It’s no secret that I’ve possessed a sizable affinity for the third generation (1996-2000) NS Chrysler minivans ever since they debuted when I was a very small child. To the very young me, there was just so much I found cool about the, from their vast array of models and trim levels to their highly configurable interiors, numerous thoughtful convenience features, and their good looks that I was in pure awe over.
My aunt owned a 1999 base model Grand Voyager (having previously owned a ’95), and I always wanted my mom to get one too, preferably a high-trim Grand Caravan or Town and Country. The dream would have been if Mom came home with a Town and Country Limited some day, but alas, my too-cool Mom wasn’t ever to be caught dead driving a minivan.
She preferred her 1994 Grand Cherokee, and despite my advocating, traded it in for her second one in 1999, not even taking a glance at the beautiful black Town and Country Limited parked next to it in the showroom. I guess my car sales skills were still a few years off. In hindsight, I can’t imagine my mom ever driving a minivan, as it doesn’t fit her image.
Of course, as I grew older, the cars I wanted Mom to get grew decidedly more upscale and driver-oriented, yet even to this day, that unfulfilled childhood desire still exists. When you were a young child, was there a car that you wanted your mom or dad to get? Did they get it?
My mother leased a 1994 Cherokee brand new. I was 7 at the time, and desparately wanted her to get the shiny red Grand Cheroked Limited in the showroom.
A side note, my first Jeep was identical to your mother’s 1994 Grand. I loved the color of it.
Late 80s Monte Carlo SS (dad always bought used so he would have been shopping in the early 90s) he got a 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Brougham sedan with 307 V8 and posi-trac.
He thought with 2 kids he had to have 4 doors. Honestly as cramped as the backseat of a G-body sedan was, the coupe couldn’t have been much worse and the coupe would have been far cooler.
I wanted my Pop to get a Cadillac. He always loved them, and when the downsized C-bodies came out in 1977, I know he really wanted one. Pop had company cars at the time, so the only car we “owned” was my mother’s. I tried really hard to get him to buy a DeVille in 1979 to replace my mother’s ’75 Olds Ninety-Eight, but she just wanted another Olds and Pop didn’t argue. Sadly he didn’t pull the trigger to get a Cadillac when they were still good performers with the 425 V8. Pop waited until 1989 when he retired to get a Sedan DeVille. It was a horrible lemon which he only kept for 18 months, before swearing off Cadillac and GM forever.
Either a Colonnade Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon/Supreme or a Pontiac Grand Am. Which never happened.
When Buick brought back the full sized wagons in early 70’s, I bugged my folks no end to get one to replace our ’68 Plymouth full size wagon. Mainly in ’72-’73, but the recession of ’74 made me think more ‘mature’.
Ended up getting a ’72 Caddy SDV as the family car in fall ’75, and was thrilled for a while. But many long trips were hard with less room to ‘breathe’ vs. a wagon.
As a kid I had a liking for full sized Pontiacs. No luck until I was well into High School and Dad finally got a 67 Pontiac… but by then the BMW 1600/2002 model was out and my automotive taste had changed forever.
In 1972 I really tried to get my mother to buy the Viking Blue Cutlass Supreme convertible that was on the showroom floor. She wanted a Cutlass Supreme 2 door anyway, so what was the big deal? But nope.
In 1974 I tried to get my father to get an Avanti II. He thought about it for a little, but decided against it. In fact, because of the bad economy he didn’t get a car that year.
I tried again in 76, I figured the New Yorker Brougham would be fabulous – it was an Imperial at a bargain price. But then Dad explained the idea of leases and how cars with shitty resale value were expensive to lease. He leased a Mercury Monarch Ghia instead.
It could have been worse. You could have been hoping for a Cutlass Salon/Supreme or Grand AM, but end up with a 1973 AMC Gremlin.
When I was a child I didn’t want them to get anything! I loved my Mom’s MKII Jetta and my Dad’s Audi 100, it felt like losing a pet to me when they were traded in. I was successful in lobbying my Dad to get a 99 Maxima SE though, he was looking at an Accord before I suggested that route.
I wanted my parents to get a Hummer. They didn’t get it. Probably for the best, I was a dumb kid anyway.
I was all over the map so far as recommendations to my parents went, from Cadillacs to Jaguars to a beautiful red Beetle convertible. Astonishingly, they ignored my advice and kept on buying Toyotas.
When my parents were van shopping circa 1984 or maybe late 1983 I wanted them to get one of those Toyota Vans they were selling in the US at the time (They were called the Town Ace in other countries, I believe). I’m not sure what it was I liked about them. I think I just thought they looked cool and Space Age compared to American vans of the era.
They ended up getting a first year Voyager. I don’t think I’d even heard of the Voyager/Caravan at the time, as they were brand new. In hindsight that was probably the better choice for them.
Easy. A ‘77 Trans Am (black and gold special edition of course!) or a ‘75 Gran Torino painted up in a certain red with a white stripe scheme. My Dad almost traded my Mom’s ‘75 Elite for a Starsky Torino.
I really can’t remember. All I know is that my father had a ’62 Rambler Classic wagon from 1962 until 1972. I would’ve taken anything over that. What made it worse that he used it for his trade-which was painting apartments and small businesses. There was never a time where there wasn’t paint cans and/or ladders rattling in back.
In the fall of 1960 we went car shopping to replace our 1955 Studebaker Champion. I barely remember it, but I do remember how badly we all wanted the fantastic new ’61 Thunderbird. I guess they couldn’t quite swing it, but I was delighted with the ’61 Ford Galaxie Sunliner convertible we did get.
