Cars I Want (and some from my pre-driving days)

Funny how the experiences of your childhood show up in interesting ways.

I know that my current desire for old Sport Utility vehicles is a direct result of my Dad's work when I was a kid coupled with some cars owned by folks I thought were cool back in the day. I also think the whole nostalgia factor is huge with many men my age, so let's not pretend I'm experiencing anything unique, ok?

On to the cars.
When I was little we had International Harvester Travelalls, as my dad sold for them until I was about 9. They were huge to me, perfect to go sit in and pretend to drive, and I blame them for my propensity for firmly shutting car doors: those doors were heavy! I have worked to break that habit as an adult, seriously.

We once had a bird fly in the front passenger side window and out the rear window (electric in the early 70s, baby) on the way to a Feis. Memories are dim, but sliding across the huge bench seat sticks firmly.

Maybe once or twice Dad brought home a Scout, my first car crush and the aforementioned origin. For me, compared to the Travelall, that was coolness.

My oldest brother was college age and was a VW bug driver, then a van driver, so of course I wanted one of those, but that wish has been granted many times, so no need to linger on that. A back street neighbor, Greg Janeck, had an older brother who drove what is now my dream car, a 73 VW Thing. Yes, you heard me correctly! Any of these will do....

I'd even take one like this, as long as I can take the kids to get ice cream....

The lovely and talented wife calls me obsessed, but after replacing an engine computer on a 2004 Town and Country, oh, I'm sorry, PAYING to have it replaced, an air-cooled vw sounds good to me.

I'll take any of these as well, if I was doing the Jay Leno thing...better check my lottery ticket!

Now, on to other vehicles!

Like everybody, I think, I have wanted a jeep,

but I've also wanted a Wagoneer ever since a High School friend drove us around in her parents'

and the Cincinnati Zoo had cool zebra striped ones like the CJ above.

Pretty much any of the classic 4x4s are on my want list, realistically or not: who wouldn't want to drive around in a legitimate safari Land Rover or Land Cruiser?

Of course, since the FJ Cruiser came out, I've been wanting one:

That makes perfect sense, right?

Also, I've been saying since the VW bus that my "next car would be a convertible," and while the Thing fits the bill, there are several others I would consider from classic:

Austin Healy, natch,

Porsche, duh,

MG, obviously, or

Triumph.

I very nearly have purchased both an MG in need of help and a Spitfire (brown, like the photo) but practicality won out both times. Cursed practicality!

I wouldn't say no to one of this era, either; thanks to all the Batman comics read as a child, I love this era of autos:

or even a giant Cadillac Convertible like an old musician friend had, he kept towels in the trunk to wipe the condensation off the seats when he got off work at bar closing time.
 

 

 Of course, there are some modern convertibles I'd drive, first and foremost the BMW Z3