Do you own an American car? If not, would you consider buying an American car?
About The Author
BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
76 Comments
Recent Posts
- Day Five: The Fascist Regime Came for the Inspectors General
- Day Four: Fascist Regime Comes for the Transgendered and Native Americans
- Day Three: Fascist Regime Assaulted Health Information and Agencies
- Day Two: Fascist Regime Shuts Down Spanish Language White House Website
- Day One: Fascist Regime Gets Laken Riley Act
No, and not right now – not the way they are currently made. We have a Honda Civic Hybrid. Our last car was a Prius, but some a-hole burned our garage down with the Prius inside about a year-and-a-half ago. We had only had the car for 5 months, too.
That sucks that you lost your Prius. I guess it’s a good thing the fire didn’t take your house out with it, though.
How’s the civic hybrid? I just got a new Honda Fit in September (I don’t think I drive enough miles in a year to justify the expense of a hybrid), and I love it.
The older car is also a Honda (CRV with 190K on it). I’ve owned one American car, and that was enough to cure me of it. Lousy resale value, and it’s worn out before you even get close to 100K miles on it.
I drive a ’95 Toyota Corolla and bloody love it. It has given me virtually no trouble in the last 11 years.
It does have over 100K now, so I am hoping to replace it soon. I was really wanting to get a Prius because a) it is a Toyota and gets rave reviews, b) it is a hybrid, so is ever so slightly better for the environment, and c) it has the coolest trunk and can hold a bunch of crap, especially when the back seats are folded down.
However, I, too, do not drive more than 8 or 9,0000 miles per year, so you make me think a Prius may not be my best bet. I just went and checked out the Fit and wow, it has super cool room to haul crap too and costs way less than the Prius. Thanks CG! I may have found my new car.
P.S.: I once owned a Dodge Neon and vowed never to buy an American car again. What a piece of junk. By the time we finally ditched it, the doors were broken, the plastic bits all had cracked and broke, it never did brake well, etc. and it was only 5 or 6 years old.
I had an 85 Toyota Tercel and an 81 Celica (that one had nearly 200K on it when I sold it), and they were both good cars too.
I’m not a car freak, but I love my Fit. It comes in a manual transmission option (I’m a little old-school that way), it feels as big as my CRV in terms of hauling people and stuff, and gets over 30 mpg in all conditions, plus it has the coolest USB port and special glovebox just for my iPod.
Mine’s red.
ps..I crunched the numbers for the Prius gas mileage and the Fit gas mileage at numerous theoretical gasoline prices. Even though I am happy to drive the same car for 10 years or so, I still couldn’t save enough on gas with the Prius at a maximum of 12,000 miles/year to break even with the price difference for the options I wanted.
I guess non-commuting to work is going to have to be my contribution to saving the environment…
I had a neon and put 248,000 miles on it with out serious trouble (other than a balky thermostat that ended up costing me a head gasket). It got 40mpg and ran like a champ for the longest time.
I’ve got a friend at work with 170,000 on his neon and he loves it. My sister got 168,000 out of hers before trading it.
Were they cheaply put together inside? Yeah, cannot deny that. But, from what I’ve seen of them all around me, they ran forever.
It was a bummer. I have no doubt that some of them were excellent cars, but maybe I got either a lemon or just a bad year. It was one of the first Neons. Honestly, though, we ended up giving it to charity with less than 100K miles because it was a money pit and literally falling apart.
That’s the same experience we had with our 2005 Neon – complete junk and a dealer’s service department that made it worse. On the other hand, I bought a brand new Dodge Colt in 1988 and drove it without any major problems for 18 years. It’s had an electrical problem now and my husband doesn’t want to have it fixed because of all the rust (Michigan winters with lots of salt) means that the crush zone is compromised. I miss it. It came out of the dealer’s for just under $6000 including tax & title transfer during a period when they were selling cheap in order to raise the fleet CAFE average.
