Cars we like and why

In 1976, I bought a brand new Chevy Caprice. It is to this day my favorite car of all the cars I have ever driven. It was the roomiest and smoothest ride. It got 25 MPG on the highway. 350, quadrojet pulling a 4000+ pound car. It cornered very well for its size handled a lot of non-intentional abuse.

Close 2nd was a 93 Lumina sedan. It did better in snow than most 4WD vehicles. Effortless acceleration!

Another good one was a '06 Kia Spectra. It took off very quickly with its 2.0 litre 4 cylinder engine. I left it with the x-wife. Long story.

Currently, I drive a '15 Mitsubishi Mirage. It gets 55 MPG on the highway and has plenty of room for 6' 2", 225 lb man and has blue tooth. It also has a USB port so I can listen to my iPod while driving. This got me a verbal warning from a cop. I made the mistake of listening to Living Sacrifice first thing Christmas Eve morning and was doing 72 in a 60 zone. OOPS! It could stand to accelerate a little quicker, but otherwise, it's a darn good car. Detractors say it's not too good on rough surfaces, but one should take into consideration where one plans to drive it before buying.

So, what cars have been your favs?

Note: Please refrain from knocking cars you don't like. The point of this thread is to state which cars you DO like and why.

1985 Honda CRX Si. It had only 91 hp from a 1.5L four banger and 185 tires on 13" rims. I redlined that sucker every single day for five years. I ran it 2 quarts of oil low for months. It took it all and never broke down. I used corner hard all the time. Because it was so light, the tires could take it and I averaged 40k miles a set. I have owned much more powerful and faster cars since but none had the same combination of fun and economy.

1967 amc ambassador.solid reliable old amc with a surprise for the unwary.290hp 343 cid motor!more hp than the 340 dodges and for a 4door car, fast.1976 grand marquis.460 cid motor and as the mafia guys like to say it had a 5 body trunk,lol.1970 383 super bee!posi,balanced and blueprinted,4 speed hurst pistolgrip,functional ram air.what can I say, I wish I had It now.

1988 Nissan Pulsar. T-tops, the hatch comes off quickly as well. It is a four cylinder with a 5-speed, very lightweight and corners well at high speed. Great summer cruising car.

I still have it, along with a lot of deeply embedded deer fur in the bumper. Hopefully I'lll find the parts to get it back on the road.

93-94 Porsche 911

Last of the upright headlights. Greatest evolution of the air cooled flat six. The latest 911s are technically more advanced but they lost some of their soul.

66 and 67 Chevelles

67 Mustang

40 Dodge Coupe

57 Willys Wagon

48 Willys CJ2A

66 F-250

I love(d) the '78-'85 GM G-body station wagons -- Chevy Malibu, Olds Cutlass Cruiser, Pontiac LeMans Grand Safari, and Buick Century.

Full-frame RWD simplicity and goodness with a 305 and a (hopefully non-computerized) Q-Jet; you couldn't break these things with a large polo mallet. They were impervious to neglect and indifferent (or non-existent) maintenance. And if you did somehow manage to damage yours, they were the last generation of cars that an amateur could readily fix.

I've had about six of them, and if I could still get one for 900 bucks I'd do it in a heartbeat, but they all seem to have turned into "collector vehicles" and the prices have inflated accordingly. I could read the writing on the wall with the last one I had about ten years ago -- I bought it for $1700 (an unheard-of overpay for me) and sold it a week later for $3600 and instantly regretted the sale.

2009 Cadillac DTS because it is smooth, quiet, comfortable, powerful, and has a kick ass sound system from the factory - go figure...

SoCal Sam said:

1985 Honda CRX Si. It had only 91 hp from a 1.5L four banger and 185 tires on 13" rims. I redlined that sucker every single day for five years. I ran it 2 quarts of oil low for months. It took it all and never broke down. I used corner hard all the time. Because it was so light, the tires could take it and I averaged 40k miles a set. I have owned much more powerful and faster cars since but none had the same combination of fun and economy.

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agreed. I had a 91 honda hatchback 5 speed and had a similar experience

'86 CRX here. Pretty much what you said. Perfect car in every way. I would run that thing from Ft. Benning to Missouri on long weekends to see my future (and current) wife. Lots of windy roads. It was so low to the ground I could literally touch the ground out the window if I stretched a bit.

