I'm still only on my second car in my lifetime. Well, sort of my third, I guess, since Mr. Clod and I traded daily vehicles with each other once the first kid was born. But he still drives my second.

1.) 1986 Acura, slate blue, with great big tears in the leather seats. I loved everything about that car, except the leather seats (not because of the tears, but because leather seats will sear flesh here in the summers.)

2.) 2001 Mazda B3000 truck, forest green. It's having some pretty severe acceleration problems, so I don't know how much longer it will last. Except we can't really afford to replace it, so it better last indefinitely. :)

that actually sounds like the coolest car

I take a perverse pride in having a really crap car, so I don't consider these as humiliating, but....

3rd place: mustard yellow Datsun 120Y coupe, circa 1977. Owned 1991-1995. Ended in car crash (my fault).

2nd place: Toyota Hiace campervan, circa 1977, owned 1996-1999. Was mostly blue, in various shades due to shitty rust-patching I did on it. It had hand-sized rust holes in it when I bought it. During its life I had to replace the engine, the gearbox, and about 5 percent of the body work. I drove about 5,000 km with the front of the fibreglass roof held down with stickytape. Eventually sold to a wrecker for $200.

1st place: 1977 LB Lancer coupe, owned 1999-2005. Started white, never got washed due to water restrictions and not being worth it, ended up filthy grey. Had lichen growing on it in several places. Had been written off in a minor front-on collision a few years before I bought it, was revived (poorly) before being sold to me. Was written off again in a rear-ender (not my fault - they gave me $1,200!!!) when I had it. I paid $50 for the wreck (which just had a few more dents) and drove it for another few months, before selling it for $25 to a chap who had a contract to supply the fire department with old cars to practise on.

Me. I said so!

I bought a Gremlin, brand new. At 120,00 miles gave it to a needy family, then a few years later saw two teenagers driving it with no windshield.

Never embarrassed by any car that kept me from walking... even the '49 Hillman painted yellow and green with a red top. That was Pop's car for Shriner's parades. :D

Which Shrine was he in?

MELHA, Springfield, MA.

Cool.

He was asked to get in line for Potentate but his Alzheimer's was kicking in and Mom put her foot down. :headshake

As a result of my job with international students, I am imagining trying to explain this sentence to a non-native speaker. :headshake

Ah. Sorry to hear that. I hope he's doing OK.

I've got guys from two different Shrines (Salaam & Crescent) asking me when I'm going to join. I'm very active in both Lodge and the York Rite, and I just don't have time.

OK? Well he died a couple years ago, but I'd like to think he's doing better than he was when he didn't know who he was. Please don't apologize, you couldn't know, and I know it's awkward but I appreciate the sentiment... really. :D

Pop did the 32 degree Scottish Rite, (you know, ate the baby and everything ;)) and very active in MELHA for like 40 years. He brought my brother into it too, but I don't play well with others.

Me and my big mouth.

Well, not everyone likes the taste of deep-fried baby.

No no, it's cool. Would I lie to you, my oldest and dearest friend?... if it didn't involve money or sex.

With the right wine, baby is great... think veal. :haha:

A 1928 Mouton Rothschild, perhaps?

Ripple, Boone's Farm or MD20/20 are more my speed, maybe that's why I don't belong. :blush:

Scottish did you say? Must have been a "day old" baby then...

Someone has to eat the left-overs....

My first car was a 1977 Ford Grenada. I drove this while in High school in 1987. It sucked.

Well, Radar, I'm sorry to hear that High School sucked for you.

High School didn't suck. Being seen driving a 1977 Ford Grenada sucked. I used to have a girl I didn't even like drive me around and let me use her car. I used her car to pick up other girls. ;)

You dirty rat bastard.

Pretty slick.

Wow. I'm giving very serious consideration to buying one of those derivatives...a Maxim.

My most embarrassing car was a Ford. Specifically a puke green 1992 Aerostar piece of crap. It was actually my wife’s, but we could never get the A/C to work more than a few months straight. Replaced the compressor twice, then the entire system. Since I couldn’t let my wife drive our three kids around in our heat and high humidity without A/C, I drove it. Those were the three hottest summers I ever remember suffering through.

Then so many other crazy things happened…complete brake system failure late at night, starter wouldn’t turn off or burn out, and on and on…

I said I’d never get a Ford again, then I did because it seemed like such a great deal (and it was new with a full warranty). Well, as you could probably guess, it was in for five warranty items in the first 18 months, including a complete rebuild of the rear-end. A couple of years later when the tranny was about dead, I got rid of that piece of crap, too. Truly never again will I waste a dime on another Ford unless it’s to pay someone five bucks so I could swing a sledgehammer at one. Good riddance…and sorry for the bellyaching. I edited and deleted much more than I left.

Mmmm... puke green.

Kinda makes ya feel all Linda Blair-y.