Own one…no regrets. I’ve had ancestors and relatives in the industry, and feel it’s my responsibility to support their efforts.
That, and the cars, depending on the category, really aren’t appreciably different from their overseas counterparts….
I agree.
The ‘quality gap’ is pretty much myth now a days.
My 2004 Ford Focus has > 100,000 miles on it and all I’ve done to it is some brakes and oil changes.
…so I look good for the ladies.
Price was right and surprisingly decent gas mileage.
Yes, and I can’t wait to get rid of it for a small reliable azn.
I own two “Japanese” vehicles made in America. Are they “American” or not? Beats me.
well, yeah, people can specify if their foreign car was manufactured in America. If you what state it was manufactured in, that would be good info, too
Toyotas, California and Indiana.
The “Made In America” label presents kind of a conundrum. Cars “Assembled in America” do provide jobs for American workers. But make no mistake, the lions share of the money generated from this arrangement goes back into the Japanese economy and not the US economy. We do receive a significant economic benefit from Japanese manufacturing which takes place in the US, but it is nowhere near as desirable as US owned manufacturing companies employing a US workforce.
Hmm, what to make of American companies that manufacture in Canada?
Not sure how many of those plants are left. They have been dropping like flies the last couple of years. We used to do a lot of work with Ford and GM in Ontario. Not so much anymore.
The Chrysler mini van is made right here in Windsor – only about three block from my house.
Good to hear Chrysler is still plugging in Windsor. I forgot about them being there.
Knock on wood. Of course, the mini van is Chrysler’s signature product, along with Jeep. If this plant goes down, I’ll start posting pictures of guys selling apples on the street corner. My husband is a teacher and obviously so am I (in Detroit) so our jobs are less directly tied to the industry. My dad however relies on his Ford pension.
Yeah, but the auto industry is the tide on which all boats rise and fall up there. Even the teachers, in an only slightly tangential way.
After spending a significant amount of time in the 80’s and through the mid-90’s working in your area, imagining all this tumbling down is really mind boggling to me. I remember watching Flint, Michigan die from the inside out. It was not pretty. And the cancer has crept to Detroit and into Windsor, St. Catharines and down I-75 into Toledo. It is so depressing to me. So much gone.
I know that there is a ton of blame to go around for all the woes of the auto industry – lack of vision, crappy quality of the 70s and early 80s, etc., etc. The fact of the matter is, the state of Michigan and a large chunk of Ontario will sink into a 1930s style depression if the Big 3 completely go under. Chrysler probably can’t be saved, but the other two somehow have to hang on.
What I find most disturbing is the number of purported “liberals” who have bought into the meme that they deserve to be allowed to fail. That it would serve them right. I don’t think anyone realizes the tsunami effect this will have. If they want to see a true Depression which could rival the 1930’s, just allow that to happen. People who talk like that just don’t realize how integral the industry is to their own personal financial situation, even when they are hundreds of miles away.
No, they’re rice burners made by rednecks. They’re Confederate. Buying them enriches Japanese racists and Republicans.
What’s an American car?
No and no.
but would by a Dodge EV.
We are currently driving a Honda Accord and a Mazda 626. Our previous car was a Honda Civic. The last American car we owned was a Dodge Shadow my wife drove and we sold it in 1994 after we bought the Civic. The Shadow had been trouble free during its lifetime. I would consider buying an American car again but we have had virtually zero problems with the Honda’s and the Mazda. These Japanese cars have had a cumulative total of over 350K miles and the only actual repair that has been required was some transmission work on the Accord about a year ago. It would be a tough sell to my wife, after having such a sustained period of reliability with my Japanese cars, to change at this point. She loves her Honda’s. But I would consider it. There are a lot of American designed and manufactured cars which are every bit as good as their Japanese counterparts. I know many people who are happy with their American cars.