My other favorite was a racing orange '75 Ford F250 Hi-boy. Dual rears and a 390 GT with a manual trans., Full tool storage locker bed and a heavy duty lumber rack. Punch it in second, the secondaries opened up and it screamed. 5 miles to the gallon with a cab tank. You never passed a gas station. I loved that truck. Should have kept it as it always turned heads and only let me down once. Except for that time, it always broke down as I would pull into my parking lot.


After thinking about it, probably my best rig was my '91 Chevy c/k 2500. Ran to 276,000 miles and the A/C still blew ice cold. It did have a new motor and a replacement transmission, but I ran that rig all over the state for work.

My 2001 Ford Powerstroke F-250 is in the running. Love this rig.

A couple more.

82 Lincoln Town Car. I bought it from a friend in 2000. It easily went over 300,000 miles. Sadly, I only saw about the last 50k and the trans went. It was almost as smooth and almost as roomy as the Caprice and pretty high tech for 82. Throttle body fuel injection.

70 Olds Cutlass. 350 rocket. One of the quickest off the line that I have owned.

Among the cars I have owned the following are my favorites -

1969 Roadrunner - 383 4 speed with 4.10 gears - fast, fast, fast.

1977 Toronado - what a great cruiser - 403ci V8 over front wheel drive made it a great winter car.

1984 Nissan 300zx 4 speed - white with tan interior. Never had to change the clutch.

1995 Aurora with the Northstar V8 - but it $$$ me to death with repairs

The two vehicles I still have -

2004 Infinite G35x - great driver in winter - my wife drives it now - 18,000 miles on it now. (she drove us to a concert last night and she is definitely a "wheel man" - she drives it like she stole it!)

And my latest driver - 2013 F150 3.5l ecoboost - twin turbo V6 - fast and comfortable.

Lots of cool cars you guys have listed!

1964 Malibu SS. Black on black. 327/4spd. Had more fun with that car than what should be allowed. My 94 Miata is running a close second.

'88-'98 Chevy Pickups: I like the looks of the body style, they are generally very reliable and easy to fix, ride, haul, and handle nice, the earlier TBI ones are very simple electronically. I have a 1992 1/2 ton std cab 8ft bed 350 auto 4X4.

'83-'97 Ford Rangers and '84-'90 Bronco IIs with the TTB/TIB front suspension: I like the looks of the square bodied '83-'88 the best, mechanically they are tough as nails unless they have the crappy A4LD automatic. I have a 1991 Ranger longbed 2.3 4 banger 5 speed 4x4 with 30" tires, MAJOR turd power wise but just won't die no matter how hard I beat it. I had an '88 Bronco II and LOVED it. It would climb like a mountain goat with a small lift and slightly oversized tires. I would like to have another one that isn't a rust bucket.

Ford Aspires/Festivas: Very simple to work on, go like hell in the snow, drive like a gokart, lots of cargo space with the rear seat removed, lots of room for the driver too, great gas mileage as long as you have a manual trans, I had one Aspire with 286k miles and didn't use a drop of oil. I currently have a 1996 Aspire that looks like shit, but is getting ready for a paint job. I won't give it up until there is not enough car left to fix.

If it's gets over 30 mpg we like it. Preferably over 40.

My '05 Honda CR-V. A boring, practical, reliable car for a boring, practical, reliable guy.

chicks said:

My '05 Honda CR-V. A boring, practical, reliable car for a boring, practical, reliable guy.

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Pretty much the same reason I like my Mirage.

1976 Olds Cutlass Supreme Brougham. Had it when I was in college. Just a real good, reliable, no-nonsense car. Mine had the 350 & turbo hydramatic, front discs. Detroit had worked on the front engine/rear wheel drive formula for a good 50 years, they had all the bugs worked out years before, it was a car that posed NO surprises to anyone who owned one. Would buy a new one today, if I could.

Since the supply of GM G-body station wagons has run a little thin, I've had to switch to '90s vintage Jeep Cherokees. The 4.0 straight six is dead reliable and problem-free when teamed with an automatic (never had a manual) and I love the box-on-box styling/ergonomics. These things are cheap and plentiful and they're perfect for hauling around our dogs. And just about any other medium-size objects you might care to name. I'm on my third one now.

Ask anybody who owns one -- they all say the same thing: "The Jeep? It's a tank. I couldn't break it if I tried."

Rolls-Royce, just because (heritage).
Elio, hope they can make it.

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