While it’s far more likely that most of us learned our first auto-related factoids from our fathers, the first cars many of us remember in detail were owned by our mothers. For all the times I went to the repair shop or car dealer with my father or asked him what a turbocharger does, there were many more rides to the doctor, the grocery store or out for a fun day of hookie with my mother.
In most movies, and among most of the upper middle class families around me, matronly motoring was solidly based around the station wagon until the latter half of the ’80s. It wasn’t until the very late ’80s and early ’90s that the minivans which came to define the mothermobile for many of us became ubiquitous. Now that we’re in 2014, it would seem they had a rather brief moment in the spotlight, with the SUV and crossover boom seeming to enjoy unending popularity. When the current Caravan is succeeded by a rumored Journey replacement, it will truly be the end of an era.
My own mother never had a minivan, however, and kept the same 1986 Accord in daily use from the time I was two until I turned fifteen. My older sister and I therefore spent long trips fighting over the center armrest in the modest rear seat, but now I realize we failed to appreciate what good taste my parents had. At one point, the same could have been said of my mother-in-law, who once locked her keys–along with her then-newborn son–inside the 300ZX she owned in the late ’80s (after a long succession of other interesting machines including an Opel Manta and Renault LeCar). That incident led to the succession of more family-friendly Isuzu Rodeos, which my partner remembers much more clearly. But many of us who were born before minivans and SUVs took over can associate any number of fondly remembered, genuinely cool cars with our mothers.
A certain trend I recall, during the peak years of divorce in this country, was the substantial portion of single mothers dropping their kids off at school in the sporty coupes of the era. For as many classmates as I saw dropped off in Buick Estate Wagons, Ford Country Squires and Volvo 740s, there were nearly the same number arriving in Celicas, Probes and even Subaru XTs. Mustangs and Camaros were also well represented. You don’t see that kind of variety in front of your average elementary school or pediatrician’s office today. If one were so motivated, he or she could even extrapolate some greater meaning from this shift in automotive trends (i.e. are women today expected to be more domestic than they were during my childhood twenty-five years ago? Or do such shifts in automotive taste have no greater implication?).
At any rate, if I was jealous of the more kid-friendly rides of the era, I could still tell plenty about my classmates based on the habits of their parents’ consumption. I knew, for instance, that a new Windstar LX signified a classmate with too many Crayola markers whose mother was always around for field trips, and I had a sense of pride in having a mother who had a career to build. Perhaps my snobbish judgment unknowingly identified a large image problem of the minivan. After all, they were relentlessly functional devices, cool in their own way, but have obviously fallen out of favor as the default family hauler.
These days, of course, making a healthy profit on a car has become increasingly difficult and a good number of manufacturers base their model line on a small number of platforms, most of which are conceived with a nice, big crossover in mind. Those of us whose youth was spent in a more diverse automotive landscape, however, were introduced to a number of interesting vehicles by way of our mothers, running the gamut from full-on domestic conveyances like the Town and Country wagon to that famous anticar, the VW Beetle. Which cars do you, dear readers, forever associate with Mom?
The Pontiac Grand Prix. My mother drove a new one every other year from 1963 to 1973, Then a Buick Regal in 1978 until ’83, when it was back to a GP. her last car was an 87 GP. She kept that as she was not driving as much and did not like the FWD versions out in 88 and thereafter. All her cars were in a shade of Blue. From Robins Egg to Midnight. As she had Auburn hair and green eyes. it worked well for her.
My mom is a Volvo fiend. All about the seats.
Moms dream car when I was a kid was a Buick Station Wagon. Lets say a 64 Lesabre 9 Passenger in Burgundy or red. She always wanted a red car and I sold her and Dad one of mine a few months before she died. Do not think she was ever able to drive it. Of course most of the years I was a kid, we only had 1 car and it was usually a Plymouth Savoy stripper sedan. The cars she liked the best was a 73 Chevy Impala 4 door hardtop and the last one she drove with regularity, an 89 Pontiac 6000. Pontiac and Buick were her favorite brands.
The four cars I associate with my Mom:
1979 Plymouth Arrow
1980 Buick Regal
1983 Plymouth Horizon
1987 Chrysler New Yorker Turbo
Love that last picture. Not that I associate it with my mother, but I used to obsess on those quad-outlet aftermarket exhausts on old VWs, which I saw a few times way back in the day. I’m not sure who exactly made them; Abarth,I suppose, but there were probably German ones too, likely. I’ve been wanting to find a good vintage pic of one for ages; nice job. Did you google “mother and car”,or?
Anyway, to your question, which is proving to be difficult to answer. My Mom mostly drove two Coronet wagons (’63 and ’73) during the peak kiddie-driving years. She didn’t drive the ’62 Fairlane very much in Iowa City, as we kids walked/biked around town mostly. So that might be the obvious answer.
But I was thinking about posting a similar question this morning: “What Was Your Mother’s Favorite Car?”, and there is only one answer: her 1988 or so Civic sedan. It was the only car she had based on my recommendation, and she loved driving it, much more than any other car. It was by far her favorite car, and she was so pissed off when my father took it one day and traded it in for a Saturn Ion, without even consulting with her at all. And it was her car, not his! She held that against him for a long time. Says a few things about the dynamics of their relationship….
I actually Googled “VW Beetle and mother,” because I was thinking of all the Lake Champain area hippies I saw growing up, with whom VW Foxes, Golfs and Subaru DLs were so popular and wanted to find the best expression of that approach to cars… but then I found that woman in those lovely shoes in that gorgeous sepia-toned photograph and it was too good to pass up.
I don’t know if my mom’s Accord was her favorite car, but I always feel like it suited her the best, with its low beltline and user-friendliness. It would seem that my mother’s current car, a 2012 GTI, more faithfully meets her desires than anything else she’s driven. I don’t find it very fun to drive, with its electric steering assist, eighteen inch wheels (choppy ride) and drive-by-wire, but of course, it’s not for me :).
As far as our dads making automotive decisions for our mothers, I’ve heard that complaint first hand. But then, I don’t think either of them have very strong opinions when it comes to cars and I know he’d never simply trade in her car without asking. But perhaps a good father’s day QOTD can explore this issue even further.
My mother is one of those Burlington hippies and I will forever associate her with Subarus, specifically Legacy wagons. She hasn’t driven one in years, they stopped selling the wagon here some time ago, but of all the cars she has owned those were the ones she identified with most. My grandmother, on the other hand, had a series of small Datsuns which was succeeded by a series of several Dodge Omnis which finally gave way to a series of Neons. All bought new and traded in after 3 years. She was a menace with all of them.