When I was in high school, Dad announced we were going to get a new ’68 GTO, the one with the first-ever streamlined plastic nose, to replace our Mustang. I was thrilled and could hardly wait. Then a few days later we suddenly weren’t getting a GTO. No explanation, just no GTO. Now I expect it was when he called the insurance agent, and found out what the premium on a new GTO with teenagers in the house would be.
At the tender age of five, my father took me new car shopping with him. Dad decided he wanted to get another Mercury, but wanted another mid sized car like his 1962 Fairlane. My mother had learned to drive on the Fairlane and that was about the biggest car she wanted to pilot.
I don’t know why, but I was totally enamored with the Mercury Cougar. (I should back up and say I have been obsessed with cars from a very early age.) I have no recollection as to how I became aware of the Mercury Cougar in the first place. While my father sat down to make a deal on a new-for-1968 Montego, I apparently made my displeasure known about this turn of events and acted quite badly.
I think somewhere along the line my dad may have wanted a Cougar, too but it would not have made sense with three boys still in the house. That year at the Teamster’s Christmas party, I got a plastic metallic green toy Cougar. Better yet, on Christmas Eve, I unwrapped a Hot Wheels Custom Cougar.
This only fueled my obsession with cars further.
“I have no recollection as to how I became aware of the Mercury Cougar in the first place.”
I remember Mercury advertising the everloving snot out of them on television beginning in 1967 and doing some decent product placement with Cougars in then-current TV shows. A Cougar was part of the first group of Hot Wheels cars as well as available in the Matchbox line. I was a little older than you, but it was hard for a car-obsessed kid to NOT be aware of the Cougar. 🙂
It could very well have been the advertising, but I have no recollection of it. About the only thing from that time I do remember is the end of each commercial, the cougar was roaring (yawning? singing?) while the voice over said: At the Sign of the Cat…
Whaddya know? Advertising works! 🙂
Don’t forget the plastic 1969 Mercurys – including the Cougar – that were offered as a prize in various cereals (Post cereals?) during 1969.
Matchbox actually offered TWO 1967 Cougars – the metallic lime green one in the regular 1-75 series, and the metallic gold one in the King Size series.
I had the HW Custom Cougar (before they tore off the hood and added a blower) AND the MB Cougar that had the opening doors.
I’ve probably forgotten about the plastic Cougars since then and can honestly say I’ve never run across one of the MB King Size Cougars, either.
The only car my Parents ever bought that I thought was questionable was their 2005 Acura TL with the A-Spec package. TL’s are nice cars, but not 45 grand nice as a loaded A-Spec. It turned out to be a good car and fairly dependable, but that 45 grand could have easily put them in a Lexus IS350 or GS350. The awful dealer experience at the Lexus store while shopping around killed that choice real quick.
No real complaints with their other cars. Mom’s ’69 Road Runner and Dad’s ’73 240Z were perfect. Mom road motorcycles for a time after the Plymouth, but her ’79 Mustang was fairly dressy even if it was junk. Dad had a Ram 50 (?), the Mitsubishi captive import pickup before his ’86 Isuzu Trooper II, and they were both pretty nice. Then mom got an ’85 Cavalier Type 10 coupe which was fine for a cheap second car. After that dad got a constant stream of company cars for the next two decades (NUMMI Novas, Prizms, and Corollas 90% of the time). All were nice cars for the period. An Econoline conversion van came after the trooper in ’95, and that was a nice traveling companion to say the least. Now they have a 2012 Bug launch edition and a 2017 Mazda CX-5. Both are great.
Your mom had a 69 RR and rode bikes? Wow, you had a coooool mom!
She’s always been an exception to the rule. Did I mention she was also in the Army back then? I’m positively feminine compared to her, yet she’s petite and completely at odds with her outward appearance. So lucky to have a tough strong broad for a Mom!
My main gripe had to do with the fact that my dad wouldn’t spring for AM/FM radio…plain old AM with one speaker was just fine, thank you very much.
My dad used to get the Sunday NY Times and Potamkin Cadillac ran ads for loss-leader Coupe de Villes…I knew he lusted after a Cadillac and I thought it would be cool as can be, but he never did pull the trigger…it’s not like he would have driven to NYC from Cincinnati to buy a car but he could have surely gotten one locally. He drove Olds 88s and 98s instead.
In the mid-80s I tried to con him into getting a SAAB 900s…he got a Jetta GL.
Never did have much luck steering his car buying decisions.
My Mom wasn’t going to “get” me any car, I had to buy it myself. I had to get my Grandpa or Uncles permission. After a few hot rods got rejected I came home from school with a pos 1959 Ford for $100. Lasted a year, thanks Grandpa. I let my Uncle take me to Los Angeles to meet with some kind of related cousins one who owned a repaird shop and he got me a more reliable 1963 Chevy Biscayne. Not an SS or even a V8 but I was glad to have something that would get me around without too much work. Learned that a $100 will cost more than a $400 given enough time.
I was 9 when Mom bought her new blue 1964 VW Beetle convertible. While we were at the local St. Louis VW dealership, I saw a low, sleek-looking dark green coupe on the dealer floor with the funny name “PORSCHE”. I remember trying to talk Mom and Dad into buying it – no, it wasn’t what Mom wanted and besides, it cost too much.
“Porsche?” Nah, that franchise will never go anywhere. Borgward or Simca is where the smart money’s at. 😉
I wanted my parents to get a 1961 Bonneville convertible, pistachio green, 389 4 barrel, hydra-matic 4 speed automatic transmission, and triple tone interior. All in green.
Instead, they got a 1961 Pontiac Ventura 4 door hardtop, 389 two barrel, honduras maroon, slim-jim 3 speed automatic, and triple tone interior (red, dark red, and white).
Good enough?
I LOVED it.
