This
is
NOT my car
I don't think I want this one... (Can you believe that THING is a BMW?!?) The cars I actually owned (and ones I still own) are farther on down the page, starting with number 1.
#1
This was my first car, a 1953 Studebaker Commander Coupe.
I paid $165.00 for it, and it was worth most of that. It
rarely ran, and then only until the next problem occurred.
I eventually tore out the seats, installed a double bed mattress,
and arranged for the backs of two kitchen chairs to poke through the mattress to support my back. I covered the mattress and seat backs with black naugahyde, and put thick orange shag carpeting on the floor. Note the diagonal racing stripes, and the matching orange swamp coolers above the doors. The car had Chairman Mao buttons glued to all controls, and plastic flowers coming out of the vents. I have several stories about this car, but I'd need weeks to type it in. Ask me.
#2
This is
a composite picture I made of my second car,
which
was a 1948 International
Harvester KB5 2 1/2 ton
Panel
Van. Cool looking, but truly one of the worst
vehicles
I've ever seen. It rarely ran, it was freezing cold
in the
winter, broiling hot in the winter. Top speed was
about
50MPH. So loud, conversation was impossible.
Apparently,
I never took a picture of it, so when I found
one on
the net, I stuck it in here.
I've never
seen another one. (Thank GOD)
#3
This was
my third car, a 1956 Mercedes
220S. I bought the
car from
Dr. Bjorn Lih, in Richland, for one dollar. (Actually, my
brother
Bob paid the dollar, cause I was broke!) It's parts were
all over
town, in boxes at different service stations. The car was
painted fluorescent
lime green. I added a sprouted potato to the
antenna
when I had it at college. Sure wish
I hadn't sold it.
#4
When I joined the Navy, I thought that the Mercedes might be too unreliable, so I traded it in on this brand new 1979 MG Midget. I never had a minute's trouble with it, but it was too small for my frame. I just couldn't get comfortable.
#5
I bought this 1960 Thunderbird from a sailor for $1000.00. It had a mangled up dashboard (which I replaced), but was otherwise nearly perfect. It was number five. I sold it for $2000.00. Why...?
#6
Car number seven was actually the strange little Subaru wagon that Kathleen brought into our marriage. It was fluorescent lime green, noisy, slow, uncomfortable...We replaced it with a sweet little brand new 1986 Toyota Tercel Wagon, #8. We sold that car to a sailor and replaced it with #10. 
My sixth car was this beautiful black 1980 MGB Limited Edition. Very fun to drive and well made. It caught fire on the Bay Bridge in Oakland, and I had to grab Courtney and run away. It was totalled, although I'm sure someone picked it up and fixed it. I should have...
#10
Car number 9 was a horrid Ford Escort Wagon that I picked up for a song in the bay area, to replace my MGB. When the exhaust system FELL OFF, I immediately bought this brand new 1991 Toyota Tercel coupe. It was supposed to become Courtney's first car, but she couldn't drive it because it had a manual transmission. I had to pull the engine out, buy a new one from Pick-N-Pull & install it (with lots of help from Matt Gowan), all in three days . I was able to sell it for $1500.00.
#11
This brand new 1993 Plymouth Voyager van was our family vehicle for years. It eventually started shutting off while driving. We had bought the damn thing brand new with pay I brought back from Cambodia, and we spent over $7000.00 in repairs. What a POS!! A nightmare. I don't know if i'll EVER buy another American vehicle.
#12
This was my poor little Saturn that I foolishly loaned to a teenager. It was totalled less than an hour later when she was gaily talking away while T-boning a large SUV. This was probably the best handling, best running car I've ever owned. It was the SL2 model, and I purchased it with a salvage title from a very cool local guy who rebuilds dead Saturns killed all over the country. Fast, comfortable, great sound system. No flaws. Wah!
#13
This Ford Tempo Sedan was the most embarrassing car for most folks in my immediate family. It was kind of cheap but functional. I christened it "Tempo-Rary." It did have comfy seats, air conditioning, plentiful parts to pick from, and it was good on gas. Also noisy, poorly designed, and it never cost me ANYTHING. I paid $700.00 for it, and when it was totalled, insurance gave me $1300.00 and the car back. I fixed the front end for $125.00 in parts and spray paint... I finally sold this fine example of American style and engineering for $600.00!
#14
We bought Kathleen a cute little 1991 Geo Prizm. It needed lots of interior work, like the headliner, sun visors, seat covers, floor mats, etc. We used leopard-skin prints throughout, so Kathleen called it the "Leopard-Mobile." We gave it to Courtney when the Cabriolet started leaking through the front vents. It had some sort of transmission trouble, so we sold it to Carlos for one dollar. It was a great little car, though, and Kathleen really misses it.
#15
Well, I bought this lovely 1985 Volvo for Courtney. She never drove it, so naturally, I have it for my main transportation. It isn't very attractive, but it runs well. It's safe, comfy, pretty fast, economical, and easy to work on. I've replaced nearly every suspension and steering part, and it wasn't hard. There are several of these at Pick-N-Pull, so parts are cheap!
Would you mind skipping ahead a bit now? Number 16 was another Toyota that we bought for Courtney, who REALLY wanted it. It was a sporty thing that was pretty worn out. Court couldn't drive it cause it had a stick. I sold it for what I paid for it. :)
#17
My "fun" car, "Rumsfeld" bought 16 Feb 03, is a 1975 Mercedes Benz 450SE. I got it for $100.00, through the good offices of my bro-in-law, Matt Gowan. That's 100X more than what I paid for my last Mercedes, and $65.00 LESS than I paid for my first car! This car lives in my mechanic's parking lot. I told him that I wasn't in a hurry. It's been there for 2 years now!!
Well, then I acquired yet another car for Courtney, and another German car at that. It was a 1987 VW Cabriolet courtesy of Lenny Wiuff, who drove it down from Seattle. Nice car! We sold this one to her buddy Kayla. (I replaced the top myself! Big job!)
#18
#19
When I was having some bad car troubles, I borrowed this little 1993 Ford Festiva from my Aide, Laurie Trent. It is actually is built by KIA, and it's a decent little machine. I liked it so much that I bought it. It only had 63,000 miles on it. Four of us actually drove it to San Diego in the summer of 2006! Courtney calls this the "Teal Contraption!"