That’s funny, there were always a few Datsuns outside the Plattsburgh food co-ops my mother frequented, with “Buy It Naked Stickers” on them. I figured it may have been a bit too obscure a reference.
That’s ironic that an Ion replaced your mom’s favorite car, Paul. Although my mom made that horrible move by choice, she dumped her favorite car she ever owned – the ’99 Bonneville I mentioned below – for a brand new 2005 Ion. That move has left me scratching my head for 9 years and counting! She kept her favorite Bonneville for 5 years, and has hung on to that piece of garbage Saturn Ion for 9 years. She’s planning on finally retiring the Ion this Fall, but I’ve been pushing her to do so for at least 5 years. (It’s worth mentioning, the P.O.S. has suffered the shutting itself off issue that GM is currently in hot water over – mom kept the car on the road though thankfully).
And my dad also did that to my stepmom – Twice! First, he decided he’d had enough of her ’92 Grand Prix coupe. A broken door latch apparently was the final straw. He took it without her knowing & traded it for a ’95 GMC Yukon in the early 00’s (she ended up being fine with that eventually). But it really pissed her off when he took the Yukon and traded in for a brand new ’05 Tahoe. She still holds that one against him.
That picture reminds me of when Mom had her 66 Bug, which four years later would be mine. I was barefoot wearing shorts and the side of my leg pressed into one of those duel tailpipes. I jumped about 3 feet in the air, and was “branded” for about 3 month with a perfect circle from the end of that hot tailpipe!
My mother drove the Vauxhalls and Holdens my father bought untill the advent of the HQ series she was quite happy with them but admitted she preferred the Vauxhalls once Holdens aquired their F body front 3/4 chassis and ultra heavy steering at parking speeds ( no power steer on Kiwi assembled Kingswoods) after that she inherited grans HB Viva which is the car I most associate her with.
1968 LTD Country Squire
Same here.
I wish my mum drove one of these.
My Dad passed away and my then Mom learned to drive his Three-on-the-Tree 59 Dodge with the 327 V-8, No power steering or brakes. We lived on a dead end street so every time we wanted to go some where the car had to be turned around . That car is my reason of lack of love of anything Mopar that I have till this day. After a few years of that car my Mom traded it in on a Chevelle once again with Three-on the-Tree no PS or PB but the 230 six cylinder. I bought it from her when it was eight years old and drove it every day till I junked the car at sixteen years old. My six year old son cried the day “The Chevelle” want away on the flat bed. I was at work or I probably would have too.
When I was a boy, my mother drove a Datsun 280Z. Although it didn’t have a back seat for me to sit in, it was still fun to ride with her and my stepdad when we’d go anywhere with that car. 🙂
Green Fords,a Mk1 Consul in Ludlow Green(a colour I never liked).A similar coloured Mk1 Cortina and a light metallic green Mk3 Cortina(Almost the same colour as the wagon at the top of the page).Mum was Scottish and she always got a discount buying green,brown or beige coloured cars.We seemed to have more green cars than any other.
I associate my mum with the Orange Mk IV Cortina estate that she rolled spectacularly on a drive to Birmingham. Luckily she was wearing a thick sheepskin coat and walked away shaken but otherwise unharmed.
Honda Civics. My parents were quirky and academic. Everyone else’s mom had some kind of woody wagon or Caravan. The dads had Oldsmobile sedans or later on Ford Explorers. My parents? Civics. Both professionals in the science field. Certainly felt different than other kids.
Perry, wow, I forgot about those peak divorce years too. Newly-single moms with fashionable late 80s Meg Ryan hair rolling up in sporty coupes. I remember some Chevy Barettas. And also one lady who obviously was getting huge alimony from her restaurateur ex and bought the new for ’90 Town Car to ferry her only son to day camp. Single dads, too, the Oldsmobile 88 or Cutlass Ciera jettisoned for the flashiest import he could find, like a bright red Audi. A lot of sad tales behind the zippy cars. The Euphoria of the 80s was wearing off and families were breaking down as the economy started to go.
A black and white ’57 Studebaker President Classic is what comes to mind first when I think of my mother’s cars. She drove it for years and people still remember that car as for a Studebaker, it was quite a looker in black and white. After that, came a succession of Mercury models and then her all time favorite car, a 1966 Chrysler New Yorker. My mother had a heavy foot and I can remember the speedometer buried up to 80-90 plenty of times. With the 440 TNT, that car had no problem reaching those speeds.
Mr. Bill
Hamlet, NC
The’59 Ford Wagon she wrecked after owning it for three weeks (my dad said he thought she did it in purpose!)
Mom drove station wagons until the 1976 Cordoba. My father wanted another station wagon but my mother was ready to downsize.
The first car she picked for herself, that was not a shared car with my father was a 1989 Acura Integra.
’56 Chevy 210, 283 V8
’63 Impala 409
’65 Impala Convertible with at least a warm 327 after the 409
Bonneville SSEs and GXPs
now a 2011 Camaro Convertible
When Mom got to pick, she picked cool cars. Mom has a lead foot and a ball bearing in her ankle.
My Mom had 3 cars as I was growing up
-a blue over white 1972 Montego coupe when I was born and it lasted until about 1979 or 80 when it was T-boned by a pickup. Thankfully no one was hurt but we needed a car quick. That led to a-
-God-awful orange 1974 Volvo 245 wagon. Since the Montego was wrecked and we needed a car quick and on the cheap, my Dad was a cop and was in good with some local used car lots and got us a deal on the Volvo. It was cheap, had low miles and could haul me and my 2 brothers around. I don’t know where Volvos got their reputations for reliability but ours was absolute junk. We all hated that car and I remember it spending a lot of time in the shop and at least one family trip getting sidelined because the radiator exploded. We got the car towed home and took my Dads rusty and trusty gold 1971 Satellite on a camping trip 4 hours away. We kept it until the summer of 1982 when my Mom landed a sweet job with the gubmint and treated herself to a new ride and the Volvo was unceremoniously traded in on a shiny new ride worthy of CC love..
-a 1982 Olds Delta 88 coupe. I loved that car and so did my Mom. It was 2 tone redwood with a burgundy interior, a 307, and Olds Super Stock wheels. It was the first car we had with working air conditioning. It was a sharp-looking car and Ive never seen another one in that color combination. I learned to drive in that car and desperately wanted it to be my first car but my oldest brother joined the Navy and needed a car so she gave it to him and she got a Corvette. By that time she was making decent dough and me and my brothers were either at or near driving age so we didn’t need the big cars anymore. To this day she trades back and forth between a new Vette and whatever hot Cadillac is on the market every 3-4 years. She is semi-retired now and enjoying her hot cars but I really would have rather had that Olds.
