I'm in the midst of spring cleaning, which means lots of purging of old documents, keepsakes, and miscellaneous junk. I came across a bunch of my childhood drawings. Here is one, in which I espoused my love for automobiles and certain makes and models. This drawing was also made at a time when I was learning English. Hence, Pantera was spelled "Pentera".
Thirty years after I drew that picture, I have compiled the following checklist of cars I have driven, by manufacturer. I have taken and combined all the manufacturers who sold cars in the U.S. in 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2010. How did I do?
- Acura: Owned a TSX.
- Alfa Romeo: Test drove a 1972 Spider in 2001.
- AM General/Hummer: 0
- Aston Martin: Briefly drove a Vantage S last year.
- Audi: A3 Zipcar.
- BMW: Had an E46 330i.
- Bentley: 0
- Buick: 0
- Cadillac: CTS-V wagon and coupe at Sears Point.
- Chevrolet: S-10 police truck for work in college.
- Chrysler: Drove a rented LHS in college to/from Lake Tahoe.
- Daewoo: 0
- Daihatsu: 0
- Dodge: Ram Charger police truck for work in college.
- Eagle: 0
- Ferrari: 430 Scuderia this year.
- Ford: Aerostar in college for work.
- Geo: 0
- GMC: 0
- Honda: Wife's Civic.
- Hyundai: Equus last year, briefly.
- Infiniti: 0
- Isuzu: First car was an Impulse.
- Jaguar: My mother's X-Type.
- Jeep: Owned a YJ Wrangler.
- Kia: 0
- Lamborghini: 0
- Land Rover: 0
- Lexus: 0
- Lincoln: Rented a Town Car in Austin for work.
- Lotus: 0
- Maserati: 0
- Maybach: 0
- Mazda: Drove a Protege on a spring break road trip once.
- Mercedes-Benz: Learned to drive in my step-dad's W116 450SEL.
- Mercury: 0
- MINI: 0
- Mitsubishi: Recently rented a Galant.
- Nissan: Near killed myself, my wife, and my mother in a rented Sentra once.
- Oldsmobile: 0
- Panoz: 0
- Peugeot: 0
- Plymouth: 0
- Pontiac: Numerous rented Grand Prixes.
- Porsche: 911 and Panamera.
- Rolls-Royce: 0
- Saab: Recently test drove a 9-3 Viggen.
- Saturn: 0
- Scion: Recently test drove an FR-S.
- Smart: SmartCar-- even got pulled over by CHP in one.
- Sterling: 0
- Subaru: 0
- Suzuki: 0
- Tesla: Drove a Model S and two Roadsters.
- Toyota: Corolla rental.
- VW: Phaeton.
- Volvo: Wife's 940.
Wow that's some car love!
ReplyDeleteLet me see if I can remember what I've driven.
Somewhat in chronological order:
Geo Metro.
Eagle Summit.
Mazda 626.
Mitsubishi Eclipse.
Honda Accord.
Ford F-150.
Ford F-250.
Ford Escape.
Ford Escort wagon.
Ford Focus sedan 1st gen.
Jeep Wrangler YJ.
Jeep Wrangler TJ.
Mini Cooper.
Mercedes-Benz SLK320.
Mercedes-Benz CLK430.
Porsche 911 Turbo.
Acura RSX.
Mitsubishi Montero Sport.
Audi TT.
Mercedes-Benz ML430.
Chevrolet C5 Corvette.
Lexus LX470.
BMW 325i.
Chevrolet Colorado.
Toyota Avalon.
Chrysler PT Cruiser.
Honda Fit first gen.
Honda Fit 2nd gen.
Mazda RX8.
Mazda Mazdaspeed6.
Honda CR-V.
Mazda CX-5
Ford Focus - current generation.
Ford Mustang - V6 & GT.
Mazda Miata - first generation.
Volkswagen Passat - current & last generation.
Brazilian & overseas:
VW Gol - second generation.
Mitsubishi L200.
Chevrolet S10.
Honda Fit.
Renault Sandero.
Fiat Palio Weekend - first generation.
Renault Clio.
In alphabetical order:
ReplyDeleteFerrari F430 Spider
Mercedes E350 W211
Mitsubishi Galant ( Last Gen )
Mitsubishi Lancer X
Mitsubishi Outlander XL
Nissan Juke Turbo
Nissan Skyline R33 Sedan
Nissan X-Trail ( Last Gen )
Opel Insignia
Toyota Camry 30
Toyota Prius XW30
VAZ Lada 2105
On a side note - you should've become car designer!
ReplyDelete@F1O: Great memory and impressive list. How was the 911 Turbo? What year was it?
ReplyDelete@Sanchez: I really think the orange zebra stripes are a nice touch.
ReplyDeleteYou have a very eclectic list of cars. Skyline sedan, Prius, etc. Are Hybrids popular in Kazakhstan?
Your ideas could have been used by either Sbarro or Rinspeed.
ReplyDeleteToyota sells Prius in Kazakhstan offcially. I test drove it at a local dealership. It is actually better that I thought. Feels very different compared to common cars such as Corolla etc. Not only because it is a hybrid but because engineers and designers put some cool features to distinguish Prius from other cars such as gear joystick, dash and dashboard design etc. It's not a Tesla but still a pretty nice vehicle :)
That said I wouldn't prefer it to other cars at the price point. Better get Camry, Passat, Teana or even small SUV such as RAV4. Only couple of new Gen Prius was sold by that dealership so they agree to drop 5-6 K USD off the original price. Toyota Camry 50 or Land Cruiser 200 are much much more popular on the new car market.
But second hand Prius imported from States are getting modestly popular here thanks to low import tax for cars with 1,5 L engine. I even saw Honda Insight few days ago!
Nissan R33 Sedan belongs to my friend. The car is in mediocre shape so it doesn't perform at 100%. But it has RB25 engine which is almost iconic RB26 of Nissan Skyline GTR. If he invests time and money it may get back into original shape.
@Sanchez: What is the route of the second-hand American cars to KZ? Via Vladivostok? China? Mongolia? Dubai/Pakistan?
ReplyDeleteTo be honest I don't know exactly and even Google can't help.
ReplyDeleteI think most likely they ship it by sea to one of Baltic or Finland ports. Then by train or hauler through Russia they send it here.
There is a probability that they ship it to Georgian city of Poti and then to Kazakhstan.
Also quite possible they send it through Dubai.
What? No Bolwell?
ReplyDelete