There's a Top Gear episode where Brian Johnson is a boy on the end of his bed, steering wheel in hand, experiencing driving as an imaginative boundless child. Such was driving through the eyes of young 08versailles.
From Dad's knee, i piloted the family
1979 AMC Concord wagon 304 V8 [with faux woody trim] down the back roads of southern Ontario, Canada. Undaunted by my ability to reach the accelerator, I was hooked on driving. The extra plasticky slippery beige steering wheel made for stationary fantasy power sliding. In my mind, I could make the trip to the city in thiry seconds! A car guy was born.
Fall 1982. Grandfather retired and so did his
1972 Datsun 1200 manual. That Thanksgiving I was 13, my cousin 11, and my brother 10. We were all packed in this farm duty Datsun with my Dad giving driving lessons. A little thrilled, a lot scared, but we were going for it! After i got the bondo buggy rolling and made second gear, Dad told us some people never learn to do that in their lifetime. I wanted more. So after getting my beginner's license on my sixteenth birthday, and full license at seventeen, on to my first car!
1979 VW Rabbit 3 door 1.5L diesel 4sp manual ORANGE with black Rabbit go faster stripes. My folks already had an 82 Rabbit 1.6 diesel and 81 VW pickup diesel, so this choice was an easy one. Even though it was slower than a parade, it ran, it was paid for and it was MINE. It would not break 139km/h on level ground. $500 car, $750 to safety it, $1900 to insure it for one year without collision coverage. No matter, it was mine mine mine. FYI it was possible to get speeding tickets in Canada's slowest car. Loved it, yet less than a year later, sold it for $200 cuz I bought...
1984 Dodge Aries "K-car" 2.6L Mitsubishi engine 3sp auto. $1200 safetied and working A/C! The arm rest was handy during um ambitious cornering. This car had a questionable ownership history, but without question I shanked the tranny. Replaced it, then shanked the engine. Moved on to...
1983 Aries wagon! Also 2.6 Mitsu. $800, black with grey lower half. My first DIY tint job, which was crap. Shanked tranny [surprise] and replaced it with tranny from other one, so in its third car! Drove it to Ottawa a few times, the final one making "good progress" "drafting" with a Civic and an entry level Porsche. Bought another 83 Kcar wagon, but sold both cuz I bought...
1987 Ford Tempo 2dr 4cyl 5sp A/C. "Only" five years old with 125000km. First car with sixth digit for 100000km+. First time I bought snow tires, but just the fronts. I spun it out in slush one day, cuz no traction in the rear. First cd player, amp and 6x9 speakers, all DIY install. Added second amp, subwoofer and one inch tweeters. Brother had 1988 Mercury Topaz 2dr 4cyl 5sp, but his was first year for fuel injection. So I would max out then he'd pass me doing...hmmm those were the days before road side license suspension and car impoundment

