Favorite Car Manufacturer

I've owned a grand total of 5 cars over the last 6 years or so:

Technicly, my first car was a 1980 VW Rabbit, automatic transmission. I paid $300 for it. I started to learn how to drive on it, but ended up giving it to my mom, who needed a car alot more than I did at the time. She drove it for a few months then sold it.

My REAL first car was a 1986 Dodge Colt, one of those cars that was actually made in Japan by Mitsubishi (I think someone mentioned that before). I paid $750 for this one and drove it for about 2 and a half years. Got it up to 170,000 miles before it died. I liked it alot, it was simple and easy to work on, and reliable. On the downside, it had no power at all, and it smoked like you wouldn't believe. This car was a 4 speed manual. At first I really didn't like the manual, but after I got used to driving one I really liked it.

Car #3 is one that I currently still own. After the Colt died, I went looking for another car. My original plan was to find a VW Scirocco (I've always wanted one), but instead I came home with another Colt, this time a Plymouth Colt Vista 4WD. It cost me $500. The Colt Vista is very different from the regular colt, it's like a cross between a wagon and a mini-van, and it has a different motor (2.0L instead of 1.5L). Its also a 5 speed instead of a 4 speed. I love this car, because it's very utilitarian (spelling?). But, just like my first Colt, this one had a smoking problem. I decided to put a different engine in it. I spent $1,500 on the project, $800 for an engine with 50,000 miles on it and the rest went to other parts. I did most of the work myself. This was about a year ago. Last summer I blew the head-gasket on the new motor, so I had to replace that too. Thats the only time this car has ever broken down on me. It's currently got 142,000 total miles on it, fewer on the engine itself.

Car #4 was a 1984 Jeep Cherokee, I got it for free from a friend after I blew the head-gasket on the Colt. I drove it for about 2 months, then sold it when I got the Colt running again. I split the money with my friend. I would have kept it, but it had a leak that made the inside all moldy, and it was an automatic (I REALLY prefer manual transmissions).

Finally, Car #5, my favorite so far: A 1978 VW Dasher (aka Passat), 4 speed manual. Its my current daily driver (I'm keeping the Colt as a back-up for the VW). I LOVE this car. I got it at an auction for a mere $300, I feel like I stole it because it's only got 120,000 miles (VERY low for a car this age) and looks brand new. The engine is clean enough to eat off of. It's much faster than any other car I've owned. It's got a 1.6L gas engine (I think most Dashers had disels), 81HP. Thats not alot by todays standards, but thats pretty good for an old 4 clyander... the 2.0L engine in my Colt Vista has less HP than that. The Dasher has a more powerful engine in a lighter car... that makes it alot more fun to drive. It also kinda looks like a Scirocco, another feature I like. One weird thing about these cars though: they are FWD, but the engine is mounted in a "north-south" configuration, just the oposite of most FWD cars...

Anyway, I have a few pics:







As you've probably guessed, I voted VW

Jam it back in, in the dark.