For many years, both in my current and previous job, I have worked closely with the engineering and manufacturing sectors of the Big Three. I can say, from first hand experience, that in many areas they are doing a lot of things right as far as quality goes. But they are fighting a deeply ingrained perception in the public sphere of having an inferior product. It is a real uphill battle for them. And their current fiscal crisis is not helping them regain the ground they have lost over the years.
I think you are right about the quality, but for a lot of us, the only exposure we get driving an American car is a rental that’s had the crap beat out of it.
Yeah, I know what you mean. If I had to judge the quality by the rental cars I’ve had over the last few years I would say they suck too.
It’s odd though. I bought a used Chrysler Lebaron rental from Budget Rent-A-Car in 1989. It was one year old. I drove that thing till the paint wore off. Then I gave it to my brother, who drove it until it had 275K miles on it. Other than the air conditioner dying at about 150K, that thing ran flawlessly the entire time.
Go figure.
My sister, a potter, had a Dodge Neon that she used to pull a trailer full of pots to art fairs. She did this for 10 years and put over 170K miles on it. The tranny did fall off once, but other than that it took the abuse like a champ while getting something like 35 mpg (without the trailer). OTOH, some people I know bought a Focus and had pretty much everything go wrong after a year, which never did get completely fixed.
I guess not knowing what you’re gonna get with an American car makes them kind of exciting.
I think that is a good summarizing of the situation. I would be hard pressed to find anyone I know who has owned a Toyota or Honda who has had any significant problems. And if they did, it was taken care of in a very satisfactory way. The story with American cars often seems to be much different. If you get a good one, and I have had my fair share of good American vehicles, then all is well. If you get a bad one, you’re screwed. Service will generally suck, the dealer will work like hell to avoid admitting there is a problem and you have to be willing to invest a significant amount of time and effort if you want to see the issue through. And often, you are just left holding the bag or you are forced to pawn it off on some unsuspecting dolt who doesn’t know any better.
You shouldn’t have to fight these types of battles with something as expensive and necessary as an automobile. Like I said before, they have come a long way. But there is still a lot of ground to make up on their part.
People who have a good experience with a product tell a few people, people who have had a really bad experience tell a lot of people, and so the bad stories predominate. Poor quality/service is very bad marketing, long term, but short term image can make up for it. If you don’t have image, quality or service you’re screwed.
That’s why I think a lot of the problem is the difficulty they face in shaking off the sins-of-the-past. It is an existing narrative that makes it doubly hard to prevail in the market. Getting people back in their good graces who have left the fold is a very tall order. It is a long term project. And there are a lot of factors conspiring to make them fail.
Well, maybe. My perception isn’t that they make an inferior product, but that they for some reason have much lower quality control standards. Japanese cars, OTOH, have what seems a very well deserved rep for almost freakish levels of reliability.
For the record, I drive a 96 Nissan Sentra which is boring and easy and very reliable. I could imagine buying a new Impala, but I’d rather have a nice Toyota.
The point being that not only are imports better made, but they are often now better designed as well.
Oh, I think I can say that without a doubt the Japanese QC standards have been light years ahead of the U.S. for a long, long time. I have sat in my share of Japanese plants and met with Plant Managers, Manufacturing Managers, Process Engineers and people working on the line. And the dedication to the perfection of the process is Job #1 with everyone there. Unless U.S. auto manufacturing adopts quality standards which raise the bar of acceptability on their product, then they are doomed to fail. I have seen the attitude of years past in many U.S. auto plants. And it was often shameful. But everyone realizes that there is a damn good reason that the Toyota’s and Honda’s are now eating our lunch. And if U.S. manufacturers cannot find a way to adopt a similar mindset regarding quality, from the Corporate Boardroom all the way down to the guy who sweeps the floors, then it really doesn’t matter how much money the taxpayer throws at this problem. The ship is going to sink. But I think we would be doing ourselves and all taxpayers a tremendous and tragic disservice to just pull all life support from the industry and allow it to die, unaided.
