08 | January | 2008 | Adventures of Four

Let’s talk about the cars I’ve owned.

My very first car ever was a 1985 stick shift Honda Civic hatchback that I hated. I don’t have a photograph of it because I couldn’t stand it. But it did look something like this:

Note how this car is located in some third-world village. Mine was not gold. It was more of a rust color. It got me from A to B and I learned how to use drive a manual transmission. That’s about all the good things I have to say about it.

Being the image-conscious high schooler that I was, I wanted a cute little sedan like all my classmates. No such luck until my mom traded up. Mom ended up buying a Nissan 300Z for herself and I inherited her 1985 Honda Accord. It was a huge improvement for me. I wasn’t sad to see the Civic sold to a guy who wanted a ‘beater car’ to drive to the Cape and back. I don’t have a photo of the Accord either but here’s a close match:

Sweet, I know. It took me from high school through 2 years of college. It had it’s share of problems like rust holes in the floor boards so large that you could see the pavement zooming by underneath your feet if you moved the mats. The radio would work intermittently. When it would go out all you had to do was hit it and it would work again. The frame was so rusted that it cracked my windshield. The auto glass repair guy didn’t realize what caused the crack until he’d removed the old windshield completely. He said he couldn’t install new glass until the rust problem was taken care of. Hmmmm. That was a problem. So, J (my boyfriend at the time), drove the car from our apartment to the body shop across Gainesville in January without a windshield. That’s love, people. He was all bundled up in his winter coat, hat and gloves with the heater cranked. I followed behind in his car so we’d have a ride home while my car was being repaired. Good times! Character-building, really.

When I began co-oping at Dow Chemical, I had to move out to the Houston area for two semesters. We needed to bring our own transportation. *groan* This was a problem for me since the ol’ Accord was having major issues every month or so. I didn’t think it would make it from FL to TX without dying. So, my hero, J, rented a car transport trailer for his truck and moved me and my car to Texas for 8 months. The Accord became such an untrustworthy mode of transportation that I decided to trade it in on a shiny, new car. I was working after all. And I’d be graduating soon. This is what I bought:

I absolutely LOVED my 1998 Mustang GT!!! It was a stick shift too and it never had a single problem in the 5 years that I owned it. I still miss that car!

If I loved it so much why did I get rid of it, you ask. Well, it’s a little thing called family planning. We were thinking about starting a family and the Mustang was impractical for getting kids in and out. We sold the Mustang to one of J’s co-workers and bought a 2000 Jaguar S-type.

I loved this car too! It was a gorgeous color and it had all the bells and whistles. It had a few minor problems from time to time but it was still under extended warranty so it was not a big deal. But it had to go when baby number 2 was on the way. It was difficult for me to bend down to put Wildman into his car seat when I was pregnant with Cutie Pie. I needed a taller vehicle- an SUV. I couldn’t quite bring myself to purchase a minivan. No matter how awesome and comfortable they are, I couldn’t do it. So, J and I purchased this:

As far as SUV’s go, the 2006 Ford Explorer rocks. It meets all my needs! It has push-button third row seating, a navigation system, leather, and a DVD entertainment system. I love it! It’s the perfect mom-mobile for me.

But if I were a kidless, free-spirit, I’d want one of these: