My first car was a 1972
FIAT 124 Sport
Spider. I purchased it from my sister for
$750. She had about enough of the FIAT mystique
after two years….
….indeed it was a
lovely car and a pretty cool ride for
a sixteen year old, even in 1985.
Fortunately there were no shortage of cars in the garage
and I did not have to walk when the FIAT was being a…
well….FIAT.
Among the cars that Dad
would let me drive was one of Pete Brock’s
Datsun 510’s!
Well the FIAT lived up
to its reputation. In 1988 I sold it to the local
FIAT dismantler for
$200 after the transmission blew!
The search for a
replacement vehicle ended when my fathers
friend agreed to sell us his 1962 Sunbeam Alpine II.
This was a very special
Sunbeam Apine, having won
a trophy at the
Now this may seem like
an odd choice as a daily driver
for a kid starting college,
but my father was a bit of a
car collector. Here he is below, in his 1957 Porsche 550A
Spyder!
The Sunbeam Alpine was
considered a “womans” sportscar
Back in the 60’s
because it had frills such as heat and
wind down windows. Compared to the FIAT 124, which
was
a decade newer, it was a marvel of reliability.
However, my mother
talked some common sense into me
and I purchased a 1983 VW GTI for $3500 as my primary
transportation.
This was a delightful
little car. Fun to drive, cheap to maintain,
reliable, good mileage, etc. Everything a guy in college
needed…..but it wasn’t a Porsche…..
I was sold when I sat
behind the wheel and saw the gauge
layout of the VDO gauges which was identical to my Dad’s
550A.
I found this 1967
Porsche 912 for $4500. Unfortunately early
Into my ownership spun
a bearing and had to replace the
crank. Then I noticed the floors were made of swiss cheese –
probably why the previous owner was selling it.
I sold it at a loss for
$4000.
At the time I had
graduated from college and was in
a “transitional” job working for Moss Motors….
…so replacing the
German coupe with a British one seemed
like a good idea. I found a lovely all original 1967
MGB GT for $3500. Even the overdrive still worked!
The combination of two
British cars worked (I still had the
Sunbeam) until I
started a job with a 60 mile commute.
I sold off the sportscars for $5000 for the pair. I purchased
the only new vehicle I have purchased for myself, a 1993
Nissan PickUp, $7900.
For the first time in
many years I had a single car
…and a reliable one at
that. I put 90k effortless
miles on it. Then the sportscar bug
bit again….
I replaced the Nissan
with a 1970 Porsche 911T Targa.
Unquestionably the
biggest automotive mistake I
have ever made!
This particular example
had undergone a highly
cosmetic restoration. It had an oil leak, worthless
14” Fuchs Alloys, a
loud Targe top, Webers that
Were only happy on long
drives and no rear
sway bar which made it positively scary to drive.
I paid $12500 for it
and it was six months later
At a $4500 loss.
….from a certain
distance it was very attractive…
The Porsche bug was now
totally eradicated. Then I found
the perfect solution, and a sensible one at that.
BMW.
I located a 1995 BMW
318is with 40k miles for
$17900. A sporty sedan, classic good looks,
reliable, reasonable to maintain 1.8L Four Cylinder.
I am fairly certain I will
never be without a BMW
again. Here I replaced the chrome 15” bottlecaps
with 16” wheels. Nothing like a pre-Bangle
BMW.
Although I had a sporty
sedan, the sportscar bug came
Calling again!
I started looking at
BMW Z3’s. Then I found 75% of the
car for 50% of the price….
1997 Mazda Miata with 64k miles for $11000.
This car offers all the
joy of driving a roadster with none of
the issues. The Fiat 124 and Sunbeam were nicer to look at
but this drives rings around them and is dead reliable.
…here I added some 15”
Mazda
Most recently I
replaced the ’95 318i with a ’97 318is.
Much slicker looking
than the sedan.