The U.S. manufacturers have made significant quality strides in a lot of areas. Unfortunately there are a lot of factors which bear consideration. Including residual ill will with the buying public due to the years of neglect; which has necessitated the fighting of battles, not only with reality, but with ingrained perceptions in the public mind. And in their weakened state, this is a very hard way to have to fight for your life. But it is the cards which have been dealt and are now in their hand. And, for better or for worse, these are the cards they are forced to play.
I had a 95 Mercury Grand Marquis, got 13 years out of it.
But my new car? Hyundai.
I own two “American” cars; An Odyssey built in Alabama with more American content parts than all but four Big 3 cars and an Acura built in Ohio with about 70% American content. These cars were designed in CA for the US market by almost entirely American workers
Interestingly, of the car models raced in good ol’ American NASCAR, only the Toyota is assembled in the US (in Kentucky). The Ford is built in Mexico and Chevy and Dodge models are assembled in Ontario.
And no I will never buy a Big 3 car again, though Ford is actually doing a lot of things right in terms of Green, quality, design, safety, productivity and marketing. GM is hopeless. Chrysler was declared to have no competitive advantage before Daimler bought them.
I might buy an antique American Car. If I win the lotto, that is.
Toyota, with more “north american content” according to the sticker than its equivalent Ford Focus or Chevy Cobalt. As others asked, what’s an American car?
I’d go out of my way to give an American brand a chance if American companies had a similar executive/worker pay ratio to Japan and Europe. Right now it’s too painful to contemplate helping pay the ridiculous salaries of idiot bosses who caused the problem in the first place. No one has yet had the guts to explain why North American Toyota and Honda factories — same government, same taxes, same workforce — manage to maintain Japan-level quality while Detroit brands still lag. The one discernible difference? Who runs the company.
PS — If GM managed to come up with a Volt as hyped at an affordable price, I’d be in line to buy it. On paper, at least, it seems to be based on a much better concept than the Prius, for example. But I’m sure not counting on them actually pulling it off or really trying to market it.
gm “unveiled” the volt at the LA auto show back in september, but it’s going to be another gm fiasco unless the current mentality…read management… there changes.
preliminary pricing info indicates that it’s going to priced in the $40k range, about twice what it needs to be to be successfull, so that’s not going to translate into a lot of sales.
the people who could most use it aren’t going to be forking over $40k for a car. toyota and honda will continue to lead the way.
Somebody suggested that instead of throwing money at the current car cos, the government finance takeovers by companies that have actually produced something we need, like Tesla and others. Instead of just giving more rope to management that has been proving for a few decades now that they don’t know what they’re doing. Makes perfect sense to me — which means it won’t even be contemplated by the keepers of our money. I’m writing my “representatives” anyhow to at least call attention to the idea.
First car: VW Rabbit – 5 years.
Second car: Honda Civic – 12 years.
Current car: 2006 Toyota Prius
When American cars are able to keep as much of their value as the Hondas and the Toyotas are, and when they manufacture a hybrid that can get the gas mileage my Prius gets (or an all-electric vehicle), then I’ll consider buying American. Until then…nope.
No. I currently get 48MPG in my VW diesel. There is nothing even close that the American car makers produce right now.
Whatever my next car is I expect to do even better than this.
Great question. One is an American car, one is not. The American car is 14 years old and has more than 200K miles on it; mostly because we shared that one car between us for years. That we had one car for so long still confounds people.
Once the old American car finally gives up the ghost I doubt seriously we’ll get another one. But it will be a while, though. It’s been about 5 years since we’ve had a car payment, and we like that just fine.
F all cars.
🙂
Pax
soj. glad to see you around.
Love your stuff, whatever the topic.
Visit kos from time to time.
we miss ya, and your ARE treasured!
Volvo?
Mazda?
