What kind of car did your parents drive when you were a kid?

Let's see, mom had a mazda, a toyota and i think an ISUZU. and she smoked in all of them.

then when i lived with my aunt and uncle, there was a saab, an acura, a lexus, a mercedes, a jeep chereoke and a ford explorer.

i took the chereoke out once when i wasn't supposed to, and i drove into one of the bushes separating our driveway from the neighbors'. yep

dad had a silver renault, mum an ancient brown toyota with rust spots all over it, it was a model they don't make anymore.

dad moved up along the chain of cars I guess, had a nice ford for a while, then saab, then bmw, these days he has a mercedes.

mum too moved along, toyota starlet, then toyota corolla (which my brother and me ended up owning till he parked it by the sea before a freak high tide!), then peugeot 306, then newer peugeot 306 and then my Dad got her a Saab for her 60th birthday.

Volkswagen Opal.

My dad was the only one that drove. I remember a little golden Fiat and a red Vauxhall Viva that we had for a long time thanks to the glorious reign of economic bliss that was Thatcher's Britain. And those are the only two I can recall, we had that Viva a good long while.

a series of blue chevy caprice classics, one of which we named the Riptop because the vinyl was coming off the top

memories
http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/bv/images/77caprice.jpg

I don't remember what they had when I was really young, but from about 1974 through '79, we had a green Chevy Vega station wagon that looked EXACTLY like this GIS result, minus dude in cowboy hat:

http://media.motortopia.com/files/7927/vehicle/478670c6dda76/Me_and_my_Vega.jpg

My parents went to countless drive-in movies in that thing with my sister and I in sleeping bags in the back.

oops
i mean
http://www.andycoburn.com/Caprice_Right.jpg

My mom had a K-Car when I was growing up. Now she drives a limited racing edition Subaru Legacy.

Renault 12, Renault 14GTL (rotten pear), Peugeot 305 (mean looking front grille), Peugeot 305 serie B (classy), Peugeot 309 (squeaks & rattles), Renault 19 (written off), Renault 19, Citroen ZX, Citroen Xsara, Citroen C4 (horrible dashboard and lousy rear visibility)

My father owned not one, but TWO gremlins. The first one was brown and was backed over by an industrial dump truck at a steel mill; it was replaced with a blue one that had a hole where your feet were supposed to go on the passenger's side floor.

in chronological order up to high school graduation:

navy blue volvo station wagon
silver vw rabbit gti
gold vw vanagon
silver ford taurus sho
dark bluegreen honda odyssey
light green vw passat

currently, they have:
silver honda s2000
dark blue acura (model name i forget)
gold honda odyssey

My parents went to countless drive-in movies in that thing with my sister and I in sleeping bags in the back.

― lolling through my bagel (Pancakes Hackman), Wednesday, March 18, 2009 2:52 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

this is too cute.

i forgot we had a light gray beamer too -- very like businessman out of a 90s grade B movie

YDD 44 grey morris minor 1000
SAD 180G hillman hunter
white mini
er, a new one

http://www.stationwagon.com/gallery/pictures/1963_Chevrolet_Impala_2.jpg
my father loved this car.

My dad used to roll in a turbo Mazda 626 and a turbo Beetle (lol) before settling on an Infiniti FX45.

Basically my parents started pimpin' once they passed retirement age.

Oh, and after the Vega, they bought a brand-new 1980 Chevy Impala (my dad was a total GM stan).

http://homepage.mac.com/dov_rosenberg/images/impalas/80impala.gif

This was the family car until I wrecked it when I was 18. (That was my very last auto accident, 21 years ago now! *gulp*)

When I was really little, my parents had a white VW Rabbit and a maroon Nissan Sentra. I don't remember either of them all that well. Here are the ones I do:

1985 Mazda GLC
http://www.paul-davis.com/vehicles/GLC/glc1.jpg

1987 Nissan Stanza wagon
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3141/2494371783_6005fc4f58.jpg

1991 Mercury Tracer (only difference is that ours was black)
http://www.compactsedanweb.com/includes/images/Mercury_Tracer/1991.jpg

1995 Mercury Tracer wagon
http://www.wagonator.com/site-pics/tracer_chicken.jpg

I ended up driving the '91 Tracer in high school and college and the '95 Tracer thereafter, at least until it went kaput about four years ago.

