Hooniverse Asks- How Strong is Your Emotional Bond to Your Car?
There have been studies about people’s attachments to their cellphones, which indicate that we view them almost as much affection as the people with whom they keep us in touch. Anthropomorphization, or ascribing personalities to inanimate objects, is a mechanism we use to deal with the intricacies of our lives, just look at the relationship between Tom Hanks and the Soccer ball in Castaway.
Sometimes that extends to our cars and trucks, and after all – aside from certain Toyota models – no two are alike. Many of our vehicles express quirks of behavior and endearing proclivities that make them almost seem as individuals. Living with them on a day to day basis means that we tend to form bonds with them – we talk to them, and feel empathy for their pain when they suffer a setback. We’re just that freakin’ sensitive.
Or are we? Do you have so strong a bond with your car that you consider it part of your family? And I don’t mean part like that no-good brother in law who is always borrowing your tools and never giving them back – I mean like your kid or something. If so, just how enduring is that bond? Is it like that Subaru ad where an owner goes to the junkyard to retrieve the shift knob from his crumpled and deceased former ride, and reflects upon what it gave up, just for him? Or, is it as tenuous as the stitching in a 25 year old Alfa Romeo’s seat?
Image source: [NYTimes]
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If it weren't for the fact that my '94 Buick LeSabre was owned by my late mom and was a gift from her to me not long before she died, there wouldn't be much of a bond. After all, it's a Buick.
I can't even think about what fate may have befallen a former ride without feeling a little sad and as if I let it down by sending it off. However, I absolutely refuse to name my cars. That's just ridiculous.
I've never named my own cars, but I have helped name the cars of friends. Some years ago, a buddy bought a yellow '66 Plymouth Fury III sedan and was looking for a name for it. I came up with "Yellow Submarine". Bingo!
Oliverrrrrrrrrr………..
(how the heck do you spell that with a British accent, anyway?)
Ahlivah?
Yes, Gov'nah?
You seem to've spilt ah bitah oyl ahn the drive.
Oh, heavahns…
It is ridiculous to name your car.
The car already has a name. You just have to be able to hear it tell it to you.
/former owner of vehicles named Mary Ann, Lula, Jenny, Erica. . . .
I don't deliberately TRY to name my vehicles. Sometimes, they remain simply "the truck" or "the 300." Other times, I've found a name that just sort of happens unintentionally. My Escort wagon was "The Penalty Box." The Lincoln is "The Town Cow." they just sort of happened.
Most of the times I've deliberately tried to give vehicles a name, it felt false and contrived. You can't make them up, they have to be organic. For my current project bike, I tried to think of all sorts of clever names. But the one that stuck is pretty plain and generic — "Project X."
I figured Violet had a name, so I listened on the first major journey I took. Sure enough.
Severin, though… it seemed to fit, and characteristically there was no argument.
Pretty much everything with wheels and and engine that I've owned had a name of some sort or another. Sure it's ridiculous. My taste in vehicles is ridiculous, too, so what the hell.
BTW, as I reread this I realize I way have come off differently than I intended.
If you choose to name a car, that's fine. I thought it was an amusing dichotomy that I can envision a car feeling abandoned yet refuse to give it a name. Our boundaries with cars are odd and I was just trying to show that.
I've never driven a Big-Truck that didn't have a name, usually imparted by a mechanic or some epic event that befell it. They don't start with a name, just a number. But while sometimes you'll actually have to go look at it to remember that number for the mountains of paperwork you need to do each day, you never forget its name.
I've never owned what one would call an "enthusiast car". For various reasons, the new "fun" cars that I coveted usually exceeded whatever means I had at my disposal. Faced with the "fun, used car that could be expensive to maintain" vs "sensible choice", I've repeatedly but begrudingly chosen the latter. A marriage and a mortgage can do that to a car guy. Right now, I drive an 11 year old Honda Accord LX. It's a good, dependible car that's never given me a moment's trouble and, in spite of its humble specification, is a decent dance partner on my local back roads. It is easily the best car I've ever owned. But, I don't love it. And, I'm not sure I'll miss it when it's gone.
You can fight that. Just take small steps. Sure, that NSX might be a bad move, but there's nothing wrong with finding a used WRX or STi (or an Evo, if that's your preference). They have four doors and make a perfectly practical family car, and you can still drive the doors off them when you're the only one in it. And they won't even cost that much more than an 11 year old Accord.
I'm married with a mortgage too (and in school and putting my wife through school), and sure you have to listen to some amount of reason, but I try to keep from going overboard with it. There's lots of cheap, fun, reliable cars out there.
As I no longer have the marriage or the mortgage, and will finish school later this year, a newer, more engaging car is in my future. Just as soon as I snag that shiny new job.
I custom ordered my Dakota in 2001 to get one the way I want. My name is on the window sticker, which is in the glovebox with it. I moved into my first apartment and my first house with it. It's never seen a tow truck, and the closest it's ever got to it is when a battery got an open cell. It's never let me down, and it's done everything I've asked of it. Including bracket racing (15.5@90MPH). It still shows signs of the abuse it took with a stick shift newbie, and I know it's not entirely happy with the super short but frequently stopping commute. But every day it fires up and does it.