My dad’s 1983 Renault Alliance. My mom didn’t drive, and the same year I got my license my mom bought driving lessons and got hers. Dad immediately went out and bought a stickshift car, the Renault, which she couldn’t drive. Guess having her driving threatened him juuuuuuust a little. Mom still doesn’t drive.
1980 Custom Cruiser in light brown. Then a 1986 Caprice Classic V6 in blue with “wood” trim.
The Chrysler wagon. With nine of us to haul around she needed all the room she could get.
Mom’s Jamaica Blue 1969 Plymouth Road Runner. I’m sadly old enough to remember her and dad agreeing to sell it, along with his 1973 Datsun 240Z (in the classic orange) for a new Isuzu Trooper… Really guys? No wonder I don’t have kids.
1986 Plymouth Horizon in the usual light blue metallic with matching interior. She bought it after returning to driving from a 10-year break due to cataracts (the surgery changed in the ’80s so she finally had it. As an aside, she had the other, once-“good” eye done last year and the team looked at her already-fixed eye with amazement, “That was done with a knife!”)
Later on, I learned to drive on it, and later still passed it up as a “free” car because it was a rolling ashtray (Mom’s quit smoking since).
the car I associate the most with my mother is her red 1980 Chevy Chevette 4 door with automatic, she had that car for a little over 3 years and it was the very first car she’s ever bought.
“the usual light blue metallic”
In my family, we had three different Plymouths from that era that were all the same light blue metallic: an ’85 Turismo (mine), an ’86 Reliant (my grandmother’s) and an ’87 Sundance (my mother’s, the only one of the three that was bought new). I always wondered if Chrysler had gotten some huge discount on a bulk quantity of paint in that shade…
Good ol’ Mom had a few cars over the years, all well used but decent. Dad always had a company car that we used as the “good” car. I recall a ’58 Bel Air that ended up on it’s side in a water filled ditch (no injuries thankfully), a ’61 or ’62 Valiant sedan, and a nice little ’63 or ’64 Acadian Canso (Think Nova SS). But the one I remember most was a ’64 Beaumont station wagon, which was a Canadian version of the Chevy Malibu. It hauled a lot of baseball, hockey and lacrosse players and gear for a lot of years.
It had a 283 powerglide, power steering and brakes and was very reliable. It did have a problem with the automatic choke which made warm starts a problem, but she figured out that it would start if she sat long enough to smoke a cigarette and tried again. When the need for a wagon was over, it was replaced by a Toyota Corolla and then a series of Honda Civics, which is what she still drives.
It seemed like all of the “nice ” Moms in the neighbourhood drove a wagon back then. They took turns hauling us around to sports, scouts etc. so the divorced Moms in the Grand Prix’s and Thunderbirds didn’t have to. I didn’t know how lucky I was then!
Funny my dad had a 1965 Belair that did the same thing. It was never fixed .
My moms brand new 77 Chevette as she had just gotten divorced and learned how to drive. What a pile of junk . I was late so many times for school because it would not start and had to walk while my mom waited for the tow truck to take it back to the dealer . She finally got fed up and traded it in on a 79 Regal with a 231 v6 but that story is for another day on CC.
This one’s easy. My mom’s first car was a 53 Ford Fordor sedan, bought in 63 from a farmer friend of my dad who bought a new Fairlane sedan. I know it had an automatic (a first for our family), and I’m guessing the only other options it had were radio and heater. Mom only drove it a little more than a year, because when Dad bought a 64 Mercury Monterey to replace his 61 Ford Fairlane he decided his work (county agent) made it more practical for him to drive the relative beater of the family), but I remember Mom was so pleased finally having her own car and not being chained to the house when Dad was at work that I just associate this one with her.
Without a doubt, my mom’s two Jeep Grand Cherokees she owned from when I was ages 1 until 10. Every time I see one I definitely think my mom’s car.
Same here. My mother has only driven Jeep Grand Cherokee Limiteds the past 20 years.
Yeah, Jeep Grand Cherokee here as well, she loved those things.
A fire-engine red1986 Volvo 240 sedan. The flying brick. To this day, my mum (the grandprix-watching, non rev-head) laments that she doesn’t have that car anymore.
I would say my mom’s 72 Coronet sedan, metallic rootbeer brown with black interior, and the clear plastic seat covers that burn your skin in the summer. It was her second car, but I was too young to remember her green Duster. She kept the Coronet till 1986, when it was replaced with a brand new Aerostar and given to my cousin as a parts car.
Mom’s first new car after moving to the suburbs. Many fond memories of sliding around in the way back, no car seat, breathing exhaust fumes, miraculously surviving those days before government bureaucrats took over parenting duties
1986 Pontiac Parisienne brougham – all options 2-tone silver/gray with fender skirts!
Mom has only had 4 cars that I actually remember…a small number for almost 30 years (with a couple of one-car-family interruptions, she only worked off and n through my childhood so she didn’t strictly “need” a car).
-1979 Chevy Malibu, 267 V8, Yellow Beige with tan plaid cloth interior – this is the one I most associate with her, and also with myself. My grandfather bought it new in ’79 and gave it to Mom in ’85, belatedly replacing her ’68 Impala that had expired in 1983 (I was too young to remember that one). She drove the Malibu my entire childhood, during which it went through two resprays (electric blue in ’89 and midnight blue in ’93). I started driving that car when I was 16 and drove it through 2001, and I still own it (though it doesn’t currently run and needs restoration). Lot of memories there.
-1986 Pontiac Parisienne Brougham, 307 V8, Silver with black vinyl roof and blue velour interior. They bought this one in early ’97 after she and I “shared” the Malibu for a little while. The fender skirts were, sadly, missing as the previous owner had removed and tossed them. But it was a nice piece of Broughaminess otherwise. Stolen in 2002.
-1997 Ford Crown Victoria LX, 4.6 V8, white with (unusual) green cloth. Purchased in 2003 after she tired of sharing Dad’s Accord. Replaced in 2012 and given to me; I’m currently driving this one.
-2010 Mercury Grand Marquis LS, 4.6 V8, slate blue with tan leather. She actually didn’t want leather, but it was the best one available. I expect she’ll keep this one another long time, as she really doesn’t drive very much.
The funny thing is that these are all large, body-on-frame cars, and Mom is a tiny woman. 5’1″ and 100 lbs. on a good day. I guess it’s what you’re used to!
