This will not be a long post. I just came across another blog on blogger.com by a fellow Audi TT owner and enthusiast. His car seems to be front wheel drive where mine is AWD called quattro by Audi.
This prompted me to list the cars I've owned over the years that I can recall, starting at age seventeen at the beginning of my senior year in high school.
1. 1964 Chevrolet Impala 2-door hardtop coupe. Beige with brown interior. 283 V8, 2 barrel carburetor with 2 speed Automatic powerglide transmission. WELL over 100,000 miles.
2. 1964 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu SS convertible. Dark blue, white top light blue interior. 327 V8, 4 speed manual. Kept it just long enough to take the engine out and put it in my '64 Impala. I should have kept this and fixed it up! Young and dumb.
3. 1967 Chevrolet Impala SS convertible. Off-white, black interior, black top. 327 V8, 4 barrel carburetor with 2 speed Automatic powerglide transmission. I modified this one with a Holley aftermarket carb., chrome valve covers and air cleaner, exhaust headers and "glasspack" mufflers, CDI ignition. Mag wheels.
4. 1941 Plymouth 2-door coupe. I talked my Dad into letting me get this and restore/hot rod it. I was the fourth owner working at the same dealership. The second owner had converted it to a Chevy V8 with three speed Corvette close-ratio manual transmission, '57 Chevy rear end and modern-type shock absorbers. The third owner took the engine out and I bought it as a project. Here's the thing: The front end was off and in pieces. I had never seen a '41 Plymouth before and could not figure out how all these pieces fit together. By chance I found an October, 1940 magazine with the 1941 Plymouth line ad in it. At last I could put the car together! I rebuilt a 1957 Chevy 283 and installed it in the car. I never got it running! I just didn't know enough. I also got a 1967 Chevy Bel Air as a parts car and put the 3-speed automatic, alternator and various parts on it. The trouble was, I fell in love with a girl (Linda) and thoughts of and time for working on the car disappeared. I finally sold it to yet another mechanic at the same dealer and what he did with it, I do not know. I did replicate it in miniature via several 1/25th scale model cars.
5. 1979 Chevrolet Monza. My first NEW car! I paid $3,900 for it. RED in color with black vinyl interior. Four cylinder "iron-duke" engine with four speed manual transmission. The only options were: Gauges, sunroof and aero side mirrors. I traded it in after six months to buy my (then) wife:
6. 1975 Audi 100LS. My first foreign (and German) car and first front-wheel-drive. It was silver/blue outside and I don't remember the interior color other than it wasn't black. 1.8 litre four cylinder with four speed manual. It had fuel injection another first for me. The speedometer cable was broken, so I had no idea how many miles it had! I fixed it. It gave me some problems including throwing a ring gear bolt through the trans-axle housing in two places on the way to church one Sunday, losing all the fluid and soaking the clutch! Thanks to a co-worker, we pulled thetrans-axle and had the housing holes welded up. A new clutch got it going again.
7. 1974 Triumph Spitfire. RED with black interior and top. That same wife sold her hideous looking Datsun F-10 and bought me this car. Quite a shock, I know. We did not have any kids yet. It had a tiny four cylinder engine and four speed transmission with independent rear suspension. All-in-all, many firsts for me. Kid number one (Paul) came along and it had to go:
8. 1975 Ford Torino station wagon. Green inside and out. Almost military looking in it's greenness and lack of personality. Put MANY a starter on it until giving up on Trak Auto and getting one somewhere else. Pretty trouble free otherwise.
9. 1973 Chevrolet Chevelle Laguna station wagon. Also green/green. This was given to me by a friend. It was a very rare car, it turns out. A Google search won't find many pictures either. I should have kept this and sold the Ford, but didn't.
10. 1976 Chevrolet Vega wagon. Two-door. Tan with brown interior. Four cylinder with four speed manual transmission. Despite the stigma of Vegas, it was trouble free.
11. 1975 Chevrolet Monza 2+2. Once burgundy with brown leather interior. Tiny 262 (4.3 litre) V8 with 3 speed automatic transmission. I bought this from a neighbor for $150. It ran great but was geared for mileage so despite the small car/V8 combo was not a speed demon. Unlike the '79 Monza of yore, this one was the aerodynamic model, thus the 2+2 moniker. Different shape front and rear. I spray-can painted it flat black because the paint was so bad.
