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      09-23-2020, 09:08 AM   #1
baege
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Drives: 2022 Cayman GTS 4.0 6MT
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Toronto, Canada

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All the cars you've loved before

Thought it would be cool to share my car history in some detail and read other peoples.

Mine is kinda long as I am firmly in the grasp of middle age!

My first car was a 1981 Toyota Tercel, it took all of about 4 weeks for the novelty of car ownership to wear off and for me to realize that the combination of 1.3 litre engine producing 62 HP and an automatic transmission did not “do it for me”.

My second car was an expression of this need for speed. It was a 1974 Toyota Celica GT with dual webbers, headers, 3\4 race cam, a high ratio 5 speed transmission. The owner claimed that the engine produced 145 HP (it produced about 100 HP from the factory). On the test drive he quickly accelerated to an indicated 120 MPH. I was sold. The car looked mean and obviously had the punch to back it up and it was so darned cheap $1300 in 1989. The car soon developed a slight problem, it created a cloud of smoke from under the hood whenever it was running. A CAA inspection later revealed that this was a car that was far from fit for the road. It wasn’t going to be doing it for anybody.

My third car was a 1979 Toyota Corolla SR5. It was sold by the original owner with only 145,000 km and “no rust” and it was so darned cheap. It seemed well kept. I bought in late November and realized, as I would many times later in my life, by February that things were not always as they seemed. It had gone from “no rust” to “rust bucket”. Its exhaust was a dragging noise maker and its clutch had lost its pull. Aside from its lack of mechanical prowess, its 1.5 litre engine was torqueless, even when working in tandem with a five speed. This was the beginning of my search for torque, the visceral pull of exploding fuel in a large combustion engine that to this day makes my heart accelerate.

My fourth car was my first real taste of torque. It was a 1985 Dodge Omni GLH. My little Omni was a virtual stoplight champion. With the scream of its meaty 50 series tires it “scared the hell” out of countless motorists as it bolted across many an intersection. It really went like hell. Or at least it seemed that way to me until that day when the 1990 300Zx turbo blew the hell out of the poor little thing. I was dumbfounded and of course the poor little omni no longer did it for me. I knew now that there was more torque to be found.

My fifth car was a 1986 Shelby charger turbo, and I bought because it had more torque, only 46000 original km, and was so darn cheap. $1700 in 1991. Once again things were not as they seemed. The car actually had 146000 km. It was far from refined (ever shifted a mid-80’s dodge five speed?) and it was still far from the king of torque, as the proud owner of an IROC had shown me. Its burgundy grey exterior never did much for me either.

My sixth car HAD TORQUE. It was a 1987 Mustang 5.0 LX coupe (black of course). It had several ad ons and only 80000 k. And it was so darn cheap only $4800 in 1992. Are we seeing a pattern here? Of course I loved it for the first month. I could pass WHENEVER I wanted. Left lane bandits did not exist for me. Other young males envied me. “chicks digged it”. But then one sad night the dream exploded. I discovered the car was again not what it was represented to be. It had “unknown” km since the speedo had been changed.

My seventh car was a 1985 Toyota Celica GTS that had been customized. It had three stage pearl blue green paint. It had a “shogun” body kit and numerous other add-ons (including purple neon). Its 2.4 litre engine was surprisingly peppy (it produced a lot of torque), and it was so darned cheap, $3700 in 1994. I did enjoy the car, and the attention it got, but my lust for torque demanded more.

My eighth car was a 1984 Mustang LX 5.0 hatchback with a modified 1986 engine. It had gobs of torque, a brand new base clear burgundy paint job, and it was only $1600 in 1995. I added hammer rims and a good stereo. It looked incredible for a car that cost me $2400 including accessories. But of course it was far from a dream. Its suspension reflected its age. It was noisy. While it produced good torque it didn’t do much in the upper ranges.
My ninth car was a 1989 Mustang LX 5.0 coupe. It was custom triple black (the blackest stang in T.O.). It was extensively modified (12.8 in the 1/4). It had a wicked stereo, nice rims, a GT interior, and a lowered suspension (it handled pretty well) . It was sold to me by its original owner with only 48000 km. It cost me $7000 which was more than I had intended to pay for my coupe. But I was trying to begin to follow the you get what you pay for philosophy. I loved the car for the first few weeks. The power was incredible and unlike my earlier stangs this one just kept on pulling. It was also very good looking. But the rough ride, gas sucking, and noise, vibration and harshness of the car began to wear on me. Two months later I found myself test driving Supra turbos in a search for refined power.

