What does your automotive evolution look like?

In the 1980s it looked like 2 1970 Monte Carlos, a 71 Camaro RS, a 70 Olds Cutlass... slowly migrating to 4x4 jap trucks for a while, then swinging to a bunch of odd RWD jap cars, then somewhere in the late 90's an E30 wandered into my hands...

It's been all German since. I've lost count of BMWs, there was a short fling with an awful VW, a wonderful Porsche 964... but every one of them has been on a race track since 1999 at least once, some hundreds of times.

I used to go in for the pretty stuff... now it's home-made, ugly, fast and loud. This is from the BMWCCA Octoberfest race at Mid-Ohio in 2012. I DNF'd due to a competitor hitting me in the left rear tire.

1980 Buick Park Ave 350 Diesel (not mine, same faded color):

1984 Ford Tempo 5-spd (mot mine, but same exterior color. Mine had whorehouse red interior):

1989 Caprice 9C1 (not mine, but absolutely identical down to the ralleys):

1993 GMC ECSB (mine was a fleetside, similar color though) 4.5/5-spd.

1993 CB750 Nighthawk:

2000 GMC Sonoma 2.2/5spd (not mine, I had 17x8 Boydz wheels and 255/50/17 Nitto NT450s on mine):

2001 Suzuki Grand Vitara:

2002 Elantra:

1989 1500 Lowered 2/4 with springs, 4.3/5spd:

2006 GMC CCSB 4.8:

2000 Accent GL:

1990 Suzuki Swift GT followed by it's replacement 1994 Swift GT:

1989 Corvette Z51:

2010 Kia Forte SX:

2008 Kia Rio:

4 Fiero's

3 F-Bodys

3 S-trucks

2 Corvettes

1 Citation X-11

1 Grand Am ( the only 4 door ever, yuck)

1 Saturn

1 1/2 ton 1988 Chevy pickup

GM and stickin' to it!

Damn, I've been pretty predictable. Full frame? It's a GM. Small? Suzuki. everything else Korean.

We'll only count vehicles I owned when I was old enough to drive.

85 Mercury Grand Marquis (bought at 15 by my dad, only drove it twice because it was a E36 M3box)

69 Dodge Truck (bought at 16 with my own $)

76 Plymouth Scamp (project never drove)

74 Dodge Dart Swinger (project never drove)

85 Toyota Camry (dad bought it so I'd have a "reliable" car, instead something always broke)

79 Dodge Magnum

93 Cavalier (still the newest car I've ever owned)

went back to the 69 Dodge from above

79 Dodge D100 Stepside

89 Chrysler Lebaron 'vert (Confirmed my hatred for convertables)

I didn't own another car for the next 2-3 years

89 Dodge Caravan

85 Dodge Shelby Charger

87 Dodge Dakota 2.2 5 speed

87 Dodge Shelby Charger

89 Chrysler Lebaron Coupe

89 Dodge Caravan*

88 Dodge Dakota*

89 Dodge Dakota*

90 Dodge D-150* (was my Grandpa's truck since almost new)

85 Dodge Omni GLH-T

89 Plymouth Sundance*

85 Dodge Omni GLH-T* (getting parted/scrapped)

*cars I still own

in order of purchase (many overlap during ownership):

1989 grand prix

1986 mustang gt convertible

1980 LeCar

1989 pontiac 6000

1991 lincoln continental

1993 plymouth Laser (still kinda have.. it is a chumpcar, and blowed up at the moment.)

2001 pt cruiser

2001 eclipse spyder (still have)

1990 miata (still have)

I've owned about 40 vehicles. It'd be a long list of regression.

years driving, 35.

Cars owned, over 120. I've listed them here before.

Current cars:

'13 Chevy Volt

'11 MINI Cooper

'02 Chevy 2500 Suburban

'79 Chevy Stepside hotrod

Back In Seattle:

'63 Comet S22 hardtop

'61 Renault 4CV

Past Rides:

Cars:

American:

'06 Mustang GT convertible

'63 Comet Convertible

'02 PT Cruiser

'99 SVT Contour

'86 Caddy Fleetwood Brougham (the Battlestar Cadillactica)

'61 Falcon

'62 Falcon 4dr custom

'86 Mazda/Ford RX7 (the Rex)

'62 Comet 2 dr sedan (my first car)

'72 Pinto (my first autocrosser)

'70 Mustang Sportsroof (autocrosser)

'70 Mustang Mach1 (drag car)

'70 Mustang BOSS 302 (investment car)

'71 Torino GT 429

'73 Euro Capri (road racer)

'50 Ford coupe

'70 Pontiac Ventura (drag car)

'76 Pontiac Grand LeMans (lowrider)

'89 Pontiac Grand Am

'78 Trans Am (autocrosser)

'84 Monte Carlo (lowrider)

'85 Monte Carlo (lowrider)

'75 Corvette/ Ferrari Daytona Spyder replica (TV car)

'81 Citation (323k miles!!!)