12. 1988 Chevrolet Caprice Classic station wagon. I traded the Ford for this. White with blue velour interior. Quite pretty really. Had an Oldsmobile 307 V8 with four speed automatic transmission. The four barrel carburetor was a joke, because if I managed to get the second two barrels open, the "computer" would take over and slam them shut. Wouldn't accelerate very well. Finally sold it to a guy who was going to make a taxi out of it.
13. 1982 Plymouth Reliant. Four door sedan. Tan with brown interior. Plain as can be. 2.2 ltire four cylinder with three speed automatic. Bullet-proof engine. Ran great. A few problems. I wanted a wagon version, but a certain female objected to our owning two wagons. Transmission finally failed and I traded it for:
14. 1989 Pontiac Grand Am. Silver/gray four door sedan. Gray interior. Quad-4 160 horsepower four cylinder. Automatic transmission. My first twin-cam multi valve engine. Had fun with it, but pizza delivery along with LONG commutes destroyed it.
15. 1975 VW Super Beetle Sun-Bug. Once gold, then flat black. I owned this while trying to sell the Grand Am. What a P.O.S. It actually slowed down going up hills on the highway! Some previous owner tried his own heater set up and I swear exhaust gasses were getting in the car. The defroster was a joke. I hated that car!
16. 1993 Ford Escort wagon. My 2nd NEW car. Dark red with gray interior. Four cylinder engine with five speed manual transmission. Pretty trouble free. I installed a sunroof in it. That first hole drilling was nerve-racking. It fit well and never leaked.
17. 1997 Dodge Stratus ES. My 3rd NEW car. Special ordered with five speed manual transmission and Candy Apple red paint. Gray interior. Kept it for long time.
18. 1985 Dodge Aries station wagon. I got my K-car wagon at last! This was given to me by some friends. Dark red outside with RED interior. Same 2.2 litre as the '82 Plymouth. Same transmission except this one had bucket seats with a console and floor shift. This was a GREAT car! I would still have it had I known about a product that would get it through emission's testing. It never gave me any trouble. It let Nancy down twice, though.
19. 1996 Chrysler Sebring convertible. Bought this for Nancy, traded in the Escort. Black with grey leather interior and black top. 2.5 litre V6 with four speed automatic. Had some problems with it. Finally traded it for:
20. 2002 Saturn Coupe. Black with grey interior. Pretty but uninspiring. Nancy wanted it. She later didn't.
21. 1997 Ford Ranger pickup. My first eBay car buy. Got it for HALF Kelly's value. Nancy thought as homeowners, we needed a truck. She was right. Despite 157,000 highway miles, this truck, which we STILL have looked and ran new. Green exterior with tan insides. Great truck.
22. 1987 Porsche 924S. My second eBay car buy. Got it for $2,225. A steal! Black with tan cloth/vinyl interior. 2.5 litre four cylinder with 5 speed trans-axle. Fantastic car and my first Porsche! Put a wood rim aluminum steering wheel on it and a few other things.
23. 2002 Suburu Impreza WRX wagon. WRC blue with black/blue interior. 2.0 litre turbocharged "boxer" quad-cam multi-valve four cylinder with 5 speed manual transmission and all-wheel-drive. A great fun and fast car. I did a few things to it, but not much.
24. 1996 Chevrolet Camaro Z28. White with charcoal leather interior. 5.7 litre LT-1 V8 with six speed manual trans. T-tops. Fun, fast and large car. Got 22 mpg on the highway! Traded the Porsche for it. They gave me $2,500 trade in.
25. 2005 Scion TC. Dark red with grey interior. 2.4 litre four cylinder with automatic. Nancy wanted a TC after driving one. Sold the Saturn and bought this. She still drives it.
26. 2000 Audi TT quattro. Denim blue with blue/black leather interior. 1.8 litre turbocharged four cylinder with five speed manual and all-wheel-drive. My baby! Found to be very modified by previous owner, well done too. Estimated to have doubled the horsepower and torque. Came with Toyo Snow tires on it. I bought a set of Audi RS4 wheel and General Exclaim UHP summer tires for it. LOVE IT!
One car of note that I'd love to have bought: 1972 Datsun 510. I talked Dad into buying this used from the dealership I worked at. He needed an economical car. I don't recall the color inside or out. It had a 1.8 litre four cylinder (2/3rds the 240Z's 2.4 litre six cylinder) engine and four speed manual trans, with independent rear suspension. I borrowed it many times from Dad and had a BLAST with it! I'd love to have one today.
I think that I'm not missing any cars, but could be. The funny thing is, despite my feeling for the AMC Matador wagon my parents had when I got my license, (I hated it!) I have grown to love wagons. Audi loves them too. The most powerful Audi made is NOT the R8 sports car. No, it's the RS6 Avant with a twin-turbo V10 engine!