Originally I planned on replacing it after 7 years or 150,000 miles whichever comes first. 7 years came, and I looked and said "This truck is exactly what I want in a car." It's passed 10 years old now, just hit 112k miles, and I have zero plans to ever sell it. If it got totaled, I'd be devastated. The movie "Love the Beast" really hit me hard. So yeah, you can say I have a pretty strong bond with my car.
http://en.gravatar.com/
My first NEW car – 1971 Monte Carlo. I've logged 30k in 40 years in between daily drivers, kids, divorce, remarriage, relocating. We'll be cruisin' into the sunset together.
Show us your baby! http://hooniverse.com/2010/08/03/how-to-embed-ima…
I'll admit I named/nicknamed my more anthropomorphic vehicles. If they have a personality, or the exact opposite, they get a name. But a car has to have a polarizing factor to it. It has to coddle or offend you in order to take on a title.
My 1994 Lightning got a name. Just as my 1989 Sable did. My current commuter car (an '06 tC) does not get a name, it is a beast of burden and is to be used a tool for a job.
The best name I ever gave a car was a Silver 1992 Toyota Camry 4-Door DX 5-speed with a blue/gray interior. It was named Stan. It did nothing wrong, it did everything it was asked to do, but it never did it in a way that flourished, or was showy, it just did it. Nothing stood out positively, or negatively. There was never a thought of congratulations, or victory since there was never defeat. The vehicle made it seem like cars that had problems were just bad cars. But at the same time it's simple mechanical perfection and lack of issues make me forget it most days.
You are brave to admit Camry ownership around here, but since it is a model that's now 20 years old, we can excuse it as youthful indescretion.
I hold that a 2.2L 4-cyl Camry with a 5-speed manual windows, locks and 230+ on the clock was a worthwhile pick-up for the few months I owned it and then turned over for a profit.
I've never had an emotional attachment to my car. I treat it as well as I possibly can, so it will do the same for me, but it's still just a thing. And the best things in life aren't things.
Unless they are Ford GTs of course. But then they aren't things, they are tickets of admission to heaven.
Amen to that! Heck, I'd probably even name it.
"Dan"?
Fred?
Charley?
Henry?
George?
Alejandro Manuelo Fidel Guillermo!
Jose Canyu Seeby Dons Earleylite.
<img src="http://www.animationsource.org/sites_content/lady_the_tramp/upload/fanchars/pic_detail4c63ee02aed2f.png">
Rosita Chiquita Juanita Chihuahua. I think.
WE HAVE A WINNER!
Princess Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca Banana Fanna Bo Besca the Third
<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/79/Dot_warner.jpg" width=250>
Second best cartoon ever.
This of course was the best.
<img src="http://duryea.org/pinky/index_files/emporerBrain.gif">
/born in 1990
<img src="http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_leld0aaHm81qeho4oo1_500.jpg" width=450>
Really?!
Honestly, never saw it.
Eek the cat is a classic. I recommend it.
My F150 was my dads. He traded it for a 93 lightning after about 50k miles. I bought it back after 20k more miles. I think my dad and I got pretty good deals.
Yeah, I am pretty bonded with my truck. When I think about what kind of trade in I would get for it, I feel remorse for even thinking about it.
After 16-1/2 years, I'm pretty bonded with my F-150. I can't even curse it when something goes wrong with it. Not even when I had that intermittent no-start problem recently. And no, I've never named one of my cars. When I sell a car, I sell it to a stranger, because I don't want to know what becomes of it.
When I met my wife, she had a '92 Corolla, that she bought new. She/we put 160k on it, it ran great, and after we bought our first Previa, we sold the Corolla to the daughter of a friend, who had just turned 16. She totaled it a month later, and we were crushed (okay, I was crushed).
I hear you. I've had my F100 for about thirteen years now, built a new engine for it, and have no plans to sell it, even though every so often I get an offer. I'm pretty attached to it, it suits me fine.
Depends on the car. Most I don't have too much attachment to. I've never named cars, that just seems silly. One I would hate to let go. That would be the 1977 Corvette that I got in 1990 when I was 17. The car has been off the road since 1996 but I have moved it to three different houses since then. One day I will get it back on the road. I have NO plans to ever sell this car.
I was going to say no until I read your last line, Rob. Don't be picking on my car's seats – it's unseamly.
You always keep me in stitches. You're sew funny!
I love pun threads.
Darn, beat me to it.
He's never one to leave us on pins and needles.
Yarn, you guys are boring
The collective intelligence here would fit in a thimble.
You may have nailed it but with more tacks than I could.
You basters. I was just happily bobbin through this thread before y'all snarled it up with your puntificating. How did you sink sew low?
Me too. You're so much fun to needle.
Some cars I hated to see go, even regret losing them.
Others were 'good riddance'.
My Mustang may be different since it represents my mid-life crisis. And chicks really dig Mustangs.
I don't like it when any car leaves my ownership. It makes me sad that I'll never get to drive "it" again, for better or worse.
And that being said, I murdered my first car. It wasn't like its time had come or anything. I just dropped it off so they could pour glass in its perky little 4.0. Maybe parts of it live on in other cars (not likely, it was nearly dead). That's about all I can hope.
