What cars did your parents schlep you around in as a kid?

[Nick1994]

Pics are from Google
Mid 90's Escort Wagon, engine blew on it.
1986 Chevy Nova. Someone ran a stop sign, car was totaled. Ours was brown though.
Mid 90's Mercury Sable
1998 Grand Caravan
2003 Ford Focus Wagon, someone ran a red light, totaled.

 

[Nitronoise]

66 pontiac catalina 4 door 389 with a 4 barrel rochester and a turbohydo trans

 

[DweezilAZ]

Brought home in a 6 year old 50 Studebaker Starlight coupe. Then a 53 Ford Mainline, after that a 63 Dodge Dart 270 wagon followed by a 66 Mercury Montclair, augmented by a 71 Gremlin subsequently traded for a 72 Ambassador Brougham.

My first car when I left home was a 66 Mercury Comet Caliente two door hardtop.

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

Too painful to mention. I hated that *&^%$#@$%^^

 

[fisher83]

I think the least favorite car growing up was a Ford Festiva with the automatic seatbelts in the front seat. I rode shotgun and the seatbelt on that side malfunctioned and would continue to try to tighten so I had to hold it the whole ride so it wouldn't choke me. It was a manual transmission too and my mother was and still is a terrible driver with no concept of pedal moderation. Slam the gas, slam the brakes, repeat! She picked up a paper route at one point and we had to ride along for it and help. I would have rather walked! To its credit despite a complete lack of maintenance it held up as well as anything else we owned and that woman really knows how to destroy a car.

 

[01rangerxl]

1985 Jeep Cherokee - first car I ever rode in
1986 Ford Ranger - obviously left an impression on me
1990 Ford Taurus - transmission eater, first car with any kind of power features
1993 Nissan Quest - pretty good van
1998 Ford Contour - surprisingly good car until a bad wreck and botched repair
2002 Ford Ranger - I still own it
2004 Honda Civic Hybrid - bad car except MPG

 

[TheLawnRanger]

The cars I rode in went downhill with each new purchase. They went from a '66 Mustang to an early '70s model Torino to a '76 Grand Marquis. They kept the Grand Marquis until the early '90s.

During that time they also had a '71 Ford pickup and a '80 full-sized Ford Ranger that I liked. The man that bought the '71 pickup drove it until he passed it down to his sons as they grew up. He rebuilt the motor around 200,000 miles and different family members drove it another 300,000 miles. The last time I saw it, they had restored it to showroom condition and probably done a lot of engine work as well.

 

[Leo99]

Mom drove a 67 Buick Century and Dad had an old Rambler. He kept a sponge in the Rambler. It flooded when it rained.

 

[02SE]

1970 Plymouth Fury Custom Suburban Station Wagon.

 

[littleant]

1962 ford Galaxie then 1965 Chevy Malibu then 1967 Ford Galaxie. The 67 was the best. The1965 Chevy Malibu was the worst.

 

[Red91]

Mom's-
92 Pontiac Bonneville
99 Pontiac grand Prix

Dad's-
90 Chevy 1500 sport
95 Chevy 1500 ext cab
98 Pontiac grand Prix Daytona 500 pace car
00 dodge Dakota quad cab
06 gmc Sierra 1500 crew cab
77 Chevy Malibu
66 Malibu
68 gto convertible
65 elcamino
Various other gmt400 chevy 1500s

Grandma's-
93 dodge caravan

 

[Quattro Pete]

'81 Fiat 125p
'85 Audi 80
'88 Ford Fiesta
'92 Ford Escort wagon
'96 Opel Vectra wagon
'99 Nissan Primera wagon

 

[wemay]

VW Beetle 70s
Chevy Impala 60s
Plymouth Duster 70s
Toyota Cressida Wagon 80s
Dodge Aspen Wagon (yr ?)
Ford Crown Victoria 90s

 

[Garak]

Many hours in one like this as a kid, except blue:

There were also other variants of the platform including Caprices and Impalas, all taxis of the day. My mom had the Oldsmobile for personal use for a number of years.

