My Cars

I have had a total of 6 cars in my life. Quite a coincidence, huh? Although I haven't always been nice to my cars, I have loved every one of them. Below is my ranking of the cars and my thoughts/feelings toward each one.

6. 1989 Ford Tempo: This thing was a beautiful piece of automotive craftsmanship. From the sever hail damage on the body to the thing just dying for no apparant reason, thing car had American inginuity written all over it. This was my second car and my first manual transmission. I remember the day I got it and asking my dad if he could teach me to drive stick and he gave me the keys and told me no. Thanks Dad. But I did learn on my own and after having the car for about 2 years, I crashed it into a telephone pole. Fun stuff.

5. 1998 Ford Taurus: This brown beauty was what I traded in my Jeep for after my first child was born. My wife and I (regretfully) decided that a Jeep was too unsafe to drive my newborn in so we got this turd on wheels. Once again the folks at Ford proved to me what a dud they made and it is because of this and car #6 why I will never own a Ford again.

4. 1987 El Camino: Holy cow, this thing was the reason my girlfriend, now my wife, was embarassed to be seen with me. I absolutely loved the thing and thought it was a nice ride but I have to rank it low on the list because of the embarassement it brought her. Towards the end of the car's life, it did have some issues though, even though it had over 160,000 miles. The rear brakes didn't exist, the electric windows did not roll down, the heater didn't work, and the stearing column moved around in about a 6 inch radius. The kicker though was that I had to peel the window tinting off which left a film on the windows. This film was an open invitation for anyone riding in the car to scribble their name or whatever dirty picture came to mind on that window. Classy.

3. 1983 Buick Skyhawk Stationwagon: This was my first car. My dad told me what I was a kid that he would match whatever I had saved for a car. Well, I saved about $700, he matched, and this was the best he could find. Granted he didn't have to look very far because it was for sale in the parking lot of The Rusty Nail. But I got this car and drove it proudly because at least I had a car. At the time, nothing else mattered. Unfortunately things did not turn out well for this car as I ran a stop sign and crashed it into another car. Not a very good day for me as a 16 year old kid as I watched several people, including a couple of friends, go to the hospital because of my bonehead actions. On a lighter note, the thing had a killer sound system.

2. 1998 Jeep Wrangler: This was the first car that I actually bought. The story goes that I was living in Virginia Beach without my wife while in the Navy. I went car shopping, without my wife, and saw the car I've always wanted. I bought the car, without my wife, and absolutely loved driving it to the Outer Banks and through VB with the top off. Then my wife visited me...SURPRISE! She did not get outwardly mad at me but I knew she wasn't happy. In time though she grew to love the vehicle. I loved the car and wish I still had it but alas, it wasn't meant to be. Oh well, with the way gas prices were last year, I probably would have traded in anyway.

1. 2002 Honda Accord: Flashy? No. Sporty? No. Reliable? Yes. Paid For? YES, YES, YES! Sorry if those yesses sounded a bit orgasmic but it really is quite a good feeling to know that I finally own a car that is completely paid for. Sure it took to me when I'm 33, but I own it and I am not making any payments on it. As the great Ric Flair would say, "WOOOOOOOO!" I currently have about 143,000 miles on this beast and it still rides just as good now as it did 100,000 miles ago. The only maintenance I have performed on this car is changed the tires, front brakes, and oil regularly. Nothing else. I love this car. I plan on driving it until it dies. If it goes to 1,000,000 miles, great. I'm driving it because I enjoy not having a car payment and I enjoy having a car that gets me to where I need to go without any hassle getting there. Great car!