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.
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:
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.
Yeah my buddy had a VTEC Del Sol and that thing was crazy quick. He scared the poo out of me a few times. :eek6:
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.
I did that to several people, including one who I wanted to scare and I told him to hold on because I had only seen this done on TV, the proceeded to rip the e-brake, downshift to 2nd, and cranked the wheel to the left lock to take a turn. My buddy in the chase car said that it looked good and the spray of gravel was quite impressive. It was a fun car. Honda def did something right with the B16A3. I would love to have another one. Maybe some day, thought they are getting pretty rare these days.
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
I had my share of muscle cars, BMWs, Alfas, and Vettes but I am almost sure I became a car guy at 6 when at a friend's house and his uncle drove up in a MG T type. Those fenders were beautiful and that huge, seemingly vertical, steering wheel was something I had never seen before. Then again it might have been a little later when I saw my first Corvette, in 53, at a Cub Scout meeting, wow, a plastic car. I know I was terminally hooked when my Dad bought a new '57 Bonneville convertible. I was in the hospital for surgery and he parked it where I could see it from my room window. Couldn't wait to get out for my first ride ever in a convertible. Never drove any of those three but they all left a impression like it was yesterday.
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.
My grandmother 325i box BMW, I was 16 years old and use to steal it at night to do donuts on the field a block away from our house. Grass power slides use to wash it off at the petrol station afterward with the window squeegee and a water bottle lol