I often associate big RWD cars with small women. My boss in my first job was about the same stature as your mom and drove a 91 Caprice, she had to sit on a pillow to see over the dash!
My mom’s preferred mode of transport was a 2 door FWD car, often with a manual. She finally had to switch to a 4 door (Buick Verano) 2 years ago because there are so few new 2 doors available. When I was helping her pick it out, I found out her reason for liking 2 doors over 4 doors: “I don’t need the extra doors”. Simple, but straightforward.
Mom sat on one pillow and had another contoured pillow behind her in the Malibu, whose seat seemed to have only two position detents on the track. The Parisienne, Crown Vic, and Grand Marquis all had power seats, which she would invariably move to the farthest forward and up position…
(Dad is the opposite. 6’4″, almost 250, and prefers smaller cars. Fairmont, Escort, 2nd-gen and 4th-gen Accords, Corolla…)
In 1966 my mom received the only traffic citation in her entire (still going) driving career.
It was for speeding in new (to her) 1953 Corvette. My dad owned a paint and body shop and had bought it from a customer who was tired of getting the cracks in rocker area repaired. He sold it one month before I got my drivers license in 1969. I still enjoy pointing out what they sell for now a days.
Although I know she loved her Mercury Lynx in bluish-green, I always associate my mom with an orange VW Bug, She was a lackluster driver, so the less space she took up on the road the better.She never got to have a BMW. I think that was her dream car.
Starting in the late 60’s or very early 70’s my mom drove a 1965 Chevelle Malibu wagon, 230 six and 3-spd manual. This was the 4-door version of the wagon, not the 2-door. She was a day-care mom for the neighborhood and I remember that wagon hauling around other people’s kids all the time.
I think the Malibu wagon lasted until 1978, when it was replaced by a new, two-tone green ’78 Ford Econoline passenger van. 351 and automatic. This was the family’s first new car, and became the daily driver for all sorts of purposes. It traveled to Lake Tahoe many times for Girl Scout/Boy Scout camping trips, among its many other duties over the years. The Econoline met its demise when it was totaled in an accident.
My parents were super practical, which is why I always had plenty of food clothing and a warm roof over my head. But the car I relate to my Mom would be the 1960 Plymouth Savoy 4 dr.sedan. The first slant six and a Pushbuttom torqueflite. It was white with light green interior and matching paint on the roof. That is the car I got to drive when I was 16. Not at all cool. However, I had friends whos parents wouldn’t let them drive the family car EVER. I guess we never know how good we have it until we look back at it. Thanks Mom and Dad. Oh, and they let me buy my first car, a 57 chev 210, when I was 17, with my own hard earned money of course.
Our blue ’61 Bug. Both her and my dad drove it quite well. She’s always had a bit of a lead foot, and I remember her jumping a railroad crossing at 90 MPH in our ’73 Impala. It landed on the other side none the worse for wear, but she still admonished me not to say anything to my dad about it. My dad went to his grave none the wiser.
Perry, thanks for a great QOTD. This one brought back a flood of memories. Mom is gone now, she has taken her last drive. But among a lot of cars over the years, there are 2 of her cars that I can close my eyes and still see her cruising down the street with a big smile and looking good. The 1969 Ford LTD Country Squire in New Lime with green interior, loaded out and a mighty fine wagon, even if it did handle like a barn in a windstorm. And the last car she drove, a 1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Brougham coupe in white with dark blue interior. That one is easy for me to picture; all I have to do is look in my garage and there it sits. She really liked that car and she always looked good driving it. Happy Mother’s Day, Ma!
My mom had several cars that I remember…
…a 1962 Chevy Nova…it was a beater my dad found on the side of the road for only $180 back in about 1984. It had holes in the floor, so it was replaced by a 1980 Ford Fairmont Futura. My grandfather bought his first (and only) new car in 1989, so he gave my mom his 1980 Pontiac Grand Prix. I got the Ford. The Grand Prix was in an accident, so she then had a Chrysler Town and Country station wagon. When that died, she drove a Ford Taurus Station Wagon and then a Saturn station wagon. She presently drives a Toyota RAV4, due to the fact that my father is disabled. She is able to fit the wheelchair in the back of the RAV4, and the door isn’t a hatch door. It’s a regular door. That’s easier for her. She listened to my recommendation on the RAV4, but it was based on the back door.
Definitely her ’07 Alpina B7.
For most of my early childhood, my mom drove an ’83 Pontiac 6000 LE sedan with the “big” 2.8 V6, it was a medium blue metallic with matching pillowed plush velour seats, something that seems very odd in a Pontiac. It also had bucket seats (I believe Pontiac called them 45/45 split) but with no console and the auto on the column. This car was previously my grandfather’s car.
When I was 10, my mom got her first new car, and she picked out a 1990 Buick Century Custom sedan. 3.3 V6, wire wheel covers and whitewalls. Gray metallic with red accent stripe and gray cloth interior. It was our first family car with power anything, and it had power everything. Pretty loaded for a “base” Custom model. Beyond the power windows and door locks, mirrors, it had power antenna and dual power seats with power recliners.
My dad drove Oldsmobiles, he had a ’74 Cutlass sedan, then a 1980 Cutlass sedan. My mom didn’t drive those cars, she thought they were too big. I tried to get her to look at the then all-new 1990 Cutlass Supreme sedan, but she said the interior was too old manish, though a futuristic space pod compared to the old ladyish Century interior. I will never understand that beyond the negative name association. My dad briefly drove the old Pontiac after my mom got her Buick before switching over to a GMC Jimmy and a few Chevy Blazers.
My mom currently has a 2014 Impala 2LT in Crystal Red tintcoat… a car that’s bigger than the 1980 Cutlass.
…also, I always wanted my parents to own a wagon when I was a kid. A big Buick Estate (or later, Roadmaster) or Olds Custom Cruiser was ideal. I would have settled for a Cutlass Cruiser or Century wagon. I tried the sell my mom on the Century wagon once we were visiting the Buick showroom for her eventual Century purchase. She was very anti-wagon though. I loved the wood on the sides, and was always jealous of the kids that got to ride backwards in the third row seat… especially in the pre-’91 GM full sizers with the retractable rear window.
No mom around while I was a kiddo. My dad, however had in this order:
1965 C-10 350/350
1967 Impala 283/Powerglide
1987 Mazda 626 2.0i/5-speed
I was a driving teenager when he bought his very first new car, and still current daily driver, a 2001 Hyundai Elantra.
The first two cars of hers I remember were her blue 1977 Volvo 245DL and red 1973 Volvo 1800ES. The 1800ES was my favorite of all her cars, and I wish we still had it. It was traded in on a brand-new 1986 240DL wagon. Both pictures are of the actual cars.