Everything after that red 61 Ventura was second rate. Even the two T-Birds and the Grand-Prix that followed it. Somethings come along at the right moment and the right manner to stay in one’s brain forever.
I know the color well, RL. Although I was way too young to be involved in the decision (being about 2) my parents went shopping in 1961 too and came home with an F-85 wagon in the same shade.
Replace the chrome wheels with dog dish caps and put on some standard 1961-width whitewalls and this was our car.
I have a soft spot for early F-85s.
… and as we [mostly] all know, Honduras Maroon was Chevrolet’s name for what Pontiac called code L Coronado Red. I was properly corrected on this by you, but old dogs find new tricks laborious and often regress as dotage sets in.
https://myclassicgarage.com/marketplace/cars/all/Pontiac-Catalina/223431/media/4639336
In 1975, our family’s 1973 Impala was rear ended (hard!) by a little old lady in an enormous Olds 98. The Impala’s bumper was pushed all the way to the rear window.
While the Impala was being repaired, the body shop provided a free loaner 1975ish orange Ford Pinto wagon. It had the little 13 inch slotted mag wheels, orange vinyl upholstery, and, as far as my 8 year old eyes were concerned, the coolest look of any car in the world!
Although I liked the Impala fine, I begged my parents to let us keep the Pinto wagon. I was totally smitten with that car.
–We didn’t keep the orange Pinto wagon loaner…but when I got my first car in 1985, it was a 1980 Pinto wagon….and it served me well for a long time.
(yes, I know the car in the pic is Bobcat…same difference!)
I wanted my parents to buy a car with air conditioning. Period. Maryland summers were (and still are) disgusting with heat, humidity, and pollution.
I agree, we(my brothers and I ) always hated riding in my dad’s 1980 Tercel coupe with its black seats, no A/C and lack of rear side windows opening. It was horrible in those Maryland summers.
Though the irony was that when I was given its replacement car (a 1980 Malibu) a few years later in which the A?C had taken a dump, I could have cared less about the hot MD summers because I had wheels.
Same here. Except our Maryland summers were spent in a 1980 Corolla wagon. No A/C, manual gearbox… it seems nicer now than it did then. Or there was my Dad’s ’86 Pontiac 6000 wagon — that had A/C and more bells’n’whistles. Before that, he had a Peugeot 604, which was my favourite car as a child — though I got sick in it quite a few times.
Then we moved back to Europe (with the Pontiac) and my mother found the worst kind of shitbox she could as her daily driver (a 1988 Seat Ibiza).
I never bothered to pitch a different car to my parents. They clearly had no interest. I did suggest they should look at Skodas in the mid-’90s, as they were (and still are) like cheap VWs with slightly improved design. But to no avail, my mother preferred getting a second-hand Renault Clio and my father, when the Pontiac’s transmission died, found a new VW Golf TDI at a great price.
My mom bought a new 1986 Plymouth Horizon; in the process I (then 12) thought maybe if I could get her to a Dodge dealer I could talk her into a GLH (if not a GLHS; I had read only 500 of those were being made so they probably wouldn’t have one) . Turns out they couldn’t match the deal on a base Omni so back to Plymouth it was. At least she didn’t get the Renault Alliance we had also shopped.
My parents had the same car from when I was 7 until I was 29. A Volvo 122S wagon. By the time I was about 12, I suppose I would have liked to be seen in something newer, and in fact in that year (1969) they ordered a new 145S wagon for European delivery. I dreamed of us getting that “modern” car, and of course realized we’d probably still have it when I started driving. But we ended up not going to Europe that year, and I learned to drive in the 122S wagon and in 1975, I bought my own car. A 122S …. but a sporty 2 door ?
As a kid, I wanted my parents to get a station wagon – preferably a big Ford, like a mid to late ’60’s Country Sedan or Country Squire. We always had 2-door sedans and coupes (a ’67 Beaumont and a ’73 Impala), and a little more breathing space away from my two sisters (and my dad’s constant stream of pipe and cigarette smoke) would have been great. We had a few four door sedans as well (a ’78 Gutless Cutlass and a ’77 Century). The Century was a much better car – better assembly quality and more power. Later on, my mom owned a few Chrysler minivans, and though I’m not a big fan of minivans, they’re roomy and pleasant to drive. Basically, though, I knew better than to tell my parents what car I wanted them to buy – their ideas versus mine were too different and their minds were already made up. Oh well. As a renter, I get the chance to drive plenty of different cars, and the only person who seems to complain is my brother-in-law…but that’s his problem, not mine.
As a kid, the ONLY cars my parents bought were station wagons! and Ramblers at that. So when the Rambler Marlin showed up on the showroom floor, I was blown away! I was 12, and in Love 🙂 but it was not meant to be, sadly.
Then at 15 my folks almost bought a 67 Dodge Charger. I’m overjoyed as I was 1 year away from my drivers license. Almost talked my mother into it, my father was out of town on business, but they bought a Polara instead. Major Lemon with all kinds of problems. Should have gone with the Charger!
Omigosh, I love this question. When we were shopping for a second car in late ’85 / early ’86 to replace the ’77 Plymouth Volaré my parents had bequeathed to my sister, we went to Country Motors in Owosso, Michigan – a new Ford / AMC / Renault dealer.
We ultimately bought an ’85 Renault Encore (a car we loved, and for a long time), but the new Ford Taurus had just been introduced. My brothers and I were trying to convince my parents to buy a base-model Taurus (that, inexplicably, had a really awful looking, slatted, black-plastic grille, in the brochure) as our new family car and make our ’84 Tempo our “second car”. We failed.