I have a 12.5 year old Toyota Camri that still runs beautifully with minimal care and expense. Earlier this year I realized that it is the ideal car for my needs, I have no desire to replace it, so I put several thousand dollars into body and interior work, and mechanical stuff that you might not bother with on an old car, and I will keep and drive this car until I go out one day and find it with all four wheels in the air.
Would I buy an American car? Not likely until and unless U.S. car manufacturers cleaned up their acts and started making competitive products. I think this whole “buy American out of loyalty” crap is completely misguided. Why should American car manufacturers produce a high quality product for a decent price when, out of “loyalty” people will buy the overpriced crap they are making now? The best thing American people can do for American car manufacturers is to buy the best quality product for the best price regardless of the nationality of the company.
Two Japanese and one German. We had a Focus until earlier this year. At 70k it was clearly showing its age. My 2002 Mazda Millenia has 103k and is still a pleasure to drive.
no and no.
the last american car l owned was a 69 olds cutlass….since then 1 vw, 1 audi …a p.o.s. btw … and 2 hondas. still driving the 89 accord cpe. it makes the energizer bunny look like a piker. in nearly 20 years the only work, beyond regular maintenance or warranty, which was very minimal, l’ve had to do is replace windshield[s] and one cv joint.
quick,agile, fun to drive, affordable, comfortable, and damned cheap to own, esp since l generally drive <6k a year.
l’ll get another when it’s time is up, which who knows how long that will be…5 more years and it’ll qualify for “collectors” status and plates. l fully expect to still have it.
I own a 2000 Ford Taurus 330,000 miles, no real problems other that a minor one with the heater. I buy an American Car, but it will probably be a Ford.
does a Chevy built in Canada count as American or not?
Ford and GM (Opel/Vauxhall) have a presence in Europe but don’t seem to be doing very well and certainly sell almost no US built/designed models. Why is that? With the US so dominant in Films, popular entertainment, e-commerce, software etc. why is it that US Manufacturing has such a bad image?
We wish we knew the answer to that question. Poor leadership in Washington DC is a large part of it though.
We used to say that German cars had great engineering/production values but poor marketing/style, French cars had great marketing/style but poor engineering, and British cars ended up having neither and so went our of business.
There seem to be few technical innovations coming out of US automakers these days, non-Americans don’t like their cars – unsuited to narrower roads/less space – and poor mileage/production values.
When image is everything and you lose even the image of desirability, you’re f*cked. Obama can make the American brand more fashionable, but he can’t sort out your production values as well.
Why is it US managers get paid so much more than their workers?
Why is it US managers get paid so much more than their workers?
Because we have no (European-style) left-wing party.
Owned an American car (F85 Oldsmobile) 40+yrs ago…it broke down after 50K miles, and that was the last US-made product I’ve purchased. We’ve owned a Lexus ES300 since 1998 (112K on the clock), serviced by the book, and it runs beautifully. Eventually will buy another Lexus for the duration of our driving years. Japanese quality: the absolute best.
Well, yes. . . I have two American and two imports. My American cars are a 1969 Olds Cutlass convertible (95,000 miles) and a 2006 Saturn Ion 2 (22,000). My imports are a 1992 Saab 900 Turbo convertible (150,000) and a 2008 Nissan 350Z (40,000).
The Olds is an obvious classic and seldom used, but a powerful example of great car making – for its time. The Saturn is my wife’s and we have it because she liked it, and I have a powerful drive to buy American. The Saab is with my daughter in So. Cal. and is also a classic, but a daily driver. The 350Z is my commuter (68 miles each way, 2-3 days a week).
Why the varied buys? As mentioned, my first instinct is to by American. The Saturn is a reasonably decent, low-priced around town car. The Nissan and Saabs are moderately priced and durable. In the end, my purchase decision comes down to one of “moneys worth”. The Saturn seems reliable but is not well put together and seems mostly made of plastic. The Saab and Nissan have both proved extraordinarily reliable, are well made, and have relatively low maintenance and operating costs. The Nissan purchase was based on previous experience – I owned a 1979 280ZX and put over 230,000 miles on it before a crackhead ran a stop and killed it. The Nissan cars are well built and the 350Z particularly is bargain for it’s class. The Saab, being Euro, is a bit more expensive to drive but is a solid vehicle with no major failures in 150,000 miles.
