The car you "grew up" with

[CJ]

You lived in Texas?  What part?

[Rupert]

Dave in a few years...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0RyipOMnnY

I've been saying that since forever...

[The Pirate]

My folks had a lot of Chrysler products.

Growing up, my mom always drove a Chrysler minivan,  Bought new, every three years or so.  My dad had use of work vehicles, usually a ~1994 Olds Cutlass Cruiser wagon.  He bought a Plymouth Acclaim when I started high school, and a 1997 Accord EX when I was a sophomore.  I took my road test on this car.  Around the same time, my folks got away from the minivans, and got a Dodge Ram Van 2500 conversion van.  Bed in the rear, 5.9L V8, atrocious on gas, fun in the way that vans are.

Dumped the Accord and the van for an Olds Silhouette and a Nissan Pathfinder.  Went with another Olds Silhouette then a Chevy Venture.  Pathfinder stuck through til 150K miles.  I was well on my own at this point.  My folks now have a 2006 Mazda6 V6, 2000 Mazda B4000 4x4 and a 2007 (or so) Toyota Sienna.  

Props to my dad, the Accord, Pathfinder, 6 and B4000 are/were all manual transmission.  Sorry for the rambled nature.  Long day.

[Speed_Racer]

You lived in Texas?  What part?

North Dallas. I lived there from the 2nd half of kindergarten until the end of 5th grade.

[CJ]

North Dallas. I lived there from the 2nd half of kindergarten until the end of 5th grade.

City?  I'm in Plano.

[Speed_Racer]

Cedar Hill. Not too far from where you are.

[CJ]

Cedar Hill. Not too far from where you are.

Cedar Hill State Park is a pretty nice place to be. 

[omicron]

Good question. I remember feeling incredibly sad when we traded-in our XF Falcon GL. Why, I have no idea.



I still have a little bit of a soft spot for those rugged '80s Fords.

[mzziaz]

Good question. I remember feeling incredibly sad when we traded-in our XF Falcon GL. Why, I have no idea.



I still have a little bit of a soft spot for those rugged '80s Fords.

That rear looks suspiciously similar to the Euro Granada:


I'd love to have one in Ghia V6 guise

[omicron]

That rear looks suspiciously similar to the Euro Granada:


I'd love to have one in Ghia V6 guise

The earlier cars have even stronger links to the Granada.

'79 XD Falcon:




'82 XE:



'84 XF:



Mind you, no Granada ever came with a 351 Cleveland!

[mzziaz]

Mind you, no Granada ever came with a 351 Cleveland Windsor!

Damn right! 

[Madman]

My earliest car memories were of my mother's 1964 Dodge Dart and my father's 1966 Dodge Coronet.  The Cornet was replaced by a 1972 Ford Pinto wagon which we used to drive from Chicago to Florida.  The Pinto had no air conditioning and it was probably the longest, most miserable car trip of my entire life.  Meanwile, the Dart was replaced by a two-door 1972 Pontiac LeMans.  My dad only kept the Pinto for about a year.  He didn't like the car for some reason and traded it for a brand new 1974 Ford Thunderbird.  It was in the Thunderbird where I spent most of my childhood.  This car was the most awful pile of shit ever to sputter down a road!  It's 460 cu.in. engine drank entire oilfields dry and the mechanical bits were seemingly designed to last hours, not years.  By 1981, at a mere seven years of age, this car was scrap.  Luckily (or not!), my grandmother had just bought a new 1981 Lincoln Town Car and sold her old, immaculate, 18,000 mile 1974 Ford LTD to my father for the token sum of $1.00.  This was the car I eventually learnt to drive in and was also a mechanical nightmare.  Oh, and there was also a string of beater Ford pickups, used primarily for towing our boat.