All of these were manual transmission, btw. Even though I took drivers ed, I didn't get my license until several months after I turned 16, since my dad never got around to showing me how to drive stick shift.

we had this exact model minus the siren etc

http://www.acfd3.com/1967%20Ford%20Ranch%20Wagon.jpg

xp Also, my dad was fond of calling the Nissan Stanza "the toaster."

I think the complete list up until I was 18 was something like...

- Toyota Corona that was older than me (note: not the Corolla, the Corona)
- Jeep Cherokee
- used Bonneville bought from friends
- nice Volvo sedan

In rough order through High School:

AMC Hornet
Plymouth Volare
Mazda RX-7
Audi 5000 (not sure if this is the right model)
Mazda 626
Honda Civic
Mitsubishi Galant
Dodge Caravan
Plymouth Voyager

lol wtf is a toyota Corona!?

Haha, I just remembered, after my parents split up, mom kept the Impala and dad bought a shiny new 1984 red lol Chevette!

Haha I think the Corona model in question looked kinda like this one:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Toyota_Corona_liftback_rear.jpg

http://www.diversifiedautomotiveservices.com/Quickstart/ImageLib/101_2116.JPG

And an El Camino, but I'm not sure which year.

this IS my dad's 2nd car. same year, same model, some color. minus the spoiler. the car I learned to drive in. 1969 VW. Our station wagon was 67 Ford Ranch Wagon.

http://carcrazy.ca/images_cars/2007-09-07-16-42-37-lg.jpg

sweet car

my dad had a red firebird in the 80s.. I always felt like a celebrity when he picked me up at school! Then fortunes changed and he doesn't have a car anymore :P

I'm not sure exactly if my mum had a car when I was very young, I do remember we drove to go camping in S. Wales/West Country but not sure if we just borrowed my grandma's car to do that.

I know for a few years we didn't have a car after that time though.

The car I mainly remember from my childhood was a 1973 yellow Ford Escort with a black roof, which we got in the late 80s and had until I was about 17/18 (early-mid 90s).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/noodle_vague/86890520_full.jpg

This was how we rolled.

When I was very little, they had an MGB GT they had bought in the UK while on vacation before I was born. They also had some cute Volkswagen that didn't run very well.

When I started preschool, they decided they needed a more family-like car, and bought a dark brown Ford Pinto station wagon. It never exploded though it would frequently overheat, however, the cause was most likely my father never remembering to put water and coolant in it.

When my mom went back to working full time, she got a Renault Le Car - yellow - five years later when I switched schools and had to be bussed, the Le Car had developed a backfiring problem, so that all the other kids at the bus stop called it the "fart car."

She also had a Volkswagen station wagon that she used to deliver the mail (mom was a rural mail carrier - they have to use their own vehicles).

After about 10 years of whimsical car purchases, they began their reliability phase:
1980 Honda Accord (beige)
1989 Toyota Corrolla (white) - this is the car I drive now
1980-something BMW - my mom got a really good deal on a used one - it was her car before she passed it down to me, at which point it had a lot of major mechanical problems

Dad now has a new Corrolla and mom drives a VW Golf - she likes cute cars in bright colors. Dad goes for cars with cupholders that don't break easily and that won't totally break down if you regularly forget to put water/coolant/oil in them.

1979 Ford Cortina MkIV
1985 Ford Sierra estate
1992 Vauxhall Astra estate
1994 Citroen Xantia
2000 Citroen C5
Nissan Skyline R33 GT-S
Lexus GS300S
Nissan Skyline R33 GT-S
Nissan Skyline R33 GT-R

yeah, midlife crisis.
my mum had a 1986 Fiat Uno, then a 1993 Fiat Uno which I inherited and she bought an old (1977 or something) Porsche 924, the really crap one, now she's driving a pretty knackered Nissan 300ZX/Fairlady.