My 10th car was a 1990 Plymouth Laser turbo. It had a modified exhaust system, and when the car was on boost it pulled quite well. But it did not have the immediate visceral pull of gobs of torque. The “See ya” ability was just not quite there in this car. Nor is the growl of many litres of displacement. The car handles extremely well, better than any other car I had owned up until that point. But when it came to straight aways it left me hanging.

My 11th car was a 1991 300ZX manual. It cost me $17000 in 1998 which was the most I had ever spent on a car to that date. I had actually spotted the car in my girlfriend at the time’s neighbourhood and stalked it, following the owner home. I then found it on autotrader 2 weeks later and managed to scoop it up. It was a custom deep purple metallic with an f40 body kit, 18 inch concave wheels (which were very big wheels at the time) and had a modified engine and exhaust and suspension. It was a beautiful car that turned heads everywhere. It was also my first taste of a higher end car, with an incredibly smooth powerful engine, refined manual transmission and was the most enjoyable driving experience for me up until that time. It made wonderful noises and had crisp immediate throttle response and took the corners wonderfully. I really loved that car and kept it the longest I had kept a car up until that point, some 3 years and only sold it because it was getting older and things were starting to go.

My 12th car was a 1994 Mazda mx6 mystere manual, dark forest green on tan. It had low mileage, some 68000 km and was a steal at $11000. It was a car that I compromised on because I needed a car relatively quickly (driving my grandma’s greon was a tough go). It had a powerful smooth v6 and looked decent, but I had never had the passion for that car that I had had for the 300zx and I soon came to miss feeling passion for my car. I only kept that car about 1.5 years.

My 13th car was a 2003 350Z silver on black, manual which I purchased in 2003 for $50k. This was by far the most expensive car I had purchased to date. It was a very nice looking car that was cutting edge. Everyone looked at the car, especially as I got it when it has just come out. I initially quite liked the car. It was the first time I had experienced the crispness and freshness of a brand new car. It had a TORQUEY 3.5 v6 (my love for torque continued, indeed I chose the 350Z over a 2000 Mcoupe I was looking at at the same time, primarily because of the low end torque difference, a decision I would later come to regret). So the first few months were quite the honeymoon. But once the break-in period passed and I pushed the engine beyong 3500 rpm, came to discover that the VQ engine was actually an unlikeable brute. It had a real harshness to it over 3500 rpm, sounding akin to a coffee grinder. This meant that while it was fast, it was not enjoyable to thrash about as the engine groaned and moaned in protest. I tried to get rid of it after 6 months but I was facing a loss of 10k which I just couldn’t live with and so I ended up holding on to it for 3 years.

My 14th car was a 2004 Chrysler Crossfire, 6 speed manual, white on charcoal interior. It was also brand new. I traded the 350Z in on it I got a lot of flack from people for moving from the 350Z to the crossfire, which admittedly wasn’t as attractive or cool. But I enjoyed that crossfire more that I ever did the 350Z. The crossfire had a very smooth v6 that sounded good and had very good low end torque. The 3.2 had a charisma that the 3.5 in the 350Z lacked. It didn’t handle as well, but it could hold its own. I ended up keeping that car almost 3 years as I hadn’t come across anything in my budget that I wanted more…until my next car came onto the scene.

My 15th car was a 2007 BMW Z4 COUPE 3.0SI which remains my overall favourite car to date. When the concept for this car came out in 2005, I fell in love with it and began my search for one. In Canada the z4 coupe was only offered in M form and was close in 70k even back in 2006. I couldn’t quite fathom that sort of expenditure at the time and came across a used 3.0SI that was imported for sale in Canada for 40K. Unfortunately for me that 3.0SI sold very quickly and it took me another 2 years to find another silver on black sport package manual for sale in Canada. It was actually in Kelowna BC and I negotiated with the owner for a couple months and finally was able to agree on a price of 33500 in march of 2009. The car was CPO and only had 20000 km. I bought it sight unseen after having it inspected by the local BMW dealership. It was quite the ordeal to buy the car out of province in this way, but when it arrived after being shipped it was all worth it. I loved so much about that car, its incredible mini exotic looks, the wonderfully smooth and powerful n52 engine (with great throttle response and low end TORQUE!), its sharp handling, its precise manual transmission. I had never loved a car like I loved that car and I kept it for 4 years, the longest I have ever owned a vehicle.

