Have money, buy the cars of your youth

Realistically?

Man, there were basically no good "new" carts when I was 16 (2002). The hot FWD cars were only just starting to come back, the camaro was being killed. Not GTO yet. The Mustang was kind of cool but not really. MKIV Supra? I still can't afford one (or really desire one). I would take a 996 but they didn't register with me in those days. I guess the WRX had just landed... My youth sucked for new cars. My 20s though, much better.

Edit: forgot about the S2000. That was sweet. I owned an MRS so I got that one under my belt. Want another one some day...

singleslammer wrote: Man, there were basically no good "new" carts when I was 16 (2002). The hot FWD cars were only just starting to come back, the camaro was being killed. Not GTO yet. The Mustang was kind of cool but not really. MKIV Supra? I still can't afford one (or really desire one). I would take a 996 but they didn't register with me in those days. I guess the WRX had just landed... My youth sucked for new cars. My 20s though, much better. Edit: forgot about the S2000. That was sweet. I owned an MRS so I got that one under my belt. Want another one some day...

There were plenty of good new cars in 2002 and 2003

The SRT4 was new(and was still cool), the WRX was new, the SER Spec V had just come out, the mazdaspeed protege was new and the Mitsubishi EVO had just made it to the US. The 350Z was starting to come out.

The supercharged cobras were starting to hit the streets, and the Camaro SS and Trans Am WS6 had just died. The mustang Mach 1 had just come back out.

The best of the P71 cars, the Maurauder had just re-launched. You could get a 385hp supercharged F150 in either lightning or Harley variants.

Even sedans were starting to get powerful. You could get an Atima with a v6 6-speed that did low 14s in the 1/4 mile. Not blazing by today's standards, but versus the late 90s, night and day difference.

I was 18 at that time, there were some pretty cool cars starting to show up. Not as great as today's cars, but certainly not an automotive wasteland

I had my dads (now mine) fox body GT to drive, but I seriously lusted for one of these back in 2002.

... Still maybe do, a little

I've bought several of the ones I dreamed of... 72 firebird, mach 1 mustang, 78 trans am, 65 riviera, k5 blazer, Baja bug, 85 911, my own tow truck!, and most recently 87 911 turbo, plus some others. There are a lot more I want like a mkiv tt supra, grand national, amg 560 sec, 993 tt 911, delorean, testarossa, countach and others but in some cases, like the Italians and Germans, the values on a lot are going up way faster than I can keep up. I'm just car whore in general though.

Class of '02 here, and at graduation I would've sold my soul for a '01 Bullitt Mustang.

I still like the Bullitt, but in recent years the driving experience has impressed me less and less. I've gotten to wring out a couple new Boss 302's and they make the SN95 Mustangs look positively ancient. (Yeah, yeah...I know...THEY WERE.)

I'd probably rather buy an Integra Type R or nicely modded GSR now.

2000 for me. I was only into muscle cars in high school so a b-body Chrysler was my desire back then. I owned a couple of a-bodies and a couple of trucks. The only contemporary car I lusted after was a 97 viper gts coupe. I wanted a SRT4 neon when they came out, unfortunately by the time I get one they'll all be ragged E36 M3boxes.

logdog wrote:

Hungary Bill wrote: FD RX-7. Mine would be that dark green with the tan leather interior. Bone stock. Smooth as butter, fast as stink, sexy as hell.

Beautiful choice. But are there any stock ones even left?

maybe, just maybe

I don't have any money but prior to kids, family, and being an adult...I was able to get the 911. My dad had a 73 VW standard beetle when I was growing up, so naturally I had pictures of aircooled 911s on the walls of my room, since it was what every VW dude really wanted. Although I think it was 911 turbos, and 993s but beggars can't be choosers...

Other than that it was Jeep CJs and Wranglers, and I've had/have both. Thankfully those haven't skyrocketed to unobtanium standards. But I do remember reading every magazine that had a Jeep on the cover, and knew what ever lift kit and accessory cost so I knew how much money I had to have when I got my Jeep...

HappyAndy wrote: I graduated from high school in 1991, There are very few cars from the late eighties and early nineties I feel any nostalgic lust for at all. I could see myself paying good, but not stupid money for a Thunderbird Turbo Coupe, SVO Mustang or 323 GTX. I could probably get off my wallet for one of those crazy futuristic turbo Subies, an FD RX7 or a 968 or 944. Any one of those would have to be flawless and ready to run hard. The one car that I might loose my senses over is this: Forbidden fruit?

Here's one for sale locally

Though $30K for a 25 year old hatchback seems crazy to me

Strange, I graduated high school in 1988 but don't really want any cars from that time. There are plenty of cars from the 60's and some from the 70's that I would like to own, but the late 80's not so much.

I used to pine away for a late '60's- early '70's Mopar powered by a 440. I was obsessed with that engine from 6th grade all the way through high school.

The first car I remember falling in love with was a 1970 Superbee in bright green. We used to pass it at a classic car dealer on our way into Alton when I was a kid and for some odd reason I thought it was the ultimate car, even though it had a 383, not a 440.

Looked like this, except with white interior:

Cooper_Tired wrote:

singleslammer wrote: Man, there were basically no good "new" carts when I was 16 (2002). The hot FWD cars were only just starting to come back, the camaro was being killed. Not GTO yet. The Mustang was kind of cool but not really. MKIV Supra? I still can't afford one (or really desire one). I would take a 996 but they didn't register with me in those days. I guess the WRX had just landed... My youth sucked for new cars. My 20s though, much better. Edit: forgot about the S2000. That was sweet. I owned an MRS so I got that one under my belt. Want another one some day...