I've only ever driven the Fiats, they're pretty mean with their cars.

http://www.autopress.be/images/AUTO_ANNEE/AUSTIN_1800.jpg

Austin 1800. A chunky old thing.

Green Ford Cortina, GJO 149 F.
Blue Bedford Vauxhall Camper van, MYA 217 P. Had a sink, small cooker, cupboards, and seats that converted into a doubtless small double bed, and a roof that extended up to allow space for two cabin beds. It took us all the way around Britain, which I don't really remember, and to Italy for my tenth birthday, we managed to arrive in Pisa exactly on the day, despite the gearbox literally falling apart on the way and shedding bits of metal all over the motorway before we'd even left the country.

a bit like this but blue:
http://img.metro.co.uk/i/pix/2008/09/pleasurebus_450x380.jpg

We were all VWs all the time: a Beetle, a Squareback, a Rabbit, and then another Beetle (that was a hilarious POS death trap that my by then single mom bought from somebody for like $250 after the Rabbit finally crapped out). Eventually my mom bought a Honda Civic when I was in high school and the VW spell was broken.

I've owned three cars in my lifetime, and two of them were VWs - another hilarious POS death trap Beetle and a nice shiny brand new VW Golf.

Not a Civic, an Accord, hatchback-style. I always get Civics and Accords mixed up.

my dad drove full-size pickups (pre-extended cab era). seems like he alternated between ford & checy pretty indiscriminately. later drove company-issued american sedans.

the family/ mom car was an oldmobile cutlass cruiser w/ the faux-wood exterior, represented here:

http://www.italianfoto.it/immagini/menu%20veicoli/1979%20Oldsmobile%20Cutlass%20Cruiser%20Brougham%20Station%20Wagon%20r3q.jpg

^^this is a '79, but our '82 (or '83?) was pretty similar. we drove it until THE NINETIES when i got my license & promptly wrecked it a few months later.

as far back as I can remember...

1980ish Toyota Corolla
70s GMC Jimmy
70s Saab 99
2 Saab 900s, one 80s, one 1990
2 Jeep Cherokees, one 84, one 1994
1990 Jeep Wagoneer
A succession of shitty, 80% worn out work pick-ups: GMC, Dodge, Ford etc all from the 70s/early 80s
1977 Jeep J-20 pick-up (<3... like the pic but silver, this became my ride for a while)
http://www.tycreek.com/fs/auto/j20/1975_j20_rf.jpg
1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee
2007 Ford F-150

Only the 07 Ford and the 94 Cherokee were bought new IIRC.

god do i want a pickup truck

I know right, I just sat and stared at that Jeep pic wishing I hadn't destroyed the one I used to drive, even though it got ~10 mi/gallon.

i feel like since i drive so little that it is totally fair to have a truck, esp since all the stuff i use my car for is truck-y (move stuff, country use, etc)

i'm all prepped to buy a civic when my 14 year old car craps out, but yeah. i need a pickup. just a little one.

plus it'd be a lot easier to put bikes in

http://www.volkswagenpedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/1983-volkswagen-rabbit.jpg

I don't know if it was that year, but it was definitely that color.

Sitting on plastic seats after a day at the pool was horrible.

And to qualify for commercial plates for parking in the city, the name and address of my father's studio were on the car doors. SO EMBARRASSING.

1st car i remember: early 80s chrysler horizon
http://news-images.caradisiac.com/IMG/jpg/9/1/2/1/4/91214_Chrysler_Horizon.jpg

super awesome 89 acura integra, still running well to this day
http://www.bestperformingcar.com/images/1989.jpg

Family car: 1972 Olds Cutlass (was actually a 4-door, but pics are scarce)

http://www.gvachonsales.com/1972_OLDS_CUTLASS.jpg

Dad's work-and-back car: 1978 Toyota Corolla (sold it for $200 to one of the construction workers who built our house in the late 80s)

http://www.adclassix.com/images/78toyotacorolla.jpg

^^^Jesus, look at the gas mileage!

