For many of us, our love of cars started when we were kids and the grownups in our lives had cars we thought were amazing. Who were they and what were their cars?
For me, I had lots of examples:
My dad: 67 Mustang coupe w K-code 289, 71 Olds Cutlass SX ragtop (think sleeper W31), 78 Scirocco S...
My uncles: 68 Bronco, 70 429 Torino, 68 and 72 Buick Riviera, 71 GTO, Cosworth Vega, MB 190SL, 69 Camaro DZ302...
My aunts: CRX Si, TR8, 68 Barracuda...
Your turn!
Sad to say. My family never owned any neat cars. My Dad died when I was eight and we lived on a farm. We had trucks, a few old Harleys, and several beater cars. After all, everything had to ford the creek to get to the highway.
One advantage of living in the country back then is my brothers & I were all driving on the highway by age 12. As were all the other kids we knew.
My Uncle lived in the city, and we thought he was loaded. He bought a new Caddy about every two years or so. A couple of his Caddys were convertibles. His '55 Caddy convertible was about the size of a barn & that car was cool. It even had Automatic Dimming Headlights plus Power Brakes & Steering! Of course the dimmer sensor dimmed the lights randomly most of the time. So he soon disabled it.
Dads '68 Mercury Montego with the 429 (7.0 liter!)
ebonyandivory wrote: Dads '68 Mercury Montego with the 429 (7.0 liter!)
Sounds like your dad & I are about the same age.
My Mom drove a Chevelle wagon for a lot of years. It wasn't cool, it just another wagon back then.
My grandmother had some kind of Austin-Healey 3000 at some point. I've only seen it in pictures.
I have a distant uncle who races an FD.
And that's about it...very few car people in my family.
My dad once got to borrow a Mk3 Supra from the dealership while a Tercel was in for service, I thought that was pretty cool. Maybe why I still think pop-up lights are awesome 
Dad had a 68 gto with a hotter 400 and working ac, and my grandmother still has a running and driving 54 corvette with a 327 and 4 speed.
My mom drove a supercharged all-trac Previa with the swivel captains seats and fold-up rear bench when I was in middle school. Best 90's minivan evar.
My dad had a 1994 Defender 90 a until a few years ago. He bought it with 40k miles and sold it with 66k seven years later, and it was probably in the shop 3 to 4 times a year for things other than routine maintenance. However, I WILL own one someday.
I was into cars well before driving age, and parents usually had used Benz sedans when I was little, and more mundane stuff when I was in middle school (minivan, used Audi 5000 FWD). My dad bought an '86 Porsche 951 (good deal from a coworker who was moving, clearcoat coming off the front helped drop the price) when I was in highschool. That was/is still one of my favorites! My best friend in high school (also a gearhead) loved that car so much he ended up buying one of his own when he was in college! He still owns it, and it is about as clean as you will find an '86 951 (he's won trophies at PCA shows). I will always have a soft spot for those cars, despite the outdated rear suspension geometry, and the misery of having to replace the coolant hoses between the engine and firewall TWICE! (never had to do the thermostat, though)
My family never had cool cars when I was around. But my dad did own a 1984 20th Anniversary GT Turbo Mustang and my mom had an F2T Probe. My grandparents had a Fiat X1/9 and an 850 Spider before I was born too.
my dad had a brown diesel rabbit with a manual. It wasn't a wagon, but it was a 5-door hatch.
My parents are not cool car people. I thought my dads 99 Impala LS was cool when he got it. I was maybe 15/16 then though.
I guess its pretty cool for him. Its got a spoiler on it! And a sunroof!
My uncle always had some relatively cool cars. 5 speed Audi 5000CS (now owned by another one of my uncles), 80's lifted Dodge Ram 2500 Diesel somethingorother, Trans Am GTA, various Volvo Wagons with teh boosts, Conversion vans, Mercedes sedans. His recent acquisition was a used Jaguar sedan. Dont know the specifics but my dad told me he stopped by with it. Oh yeah he has a mint 80's Caprice wagon that is his roadtrip vehicle. Pulls a teardrop camping trailer with it.
One Uncle owned a GTX with a 6-pack then eventually moved onto an 84 GLH and an 88 Shelby CSX-T
Another Uncle owned a 440 'Cuda then eventually bought an 83-1/2 Shelby Charger, an RX-3 GT3 race car which became an RX-7 race car and was joined by a C4 'Vette
Dad owned a Lotus Elan which was replaced with an MGB GT and a Bugeye Sprite to a 73 Ford Capri, a 86 Shelby Charger, finally a Daytona Shelby after that it gets pretty boring.