My 16th car was a 2014 Porsche Cayman S. I only sold the Z4 coupe because it was getting older and out of warranty ownership of an older BMW is not always a wise move. I had tried various cars in an effort to replace the Z4 but nothing was really moving me. I was intrigued by the 981 Cayman that was being developed, I was never a big fan of the prior 987 but the 981 was beautiful. And so I went to Downtown Porsche one February night and absolutely fell in love with the Porsche driving experience. I was literally laughing out loud as I test drove a boxster s PDK! 4 months later I took delivery of one of the very first 981 Caymans delivered in Canada. It was a 6 speed S, platinum silver with a black interior with 20 inch wheels finished in satin platinum. It was beautiful and the closest thing I had driven to a race car. I never had loved driving a car as much as that car. The cayman brought me back to joy rides (driving for no reason) which I hadn’t done since my early 20’s. I couldn’t stop driving that car. The first six months were definitely the most enjoyment I had ever and have ever had with a car.

My 17th car was a 2015 Corvette 6 speed white on black. The C7 was introduced at a similar time to the 981 and I was sort of cross shopping it, but I preferred the looks of the cayman. But about a year into the cayman experience I found myself looking around for a replacement. The c7 was its huge naturally aspirated 5.7 liter engine and LOTS of TORQUE, intrigued me. So I went for a test drive in the spring of 2014. I wasn’t blown away by the car, and funny enough it didn’t feel all that torquey, but it drive pretty well with awesome sound. 6 months later I was getting quite bored with the cayman and so I ordered a 2015 C7 manual. I picked it up in June of 2015 and within 3 days I realized I had made a big mistake. The C7 felt huge and clumsy and the throttle programming was laggy. I did not enjoy driving the car in the way I did my Porsche. I tried to get my 2014 cayman back but it sold (I had sold it to a Porsche dealer). So I ordered a 2016 Cayman S and sold the corvette for a $2000 profit (they were hard to come by at the time)

My 18th car was a 2016 Cayman S which I took delivery of in the summer of 2015. This time I opted for white on black with the x73 suspension and matte black 20 inch wheels. The car was absolutely beautiful with an awesome stance. I was very happy on the first drive back, remembering how much I enjoyed the Porsche experience. But 3 months later it was clear the Porsche experience had normalized for me. I then began a search for a car that would ignite me the way the Porsche had when I first got it.

Well I still have not found that car, but domestic compromise meant that my 19th car was a 2018 BMW M240i which I picked up in the spring of 2018. It was my first automatic since the Toyota tercel! This was so that my wife could also drive the car. It was white on black with black wheels. It was bloody fast with lots of torque, but I had no passion for that car. I never connected with it. I also missed manual so much!

My 20th car was a 2020 BMW M2 Competition black on black 6 SPEED! When I was looking for a MANUAL car to replace the m240i I really did not have a lot of options. I had always liked the look of the M2 and in fact it was one of the many victims which I test drove in looking for a replacement for the cayman, but I found the n55 quite laggy and couldn’t live with it. When all the rave reviews for the M2 competition came out I thought I would give it a go, even though a test drive of a 2015 M4 had left me utterly unimpressed. Well I wasn’t exactly blown away by the M2C but I did like it and it did feel more naturally aspirated than the OG M2, so I ordered one. I took delivery of March 2020 right before the covid shutdown and I’ve actually grown to really love that car. It is bloody fast with lots of TORQUE and has a nostalgia about it for me, bringing me back to my old 5.0 mustangs. It also had a bad ass nature about it that I connect with.

So that's my car story so far!

Last edited by baege; 09-24-2020 at 07:05 PM..
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