Euthanasia is wrong!
Right now, every time I start to get attached to my car something bad happens to it, so I haven't really gotten as attached as I did with my first car. I do really like my car, but I keep thinking that if I start liking it too much an old lady is going to drive into it with her Sebring – or Subaru, as has already happened once.
I do tend to talk to all my cars, but they'll never get names. They come with a name, it's written on the back, they don't need a cutesy one. I do have a couple of friends who name all their vehicles, but the only one I remember was a spectacularly unreliable Bonneville named Wilbur.
Because I just found it, my dear departed Honda, which was easily the most fun car I've ever owned, whether or not the rear bumper wanted to make an escape, and the one I loved most of all.
<img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7157/6727697621_33a9561b17.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="014">
My cars have had emotional bonds for the first year that fell into broken relationships(I call them my girlfriends).
However, I do have a bond with my parents' truck. My mom walked into the toyota dealership dealership with a newspaper ad for a P/U. She told them she wanted "this one". Then off the lot she drove with a single cab, 4×4, stripper, manual, blue, 93 Toyota P/U. The poor truck has been well abused. In 19 years it has only 115k but a very hard 115k. A tree fell on it(and our then new Legacy) in 98(?) during a windstorm. It has been driven on the beach, towed weights it shouldn't, been loaded up with everything from surfboard blanks to lawnmowers and a large piece of walkway. It's the car that I learned to drive in. It's the car that I took my driving test in.
After all these years, it's had 2 starters, new brake lines, a horn and a few new body panels over the years. Now it's sporting a cracked transfer case(looking for a replacement now) and a cracked windshield(rust around window cracked it). However, original clutch and the seats are still immaculate because of the seat covers we put on it when new. I'll be sad the day she dies, which may be coming up. Here on the Outer Banks the rust is a problem. But, it has lived a good/long life. I won't be too sad to see her go.
<img src="http://thescraphouse.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img00661.jpg?w=370&h=277">
I have to say, I think I prefer this version of that photo. <img src="http://i.imgur.com/lC6xrl.jpg" title="Hosted by imgur.com" alt="" />
Oh yeah.
My first car I was in love with. My next few not so much. My current 03 Taurus daily driver I'm attached to in an "i need you" kind of way like when a girl becomes dependant on a guy to maintain her lifestyle.
My 1980 924 Turbo aka Melanie, I have a growing attachment to as I own it for longer and as I put more work into it. I'm currently waiting for parts to arrive and then I'm gunna tear into her transaxle. I can't wait to get in that rear end.
Many of my earlier cars had names: the two Pintos were Beatrice (as in "We're Beatrice!", for those who remember the early 80's) and Dark Star, the safety-orange '76 AMC Hornet Sportabout wagon was "Medusa", and the brown '82 Concord was "The Bovinator".
After the Concord, I bought a '72 AMC Matador sedan that I named Clifford the Big Red Car, on account of his fetching paint job (with white vinyl top). The interior was black with houndstooth check cloth in the seats. Under the hood, the base-level V-8 engine, a 304, and four-wheel drums, power steering, non-functional A/C. I moved my Radio Shack am/fm/casette deck into its fourth car.
He looked kinda like this, but without the coffin-nose "bumpout" in the front bumper area:
<img src="http://homepage.mac.com/christopher.z/hobby/Courtesy/_77Matador/76Mat4D-red_s.jpg">
I sold him to a junkyard after the transmission stopped transmissioning, and the parking space was needed by the replacement car, a Chevy Citation. I thought I'd never see Clifford again.
To my surprise, I saw him three weeks later, parked in the lot to the side of the fire station. They were using him for vehicle extrication training with the Jaws of Life, prybars, hydraulic jacks and rams, etc. My ex-car helped save lives!
I still have the "target" symbol from the center of his steering wheel:
<img src="http://www.wmsbrg.com/nash/matador/instrumentpanel.jpg" width="250/">
The Citation never got a name. Neither did any of my later cars, being a Plymouth Neon Sport, Volvo 850 Turbo wagon, Volvo V70R. They just haven't had enough in the way of quirky personality, and I have much less attachment to them, despite them being better cars by far than the ones that I had previously.
So the answer of the day is: "My early cars, I bonded with some, but after my biggest weirdest automotive friend, no later car has even gotten a name."
Only on Hooniverse is an 850 Turbo "not quirky enough".
Probably why I actually read comments here.
It was only a little quirky, needing few major repairs over the seven years I owned it. Unusual, huh.
When I first saw Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, I was quite upset when the car was going to get scrapped to the fiery furnace. I was probably more emotional to hear that refrigerators are made from old Studebakers than to learn that my hamburger was grazing in the fields the month before.
<img src="http://lens-views.com/Index/Chitty_Chitty_Bang_Bang_files/03_chitty_chitty_bang_bang_blu-ray.jpg" width=600>
But my emotional attachment to cars depends on individual cars. Just like you might think of one ex-girlfriend as "the one that got away" and another as "good riddance", cars are that way, too. The car your oldest child was conceived in has a different emotional value than the one you were driving during your third DWI. The one you changed the headgasket on then halfway through the torque sequence realized you did it wrong and had to start over means more than the one with a reserved parking place at your local mechanic's shop. The one that held together through college and grad school without any major repairs means more than the shiny, sterile company car you were assigned after landing that first real job.