[Mustangfan2003]

Earliest car I remember was an early 80s Olds Cutlass, same color as this one

Don't remember the year but it had the small V8, a 260 I think
Then my dad had a 76 GMC truck, didn't keep it very long during my lifetime, but my grandpa bought it from him.  It was a two tone, red on top and bottom and a cream color in the center.  It was long wheel base, 6 cylinder, and had a 3 on the tree. 
After getting rid of the GMC he got a new 1988 Ford Ranger that looked just like this one except it was a regular cab and was 2wd

It was a 4 cylinder and a 5 speed
After getting rid of the Olds my mom had got a new 1990 Grand Am.  It looked like this minus the aftermarket wheels and the sunroof

After ditching the Pontiac my mom got a Mercury Mystique just like this, but with different wheels

My mom kept the Mercury for a while until she got the Trailblazer she has now.  My dad later ditched the Ranger for a 95 Silverado and then a 99 Silverardo and now has the Colorado. 

[CJ]

We had a 1989 Grand Am sedan with the alloy wheels and manual...everything except transmission.  It was our first brand new car.  We also had a 1990 Volvo 740 GL wagon that we sold for the Camry.  Sold the Grand Am for a 1997 Isuzu Rodeo.

[dazzleman]

My folks had a lot of Chrysler products.

Growing up, my mom always drove a Chrysler minivan,  Bought new, every three years or so.  My dad had use of work vehicles, usually a ~1994 Olds Cutlass Cruiser wagon.  He bought a Plymouth Acclaim when I started high school, and a 1997 Accord EX when I was a sophomore.  I took my road test on this car.  Around the same time, my folks got away from the minivans, and got a Dodge Ram Van 2500 conversion van.  Bed in the rear, 5.9L V8, atrocious on gas, fun in the way that vans are.

Dumped the Accord and the van for an Olds Silhouette and a Nissan Pathfinder.  Went with another Olds Silhouette then a Chevy Venture.  Pathfinder stuck through til 150K miles.  I was well on my own at this point.  My folks now have a 2006 Mazda6 V6, 2000 Mazda B4000 4x4 and a 2007 (or so) Toyota Sienna.  

Props to my dad, the Accord, Pathfinder, 6 and B4000 are/were all manual transmission.  Sorry for the rambled nature.  Long day.

Chrysler minivan?  That is about the most uncool vehicle I can imagine.    Ron's wife used to drive a minivan, and I told him that he needed to check his balls at the door if he ever drove it.  Now she has an Expedition and we rode to the Pats game in it once.  He drives it totally differently than he drives his Audi.  I told him that when he drives the Expedition, he might as well be wearing a skirt.  Those oversized stupid vehicles have a way of doing that to you.  It seems like 9x out of 10, when somebody is in the way on the road, it's a minivan.

[sportyaccordy]

My mom hauled us around in a 1996 Nissan Quest GXE. It was alright. Dad had the fully loaded Maxima. I hope my kids will have access to cooler cars (but I doubt it; their mom is a real Ford fan)

[dazzleman]

Dave in a few years...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0RyipOMnnY

In a few years?  That's me now.....minus the bitchy wife....

[ifcar]

Chrysler minivan?  That is about the most uncool vehicle I can imagine.    Ron's wife used to drive a minivan, and I told him that he needed to check his balls at the door if he ever drove it.  Now she has an Expedition and we rode to the Pats game in it once.  He drives it totally differently than he drives his Audi.  I told him that when he drives the Expedition, he might as well be wearing a skirt.  Those oversized stupid vehicles have a way of doing that to you.  It seems like 9x out of 10, when somebody is in the way on the road, it's a minivan.

Do you mean to say that he's driving it with respect for its diminished braking and handling capabilities, for the safety of himself and others? Shame, shame!

[dazzleman]

Do you mean to say that he's driving it with respect for its diminished braking and handling capabilities, for the safety of himself and others? Shame, shame!

Don't bore me with the facts.

[The Pirate]

Chrysler minivan?  That is about the most uncool vehicle I can imagine.    Ron's wife used to drive a minivan, and I told him that he needed to check his balls at the door if he ever drove it.  Now she has an Expedition and we rode to the Pats game in it once.  He drives it totally differently than he drives his Audi.  I told him that when he drives the Expedition, he might as well be wearing a skirt.  Those oversized stupid vehicles have a way of doing that to you.  It seems like 9x out of 10, when somebody is in the way on the road, it's a minivan.

