear sway bar, Electronic throttle controller, full LED swap for the dash/HVAC, Stiffy engine mount, Energy Suspension polyurethane engine mount bushings, Tanabe Front Strut tower Brace, rear strut to subframe suspension brace, red tinted third brake light, custom upper and lower grilles.
Normal.. I have a RAM 1500.
Craziest.. I’ve had a lot of crazy, rare, or weird stuff. Saturn Astra with a stick that I bought new, 1st Gen Chevy Volt, BMW PHEV 3 series (330e). I even convinced my parents to buy a used Cadillac CT6 PHEV.
Normal – Escort GT. Sewing machine motor with a 5 spd.
Crazy – Outside of the z28. Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera International. Coupe, all options, 3.8 motor. Most people said 2.8? I was like no 3.8. Lot of motor for a smaller car.
I feel like two of my three cars could potentially qualify as both normalest and craziest, depending on how you want to look at them:
1997 Honda Acty Town: It’s a kei truck in the US, a work truck in “comfort” trim, and the weirdest driving feel in my fleet since you’re sitting past the front axle. But I’m also sure that more Honda Actys exist in the world than similar models of my other two cars.
1998 Suzuki Alto Works Suzuki Sport Limited: We have to work the ridiculously long name backwards: “Suzuki Sport Limited” is an appearance package (graphics, paint, and seats), and “Works” are the turbocharged cars, but those are layered on top of a JDM “Suzuki Alto” which is absolutely an econobox’s econobox.
Well there’s a final gen Viper in the top shot, where is he? And if the answer ISN’T Viper, I don’t know what I’ll do with myself.
I got you.
See above.
How crazy would you believe?
Normal could be quite a few. Probably the ’19 Crosstrek in my driveway at home.
Craziest? ’88 Porsche 944 Turbo. ’79 Dodge Lil Red Express. 3rd place maybe the ’88 MR2 Supercharged.