At an even younger age, I tended to like cars that I never understood how others didn’t. “Mom and Dad! Why don’t we get a new Ford EXP? I know it’s a two-seater, but we younger kids could just crouch in the hatchback!…”
And then there was the Renault Fuego that I was so enamored of (I still really love the styling – solidly). Our family mechanic reportedly told my mom in not so many words that our family should run from any of the cars I recommended they should look at. Looking back, he was right. 🙂
Ah, a kindred spirit! I also tried selling my dad on the EXP and Fuego, with similarly disappointing results. As you say, perhaps best in the long run, though.
Damn the haters, I still like the EXP. Years ago my buddy bought its spiritual successor, the ZX2. Solid car and when he had a family, we buffed out the paint, he had the shocks done, and he got a nice deal on it for the Camry he traded it in for.
I completely forgot about the EXP! And the LN7!
Dad used to come home with test driven cars on a whim. Once he came home with a 1979 Mazda RX7, black with an automatic so Mom could drive it.
Us three kids jumped up and down and screamed “YES!, YES!”. My mother lost it on poor ol Dad, “WHAT on earth do you think you’re doing? We have THREE children, we are NOT getting a two seat sports car!” etc. etc.
After that Dad’s test driving program took a decidedly more practical slant..
My dad worked for Oldsmobile/GM. Every summer in the 90’s at one of the motor plants that would have a lunch for all the employees and there family’s. Thay would also have lots of Oldsmobile s for you to drive around the block about 4 miles. My dad would sign up to drive what ever was new that year. I would always talk him into getting a custom cruiser. I always want him to get one 91 or 92. My dad drove a 1985 2 door calais, and then an 1989 mercury cougar. Those were the family cars until 1999 when he bought a buick regal.
I get up in with a coupe and a wagon was the complete opposite. Mater a fact i have never owned a 2 door (besides trucks). I did is 2001 get my self a 1989 custom cruiser for my self. I sold it for to help with a down payment on my house. I still would like a that to get that last body style custom cruiser some day.
That’s a good question, but can’t give one answer.
I have an early memory when I was around six in 1969 of my folks shopping for a VW Microbus. I recall the salesman showing us the camping version, still remember him using a crank to pop up the roof. My parents held on to their 1965 Buick Special, but did buy a first generation VW Rabbit from that dealership in 1975.
My favorite uncle got a new Buick Electra every three years or so, I liked the luxurious back seat with fold down armrest – it was so much nicer than my parents rough idling ‘65 Buick Special V6 that had a gray interior without armrests on the back door. That uncle’s son got a job with Honda America in the late ‘70s and Uncle Ralph was driving a Honda Civic 4WD Wagon by 1985 – he loved showing why it was better built than cars from Detroit.
Always liked wagons, especially the ‘68-‘72 Mercury Colony Park. I lost some interest in wagons when my Dad obtained a used ‘71 Country Squire as a company car around 1972, mainly due to our than new 1973 LTD 4dr having considerable more backseat leg room. However, a friend of my mom had a Volvo 1800ES Wagon, which I thought was the coolest thing – even nicer than that lady’s early ‘70s red Corvette.
Any car. Just a car.
As it so happened my parents only bought a car when my dad’s job was relocated and made commuting by moped impractical. As the family’s car nut I was tasked with selecting the car. It had to be cheap to buy, cheap to run and had to have 4 doors. In 1971 in Germany this narrowed the field to two models: Citroen 2CV or Renault 4TL.
A forest green Renault 4TL it was.
One of my cousins in Wiesbaden had a R4 back in the day. It was a supremely odd car compared to the cars I grew up with in the US. But the R4 was a great little car to go driving in the city.
My father had a company car for a number of years that he was able to exchange yearly. He always got a wagon. I begged him not to get another wagon as I was completely fed up with them and when the company announced that the company car was being taken away in a year, he got a 1980 Ford Thunderbird as his last company car.
When it came time for me to buy my first new car, I bought a wagon To this day, it’s my preferred body style – one that I am most comfortable with.
It’s sad that wagons are no longer popular, but I still laugh at all the complaining I did as a kid only to find out that I really loved wagons. Thanks Dad!
Another Frank here who loves wagons! I’ve had more wagons than sedans in my 25+ yrs of driving. My daily driver is a 2007 Focus wagon and I love it! I too mourn the loss of wagons in NA.
I had a 2006 Focus wagon. I loved that car. They no longer produced a wagon version when I got another car. I was always amazed at how much that car could carry as well as how well it handled the road.
I remember the opposite, i.e. lobbying hard AGAINST the used beige Toyota Corona, and was successful as we ended up with the metallic blue Mazda 626 Coupe that became my first car. With the beige Corona sedan I would likely have been even less successful with the ladies if that were possible.
But back to the Brendan Saur childhood photo album – tell us more about the oh-so-fly 1985 Chevy Astro in burgundy over silver parked on the street that undoubtedly has the matching burgundy interior! Mom’s suitor? Uncle Joe? Mr. Rogers from across the street? Or just a random parked car?
Haha, you really just jogged my memory Jim!
The Astro belonged to our next door neighbor Nancy. She was a very sweet middle-aged to older single, childless woman who rented the upstairs of the large two-family house owned by the elderly Agnes Spilane, who lived downstairs.
In the fifteen years or so she lived there, Nancy always drove Astros for whatever reason (I believe three in succession, if I recall). And coincidently enough, I vividly remember that her brother drove a GMC Safari. The last time I saw her (after she had moved) was close to ten years ago, and she was driving a two-tone Chevy TrailBlazer.
She was a really kind woman though. I remember that she never handed out candy on Halloween, but always sent over a special goody bag just for me!
That is interesting! I have never known a woman to drive an Astro. A couple of Aerostars but no Astro. And all my suggestions were men as well. An unwitting stereotype of mine I suppose, I didn’t put any thought into it all at that it could be a woman…it may be the ultimate “non-chick car”.