" my hamburger was grazing in the fields the month before."
I can speak from experiance when I tell you that beef is so much better when you know you've helped brand and raise the cow that you're eating.
Because cows are assholes and at that point you hate them and want them to die for revenge?
I grew up on a beef farm, and now every time someone tells me they're vegetarian I say "But cows deserve it!"
I sponsor a vegetarian. For every animal he doesn't eat, I eat three. One time I did it in front of him by having chicken for lunch and bacon wrapped meatloaf for dinner.
Also, we call those ranches here. Farms are where grain is grown.
We had grain and cows, we did it all!
Believe me, I could give you chapter and verse on that one. I had to chase a bunch of cows back through a hole in a fence last night, and I was not happy about it. Cows suck.
"OK, Fred. So just tell me. How did she get the wooden leg?"
"Well", the farmer tells him, "A cow like that, you don't want to
eat all at once."
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/3zsHk.jpg" alt="" title="Hosted by imgur.com" />
I've got a 1991 Geo Metro. My wife brought it into our marriage with 90K on the clock, and it's now at 275K. It's gotten this far because of my own personal effort and love for it. The model is seriously the greatest econobox the U.S. has ever seen, but this one example of the model is something more. It's mine. I know all its quirks and oddities, know what it likes and what it doesn't. I've fixed little things and catastrophic things and have saved it from the crusher many times.
You know why? Because personal knowledge of an individual car is a valuable thing, both monetarily and emotionally.
I spend probably $200-$400 dollars a year maintaining a car with a KBB value of $100 because it saves me as much $2000 a year in gas compared to my truck. And it's been such a reliable and tolerant car that the thought of getting rid of it when something goes wrong feels like putting down a sweet and loyal pet dog because it has ticks.
My Metro is engineless right now, waiting on money for a clutch before I put in a motor with just 26K miles on it. I wore out the old one, and while the compression in each of the three cylinders slowly dropped to ~120 psi, I passed a point where no one else on earth could drive my car. No one would have a clue how to get it started, or exactly how to feather the clutch and throttle to get it moving. Anyone else would've parked it and called the junkyard, but my Metro and I grew old together, and I drove it another 3000 miles.
Now it sits in my carport, dreaming of a buzzy new motor filled with clean oil and slick new coolant and a clutch that bites instead of gums. We shall ride again, old friend.
<img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/12/2010/05/340x_metro_plane.jpg" width=300>
"Because personal knowledge of an individual car is a valuable thing, both monetarily and emotionally."
I couldn't agree more. Well said.
a clutch that bites instead of gums
A phrase that will go down in the ages. Someone call Bartlet's, we have a new quote!
I loved my Metro. No pretensions, just a straight forward car that did it's duty day after day. 11 years of service with minor maintenance and consistent reliability. Even when it died it protected me. The front subframe failed due to hidden rust. Instead of heading for the weeds at a high rate of knots the structure folded up slowly, pulling the right front halfshaft out of it's spline, and allowing me to reach the side of the road in a controlled fashion. Sure, I high centered it a couple of times in the snow and I was washed off the road in a downpour, but it was a great car. Would I name it? Hell no. I gave what was left to a buddy who restores all sorts of vehicles and he put the mighty 1 litre into a golf cart. A fitting end I think.
I think the lack of pretense is why I love the car so much, and it allows the car to surprise me still, even after all these years.
I couldn't agree more. I absolutely love my 1991 Metro most days and yes, it even has a name- "Pokey". It's slow and I have had to replace a lot of it's parts in the 1 year and 30k miles I have had it but there is nothing built today that I could possibly replace it with. Plus, it has to be one of the most logically built cars I have ever worked on. It's the only car I have ever done a clutch on that has the pilot bearing in the flywheel instead of the crank so replacing it is a snap. I even like doing timing belts on it as they are quite simple and easy to do. The only negative to Metro ownership is that some parts are getting scarce in this country. Fortunately though they do still make our generation Metros in Pakistan and I hope to figure out how to get parts from there when they run out here.
I'm currently working towards building the short block from my parts Metro to go along with the head I had built by 3 Tech last year. I had him do stainless exhaust valves, his economy cam and shave .020 off the head to bump compression. I'm hoping that the new engine combined with the taller tires will let me hit 50 city mpg and 60 highway with a bit of hypermiling and some corroplast aero mods.
As for the actual question at hand, yes. I do get very attached to my cars. Maybe I wouldn't if they put me into debt slavery like the typical person's car but my cars require far more personal input to keep them going. You just don't throw away all of that time and energy merely to get the next shiny new fad. No, they become a part of you because of all that you have done to them to make them work for your needs, and it is awfully hard to get rid of something that personal.
LOVE the pilot bearing compared to any other I've replaced.
I may do a long-term build up of my old motor. I'd love to get a 3-Tech head–it'd be awesome to have a car that out-mileaged my motorcycle. Would really love to get a Canadian turbo set up. No hurry, though. We shall see.
Her name, by the way, is Jeannie.