The Plymouth Duster is the most memorable, and according to this picture is better looking than I remember it (our was in a sludgy brown but we didn't have the stripe):

http://www.moparrebellion.com/images/RMoyer71Duster.jpg

I used to dread getting in the back of that car to go the pool--it would be so hot and our legs would stick to the seats.

For his everyday car my dad drove Cadillacs, until he switched to diesel Mercedes shipped over from Germany. He then outfitted my mom with Cadillacs, though she now drives a Mercedes. They had a brief moment with a Renault, but that was recalled by the factory, and they never went French again.

For his weekend/show-off car my dad drove the Avanti--first a coupe and then a convertible.

When I was in elementary school I always wished my parents had a station wagon or van like all of my friends. I never understood why they scoffed at my hopes.

VP, I learned to drive in my dad's '72 Duster (not a 340, just the basic slant 6, very bare-bones).

My mom had a '65 Buick Riviera. I only got to drive it a couple times before she sold it (in '78), so all I remember is that that car was **fast** (a pre-emission control V8 in what was (at that time) a non-huge car). She traded it in for a '78 Electra. . .in retrospect, that was a sad day.

BUICK CENTURY

we had a 1968 holden special station wagon for years and years and not long after my father finally sold it the guy he sold it to got busted and ended up in the court news, so then whenever my father saw the car being driven around town he would toot and say, "there goes the grass buggy."

Holden Kingswood HQ til I was about 10 (ours was blue, had a cool bench seat in the front)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1971-1974_Holden_HQ_Kingswood_sedan_01.jpg

Then a Ford Falcon GL XF (white with blue pinstripes, looked like a cop car)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/1984-1988_Ford_XF_Falcon_GL_01.jpg

Mum eventually ended up with a Toyota Camry, but that was well after I'd left home. The falcon held on for a loooong time.

Dad was a plumber by trade, and drove a 70's model Datsun flatbed. Can't find a photo, not sure what model...separate tray, and 3 on the tree column shift. I learned to drive in it. Loved the Dato.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1108/1372811681_7a0fca804c.jpg

Purchased new in 1967 and my mom still drives it (just not as much now)

My dad had one of these (1966 International pick-up) and a string of Ford pickups afterward

http://images.streetrodding.com/members//thumbs/395536.jpg

My brother and sister are quite a bit older than me, so I grew up with my brother's 1970 Mustang Mach 1 (in this very same color)

http://classicponycars.com/images/mcgregor1.jpg

and my sister's 1960 Pontiac Catalina

http://www.thefreewheelers.net/images/Marque/0602/large/1960_Pontiac_Catalina.jpg

Mum had a NIssan Prairie for years. Had a grey one that got crushed by a taxi with us in it on the way to the pool one summer. I think she went through another two after that. Loved those cars

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/eb/Nissan_multi_01.jpg

^Barrus wins thread. Cars I have known:

Racing green Mustang from first or second year they made them (Momcar)
Black Galaxie 500 (Dadcar)
Blue Gran Torino (Momcar)
A fucking powder-blue Maverick (Mom would not drive this)
Various divorcemobiles, cannot remember makes of any Dadcars from c. 1980
Momcars are now black Cadillac in Mpls, white Cadillac in FL, red Corvette in deep storage.

Chevy Impala - one right after another. Mom had Ford LTD station wagon.

I love pictures of old cars:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/1974_Chevrolet_Impala-Right_Side.jpg/750px-1974_Chevrolet_Impala-Right_Side.jpg

Barrus' family has an awesome taste in cars! That XKE is fantastic.

Ronan, was your brother's car ruined by seawater or actually drawn into the sea??

