1. 1966 Ford Mustang (with a vinyl roof) - My high school car. Acquired from my dad. True, the vinyl top was almost all torn off. And both rear quarter panels were rotted through. But my gosh, it was a Mustang!
2. 1967 Chevy Impala SS - Bought it from stepfather Elmer, who had painted it bright blue with a paintbrush. Four-door with a 396 under the hood. Sadly, I blew that engine going 95 down Route 30 just west of Columbia, PA. But that's another story.
3. 1972 Chevy Vega - Like I said, cheap. I didn't spend much for it and it got me around. That is, until oil started showing up in the radiator.
4. 1973 Chevy Nova - Now that was an awesome car! A three speed on the floor with a Hurst shifter, 350 under the hood, hijacker in the back, and a racing strip down the middle. Left it behind to serve my Mormon mission to Japan. Mike tells me he and a friend (Dave Dragan) repainted it while I was gone. And it had a bad carb. Mom ended up selling it to one of her brothers who promptly wrapped it around a tree. He survived, but the car didn't.
5. 1967 Oldsmobile Delta 88 - Bought it for $200 to drive from New Jersey to Utah after getting married. The simple purpose was to transport the few belongings we had to our new apartment at BYU.
6. 1974 Ford Pinto Wagon - Pale green with wood paneling on the side. Didn't have it long before the timing belt went out.
7. 1974 Plymouth Fury III - Didn't own it long. Never even drove it. Had serious problems under the hood. Not even sure why I owned it besides the fact that someone gave it to us.
8. 1975 AMC Pacer - Our yellow pregnant roller skate. I always liked these cars. Looked funny, but gave us plenty of room when we needed it as our family size began to grow.
9. 1976 Chevy Truck - The only truck I've ever owned. We succeeded in packing virtually everything we owned into this baby (it took 3 days to do it!) after graduating from BYU. It lasted a while after crossing the country to Pennsylvania.
10. 1982 VW Dasher - The only diesel we've ever owned. Didn't have a lot of power, but fuel economy was great. Knocked out of commission after hitting a deer on Route 73 (near Oley, PA) and splitting the front of the engine. It was an 8-point buck.
11. 1984 Ford Escort - A good sensible family car. One of my worst car repair memories is associated with this one. Changed an aluminum head (with the help of Uncle Skip) in the middle of winter. Brrrrrr!
12. 1967 Dodge Dart - Needed something to drive after the Escort died, so we got this from a family member. Not much to look at, but got us where we needed to go. Had to retire it after it wouldn't pass inspection after being rear-ended at a stop light on Route 222 (east of Reading).
1973 Ford Maverick - Took the place of the Dart. Mom's friend, Red, was kind enough to give us this hand-painted, blue 4-door (what is it with hand-painted cars???). Eventually died a peaceful death after months of service.
1984 Dodge Caravan - Our first van! Bought this from sister Melody and got 165,000 miles out of it. I'll never forget what happened after spending a whole Saturday changing the timing belt at a friend's house. I did my best to set the timing, but I guess it wasn't good enough. After driving about a quarter-mile from his house late that night the van backfired so violently that the muffler blew apart with a gigantic bang. Owned this van when we moved to West Virginia.
1986 Isuzu Trooper - Eileen's favorite car; she loved this thing. Nice to have four-wheel drive in the winter. Drove it many, many miles.
1987 Honda Accord Hatchback- I really liked this car. Unfortunately, we only owned it a couple of years. A big bang and investigation one day while I was working at WJAL-TV revealed the back end of my beloved Accord smashed flat by a tractor trailer cab. It appears the driver lost control on the road outside the station, went airborne into the parking lot, and landed on my car. This was my first experience dealing with unscrupulous insurance companies.
1992 Honda Accord - Bought this four-door with the insurance money from the other Accord's demise. Nice, reliable car.
1999 Daewoo Lanos - First brand-new car I ever owned. Mmmmm, that new car smell!
2000 Daewoo Leganza - Traded in the Lanos for my second brand-new car.
1991 Toyota Supra - The first sign of a mid-life crisis. I really enjoyed this car and eventually sold it to a gentleman who fixed it up real nice.
1999 Honda CRV - Traded in the Leganza for a more reliable ride. This car has served us very, very well. Survived driver training for all three daughters. Over 235,000 miles and still going strong as of June, 2010.
1998 Mazda 626 - Bought it from co-worker Eric Pritchett, who I knew was meticulous and very careful with his car. He kept every service record including the window sticker from when he bought it new. Had over 170,000 miles when I got it and 206,000 miles when Meghan wrecked it trying to avoid two raccoons in the road in Kentucky.
2005 Kia Sedona - Our third brand-new one and, at $22,000, the most I've ever paid for a car. Used primarily by Eileen and for long trips.
1995 Mazda Miata - My mid-life crisis. I've always like Miatas and was determined to eventually own one. Bought it for $3,800 on ebay, although I never thought I'd do anything like that. Had 73,000 miles on it when shipped from Florida. Terrific little convertible!