This prompted me to list the cars I've owned over the years that I can recall, starting at age seventeen at the beginning of my senior year in high school.
1. 1964 Chevrolet Impala 2-door hardtop coupe. Beige with brown interior. 283 V8, 2 barrel carburetor with 2 speed Automatic powerglide transmission. WELL over 100,000 miles.
2. 1964 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu SS convertible. Dark blue, white top light blue interior. 327 V8, 4 speed manual. Kept it just long enough to take the engine out and put it in my '64 Impala. I should have kept this and fixed it up! Young and dumb.
3. 1967 Chevrolet Impala SS convertible. Off-white, black interior, black top. 327 V8, 4 barrel carburetor with 2 speed Automatic powerglide transmission. I modified this one with a Holley aftermarket carb., chrome valve covers and air cleaner, exhaust headers and "glasspack" mufflers, CDI ignition. Mag wheels.
4. 1941 Plymouth 2-door coupe. I talked my Dad into letting me get this and restore/hot rod it. I was the fourth owner working at the same dealership. The second owner had converted it to a Chevy V8 with three speed Corvette close-ratio manual transmission, '57 Chevy rear end and modern-type shock absorbers. The third owner took the engine out and I bought it as a project. Here's the thing: The front end was off and in pieces. I had never seen a '41 Plymouth before and could not figure out how all these pieces fit together. By chance I found an October, 1940 magazine with the 1941 Plymouth line ad in it. At last I could put the car together! I rebuilt a 1957 Chevy 283 and installed it in the car. I never got it running! I just didn't know enough. I also got a 1967 Chevy Bel Air as a parts car and put the 3-speed automatic, alternator and various parts on it. The trouble was, I fell in love with a girl (Linda) and thoughts of and time for working on the car disappeared. I finally sold it to yet another mechanic at the same dealer and what he did with it, I do not know. I did replicate it in miniature via several 1/25th scale model cars.
5. 1979 Chevrolet Monza. My first NEW car! I paid $3,900 for it. RED in color with black vinyl interior. Four cylinder "iron-duke" engine with four speed manual transmission. The only options were: Gauges, sunroof and aero side mirrors. I traded it in after six months to buy my (then) wife:
6. 1975 Audi 100LS. My first foreign (and German) car and first front-wheel-drive. It was silver/blue outside and I don't remember the interior color other than it wasn't black. 1.8 litre four cylinder with four speed manual. It had fuel injection another first for me. The speedometer cable was broken, so I had no idea how many miles it had! I fixed it. It gave me some problems including throwing a ring gear bolt through the trans-axle housing in two places on the way to church one Sunday, losing all the fluid and soaking the clutch! Thanks to a co-worker, we pulled thetrans-axle and had the housing holes welded up. A new clutch got it going again.
7. 1974 Triumph Spitfire. RED with black interior and top. That same wife sold her hideous looking Datsun F-10 and bought me this car. Quite a shock, I know. We did not have any kids yet. It had a tiny four cylinder engine and four speed transmission with independent rear suspension. All-in-all, many firsts for me. Kid number one (Paul) came along and it had to go:
8. 1975 Ford Torino station wagon. Green inside and out. Almost military looking in it's greenness and lack of personality. Put MANY a starter on it until giving up on Trak Auto and getting one somewhere else. Pretty trouble free otherwise.
9. 1973 Chevrolet Chevelle Laguna station wagon. Also green/green. This was given to me by a friend. It was a very rare car, it turns out. A Google search won't find many pictures either. I should have kept this and sold the Ford, but didn't.
10. 1976 Chevrolet Vega wagon. Two-door. Tan with brown interior. Four cylinder with four speed manual transmission. Despite the stigma of Vegas, it was trouble free.
11. 1975 Chevrolet Monza 2+2. Once burgundy with brown leather interior. Tiny 262 (4.3 litre) V8 with 3 speed automatic transmission. I bought this from a neighbor for $150. It ran great but was geared for mileage so despite the small car/V8 combo was not a speed demon. Unlike the '79 Monza of yore, this one was the aerodynamic model, thus the 2+2 moniker. Different shape front and rear. I spray-can painted it flat black because the paint was so bad.
12. 1988 Chevrolet Caprice Classic station wagon. I traded the Ford for this. White with blue velour interior. Quite pretty really. Had an Oldsmobile 307 V8 with four speed automatic transmission. The four barrel carburetor was a joke, because if I managed to get the second two barrels open, the "computer" would take over and slam them shut. Wouldn't accelerate very well. Finally sold it to a guy who was going to make a taxi out of it.
