Here in my car
I feel safest of all
I can lock all my doors
It's the only way to live
In cars
"Cars"-Gary Numan
Here's a photo timeline of the cars I've owned over the years*:
Owned: 1982
Model: 1974 Pontiac Astre wagon
I bought this, my first car, from Paul D. at HoJo's. After Larry P. messed it up I sold it back to Paul a few months later.
Owned: 1984-1985
Model: 1972 Oldmobile Delta 88 Royale
Good thing gas was only $1.25/gallon then, but it still was very expensive to run. Especially once it started needing a quart of oil per day! I sold this costly land yacht for $25 to just be rid of it!
Owned: 1985-1991
Model: 1981 Ford Escort ST (Think: The model pictured painted silver-grey with an orange racing stripe and fog lights)
Oh, I liked the looks of this car since it was my first "newer" car and looked great with its styling, including the really cool sunroof. But she had troubles from the start. A heater that refused to work, a thirst for oil and transmission issues galore. Eventually after an engine fire, and failure of a totally rebuilt engine, I let her troubled motor seize one frigid winter night, walked away, and never saw her again.
Owned: 1987-1988
Model: 1979 Mercury Monarch
The first and to date last time I'd ever owned more than one car at a time. The idea was two bad cars are better than one. It really just meant more money for the State of Rhode Island with 2 registrations and 2 excise tax payments. Thankfully, this was during the age of optional car insurance...and you know I wasn't having any of that. This car was stolen sometime in the spring of '88 and I never saw it again.
Leased: 1989-1990
Model: 1985 Chevrolet Cavalier SS
Another car I liked for its styling, but it ran like shit. It was leased from a likely-Mafia-run dealership in North Attleboro for $88/week! And I still had to shell out my own ducats for the thousands in repair costs I endured over the course of the time I had it. After moving back to Woonsocket from EP in December '90, I dropped this off "after hours" near their lot, effectively breaking the lease (but without them breaking my kneecaps).
Owned: 1991-1993
Model: 1982 Subaru GL
For the first half of 1991 I had to borrow my father's car and deal with the baggage associated with that, so when a friend of my brother's had a car he was selling for a steal I couldn't pass it up. The catch? It was a manual transmission. I failed to learn how to drive stick years before when I tried to learn in prep for my Germany trip. But now it was sheer nessessity. So I bought it and learned on the fly. Once I got the hang of it though, I loved stick shifts and sought them out ever since.
"Owned": 1993-1994, Really Owned: 1994-1999
Model: 1993 Geo Metro
The Subaru was starting to need expensive maintainence so I decided to buy a new car. This time, a brand-new car. But since I had just declared bankruptcy a year ago, my credit was shit. So mom bought it and after a year of payments from my checking account, I was able to get the loan transfered to my name. I undoubtedly put more miles on this car than any other I've had...over 90,000 by the time I traded it in for $300 in December 1999.
Owned: 1999-2003
Model: 2000 Ford Focus ZX3
The first time I owned a car earlier than the model year and the first bought brand new under my own credit. It was also the first to be formally named. My friend Jesi at DM named her "Millie" as in Millennium. (Remember how we had to drop the word millennium into every sentence back then?)
Owned: 2007-2008
Model: 1999 Buick Century
How good it felt to be back "here in my car" after all these years. Even if it was 8 years old, had no A/C and its engine ran precariously hot. She served me well 'till that scary day on the way home from the Space Coast.
Owned: 2008-present
I feel safest of all
I can lock all my doors
It's the only way to live
In cars
"Cars"-Gary Numan
Here's a photo timeline of the cars I've owned over the years*:
Owned: 1982
Model: 1974 Pontiac Astre wagon
I bought this, my first car, from Paul D. at HoJo's. After Larry P. messed it up I sold it back to Paul a few months later.
Owned: 1984-1985
Model: 1972 Oldmobile Delta 88 Royale
Good thing gas was only $1.25/gallon then, but it still was very expensive to run. Especially once it started needing a quart of oil per day! I sold this costly land yacht for $25 to just be rid of it!
Owned: 1985-1991
Model: 1981 Ford Escort ST (Think: The model pictured painted silver-grey with an orange racing stripe and fog lights)
Oh, I liked the looks of this car since it was my first "newer" car and looked great with its styling, including the really cool sunroof. But she had troubles from the start. A heater that refused to work, a thirst for oil and transmission issues galore. Eventually after an engine fire, and failure of a totally rebuilt engine, I let her troubled motor seize one frigid winter night, walked away, and never saw her again.
Owned: 1987-1988
Model: 1979 Mercury Monarch
The first and to date last time I'd ever owned more than one car at a time. The idea was two bad cars are better than one. It really just meant more money for the State of Rhode Island with 2 registrations and 2 excise tax payments. Thankfully, this was during the age of optional car insurance...and you know I wasn't having any of that. This car was stolen sometime in the spring of '88 and I never saw it again.
Leased: 1989-1990
Model: 1985 Chevrolet Cavalier SS
Another car I liked for its styling, but it ran like shit. It was leased from a likely-Mafia-run dealership in North Attleboro for $88/week! And I still had to shell out my own ducats for the thousands in repair costs I endured over the course of the time I had it. After moving back to Woonsocket from EP in December '90, I dropped this off "after hours" near their lot, effectively breaking the lease (but without them breaking my kneecaps).
Owned: 1991-1993
Model: 1982 Subaru GL
For the first half of 1991 I had to borrow my father's car and deal with the baggage associated with that, so when a friend of my brother's had a car he was selling for a steal I couldn't pass it up. The catch? It was a manual transmission. I failed to learn how to drive stick years before when I tried to learn in prep for my Germany trip. But now it was sheer nessessity. So I bought it and learned on the fly. Once I got the hang of it though, I loved stick shifts and sought them out ever since.
"Owned": 1993-1994, Really Owned: 1994-1999
Model: 1993 Geo Metro
The Subaru was starting to need expensive maintainence so I decided to buy a new car. This time, a brand-new car. But since I had just declared bankruptcy a year ago, my credit was shit. So mom bought it and after a year of payments from my checking account, I was able to get the loan transfered to my name. I undoubtedly put more miles on this car than any other I've had...over 90,000 by the time I traded it in for $300 in December 1999.
Owned: 1999-2003
Model: 2000 Ford Focus ZX3
The first time I owned a car earlier than the model year and the first bought brand new under my own credit. It was also the first to be formally named. My friend Jesi at DM named her "Millie" as in Millennium. (Remember how we had to drop the word millennium into every sentence back then?)
Owned: 2007-2008
Model: 1999 Buick Century
How good it felt to be back "here in my car" after all these years. Even if it was 8 years old, had no A/C and its engine ran precariously hot. She served me well 'till that scary day on the way home from the Space Coast.
Owned: 2008-present
Model: 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt LS
Ah, Nugget! The Chevette of the new millennium. I kid her. She's a good car, never gives me any trouble and is great on gas. Hopefully I'll be able to keep her through this new crisis. Or maybe she'll be my new home? Whatever will be, will be.
*The pics are representative; not actual photos of the cars I've had.
Ah, Nugget! The Chevette of the new millennium. I kid her. She's a good car, never gives me any trouble and is great on gas. Hopefully I'll be able to keep her through this new crisis. Or maybe she'll be my new home? Whatever will be, will be.
*The pics are representative; not actual photos of the cars I've had.