If memory serves me well, my dad's cars were (until I moved out)
70s:
2CV (blue with red left front fender)
Renault 6 (green)
Mercedes 200 (white)
80s
Mercedes T model (230 I think, not sure. brown)
Mercedes 300 TD Turbodiesel (blue)
Mercedes 230 TE (red/violet-ish)

The 300 TD was a monster that we were all very fond of. I bought one from 1982 (cactus green) last year :-)
http://www.marktgigant.nl/var/ads_images/normal/126/126495/300-tdt-turbo-diesel-stationcar-perfect-2462-1-marktgigant1.jpeg

A sky blue diesel VW Rabbit.

http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/5326/vwpassatb22fvsst.jpg

Barrus family all car crazy. Follow-ons from the cars pictured above

Dad:
Various vintages of Ford pick-ups from 1970 through 1981 (two Ford F-150s and one F-350) (more or less used for our family business).
1973 Jaguar XJ-6 (road tripped with my dad across the USA in this right after he got it)
1983 Chevy Silverado pick-up truck (inherited this when my dad passed away)

Mom (in addition to the XKE above):
1966 Chrysler Newport station wagon (apparently I road tripped from Laguna Beach, up to Vancouver, and then across to Montreal for the 1967 World's Fair in this. I was one and a half and don't remember it but apparently this pretty much set my personality)
1971 Chrysler Imperial
1977 Chrysler Cordoba
1979 Chrysler 300 (basically a performance version of the Cordoba with a police car engine dropped in). I liked this car a lot and is worth a picture

http://image.automotive.com/f/featuredvehicles/8883058+w440/0106155_01z+1979_Chrysler_300+Front_Passengers_Side_View.jpg

1988 Chrysler TC
2003 Jaguar XKR
1988 Jaguar XJS convertible (her main car now)

Mum:

Mini
Fiat Strada
Mk 5 Escort
She now has a honda camper van that I can't find a picture of.

Dad doesn't drive nowadays because he's basically 2 minutes walk from the train station and his local shops/ cafe/ takeaway are even closer.

has ilx ever done a T/S public transport vs driving?

Sierra Estate. Escort Estate. Seat Ibiza (when it was the Mk1 Golf chassis). Some Proton thing. A Mini. Nissan Micras. Newer Seat Ibizas. Seat Arosa.

Ford Granada 2.8 Ghia X Estate but in blue, twas a mighty beast!
http://www.classiccarsforsale.co.uk/dbimages/0021318001232901548.jpg

When I was born (1975), they were rocking a Datsun Sunny just like the orange one below. Registration XXD 898 M.

http://images01.olx.pt/ui/1/68/87/15036187_1.jpg

In 1980, another Sunny. DCK 204 W.

http://www.aronline.co.uk/images/italrival_04.jpg

1984. The Colt Tredia. The what? You might well ask. It had a four-speed gearbox with an "economy" and "power" selection for each gear: in effect an eight-speed box. It also went through clutches at a rate of knots. Could the two things have been related?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Tredia83.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f8/Mitsubishi_Supershift_001.JPG/120px-Mitsubishi_Supershift_001.JPG

Registration was ... umm ... B 81 TBV. Christ, how do I remember that shit?

1987: Nissan Bluebird. Can't remember the registration. I do, however, remember it being slightly less ugly than this, but hey:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3206/2778626231_37723979a4.jpg?v=0

Towards the end of its time with us, it began to smell very worryingly of petrol. This didn't seem to bother the Mancunian minicab-driver who bought it off us.

Some time in the early 1990s: Mitsubishi Galant. My dad adored this car.

http://www.avto-otchet.net/CarReviews/2632_0.jpg

Oh, and by this point my mum had got herself a car, which she needed for work. I learned to drive in it. It was ...

http://www.suzuki-samurai.nl/tech/elektr-fan/nissan-micra.jpg

... a Nissan Micra (J 192 LTJ), like the one above only with five doors, which she kindly gave me for free when she retired.

Since I left home they've had a Mitsubishi Colt (which I subsequently bought off them and still drive today -- it's a fantastic car) and a Nissan Primera, which they've had for ages now.

http://classic-car.y2u.co.uk/Photo_caq/MG_T_Sports_Car_Red.jpg

You know that film, Chitty chitty bang bang? That was like how my dad found this car. (one very like it, that is) There's a photo somewhere of me and my sister playing on this derelict car.

He bought it, restored it, drove it for 3 years or so, eventually the steering bearing got too dangereous, and it's probably in some museum somewhere.

oh i forgot! my dad drove his deceased father's impala for a few months before the vw passat. that thing was so lol hueg. like a giant blue whale riding down the road.

My dad had an accident and wasn't allowed to drive until I was about 15 years old. (Crazy: When I said I wanted to drive with my husband, they said I shouldn't cause it's not allowed with a prelim. license. Then I discovered my dad wanted to drive with his car to a club after having taken ONE LESSON and of course slammed into a wall while attempting to drive backwards. No surprise that he had an accident not long after.)
When I was about 15 yrs old, he was able to take his exam and he got his license. He bought himself a secondhand BMW 732i. A beast of a car. When I was 18 and my dad "ordered" me to get my license, they said I had to try driving in that beast. WTF. You turned on the ignition and off it went. I never drove again... until now.

http://www.auto-directory.org/bmw-7-series/images/bmw-750il.jpg

-> this one but white 'n' dirty .

Later on they purchased a (new) Volvo. Can't remember exact model

My father in law had the coolest cars though. Man oh man.

Mom:
http://omwoman.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/pinto.jpg

Dad:
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/12/28/automobiles/533-Pinto.jpg

we had friends who had those antique cars. went out driving on a sunday. so much fun.

Pretty sure the first one was one o' these beauties. Although I've probably got the year wrong.
http://www2.uol.com.br/bestcars/carros/classicos/triumph-dolomite-1300.jpg

dad - datsun 280z
http://www.americandreamcars.com/1976280z081103.jpg

mom drove a ford mustang in the 70's but that was before I was born

My parents were land-yacht people. We had a late 60s Dodge station wagon with some kind of terrifyingly huge engine -- riding in it was like riding a rocket sled. Then there was a '72 Chevy station wagon for a few years, followed by a white Lincoln Continental that they had for at least a dozen years and 250,000 miles. I drove it a few times and always felt like I was overflowing my lane on both sides.

Red Austin Montego saloon. He loved that car...

Latterly, a white Rover Montego estate. It met its match whilst taking my girlfriend home. He hit a deer. It shatter a plastic front panel in front of the radiator. Repair would have cost more than the (at the time) resale value of the car - around £150. Oh dear...

shattered*

soapbox derby racer. my mom had a horse and buggy

the first one i can remember was a black 2-door 1978 ford ltd with tan upholstery. i can't remember what came before that.

it looked kinda like this (different color): http://images108.fotki.com/v608/photos/7/743956/3121644/NewEngineLTD041-vi.jpg

i was very fond of the gold '84 crown vic station wagon we got after that (this is a crappy pic but it's the closest i could find):

http://images02.olx.com/ui/1/77/13/12957413_6.jpg

i really miss station wagons!

Mother's car: 2CV (yes, I am Lloyd Cole song)
Dad's car: bright orange VW camper bus

Actually, I think it was technically the other way around, but I wanted to make that Lloyd Cole joke.

That '72 wagon of ours had, like, 2 different zip codes. Maybe we had station wagons all the time since my brother and I fought so much...they could keep us out of arm's reach of each other.

I loved this car.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Studebaker_Lark_VI.jpg/800px-Studebaker_Lark_VI.jpg

moms:
http://www.nothingtodo.org/projects/pintobes.jpg
never blew up tho :(

Let's see ... I remember a Citroën BX, then an Opel Omega. Then we moved and we had a Contessa (which loos a lot less cooler than I remembered), a bunch of Tata cars (the Sumo, Estate, Safari).
When they came back in France an Opel Zafira and three years afterwards a BMW which they got about a week before I got my licence. It felt kinda weird having my first drive without a dude from driving school in the seat next to me in a BMW.

that green pinto on eephin's post upthread is soooo cute.