A few years ago I found a nice white 1800ES in Madison, WI and mentioned it to Dad, but no sale.
Mom’s current car that is my favorite is her 1995 XJS convertible, purchased from a family friend in 2002 who bought it new. It is not her everyday car, of course. I love driving it. Just waxed it today for her for Mother’s Day! Picture is from last year, but you get the idea.
I remember the article you did on that one – great car! Who has the 350Z? That looks so out of place in a Klockau driveway, haha!!
That’s actually Dad’s 2001 Carrera.
Jeezus… I knew I needed glasses, but I didn’t realize it had gotten this bad!!
My Mom has had 6 cars so far, starting in 1982 after she graduated high school.
1982 Chevy Citation (new)
1986 Oldsmobile Ciera (used, in 1991)
1988 Volvo 740 (used, in 2000)
1998 Toyota Camry (long story, gift from my grandma on my Dad’s side- 2002)
2001 Chrysler PT Cruiser (from CarMax in 2006 after ’98 Camry totaled)
2009 Kia Sportage (current, purchased new as a leftover model in 2010)
I just asked my Mom what her favorite was, and she said the ’86 Olds. They paid cash (around $3,500 she thinks) so no car payments and it lasted 9 years with no problems until rust finally took over and the A/C quit working. I was born in 1995 and I vaguely remember riding in that car.
My Mom’s first car was a ’65 Corvair Monza 2 dr. White with a Red interior. It is still her favorite.
2003 Buick LeSabre. Dealer installed vinyl convertible top. Now it’s ‘grandmother’s’ car being driven by my son. I think she liked it because the car she learned to drive on was my grandfather’s 1938 Buick.
Neat question. For years, my mother drove whatever my father wasn’t driving any longer. That changed when I was in high school and she got a brand new red ’86 Nissan Maxima wagon. Smooth, quick, comfortable, utterly reliable, and a total revelation after years of decrepit GM products. They kept that Maxima for 15 years and it’s the one car my parents have owned throughout the years that I wish they still had.
Last year my wife and I bought a red Outback. Obviously different in many ways from that Maxima, but it’s still a red, mid-sized station wagon, which reminds me of that Maxima. My mother was very excited to learn of our purchase, too.
My Mom had a drivers license for most of her 82 years. As far as i know, she drove about 5 miles in total. She kept it “just in case”. yanno 🙂
Cars I associate with Mom:
1969 Mercedes 280SE — Dark blue, sunroof, column shift. We all loved that car.
1973 Mercedes 280 — Beige, first year of the twin-cam. Didn’t have it long my Dad got it with a blown engine and had it rebuilt. A nice car but a slight step down from the 108.
1978 Mercedes 300SD — Dark brown metallic, ivory interior. I remember cleaning this up after they got it and it was beautiful. Great on family road trips.
1993 Infiniti J30 — Black on black, a stunning car.
2003 Infiniti G35 — Coupe, gray on black, she still has it.
The Mercedes were all bought used. My folks couldn’t afford a new car until us kids were out of school. Mom is in her 70s now and doesn’t know what to get next. She and my Dad were always into cars it’s why I turned out the way I did.
My mom’s van! For sure
My favorite so far.
From age 4 until I started driving at 16..
1960 Chrysler New Yorker, black and chrome. It didn’t stick around very long, a little over two years, then came it’s hideous replacement, that my mother didn’t even remember, a turquoisy 1963 New Yorker that we had about a year. Mom only remembered it after I found the pick of the rear end I took with my crappy Brownie camera. Then came the baby blue ’64 Cadillac we had until ’66, when it was traded for my dad’s one of the first in town Toronados. Mom drove my dad’s POS ’63 T-Bird for a few months until it blew head gaskets again, and it was gone, replaced with an Olds “Dynamic 88”. That one wasn’t well liked by mom at all, for some reason, so a ’68 Cutlass went to my mom after my sister got hers. That started a string of Cutlasses, my sister got a ’71 after the ’68 rusted amazingly quickly. I totalled it 3 weeks after I got my license. My mom’s ’72 Cutlass went to me, mom got a hideous baby blue ’73 Cutlass, and my sister got an ugly bronze Cutlass. In late ’74, mom stopped driving for a few years, and finally bought a ’77 baby blue Impala that was the last car she owned.
But I probably spent as much time in my mom’s best friend’s cars, a 65 Coronet wagon, and it’s replacement, a ’70 Plymouth Satellite wagon, a twin to this one:
http://gomotors.net/pics/Plymouth/plymouth-satellite-custom-station-wagon-02.jpg?i
My mom has had some pretty cool rides for the most part. I came home from the hospital in an Black 88 Mustang 5.0 LX, then spent much of my childhood in a 73 450SL. After that car was wrecked in 1999, a 98 Chrysler Sebring came into the picture (ugh), followed by a 99 SL500 around 2008. I had the pleasure of crashing that car last year (oops), which means that my mother now drives my baby – a 97 Lexus SC300. That is, when she isn’t tooling around in her little truck.
My mom had several rides while we were growing up. We always had 2 cars that were ‘ours’ and my dad always had a 3rd company car. Some were distinctly Dad’s rides such as the ’69 CJ-5, ’78 F150 SuperCab, ’79 F-250. Some like our ’85 and ’88 Broncos were claimed equally. While we owned it, no one really claimed our ’79 VanDura conversion van since it was seen as a necessary evil. As a little kid, a few were more hers than Dad’s: ’75 Coronet Wagon, ’75 Ford Elite, ’78 Olds 98 2 door…Those were the domain of my mom while I was in grade school. But while she’s had rides since, the one that will always remind me of her was our ’91 GMC Safari….every time I see one of those, I think of her and the one she had at the time. My mom went thru a phase in the early 90s where she was all about anything ‘country’…especially cows. She had all kinds of knick nacks associated with everything bovine….including a personalized front plate (remember those?) that had a painting of a cows face and the words ‘Heifer collector’. This wasn’t a state issue plate, rather one of those that was done up at a kiosk at the local mall. It was bad. So bad, that when my running crew in college took a trip to New Orleans, I actually grabbed a clearance Skil Twist screwdriver (I worked at Sears at the time) just so we could pop that anti-poon artifact off the front of the van before making the run to the Big Easy. My buddies Dwight and Freddy had no end of laughs over that plate on Mom’s van. Whats funniest about that is that she got that van in ’92 when I was 18, my middle sis was 15 and my youngest sis was 12. So I was 2 years deep into driving, one sis was 1 year away. Even if we went somewhere as a family I had my newfound freedom AND I was a gearhead so Id NEVER ride with ‘the fam’. So why a minivan? Who the hell knows. But no ride since has ever captured my mom’s essence like that van.