There were plenty of good new cars in 2002 and 2003 The SRT4 was new(and was still cool), the WRX was new, the SER Spec V had just come out, the mazdaspeed protege was new and the Mitsubishi EVO had just made it to the US. The 350Z was starting to come out. The supercharged cobras were starting to hit the streets, and the Camaro SS and Trans Am WS6 had just died. The mustang Mach 1 had just come back out. The best of the P71 cars, the Maurauder had just re-launched. You could get a 385hp supercharged F150 in either lightning or Harley variants. Even sedans were starting to get powerful. You could get an Atima with a v6 6-speed that did low 14s in the 1/4 mile. Not blazing by today's standards, but versus the late 90s, night and day difference. I was 18 at that time, there were some pretty cool cars starting to show up. Not as great as today's cars, but certainly not an automotive wasteland

Ok so there were a few, I just remember being 14 (1999-2000) and not seeing much short of Ferrari that was awesome and new. In the next three years there was some cool stuff though. The WRX, Evo, and Cobras were cool. I was a Ford guy and thought the Pontiac as UGLY!! I have had some of the fun stuff from my younger days. Had a 2003 SVT Focus for a while. Much nicer than the Sentra SER that I test drove at the same time (2006ish).

Are you saying I should buy an Eagle Talon TSi AWD? Because there was a time somewhere around college that I really wanted one and couldn't afford it.

Looking at them now though, they were total crap.

IS300
AE86
Z32 300ZXtt
IROC-Z

In no particular order. The Lexus is a little less "of my youth", and little more "of my adolescence", but it still was the focus of my auto-lust for quite a while. The others are plain old 80s-tastic

T.J. wrote: Strange, I graduated high school in 1988 but don't really want any cars from that time. There are plenty of cars from the 60's and some from the 70's that I would like to own, but the late 80's not so much.

Same here. Back then I wanted a '69 Charger. I still want one today, although the "want" is tarnished a bit by the experience of driving one - they really are crap to drive. So what I really want is a project car to build/resto-mod.

My father and I have a 70 Chevelle SS 396 that should be the iconic car of my youth but really it was a father and son project so my dad could have the car of HIS dreams. I hate the berkeleying thing. It's pretty and drives like a bus. He isn't interested in the sorts of things I could do to correct that as he likes it like it was then.

The cars I lusted after were:
- 71 Camaro RS (had one, cured)
- 70 Olds Cutlass (had one, cured)
- Porsche 964 (had one... wrong color. Would buy again, completely awesome cars)
- E36 &/ M3 (had something short of 10 of them now... obviously, will buy again)
- E30 had six of them. Am kinda done with it but for the right price... .

Still lusting after...

BMW 2002tii, Alfa GTV, TR-4, TR-6, GT-6, MGB_GT, Opel Manta, Fiat 124 spider, Lotus 7, pro-street treatment to a 1970 Trans Am, 914-6, ... holy crap. I better get busy.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: Are you saying I should buy an Eagle Talon TSi AWD? Because there was a time somewhere around college that I really wanted one and couldn't afford it. Looking at them now though, they were total crap.

Just curious why you say that. 195 HP and AWD in a decently light body with a practical hatch made it a pretty stand out car at the time. I lusted after one, especially after riding in a full-rally prep model. I do not see them anywhere, ever today however. Were they prone to rust or horrible failure or something I have blocked due to my lust for them?

i'm not buying a late 80's 5.0 GT mustang. or a stealth. for some reason when i was 12 those were cool.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: Still lusting after... BMW 2002tii, Alfa GTV, TR-4, TR-6, GT-6, MGB_GT, Opel Manta, Fiat 124 spider, Lotus 7, pro-street treatment to a 1970 Trans Am, 914-6, ... holy crap. I better get busy.

I agree with ~82% of your wishlist. There are three that don't do it for me there. If I can substitute a bugeye sprite for the Fiat and just delete the TR6 it'd be a good list for me.

I have lusted for a 930T since my teenage years.....but that's probably more because I love savage things that want to kill you.

Possibly more attainable, a z3m coupe....I should have jumped on the Evergreen '99 I came across years ago as it was $12k, no sunroof, black/evergreen interior, and had under 100k miles....I couldn't touch that now for under 20-25k.

In reply to pinchvalve:

Well, they were actually 210HP at one point... and I really only say they were crap because the styling I lusted after in 1990 looks awful to me today. Tacky little hood bumps and winglets galore. They were probably pretty good cars by the measure of the day -they had a pretty long run and good following of people putting neon colored triple wipers and fart mufflers on them.

I'm not sure if we don't see them because they are not there or if we just mentally superimpose the image of a E36 M3ty Dodge Neon over it and then disregard it. Maybe they are hiding in plain sight. Like the homeless!

I graduated in '07.

I lusted after a '99 Civic Si in blue (have), EG Civic hatch (have a coupe), 240SX and EVOs plus a ton of old British cars.

I graduated the year the space shuttle blew up.

Q: What do Christa McAuliffe and Donna Rice have in common?
A: They both went down on the challenger.

I graduated in 89 and I wanted one of those so badly.