I just got it into my head to make a list of all the cars I’ve owned, sort of an exercise to see a) how much of a consumer I am, and b) what my car choices say about me. A is pretty obvious — I’m one of those people who doesn’t keep cars for very long. In the last 24 years, I’ve owned 10. B? I dunno. But it looks like my most recent car is my most “adult” one.
My first car. I never changed the oil diligently enough and it threw a rod. I still, to this day, think that cars should never be maintained, they should be self-contained with a hood welded shut.
Ah, the mid 80s. I had this one pretty long, something like 5 years.
My first-ever new car, in 1991 (I think).
Bought this to impress a guy. That was kind of stupid. It was a lemon, with a blown head gasket, and was eventually towed away as a donation.
I was intending on restoring this classic Italian coupe, but after a few parts like a water pump cost huge amounts of money, I gave up on it.
I learned my lesson from the used cars, and went back to new.
After getting 15 mpg in the Jeep, I finally got one of those newfangled “hybrids” I’d heard about in Japan.
Loved my Prius so much that I had to have a new model with all the cool options. The wait was excruciating.
Back to used cars so that I could drive around in a cool roadster in California. But one stray piece of debris in the road meant the end of my sportscar phase.
So here I am, 42 years old, abandoning another two-seater convertible for a more staid sedan; but at least it’s the latest, coolest, most fuel-efficient version I could get. Welcome to the world of adult luxury and high mpg clean diesel.
Who wants to predict what will be next? I think a Chevy Volt… but if I’m true to form, it’ll be another gas-guzzling, two-seat convertible.