My parents had some nice cars when I was a kid, including the ’89 Regal GS I use as a profile image here. I don’t really associate that car with either of them though – that ones more of my odd obsession along with their old ’87 Chevy Z-24.
The two cars I really associate with my mom are:
The light blue ’88 LeSabre Custom that my parents bought together right before they divorced – it replaced their silver & black ’84 Celebrity sedan. Mom ended up with the car in the divorce (dad got his ’85 Chevy Custom Deluxe pickup), and kept it til around 1998 if I remember correctly. The car was nothing special, but it got us from A to B for a long time with no issues.
And probably my moms favorite car ever made; her white ’99 Bonneville. That was her dream car from the day that body style debuted, so I was thrilled for her when out of the blue, she bought it in 2000. I was shocked that she only kept it for 5 years. This was one of the cars I learned to drive in. She traded in a tan ’89 Ford Tempo for that car. The Tempo bridged the LeSabre & Bonneville ‘eras’. The less said about that piece of automotive excrement, the better!
We never had a minivan either. Well, my dad had an Astro but that was treated more like a “work van” and my mom refused to drive it because it was “too big” !
The number one car I associate with my mom (she’s only had 4 or 5 in her whole life) was the ’76 Nova I was brought home from the hospital in and which she drove for many years afterwards. I still have nightmares about sitting on those vinyl bench seats with no A/C in the summer, but I loved it because it was way older and cooler looking than any of the cars my friends’ parents had. The hum of a 250 six is seared just as deeply into my skull as the vinyl pattern is into my thighs, and is probably responsible for my love of old straight sixes to this day. I remember being so sad when she gave it to my cousin, but it lived a long and productive life – way over 200k miles, which was almost unheard of for a car back then.
It greatly resembled the car below that was featured on CC awhile back. Identical condition, body style, trim and similar color – just a slightly darker shade of poop. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw this picture on here, because I remember looking out the Nova’s windows with my burning ass at younger versions of these same exact trees along the Southern State Parkway, which our house was right off of. That’s one of my strongest memories from when I was really young – the sound, the smell, the light shimmering between the leaves of the trees, the stone bridges, a vacant gas station… all of it comes back so easy. OH! And Christmas lights! I remember driving around for hours and hours with both of my parents looking at Christmas lights and getting ice cream with candy cane chunks in it at some place.
My mom shared very few qualities with this derelict Chevrolet, but they were both practical and reliable to a fault!
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cohort-outtake-getting-passed-on-the-right-by-a-flesh-colored-nova-but-whats-the-official-name-of-that-shade/
My parents had one of these too, a blue sedan with a remote-control mirror and AM radio as its only option.
My late mother always had an eye for cars. While she was driving her 2-door ’61 Falcon (white/red), the new Mustang was introduced. A few weeks later, she had scoured the countryside until she found a white/red 1964.5 Mustang coupe at a small Ford dealership in the sticks, about 50 miles from home. She didn’t waste any time buying this car, and it was my good fortune to take the first ride home from the dealer (I was 6).
Now, I wish I could tell you it was a burner, but it only had the base 170 CI six with the 3-speed manual (floor shifter!), and the only other options I remember were the AM radio and the AIR CONDITIONER (the first A/C equipped car we owned), which made summer trips a lot more pleasant (we lived along the Gulf Coast). The cost as I recall was $2613.
The car was a great hit with the kids in the neighborhood, as she would give us rides home from school in the afternoon sometimes. We could fit about 7 kids at one time, by scrunching a couple in the front seat and the rest in the back seat.
The car lasted until I was about old enough to start driving, and I tried a few trial runs with the stick, but I couldn’t quite get the hang of it. The car eventually succumbed to cowl rot and a burned up clutch, and my father eventually had the car hauled off after it had sat for a number of years in non-running condition. A sad day indeed.
There were other Mustangs, including a used ’68 with a 289/auto, which I eventually took over from her, but yer first is one you’ll always remember.
Well, my mother is someone, that just sits behind the weel.
She knows nothing about cars.
She’s driving conservatively and no chrashes og accidents at all.
And she’s definitely not a good driver !
Curently she’s driving a Skoda Octavia (DSG7) and she feels safe in it, and knows it.
She’s had Octavia’s since the second model came in 1996 (the first came in 1959…).
But she should be driving a SAAB 900CD…!
My parents put so many miles on a car, and traded often enough, that multiple spring to mind.
The brown ’73 base model Ford Torino
The brown ’78 Plymouth Volare two-door
The gray ’83 Plymouth Reliant four-door
The white ’85 Ford LTD Crown Victoria
The gray ’91 Dodge Dynasty
The red ’95 Mercury Cougar
They had other cars also, but these are the ones my mother drove the most.
The cars I most associate with my mother are Oldsmobile Ninety-Eights. She had three of them during my formative years: a 1971, a 1975 LS and a 1979 LS. No brocade or pillow-tufted velour for her though, just family friendly vinyl all the way. One funny thing I remember about the cars was how cavernous the back seats were. While roomy on their C-Body platform anyway, my 5’3″ mother enhanced the effect by moving the seat forward and up (it was a bench in the first two, thankfully a split bench in the ’79). She always complained whenever the seat was moved from “her” position (a frequent problem given that my father was 5’10” as is my brother, and I am 6’0) and she’d grumble as she’d work to reset it. I learned to drive on the ’79, so have especially fond memories of that one. It had the 403, and boy could that big girl move…
Neither of my Grandmothers ever learned to drive. So I don’t really have any car I associate with them. Guess that wasn’t uncommon back in the day when some families didn’t even own a car or waited until times of prosperity to buy one. (by then they were older, and I guess never got around to learning to drive)
My Mother learned how to drive in her Dad’s 1951 Chrysler Windsor wih semi-automatic transmission…to this day, she’s really never been completely comfortable with a manual transmission (which isn’t a big problem these days here in the US) but about 15 years ago she and her brother took a trip to Poland and Slovakia, and I remember taking her around in the parking lot of an abandoned Walmart so she could practice driving (she wanted to be a backup for my Uncle, who for some reason has had really odd things happen to him on trips that put him out of commision). My ’86 GTI clutch survived the sessions (I remember replacing it the year before, since even a new clutch can be burned out pretty easily, guess I was pretty brave letting her practice with the car so soon after putting in the clutch).