If I was going for more power I would just do a G13 DOHC swap from a Swift GTi. It's a smoother engine and has less complexity and 33% more power than a turbo three. Of course, after swapping in the G13 there wouldn't be anything to stop me from doing a turbo setup on it! Then again I may save that for my 1992 Metro "parts car" instead. It's a 2 door and has a perfect body while the body on Pokey (my 4 door 91) is not worth restoring as it has a bad quarter panel and tail light panel and rust on the front doors and a hole in the floor. I'll keep Pokey patched up and running as long as I can but restoring it would be too difficult. Don't get me wrong, it still looks good. It's just when you start asking why the hatch gap is much bigger on one side than the other and why the quarter panel is wavy that you realize just how bad off it is.
The 91 Metro is not the only vehicle I have named though. I also named my 362,000 mile 98 Frontier: "Fronty the wonder truck". I bought it new and used it to deliver pizza starting the day after I got it. It still runs and drives but has spent the last year gradually growing moss on it's paint while sitting in my back yard. It was retired because I could no longer afford to feed it's 22mpg addiction to gasoline after my pay was cut. What is so wonderful about it? Well, it still has it's original engine, the original clutch lasted 204,000 miles-of pizza delivery, and it is quite simply the most reliable vehicle I will ever own. Sadly though it would cost me $2,000 a year in extra fuel costs to run it and as that is about 10% of my yearly income I simply can't swing it. I can't even afford to insure it anymore as my commercial policy is insanely expensive for just one car. Two vehicles would mean I spent 25% of my yearly income on insurance-and I have a clean driving record.
No, Wilson was a volleyball.
I do have attraction to all the cars I spend enough time in. I patted the steering wheel of the driving school's '94 Corolla near the end of my last lesson; it taught me how to drive. I nearly cried looking at the crushed body of our '98 Sienna after I ran into a Civic doing an improper left turn. That car held my personal top speed at the time. And the beige Accord and I can settle into a rhythm when it's all warmed up; it's a bit eager and unhappy when some of its liquids are still cold. I even liked the Lucerne I rented a while ago. It just takes time. any car I spend more then a day in I'll be attached.
I don't have my *own* car yet, but whatever it would be I think we're going to click.
I probably have an unhealthy attachment to my vehicles. My 1980 AMC Spirit I restored with my dad in high school- there's just so many memories there, I don't think I'll ever be able to sell it.
And the 1988 K5 Blazer that I have- I bought it when I was in Colorado to be a cheap 4WD that could get me and my friend to and from the ski slopes. I was looking for an xj, and found it first. It has been such a reliable truck, that even at 185,000 miles I rarely have to work on it, and when I do, it isn't unreasonable and the parts are cheap. For instance, I need to rebuild the front axle in the next few weeks. Sure its a big job, but can you blame it after 185,000 miles? My wife and I drove that away from our wedding, we drove it out to California when I got stationed there, and then towed my Spirit from California to St. Louis when we moved out here. So I've fallen in love with the cheap truck that was supposed to be a beater to last me for a couple years (going on 5 now), and now I have visions of someday restoring it and dropping a bitching 383 under the hood.
I'd be devastated if something happened to either of them.
First of all, if my HTC Desire was able to feel, I'd have the bastard re-enact the Deer Hunter.
My RX-8 is like the woman I know I can't marry but is so charming and hot in the sack that I don't want it to end. Yet.
<img src="http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i65/lilwillie_wi/Car%20shows/th_100_4538.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" >
Yup, my 1960 Chevy Apache is a important part of my life. As I was graduating High School and kids were getting cars from their parents my Dad took me out to a farm outside of town. There sat this puke green pickup that was fugly as all get out. There was so much rust, so much decay it shouldn't have been saved. Dad told me it was mine.
In the Fall of '92 and Spring of '93 we tore it all down to the frame and then put it all back together with a very, very small budget. I mean pathetically small. Lots of bondo, lots of metal patching. No fancy wood planks in the bed, it was a sheet of treated plywood that was painted. Some dents were not removed. As for the engine and trans I managed to snag a well built TH350 from a fellow student at tech school. The little 307cid SBC was machined at school where everyone told me I was a idiot because the motor would never last being put .060 over and .010 on the crank. Then stuffing 10:1 forged pistons in with factory rods. Just a regular Edelbrock intake and some small valve heads got it in. For a carburetor I had a really nice conversation piece. A old Holley off a Shelby Mustang. I still have that carb and it isn't getting sold.
Years later I added the Holley Throttle Body fuel injection, NOS and a fuel cell. The flames went on in '95. So if anyone wonders why it is the color it is you can thank the '90's.
30,000 miles on it since it was finished in '93 and it is starting to show its age. Then engine has seen nothing but 4,000 rpms its hole life. 4:10 gears with 14 rims and a low profile 65 tire make for a screaming engine. The pump seal and torque converter don't like each other much any more so a puddle forms after a few weeks of sitting. The suspension is still factory from 1960. All of it. I added disc brakes in '97 to get it to stop proper.
