Most liked posts in thread: What vehicle sparked your love for driving

For me it was the 58 Bugeye Sprite, bought it with a rod knock. That little car taught me a lot, from engine rebuilding to how to hit an apex. It also taught me how to be a momentum driver. I've always loved small Brit cars. It's hard to imagine what my automotive life would have been without my Bugeye to show me the way to a life with fun cars & twisty roads. Today I continue on my journey with a Miata & my MINI. Life is good.

 

I grew up in the car industry with my father working various jobs in the Cadillac and Buick Dealerships in SoCal/Riverside.

My first real experience with a true sports car was with my sisters 1959 Austin Healey 100/6, my own love affair started with a 1960 AH Bugeye Sprite. I found it on a small lot in Riverside, traded my 1956 Buick 4DR for it, straight up. I was 17.

My list and loves continue to today with our two MINIs that we truly enjoy daily.

Don

 

My 94 Honda Del Sol VTEC. That little thing was a beast for only having a NA 1.6 in it. I did some gofast work on it and I could take down V6 Mustangs all day long. And no matter how hard I flogged that car, I still got 31 MPG. And to top it off, it was a targa top, driving in the summer was grand.

 

My dad's BMW 2002. I loved that car despite the fact that his sheepskin seat covers always made me sneeze. Always wanted a manual after that.

 

For me it was a book, The Red Car by Don Stanford. It was written in the mid Fifties. It's about a boy resurrecting an MG TD for a race. I loved that book and began saving my money for an MG TD, when I was 17 I finally found one I could afford.

It was my first car and I still have it!

Dave

 

POWER WHEELS!!!!!!

 

1966 Corvair Monza

 

Am really enjoying this thread. Amazing how many of the same vehicles listed here I too have had close encounters with over the years and how they have kept me interested in cars beyond what my "age" should allow. (No connection between age and maturity.)

My keen interest in small foreign cars was honed by 2 Fiats: 850 and 124 Spiders. I lusted after them like they were Ginger and Mary Anne. Fortunately, I knew people who owned them and, on occasion, I got to drive them. Also fortunately, my Guardian Angel didn't allow me enough $ to buy one as by taking my friends back and forth to the dealer for frequent repairs I learned the correlation between beauty, maintenance and reliability. A valuable life lesson that goes beyond machinery.

 

1971 MG Midget. I bought it new and I've been hooked on small cars every since. I have been blessed to own and drive many great cars but I always come back to the small and nimble.

 

When I was learning to drive, I had two cars at my disposal: a 1959 Ford Ranch Wagon w/auto, a 351 V8 and HD suspension, and then there was the 4-spd manual 1949 Morris Minor 850 convertible. Both were two-tone blue and white (the Ford by design, the Morris because the powder blue paint was literally turning to 'powder'). The fun and quirky Morris set my divergent path.

In 1969 I bought a BMW 2002 (same price as the VW Type 3 I was originally considering). The die was cast permanently.



Interestingly, the BMW 2002 and my MC Clubman have almost exactly the same dimensions.

 

For me believe it or not was a Toyota Corolla SR-5. I did have a 81 Buick Regal, it looked like a Grand National but cost a lots less and had much less HP. :nonod:

All my buddies had big Detroit muscle cars like: GTO's judge Nova SS Chevelle and Chevelle SS, Pontiac F400 Firebird and a Shelby convertable mustang that hauled ass. They all where great cars and gas was like a $1.00 so we flew everywhere a 1/4 mile (straight) at a time.

Well one day I totaled my Buick doing something stupid in the snow. :mad2::incazzato:
Man I miss that car. :sad:

Anyhow cash was low as the accident was my fault and I needed a car fast and cheap. I picked up a old 81 2 door Toyota Corrola 1.8 SR-5 Black on Black and it turned into a great little back road car. I only added better tires, spring and shocks. I learned to use the limited power I had combined with a new found thing called "handling" and really learned to drive a completely different way than a 1/4 mile at a time. I also found out slower is faster and you do not break as many parts when you are not launching at 5k for a silly 1/4 mile run.

Since all my buddies cars always needed parts my car was the reliable ride to the salvage yard or local part stores. This also meant my car was nick named "The toy". The funny thing was if we all went somewhere I would almost always arrive first since I could turn and brake at speed and could take the twisty back roads. I could also drive at a much higher speed for longer than a 1/4 mile.

 

What got me excited......well it was a couple of things that did it for me. Gran Prix the movie and ABC's Wide World of Sports car racing coverage. Couldn't get enough of either growing up.

 

Ashamed to say it but a 1970 AMC Gremlin did it for me, Slant 6 RWD you could throw that sucker all over the place, I was drifting before it was called drifting.
The came my first baby, brand new 1973 Green Dodge Charger, I was in motor heaven.

 

The thing that got me started loving driving was my parents old riding lawn mower lol. Or it could have been my 87 Nissan Hardbody pickup that I beat to $#!+ driving it in the fields. But I've never loved driving anything more than my MINI.

 

Allow me to assist...

In Red...ohh sexy



A little more formal



Winning at Pebble Beach

 

Growing up... I was all about whatever car mags the school library had a subscription to. All my friends went Mustang, Camaro, Firebird, yada yada... I picked up my best friends moms 81 Eagle SX-4, and had a blast throwing it around in the dirt.
What really got me hooked though, was my first 91 Honda CRX Si. Learned what understeer was real quick, and that I couldn't kick the assend out with the skinny pedal, but also found out what balance was, and that I didn't need to be sideways to take a switchback fast.

 

1977 TR7

 

Driving something along these lines, in the hay and corn fields, when I was 9 years old,,, still waiting on the flying car

 

'59 Morris Mini Minor...a cheesebox on wheels. 4-speed, push button floor starter, choke, sliding windows in the front and flipout wings in the back, 5.20x10" wheels, fwd, 5 gal. gas tank and 12c/gallon!!

 

It was a few things for me, but I would say the number one thing was Dad's 57 Chevy. I loved that car, at 5 it was a race car to me, and he drove it like one! I remember getting air out on the country roads where my grandparents lived! Man that car was assume! :cornut: