Cars that left a mark

mk2 VW GTI: I was head over heels in love with minitrucks from age 12 onwards, hoarding MT magazines, drawing them, and drove and built my first custom truck throughout high school (starting with my grandpa's S10 I inherited at age 14). I always liked the way the VW's looked, so in college I bought a '91 VW GTI 8V with lots of miles as a winter beater so I could store my bagged and body dropped S-10. I had so much fun driving that GTI that the following year I sold my minitruck, and have been tinkering and toying with hatchbacks and sports cars ever since.

Miata, like everyone else. Got me to leave my little world of Saabs and weirdness and not look back (except for DD purposes)

2012 Mustang GT. Oh, THAT'S what power feels like

2006 BMW 325XiT. Kind of got a little gushy about this car and have wanted a BMW ever since.

thestig99 wrote: Miata, like everyone else.

What is kinda funny to me is there a bunch of people that say the exact opposite in the thread about underwhelming cars. I love how diverse the group on this page are.

My first ride in the new GTR when it came out. Holy crap, that thing is nuts! It's still the fastest thing I've ever ridden in.

Only slightly behind that is my buddy's dad's '66 Chevelle, bored out over 500ci. Spinning tires in every gear (it's a 4 spd manual) with slicks on the back and only a lap belt...wow, that was an experience!

996 turbo, even though I know I will never own one. I try to console myself by building engines that have even more power, but its just not the same and won't ever be as good.

Merkur XR4Ti.. My brother had one and I loved it.

i can think of a few: 1997 and 1998 dakotas: both stcikshift, hotchkis suspended, fat tired, extended cab 2wd trucks. at both wrecker yards, i was asked if i was next of kin to the driver. between them, ill need a knee replacement iun the next 15 years, and have permanent spinal injuries.

or is that not what we were talking about?

in the positive impression category: 65 el camino: 4 wheel disc brakes, hotchkis suspension, 327 4 speed. loved that truck. it was a customers. i now have my own 64 thats getting built the same on teh chassis.... 70 duster: first car. turned me into an electrical guru on classic car wiring. also tought me about conservation of momentum, interior space constraints, driving, mechanics in general, and proper application of nitrous. still haveit, and attribute that car to BOTH my current profession. 1929 roadster pickup. harley with 4 wheels. tought me about streetrods, previous owner hack jobs, and snap throttle oversteer. damn truck about killed me, and now i want to do a track-t 1988 corvette: first car that i ever drove that did everything well. also a riot, and nice with the targa off. fsp prepped s10: taught me how much i LOVE 60*v6 gm engines 1999 camry: even after mods, it was still a soul sucking appliance. i hated it. it really drove home my decision to not have boring dailies. c6 z06 vette: oh my GOD!!! i want my elky and duster to do those kinds of things.....

i can think of a few: 1997 and 1998 dakotas: both stcikshift, hotchkis suspended, fat tired, extended cab 2wd trucks. at both wrecker yards, i was asked if i was next of kin to the driver. between them, ill need a knee replacement iun the next 15 years, and have permanent spinal injuries.

I demand pictures of these trucks (before wreckage).

In reply to Vigo:

if i remember tonight, ill get them off my home computer

but in the meantime, google project drivabeater. the first post in the s10forum version has pics before and after of the black one. i dont think i have any of the teal one, but the only difference was that there were no flares, teal, and tweaked v6.

My sister's Datsun 1200 Sedan. When you're 11 and driving around the field next to your house blaring 'Renegade' on the 8 track...it didn't get any better.

Fast forward 4 years later and repeat, only this time with a turquoise and white '57 Chevy.

• EDIT...also, an '85 GLH when I was 20...ohsosweet.

Mazdax605 wrote:

Rufledt wrote: FA RX7. Loved it. Everything about it. I want one.

You mean the SA RX-7? If so, was it mine that you drove, and loved?

Yes indeedy! It was yours, and it was an awesome experience, thank you.

spelling error fixed in original post

93EXCivic wrote:

thestig99 wrote: Miata, like everyone else.

What is kinda funny to me is there a bunch of people that say the exact opposite in the thread about underwhelming cars. I love how diverse the group on this page are.

My brother has an NC miata, and it didn't leave a mark for me, but it also didn't seem over or underhyped to me. Where's the thread for "Cars that were exactly like what you expected" thread?

Oh, my friend's dad's Sunbeam Tiger. Never drove it, but he gave a few rides.

I remember that by the time I could peel my head forward and look over at the speedo we were crossing 100 and the wind noise was getting bonkers...

Big engine in a small car is a classic recipe for a reason.

'71 GTO - Left a mark on a tree.

'72 GTO - Left a mark on a car. Parked in their driveway. Pretty far from the street....