'71 Dodge Charger

'84 Dodge Daytona Turbo

'86 Dodge Daytona Turbo

'56 Dodge Hemi Coronet

'56 Rambler Wagon

Imports:

'98 BMW 740iL

'02 Hyundai Accent

'73 Porsche 914

'74 Porsche 914 (autocrosser)

'66 Porsche 912 (autocross and road racer)

'69 Porsche 911S

'74 Porsche 911S (driver and autocrosser)

Custom Bugs too numerous to list individually... (over 30)

'63 Ghia

'71 VW Karmann Ghia

'72 Ghia

'69 Squareback VW

'69 Fastback VW

Bradley GT kit car

'77 Scirocco

'80 Jetta (custom, w/Cabrio grille)

'59 Jaguar Mark IX

'86 Jaguar XJ6 (black)

'86 Jaguar XJ6 (cream)

'71 MG Midget

'76 MGB

'58 MGA

'59 TR3

? TR-7 (with Ford 2.8 V6)

'84 Renault Alliance

'72 Audi 100LS

'75 Fiat X-1/9

'78 Fiat X-1/9 (autocrosser)

'81 Fiat 124 Spyder

'72 Fiat 124 Spyder (autocrosser)

'74 Fiat 124 Spyder

'66 Datsun sedan

'72 Datsun 240Z

'74 Datsun 240Z (autocrosser)

'84 Toyota Corolla GTS (autocross and road race)

'74 Subaru Coupe

'82 Subaru 4x4 wagon

'84 Subaru 4x4 wagon

'70 Mazda R100 (autocrosser)

'73 Mazda RX-2 (autocrosser)

'73 Mazda RX-3 (autocrosser)

'75 Mazda RX-3

'79 Mazda RX-7

'86 CRX Si (custom)

Bikes:

'81 Honda CB750-F

'86 Yamaha Radian

'89 Suzuki Katana

Trucks:

'94 Chevy 3500 diesel dually

'01 Range Rover 4.6 HSE

'95 Range Rover County LWB

'88 Range Rover

'92 Toyota lowrider pickup

'96 Ford Ranger Splash

'77 Courier

'78 LUV (lowrider)

'74 LUV (lowrider)

'71 Datsun

'73 Datsun (lowrider)

'66 VW panel bus

'66 VW 21 Window Deluxe bus

'68 VW Westfalia camper bus

'72 Suburban (lowrider)

'78 Dodge Chinook Motorhome

'68 GMC intercity bus/motorhome conversion

'72 Winnebago Indian w/Mopar 413

No real pattern other than that section of time when I was into air cooled VWs

Leaving out motorcycles...
'75 Nova
'80 Rabbit
'64 Ranchero
'84 GTI
'84 Marquis
'64 Falcon 2dr sedan
'71 2002
'69 2002
'70 2002 (current, In my GRM garage, though not looking its best)
'90 Miata
'82 Rabbit (GTI Engine)
'87 325is (M52B28)
'93 F250 4x4 diesel
'01 B2500 van (current)
'12 WRX
'63 Ranchero (current)
'13 Leaf (current)

In reply to Chris_V:

Ok, Chris, you win.

1982 Fiat X1/9 - sent off to junkyard (rust)

1994 Subaru Legacy Ti Wagon - Given to brother, then junked.

1996 Honda Civic Sedan - Wrecked by old lady

1998 Honda Civic Sedan - Sold

2002 Acura RSX - Wrecked by old man

1992 Honda CRX Si - First real race car. Blew engine sold as roller.

Meet the missus, gain a 2007 Prius. Photo of our lineup at the time.

2005 Subaru Legacy GT - Sold after countless mechanical troubles. Photo is the day I sold it. Good riddance.

1996 Mazda Miata - Sold. Photo of new owners. Father and son going racing for the first time.

2005 Ford F-250 PSD - Still have

1987 Mazda RX7 (GRM purchase)- Still have

1996 Honda Civic Hatchback (GRM purchase)- Still have

1997 Toyota Avalon - Fell in our laps. Still have. Color code is "Vintage rose"

I'm all over the map. But I did go through a phase...

