What cars did you grow up with, or "How parents unintentionally influence their children".

My parents didn't have many interesting cars, I do remember a 74 Duster (Gold duster edition) and a 79 Volarie wagon in brown. I'd guess those were semi normal cars for the period. My influence was the guy 2 doors down.  A white Bricklin, TR3, bright blue fiat x-19, all drivers. His practical car was a Peugeot wagon. He showed me how stuff worked, made me learn to roll cigarettes, as he told stories, etc. I never saw a wife/girlfriend and have no idea what he did for a job/money, but that man lived a good life, squeezed every moment out of every day. I know he had a daughter about 15 years older than me, I never met her until the funeral, and only then. I was 12 when he died, didn't think about asking about the cars, they disappeared a few weeks later. 

My dad bought a red 1961 Pontiac when I was about 7 years old.  He had it long enough that I learned to drive in it, and took it to the high school prom.  As a result my first car was also a red 1961 Pontiac, and I've continuously owned at least one red 1961 Pontiac since then.

I was born in '76. My childhood was filled with SAABs, Alfa Romeos, Lotuses, and an International Travelall, plus a bunch of motorcycles, all of which certainly shaped my appreciation for smaller cars, lightweight vehicles, and four cylinder engines.

The daily drivers when I was young were a 1974 Alfa GTV2000, and a (late-60s?) SAAB 99 2-door which my dad, inspired by the newer factory cars, turbocharged himself, and was always a running work in progress. His long-term project was restoring a late-50's-early-60's Lotus Elite. The Travelall was for truck stuff. We also housed (and occasionally exercised) an Alfetta sedan and a Lotus Europa for a family friend living abroad. By the time I was in high school, the Travelall was still around, but the daily drivers were now a SAAB 9000 five-door and a 1979 Alfa Alfetta GT. Certainly left an impression on me.

I was born in 1967 and came home in a '64 1/2 Mustang. Dad was a car guy, while my mother just wanted something reliable.

Dad flip-flopped between little English cars and Corvettes before I was born. The first car I remember him having was a '67 Vette 427/435 4-speed convertible, and he was racing Triumph Spitfires at Lime Rock. At some point the '67 got sold and he got a '62 Vette which he still has. When I was in high school he added a '71 454/4-spd coupe, and then a cheap '73 convertible. He also went through a bunch of small cars: two or three MGBs, Spitfires, Fiat X1/9, Datsun Roadster, a couple attempts at restoring Sunbeam Tigers, Porsche 914, and Suzuki Swift GT. I'm sure I'm forgetting plenty. His current fleet is made up of the 62, a 19 Vette convertible, the 92 Sunburst Miata he bought new, and winter beater '16 GTI.

Mom, on the other hand, seemed to be happy with getting bare-bones hatchbacks and driving them until they were well past their use-by date. After a couple Ford station wagons that doubled as dad's Spitfire tow rigs was a '74 Civic, '81 Plymouth Champ, '86 Mazda 323, two Ford ZX2s, and her current '08 Civic sedan. That '08 was her first automatic transmission since she got out of the station wagons.

My mother was a strong influence in car purchases. She was arguably a better/faster driver than my dad. I was born in 1965.

1964 Corvair Spyder convertible

1966 Corvair Monza coupe

1969? BMW 1600-2

1972 Audi 100LS

1974 Audi 100LS

1978 Subaru 4x4 wagon (Dad's choice; Mom hated it when bought but learned to love it's plucky-ness)

1984 Saab 900

Dad also had a 1957 Willys CJ5 for over a decade. It was a project/second vehicle that imprinted a desire to own these horrid things that I have been able to resist so far. After blowing up the engine on it from overheating, he picked up a 64 Corvair convertible project that sadly went nowhere. After that it was me and my Fiat 124s until I moved out.

Born in 75.