In all, I’ll consistently buy American if and when the value proposition improves. As things are now, we cannot build autos as well (for the price) as the Asian nations. The Euros build great cars but they cost too much. The only American car I would buy now would be a new novelty “classic” like a “Bullitt” Mustang, Dodge Challenger or a Chevy Camero.
I have a 2003 GMC Sonoma (small pick-up). I have a trailer boat and needed something to tow it. It is well-designed, well-built, and, given that it has the power to pull a 2500 pound boat, reasonably economical.
Before that I had a 95 Dodge Caravan and an 88 Taurus wagon. Both of them gave me good value for the money. I pulled to boat with the Caravan also, even though I probably shouldn’t have. To paraphrase my mechanic, when the Caravan finally died after ten years, a victim of too much boat and too little transmission, “it didn’t owe me a dime.”
None of these purchases was based on the–er, national origin of the vehicle. Each one just happened to be the best value for the money I was able to find at the time I was shopping.
I know other persons who have American built cars, as well as a lot who drive foreign marques.
I think it is safe to say that the quality and design problems that were rampant in the 70s and 80s have, in large part, been licked, and a lot of the discourse about the quality of American vehicles is rooted in that past, not in this present. I’m not saying that they are perfection, but I am saying that those who switched to foreign marques two or three decades ago might want to reconsider their rhetoric, if not their purchases.
The stupidity problems, unfortunately, have not, both on the part of the manufacturers and on the part of the purchasers who demanded all those monster trucks and overgrown SUVs to drive to the 7-11.
Remember, Detroit made those things because people wanted them. And Toyota makes the Tundra and Honda makes the Ridgeline (yuck).
Detroit’s mistake was in not making a wider range of other products.
I used to drive a chevy corsica, but the interior fell apart quickly and there was ALWAYS a problem with the antilock brakes. I thought it was something my mechanic had screwed up, but we had the same problem (brakes-wise) with my Asro-Van. I would have kept that beast except for the high price of gas and the crappy mileage (18 on the highway), because I could fit my entire bluegrass festival stuff inside the thing (bass, guitar, mandolin, tent, 2 coolers, 3 sleeping bags, sleeping pad, case of beer, 4-year old child, girlfriend).
But when push came to shove, I sold it to someone really cheap and bought a 1996 Subaru Legacy Wagon. It was my second choice (I really wanted the outback), but I love that car. It’s a treat to drive. At the current time, I have no plans to buy an American car, because they don’t make anything I want. The mileage always sucks on a US car, they look like shit, and they’re difficult to work on yourself. For example, to change the sparkplugs on my van, I had to take it to a mechanic and put it on a lift because the damn plugs are located behind the front wheels, whereas I can get under the hood of the Subie and take car of a LOT of shit myself.
We currently own two Honda Civic Hybrids.
I will buy an American car that is all electric, has a range of 60 miles, and has a 10 year, 150,000 mile warranty.
Why stop there? Might as well get the EX version, which also flies (though it emits puppies and rainbows when you use that feature).