My mom also had one exactly like this, down to the colour, which was her daily driver from new until the Olds:

My dad hauled us around in a 1974 GMC 3/4 ton regular cab with the 454 and the factory "high rust" option.

He got a 1981 regular cab diesel, and newer variants as time passed, until he finally went to the Powerstroke, by which time I had left the nest.

 

[john_pifer]

I was born in 1979.

Mom and Dad weren't "car people" (to my dismay).

Late '70s Malibu sedan and a late '70s Honda CVCC 2-door hatchback.

Later, in 1985 or so, Dad bought our first of several Chrysler minivans.

 

[drfeelgood]

Earliest memory I have riding in a car with my dad is of an early 60's purplish silver T-bird. Then a red 1965 Pontiac 2+2 with 421 and 4 speed. After that a red Ford pickup when dad started taking the family camping with a camper trailer. This was replaced with a 1973 Blazer special ordered in black and a 1976 pumpkin orange Ford supercab that we dropped a 429 into. That's about when I started driving.

 

[eljefino]

My dad's dad leased huge ford station wagons through/ for his business. Dad wound up with the off-lease used cars at a friendly deal.

Eventually he ordered, sight unseen, a new ford fairmont station wagon. I was about 4 years old when this awful, awful thing showed up.

I wanted to be like my dad, so when he rolled his window down, he'd rest his elbow on the door sill. I could do this in the land barges but the Fairmont's rear window only went 2/3 down.

Dad special ordered it with the 200-6 but a 4 speed OD transmission. No AC, vinyl seating. No radio, so he put in a blister pack spark-o-matic from K-mart. This radio would stop playing randomly so he'd turn it off then back on again. Sometimes dozens of times until it "took". If we were driving out-of-state and he'd see a billboard for some easy listening station, I'd get religion and pray that he missed it. Open to the power of suggestion, though, he'd find that station.

He even listened to a demo tape, "Ford presents the stereo sounds of the 80s".

The transmission was not really meant for the motor-- they were mismatched. 25 mph was too fast for 2nd but too slow for 3rd. The car pinged whenever it was in the wrong gear.

Dad changed the oil and filter using castrol 10w40 until he found a mechanic he could bark orders at as to how to do work properly. Guy was the next town over but dad would jump in the car and drive over there on saturday to buy gas.

Dumb car had plastic shift forks in the tranny that kept breaking. He'd have them replaced one at a time, not learning from his previous cheapness.

After 150k and 12 years it wouldn't shift into 1st unless you turned the car off at stop lights. I had my learners permit and wanted to drive anything, and he'd have let me drive this junker. But I knew better than to operate something so dangerous that I couldn't get out of my own way using the controls provided. He sold it for $60 to some toothless hick who had an impressive front yard full of paint spattered ladders and junk cars.

 

[Corollaman]

Originally Posted by eljefino
My dad's dad leased huge ford station wagons through/ for his business. Dad wound up with the off-lease used cars at a friendly deal.

Eventually he ordered, sight unseen, a new ford fairmont station wagon. I was about 4 years old when this awful, awful thing showed up.

I wanted to be like my dad, so when he rolled his window down, he'd rest his elbow on the door sill. I could do this in the land barges but the Fairmont's rear window only went 2/3 down.

Dad special ordered it with the 200-6 but a 4 speed OD transmission. No AC, vinyl seating. No radio, so he put in a blister pack spark-o-matic from K-mart. This radio would stop playing randomly so he'd turn it off then back on again. Sometimes dozens of times until it "took". If we were driving out-of-state and he'd see a billboard for some easy listening station, I'd get religion and pray that he missed it. Open to the power of suggestion, though, he'd find that station.

He even listened to a demo tape, "Ford presents the stereo sounds of the 80s".

The transmission was not really meant for the motor-- they were mismatched. 25 mph was too fast for 2nd but too slow for 3rd. The car pinged whenever it was in the wrong gear.