I can't give this truck up no matter what. It has always been there for me no matter what. I've had this truck for more than half my life now and have a lot of fond memories. I almost totaled it out one night. Coming back from a night of cruising I was hauling ass behind a buddies Ranger. I told him I was going to stay tight to him since I couldn't see for crap with the headlights at night and didn't want to hit a Deer. So what happens? My buddy swerves to miss a dead deer in the road. I nailed it with the right front and went up in the air in a two wheel motion. Suddenly I hear loud exhaust and then the truck smashed back to earth. I do a 180 and come to a rest pointed the way I was coming from. The truck had stalled out. I didn't do a thing. Got out and the side pipe on the passenger side was ripped off. A few cars stop and everyone checks me and the truck over, no worse for wear except the missing pipe. So everyone starts looking. One guy screams "FOUND IT" and before I could yell for him to not touch it I hear a blood curling scream. He tried to pick it up with bare hands. Ohhhhh the burn.
I love this era of Chevy truck. Love the crazy cab shape, the view through the crazy windshield. Love especially how low the fenders are when the hood's open.
Keep it forever, amigo.
I'm a bit partial to my '05 F150. Bought it new off the lot. It's battery failed me once and a solenoid tried to engage 4WD whenever it got wet, but other than that it's been problem free.
<img src="http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a317/ssurfer321/Picture004.jpg", width=500>
<img src="http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a317/ssurfer321/080510_205406.jpg", width=500>
Hard to believe I actually considered trading it for something fuel efficient last Spring. Thankfully my wife talked me out of it.
<img src="http://www.tanshanomi.com/temp/92towncar.jpg">
The Town Cow was a bit of an arranged marriage. I would never have ended up with it by choice. It was a hand-me-down from my mother-in-law. My father-in-law was in a nursing home and she didn't need two cars. When my dilapidated Escort died, it was a stopgap car until I could afford to buy something more to my liking. I had no intention of developing an emotional attachment to it.
Fast-forward three years. I have developed a perplexing affection for that lard-butt. I have no intention of getting another car until this one gives up the ghost.
And, that's probably going to be quite a while, too. My boss has one that refuses to die, about the same vintage as yours.
From the looks of that top picture, you might want to check the brakes.
I don't necessarily name vehicles but I do become attached to them. With my 63 Thunderbird, at first I was just glad to be alive after that crash (Tire delaminated at 70 MPH and flung me into the center divider). But later on I just dreaded pulling the parts off of her. When I sent my 72 Plumbing truck to the junkyard I felt like I was betraying an old friend. Even without running for 3 months all it took was 3 rotations of the engine, three pumps of the gas pedal and he started up no problem. But it wasn't the engine that was the problem with him, it was his transmission, the 4 years of back registration and the fact I had no place to store him anymore. I still miss that old truck.
T-bird:
<img src="http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q53/Froggmann/Misc/Previous%20Cars/t-bird.jpg" img="">
72 Plumbing truck:
<img src="http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q53/Froggmann/Misc/Previous%20Cars/002-1.jpg" img="">
My 84 Ford Crew Cab Dually on the other hand I was glad to get rid of. At the end I was on my second round of replacing parts on that heap.
The crew cab dually in her better days, at just 4 years old you can already see the rear main leak:
<img src="http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q53/Froggmann/Misc/Previous%20Cars/001.jpg" img="">
My 88 Cougar XR7, she never let me down and never left me stranded. but her uni-body was completely compromised (17 collisions in her 11 year lifespan with my family) and I really needed a truck since I really couldn't see her living much longer shooting across the desert as a chase truck for my father's 1600 race car. Certainly she filled the role with better results than I had hoped for even when I was using her to transport engines and transmissions I still needed a truck.
88Cougar:
<img src="http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q53/Froggmann/Misc/Previous%20Cars/race-car012.jpg" img="">
My 93 Bronco, I still don't see getting rid of this one for a long time. Granted she has a quarter million miles on the original engine and doesn't get driven that much because of fuel prices I still love climbing into the driver's seat and just going somewhere. So far she's been with me for 13 years and I'm hoping there will be many more to come.
93 Bronco:
<img src="http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q53/Froggmann/93%20Bronco/IMG_2887.jpg" img="">
My 88 RX7 I had for the shortest amount of time yet I went into a funk when I had to get rid of her to make room for my MGA. Sure I was too big for that car but I had tons of fun in that little booger. At least she's still out there, somewhere.
88 RX-7
<img src="http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q53/Froggmann/Misc/Previous%20Cars/rex4.jpg" img="">
The 59 MGA, I don't know if I'm ever going to be able to drive this one. She's still a shell in the garage still in the same state she was my my 14 year old hands loosely installed the headlight and bumper because I was bored one day. She's the first car I remember riding in and possibly my earliest memory. I figure one of these days I'll just convert her into an electric car so I can just enjoy driving her.
59 MGA
<img src="http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q53/Froggmann/Misc/Previous%20Cars/MG/pimg7295.jpg" img="">
Them we have my 02 Maxima. The car I swore I wasn't going to modify and I figured I would run for 2 or 3 years until I could get something better. It's been 5 years and she's been lowered, stiffened, and the motor has undergone a few power adders. Don't know if I'm going to have a problem when it comes to getting the next car but to say she's made an impression on me is an understatement.
