Get Out Of My Dreams...

The other day a co-worker of mine brought his restored VW Bug to work and it brought back memories of my very first car. I loved that little thing.
Then I started thinking about all the cars I have driven over the years, and it turns out...there have been quite a few!  

Thanks to Ashley I just combed through a few boxes of old pictures for her First/Last link up.  So I pulled a few out of the cars I (we) have owned/driven over the years.  

Cars I drove before I had my own car...

(Dad's car) Hugs black Cadillac with one window that wouldn't roll up.  Five of my friends could sit side by side in the back seat.  It was great for large groups of people. 

(Mom's car) White Ford Escort.  I crashed it, actually totaled it like a month before she had it paid off.  I was 17.  She got another one that I was never allowed to drive. I actually never drove another car of hers until I was over 30.  hehe...oops

(Stepdad's car) Convertible Powder Blue Mustang... I drove it for my driver's license test.  And I got my first speeding ticket in it.  hehe...oops 

 Cars I have owned myself... 

(With a dash of my BF's cars mixed in)

My First Baby...

The Bug

School Bus Yellow Convertible VW Bug... (1976...? forget what yr it was)

My Dad (who was a car dealer) got it in on a trade and decided to give it to me.  I learned how to drive a stick shift when he brought it home that day.  I drove my brother and myself to school, used it to do deliveries at my frozen yogurt/deli job for a summer.  It died and (I don't know why! but) we sold it, I wish we hadn't now! I loved that thing.

When I met my BF he was driving his parents' Dodge 600.  

It was a 4 door sedan, very standard/basic.  It was the only car we had (for both of us, going to different schools) when we moved to San Diego and we drove it for a few years.  It looked like this but... whiter. 

Source - Dodge 600

Sometime during college, maybe 1997-1998, my Dad got another trade in, an Audi 5000.  It was from the 80s and was pretty cool, from what I remember.  I had it for 1 day... 

Actually it didn't even make it home to San Diego from the desert. It blew a rod on me on the 3 hour drive back from picking it up.  (No pic of that one.)

Datsun S810 (??) Station Wagon

After the Audi fiasco, I bought a maroonish 1978 (?) Datsun 810 (or S810...? I forget!)station wagon from my college suite mates brother-in-law. It was a pretty sweet ride.  It had a cool roof rack.  We dig it in a kind of retro/hipster way. Unfortunately, I only had it for a few months.  Someone ran into it and bent the front axle.  Not worth fixing.  RIP Datsun.  

After the Datsun I bought a 1989 Dodge Colt. It was a silver hatchback. I got it for $900 from a young couple moving to the East Coast.  That baby ran like a champ, was cheap to own and maintain, and I sold it for $900 like 2 years later.  (Sadly, no pic of the Colt, either.)

Mazda B2000

After the Dodge 600 died, my BF drove a couple of cheap pic up trucks.  

He had the one above (Mazda B2000) for a year or so before we were in a rollover accident on the freeway in it.  :-(  

After the Mazda he had a grey Nissan Pickup.  I think it was a 1996.  Like my Colt, it ran great, forever, and he sold it to a friend for about the same price he paid for it. 

2000 Accent

My first NEW car (with car payments) purchase was a 2000 Hyundai Accent. It was great for a first car, had an awesome warranty and good mileage.  I ran it into the ground! I think it had about 200K miles on it when I sold it in 2006.  We drove it everywhere, including the entire West Coast of the USA, from San Diego to Vancouver, BC!  The pic above is at my BF's Dad's place in Seattle.   

Source Edmonds.com // 2007 Dodge Caliber (but mine was silver)

My second new car (with even bigger payments) was a 2007 Dodge Caliber.  It was 4 doors, roomier than my Accent, and had a lot of (silly but I liked them) features. I thought it would last a while, and I was about 6 months away from paying it off, when it burned down on the freeway.  :-( 
 

Yes, this is actually my car.  :-(

Don't even ask me how it (technically/scientifically) happened.  I was driving to work, it made some weird jerky shuddering noises/motion, I pulled over, pulled out my phone, saw a flame flick out from under the hood, and jumped out.  The rest is a blur of standing on the side of the freeway, fire trucks, and being so happy I still had full coverage insurance!!

Our Current Cars...

My BF bought his first BRAND NEW car in 2008! Well, a truck actually, a big, beautiful 2008 Toyota Tundra.  It looks almost brand new still because he is super anal about it, and because he  has less than 40K miles on it even after 4+ years.  His commute is less than 2 miles, and he often rides his bicycle.  So yeah...he doesn't put a lot of wear and tear on it.  I love his truck for long drives, it's like riding in a couch.  :-)
(Full disclosure, he has also had 3 street bikes since we have lived in San Diego, Suzuki GSXRs.)

Source Edmonds.com

And MY current car?  It's a 2011 Toyota Camry.  Brand new (with lower payments than my Dodge because I have improved my credit dramatically since 2006!  haha), roomy, comfortable, reliable, good mileage, kinds boring... Everything you expect from a Camry.  haha 
I'm hoping this one is going to last for many, many years.  

So there you have it.  Our life in cars.  I think that is all of them...Sure seems like a lot of cars when you list it out like this! 
I am happy to have my Camry. 

I sure wish I still had that Bug, though...  

What is/was your favorite car??