My Best and My Worst Car

The Corvette Heaven thread got me to thinking.  All of us to varying degrees have been or are "car guys."  Think back on those cars you have owned and list your favorite and your least favorite of those cars.  Remember, these are not "dream cars" ---- these are cars you have owned.

Here are mine:

Favorite ---- 1965 Ford Mustang.  What a great little car.  It had style, dependability, comfort, great handling, all going for it.  I had mine for just over three years and never had any issues with it.  The only reason I got rid of it was my two daughters outgrew the back seat.

Least Favorite ---- 1972 MGB.   What a piece of ****!!  The engine ran when it wanted to and continually came up with new and obscure reasons not to run.  The convertible top lasted just over a year before it start tearing.  There was just no way to keep the side draft carbs in adjustment.  The only saving grace was that when it decided to run it was a blast to drive.

Okay, there are mine.  What are your favorite and least favorite that you have owned??

This is a tough one. 1) I LOVE cars... 2) I have owned well over 1000 different ones, so its kinda hard to remember them all.

The ones that stand out that were the most fun and reliable. 1965 Falcon Futura sedan. 1966 Ford Falcon Futura sedan, 1968 Mercury Cougar (x2), 1960 Ford Falcon Ranchero, 1973 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia.

The two that stand out as having almost no redeeming quality are my 1975 Vega, and 1998 Taurus wagon.

Least favorite..... 1998 Merc SLK 230... what can i say ... underpowered, uncomfortable, expensive to run, had "Capri" syndrome (back end wants to take over the front on anything but a hot sticky surface) was a chore to go anywhere in ... didn't last very long.

Favorites ... have two, can't decide which....
.. 1994 Rover 827si .... ex police pursuit motorway car, garaged from when it retired till i bought it, honda NSX V6 2.7ltr, chipped, flowed, tweaked etc.... 170 top end and 60 in a blink under 5 secs ... not bad for a big heavy old bus. Killed it ....too many punishing track days.

The Saab i drive now 1999 95-Griffin, played with again, about same performance but lots more ftlb of torque and much more comfortable overall, need to get this on a track day soon ... Knockhill more than likely.

OK, time to me to chime in. Like Sam, my list is long, so I will have a few great ones, and one POS:

Most favorite: This is a four way tie, with reasons for each
1.  2010 Mercedes C300 - company car I had, and just a blast to drive. Handle well in the curves, great performance on "sport" setting, and extremely comfortable for the long drive. Absolutely wonderful seats and brakes!
2. 1994 Mazda Miata - Of course it was red, and was like driving a slot car. Worked over the suspension some. Had the sweetest shifter ever in it's five speed. Drove it for 10 years, almost 100K miles, and other than oil/tires/brakes, only changed the timing belt once. Likely the most trouble free car I have ever owned.
3. 1959 VW Bug - this is the one that I learned to drive on, had in college, and now has it's second life as my collector car. No real redeeming features, other than just a cool car with it ragtop sun roof and semaphore turn signals. I did drive the hell out of it in college, and it never let me down.
4. Early 1990's Class 9 Off Road Race Car - my one adventure in racing was this. I purchased it used and raced it for a couple of years. Fun to buckle yourself in, and drive as fast as you dared in the dirt. And I got my money back out of it when I sold it!

Now for the least favorite. This hands down has to be this one:

1. Late 70's Mazda Wagon - had the rotary motor, and was terrible. Powerful, but made this huge bang in the exhaust when you got out of the throttle. Trans was terrible shifting, and the fit/finish of the car was dismal. Many times I asked myself "Why did I ever buy this?"

So there you have it.

I don't really have anyone particular favourite as I have loved everyone of them for many different reasons, with only one exception...

Worst car...: - 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe 2.0 CRTD GSi, she was my very first & last brand new car, out of the 5yrs of owning it, I think she must have spent 2yrs in total in the garage... Whilst she ran, she was a good vehicle, however she had a real problem starting, they replaced nearly everything but the problem continued, it ended up being one of the only things they didn't replace, number 3 injector...

Thankfully she was covered by Hyundai's 5yr warranty, in December '07 the gearbox failed, they said they would only repair it and not replace it with a new box, when I got it back she sounded like an old Land Rover and once the warranty finished in March '08 that was it, they wouldn't give me any extra coverage on the gearbox, so go rid of her, as a new gearbox would cost £5000, not counting labour...

Andy...

tough one

faves......

2004 renault clio ...had it from new, kept it for 9 years cos i didnt want to part with it cos it was so much fun to drive, still miss it

old Mini.....early 80s vintage.........for exactly the same reasons as the clio.......great fun to drive, economical...bought it as a runaround when my Geep was off the road after an accident, loved it

worst....