Older brother had a 77 Civic CVCC (Red with white vinyl roof), a '63 Coronet 440 (318 powered) an 86 Shelby Charger, an 87 Shelby Charger and an 86 GLH-S
1973 Triumph Stag.
My mother used it to give white knuckle rides to business clients when she felt they were being a little to patronizing to "the little lady."
My mom had a GTO and a Corvair Monza Spyder(turbo!), but they were gone before I was born.
Although I hated them at the time, we had a '78 Lincoln Town Car and '77 Country Squire wagon that I drove occasionally as a teenager...sure wish I had both now!
My brother had a '79 Trans Am with the 6.6L. White with orange/yellow/red bird and shaker hood.
'84 Chrysler LeBaron...it talked. For that technological age, to a pre-teen/early teenager, that was some cool E36 M3.
My pops is a hardcore car guy. He drug us around in the late 70's in a 64 Econoline van with a wild rake and wide cragars. We spent the early 70's in challengers and in the 80's he got into aircooled VW's. More of those than I can count some highlights were several 56 oval sliding ragtop cars with 1835's. This wild pro street bug
And many, MANY more. by the 90's he got back into vintage american stuff. Built a 69 Charger RT then a 48 Anglia big block gasser and a 55 Ranch wagon. Nowadays he doesn't have any car projects, but wants a mid sixties bug again.
My pops is a damn cool dude.
Dad had a couple of cool cars. The best part was he didn't hesitate to let me and my brothers drive them, even as teens. Let's see; '79 Trans Am (autotragic), the first Fiero (manual), and later a V6 Fiero (manual).
Mom had some fun ones as well, just in a different sort of way. She had an old Biscayne (I want to say '63) that she bought when I was 10-12 ish? That was kind of cool. Later she had a Toyota Corolla wagon. That was a big deal in my Detroit suburb at the time.
I got my interest of cars from my father. He used to tell me stories about his old cars, and used to buy me boatloads of Hot Wheels and other small diecast cars as a kid. Here's some of the more interesting vehicles he had:
1966 Oldsmobile Cutlass Holiday Sedan: Inside this stodgy bench-seated 4-door sedan resided a Holley-topped high-output 320hp 330 and a Hurst-shifted Muncie 4-speed. This was the definition of a sleeper. He and his friends of course tuned it and raced it, and he had his fair share of street racing war stories to tell. I have always been on the lookout for one of these for him and I to build.
1969 Pontiac LeMans Sport: My mother and my dad's doctor told him to get rid of the Olds because the too-heavy clutch was messing up his knee, which was already having issues. He picked this up and it had a 350 H.O. and a 3-speed automatic. "This car would throw you into the back seat at 100mph!" was always the accompanying phrase that went along with it.
1985 Ford Escort GT Turbo: My dad had this when I was 3. It was the first car I really remember him being excited about. It was black with orange stripes and a 5-speed, which to my young mind, meant RACE CAR!!! It legendarily broke down on the way home from the dealership the day he bought it. He didn't have it for long, but it was cool.
1982 Ford F150 Flareside: The first vehicle I remember going to the dealer and buying. It was a gray XLT, and had the 300ci six and an automatic driving the rear wheels. I distinctly remember playing with my Hot Wheels on the driver's side floor on the dealer lot while my dad negotiated with the sales guy. It was also the first vehicle I remember breaking down in, when the fuel pump quit. In the rain. 
Another thing I always hear from my dad: "I almost bought __ but _____". This is why I do not hesitate when a deal on something I want comes up. No regrets!
Hey this is kind of cool, how about an Austin Minor with mechanical indicators? My grandparents on my dad's side had one. And my grandmother started a running joke in my family when she drowned it in a deeply flooded road because "it can't be that deep, a duck is standing in it" 
Besides my own?
98 Honda prelude Si
yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhh boyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
Toyman01 wrote: My Mom drove a Chevelle wagon for a lot of years. It wasn't cool, it just another wagon back then.
Through most of the 70's our sole family car (my father didn't drive) was a '71 Dodge Demon with a slant-6 and an automatic. It wasn't considered "cool" back then, but boy do I wish I still had that car.
In 1978 my father got a teaching job, reinstated his license and bought a new Datsun F10 which was "cool" only in its historical significance as the first FWD car with a 5 spd transmission and it often being listed among the ugliest cars ever made.
Going through the rest of the family, it gets even more bland...
My dad bought a 7 series BMW in 1984 special ordered with a 5-speed manual. he traded that for a cosworth 16v mercedes 190. we alway had an old british project. 67 healey 3000. 53 jag xk120 (still have).
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