Mom and Dad's fleet:

1972 Nova

1971 C20 400sbc, SM465

1980 C10 250, 3 on the tree, 2.73 rear gears.

1983 Isuzu P'up Diesel long bed

1977 Dodge tradesmanwindow van

1984 Ford Tempo 5-spd

1989 Mercury Topaz auto

1991 9C1 Caprice

1993 1500 ECSB V6 5-spd

1992 hi-top G20

bunch of crap after that, 84 C4, couple astro vans, another G van, tahoes, and a Silverado they've had since 06.

Grandma/Grandpa and mt aunt had other oddballs. A couple Vega Wagons, Multiple chevettes (one diesel auto), a 77 Monte Carlo, Corsica, turbo caravan.... 

My parents had the cool cars before they had kids, then went practical, so growing up, it was mostly station wagons and VW Campers, with a few compact Toyotas in the mix.  Before that time, though, Corvairs, Mustangs, a Cougar, some sort of British sports car, and a couple Volvo 1800ESs.  A couple years before I got my driver's license, they sold an early 80's Corolla hatch with a 5 speed.  If they had kept it, I kind of wonder if I'd have gotten into smaller, more agile cars sooner, rather than the big American V8s I ended up with (and still like a lot).  I'd love to get a hold of a red Fairmont wagon like they had when I was a little kid.

My mom had a 1966 Mustang with the 289 v8. Growing up in the malaise of the 80s, that seemed like the fastest car in the world. I loved that car and wanted it when I "grew up," but they sold it when I was 14 and we moved out of the country. It was maroon and looked about like this:

A whole lot of junk.

My Mom: a Ford Taurus wagon then a string of Camrys.

My dad: F150 then a Ranger.

My parents weren't car people at all but still influenced my automotive passions.  They were missionaries in India and I lived there until I was 4 (born late 1965).  They had a church-issued flat fender Jeep (I think a Mahindra built under license) for awhile, then a Jeep station wagon, and finally a Hindustan Ambassador. Back in the States, their philosophy was to buy cars used for cash and run them into the ground.  They had a 1965 Plymouth Fury III wagon, then a 1968 Galaxy 500. My brother, 2 sisters, and I were really mad when the Galaxy replaced the wagon. When my older siblings started driving about 1975, my dad got a 1968 Beetle from a local guy who rebuilt them from wrecks. My dad bought another Beetle from the guy (1969) when my oldest sister went to college. The Galaxy got replaced with a 1976 Vega Wagon when there were fewer of us at home and I drove it and the 1968 Beetle in high school. The Vega was such a bad car and would barely do 65 MPH even though it had about 50K miles and was in nice shape. Since I was really into cars, my parents let me work on the 1968 Beetle using John Muir's VW Idiot book starting when I was 12. They loaned me money to fix and flip a 1970 MGB/GT when I was 15.  I somehow painted it nicely with a rented compressor and spray gun, made about $200 on it, and continued to work out of their garage on fixing people's cars and flipping MGs and VWs. Their last cars while I lived at home were a 1976 Cutlass and their first new car ever--1984 Honda Civic.  Even though it was new, they paid cash and ran it into the ground, well into the 1990s.

My parent's main influence on me was to support my interests and let me play with cars in their garage.  They also taught me to buy cars used, for cash, and run them into the ground.  Pretty cool.  I still have the 1968 Beetle and bought a 1966 Fury III wagon that is nearly identical to our old car. My brother and sisters love that car when they visit.  Maybe I'm a bit nostalgic, but there will be no 1976 Vega Wagon in my fleet.

I grew up in a family of two Oldsmobile 442s, then in the mid-80's a Grand AM and a Celebrity Eurosport.  My dad bought a brand new 95 Chevy truck.  These cars all shared one thing in common:  They were epic pieces of E36 M3.

We had an old Datsun 720 truck that outlasted all of these that I gravitated toward.  I got my license in '92, when the Japanese cars were unbeatable.  The malaise era fallout cost domestic manufacturers an entire generation of customers, whether or not that is justified.  I still don't trust domestic cars, which is maybe irrational.