<img src="http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q53/Froggmann/02%20Maxima/IMG_6380-1.jpg" img="">
I have almost entirely fond feelings for my Dodge Caravan, which my family bought new in 1997 and was given to me 11 years and 120k miles later. It will always have the distinction of being my first car, and it has handled all my teenage indignities with aplomb. I've had it for almost 4 years now, and it's taken me to high school, work, college, and a bunch of my friends all across Michigan, stranding me only once in the process (that intermittent no-start issue was bound to happen somewhere inconvenient). The seats are more comfortable than most couches, it has a tape player, manual locks and windows and a single sliding door, and the transmission is still functioning! ~17 MPG kinda sucks, but it's a lot better than a car payment, and maintenance is virtually zero.
My other car, the 1987 924S, sits in my garage, waiting for me to grow a pair and some wrench-turning skills. I know I should sell it and buy something Japanese and reliable, but I don't know if I can; it will always be my Porsche, and the fulfilment of a childhood dream. One of these days…
Well, I've tried to bring myself into getting rid of my 760, but I keep going back to it because it's turned into some kind of rolling monument to my mechanical ability. Normal people just don't take a 17 year old car and turn it into a daily driver all of a sudden. There was some kind of weird bond forged during those years when it had to serve as our only mode of transportation. It was being driven 6 days a week, through opposite work schedules while being serviced at apartment building parking lots or someone's driveway. I sunburnt my ass changing a fuel pump and thought I was going to pass out from heat exhaustion trying swap out the exhaust pipe in the middle of summer.
I bought a car to replace it 3.5 years ago, and parked it for a month. During that time I rebuilt the brakes and then realized I preferred the old car over the new and went back to it. What kind of a nut likes to drive a 20+ year old car with no AC in Texas? I even sold the newer car away. Right now I'm driving since-then acquired backup car again, as my 760 awaits for the mailman to bring the remaining pieces I need for the jumbo brake conversion. But after that, I think we're going to hit the road once again, on our journey towards the 250 thousand mile mark.
I may have a somewhat unhealthy attachment to several of my vehicles. Allegedly.
And they do all have names, and personalities, and even voices. But that was kinda born out of necessity, a result of having multiple copies of the same car and/or manufacturers (i.e 3 MGBs, 3 Dodges etc) and an uuber tolerant wife. I can keep them all straight in my head, but while talking to her it helps to have names she can relate to. Plus, how can she make me sell something that greets her every morning in a squeeky voice with "Hi mommy!! Good Morning!!"
She knows it's a dirty trick, and I know it's a dirty trick, but we both enjoy the humor and, the cars are all still here.
The names developed slowly over time. The orange MGB became Obie (Orange B), the blue Datsun is Bluebie, and the MGBGT became Abby. The ZomBee's given name is actually Lazarus, and was aptly named long before I bought it.
The Polara has teeth so it became known first as the Shark-Car, then Sharkie, and the R/T Dakota became Art (which is slowly turning into Bart)
Brownie, the World's Greatest Crappy Old RV started out as just Old Brown decades ago back when my parents still had it. My female friends on a camping trip changed it to Brownie and that stuck. The truck earned the rest of its moniker just by being awesome and hilarious.
To me the names aren't necessarily anthropomorphization so much as they represent a collection of unique stories and memories surrounding the particular car.
The anthropomorphization occurs when I make them talk to my wife in funny cartoon voices.
<img src="http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/10764306/sn/1236297027/name/n_a">
"RAWER!!"
And the attachment is waaay @#$% strong
My Dad has named all his vehicles and in reading this post I was trying to remember all of them. I thought the strongest attachment was to "Fred" the '64 rusted through Fargo as it was the first engine that I saw "naked" (the valve covers removed).
Until I saw Polara in your post.
My Dad had a 4 door Coca-Cola Red, 1967 Dodge Polara 500 that I believe he called Wilma. Everyone in our neighborhood had Chevys or Oldsmobiles, but my Dad (all 5'2") stood out like a sore thumb with his red Dodge. Great memories!
My parts car is named Wilma too. On account of her Flintstone floorboards.
I'd like to say very, but when I'm really honest about it, I'd say I'm a bit more of a man-whore when it comes to cars…maybe in more of a hippie "free love" or kept harem sense, though. I love the ones I'm with, but can't keep from thinking about all the things I could do with some that I've wanted for some time.
I suppose having 3 cars stolen will kinda do that to you, as well. Each of those was "mine" more than any before or since, with the exception of my current Falcon. Being ever the project car addict, I wept less for the lost vehicle than the lost potential that they offered.
Nope, man-whore.
Nouveau riche man whore…
Bravo sir, marvelous form.
It's a Civic. In the past week spent on dealer lots for work, I've easily seen nearly a dozen virtually identical Civics, except that mine has the manual transmission (and even then, it has a few three-pedal brethren out there). It's one of the more interesting blandmobiles, and it is rather nice to drive when you hustle it, but I'm looking at getting rid of it in the next few months – I'm about to run out of my allotted mileage, and it's not $12,000 better than my fiancee's beater (but paid for) Accent. Hell, the thought of getting rid of my Civic has me excited at the prospect of replacing it with something else, something much cheaper, something more esoteric. It's not a realistic proposition – we're probably not getting rid of that Accent until we run it into the ground, and once we're married, we'll likely only have one parking spot, but obviously the Civic hasn't made a strong enough impression on me to try and keep it, let alone feel sad about getting rid of it.