1985.5 Honda prelude Si

1990 Volvo 745T

1983 Volvo 244 (flipped)

1976 Toyota pickup

1990 Nissan Hardbody

1991 VW Golf

2000 VW GTI

2003 20AE GTI

2002 Toyota Tundra

1986 GTI

1990 GTI

1990 GTI (another)

1990 Honda Civic (flipped)

1989 240SX (current track car)

1994 Honda Accord (flipped)

2004 IS300

1999 328i (current DD)

My first car was a '73 Mazda RX-2, which I wrecked in my second year of college. For the rest of my college days, I drove this RX-3 wagon:

Then after I graduated, I got my first new car, an '81 Mazda GLC:

Then I got into autocrossing, and my first autocross car was a '77 Rabbit: This is where my car #77 came from. After that was an '85 Dodge GLH Turbo:

I got into road racing in the late '80's, and drove a Mazda RX-2:

My next car was a Ford Escort GT:

I drove and raced that for 11 years, then replaced it with my first Spec V:

And now I'm on my second Spec V, this one turbocharged:

• 1994 Toyota 2wd Pickup. Lowered with Addco anti-roll bars, 15x7 black wagon wheels, Bilstien shocks.
• 1990 SpecMiata - Raced 2002 - 2006
• 1999 Chevrolet C2500 Reg. Cab Long bed w/ 454
• 1986 Audi 4000 quattro cs
• 2001 Subaru Impreza 2.5RS
• 1990 SpecMiata - Raced 2007 - 2008
• 1999 Ford F-250 2wd Extended Cab 7.3PSD
• 1984 Audi 4000 quattro
• 2006 Mazda 3i
• 1991 Mazda Miata
• 2009 Mazda RX-8 R3 *
• 1996 Ford F-150 4x4 5.0L, 5spd. *
• 1997 SpecNeon *(belongs to a friend, but it is in my garage and I have raced it)
• To be continued. AADD is starting to kick in again. Hopefully it will wear off come spring when I can drive the RX-8 again. *Current fleet

In my case, the early years were marked by a string of fast but unreliable than selling it for boring but reliable. No actual photos, but representative.

1987 Toyota Celica GTS (that was plenty fast for a stupid 18 year old) a real POS

1994 Plymouth Colt (slow and not even that reliable)

1987 Alfa Romeo Milano (learned to wrench on that one, I was over my head)

1994 Nissan Sentra (fun and reliable, but rust killed it)

1999 Audi A4 (ughhhh! , that cured me of VAG products really fast)

1999 Mercury Mystique (I liked that one, finished its life against a tree)

2001 Hyundai Accent (wife rolled it on its roof in the same curve that claimed my Mystique)

2005 Subaru Impreza 2.5RS (first new car I bought. Loved it but it had to go when the family out-grew it)

1983 Chevy Suburban C20 (it was brown, ugly and thirsty, but I can't remember why I sold it)

2005 Ford Freestyle (that was a great family hauler, sold it because I was getting scared of the CVT)

1999 Nissan Maxima SE (was great, but when the AC broke, I lost patience. Also rust.)

2002 Nissan Sentra SE-R V-spec (Liked it, but flipped it when a good opportunity showed up)

2005 Saab 9-2X AERO (needed plenty of work, but kept it for a winter and sold it for a nice profit)

1993 Chevy Suburban (still have it, and it's great)

2006 Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec-V (current auto-x car, and really trouble free. it's a keeper)

2012 Mazda5 (Current family hauler)

Plus some more that weren't functionnal, or that passed so quickly that I don't count them. Making that list is really interesting. Never realised that I seem to be going back to Nissan quite often.

I'll post my list, even though it's quite modest:

'95 Daewoo Cielo (hand-me-down), sold (good riddance!!!)

Just like this POS, not the actual car:

'91 Corolla SR5:

'95 Samurai:

'92 Corolla GTS, parts car:

Mine is a little all over the board. I do have my preferences towards European though.

1988 Pontiac Bonneville SE (First car)

1995 Saab 9000CS

1977 Saab 99GL

1999 Buick LeSabre (Drove it after I blew the engine up on the 9000, ans sold the 99 because I was in college and couldn't afford unobtanium)

1994 BMW318is

2008 Subaru WRX

2007 BMW 335i

2011 Nissan Titan Pro-4X

See the pattern?

OK - here goes...in the best order I can remember...not counting non-runners and quick flips 1978 Chrysler Cordoba (with rich Corinthian leather) 1974 Plymouth Valiant (V8) 1985 Jeep Cherokee 1983 Ford Thunderbird 1984 Ford Thunderbird 1994 Dodge Dakota Sport V6 1994 Dodge Dakota Sport V8 (winning) 1988 Jeep Grand Wagoneer 1995 Chevrolet Monte Carlo 1968 Mercury Cyclone GT Spoiler 1995 Dodge Avenger 1992 Ford Mustang LX 5.0 1995 Ford Mustang GT 1974 Ford F100 1985 Volvo DL Wagon 1988 Lincoln Continental 1988 Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe 2001 Ford Explorer XLT 1995 Cadillac Sedan de Ville 2004 Ford Explorer NBX 1994 Mercedes Benz E320 2001 VW Passat GLX 1992 Jeep Grand Wagoneer Final Edition 2003 Volvo Cross Country 2007 BMW 328i 2009 Volvo C70 1964 Mercedes 220

Some very interesting vehicles and lineages. What I like about this forum is you find very few "If you don't like Ford/GM/Chevy/etc you suck" kind of peoples.