1967 Triumph Herald............bought back in mid 80's to build a kitcar (planned on a Moss Roadster.....bit like a Morgan)....drove it for 2 weeks, couldnt bare it any more.......had people queing to view it, sold it for more than i paid for it....replaced it with a Mk2 Escort which was sooooooo much better lol

2003 Toyota Corolla............badly built, dog slow, had it for less than a year....and i worked for Toyota at the time at the factory where it was built!!!!

thing is, how tastes have changed.......currently driving a Citroen C3 Picasso ......bought it cos it seemed perfect for what we needed....needed a mini people carrier cos we wanted more room than a normal car.....hated vauxhalls, didnt like ford c-max, dont trust peugeot or renault scenics.....looked at the Picasso and read reviews.....seems the people who dont rate it are those who dont own them lol.......decided to try one and it is superb!.....easy to park, i get 65mpg easily........over 75 if i give it some thought.....comfy, loads of room....................but its not fun like my old Clio lol

Cool, I luv reading reviews of foreign makes. With standards different in different countries (as are roads and fuel prices) seeing exotic makes keeps things interesting. Here in the Midwest there're some Public TV shows reviewing cars. The shows are German and dubbed in English. Renault seems to have the oddest looking vehicles, by their choice!

My best car was my first - 1977 Toyota Corolla coupe, mustard gold with black racing stripes on both sides. Don't know what the stripes were for as it was only a 1.2 litre engine. It was dependable and fun to drive.

Worst car - 1984 Mitsubishi Cordia. Apparently the oil pressure switches of Cordia engines had a habit of blowing out without warning.   My car got towed, Mitsubishi fixed it under warranty even though it was a few weeks out of the warranty period, they were good. The car was never the same and I got rid of it soon after.

I always needed a work car, so I expeienced some of the greatest worst cars in automotive history,

BEST

In my early years, fun was primary.

1960 Chevy Impala - My first car and lots of fun with a 283 V8.

1969 Camaro SS350  -  A great car that I did some engine and suspension mods to and had fun drag racing and autocrossing.

1966 Corvair Corsa  -  An extremely fun car to drive.  Repainted it and de-leaked an engine on this one.

1984 Toyota Supra  -  My wild side was disappearing at this point, but I still liked to travel fast.

2009 Ford Fusion  -  My current oldster car, but it does have the sporty stuff on it as well as an aftermarket body panel kit.  Very comfortable and reliable car.

WORST

This is where the work cars came in - mostly basic transportation.

1972 Vega GT - Fun to drive when new, but the first set of HD shocks ripped the rear sheetmetal from the chassis.

1976 Vega GT  -  This one had air, but again the shocks ripped the rear floor pan out.

1974 Pinto  -  Bright Yellow banana boat.  Felt like it had no suspension at all.

1976 Bobcat  -  Mercury's luxury version of the Pinto.  Terrible performance.

1980 Buick Skylark  -  Yes, an X-body nightmare.  The rear brakes would rust inside and cause them to lock up and spin the car if depressed too hard.

1968 Camaro Z28  -  After restoring, I made the mistake of building a 12.5:1 engine for it just when the gas stations stopped carrying 101 octane,  The engine was way too unruly and I lost my interest in it and it sat in the garage for 26 years succumbing to the wife's nags for garage space.

Good thread!
My current vehicle count is 66 - one for every year I've been on the planet.
Different cars suited different times and I have enjoyed most vehicles I have owned, for numerous reasons,
from the practical hacks to GTi's, old Beetles, Ford rally cars  and the four American cars I very briefly owned
....well, apart from the CJ5 Jeep, and a lemon of a 1967 Mk2 Ford Cortina.

But my favourite vehicle isn't a car, it was my Yamaha Fazer motorcycle,
for reasons that only biker can truly understand - freedom, speed, agility, good friends and adventure
....and a better work out than a gym.

Fun thread !

My worst car. 1979 Triumph Spitfire. Fun when it ran, which was about half of the time the 8 months I owned it. I finally traded it for a 76 Camaro LT because I needed something that I could rely on.

Best Car. Hmmm...This is a tough one. It's a toss up between my 1991 MR2 and my current 2006 Mustang. I think I'd have to give it to the MR2. That car was very quick and with the mid engine, it was as nimble as it gets. My uncle used to tell me it drive better than his 85 Esprit !

The MR2 is one of 2 cars I regret selling. The other was a 1972 Corvette what was not the most reliable, it leaked, the brakes needed to be completely redone, and it smoked some oil.... but it was real fast and would be worth a pretty penny now. I should have saved that and slowly got it back to mint.