In 1970, I drove a Plymouth Valiant (courtesy of my mom)
My soon-to-be hubby drove a '57 Chev (now a classic)
After marriage in '72, we bought a used '69 Datsun. Bad news. It fell apart in '93. Last time we bought a used car!
'69 Chev company car
'73 Olds Omega (new)
'80 Plymouth company car
'81 Chrysler Cordoba (new)
'85 Chevy hatchback company car
'90 Plymouth Acclaim
'98 Neon (his, to and from work)
'99 Chrysler Concorde (mine)
Now we have the '98 Neon driven by our daughter, a '96 Cavalier Z22 driven by our son, the '99 Concorde and an '02 Ford Explorer.
Four people, four cars.
62 Corvair
69 Plymouth Roadrunner
32 Plymouth
54 Ford (big O'le boat)
58 MGA
47 Willys CJ3a
72 Chevy Vega
72 Ford Bronco
77 Jeep CJ7
69 Plymouth Barracuda
83 Toyota Camry
72 Cadillac
83 Dodge Van
85 Toyota Pick-up
80 Chevy Pick-up
90 Toyota Camry
93 Dodge Caravan
66 Mercedes Benz
85 Toyota Camry
87 Crown Victoria
Okay, I also started pretty late, so I havent owned many cars...
1993-1995 Maruti 800 (Indian car, sort of Suzuki Rabbit types, was the rave in India those times)
Then I moved to London
Fiat Cinquicento (95-97) (since I was new in London, Insurance on bigger cars was a nightmare, and I did not have much money anyways)
Ford Escort (97-99)
VW Passat(99-todate) - am desperate to change this car - have my next car all lined up, but a lack of bonus this year means that I have to drive it for atleast one more year !!
What cars have you owned / our compound
Hi LK -
Our compound is about five or six miles long by maybe two miles wide. At least half of that is desert, and the rest is developed housing. If you didn't look too closely you could almost think you were in a gated community in Arizona or Florida.
When we first moved here in '92 the camp was bursting at the seams. After the oil crashes, and with their program of Saudiazation, it's maybe 40% full now.
One entire side of the camp is boardered by the Persian Gulf, and the other side and the north end by a highway. The south end has a refinery.
About the only thing in the camp that's too far away to regularly walk to is the Hobby Farm, at the very north end. I'm told that back in the 40's most of the camp's fresh vegetables were grown there, but now it's a horse stable. They also have a small private dining hall there that serves just-like-US food. We usually meet our friends there once or twice a week for a good meal.
Just about every place else in camp is within walking distance, except when it gets up to 50 C during the day in the summer. There's a Commissary, Mail Center and bank about two blocks from our house, the school (K-9), weight room and outdoor pool are about a 10 minute walk north of us, and the library/bowling alley/movie theater/restaurant are a ten minute walk towards the beach.
There's a local Arab city of maybe 10,000 people just on the other side of the highway from us, and two large cities an hour south of us. The company has excellent bus service to these cities for shopping, but leaving the camp, especially with the recent bombings in Riyadh, probably isn't too smart.
Hope this answers your question.
75 VW Rabbit. the same make, modle, color as the one Jim Croce died in. Hand me down.
80 Rabbit Used Some people just don't learn...
85 Chrysler LeBaron GTS. Woulda gotten a Laser, but the girlfriend was too short to see over the dash.
89 VW Golf ...some people just don't learn.
92 Ford Taurus wagon... she got that one in the divorce, I got the VW. good choice on my part.
95 Caravan
00 Neon (No complaints)
Ah ha! Husker is a bonafied car-nut.
Slappy- Mitsubishis may be bad but my turquoise '90 Plymouth Laser Turbo (Eagle Talon, Mitsubishi Eclipse) had a Mitsubishi drive train and that car had over 200,000 miles on it when I sold it late last year. The turbo charger worked perfectly with out ever requiring attention it's whole life. Best and most fun car I ever had. Four wheel disc brakes, 190HP and a top speed of 145 miles per hour for $16,000. If the idiots hadn't changed it and made it as heavy as a Camero I'd have bought more after the first one so I could drive them for the rest of my life. At 125 on the interstate to Rock Springs, Wyoming it had gobs of peddle left. One sweet machine!
I don't need a car here but my wife really wants one never having owned one. I want a low-profile 80s Suzuki/Cheverolet Samurai (nice car makes you kidnap material) but she wants something "pretty" so we're saving for a late 90s Suzuki/Cheverolet two door Vitara. I want the 4x4 feature to get up muddy mountain roads.
If it weren't for her I'd have other 4x4 options like:
Lada Niva 4x4 (Russian)
BJG Jeep (Chinese)
Nisson Patrol (Japonese)
Daihatsu F-40 ( " )
Tata 4x4 pick-up (Indian)
Aro (Romanian)
'53 Willys (US or Colombian manufacture)
Mostly 70s and 80s models but the Tata is new.
65 Morris 1100
67 HR Holden Station Wagon
83 Isuzu 4 * 4 pickup
78 HZ Holden Station Wagon
89 Holden Barina Hatch (current)
and
86 Suzuki ER road/trail
96 Honda CBR 600F (current)
Pitter, those turbos were a really fun car to drive...they're quick as hell. I think alot of people were pissed when they changed. Especially the new style, seems like everyone still likes the 94-99 style better.
Did I mention the 88 GMC school bus? It's really about mine - I bought if for the Church and am 1/2 or the drivers for the beast.
Bought is from Kaiser Aluminun - they used it for strike workers.
Gautam - why do you want to be rid of the passat?
Jim - thanks for the info. So, it's an entire little town? Still.... how many years have you been within? You can see the gulf? Is it beautiful or nasty?
lil'k, you will surely laugh if I tell you - but the *only* reason I wanna change it is that it is 4 yrs old !
aaah, I see. I think they are great cars. So, you'll go from safe, feul efficeint passat to an SUV?
passat ? fuel efficient ? Mine gives me abt 24 mpg so I wont call it fuel efficient.
I have been dilly dallying between a BMW 528 or a BMW X5, but am leaning more towards the 528.
24mpg isn't bad for car that size. Get the 5-series! X5's are way overpriced.
A BMW! Good choice Gautam. I thought you were 99% sure you were getting an SUV. 24 mpg really isn't that great. My civic gets over 29 and it hasn't had a tune up for over a year.
It all depends, if I get transferred, then it does not make sense to buy an expensive car there, unless the company provided me with one as car theft of luxury cars is very very common. If I stay in London, then if I get a good bonus next year then maybe, else....
My cousin in Canada had a Citroen SM (Masarati V6). She said for years she thought the spedometer was calibrated in kilometers per hour and customarily cruised down to Toronto at 100. Turned out to be mph!
