Perhaps not surprisingly, my mom’s favorite was the only one that she bought on my recommendation. All the rest were picked out by my father, who had a bit of a control issue. Well, come to think of it, maybe he let me recommend this 1990 Honda Civic sedan to her because he was driving the only car he’d ever bought based on my recommendation (a 1986 Taurus). Now that really was surprising, on both counts; that he would buy a car on my advice, and let my mom buy a Honda since he wouldn’t touch an import ever since he was disappointed by his 1965 Opel Kadett. And as much as they both loved these cars, he reverted to form and went back to picking their last two cars…ugh. But while she had it, Mom loved her “sporty little Civic”.
After her 1965 and 1973 Dodge Coronet wagons, Mom was ready for something smaller, as my younger brothers were past needing rides, mostly. So during this Ford phase (Dad was driving a Zephyr), he came up with an Escort wagon for her. They were like lot of folks at the time, trading in big cars during the second energy crunch years for little ones. It was wheezy, handled like it was perpetually tipsy, and the torque-split automatic shifted very oddly; like an old Mercedes-Benz autobox. But she really liked having a small car, even if it was a rather mediocre one.
When the Escort got on to close to ten years old, they decided it was time for a new car for her. And somehow I got into the conversation, even though we lived on the other coast. And my recommendation was easy and unequivocal: a Honda Civic.
I’m a huge fan of this generation Civic; in fact I consider it a true milestone car like the Mercedes W124. I had a coworker who had a fuel-injected EX stick shift sedan like this one, and we swapped cars once or twice and played hookie for an hour or two of back-road bombing in the hills south-east of San Jose, seeing if one of could lose the other. That little Civic was the shits; its gutsy 108 hp 1600cc four revved like crazy; the five speed stick was slicker than a politician, and it ate up the curves with an appetite that just seemed to never be satiated. If it hadn’t been that my 300E was a company car, and I’d have had to buy my own wheels, this is what it quite likely would have been. Just about the closest thing to a four-door sports car ever made.
Well, Mom’s Civic was a low-end DX automatic, which came with the 1500 cc mill with dual-point fuel injection and made 92 hp. But it was still a Civic, and enough of the intrinsic goodness that this generation Civic had to offer was still on tap, if in a more muted and motherly fashion. The visibility over the low, sloping hood was unparalleled; it was the closest thing to sitting in a go-kart that a sedan would ever be. The manual steering was light and tight, and the engine purred. The Honda automatic also shifted rather Benz-like but not nearly so abruptly as the Escort. In every way possible, the Civic was a giant step up from it.
The Civic gave splendid service for well over a decade. I used to look forward to taking it out for a spin on visits home. It led a pampered existence, garaged and not driven much anymore. It could and should have been Mom’s last car, and she loved it so.
My father had never bought a GM car except for that ’65 Kadett, but in the mid ’90s he suddenly decided to replace the Taurus with a… Buick Skylark. Highly unexpected, and not what I would have suggested. Ironically, I unwittingly did play some role in his decision. On a trip out to California in about 1983 or so, I let him borrow one of the four 1981 Buick Skylarks that our tv station then had in its fleet, and one of which was then my own company car. He always raved about that car, and how well its V6 handled the Sierras.
And then one day in 2007 or so, he took the keys to my mom’s Civic, drove off and returned later with a green Saturn Ion coupe, without her knowing anything about it. That did not go over well…and she held it against him for several years; rightfully so. She loved her Civic and was going to drive it to the end of her driving days. The Ion ended up doing that duty, in the process collecting several nasty scrapes on its bumpers (as can be seen here) and then it went to one of my nieces, who was still driving it last I heard.
And what car did your mother love the most?
Mom’s favorite is her current car, a Cashmere Beige 1998 BMW 528i. That car surely feels quicker than its 190hp 6-cylinder suggests. She has about 78,000 miles on it and said she will keep it forever. It has been a great car for her, too. Repairs have been few and far between. 17 years later it still drives like a dream and is really built like a tank.
Probably her current 2004 Mercedes E320 4MATIC with over 180K miles. It is getting up there in age and mileage, so she will probably replace it with a gently used E-Class or the new C-Class.
Moms favorite car to this day was the 1982 light green Cutlass Supreme we brought home to show her with but 30K original miles on it in immaculate condition. The moment we pulled into the driveway with that car she told dad it was ours. That was in 1986 and she drove that car for 10 years even in the Winter months. That car never left her stranded and aside from a carb rebuild, tuneup and normal maintenance items was very reliable despite having the Buick 231 V6. Hers luckily had the stout THM 350 transmission too!
Hands down, it was her 1970 Mercury Monterey Custom Coupe. 429 four-barrel. Bought new when she was 48 years old, kept in immaculate condition over 18 years and 95,000 miles when she traded it for (on my recommendation) a new 1988 Honda Accord LX because she no longer trusted the Merc on long roadtrips (she probably could have). I learned to drive on that car. It was wonderful.
