A car you owned, and still love, but would never own again.

I was cruising Craig's List obsessively one day...

Ok, I'm lying. I cruise the CL obsessively everyday.

..and I came across a gorgeous BMW 2002. I owned a 73 2002 years ago and loved it. I loved it's quirky Teutonic-ness. I loved it's great handling. I loved it's eager little engine that I would never describe as powerful. I loved it's look. I didn't love it's rusty body or it's transmission who's second gear synchro must've been constructed from glass, chocolate, or some other material that would disintegrate minutes after a rebuild.

(ASIDE - This car is the one that introduced me to Mark Linkous. The guy who was the leader of the band Sparklehorse. He came by to buy it. He didn't buy the car as he was obviously a car genius as well as a musical genuis. He also had a cute girlfriend and rode up on a Moto Guzzi.)

After checking out this gorgeous 2002..I decided I never wanted to own one again. I liked the car when I had it but I had no desire to revisit it.

Anybody else have the same experience?

I'd have to say my '70 beetle, '71 Monte Carlo, '85 CRX, '85 CRX-si, and '79 Olds Starfire would fit in that catagory. Now that I have an '88 CRX-si, I'm starting to think I should add my '89 si and '91 si to that list. Sometimes reality doesn't live up to the memory. Or maybe I'm just getting old. Then there's the '91 Acura Legend sedan with a 5-speed manual. A rare car for sure, pretty fun to drive, and very comfortable. But it was a nightmare to work on. Wouldn't want that one back either.

Last model of a Cadillac Eldorado, I loved my 98 Touring, still love thinking about how nice that car was, comfortable, powerful, highway killer, but then I remember working on it, parts cost, horrible procedures, no space to work, and I don't want one again...

Maybe I'm kidding myself, but all of the ones I loved, I'd kind of like to have back. Old Beetle, GLHS Omni,...well, maybe not the '59 Dodge Coronet.

I loved my 88 turbo sprint. It was quick (21lbs of boost) and handled well, but it rattled like nothing else and had the most craptacular interior ever. It also ran poorly because there was no tuning done to it. At the time I thought it was great...

I loved my 87 Z28 when I was 18. I look back now & realize it was an underpowered, non-handling turd-gen.

My Miata...just kidding

I would say my 1966 CJ5, deceptively quick, uncomfortable, a pain to work on (because it was 35 years old and everything had rusted) and the smell of gas from the carb.

I have come to accept I really like fuel injection.

I have a bunch, but the one that came to mind first was a '70 Boss 302 Mustang. It was fun, and I loved having it, but I loved saying I had it a lot more than driving it. It drove like a truck, and not in a good way.

The next is probably an RX7. It was an '83 GSL, the car I started autocrossing in, but everytime I drive one now, it's like, the steering simply sucks. Maybe if I could drive one with a rack and pinion conversion I might think differently, but at the time I loved it.

There's more, but for the most part, I tend not to revisit unless it's a Miata, MR2 or 944.

AE86... SR5.

I loved that car. Loved the chassis, loved the little things I had done to it (tokico blues, poly bushings, GT-S seats, manual steering conversion, things like that), loved the way I could ring that car out every single shift no matter where I was... but if I ever get another it's GT-S or nothing. Limited slip (which I know is only optional on the GT-S) and another usable 2k rpm and I'd still own that car.

Fiero, I miss it everyday, I will NOT buy another one. It was like a lovely girlfriend, who had a drug addiction. She was nice to you and then BAM cold hard bitch.

I don't think i've gotten there yet with any of mine.

My celica is the closest. I doubt i'll ever own another 86-99 FWD celica again. For no reason other than i'm bored with them.

(Although i wouldn't say no to a minty 88-89 GTS Coupe or a 92-93 GTS for a badass DD.)

In reply to bravenrace:

I'm still wondering if I should add my old Crx Si to the list. But I might but up for another EF soon Oh yeah, why the new pic? It seems as though your not feeling well.

99 Mercedes E300TD. Mounds of torque, massively decadent amenities, but expensive parts and complicated engineering.

Pretty much all of them. I find it hard to go back when there are so many cars out there to own. Many of the cars I used to own are more expensive now than they were when I owned them. Simultaneously cars that I couldn't or wouldn't afford years ago have depreciated into my price range.

