Cars are a big part of our lives and often mark important milestones. Here is a list of the ones I remember:
1940 DeSoto (1940-1950) The family car when I was born.
1950 Oldsmobile (1950-1952) The family flew to Lansing Michigan to pick this up at the factory!
1952 Oldsmobile (1952-1955) Bought a new car because it was "expected".
1955 Oldsmobile (1955-1962) GM was at its peak. Probably the "best" one. I drove this one.
1929 Ford Model A (1957-19xx) JJK Rancho truck - red & yellow - I learned to drive with this one. Stolen.
1962 Oldsmobile (1962-1970) Last of my parents cars - a GM "compact".
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1963 Corvair (1965-1968) My first car! A white convertible, red interior.
1967 Falcon (1967-1982) Our first car. First "new" car. Bought this shortly before we were married.
1965 Corvair (1968-1970) Replaced the white Corvair. "Brownie" was also a convertible.
1972 Chevrolet Vega (1972-1980) A low point for GM. Lots of UAW "mistakes". My commute car.
1978 Suburban (1978-1995) Our family traveling machine. Driver training car.
1980 Chevrolet Chevette (1980-1988) Yellow
1985 Pontiac Fiero (1985-1998) Fun 2 seater. My commute car. This one was very "expensive" - I've been doing dinner dishes ever since.
1988 Chevrolet Nova (1988-1995) This was a NUMI car. "Almost" a non-GM and non-UAW car.
1990 Mercury Sable (1990-1995) Notable as the first automatic transmission car in our fleet.
1995 Mercury Mystique (1995-2007)
1995 Suburban (1995-) Now in Hawi.
1997 GM EV1 (1998-2000) An Electric Car! No gasoline - ever. Recalled before the end of the lease by GM to fix a charge port problem.
1999 GM EV1 (1999-2002) NiMH batteries - range about 100 miles. Crushed by GM at the end of the lease
1997 GM EV1 (2001-2003) We got the '97 back after about 18 months when the recall work was finished. I really liked this car. It proved that a battery electric car was fully functional. Crushed by GM at the end of the lease.
2002 John Deere model 5420 Tractor (2002-)
2003 Suburban (2003-) Our "road trip" car.
2004 Prius (2004-) Hawi. First non-UAW vehicle.
2000 Ford Ranger EV (2005-) Factory built Electric. One of the "rescued" Rangers.
2007 Prius (2007-)
About Me
- Green Tractor
- Married, father of three daughters, eight grandchildren. I write software. If you use Windows, Mac, or Linux you probably have some of my software! If you use Google, you use my software. Twenty One patents (so far). Known as "System Software" in _The Soul of a New Machine_ by Tracy Kidder.
5 comments:
Corvair comments: The older white Corvair died tragically on a freeway when traffic stopped but the following inattentive driver did not, so the Corvair was crushed front and rear. It protected my dear greentractor from injury (raspberry to you, Ralph Nader). Its successor, a pretty, honey-brown newer model, did have a bad habit of trying to jump into the next lane when it crossed a diagonal joint on the Washington Beltway near Silver Spring at freeway speed. Okay, Ralphie, I'll give you that one. But only at freeway speed.
Ashamed to admit that I'm responsible for the death of one of these vehicles (the Chevette) and the damage of another (the '78 Suburban with the 80 Chevette).
I'd like to amend the date of the death of the Chevette from '88 to '89 though - Since I was driving and didn't get my license until I was 17 years, 1 week and 1 day and that was in 1989! Managed to brutally slaughter the poor little Yellow 'Vette a few months later...
Okay, the '78 Suburban - noted that you left out the color. Hmm. I wonder why?
Which one was your most hated? Least favorite? Most favorite?
Also, I think that last year or so, someone did a list of the most ugly cars ever and your history of car purchases had at least three of those... I'm going to have to find that list...
We're a tough crowd around here!
Glad to see you here.
Oh, and Jen, I damaged the Mystique. Don't feel too bad. That's why I don't drive their cars anymore!
Don't forget, the 67 Falcon also welcomed your firstborn (me)! It also served driver-training purposes, although having to pull up the clutch added a degree of complexity. I guess that made driving the "brightly colored" 78 manual transmission Suburban seem easier. That one had a couple more homes, and met with a crashed and then stolen end in Portland. My brother-in-law is still upset about that one. He loved it, too.
Do other people name their cars?
I can't wait to share this list with Grandchild#1.
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