I believe my Dad (65) currently drives a late model Ford Ranger V6 4x4, which he uses to tow the pop-up camper he and his current wife travel with. My Mom when she died at the age of 53 drove an 83? Pontiac Grand Prix. Coolest car that I know my parents owned would be the FIAT 850 Spider my dad had straight out of college, until it got too impractical with my older brother once he got too big to ride in my mother's lap. My maternal grandmother though did buy a 66 Mustang got home with it and the first time she left the house with it laid rubber for a half a block. She then decided it might be a bit too much car for her so she returned the V8 'Stang and swapped it for an otherwise identical 6 cylinder.
It's cool that there aren't many boring vehicles in our parents' garages.
Mom - 2010 TDI Jetta
Dad - retired gets the 2005 Canyon 4x4 and the 2001 3.0 Z3
Both of my folks are in their early 60's. Mom thinks cars are appliances, but is loyal to her Caravans. Dad has a green '01 Miata stick with a Flying Miata supercharger and a couple other goodies.
He's had a few cool cars over the years, but this is the first one he hot rodded. The gene was there all along, just dormant.
Mom has a V6 A6, as she likes her AWD, and some speed. I had once set the speed warning on her dash at 79mph, since I had to drive it some distance, and could not afford a ticket. She complained to me that it kept going off on her around town. Good thin she never got the Viper she test drove (seriously). Before that it was a slew of late eighties AWD Camries.
Dad DDs a Grand Cherokee due to health reasons (VERY easy for him to get in and out of). Still has a 72 Ranchero w/ a 351CJ. once owned a Lotus Cortina. Loves my (as did his Mum, she thought they were just her size, and her walker strapped perfectly to the roll bar).
dad: 1948 chevy fleetline fastback, 1990 suburban, 1998 s10
mom: 1998 astro cargo van
Ian F
Dork
12/25/10 9:35 p.m.
Mom - 62 - '08 Volvo V50
Dad - 62 - no idea... his last car was a 90's Pontiac he inherited from my grandmother and apparently wrecked. Hopefully he's not driving at all right now.
Mum - 05 Honda Civic Sedan
Dud - 07 Ford F250 Superduty
RealMiniDriver wrote:
It's cool that there aren't many boring vehicles in our parents' garages.
Yeah I guess it points to young beginnings for us being exposed to cool cars, which I believe to be the starting point for car enthusiasts. What kid can get excited about cars when his parents have a camry and a windstar? You'd have to have a mother like mine. When she was going through college, she had to drive her 6 younger siblings to school every morning. What car did she buy with her $2 an hour, with the need to carry 7 daily? a new 1970 mustang, of course! Oddly, my dad has the mustangs in the family now, and my mom will only get rid of her supra if she can get a new vette or boxster. She doesn't even like mustangs anymore, except for 1970 mustangs. My dad isn't to thrilled with them either, though. He says they just take up room in his garage. I offered to graciously take them off of his hands free of charge, but then I remembered I don't have room to park them and I live 1000 miles away...
Dad never cared. A tool for a job. After my dad died, tho..my mom actually showed a little affection for it. She bought a 3rd Gen Camaro the year after, and replaced it with a CRX (even though it was an HF ) She's driving a 2008 Galant now, because she's got fibromyalgia, and needs something with thicker seats and a greater percentage of sprung to unsprung weight.
Sonic
Dork
12/25/10 10:37 p.m.
Mom - 67, just picked up a 2002 BMW 325xit, 5 spd. Her previous combo of 85 M-B 300D and 91 Civic wagon (with VTEC swap and goodies) was just worn out, so I talked her into the BMW, and she is thrilled with it. The most modern car she had previously owned was the aforementioned 91 Civic, so the BMW is a HUGE upgrade all around.
Dad, turned 80 today, is rocking a 2011 Toyota Sienna XLE, as his previous ride, a 2005 LX470, was close to totalled by some idiot who pulled out into him. He had to get to his winter place in FL before it dropped below freezing on Cape Cod, so he picked up the Sienna and drove it down, now while I am selling the Lexus for him. He loves vans, had a huge series of Chevy vans, including an especially pimp one in the early 70's with a bubble top and a TV and PONG!
Dad drives an 06 Taurus. Mom has the biggest pile of crap on four wheels, The 99 Daewoo Leganza. Every time I see my friend, their mechanic, he is appologizing for how long we are waiting for some widget to come in from Korea. I keep hoping that one day it will catch fire or be hit by an astoriod or something so she has to replace it.
My mom drives a 09 Toyota Avalon, top of the range model, she loves it. She has only driven/owned Toyotas since 1977!!!
My step father is an Audi freak, he drives a TT convertable, the last year that had the V6.
Chris Rummel
mom- 09 sonata 4cyl
dad- 93 del sol Si, 92 'rolla wagon
beige they are. the only reason for the sol was because it is a convertible, small and we got it srsly cheap.
My dad rolls in a 02 Mercury Sable. But I seen old pictures of him and his 65 Ford Fairlane Sport Coupe 500. Seen a couple okay examples of 64-66 Fairlanes for sale around me recently, too.
Mom drives a 07 Matrix Xr. Not a bad car IMO. She drives a lot so got it with an auto. Stepdad drives a 06 Magnum on 22". V6 model. Also, he has a 59 Apache fleetside. Original 235 and a 3 on the tree he restored, and has a 05 GMC Sierra he uses for towing, rarely.