My first car was a used 65 Malibu that ran forever (well, at least until I got married and we could only afford one car – his, a nightmare muscle car). My next car (after the divorce) was a used 68 Volvo station wagon – great car. Sold it after two years to get money for an extended trip to Europe. Got what I paid for it. Various cars over the next several years – a VW bug (lousy ventilation system and NO pick-up), a Datsun station wagon (nice little car until my then husband totalled it), Chevy Malibu wagon (nearly 200,000 miles on it and on the original clutch!), Renault Alliance (actually, a great little car; driven until some idiot in a Taurus decided to t-bone me). After the Alliance was totalled (my kids and I are lucky we weren’t killed), I bought my first Saturn in 92, the SL2, I think. It was a great car. I drove it to nearly 200,000 miles, then my son used it as a work car for a year or so, and when we gave it up it was still running. In 03 I got my current Saturn, a VUE, and used it to haul back and forth to New York from the Midwest, and make quite a few road trips. I have 125,000 miles on it and plan to keep it until forever. It’s a four cylinder front-wheel drive stick and I get great mileage. Saturn has a “hybrid” VUE, but even the Saturn dealer told me that it really isn’t a true hybrid, but only has an electric “assist.” All in all, my car experiences have been pretty good, and I influenced several people to buy Saturns. They’ve all been happy with their purchases, most of them keeping the cars until they had well over 100,000 miles. All except one of my cars has been stick; I actually feel weird driving an automatic. My only unfortunate car experience was the used 97 VW Golf we bought for my daughter in 2000. After we had had it less than a year it needed a new transmission, and it has seemed to need repairs more often than most cars.
Your cars seem to have given you better mileage than your husbands! 😉
I’ve had a VUE for over 4 years now, and am very happy with it.
Got 3 of them, a Ford Taurus, a Chrysler minivan, and a GMC pickup truck. All old and all in lovely shape.
I have an American car that was built in Mexico… Chrysler PT Cruiser. Just hit 90,000 miles on it this morning and it still runs pretty well, so I will probably keep running it as long as I can. My previous car was a hand-me-down Toyota Camry — got well over 150,000 miles on that. I’d love to have a hybrid, but they’re way out of my price range (even my PT Cruiser was second-hand).
So I will keep muddling along with what I’ve got…
My 1996 Camry is getting really close to 200,000 and other than oil change, tires, and the occasional wear and tear kind of mechanical thing, it needs very little, and runs beautifully. I DID have to replace the starter last year, which I understand is not uncommon with Camries.
Heh, it’s not uncommon for just about any car with that kind of mileage 🙂 I’m pushing 195k in my 2001 VW Jetta, and I replaced the starter around 160k.
I have three American cars and have never had anything else. I am counting the 1971 Pontiac Catalina made in Windsor Canada as American. North American at least.
Total history in model year order not purchase order:
1953 Plymouth Cranbrook flathead six: My grandpa gave it to me for High school graduation. It was old and rusty and I loved it.
1956 Chevrolet Bel-Air V-8: My wife’s first car. Sturdy and reliable. It started in all weather and stored lots of groceries.
1963 Chevrolet Impala V-8: Fast and economical. The best combination of ride and handling that I’ve ever driven. Never failed to start.
1968 Mercury Monterey 390CID V-8: Bought it new. Pastel yellow with off-white vinyl seats and white convertible top. Gorgeous! Stunning! The best looking car I ever owned. When tuned right it would leave twin strips of rubber (limited-slip differential). Unreliable. Worked great when it worked, but failed often and without warning.
1970 Chevrolet Malibu 307CID V-8: Olive Drab but our first air-conditioned car. I appropriated for myself when we lived in DC. Front bumper was useless. It was bolted to the fenders! Cheap nylon timing gear broke at idle. Luckily no damage to the engine. I replaced with an aftermarket gear rated for 1000hp. A pretty good car. Not flashy but reliable and cheap to run.
1971 Pontiac Catalina Brougham 400CID V-8: This was the car the Mercury should have been. Pretty blue with white vinyl coated top. Massive running gear. Brutal torque after after I replaced the cam with a high lift “gas mileage” cam. I ran this car to 181,000 miles without a problem. Still didn’t burn oil. My favorite memory with this car is tooling down the Ohio turnpike at 80mph with the A/C on max cool and a tape in the 8-track. The brocaded upholstery was like an easy chair. One of my top favorite cars.
