What Did Your Dad Drive?

[Apoc]

Lee and I were talking about about the influx of BMWs and it got me thinking about the reasons why. I don't know that our dad's choice in car is a direct correlation, but I do think what people see as "the car" when they're in their formative years plays a big part. For example, my family had domestics when I was really young, but about the time I really started paying attention to cars was when my family was heavy in Europeans. The result? I'm an eurowhore.

Speaking from experience, BMWs were the car that everyone thought was the end all, be all of cars ~10 years ago. It seemed every business man was driving one and every college kid (shit, I wasn't even in college 10 years ago) saw them as the car to buy when you made your fat wads of cash. I don't think there's any denying that BMW makes good cars... I loved my E36 M3.... but there's gotta be something else at play.

Soooo... what cars made an impression on you when you were growing up and has that impacted your buying habits?

[WRXtranceformed]

My family all drove Subarus, Toyotas and other AZN cars ha ha. We had a couple of Legacy wagons, I learned to drive stick on an early 90s Toyota pickup in our fields, we had an Isuza Rodeo that was actually really awesome especially in the snow and my mom has driven a RAV4 for years. I have owned or driven 3 Toyota trucks, 3 Subarus, a Lexus and my Acura. My dad has a Tundra. Basically most if not all of the vehicles we had growing up were AWD or 4WD because of where we lived. I'm sure this has rubbed off on me because I have never owned a domestic branded car.

[D_Eclipse9916]

Dont think it really affected me. Then again, my M3 is a tool, not the cool car I always wanted to own.

Dad drove a Jaguar XK and an XJ as the daily, although we also had a suburban which may have played into me liking GM trucks way better than Fords. Mom had the Mercedes wagon. My first car was an Eclipse lol, and I actually was not a fan of BMWs when I was 16-20.

[Evan]

when I was born through age 5


then


now


definately no sports car blood from him!

he did have a 68 mustang, but sold it while he was in 'nam

[ScottyB]

my parents had been raised on domestics (dad had a 307 elcamino, mom drove a 57 chevy) and when i was growing up we had a buick century t-type and a 2-door S-10. they were both awful pieces of shit. i could tell some stories about how piss poor they were. our last domestic was a caravan when i was a teen, and although it ran it was falling apart as it went down the road. my dad made the choice to move on to more reliable Japanese cars, and although i digested entire issues of car&driver in a sitting and liked every car i saw for different reasons, i had pretty much reasoned out through my parents' experiences that domestics were worthless and imports were all that mattered. then my dad got his first audi - it drove much nicer than any japanese car i had been in up to that time and was technologically impressive, so i got really into them, but still pretty much worshipped Japanese cars.

nowadays i don't find allegiance with any particular brand and like cars from anywhere. but deep down, i would have a really hard time putting down cash for an American car just because it was so ingrained in me throughout my early driving years that they were junk. we own 2 Japanese cars now, both of which are brands my family has owned.

my dad recently got his first "sporty" car which has been funny since i've always been the car guy in the house. i think i rubbed off on him.

[Steve85]

Dad has had 4 cars in the last almost 40 years, (70's) Corolla, 84 Camry, 88 Pathfinder and currently has a late 90's maybe early 2000's Pathfinder, all manuals. Mom went through a Pontiac LeMans that stranded us in "South of the Border" and an 80's Olds Cutlass that could get up to 25mph w/out ever touching the throttle, and a bunch of other problems. The olds was replaced with an 88 300zx (I was pushing for the Starion). She then had an LHS that was crap and was right back in a Toyota.

I've had a Nissan p/u, a Pathfinder and we currently have an 04 Quest (and a few others along the way, vette and a Silverado being the only domestic). When I needed a good mileage commuter, I went right to HondAcura. My daughter needs to replace the Cabrio and I basically told her she needs to get a Honda, Toyota, Mazda. Reliability = japanese and that comes from my parents experience. I drive stick mostly because dad did and most of our cars have been. Definitely some influence in terms of DD choices and no influence into the desire for performance cars.