We'll talk about the Jeep in the garage once I've been able to spend any real amount of time behind the wheel.
My wife and I were both in tears, me from exhaustion and being pissed at myself, her from losing her car, when her '95 Intrepid ES 3.5L caught fire in my mother's driveway.
I'm still miffed I couldn't see behind the intake manifold after putting a new EGR, might have been a PCV, valve in. I should have had my wife start it so I could watch/smell for gasoline, but it happened less than 20 seconds after startup, so there may have been no saving it, regardless.
I'd put a bunch of effort into keeping that car a long-term keeper, too. Planned on it being my first 1/4 million mile, all but 33K of them our miles, car.
I've had a couple of 200K+ machines, but I was the last or second-to-last, owner.
I have personally turned every single screw on my '63 Wagon. I have painted, welded, sewed, bled, cursed, and laughed. I have also toured over 15,000 miles in it. On top of that, I did a 1000 mile fly and drive with my dad to get it. It was a basket case – it broke down probably 20 times.
The bond is strong – like on an atomic level.
<img src="http://needthatcar.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/cropped-beach.jpg" width=600>
<img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7175/6728245709_6c3c6df300.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="bonnie, panther, trailer 002">
<img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7009/6728244097_ecd3b6585a.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="bonnie, panther, trailer 001">
Sadly, I believe my "Bonnie" will be sporting rented dubs all to soon.
In complete reverse order:
70+ cars and this olelongrooffan is barely 52 years old….Emotional attachment? Psshhaw….If some Hoon offered me the right number for either my Comanche or "The Charles Barrett Special," (sorry Charlie) it would be gone and I'd be out looking for my next Hoonmobile. Luckily, having a short commute and the desire to travel to any distant destination in no hurry allows me the flexibility to drive pretty much any olecar or truck I can find and, with thejeepjunkie's help and approval, get running. Plus, an older beater pickup is just the vehicle in which to pick up a fellow Hoon at the Daytona Beach International Airport when said Hoon arrives in town for the Rolex24. But I did spot that '70 Bonneville convertible with a 455 under the hood just last week.
How much does that for-sale sign say?
I would like to take that Bonneville home with me, even if it probably won't fit in my garage bay… I would love it and pet it and fix it and call it George…
(Ms. TDC's head would explode, but it'd be okay as long as her '08 Impala SS could still fit in her half of the garage…)
(Next time, I'm buying a house with no less than four spaces in the
garagecarriage house…)The body shop down in the "hood," as it was described to this longrooffan, is asking $7,500 for it. The attached image doesn't show the disemboweled electric switches on the driver's door nor the 03179 on the odometer. I'd have to say CP for sure. But at an even 4 grand, I could own another oleragtop, this time a Poncho just like my favorite uncle.
<img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7150/6733248177_a0f66e06e9.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="bonnie, panther, trailer 003">
61 cars in 25 years of driving age. I'm more of a car veterinarian. I take them in, get them on their legs, and send them on their way with a scratch behind the ears.
I have a sort of a mixed bag here. I used to drive a Mazda 323 hatchback, I had it for some years and kept it well, servicing and washing and waxing it regularly. I then traded it in for my current car, the 323F 5-door fastback. Some months later, I found the old Mazda pretty much ruined and destroyed as the next owner had hooned it to death, ruining the gearbox and selling it on as a spares car. The bodywork was dented and the interior ripped. I felt terrible, but sook solace in the fact that my 323F was now the car in my life and I should keep good care of it.
I kept driving the 323F, accumulating kilometres on the clock and keeping it maintained and polished with very little rust anywhere. It never really gave me any trouble, but I started to yearn for another car to keep on the side. I bought the Sapporo a year ago, and started getting all its maladies fixed. Meanwhile, the Mazda sat mostly undriven, as it was now only my back-up car. Later on, my gf started driving it, so it got semi-regular use. Late September, I drove the Mazda to a race track and crashed it into a tire wall in the rain. I was gutted; I had pretty much ruined a car that had had nothing wrong with it. I had only serviced it the day before, with 150 000 km on the clock (having driven it 55k in a couple of years).
I got spare panels for it, had them spruced up a bit and mounted on the car; for a couple of months the car sat on the street with the side dented in. Now, it looks good from a distance, but as the replacement front door wasn't perfect and neither was the fender, I feel bad about it. The doors don't fit 100% and it still sits on summer tires even if it's really snowy outside. A DRL lamp is busted due to hitting a random rabbit some time ago. The car needs alignment, the steering wheel isn't straight after the race track shunt.
I should find it in myself to fix the car back up again, to get it back into near-perfect shape again, but it's been tempting to think of just selling it. It's not far from fixed, but the whole affair annoys me. I've driven about 500 km in the months after the shunt, and that includes the 4-hour drive back from the track.
So, the emotional bond is strong. Or it should be, but it mostly feels like I've let the car down. I should form the bond again. I just ordered a new pair of DRL:s, so I'll be getting back on track (figuratively speaking).