My parents were not car people. We only had one car from two years after I was born until my father got a teaching job in 1978 (he didn't drive prior to that).  My mother is only on her 5th car total.

My parents had a parade of automotive hideousness; there influence has manifested itself in my mostly driving imports, mostly because they picked some of the worst American cars made. My mom is currently driving an 06 Impala (I hate that car).

I was born in 62 and the first car I remember was the 65 Impala but I don't remember much about it, this was followed by a Maverick in hideous orange.

When we moved to Hawaii he bought a 1970 Mazda 1200 (sadly with an automatic); I loved this car mostly because it took us to Lanikai Beach every weekend. We also used to to go to the drive-in movies; my folks would fold down the seats and we kids were supposed to go to sleep when the grown up movies came on............as the middle child i was given the middle spot. This allowed me to see the movies, I got to watch most of Get Carter at 9 years old............I feel asleep.

The one I do remember most fondly was my Dad's 73 Scamp (Valiant); this was an abuse loving car that he drove down rocky dirt roads and it never let him down.

My parents had no interest in cars whatsoever. Just appliances that got them around. 
 

I was always a pretty rebellious kid, so I became hotly interested in cars, probably primarily because of their disinterest. 

Neither parent really cared much about cars and drove a succession of boring American stuff.

The only one that was a bit out of the normal box was a 1972 Le Mans Sport convertible.  What was special about it was that it was 1) - in reality a GTO except that they didn't call the converts a GTO in that year, and 2) had the top engine a 455 HO round port -  one of around 30 cars produced (I think they also produced around 20 with manual trans). 

I inherited it and as I was racing sports cars at the time, I took it (very cautiously) around the track on a practice night. What an ill handling and braking car!  Sold it shortly afterward. Not sure American producers managed to include adequate braking and at least decent handling in their cars until this millennium, with a handful of exceptions (Corvette, Fiero V6 etc.)

Although, my Dad played jazz vibes, and always had to have something big enough to haul the vibes, so he always drove a station wagon. 
 

He had no idea how cool his Vista Cruiser wagon was!

Everything my dad drove when I was growing up...

I'm a PHD, Papa Had Dealership.  Mostly foreign, only domestic was Studebaker.  3 cylinder SAABS, Volvos, Peugeots, Renaults, Subarus, Citroens, and most of the British Imports, Morris, Triumph, Singer.  Of course, you had to have the really odd cars like Isettas, and Amphicars.  Never knew for sure what he was driving home.  Most consistent cars were 3 banger SAABS, he just loved those corn poppers.  His biggest regret was being talked out of selling those stupid little reat engine cars in 1955.  I mean, who in their right mind was going to buy a German car after World War II, especially one as ugly as that one with the tiny engine and the funny name.  Volkswagen?  Forget it, a flash in the pan.  Almost forgot about the damn mopeds, still have nightmares about 400 pound customers and New England hills.

SV reX said:

Although, my Dad played jazz vibes, and always had to have something big enough to haul the vibes, so he always drove a station wagon. 
 

He had no idea how cool his Vista Cruiser wagon was!

When my dad was shopping for one of his next wagons, he had a weekend test drive with a brand new vista cruiser. As a kid, the rear seat overhead glass was wicked cool! Sone reason it wasn't the car for him, so I think the Fury wagon was bought. 
Another car I tried to convince him was the one for us, was when Peninsula Dodge/Plymouth had an entire row of Super Birds! Way COOL. Alas, he dismissed my opinion there, as well!!!

I was born in 1962 and Dad is absolutely a car guy.

I came home in a 1960 Opel Rekord that he bought new and had shipped home from Germany after he got out of the Army. (Let it be know that the Soviets never passed through the Fulda Gap on his watch!).  I vaguely remember a mid 50’s Ford wagon, it was his work car. Last year of the flathead V8 with an air cooled automatic so maybe 1955?  He still wishes he’d kept it.