Dad drives a Cobalt SS/SC coupe most days (lives by GRM, works for NASA, long commute). His beater is 4-door 1969 AMC Ambassador that makes a killer beach car (blue on blue on Cragars and rusty, so drive it right to the water!). In the garage is his 68 AMX 390/4-Speed that he's owned since 15. Runs 11.20's naturally aspirated. Oh, and the twin Cessna 310 (he lives on an airport). His wife has a 1500 Chevy that never goes anywhere without the car trailer and a Vespa that she terrorizes the whole county with.
Mom has a Ford 500. Neat car. She's looking to replace it and I keep telling her EcoBoost SHO! (She's a Ford nut, last three cars were the 500, a Taurus, and Thunderbird). Her husband has a killer 1st-Gen Bronco for wheeling (they live in the hills by the Rubicon), an older F150, and about a half-dozen tractors and dozers (they live on a ranch). Some of the tractors are nearly 100 and use flatheads!
Grampa and Grandma have a Lincoln Town Car and a Van... And a 52 Ford. And a 60 Impala SS 348/4-Speed Tri-Power. And a 69 AMX that's back-halfed and runs low-10's/high-9's. (It's his "slow" retirement car). Grandma used to race back in the day and has trophies to prove it.
Is there any wonder I'm such a car nut?
Mom has a 1990 Subaru Loyale wagon and an '87 Cabriolet, both 5 speeds.
Dad has a '00 M-B S500 and a '97 F150 (with a 5 speed).
Per Schroeder
Technical Editor/Advertising Director
12/26/10 12:14 p.m.
I think, aside from the Suddard kid, I may win this one. My parents are in their mid-60s. My dad shares the LeGrand with me, but also has his own LeGrand that he is working on. He also has a B16 powered GTM. Mom drives an A4 Avant Quattro stick. Their beater is a Pacifica.
The inlaws have an XC90 and some other trucks.
Josh
Dork
12/26/10 12:49 p.m.
Boring but reliable and reasonably efficient utility-type vehicles. Mom has an '07 Mazda5 GT, and Dad has an '03 Honda CR-V EX. I frequently borrow both :).
The coolest thing either of them has owned was probably Mom's Infiniti I30t. I thought that VQ30 at full throttle was almost scary when I was 16 :).
Step-mom has a Volvo XC90, while dad has a 2500HD Crew Cab Chevy, and a '38 Ford Businessmans coupe.
Mom has an '04 Freestyle with over 200k on it.
Many, MANY moons ago, my mom and dad had a '65 Mustang Fastback and a '65 Triumph Spitfire. A few years after I was born, dad had a '69 911S, and mom had a '74 Bavaria, with a '66 Beetle in beach trim (rusty, no fenders, oversized tires), and a '76 VW Bus that was my dad's company car.
Mom has a Buick Rendeouvz.. not sure the year.. but it is a nice
Dad has a Jetta TDI and is on the lookout for an MGB
Rufledt wrote:
RealMiniDriver wrote:
It's cool that there aren't many boring vehicles in our parents' garages.
Yeah I guess it points to young beginnings for us being exposed to cool cars, which I believe to be the starting point for car enthusiasts. What kid can get excited about cars when his parents have a camry and a windstar?
I had the opposite starting point - my parents did have some cool cars a long time ago, such as a 1965 Barracuda and a 1971 Charger, but they sold the Charger a couple months after I was born. They only had uncool cars when I was growing up, although sometimes my dad talked about how much he missed the cars I mentioned earlier. By the time I learned to drive, they had a '81 Datsun 210 wagon, an '81 Dodge Colt, and a '87 Caravan. This was in 1996, so these cars were at the bottom of their depreciation curve and their coolness levels.
So, as a teenager, I was sick of driving such an uncool car, wanted something more interesting, and had no money... that was about the starting point of my getting into cars.
Now my parents have a 2005 Honda Accord four cylinder and a slightly older Volvo S40 with the 1.9 Turbo, both automatics. Dad also has a Jeep Cherokee that the previous owner seems to have put a small lift kit on. It's his second Jeep after deciding that he needed a dedicated off road vehicle for hunting. (Before then, he'd used a variety of station wagons and minivans for crawling down some pretty difficult trails.)
I like to think that Dad is cruising the afterlife on a knucklehead Harley, or tearing up some dirt backroads in a 30's Ford with a hotrodded flathead. He was fond of such things.
Mom should be in that '57 T-bird she always wanted..
Luke
SuperDork
12/27/10 4:45 a.m.
Mum just bought a new Hyundai Accent, 5-speed. Before that, she was in a Saab 9000. Now Dad has the Saab.
Coolest car I can remember them having was a Volvo 164, manual, when I was much younger. Great big, heavy, solid old thing that was.
Dad almost bought an Alfa GTV6 once. We went and test drove it, laid down a deposit, then he chickened out in the morning and called it off. Pretty sure he regrets that .
mndsm
Dork
12/27/10 7:53 a.m.
Mom- 89?ish Trans Am, 2007 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT (sadly, both automatics)
Dad- 2004 Ford Excursion v10, 85 Rx7 GSL-SE. (which he won't sell to me :( )