Historically, this blog has been dedicated to one of my favorite cars: my 1980 Land Rover Series III 109" 5-Door Safari Wagon. Though I've been obsessed with Landys for decades, I have been just as obsessed with many other cars just as long or longer... so I decided to change this blog from one solely about my Land Rover to one where I can talk about many different types of my favorite play things - cars.
I'm not quite sure where I picked up the car bug as neither of my parents, nor their parents, had a bevy of vintage cars around. I mean, they all had cars, but they were mostly for transportation and not for fun. I should also clarify that I'm no mechanic. I mean I can tinker around the engine of most of the older cars and have fun with that, and I can follow instructions well for bigger projects like an engine rebuild, but I like to drive my cars. Sure, part of the fun is fixing them up, but sadly I have no time any more for that kind of stuff.
I'll post more stories and photos about each of my cars, but first a quick history:
My first car was a turquoise 1962 Ford Thunderbird. I loved that car! It had a 390 V-8 Interceptor motor. One of my favorite things about it was that its steering wheel slid over when not in use to let you more easily get in and out of it! Brilliant! I wish all cars had a feature like that, and I was delighted to learn that my new Lexus moves the steering wheel up when you turn the ignition off... only it does it automatically!
I drove the Thunderbird for years until an elderly lady cut me off and I t-boned her car. We were all ok, thankfully. And even though her car was totaled, my Thunderbird survived with only minor damage... the headlights didn't even break. They don't build them like they used to! Even though the car was fine, she just wasn't the same to me anymore, so I sold her.
My tastes in cars was evolving too at that time. Even though I love vintage cars still, a fascination started with four-wheel drives. I started liking old CJ Jeeps, FJ-40 Land Cruisers, early Broncos, Scouts, and especially Land Rovers. So before I was out of high school, I bought a 1978 Toyota Land Cruiser. Boy, talk about a match! She and I got along swimmingly! I drove that car for years and years! And as my needs changed, I simply added to my car "collection" instead of trading out.
I bought a Ford F-150 as my daily driver after a few years in Los Angeles. I still drive the Land Cruiser often. Then my years of searching for an old hot rod came to an end when I bought a 1949 Ford Club Coupe. Then I decided I needed a new car with a back seat that I could take clients around in if need be, so I ordered a new Saturn suv. There I was, a single guy living in LA (a city of parking nightmares) with 4 cars! Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that along the way, I also bought and sold a couple of other cars including a vintage suburban and a 1953 Ford F-100.
So, long story short (too late, I know, sorry), I love cars -- and though my "collection" in no way rivals that of Jerry Seinfeld, Jay Leno, Ralph Lauren, or others (more stories about how I know them later), and while it maybe isn't what you think of when you hear the words "car collection", I still have a fun time playin' around with my "collection" -- and I'll be posting about them here as I get the time.