Here's my lineup:

2001: 1995 V6 Firebird

2004: 1997 LT1 Trans Am

2007: 2001 LS1 Trans Am When Purchased:

Final Product:

2008: 1995 Honda Civic built for GRM challenges

2009 Honda Fit

2009: 2006 Mustang GT w/ Supercharger

2010: 2010 Honda Civic Si

2012: 2012 Honda Civic Si

2012 Subaru WRX

2013: 2013 Honda Civic Si

2002 Subaru WRX Wagon - It was WR Blue can't find any pics of it right now.

2014 Subaru Forester

I just realized I went from having f'ing bitchin' cars to fun but not so cool to look at cars.

89 mercury sable

97 thunderbird

98 integra GSR

95 240sx

91 Plymouth laser turbo (fwd)

89 240sx

98 bonneville (DD)

2006 malibu (replaced the bonneville as DD)

2002 s2000

DanielCut wrote: See the pattern?

Why no, no I don't.

In reply to DaveEstey:

That RX7 looks mean. I love it.

I have general lust for an FC RX7, unsure about rotaries though.

Boring:

Learned to drive on one of these, belly mower and all. It's normal/safe for a 10 year old, that can't really depress the clutch without standing on it and pulling up on the steering wheel, to be mowing the yard unsupervised, right?

All of my friends had Yamaha Warriors, a Kawasaki Lakota, a Honda Big Red, and a Yamaha Timber Wolf. I had the Kawasaki Mule. When we went "camping" guess who got to haul the junk? Single seat RWD with locking rear, dump bed with wooden sides. I think it was a 500, looked just like this one.

'90 Version of this, but maroon with more dents, a grill that was JB Welded, and Rustoleum silver hub caps. It went places no Grand Prix dreamed, it became known as the "Catruck"

Carbon copy of this '94, a busted rear transverse leaf spring, got it named "The Squatmobile." I went through two engines on this beast.

I got Muffin the '97 TJ my senior year of High School, still have Muffin, she went unnamed until around my sophomore or jr. year of college. She looks a little different now, but here's a picture of her back in the day. This is Fall '00 or '01 I think, on a now closed Forest Service road near Devil's Den.

I drove The Squatmobile off and on too, the Jeep gets abysmal fuel economy. The lift, larger tires, and locker didn't make it any more hwy friendly.

After the Squatmobile's second engine failure, she got parked and eventually scrapped. In the mean time I was DD'ing the Jeep. It was eating me alive putting fuel in it, especially on a grad student stipend. My folks got a new-to-them V70, which instigated a family car shuffle. My little sister who had been driving dad's hand-me-down, the '95 Volvo 850 she named Lola, got my step mom's S70, and I got little sis' 850. I think my folks got tired of me trying to bum gas money, little sis' got a newer car, and the 850 stayed in the family.

I still have Lola, have had her almost 10 years now, she's been a trooper, been all over with her, she survived 3 years of daily driver duty in Ohio, and while I don't drive her as much since SWMBO and I can now carpool, I have no intentions of getting rid of her, she's a great second car. Lola:

Special mention during my "automotive evolution."

The Rocket, in reference to a bottle rocket, was SWMBO's '00 Cavalier. She had it when we started dating, I became it's mechanic/care taker, and we took it all over creation too. It was the more economical vehicle to drive, and we were both in school, so it often got picked over anything I had in my stable at the time. Here's one of the pictures I used in the Craig's List ad when we sold it back in '09.

And finally, TDI (pronounced "Teddy" of course ) SWMBO and I were out of grad school, and both gainfully employed, for the most part, for the first time. The idea of her going on further with her education began getting serious consideration, she started applying to schools to become Dr. SWMBO. In the mean time we decided we needed a newer, more reliable vehicle, and a warranty would be nice. She decided on a new Diesel Jetta, common rail was brand new in '09. I went to work, had every VW dealer that would play along, within 300 miles biding against each other for our business, and we wound up with TDI, an '09, DSG, sunroof, bluetooth, Diesel, Jetta. TDI too got us through the grad school induced 3 years in Ohio. We're both back home in Arkansas, both work in Little Rock, and TDI is now the go to daily driver, we carpool, and Lola is the backup.

• Lee