Dad changed the oil and filter using castrol 10w40 until he found a mechanic he could bark orders at as to how to do work properly. Guy was the next town over but dad would jump in the car and drive over there on saturday to buy gas.

Dumb car had plastic shift forks in the tranny that kept breaking. He'd have them replaced one at a time, not learning from his previous cheapness.

After 150k and 12 years it wouldn't shift into 1st unless you turned the car off at stop lights. I had my learners permit and wanted to drive anything, and he'd have let me drive this junker. But I knew better than to operate something so dangerous that I couldn't get out of my own way using the controls provided. He sold it for $60 to some toothless hick who had an impressive front yard full of paint spattered ladders and junk cars.

Very funny and sad I feel your pain. My dad brought home a 1977 pinto with black vinyl interior no ac. We rode around in Yakima Wa. The Palm Springs of Wa. (hot summers) searing skin. That car was really reliable until Mt. St. Helens blew in 1980 and the ash got in the ventilation system, when that blew it was dark at noon pretty creepy. Dad brought home a 1983 LTD station wagon wood paneling, I'd sit in the very back fold up seats facing each other (10 passenger) did I mention we had 4 people in our family? Good times, Dairy Queen on the weekends, twist cones, simple times. Hated it at the time, miss it now.

 

[caprice_2nv]

Originally Posted by eljefino
My dad's dad leased huge ford station wagons through/ for his business. Dad wound up with the off-lease used cars at a friendly deal.

Eventually he ordered, sight unseen, a new ford fairmont station wagon. I was about 4 years old when this awful, awful thing showed up.

I wanted to be like my dad, so when he rolled his window down, he'd rest his elbow on the door sill. I could do this in the land barges but the Fairmont's rear window only went 2/3 down.

Dad special ordered it with the 200-6 but a 4 speed OD transmission. No AC, vinyl seating. No radio, so he put in a blister pack spark-o-matic from K-mart. This radio would stop playing randomly so he'd turn it off then back on again. Sometimes dozens of times until it "took". If we were driving out-of-state and he'd see a billboard for some easy listening station, I'd get religion and pray that he missed it. Open to the power of suggestion, though, he'd find that station.

He even listened to a demo tape, "Ford presents the stereo sounds of the 80s".

The transmission was not really meant for the motor-- they were mismatched. 25 mph was too fast for 2nd but too slow for 3rd. The car pinged whenever it was in the wrong gear.

Dad changed the oil and filter using castrol 10w40 until he found a mechanic he could bark orders at as to how to do work properly. Guy was the next town over but dad would jump in the car and drive over there on saturday to buy gas.

Dumb car had plastic shift forks in the tranny that kept breaking. He'd have them replaced one at a time, not learning from his previous cheapness.

After 150k and 12 years it wouldn't shift into 1st unless you turned the car off at stop lights. I had my learners permit and wanted to drive anything, and he'd have let me drive this junker. But I knew better than to operate something so dangerous that I couldn't get out of my own way using the controls provided. He sold it for $60 to some toothless hick who had an impressive front yard full of paint spattered ladders and junk cars.


I remember my dad's 1979 Impala also had the sparkomatic stereo, luckily ours worked all the time. He had enough things go wrong with building their house at the time, patience was worn thin and having no music would have been terrible for him. I do recall one of the rear speakers which was hung from the ceiling fell off eventually (luckily nobody was sitting back there at the time).

That car may have singlehandedly helped them out of debt with how little it cost to keep on the road for 6 years.

 

[MrMoody]

Originally Posted by eljefino
Eventually he ordered, sight unseen, a new ford fairmont station wagon. I was about 4 years old when this awful, awful thing showed up.

I worked at a place in the mid 80s that had a 1980 Fairmont wagon (w/ usual I6 & AT) as an onsite service car. One of the worst slugs I've ever had to suffer. They also had a newer Escort wagon, not quick either by any means, but even with the 4, it was better than the Fairmont.