[ViPER1313]

In my lifetime:

Dad:
1989? Mazda 323
1992 Dodge Shadow
1997 Ford Taurus GL (my first car, now my brother's car, still rocking around JMU)
2000 Dodge Caravan (company car)
2002 Ford Taurus (company car)
2003 Mercury Mountaineer
2008 Chevrolet Trailblazer

Mom:
1978 Toyota Corolla
1990 Geo Prizm
2002 Mazda 5 Wagon
2004 Mazda 6 Wagon

Neither has ever been "into" cars, and both look at them as appliances (keep them as long as they are reliable, then trade them in for something newer.)

[Jake]

Before I was born...

Dad:
69 or 70 Camaro RS
Mercury Capri - the cool Euro one
Ford Fiesta
Volvo 242DL
Some crappy '70s-era American cars as company vehicles
80something Jetta

Mom:
Impala SS
Chevelle Malibu SS
Chevy II?
70s-era Mustang Pace Car edition (bleh)
Honda CRX Si (one of the first years, 84 or 85)

Cars Post-Jake:

Dad
1987 Nissan Stanza
1994 Ford Taurus LX
2002 Infiniti I35

Mom
1988 Nissan Sentra E - that's the base base base model.
2001 Ford Escape
2005 Chrysler Crossfire Roadster
2011 Subaru Outback 3.6R

I wouldn't say any of the cars played into my brand allegiances, nor do I really have any. I like what I like. My aunt did own an NA Miata - that I rode in once - when I was about 9 or 10. Mom always drove stick until the Escape. Now she's indifferent but would always buy a sports car with a manual. Dad drives a lot for work, so the auto trans is handy for him.

[Kaan]

Dad:
1964 Ford Falcon
70s Chevy Van
1964 Ford Failane
70s Datsun 510 wagon
1990s Ford Rangers (he's had a couple of them)
1973-1983 Yamaha Cruisers... from 400cc to 1100ccs (he's had more than a couple)

Mom:
1970s Pontica BOAT
Various Wranglers in the 80s and 90s
1983 VW Rabbit... D power! (it burned to the ground!)
1994 Dodge Mini Van (traded in after a year to get another Wrangler)
2002 XJ (she traded it for a TJ and then took the TJ back in days to get her XJ back)

Me:
1985 Mustang GT
1990ish Turbo Dodge Colt
1983 Scirocco GTi
1988 Honda CRX
1990 Honda CRX
.... I've had too many motorbikes to remember them all now....

[BLINGMW]

Just econobox Toyotas and the like and my dad always had some GM van since he's a contractor. :dunno:

The only hint of "cool" was before I existed-- my dad had a Jag E-type coupe at some point, but it was a POS. He sold it for my mom's wedding ring. I think at the time she had a VW beetle. I think the first thing they purchased together was a VW bus when they spent a few years in Europe. Hippies.

Your theory *might* hold some water, but keep in mind not all of our parents had "fat wads of cash", at least not until they were done paying for us! My first BMW and whatever allegiance I have to them came about because I was working with Bimmerworld.

[Ryan T]

I guess I inherited some of my domestic love from my parents. The only cool car my dad had was a '67 Chevelle SS 396. My mom had an assortment of Ford Farilanes that were modded. As far as since I've been alive:

Dad:
80s F150
80s Dodge Pickup
91 F150
95 Dodge Ram 1500

Mom:
80s Buick Park Avenue
92 Buick Park Avenue
94 Toyota Camry
96 Lexus ES300
99 Mercedes E320 4matic
02 Corvette
01 Jeep Wrangler
05 Chevy Silverado 1500
06 Lincoln Mark LT

[Goodspeed]

Add another one to the no-parental-effect camp. After I came around they had a '69 Beetle, '87 Corolla, '96-ish Mitsu Pajero, '96-ish Escort (sadly not a Cossie - both of those outside the US), and now their trusty Avalon steed they bought new in 2000. Dad has a passing interest in cars - he drove a Fiat 500 in HS and my grandparents had some form of a '68 Mustang at the time that he also drove.