They kept the Opel for close to 10 years, there was a Mercury Comet wagon (66?) they bought used and hated.  That led to a new 69 Peugeot 404 with a 4 on the tree, followed by a 73 Peugeot 504 4 on the floor, 78 Datsun 810 also a 4 speed stick.   Then the Mercedes phase; 74 230 gas sedan, 83 and 85 300D turbo diesels.  Someone had messed with the fuel pump on the 83, it was pretty damn quick for a diesel and could roll a bit of coal before that was a thing.  

He went all conventional with a new 96 Grand Marquis, bought a second one in 02 and a third in 06.  Traded that on an 11 Fusion and is ocurrently running a candy apple red 16 Fusion with the 1.6 Ecoboost.   He also has what is quite possibly the cleanest 03 Dodge Dakota 4x4 in New England, 4.7 V8 and extended cab.  I’d be shocked if it has 60k on it.  

Dad had a 1976 GMC High Sierra stepside on Cragars, metallic brown with those badass tricolor stripes on the side that went from light tan to dark tan. 350 with glass packs. 

Mom had a 1983ish white Buick Regal. I imagined it was DW's MTN DEW race car without the paintwork done. I don't remember ever getting in by opening the door. Race car drivers and the Duke Boys climbed through the windows and so did I. 

That was in the early 80s. Those got replaced in time but they are the ones that stick out from my childhood. 

My mother was cheap and my father thought the VW Beetle and Transporter were the greatest vehicles in the world. They owned a VW dealership which they sold 6 years before I was born. 

For a family of 6 in Michigan they owned,

1967 VW Beetle. (bought new driven until rusted out)

1970 Camper van (only used in summer when there was no salt on the roads)

1974 VW Beetle. (bought new driven until rusted out)

1977 VW Beetle. (leased, returned) 

My parents split up. My mom bought beaters for a couple of years

1974 Pinto (bought used, ran like crap)

1977 Dodge Colt (bought used, reliable rust bucket)  

Back to new cars

1986 Honda Civic (4spd, No Radio, No AC)

1989 Honda Civic (4spd, No Radio, No AC)

2000 Ford Focus (5spd, Radio, AC, such luxury) 

Born in '58 moved out in '76.  When I was born mom had a '54 Chevy and dad a late 50's Simca. Mom got a new Chevy wagon in '62, then '69, then again in '76 from my uncles dealership. Dad got a  64 1/2 Mustang in '65, then a 70 Challenger in '71, then a 77 Monza Spyder clone in '78, all were standards and my mom drove dads cars regularly.

My dads father (gone before I was born) was a businessman and one of the many businesses he owned was a GM dealership so my dad had first dibs on trade ins and therefore had a bunch of cool cars & trucks before my time. I think he used the cars as a way to make cash on the side while also working at his fathers bowling alley and Friendly's Ice cream shop through high school.

Moms dad had a mechanical shop and sold Boyertown & Grumman trucks. I remember the shop installing air conditioning to VW's , outfitting fire trucks with all the apparatus, building motor homes on bare chassis, and other cool projects. I loved to go to gramps shop.

Grew up in a neighborhood full of somewhat upper middle class car folk. The parents had  nice commuters and many had a used Rolls Royce, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Corvette,  Jensen, gullwing Mercedes or other cool car. Us kids were driving late 60's early 70's sports cars, muscle cars, and pony cars. I had a '68 Camaro and my "beater" was a 66 Nova. At the time it was common for high school kids in the area to have a nice car as well as a beater. My friends had all sorts of cars you see fetch big money at auction now,  but at the time they were just cool used cars to us.  Shelby Mustangs, Hemi Belvedere's, GTX's, Z-28's, AMX's, Trans Am's, H/O's, big block Chevelle's, and other cool cars with big engines were being sold cheap because of the gas shortage when I got my license so us high school age kids were all over them. I bought my Camaro for $800.00.

Driveway pic, van was my brothers.

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