Of the cars pictured in the intro, I think I associate the Mark 1 Scirocco with myself more than my mother…I bought it in ’81, and is still my favorite car that I’ve owned.
As for my Mother, she has the record for length of car ownership in my family, having owned an ’88 Ford Tempo bought new for 21 years, until 2009, so I guess that’s the other car I associate with her (besides a series of station wagons she drove throughout the ’60’s to early ’80’s). The strangest memory I have of that car was seeing it on TV starting with the hubcap with the camera panning up and out and seeing my mother driving the car…she had taken it to a city sponsered pollution check they had at some parking lot, and she and the Tempo I guess were at the front of the line so she made the evening news…she was worried that the car might not pass emissions as it got older and they started testing for that, but it never was a problem in that car…I think its demise had more to do with non-working airconditioning, which my sister (who shared the car with my mother as it got older) wanted to have, but wasn’t inexpensive to fix…so the car ended up being traded for a ’09 Focus as part of the cash for clunkers program…the Tempo wasn’t a great car, but it turned out to give her good service for a long time.
She even drove a ’59 Beetle my Dad owned (Red. like in the picture) for awhile in the ’60’s….only dual tailpipes though on that one. Of course she didn’t like the hills and even though it was good in the snow (compared to her ’65 F85) she didn’t drive it much…my Father used to park it on the road in front of our house (single car garage back then) and it got totaled by a son of one of the wealthy people who lived at the end of our street who crashed into it with his XKE (drunk at the time). My Father replaced it with a ’68 Renault R10 he got at Almartin Motors in South Burlington. (My mother’s least favorite car)…I was too young at the time, so I never got a chance to drive the Beetle.
This one’s easy – her gold 2001 Mustang GT convertible, aka “Goldie”. She’s had that car since it was brand new in the winter of ’00 (Dad got it for her for Christmas) and now it has close to 200k of in-town miles on it. She’s a Realtor in Nebraska so there are about a thousand other more practical choices, but I honestly believe that we’ll be burying her in that car.
Lots of memories are in the small confines of that beast, but everyone associates it with her. Not only because they know her, but how many gold Mustang GT convertibles have you ever seen? At first I thought the color was “tacky”, but now it’s most definitely… Mom.
I don’t think she’s ever given that car the beans, but that’s what my Dad, brother, and I are here for. Last time I drove it the old 4.6 definitely didn’t have the giddyup that it did when it was younger, but aside from the intake manifold that goes bad on every old 4.6 with the plastic manifold, they’ve really never had an issue with it. Oh, and the big fat 17 inch tires that they seem to replace a set a year of. They aren’t exactly nail resistant, and Mom drives through lots of new construction.
They keep talking about replacing it and those talks generally end with Dad rolling his eyes and Mom frustratingly declaring she’s keeping “Goldie”. It’s amusing to say the least.
1978 Charger SE. She still talks about that car!
Although I barely remember it, every time I see a 1st generation Celica I think of my mom. It’s what she was driving when I was born. I love her story of having to driver herself to the hospital while having labor pains with me, with my grandmother shotgun because my grandmother can’t drive a manual. The car was burgundy 1977 Celica ST coupe 4-speed.
She loved that car and still talks about it.
Not nearly as cool but for much of my elementary school era childhood she drove a 1984 Ford Escort 2door also 4-speed manual. I remember her letting me shift the gears while she drove, “Ok, now put it in 2nd.”
One more car mom memory is when I was in high school talking cars with some friends
and who could and couldn’t drive a manual. One of the girls goes “Well, that’s a guy thing, women don’t drive stick shifts.” She had no response when I looked over and said to her “Um, my mom is who taught me how to drive one.”
My mom was not much of a car person, so it took a moment to think of some associations.
Well before my time, my mom tells me she thought the Edsel was cool and had some influence on her dad buying one. No one today is sure, but it was probably the 1st year 1958 model.
My folks married in ’59 and mostly made due with one car, my dad had some access to a company car. In a sense, my mom’s first car was a 1978 Caprice that she got from her dad around 1981 when he could no longer drive. That car was in my mom’s hands for about 12 years before my brother took it over.
The first car I remember my mother driving was a 1968 Pontiac Executive that she and Dad had gotten hand-me-down from his parents. It was followed by a succession of less than stellar models and some recently, that were/are quite good:
– 1974 Ford Pinto wagon – The A/C never worked and it had branding irons on the “custom vinyl” seats that scorched bare legs during the summertime.
– 1977 Ford Pinto Squire wagon – Forest Green, 4 Speed with wire wheel covers and green plaid seats. A tonier Pinto has never existed…such as it was.
– 1982 Ford EXP – The heater coils went out on it a year or so after she purchased it used (post-divorce “sporty” coupe as you mentioned above…) and it smelled like a rodent had died in it. Nasty little car with an automatic. It wheezed its way to 60 in 2.5 minutes.
– 1985 Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais – Mom’s first foray into GM products since the Executive. Also wire wheeled with the mouse fur velour so typical in mid-80’s GM products. It was a great little car, until she got plowed into from behind…
– 1987 Honda Civic LX – To this day she describes “Little Red” as her favorite car. It also bit the dust with a rear-end collision.
– 1997 Toyota Camry – Bleah…
– 2006 Suzuki Grand Vitara
– 2011 Kia Soul
– 2014 Nissan Rogue
1957 DeSoto — two of them actually.
The Adventurer 2HT she got new when I was really, really young and barely remember, back before the divorce.
The Firedome 4 door sedan from after the divorce, a few years later, Sad thing was already starting to rust in the traditional places like over the headlights.
Station wagons, station wagons, station wagons. Mom got her first one in late ’58, a brown and while Chevrolet Brookwood (? – BelAir equivalent), which also meant that the Paczolt family had two cars for the first time ever. Of course, between ’59 and ’65 model years, there was a new station wagon every years, preferably an Impala or equivalent. With dad leaving the dealership, his last company car (and first keeper) was a ’66 (I believe they called it) Kingswood Estate Wagon, the first one in the driveway with wood on the sides. That was kept for years as a heavy hauler while a ’70 kept it company (same model). Sometime during the late ’70’s the Chevrolets were replace with Buick LeSabre wagons, one of which was a diesel (which gave flawless service).
The final one is the one I’ll NEVER get our of my head. 1986 Buick Century Estate Wagon, maroon with the wood sides, fake wire wheel covers, bordello velour interior, and every option (especially the tacky senior citizen ones) available. Mom died about ten months after getting the car, and I suddenly found myself inheriting the damned thing. Even though I didn’t want it, being very happy with my lightly hot rodded ’84 Escort GT TRX. I was forced to take it, was absolutely embarrassed to be seen in the damned thing, only made worse by it being the most reliable car I’d ever owned at the time.
