My first car was a 1959 Volkwagen Beetle and I got it in 1970. It was yellow with a black ragtop (and it was ragged.. I later had to have it replaced). I was 16. My mom and stepdad took me down to the car dealership and I picked it out, worked out a payment plan with the guy and drove it home. I found out later my parents paid for it outright and the payments I was making were going to them. I drove that thing into the ground. I remember driving down the hill in Griffith Park going waaay too fast so I could impress the girl who later became my wife. She wasn’t too impressed when I bounced it off the curb and bent a rim. I loved that car. The car didn’t have a gas gauge but it did have a reserve gas tank. There was a little lever on the floor that you could flip when it started sputtering and that gave you another gallon or so of gas. It got about 50 miles to the gallon so one gallon in reserve was plenty. I remember driving on the Hollywood Freeway one day and it started sputtering so I reached down to flip the lever only to discover that I was already on the reserve tank! I knew it was a big ticket if you ran out of gas on the freeway but I was going slightly downhill and there was a exit not too far ahead so I just coasted and prayed. I made it all the way down the to the end of the exit and into the gas station around the corner without stopping. I was so proud… until I realized I didn’t have my wallet. The guy let me leave the car there while I walked up and down Hollywood Blvd panhandling. I got 50 cents which at that time was a little more than a gallon of gas. I put it in the car, drove all the way back to Inglewood got my wallet and then just for fun drove all the way back to that same gas station and filled up the tank. I loved that car.
My second car was a 1964 Volkwagen Van. I bought it in 1972. It was yellow and white. I bought it on my own for real this time from a used car dealer in Inglewood. Not the best deal I ever made. It started blowing smoke and using oil almost as soon as I drove it off the lot. That’s when I meet Dirk of Dirk’s Volkwagen. He rebuilt the engine for me and I proceeded to drive that car into the ground as well… literally. I had fun doing it though. I loved that car.
Around that same time I bought another car from my sister. I don’t really consider it a car though it was more of a hobby. It was a 1946 Plymouth. It was a cool car but I didn’t have it very long. I do remember that was the car I was driving when I got my second ticket for running a red light. I was driving down Prarie Ave late at night when I saw a police car that had someone pulled over on the side of the road. As I passed I watched through my rear view mirror, then when I looked up I saw the light I was approaching had turned red, I hit the brakes suddenly and that’s when I remembered the brakes didn’t really work that good. I ended up squealling just enough to get the officer’s attention then coasting to a stop dead center in the intersection. I guess they figured I was more promising than whoever they had pulled over because they left them and came to find out what my story was. I explained that the brakes didn’t work that good and they explained that driving a car in that condition is a violation in itself. I don’t remember the first ticket I got but I remember this one because when I got to court the judge asked “This is your second red light… do you have a problem with red lights?” I’m not sure how I answered that but it resulted in my license being suspended for 90 days.
I bought my third car from my Dad. It was strickly business. I signed a contract and made regular payments. But hey, I was getting married soon and needed a decent car. It was a 1969 American Motors Ambassador. I bought it in 1974. After I made the last payment to my Dad he went into the his bedroom and came out with a passbook for a savings account in my name. Turns out he had put every other payment I gave him into the bank for me. Aren’t parents cool? The car was olive green with a black vinyl top. We named it Herman because it reminded us of Herman Munster. Jennifer’s carseat fit nicely in the back seat. I loved that car. This was the car I was driving when we had the “gas crisis”. It had a big V8 engine and I don’t remember how the milage was but I did get a custom license plate that said GGUZLER
My fourth car was a 1979 Ford Fairmont. We bought it in 1981 from Hertz Rent-A-Car. Steve’s carseat fit nicely into that backseat. This became our family car for quite a few years. I member driving it toward Texas and rebuiding the radiator in Winslow Arizona. Then when we got to Texas my wife told me she thought it was overheating. I assured her it was fine… then I noticed the instrument cluster was steaming up. Turns out it blew a gasket on the exhaust manifold and the hot exhaust eventually melted the nearby wiring. I hated that car.
My fifth car was a 1984 Toyota pickup truck. I bought two of them from the company I worked for at that time. One of them had a bad transmission and the other one had a blown engine. I swapped the transmissions and drove that truck while I rebuilt the engine from the other one then I dropped the newly rebuilt engine into the truck I wanted and sold the other one. I drove that truck into the ground. Then I gave it to Jennifer who had to spend $900 to get it running properly. Then she drove it into the ground and gave it to Mark who rebuilt the engine again. I loved that truck.
My sixth car was my wife’s 3rd car. You see I had bought her a 1972 Datsun 240Z before Jennifer was born and over the years the transmission had died so it had been sitting in our driveway for about 7 years. I had a new transmission put in it and that was my sixth car. I loved that car.
My seventh car was a 1995 Mitsubishi Galant. I bought it from my brother. I loved that car. I gave it to Jennifer.
Also during that time I stole my brother’s 1968 Chevy Pickup. I don’t really consider it one of my cars though because even though I had fun driving it and fixing it up for a year or so I knew I was going to give it back to him when I got done.
My eighth car was my wife’s fourth car. It was a 1996 Mitsubishi Montero that we bought when her 1986 Dodge Caravan finally died in 2000. I drove that car into the ground… and a few other things.
My ninth car was… my ninth car is my FIRST NEW CAR. It is a 2005 Chevy Avalanche. It is the first time in my life I have had a new car. I always figured a used car was a better deal but my wife suggested I go buy this and I am so glad she did. I love it.