My mom’s favorite car is probably her current one: 2006 Lexus LS430. She always says how lucky she is to have such a nice car.
When my mom was learning how to drive, her dad had a brand new 1963 Thunderbird, and I always love when she talks about taking it out with her friends and cousins and cruising around…even before she had her license.
Her dark blue ’57 Olds 88 Super 2 door was her favorite when I was around. She got it in 1968 and it still looked like it was brand new. She called it her “Blue Baron”. Runner up was her ’62 Mercury Monterey. Although it was beige she called it her “white knight”. That one was purchased in 1971, and it too still looked almost brand new. She was not happy when dad sold it and replaced it with a puke green ’67 Monterey 4 door, which could hardly move with it’s 390 2bbl. After a not needed valve job and transmission, it was discovered the muffler had collapsed internally and the plugged up exhaust was the real problem after all the other repairs. After muffler replacement it finally ran ok. She would often talk about her Studebaker she owned before I was born (1956). She really liked the overdrive it had, wondered why more cars didn’t come with it. She died in 2010 of alzheimers in 2010 at age 81.
A little off topic, but I was once pulled over in my ’63 Beetle in front of our house for a non working tail lamp that worked perfectly when I checked it out with them. I was told it wasn’t working a minute ago. Right. I left my wallet at home and the asshole cops would not allow me to get it from the house. They were going to take me to jail. Mom saw us and came out and I asked her to bring my wallet, they were going to take me to jail for no ID. She read them the riot act, what do you mean you wouldn’t let him get his licence, etc. They were so nice to her and so nasty to me. Police dept actually sent her a letter of apology. I miss her.
My Mom would say that her most favorite car ever is an XKE, but she’s never owned one. Of those she’s owned, her favorite car is her current one, a 2000 Mercury Cougar V6, ordered new and fairly loaded. It handles well, gets good mileage, and can swallow a surprising amount of stuff. More importantly to her, it’s a racy little hatchback.
As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, even though my dad was basically a Ford guy, Mom’s favorite was the 1962 Olds Dynamic 88 wagon that all of us kids grew up with. The three oldest of us even got to drive it some as teenagers. They owned the car twice starting when it was new and pulled a camper and took us on vacations all over the place. It was also used as a truck to haul lumber for my dad’s numerous remodeling projects and as a first and then second car. This took place over a period of 20 or so years. Mom and Dad have been gone for a few years but my 3 siblings and I have many fond memories of them and the car.
1951Studebaker Commander with a V8. She said it was the first car she could drive Minneapolis to Bozeman averaging over 60 the whole way. She liked her baby blue country squire wagon that my brother totaled. She was thrilled when the line of station wagons ended with her 79? Subaru GF coupe. She is desperately trying to find an excuse to replace the Toyota van that my step dad left her, Despite saying she wanted a Jag as her signing bonus when she married him, but thinks it will be her last car because it’s tall enough for her to easily get in and out of and is paid for. She has said that if she hadn’t been av RN she should have been a long haul trucker because she loves driving cross country. With 3 Accords over the years since ’86 I think Honda is her current favorite manufacturer, but the one car she always mentions when the ghosts of autos past come up is that old Studie.
My mother has only had 4 cars, getting a Chrysler (Mitsubishi) Galant (1.6L 4-sp) a little before I was born, followed by a Mazda 929 wagon (2.0L 5-sp), a Ford Telstar TX5 hatch (626 clone, 2.0L 5-sp) and her current Mazda6 hatch (2.5L 5-sp auto), so about 10 years per car. I think one of the latter two would be her favourite, she likes that size and the convenience of the liftback for golf clubs. Not many midsize hatchbacks left, so I’m not sure what she will get next, the Mazda only has around 80k miles on it so should have plenty of life yet, it helps that it had <5k when she bought it.
My mother’s fave was a red 1967 Ford Galaxie 2 door fastback hardtop. Probably because it was the only car my father ever bought that wasn’t a cheapo bargain of some sort. Well, it was used and no doubt a cheapo bargain, but it didn’t look like it.
This one is actually from a CC article, as it turns out, from 2013.
My Mom was always an GM person, would have good things to say abut each of her cars. The cars I remember she had through my lifetime. 1971 Chevy Nova, 1979 Pontiac Phoenix, 1986 Pontiac Grand Am, 1994 Pontiac Sunbird and current 2007 Pontiac Wave. Her favorites were the Grand Am and the Sunbird both fully loaded models with V6 engines. She loves her little Wave (rebadged Daewoo) as well, love how she can park anywhere and haul almost anything in it. She is talking about replacing the Wave with a Buick Encore.