I never really knew many private customers to drive Astros, but they do give off a decidedly more trucky vibe than most other minivans of the era. Most I saw were the windowless work vans, like the one my uncle drove for many years.
The only other person I recall driving a passenger version was the mother of my friend from elementary school. They had five kids so I assume that Astro’s eight-passenger seating and greater space than front-wheel drive minivans had something to do with it.
The father on the other hand, always had at least two older Mercedes in the driveway, including a C126 560 SEL coupe and an S123 wagon.
Astro’s seem to have quite a cult following now. Both #vanlifers and tradesman who need a sturdy small van.
When I was a kid for some reason we rented an Acadian (like a Chevy II) for a weekend. I kept calling it an “Aca-dan”, and developed an affinity for the car. We didn’t need a car, the TTC was good enough for us to get around, and we didn’t get one until I was 10 – a 66 Valiant.
When my kids were in their early teens, we had an 87 Voyager. They hoped we would still have that when they got their license, they loved that minivan so much with the convenience features and comfort it offered. We drove that on vacation Toronto to Fredericton, straight through, and I was just as refreshed when we got there as when we started. At the time, we also had an 85 Reliant. Somehow the boys never asked about that car :).
1978-Dad was lot shopping for new trucks (we didn’t have the money for one but he always liked looking and taking me with him) and when we were at Dodge and I saw a new Little Red Express, I was in awe. Trucks, truckers and CBs were really cool at time and the one on the lot had a factory CB along with the insanely cool exhaust stacks and woodgrain trim and that was long before I knew about the hot 360s they came with. He liked it too and actually went back to run the numbers with the salesman but we couldn’t swing a new car at the time and he held onto our ’71 Satellite for 5 more years.
1982-Mom bought a new Delta 88. She was shopping for a Cutlass but looked at all of the mid-size coupes from GM and Chrysler (no Fords), and the Olds store was able to upsell her into the 88 coupe. I liked the 88; it was a pretty burgundy coupe with Rallye wheels, but there was a sharp navy blue Regal at the Buick store that I liked a lot and a bright red Mirada at the Dodge boys. I was really into NASCAR at the time and I liked the idea of having one of the cars from the track parked in our driveway, but since she was trading in an awful orange ’74 Volvo wagon, I was happy with whatever she brought home.
1983-Dad bought a new Riviera. There were no other Buicks in 1983 that I much cared for except for a random Regal here or there, but, a few months later, beginning with the 1984 model year, when he brought it in for service or repairs (which was often,) they always had at least 1 Grand National somewhere, usually front and center in the showroom and man did I try and convince him to get one. He wasn’t having it, Dad wasn’t a car guy.
1987-Mom bought a new Corvette, and she would only have a Corvette, so the only question was color; she settled on a white one, but I wanted the black Monte Carlo SS with T-tops or the black K5 Blazer that was on the lot. I was only 2 years away from my license and cars (and girls) were front and center on my mind and in the late 1980s, GM G-bodys and F-bodys were the cool cars to have.
1990-Dad bought a Camry. I wanted him to get ANYTHING else.
The first car I remember was Dad’s ’47 Cadillac Fleetwood that he bought in the mid-1950s. Its paint was thoroughly chalked by then, and the original upholstery was covered up by seat covers, but it was big and comfortable and spacious and smooth, and it had the fascinating Hydra-Matic. Then in the early ’60s it was retired and replaced with a ’52 Cadillac Sixty-Two sedan, a bit smaller than a Fleetwood but still big and spacious. By then we also had Mom’s wheelchair to deal with; it would fold up and go in the back seat area of both of those Cadillacs.
In the mid-60s Dad got the bug that he HAD to have a Mercedes diesel. Well, he found one he could afford: the 1961 190Db that was comfortable but a terrible slug. For reasons I never understood, Dad simply would not consider a station wagon, and he didn’t want anything with a V-8 anymore. I thought, “There are wagons out there with sixes!” and there was no doubt that a wagon would have made a lot of sense for carrying a wheelchair in those days. It seemed to me a ’63 or ’64 Bel-Air wagon would have been a good choice for Dad–not too laden with gadgets to go wrong, but not as plain and parsimonious as a Biscayne. But no; Dad had to have his noisy, smoky, sluggish Mercedes. At least the wheelchair would fit in the trunk.
All of this just made it all the stranger when, in 1978, I brought home a ’70 Torino Brougham I was considering for him to look over. He did so, and said, “Buy it.” This from my father, who hated Fords. I did buy the car, and it turned out to be exactly what I needed at the time, and was reliable.
Many years later, Dad semi-retired the Mercedes and bought a 1982 (I think) Ford Fiesta. And a few years after that, he and my brother swapped cars, so my brother got the Fiesta and Dad got my brother’s Chevy Camper Special pickup with the rear duals, a 454, crew cab, and an 8-foot bed. He used it for years when he was involved in restoring a trolley car of the sort that ran in Tucson many decades ago.
Drive the wind. Drive Sierra
Rented a Sierra in England years ago and it was quite impressive. A real revelation, since my last Ford experience was a ’78 Thunderbird.
My folks were pretty conservative with a buck… probably typical of German immigrants that made it through the Great Depression. But we did live in a nice house, in a good area, and they drove nice cars. Dad gravitated towards the Three-Pointed Star, while mom preferred “big, heavy, comfortable American cars.” T-Birds, a Grand Prix, a Chrysler New Yorker, a Mercury Marquis… you get the idea. In 1967, a neighbor up the street bought a new Corvette Roadster in Marina Blue. I was absolutely smitten… but I never convinced dad to even look at one.
