Favorite so far was probably a 2003 Mazdaspeed Protégé. They were kinda anemic for a 2.0t car out of the box, but I had built the engine a bit and goosed it to around 225whp. It wasn’t the fastest thing around, but it had a raw mechanical feel that was a hoot to drive and toss around corners, especially after adding some stickier rubber.
I’ve got a NB Miata in the garage right now, but man it’s just missing about 75whp to match the smiles per hour factor.
2007 Subaru Impreza SE with a 5 speed manual transmission with nice crisp shifter bushings. It wasn’t fast because it was the naturally-aspirated version, but damn was it literally invincible in the winter. I once helped a Jeep up a snowy hill by cutting a path for him to follow me up after he failed to get to the top multiple times. Also, drifting in that car was a point-and-shoot endeavour. You could be sideways at almost 100km/h and have absolute pinpoint control of the car at all times. The AWD system in Subarus is a technical marvel.
I also loved the kinda minimal dash layout. It felt like an older car because the dash wasn’t like a meter deep. It was small and compact. The car was also incredibly easy to work on. I learned a lot about maintenance with that car. I miss it a lot.
Well I’ve only had two but my current one is basically my dream car so the answer is 2007 Nissan Navara King Cab, 2.5 litre turbo diesel 4x4, all black and murdered out.
The first car I owned is by far my favorite. It was a ‘91 Miata (NA). It was very easy to learn how to work on it and fix things. It really made me love driving. I want to buy another Miata at some point.
I used to have this truck. It was a 1989 C1500. It was a single cab, long bed truck which is the best configuration. Under the hood was a 5.7 liter V8 with very primitive fuel injection, and that was hooked up to a 5-speed manual transmission.
It wasn’t the fastest, most powerful truck I’ve ever had, but it had tons of personality and wouldn’t die. It was really fun to drive with the torquey engine and the stick shift which was the exact opposite of a short-throw shifter.
Worked for my brothers custom fuel injection company. They had a late 80s CRX that was used for testing drive by wire systems.
I ended up buying it as one of my first cars. Got over 40 mpg when you drove like grandma, and turned into a wild cat when you put your foot down.
It’s pretty close between the CRX and my 84 Fiero. Just something special about a 2 seater with manual transmittion and no bells and whistles. Though I did prefer the real wheel drive and mid engine on the Fiero.
Now days I drive an Impreza wagon, which comes close, but just isn’t the same. Sure it’s more comfortable, the heater works, and I don’t have to have a triple A card in my pocket to drive farther than the corner store, but where is the excitement in that?
My first car was a 73 Buick Electra, maroon, fully loaded. It wasn’t in the best shape as it was about 30 years old, but I loved it. It was so fun to drive.
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