XR4Ti, SHO, Turbo Coupe, 5.0 fox-body Mustang, 3rd Gen Camaro, 4th Gen Camaro, Nissan Hardbody, non-turbo 2nd Gen RX-7, 280Z, and anything with a 4.6L Ford.

'67 Rover 2000tc. Delightful car,nice size, good milage,stopped,steered & handled well for its time,when it wasn't broke down. I needed to have 7 of these,so I could rotate the ones that ran while the others were being fixed.

96 Range Rover, Lifted and locked 95 Discovery, 85 Jeep J-10, BMW 320i, Volvo 244/245, Non-GT Escort, Hyundai Scoupe, Jeep CJ-5, VW Super Beetle Autostick, 77 Rabbit 4 door, any S-10.

Many for the BTDT factor, some for the expense of ownership. The only one I would turn down a free one of is the 77 Rabbit.

I'll answer your question later this spring ,after I get my 1991 GTI 16V running. I had one 15 years ago that I loved, so we'll see how much time has clouded my memory and I have my MINI to compare/liveup to.

I loved my '88 Accord, but I would only get another 3rd gen if I had an engine swap ready. And bigger brakes, needing a larger wheel/tire combo. And improved suspension if it is still available.

And there was NO legroom when I had the seat adjusted for myself, so make it a 2 door instead of a sedan.

Yeah...

Probably my first car, a 1966 VW Karmann Ghia. It was fun and had most of the smells, sounds feel of a 356 for half the money. What I don't miss is lots of one year-only-parts, 6 volt electricals, and swing-axle handling.

Corrado

I think I've "loved" all of my cars, but I don't really want to own them again. Not so much horrible memories as much as "been there done that." Life is short and I value diversity of experience, but I'm too tight-fisted to replace my cars that often.

'96 Ford Contour: Sweet sounding V6, Manual Transmission, great handling. Bad: Fit and finish, back seat room, fatally flawed wiring harnesses.

'89 CRX Si: As much an elemental sportscar as any front-driver can be, and yet with the practicality of a rear hatch. Lightweight, fun, reliable, and perfect ergonomics mated to a sweet little Honda drivetrain. Bad: mmmmmm. No room in my life now for a two-seater. My next two-seater will likely be more powerful or at least RWD.

'69 Beetle and '71 SuperBeetle: Craptastic little rustbuckets. Has anyone not owned one (or more) of these? Air-cooled, rear-engined goodness. Bad: Blown main seals, cooked engines, and rotted out front suspension (on the Super), along with rust. My desire to relive my Beetle days would now be satisfied by a classic 911 of just about any type.

'74 Capri: My first car. This is one car I seriously considered revisiting, but probably never will. It looked great, and was a blast to drive, but the front suspension was shot and the body was rusting away after only 8 years. The final straw was when the U-joint went bad. My Dad learned that a new driveshaft would have to be ordered from Germany (or some such) and that car was a goner.

My 81 Camaro without a doubt. Primer grey with multicolor polka dots and footprints (painted the bottom of my shoes each step, blue for right, yellow for left) as racing stripes. I drove it through countless Syracuse winters with huge knobby snow tires. I could toss it sideways into a corner and always came out, even with five people on board and a terrible suspension, even for a second Gen Camaro. Looking back, I realize that the body parts were all falling off, the doors never closed right, the interior was missing most of its parts and it ran a miserable mid 17 second 1/4.

sadly all of the kewl cars (and what some would consider uncool) i would own again in a heart beat... I gave them up out of necessity more than anything...

Yugo - if only I could have it back... such good condition for $100... needed to rebuild the carb but cash/time was so tight at the time... grrr

'86 shelby charger... just sad it wasn't up to making the drive when I moved and no way to transport :( could have been a beast with a little time and money.

'99 neon ACR... best daily driver I ever had... cheap and quick.

aw11 mr2 (had 4 so take your pick)... i'd take one in a heartbeat... but 2 seats just aren't so practical with 2 kids :(

745ti volvo wagon... yup i'd own that again also...

the only car I got rid of on my own terms was the mr2... rest was more gone out of necessity :-/... oh well

For me, the grass is always greener. There really aren't any cars I want back even though occasionally I get a little pang here and there.

There are cars I'd like a better variant of though. I've dumped a few that I wish I could have had a nice one of.