1988 Cadillac Brougham d’Elegance.
In 1988 at the age of 5 I went new car shopping with my parents. They had wanted to replace their Chevette with a Civic but were talked into a Hyundai Excel by some relatives. So we went down to M.J. Sullivan Hyundai in New London. Now, M.J. Sullivan was also a Cadillac dealership. So, right across the showroom floor from the beige and red Hyundais was a big, silver ark of a 1988 Cadillac Brougham. I was already well into a serious case of land yacht obsession by then and naturally, I was totally smitten. As far as I was concerned, SOLD! Walked right over and sat in it. My parents and the salesman had a good laugh. Mom and dad sure weren’t going to shell out $25000 for a car, and even if they were, it would probably have been a Lexus, and definitely not a gigantic silver and very old fashioned Cadillac.
So, no, they didn’t get it. But I eventually drove a 1987 model for 6 years, and at that time I was 20 and it was registered in my dad’s name. So, they kind of did get one, eventually!
My father-in-law had a ’87. And yes, it was Silver.
I remember how excited I was to come home to find my father had borrowed my uncle’s ’71 Colony Park wagon. Black over maroon with fake wood. I loved that car. My mother, however, insisted on driving embarrassing VW Squarebacks.
Hmmm…… While I had little influence on Pop’s purchases, I liked the ’72 K-5 Blazer and the ’77 Civic CVCC 5-speed just fine. The Blazer just needed a 4-speed instead of the TH 350.
My brother and I lobbied hard for the ’77(?) Audi Silver Fox Pop had taken a shine to. He almost pulled the trigger, but got cold feet. The Civic followed a few months later after his Fiat 124 Spyder was totaled.
I also lobbied for the ’79 Volvo 242-GT he was ogling as a replacement for the lemon Civic. In early 1980, he instead went for a beige 244 DL, which stayed in the family for over 20 years.
In the late 60s,my brother and I wanted my father to get a convertible.He insisted that they were impractical for a family of five-my youngest brother was about five at the time. We went to our local Lincoln-Mercury dealer, and there was a black `64 Continental convertible,four door, air,and low mileage in the used car section. He was about to pull the trigger until my mother saw it. She absolutely hated it,and refused to drive or ride in it because ” it looked like the car JFK was killed in”, Needless to say,that was the deal breaker.So we kept our `64 LeSabre sedan for another year or two.
A 95 Mazda 626. As a present for starting college my (very awesome) parents bought me a car. We looked at a number and the one one I wanted was an 84 Cressida. But it had north of 100,000 miles on it and my dad insisted I buy the Mazdainstead. Which hard a Ford transaxle/mission that commited suicide every 20,000 miles. To this day ny Dad says “you were right…”
When is was 6 or so there was shiny red mid 60’s VW Beetle for sale parked on the side of my towns main street. We drove by it almost everyday, I begged and begged and begged for my parents to replace our horrible Chevy Venture with it. A teacher at a local high school bought and I’d see it around town for a few years, taunting me.
My Dad and I were usually pretty much in synch when it came to cars so there was very rarely a disagreement. There was only one I can remember. Dad was driving a 64 Caddy 60 special in the early 70’s and a black 66 imperial lebaron showed up at the local Chrysler dealer. I thought it was 10 times cooler than the Cadillac plus was the car Mr Drysdale drove in the Beverly hillbillies ( one of my favorite shows!)
I got him as far as the dealership but the owners son was there who didn’t like my Dad anymore than Dad liked him.
The conversation consisted of him telling the old man he was busy with people buying new cars come back when the used car guy was there, my Dad’s opinion on that and we were out the door sans Imperial. I still curse the owners son (who is now the father of the current owner) to this day when I see him!
When I was under about 10, I didn’t really care that much. We had one hideous car, a turquoise ’63 Chrysler New Yorker, that I didn’t like much at all, but other than that, I mostly complained about what color the car was. The New Yorker was my mom’s car, and it was gone in a hurry, so quickly she claimed she didn’t remember it until I found a pic of it sitting in our garage that I took in 1964, just before it was traded in for a baby blue (I complained about the color the whole time we had it) ’64 Cadillac. My dad soon had one of the very first Olds Toranados in the area. I though it was a really neat car, but sadly, it was an awful “Champaigne” color. I normally hate/hated gold cars, but my uncle’s gold Toranado, bought with my dad and my other uncle’s Toranado looked ok to me. Less than two years later, my dad offed the Toro for a Chrysler Imperial, bronze with a black vinyl top and black interior. It had major engine work, and was fast as hell, and the idle, even with the stock exhaust, had a nice lope to it. I had wanted him to buy a ’68 Charger or a Road Runner, but he was an old guy and bought old guy cars. The Imp didn’t last too long, and was replaced by a Avacado Lincoln MKIII that he just hated, and he traded my uncle straight up for his ’69 Avacado Caddy, my dad’s last car. He famously passed out in it and knocked out the power to a large section of Toledo when he nailed a power pole near the Toledo Zoo in early ’73. He suffered just two loose teeth and a broken nose, the car was totalled and he even blew up the motor in it after the throttle stuck open. His insurance was cancelled and I got my license the next morning. My dad died about 6 months later, on Labor Day.
I wanted them to get something else. Anything, really. Let me explain.