I have a few. A mostly original '62 Nova (194 I-6, baby) with manual steering. Steering it while driving a bit too fast over a gravel mountain pass was more fun on a public road than I want to have these days.

My '65 Impala SS. My first (and so far, only) V8. berkeleyer screamed like a scaled ape when you romped on it.

My '95 Metro taught me the joys of maneuvering a small car into smaller spaces.

My current '00 Protege taught me the joys of cornering.

My mom's '01 PT Cruiser... Hmm. I used to drive a diesel Isuzu NPR with a reefer box for a job I had. I'd rather drive the NPR than the PT. What a piece of E36 M3.

There was a 914-6. Before I even had a license, I was checking out the Haynes manual from the library to obsess over the car. A few years later, I managed to get my hands on an 83 RX-7, and a McJob. Walking across the parking lot for my McLunch, I saw a 914 in the drive through. I asked about it, and next weekend, I was on a test drive. I hadn't spotted the cues in the drive through that this was a 914-6. The owner drove it first while explaining the car, and I mentioned that I had a casual interest in autocross. The owner mentioned his club membership (which club I can't recall - PCA?) and that the 914 performed well around the cones, "like this."

Sadly, my mistaking the car as a four meant he and I were on different pages regarding value. I came very close to buying one in the early aughts, but it was rusty. Now, they're on a hell of an uptick, and the $2200 drivers are gone. I'm still going to own one. Even the rusty ones I've driven have this amazing immediacy to the steering and a certain unapologetic mechanicalness about them that I can't get over. Strangely, of the one 914-6 and the two fours I've actually managed to drive, not a one shifted poorly.

moparman76_69 wrote: All my cars leave a mark in the driveway.

Not sure, but I didn't get the impression we were talking "skid marks?"

1) 1974 Mazda RX3 - my 3rd car, rev happy rotary, cheap hard compound skinny tires, a blast for any teenager.

2) Street legal air-cooled VW powered sand rail - built and owned by a HS buddy. Made me appreciate the power of lightness.

3) 1989 MR-2 supercharged - Test drove a used one in 1990. Salesman was barely 21 and told me to "go for it." I did, I think he crapped his pants. Probably should have bought it, but ended up with the slightly more practical and less fun 1989 CRX Si.

4) 1967 Corvette - Big block convertible owned by the "mid-life" crisis neighbor. Never drove it, but rode in it a couple of times. Scary fast and flexible, probably not a lot of fun to drive hard. White knuckle to ride in when driven hard.

Secretariata wrote: 3) 1989 MR-2 supercharged - Test drove a used one in 1990. Salesman was barely 21 and told me to "go for it." I did, I think he crapped his pants. DEFINITELY should have bought it, but ended up with the slightly more practical and less fun 1989 CRX Si.

Fixed it for you...

I had a couple of friends that were doing the retro mod make an American muscle car handle fad before it as a fad (gosh 20+ years ago..). One had a 72 barracuda and the other a 70 dodge coronet. Disk brakes as big as you could scour, sway bars from trucks, limited slip diffs, 4 speed manual transmissions, tires on the front too.. The coronet had widened steel wheels with giant bias plys, and they worked at much larger slip angles than the barracuda did with radials. It was a hell of a sensation to be sideways in a flat black big block muscle car at real speeds around corners on Highway 38 above Redding California on a summer day. Great road. Great times.

• 64 Mercury Montclair. Grandpa's car & the first car I ever drove on a public road, by myself.

• 72 Beetle, my first car of my own.

• 85 Jetta, my first car with heat & the first car I ever really rebuilt

• 81 Porsche 924. My first Porsche. Back in 1994, when I got it, it wasn't seen as such a dumpy old car as it is now.

Subaru WRX/STi

Saab 900 Turbo

Nissan Sentra SE-R (91)

Nissan GT-R

Porsche 911

Mazda RX7

Mazda Miata

Jerry wrote:

Secretariata wrote: 3) 1989 MR-2 supercharged - Test drove a used one in 1990. Salesman was barely 21 and told me to "go for it." I did, I think he crapped his pants. DEFINITELY should have bought it, but ended up with the slightly more practical and less fun 1989 CRX Si.

Fixed it for you...

Yes you did! I definitely should have bought it. Let me know when you invent the time machine so I can go back and correct that error.

'13 WRX.
Floored it in second and started laughing out loud.
Could not stop grinning, even on the crappy factory rubber.

Disclaimer: Also happens to be the only 'sporty' car I've driven that has been newer than the mid nineties, grain of salt there.

Back in 1977 Jay Barma taught me how to drive his 1970-ish 4-speed Orange Toyota beater station wagon. I was 14 years old.

I love the little stick shift cars.