1973 Chevrolet Caprice Classic 400CID V-8: I still have this convertible. One of the last made. Ran like crap until I replaced the intake manifold, carburettor, cam, and exhaust. Same high torque gas mileage cam as the Pontiac. I beat a Dodge 440 six-pack with this car one day racing through the Maryland countryside. Crept by him at 120mph until his engine blew. Then he dropped back fast.
1975 Mercury Montego MX 351Windsor V-8: Bought it used for $400. Transportation. A/C kept blowing compressors. Carb kept blowing power valves. Engine modules kept blowing. My last Ford product.
1978 Caprice Classic 350CID (5.7L) V-8: Bought it used with 100,000 miles. Had the engine custom overhauled. Engine builder pointed out all the crappy manufacturing (not design) on the block. He align bored and blueprinted it. Heads were replaced with better Chevy heads and Corvette valves. Power raised from 120 factory rating to an estimated 300hp. Couldn’t rev that engine enough. The faster it went, the harder it pulled. Gas mileage increased 20% also. Eventually got too ratty with hand sized pieces of rust falling off. Traded it in and it was bought by an electrician who wanted something to carry his tools and cables onto the job site. I like to think it’s still out there somewhere.
1979 Pontiac Catalina 301CID V-8: Good looking and practical. Great gas mileage but no guts. I guess I’m a gearhead. Wasn’t sorry when it went to the boneyard. Second short block. Weak crankshafts.
1983 Buick LeSabre 307CID V-8: Absolutely reliable and 20 mpg to boot. Well manufactured and full of luxury gadgets and plush velour seats. Power everything except the engine had no power. Drove it over 180,000 miles without any repair other than soft parts like ignition wires, tires and batteries. Original starter, compressor, alternater, and carb. Even the radiator. Buick is my favorite make.
1993 Buick Roadmaster 350CID V-8: I actually had two of these. A Sedan and a Station Wagon. I miss them very much. Like LeSabre, they were very reliable and luxurious. The sedan had 8-way leather power seats. Performance was good but not like the later 1994-1996 models with the Corvette engine. Ran the sedan to 197,000 miles and the engine was still going strong with no oil burning. GM stopped making these to convert the last plant in Arlington Texas to pickup trucks. Right up to the end, my Buick salesman said he could sell every station wagon he could get within one week for full sticker price. The Impala SS made in the same plant and also killed had a waiting list for its entire production life. Stupidity by GM management to kill thriving niche markets.
1999 Buick Lesabre 3.8L V-6: Great car. Comfortable, fast and economical. Traded it after three months because the previous owner was a heavy smoker. Couldn’t get the smell to go away and I was starting to like it again.
2004 Chevrolet Malibu Maxx 3.5L V-6: My wife loved this car. It had useful storage space (hatchback) and was small and easy to park. Good gas mileage but not as good as the Impala below. Traded it in on a 2007 as that was the last year for the Maxx hatchback.
2005 Chevrolet Impala LS 3.8L V-6: My present daily driver. It has the sport package and XM radio. Great gas mileage (30 mpg in the Western states where you can get alcohol free gas. 25-27 mpg on gasohol). Handles like a sports car with its touring tires and sport package. Starts instantly. Smooth, powerful Buick Stage II engine (Discontinued later for the 3.9L “value engine” which has less gas mileage). I love it like I loved the 1963 Impala. Wouldn’t trade it for a rice burner if gas was $10 a gallon.
2007 Chevrolet Malibu Maxx 3.5L V-6: Not as nice as the 2004. Black interior. Very hot. My wife likes it but I don’t. GM reportedly felt if you wanted storage space you would buy a van or SUV or pickup truck. Wrong again GM.
I’d like to buy a 2008 Buick Lucerne with the last of the 3.8L V-6’s but can’t find one and can’t afford it now anyway. When GM folds, I’ll probably buy a Hyundai.
I own a cop car – a Crown Vic. Not glamorous, but in these times, who needs glamorous.
Next car is a hyrbid