First car was a 1984 Oldsmobile Omega. Dad bought it off a little old lady for $500. Powder blue, with powder blue interior and matching vinyl powder blue top. I hated that car




After a year and a half working part time at Kmart, I bought a 1986 Z24. Had so many problems with it I returned it to the dealer within days. Ended up with a 1988 Chevrolet Beretta GT with the option Z51 suspension.



Totaled that in a 5 car accident my second year of college, and bought a 1989 Oldsmobile Calais with the Quad 4.



Not surprisingly, the Quad 4 had head gasket issues. Sold it after about a year for more than I paid for it. It had ridiculously low miles at the time, 7 years old and like 40,000, and moved into my first MT (this being 1996), a 1994 Plymouth Sundance Duster with the 3.0 V6. Moved pretty good for what it was, 0-60 was 7.7 IIRC




Drove this for a few years, and then got a 1998 Neon R/T. My buddy was working at the Twinsburg stamping plant, and I got the friends and family discount, I think the car ended up being around 10,000. It was the first and only car I ever ordered. Somewhere I still have the window sticker where it noted: Built Especially for Lego_Maniac. I checked off every single box on the option list. ABS, keyless entry, auxiliary light group, stripe delete, etc



Paid the Neon off in like 3 years, and bought my "toy" car, a 1994 Pontiac Firehawk, car 251/500, 5.7L V8, 6MT. This would end up being my longest vehicular relationship to date. I kept the car from 2001-2014. The last couple years it just sat in the garage, as my "daily drivers" had surpassed it in driving fun, and it was, lets face it, a 20 year old GM product. Full bolt on car, tuned, with the rear hatch swapped out for the Trans Am version with the high rise spoiler. I never really had any issues with the car. It's sale funded fencing in the back yard, the Q300, and a few other things. Not a bad ROI

Traded in the '98 Neon on a 2002 RT



3 years later, I found a 2004 Mazda 6s hatchback languishing on a Buick/Cadillac dealers lot. 3.0V6, 5MT, 14K miles, so I snagged that.

2010 I traded up to a Legacy GT. While the stage 1.5 turbo 4 + AWD + 6MT was a blast, the suspension sucked and the seats were as flat as a park bench. Subaru only ran this model for 3 years, and in 2012 they made 227, so aftermarket support was about non-existent the first few years. Traded it in on my G, and here I am

 

First car was a 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera that I got for $400. Had that for about a year before it started leaking oil and I got rid of it.



Next car was a new 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier coupe and had that for 3-4yrs before it was totaled when some idiot went down a one-way street the wrong way at 2am and hit me head-on as I turned onto the street. He actually took off but luckily was caught because he hit the sergeant on duty.



Last car was a new 2007 Subaru Legacy that I held onto for 8-9yrs before trading it in for my G. Wanted something more powerful but also luxurious and AWD.

 

The last good looking TL IMHO... looked slick

 

91' Toyota Supra and a 2005 Altima SE

 

Very interesting psychology in your past, Lego. You have a history of selecting the top-end model of low-end domestic junk. All things being relative, someone could say you did that all over again with the G... picking the top-end configuration of the entry-level model. Granted... as an "entry level" car, the G is quite good. And the 6MT is easily modded into a worthy sport sedan.

And then there's that 4th Gen SLP Firehawk, which was certainly impressive, worthy and rare although somewhat tacky. No offense intended there, since I've had my share of tacky Firebirds. At least it wasn't a 3rd Gen "Bandit", LOL.

Given your past and your present... what's next car? I could see you in a CTS-V.

 

First car I ever drove/was given was a 1998 Toyota 4Runner base. I love that car to this day, sold it for $5000 (a 1/4 of what my dad paid for it off the lot) with 150,000 miles on it. Never broke down on me once and probably could have run another 100K. Also, being as this was my high school car, I spent a ridiculous amount of money on the sound system. 1600watt amp with dual 12inch subwoofers in a ported box. Surprised my hearing still works.



Next, I decided to go German, which seemed like a good idea at the time. With the help of the parents, I purchased a used 2012 VW Jetta GLI DSG with only 20k miles on it. Drove it for about a year when the timing chain decided to snap, taking the whole motor with it. It was under warranty so it was replaced for free, but the car left a bad taste in my mouth after that, so we decided to trade it in to help my mom get a better car.