For years and years, well, at least nine anyway, we were all eight of us ensconced in a bright, bright green and white 1963 VW microbus. 1.2 litres, no heater (you can’t count a vague, choky oil smell as heating), no aircon (natch), but in summer, two shitty little windows in the rear seat that popped out an inch. All that prevented asphyxiation was a clonky “vent” in the silly roof console that my father clicked in our direction whenever anyone farted, which was often (we’d count down after the mishap till he did, because he ALWAYS did, and then roll in suppressed laughter). My dear dad was smart mechanically, and not at all smart for bodywork. This thing had clearly been rolled, crudely repaired and stuffed full of bog to; to give an instance, I quickly discovered it had no wheelarch lip on one side but did on the other. The trim was falling off, the ripped headliner began to flap in our faces. Holes appeared in the roof, and then the floor. The doors rattled open on tramway streets because of the bumps on the failing body. Melbourne has trams everywhere. We couldn’t go anywhere local without someone knowing – the Kermit van with the Kermit roofrack to match. No privacy. (“Ooh, I see you were at the proctologist?”) We may as well have been sitting in the open, and had it lasted much longer, we would have been because of the rust.
Now, I was not a cool kid, but this thing was beyond embarrassing. It blighted my childhood and teenage years. I am still in therapy.
Eventually, when there were less of us, they bought a 10 y.o. beige HG Holden, a dreadful machine.
I have never had such a happy day as when they did.
aw…poor, poor child ! Hope your parents made up for it in other ways 😉
They did.
Brendan, now that is quite some unique desire you had there. A Mini Van???
Usually little boys lust after sportscars and such.
I always suffered from the fact that my dad was a Ford (Granada Mk1 / 2) fanatic when all I ever wanted him to drive was an Opel (Diplomat).
In late 1965, I was in 1st grade, and my parents had a nice 1960 Impala; one day, my little classmate and neighbor called me to take a look at his Dad’s brand new 1965 Impala Super Sport. Yellow, with black bucket seats, console shifter, wow, I loved it. That car had all the neighbors talking for days. Weeks later, Mom told me one day, “Dad will be pulling up soon in our new car!” Visions of Super Sports dancing in my head. I waited anxiously, and finally Dad pulled up in our “new” car, a white 1964 VW Beetle. I was crushed!
I wanted my dad Tovar get a Crown Vic, and I forced him into the Ford show room to test drive one in ‘97, ‘05, and ‘09.(that was probably a Mercury) I was sick of the small back seats in the ‘90 Maxima, ‘97 Maxima, and ‘05 Accord. And I was astonished how crappy the interior of a ‘09 Accord was- easily worse than the Mercury.
SInce I became aware of cars as devices subject to trade, say 1975, I was able to influence only the last one.
The first time, I just wanted him to get almost any American car or a Volvo 144. Dad bought only used, and anyway any of those cars would be obtainable from a diplomat, as new cars here were Argentinian, Brazilian, and assorted other origins, but all of them came CKD and local (Uruguayan) assembly was terrible.
Instead Dad went on and had the 230 CID in our 1968 Nova rebuilt.
As the “brand new”, 9 year old Nova used too much oil, smoked, and had high noise levels, he accepted to trade it in for his only brand new car ever, a 1978 Brazilian Chevette Rally. Weird image, as he was quite a serious guy, and the blacked-out, relatively wide wheeled, instrument filled, bright yellow painted, black striped Chevette was a bit out of tune in the hospital’s parking lot. Rally just meant an instrument and paint package. The engine was the same 1.4 liter, about 65 hp as every other Chevette in Brazil.
But I didn’t want that Chevette. Neither did Dad, who wanted a reasonable sedan, even if it were used. We looked at French Peugot 504s, Volvo 144 and 164, all of them something like 5 year olds. We even took a look at (yes, not much sanity here) the one and only Mercedes 300 SEL 6.3 that was ever brought to the country. Price was relatively right, it was about as old and probably more used than the Nova. Reason prevailed. Of course, most any one car of the ones we looked at was better in my eyes than the Chevette.
Worst moment, we were in the dealer’s premises, “your new car is being washed and they are installing the license plates”…and there it was, a one-year-old Opel Rekord D series, 1900, power steering, rich velour upholstery, 40K kilometers, deep metallic green, vinyl top. As the model had changed and the current one was ther 1978 E Rekord, it was much better in price. “Dad, are we too late to take that one?” “Deal’s closed”
Luckily for me, GM in Uruguay probably pre-rusted the Chevettes. At least ours. A fist-sized hole was there by the radio antenna after two years, floor under the driver was giving way, drive’s seat was loose, paint was stained. Very nice micro car, very bad workmanship.
I finally got Dad to buy what was most similar to a modern American car, a used 1979 Opel Rekord E, metallic blue with vinyl top. It was quite a cool car here at the time. It was one of the cars I learnt to drive in. I kept it for a couple of years after that, as sadly Dad only lived a couple of months after taking delivery. So, I’m a bit emotional about Rekords.
It was sold a few years later to a guy who intended to install a Mercedes diesel engine, which was the final fate of most “big” cars here. BTW, I remember a funeral car, a 1968 black on teal Impala, whose 283 was swapped for a Perkins 4.203, leaving the Powerglide. I rode in that to my grandpa’s funeral in 1983. It was really weird. Noise but not vibration.
When I was 7 (1998) I wanted my mom to get a then-new Dodge Intrepid because it looked so cool! Thankfully, she ended up with a ‘99 Volvo S70.
When I turned 16, my dad gave me his 1971 Catalina to take over the family driving duties and started shopping for a new car. He liked the downsized 77 Bonneville but I was afraid he would come home with another plain looking Catalina, so I called around and found a dealer on his way to work that had a couple of Bonneville Broughams in stock with the striped Valencia interior, too wild for today but really cool back in the ’70s. Much to our surprise he bought a black one, fully loaded, that had been the dealership owner’s personal demo. Here’s a pic of the interior.
That’s awesome! And now that’s some velour upholstery I can get behind!
