My first car, a 1974 Firebird Formula. This is the only photo I have. After 2 weeks, I was stopped at a light behind an MG. Behind me was an older Mercedes. There was a lot of fog that morning. I hear brakes screeching from behind. I look in the mirror and a big Chrylser plowed into the Mercedes at 50 MPH. The Mercedes hit me, then I hit the MG in front of me. The Mercedes front end was totalled and I knocked the bumper off the MG. The visible damage to my car was negligible! My retractable bumpers had a thick rubber wrapping that took the hit. But a squeak developed in the rear end. I traded the Firebird in for a 1976 280Z. I loved this car, but the defroster never worked correctly. In the winter, the only way to clear the frost from inside the windshield was to run the air conditioner at full blast. Had to wear a snow mobile suit to keep from freezing. The rack and pinion steering didn't have power assist at low speeds, so it took a lot of muscle to park it. I pinstriped the car myself and added the rear window louvres, headlight covers, front air dam and mag wheels. I put in halogen headlights, which were illegal in 1976. So were the headlight covers. When I got the car inspected, I had to remove the plastic headlight covers and put the original headlights back in. I got it inspected 50 miles from where I lived because they were the only inspection station that didn't reject me for the rear window louvres and windshield stripe. In 1981 I bought a Honda Accord. This was a great car. My first front wheel drive car. It went through the snow like crazy. And it was my first manual transmission. Kept it for 8 years and put on 220,000 miles. Got married in '82, bought my first house and needed a pickup truck to haul stuff in, so I bought a Nissan King Cab in 1983. Next I bought a used 280Z. Had trouble with the injectors sticking. Had to spray them periodically to keep the pas pedal operating. Got divorced, bought a new house, got rid of the pickup, Accord and 280z and leased an 1989 Nissan 240SX. Had to put cement bags in the trunk to have traction in the snow. For the last 3 months of the 5 year lease, it sat in the driveway because I already put on my alotted mileage. Drove my girlfriend's car, a Toyota Paseo. In 1997 my girlfriend (and now wife) traded in her Paseo for a Chevy Blazer. We're both skiers and travel to New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine every year to ski. The 4 wheel drive kept us out of trouble. In 2001 we traded in the Blazer for a PT Cruiser. My wife liked it better than the Blazer and I liked the retro look of it. This car ate oil. It didn't burn it or leak it - it just disappeared. I had to put a pint in every month. Dealer couldn't find the problem. It also was lousy in the snow. The clutch pedal was so light I couldn't feel it, so I couldn't tell when it was engaging. My 2007 Ford Mustang with a full injected 4.6 liter engine. I added a C&L cold air intake and custom tune by Brenspeed via an SCT X-Calibrator2. The custom tune removed the sluggish stock throttle, peaked the power at 4,000 RPM instead of 5,500, and added 15 HP for a total of 315 HP. I added the pinstripes. I sold the Mustang in 2010. My wife's AWD, 170 HP 2008 Subaru Impresa. Return to homepage