Words on Cars on my Mind
I couldn’t tell you where my head was. For a short while I spent street sweeping days running back and forth moving this car and the MR2 around. This wasn’t the first time I’d owned two cars at once, but it was the first time I thought it’d be a good idea to own two two-seaters.
I had wanted one for the longest time. During an apprenticeship in high school, I would constantly drool over a bronze AW11 (MR2, 84-89) that sat in the corner of the shop’s lot. It was such a peculiar thing, being nearly the same bronze as the E30 my father had, having the same engine as the AE86 in Initial D, and generally being a Toyota that seemed so far removed from the rest of their product line.
We all have our preferences.
For me that means a lightweight, rear-wheel drive, balanced, naturally aspirated roadster or coupe. Over time my ownership experiences have narrowed down what I desire in a car. However, there’s an infinite variance in taste out there, so inevitably people I’ve befriended have preferences different from my own.
Continue reading “Honorable Mention – ’06 Subaru Impreza WRX STi”
Funny enough, it hasn’t been by intention or typo that the majority of my BMWs have been from 1987. Just really, really consistent coincidence.
Rose-tinted spectacles. Or maybe beer goggles, except it was more excitement than alcohol that blocked my inhibitions from saving me from this pile.
Every now and again I get to pilot something new. A group of us piled into my buddy’s GTI and headed up to Tahoe one weekend. I “volunteered” to do the driving. Some of the roads up to the lake would have been well suited to my roadster, but the snow and sub-40*F temperatures we were facing would not have agreed with my Bridgestone RE-11As.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Despite looking for something lighter, my “scalpel” as previously mentioned, it wasn’t supposed to be this car. It had a torn top, blown suspension, an ugly steering wheel wrap, and the rear bumper was from a white car with a red smiley face rattle canned onto the passenger side. I was supposed to get my residual, festering teenage idiocy out of my system with this car. I was gonna slam it on cheap suspension, get stupid wide wheels, an annoyingly loud exhaust, and do everything you could possibly do that was annoying to bystanders but secretly kind of fun.
On day one of owning this car I pitched it sideways in the rain, intentionally, something I hadn’t been able to do in the E36 without spinning it. On day six the driveshaft did its best claymore impression while I was trying to show off.
My previous car had been making noises I was afraid to confront, so I decided that replacing it with something newer but in the family would be good. This E36/5 (funky, non-butt having hatchback 3 Series, US Market 95-99) was actually very similar to my now departed E30 in that they shared rear suspension design.
My father had a two-door 1985 BMW 318i while I was in middle school . It cemented itself as one of the cooler vehicles I rode around in as a child. In the final months of my Volvo ownership, I began lusting after an E30 (US Market 1984-92 3 Series) of my own. Instead of being a good boy and holding onto my tax return to hold me over between jobs, I went out and bought a clapped out pile of Germanity for less than most people’s insurance premiums. The silliness continued.