13. 1982 Plymouth Reliant. Four door sedan. Tan with brown interior. Plain as can be. 2.2 ltire four cylinder with three speed automatic. Bullet-proof engine. Ran great. A few problems. I wanted a wagon version, but a certain female objected to our owning two wagons. Transmission finally failed and I traded it for:
14. 1989 Pontiac Grand Am. Silver/gray four door sedan. Gray interior. Quad-4 160 horsepower four cylinder. Automatic transmission. My first twin-cam multi valve engine. Had fun with it, but pizza delivery along with LONG commutes destroyed it.
15. 1975 VW Super Beetle Sun-Bug. Once gold, then flat black. I owned this while trying to sell the Grand Am. What a P.O.S. It actually slowed down going up hills on the highway! Some previous owner tried his own heater set up and I swear exhaust gasses were getting in the car. The defroster was a joke. I hated that car!
16. 1993 Ford Escort wagon. My 2nd NEW car. Dark red with gray interior. Four cylinder engine with five speed manual transmission. Pretty trouble free. I installed a sunroof in it. That first hole drilling was nerve-racking. It fit well and never leaked.
17. 1997 Dodge Stratus ES. My 3rd NEW car. Special ordered with five speed manual transmission and Candy Apple red paint. Gray interior. Kept it for long time.
18. 1985 Dodge Aries station wagon. I got my K-car wagon at last! This was given to me by some friends. Dark red outside with RED interior. Same 2.2 litre as the '82 Plymouth. Same transmission except this one had bucket seats with a console and floor shift. This was a GREAT car! I would still have it had I known about a product that would get it through emission's testing. It never gave me any trouble. It let Nancy down twice, though.
19. 1996 Chrysler Sebring convertible. Bought this for Nancy, traded in the Escort. Black with grey leather interior and black top. 2.5 litre V6 with four speed automatic. Had some problems with it. Finally traded it for:
20. 2002 Saturn Coupe. Black with grey interior. Pretty but uninspiring. Nancy wanted it. She later didn't.
21. 1997 Ford Ranger pickup. My first eBay car buy. Got it for HALF Kelly's value. Nancy thought as homeowners, we needed a truck. She was right. Despite 157,000 highway miles, this truck, which we STILL have looked and ran new. Green exterior with tan insides. Great truck.
22. 1987 Porsche 924S. My second eBay car buy. Got it for $2,225. A steal! Black with tan cloth/vinyl interior. 2.5 litre four cylinder with 5 speed trans-axle. Fantastic car and my first Porsche! Put a wood rim aluminum steering wheel on it and a few other things.
23. 2002 Suburu Impreza WRX wagon. WRC blue with black/blue interior. 2.0 litre turbocharged "boxer" quad-cam multi-valve four cylinder with 5 speed manual transmission and all-wheel-drive. A great fun and fast car. I did a few things to it, but not much.
24. 1996 Chevrolet Camaro Z28. White with charcoal leather interior. 5.7 litre LT-1 V8 with six speed manual trans. T-tops. Fun, fast and large car. Got 22 mpg on the highway! Traded the Porsche for it. They gave me $2,500 trade in.
25. 2005 Scion TC. Dark red with grey interior. 2.4 litre four cylinder with automatic. Nancy wanted a TC after driving one. Sold the Saturn and bought this. She still drives it.
26. 2000 Audi TT quattro. Denim blue with blue/black leather interior. 1.8 litre turbocharged four cylinder with five speed manual and all-wheel-drive. My baby! Found to be very modified by previous owner, well done too. Estimated to have doubled the horsepower and torque. Came with Toyo Snow tires on it. I bought a set of Audi RS4 wheel and General Exclaim UHP summer tires for it. LOVE IT!
One car of note that I'd love to have bought: 1972 Datsun 510. I talked Dad into buying this used from the dealership I worked at. He needed an economical car. I don't recall the color inside or out. It had a 1.8 litre four cylinder (2/3rds the 240Z's 2.4 litre six cylinder) engine and four speed manual trans, with independent rear suspension. I borrowed it many times from Dad and had a BLAST with it! I'd love to have one today.
I think that I'm not missing any cars, but could be. The funny thing is, despite my feeling for the AMC Matador wagon my parents had when I got my license, (I hated it!) I have grown to love wagons. Audi loves them too. The most powerful Audi made is NOT the R8 sports car. No, it's the RS6 Avant with a twin-turbo V10 engine!
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