Here's a pic of it with my buddies 2013 VW GTi 6MT



And finally, I had a 2009 Acura TSX base when a 72 year old lady decided to run a red light and t-bone me @ 40mph. Suffered a serious concussion, but otherwise I was fine. Also recevied a nicely-sized insurance check, which I used to purchase my G. Here's a pic the day I got her



Bought it off a old man who babied it so much he had cardboard lining the trunk so the matts wouldnt get dirty. He was on his fifth generation of G cars and had a new Q50s sitting in his garage. I literally feel like I hit the jackpot

 

I can't really argue with that synopsis

From the Duster forward, I've also gravitated to somewhat rare models/configurations, which the G holds true to.

Funny about the CTS-V.....my original plan was to lease the G and get into a CTS-V when the lease was up. Infiniti had great lease rates, and with baby #2 a couple months away, cashing out $7000in equity seemed like a good idea of course that didn't work out as planned. Somewhere along the line I outgrew a CTS-V.

So what's next? Probably snag one of the last of the current generation Subaru STIs or look for a super low mileage '17 Chevy SS sometime in Q4 2019.

 

Yes, that fits. If I had thought of the SS 6MT while typing, I would have suggested that over the Caddy.

I have a world of respect for that car (on paper), but absolutely zero first-hand experience. It's a rare car, and even if I've seen one then I probably didn't recognize what I was seeing, and didn't give it a second look, because Malibu. So I'm really looking forward to hands-on with Mike's modded SS at the August meet-up.

 

Agreed. It might not live up to my expectations, but it certainly checks all the boxes on my must have list.

Someone in my neighborhood has a silver one. I've never been able to track down who though, and I generally try not to be a stalker

 

I also had a stint with FWD cars back in the '90's (Beretta GTZ, Nissan Maxima SE, Honda Del Sol Vtec, and a Mazda Protégé 5. All the rest were either RWD, AWD, or 4WD. LOL



Wow... Those Forgestars really look good on the TL!



Agree 100%. Always though the 2nd Gen Legends and the 3rd Gen TL's were some of the best looking sedans that Honda/Acura ever produced.

 

^ before i bought my '94 MX6 V6 5MT before my last year of university i searched high and low for a decent mid 90's 240SX 5MT. both were around the same price and i really wanted RWD. it was hard enough finding a clean MX6 5MT, but the 240SX proved to be a white unicorn at least in my area. almost everyone had either turbo'd them, hacked them up, beat them up, or they were slushboxes.

i even looked for an '85-'86 Corolla AE86 (GT-S) for a while but those are usually turned in to drift cars.

 

In for the long haul.
Drove this home brand new 12/30/93 at the age of 17. It has been my only vehicle until I got the G on 7/21/15. Now it pulls winter duty. Drive it occasionally in the summer just to make sure it still runs. The other side is even rustier and the bed is scary to walk in.

 

Year 2000; Burgundy 1987 Ford Taurus with burgundy interior...hated that car so much one time i went 6 months without washing it. Dad bought it for me for $800. Don't know the true mileage cause the odometer only had 5 digits.

Year 2003; Pearl white 1995 Mitsubishi Diamante LS....Love at first sight. Paid $4000 with 114,000 miles on it. No type of low end power and handled like a pig but she had style.

Year 2007; Moondust 2000 Volvo S70 GLT. Paid $5000 with 140,000 something miles on her. Got 240,000 something now. Winter and weekend car now. Still got her cause I can't carry nothing in the G.

Year 2011; Grey 2008 G37 journey. Paid $25,500. Had 7,600 miles on her. Sold Nov. 2014 for $14,500 with 56,000.

Year 2014. Current car. 2012 Malbec black IPL. Paid $32,400 with 11,400 miles in Nov. 2014. Now has 52,500 miles

 

I've been fortunate to own a lot of cars and remember all of them.
’82 Fiat spider
’85 Celica coupe
’92 325i - modded with ’95 e36 M3 engine swap
03 e46 M3 - sadly, crashed.
04 Expedition - family cruiser

04 CLK 320- modded


07 E350 - cruiser



06 M35 - fun to mod



’14 Versa - 4 banger commuter car LOL!


’14 Altima - long distance driver


current
’12 G37X

 

Past vehicles:

1979 Oldsmobile Cutlass


1996 Nissan Maxima




2002 Nissan Maxima


2001 Ford F150



Current Stable:

2002 Infiniti i35


2014 Ford F150


2012 G37S Sedan