Meh, I really like minivans.

[Madman]

Meh, I really like minivans.

As a recent minivan convert, I have to agree.  But, like with anything else, there are good and bad minivans.  I tend to prefer the smaller and, dare I say, sportier minivans over the Greyhound buses which pass for the average so-called minivan these days.  My first generation Odyssey was the perfect size and had a thrifty 2.2 litre engine, too.  I also really like the Mazda 5 and an looking forward to seeing the Ford C-Max.  You can keep the Toyota Sienna and the current Odyssey, however.

[Pancor]

Well, My first car was one of these:




When I first got my license, my folks had one of these:





I would love to have another pristine NX, but I haven't even seen one on the road in probably 3-4 years!

[VTEC_Inside]

The car I grew up in would have to be the '78 Buick Century station wagon. Ours had the 3.8L.

I don't remember too much about the car specifically other than the fact that my brother and I would roam about the cargo area pretty regularly while driving around. Of course back then no one knew that was unsafe lol...

By the time I was ready to drive my mom had a '90 Sunbird LE 5spd, and my dad was driving a '90 Accord EX-R (US EX) auto.

[TBR]

When I was born we were a one vehicle family, 1990 Ford F-150 LWB Supercab XLT 4x4 w/302. Awesome truck. When I was 2 or so my parents bought a ~1991-1992 Saturn SW1 w/5-spd. My mom loved it but it was small and my grandfather needed a newer car (he had a Mercury Marquis), but was unemployed and didn't have the cash due to my grandmother's illness so we gave him the Saturn and picked up a 1996 Mazda 626 w/5 speed. For no rational reason, my mother hated it, and it quickly became too small for vacations and what not. Thus we picked up a 1998 Dodge Durango 4x4. That was a great car, despite its bizarre appetite for power window motors. We had that 1990 F-150 until 2000 when we traded it in with less than 100k (we lived ~3 miles from my dad's office) for a 2000 F-250 LWB Supercab XLT 4x4 w/V10. By 2003 the Durango had upward of 115000 miles, and my mom was ready to move on and got a 2004 Subaru Outback w/5spd. They still have the Outback but my dad just got a new 2010 F-150 4x4 LWB Supercab XLT (he's pretty predictable). The Subaru has over 160k and is going pretty strong, though it has required some work recently (mostly wear stuff). Suspect they will replace it within 2 years, if not sooner. Assuming nothing catastrophic goes wrong with it I might buy it from them just because it's a really nice driving car.

[omicron]

Damn right! 

No Windsors for us until 1991. Ford Australia got all the tooling for the Cleveland from the Americans and kept making them until '82, when they *gasp* discontinued the V8, although stock lasted until late '83, I believe. '79-'83 Falcons with the 351 are highly sought-after.

[FoMoJo]

No Windsors for us until 1991. Ford Australia got all the tooling for the Cleveland from the Americans and kept making them until '82, when they *gasp* discontinued the V8, although stock lasted until late '83, I believe. '79-'83 Falcons with the 351 are highly sought-after.

The Cleveland was a wonderful engine depending, of course, on which version you got.  The one in my '70 Mach I was an M-code (11:1 compression with 4v carburetor and a shaker scoop) and, though not at the same level of performance as the R-code, it could still melt the rear tires.

[68_427]

From when I was born until 6th grade my mom had one of these



From 6th grade until ~Nov 2010

[mzziaz]

No Windsors for us until 1991. Ford Australia got all the tooling for the Cleveland from the Americans and kept making them until '82, when they *gasp* discontinued the V8, although stock lasted until late '83, I believe. '79-'83 Falcons with the 351 are highly sought-after.

There are supposed to be some special "Aussie" heads for the Windsor which do wonders for the engine's breathing. Ever heard of them?

[omicron]

There are supposed to be some special "Aussie" heads for the Windsor which do wonders for the engine's breathing. Ever heard of them?

I, er, don't know.

[mzziaz]

I, er, don't know.

Scandalous! You need Aussie heads in your Aussie head. Educate yourself!