Got my biggest speeding ticket [no tickets since], which awesome Mr.Policeman sportily reduced to 49km over so we wouldn't require court appearance. Four demerit points, $299 later, met the wife [and taught her to drive manual] who owned...
1992 Pontiac Sunbird 2.0L automatic. Was only one year old when she bought it, she was so proud. I was not enamoured with the car, but smitten with the girl. Wonder if she'll be impressed with my...
1988 Ford Crown Victoria. The Couch on Wheels. My first non-four cylinder. Got bragging rights over brother and buddies cuz i was the first to get a 5.0L! Haha sort of. Well at least my fellow carpoolers loved it. Averaged 22.6 mpg Imperial lifetime...which wasn't that long cuz I bought...
1986 VW Golf diesel. 3dr 5sp manual non turbo. Ahhh love the tactility of driving a MkII VW. Went 997km on a tank once. Love the GTI seat i put in it. These are the things you tell yourself when you go from Crown Vic to Golf. But even today my fave was my...
1992 VW Jetta turbo diesel manual. Only option was A/C. Adored this car. Bought it in 1996, had only 43000km. Everything I wanted in a car, nothing superfluous. First car i made payments on, $11,995. 50 mpg nailing it, 55mpg going easy. Couldn't keep it, sold it at 82000km for nearly what i paid for it. Ate humble pie and drove wife's dang Sunbird for a bit, then bought another $500 K car...
1986 Dodge 600 2dr 2.2L EFI 3sp auto no A/C. Was ten years old but under 100000km. This was not a "Car We Have Loved", but better than dang Sunbird...ok no not really. Couldn't get better than 32mpg either. Ohhh missing the Jetta, sooo...
1981 VW Rabbit diesel. $375 trip down memory lane. But nickled and dimed me in spite of the frugal fuel consumption and German road manners. Gave me trouble starting that winter. Left it running and work one day and blew head gasket! &%^@#$^^*^^$#
[email protected] Traded it partially on new windows for our first house. Bought a ten year old...
1989 Toyota Tercel 5dr 5sp. $2400 safetied 147000km. Only options were cassette player, fifth gear and clock. Drove it three years almost to the day, til 256000km. Was very reliable, and gave 45mpg with minimal effort. But was carbureted and slow. Eventually bought a
1994 Chevy Cavalier 2.2L auto 300000km. Funny going to a higher miler car, but was cheap with A/C. Sold Sunbird for $2000 for first minivan...
1993 Ford Aerostar Sport haha 3.0L shortie. $2500 as is [not safetied] 258000km. Came to appreciate minivans, but not love them, yet...Cavalier coughed up transmission second gear throw out bearing, bought another...
1993 Mercury Topaz 2dr 5sp. Wife and I drove it Good Friday 2002 on our first major road trip together, to South Carolina. Took wrong turn into downtown Pittsburgh. Drove all the way from Ontario to SC for $39 US. Gas down there was $1.29/gal! That Dec smacked a deer doing a buck twenty, wrote it off, bought a
1992 Chevy Lumina Euro trim sedan [not the dustbuster Lumina minivan]. This car nickled and dimed me worse than the Cavalier and 81 Rabbit. Starter, battery, alternator, strut mounts...traded it on a
1995 Dodge Neon 5sp. First year for the brand new Neon. Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Bucks to fix A/C multiple times. Then engine imploded. There were filings in the oil, and a loud knock. Wife said no more beaters, buy a newer car! Well ok...researched in LemonAid and bought a four year old...
2001 Nissan Sentra XE manual. Again only option was A/C. $6995 with 96000km. Bought aftermarket massive killer stylin 14 inch alloys. Topped up A/C couple times, replaced MAF sensor aftermarket $375 plus labour n taxes, replaced two ignition coils about $60 each. Pads and rotors. Pretty good for 4.5 years of ownership. Sold at 313000km for $450. Switching back to minivan timeline [and back in time]...sold 93 Aerostar at 316000km for $1200, bought...
1996 Ford Aerostar XLT 4.0 AWD extended. Was not a modern engineering marvel, but I loved this van/trucklet. Could not be stopped in the snow, ever. With mid and rear seats folded, it could swallow whole 4x8 sheets of anything, loading them at a comfortable height too. Then close the fibreglass rustfree tailgate [and hood]! The AWDs had upgraded springs in the front, so i added carge van coils in the rear to keep it from dragging its tail down the road. Three kids and boatload of stuff fit no problem. Several miles and trips to South Carolina later, it was starting to decline. Finally when the EGR valve failed, we sold it and bought a
2004 Ford Freestar Sport. 60000km, comfy car like handling, triple zone A/C, $13995 in Dec 2006. Our first former rental purchase. Replaced battery with used one, replaced ignition coil pack, replaced starter, traded it at 199000km, got $3000 for it, on a...
2009 Nissan Altima 2.5 S cvt, former rental again. Nissan had [still has on certain model years] an extended 200000km cvt transmission warranty. Wife loved this car very much, in spite of engine developing a crack between cylinders 1 and 2. Fortunately Nissan 100% covered cost of replacing engine with new short block. I didn't like the rental grade seats in it, but wasn't my car so didn't matter eh! This car and 92 Sunbird definitely fall under Cars the Wife Has Loved. One day smacked from behind, wrote it off

...
2013 Dodge Charger SXT 3.6L Pentastar V6, 8sp ZF automatic. Another used former rental. Wife likes it and we appreciate a larger family car etc, but I looove it

Hopefully it will be mine someday...currently 41000km or so. Check engine light came on yesterday, haven't had it checked yet. Zoom back in time to Sentra, at 313000km and tranny getting a little grindy, A/C down again sooo...
2008 Nissan Versa SL manual bought in 2010 for $8995 with 78800km. Still had Freestar at the time, and gas was getting pricey, so Versa was to be the minivan alternative. Had to spend money on new front struts, couple wheel bearings, A/C top ups, some nice used rims and used tires. Will be replacing A/C evaporator shortly with aftermarket unit. Have a crack in windshield but that's no bother. But the check engine light [for evap system leak] will need to be addressed for its first emissions test April 2015. 243000km and more to come! This has been a Brief History of Automobilia with 08versailles