He had a slightly modded 883 HD Sporster though for a few years when I was in middle/jr high and a pair of WWII era (one olive drab) Harleys before that (and a few Yamahas/Honda CBs, etc), and my uncle had a dirt track Chevy that I used to get rides in, so in some form or another familial history may have contributed a little - I just took it and ran with it.

[HAULN-SS]

No real ties back here to my love for full frame V8 GM's. I think that happened out of necessity, since they bought my first car, which was an 87 Monte Carlo LS with T-Tops. I actually miss that car.



Dad:
64(?) Imapala with a 400
60-something stepside ford
70-something F100 that was red and grey..the first car i can remember
1992 F250
95ish S10
78 Chevy Scotsdale - seeing this truck climb right out of a 3' deep ditch in 2 feet of snow is what sold him on chevy's
2004 Silverado 1500
2006 Silverado 1500HD

Mom:
Some crap econobox toyota
82(?) Datsun Maxima - had the same motor as a 240Z at the time..pretty cool, first car i can remember
94 Chevy Lumina
92 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer edition
96 Chevy Monte Carlo Z34
2010 Nissan Altima

[WRXtranceformed]

I forgot that we did have an old '34 Ford Model A with teh suicide doors. My dad drove that while he was at Duke. It sat in our barn for years until some guy finally bought it off my dad to build into a hot rod. I do regret not buying it off my dad or convincing him to hold onto it...but I think that car is what made me like classic domestic cars.

[Apoc]

For those that don't think their parents played a part, what do you think influenced you?

Since we're listing cars, when my grandfather died in '91 he owned:

'6x Porsche Elva (wiki)
'67 Porsche 911S
'79 Ferrari 308
'80 Porsche Carrera GT

I think there might be one other I'm forgetting. There is a picture floating around of all these lined up. I'll see if I can dig it up.

The other cars I remember growing up were a big ass Lincoln and a Pinto. After my parents split, my dad got an Iroc-Z, my mom got a Honda Accord and my sister got a VW Rabbit.

I think it's clear what influenced me the most.

[fiveoh2go]

My dad had many muscle cars during high school and into his mid 20's. Not really sure what all exactly he owned as he was constantly buying and selling. This was back in the mid 70's to early 80's when these cars were "just some old car" and gas was cheap. My two uncles also had quite a few cars of their own as well.


Some of Dad's cars:

- '70 Challenger R/T (lime green) - bought it when he was 15
- '71 Nova (black)
- '70 Chevelle SS 396 (maroon w/white SS stripes)

- Numerous Harley's (a couple Sportster's, one Police FLH, various others)


My Uncle's cars:

- '68 Hemi Roadrunner (bought new - factory lemon)
- '69 Hemi Roadrunner (the '68 was traded in for the '69)
- '65 Chevelle SS 396

- '70 Nova SS 396
- '57 Chevy drag car

- '64 Impala SS
- '55 Chevy



My Mustang/Ford fascination started in 5th grade. The older brother of my best friend at the time had a fox body 5.0 Mustang as well as all of his friends so there were constantly five liter Mustangs at my buddies house. Those cars left a huge impression on me and I knew I had to have one. So for my first car at 17 I bought this:




I would definitely say that my family and friends played a part in directing my automotive interests, without a doubt.

[Scott]

Since I was born (and what i can remember):
Dad:
'73 Camaro
'59 Austin Healey Sprite*
'54 Healey 100-4
'60s various Mini's
'59 Morris Minor
'59 Triumph TR3 x2
'60 Triumph Italia x2
'61 Triumph Italia
'68 Mustang convertible
'94 Miata*
'67 Volvo P1800 (Saint)*
'02 Jag XK8 (Shaguar)*
'68 Dodge Dart (Mannix)
Honda Pilot*

Mom:
Various Accords
VW Cabriolet
'99 Saab 900 'vert
07 Saab 9-3 'vert*

*denotes still owned

[Apoc]

Somewhat related, this showed up on Rennlist a few days ago. Make sure you read the third page.

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[ScottyB]

that's extremely cool.

[cgray21]

My Dad bought a new corvette in 2005 , ever since then I have felt myself becoming more and more a corvette guy.