Needs more tufting. 😉
I remember one Saturday when I was about 7 years old my Dad Taking me to Yates Oldsmobile here in St. Louis to pick up our brand new 1967 F-85 wagon in Fire Engine Red. Our new wagon was positioned outside in the drive awaiting us to drive off in it. Right next to it presuming also waiting for a new owner delivery, was a yellow 4-4-2 convertible. I can remember asking my Dad “why can’t we take this car home instead?” Of course, his response was “because this red car is the one we bought not the yellow one”. Being even at that early age, a car nut, I fantasized about us owning that yellow 4-4-2 and showing it off to all my friends.Through the miracle of the internet, I was able to find a photo of that particular model in the same yellow on black.
Cars were merely transportation modules for my father, as long as it was cheap to buy, got him to work and back, and didn’t cause him to spend a lot of money on repairs, he was happy. The cars of my youth were a 1946 Plymouth (I only have vague memories of this one), a 1950 Ford (this one wasn’t kept too long), a 1954 Plymouth (first car with automatic transmission and a 1960 Ford (I wrecked this one a couple of months after I started driving). The wrecked Ford was replaced by a 1962 Pontiac station wagon purchased for $300; this car had been wrecked at some point and had been “repaired”. The Pontiac went down the road at an angle and sort of sloped down to the right front from the left rear. It did provide several years of service, meeting its end when someone blew a stop sign and caved in the passenger side. Fortunately my sister, who was driving, was not injured. It was around this time that I moved out of the house for good and no longer provided input on parental car purchases. The only new vehicle my father ever purchased, at least for himself, was a 1984 Dodge pickup he bought shortly before he retired. My siblings and I were not surprised that he still had the Dodge when he passed in 2000.
68 Buick Wildcat 2 door. To this day I remember admiring it’s beautiful swoopy, jet-age shape in the showroom. It made our 66 LeSabre 4 door sedan seem so dowdy.
In one Saturday afternoon, back in the late 70s, my father took me for a ride… “Let’s go to see a Mustang” I almost fainted. By that time the first gen Stangs became pretty affordable in Brazil and apparently he had the money to buy one.
It was a 1966 convertible, red with black top.
The owner was an old lady and she owned the car since new… yep, it doesn’t get any better than that.
First thing, obviously, pop up the hood to check the bay and… there was a in line 6 in between the fenders. He forgot to ask about the engine when he previously called the lady.
He thanked her and walked away.
“A six cylinder Mustang? Makes no sense ” he told me.
I kept bothering him for a long time to buy another one but it never happened.
Why? Why Lord that car wasn’t a V8?????
Still wishing ……
In 1960 my Dad left the company he was working for to start his own business. The company had always furnished him with a nicely equipped middle line Ford or Chevy company car. Since he needed a car he went down to our local small town Ford dealer to look around. My brother and I went with him and tried to get him to buy the pretty black Starliner . Instead, he settled on the bottom line stripper two door sedan with a six and three on the tree and no options except for a radio and heater. I was very disappointed. What made it worse for my 12 year old mind was that it was the same shade of blue that his former company car 1960 Ford was. No one even realized that we had a new car. Luckily for me, he traded it off two years later on a nice new 1962 Olds wagon. Once I got my license a couple of years later I probably would have been embarrassed to drive the Ford. The Olds was just fine. Besides, I then had my own first car, a 1951 Chevy. I think that Chevy with it’s 6 and Powerglide probably saved me from getting killed driving the Olds and showing off it’s V8 power.
Once I got my license a couple of years later I probably would have been embarrassed to drive the Ford. The Olds was just fine. Besides, I then had my own first car, a 1951 Chevy. I think that Chevy with it’s 6 and Powerglide probably saved me from getting killed driving the Olds and showing off it’s V8 power.
Paul
Sorry for the double post. I tried twice to post the above but it wouldn’t go. The second time, the first part disappeared and I received a “not responding” message, but it looks like part of it went through. I came here just a minute ago to try and repost it, but I see that I don’t need to.
Our 3-year-old pushed as hard as he was able for me to buy a Jeep earlier this year. Set as I was on a lovely manual Mazda 6, I appreciated my wife’s help when she labelled the 6 “Boppa’s racecar” to help sell the tot on my choice. It worked. I only hope he’s as accepting when I realize my own childhood dream car acquisition of either a late-60s Buick Sport Wagon or Olds Vista Cruiser!
Sunbeam Rapier (Alpine GT) and then a Rover 3500 SD1).
Never succeeded with either.
I was a bit older when I tried to convince my Dad to buy a new car. He was planning to replace the Cressida with something smaller, so I started dropping brochures around the house strategically to get his attention. My primary choices (this was in the early 1990s) were the Hyundai Elantra, Mazda 323 and Nissan Sentra. What did he choose? The Daewoo Cielo (Nexia), of all things!
If minivans had been around in ’68, my folks would’ve bought one!
That year I was 12, we were just back in the States after Dad’s last overseas Air Force assignment, and needed a car.
I was with my folks during their first stop at a local Chevy dealer and I immediately lusted for a pale yellow Impala convertible. Of course my folks weren’t at all interested in my car-buying suggestions.
They didn’t even buy a car there, but instead, Dad wound up buying a bank-repo, white ’67 Chevy Malibu Concours wagon, complete with a 327 V8, faux-wood siding and a roof-rack!
At least it did have factory air-conditioning, and (much more rare in a ’67 Chevy) a factory AM/FM radio!
Mom didn’t really like driving that big car. So two years later, she finally got her own ‘dream-wagon’, a demo-1970 VW Squareback, which turned out to be the biggest lemon ever!
Today ironically, I’d prefer a wagon, if the decent ones hadn’t all been killed off by mini vans and SUVs!
Happy Motoring, Mark