I figured three years was enough politeness, respect, and appreciation; and it got traded for an ’89 Ford Festiva LX which had me much happier. I’ll always consider that car as “Mom’s last chance to make me miserable.”
I’m only 16 but will forever associate a beige 2004 Honda Odyssey with my mom. That or a white 1996 Plymouth Grand Voyager. (SUCH A GODAWFUL CAR WHEN IT CAME TO RELIABILITY). I was like 5 and remember how many issues it had…
My mother had a penchant for driving into the face of diversity. Not only was she the first single mother on the block, my mother was known for the lengths of her skirts, her boots, and her cars…and a station wagon or sedan was the last thing she would be caught dead driving. So here’s to Mom who drove off into the sunset still flippng the bird to anyone who felt the need to comment on her lifestyle and her car choices. My favorites were 1964 Cutluss, 1970 Grand Prix SJ, 1976 Fiat Spider Convertible..1986 Z28..her last new car and her favorite and it out lasted her last husband..
I guess the car most closely associated with my mom is a Honda Accord. We had a ’77 and an ’84 during my middle school through college years, and a decade or so later she got a 2003 Acura TL which is basically a fancy Accord and just replaced it with a loaded 2013 Accord because she didn’t like the looks of the current Acura and didn’t see the point of spending extra anyway. Since she averages 10 years per car I expect this to be either her last car or to be replaced by another Honda.
My Mom drove an ’87 Porsche 924S from ’86 to 2004. She bought it shortly after I got my license, leading to many an unapproved borrowing incident. She loved that car, but only drove it regularly for the first three years she had it. I think it only accumulated about 1,500 miles a year over the last decade it was in the driveway. She never cared for the BMW that replaced it, but loves the 2012 Honda CR-V she replaced the BMW with.
let’s see …
a blue Renault 4
then a yellow Renault 4
after this, a red Renault 4
then, a green Renault 4, (which was tumbled down a hill)
oh, the disappointment to learn that no 4’s where sold anymore.
so a blue Supercinq was next.
My parents got married in 1964. For the first several years they were married, my mom worked, and they had two cars. My mom would get the good one, and my dad drove a series of short-term older cars. I was born in 1970 (their first child), and my mom stayed home with me and my younger brother for the next several years. At some point when I was small, they decided to consolidate to one car. In 1977, they reversed course and decided to get a second car for my mother again. From that point until the time I moved out of the house when I was in my early 20s, my mom had the following cars:
1974 Ford Pinto 2-door sedan, yellow, 2.3-liter four, bought used in 1977, kept until 1982.
1978 Buick Century “aeroback” 4-door sedan, maroon, 231/3.8 V6, the first car my parents ever owned with A/C (this is in Massachusetts), bought used in 1982, taken off the road in 1986 after my mom got sick of its many problems and put it aside to wait for me to get my driver’s license.
1987 Plymouth Sundance 4-door sedan, light metallic blue, 2.2-liter four, the last car my parents owned that didn’t have A/C, the first car they ever leased, bought outright at the end of the lease and kept on the road until 1995, although by then my mom had long since taken over what was originally supposed to be my dad’s vehicle (see below).
1989 GMC S-15 Jimmy 2-door, white, 4.3-liter V6, 4-wheel drive, bought in the summer of 1989 as a replacement for my dad’s previous vehicle (a ’76 Ford Club Wagon) but quickly taken over by my mom, eventually passed back to my dad when they got another new car in 1995 and re-painted dark green, they still owned this/had it on the road until last fall, although it saw very little use the last several years they had it.
For about fifteen years starting in 1995, my mom got in the habit of leasing a new car every few years. I’m not sure if I remember everything she had, but there was a Mercury Sable, a Pontiac Grand Prix, two Honda Accords, and two Buick Rendezvous. Throughout this entire period my dad continued to drive the ’89 S-15 Jimmy.
A few years ago, when the lease was up on the last Rendezvous, my parents decided that were no longer in a position where it made sense to keep rolling from lease to lease, so they bought a used 2009 Chrysler PT Cruiser with the intention of it being a longer-term vehicle. My mom liked it, but they eventually encountered some kind of stalling issue with it. At that point they decided to get rid of the ’89 Jimmy and give the PT Cruiser to my dad, and they bought a used Saturn Vue (not sure of the year).
Reading over the above, there’s not much of a pattern, other than that my parents mostly bought vehicles from American brands, and that they only ever owned one Chrysler product. I’m actually struck at how untypical and untrendy my mom (and my dad, for that matter) have been. They never had full-size cars after the ’60s, never had a wagon, never had a minivan, and had just one SUV. They were GM/Pontiac people when they were younger — every “good” car they owned through the mid 1970s was a Pontiac — but after that bounced around a lot among brands.
The car that I think of as “mom’s car” was the first car that she picked out for herself. Instead of the usual Ford Country Squire she finally got to choose her ride. For her it was a 1976 Chevrolet Monza with Bicentennial interior. Her “sports” car. She had that car, from new, until some one hit her in the late 1980’s. After that it was a boring K car, then a Camry, a Saturn and finally her Mitsubishi Outlander, that we decided she shouldn’t drive anymore. But that Monza was her favorite car that she still talks about now.
B-body wagons. She had a Malibu wagon before and a (downsized) Malibu and a Volvo wagon after, but I think first of the green ’79 Caprice and the gold ’81 Caprice we had in Venezuela.
Late here, but this is really a great discussion. The cars I most associate with motherhood are Oldsmobile Cutlasses. My mother drove a:
Burgundy 61 F85 wagon
Dark green 64 Cutlass hardtop
Light green 72 Cutlass Supreme hardtop.
Both of the hardtops were bucket seat cars, so Mom had nothing against a little style. My stepmom continued the Cutlass trend with a dark green 68 Cutlass Supreme hardtop and a white 74 Cutlass Supreme coupe. So you can see why nothing says “Mom” to me more strongly than a 60s or 70s Cutlass.
Mom switched to sedans from there out –
Maroon 74 Luxury LeMans
2 tone blue 80 Horizon
Navy 85 Crown Victoria – I bought this one from her
Cranberry 93 Crown Victoria – My children are still driving this one
Red 06 Buick Lacrosse – still has this one. 22K on the odo now.
If I had to chose one car it would also the one car that I would like to have today. It was a 1960 Monarch Lucerne four door sedan, metallic bronze with a white roof. In my family all of our cars were by default my mothers cars as my father was totally blind. My mother was a great distance driver and It was in this car that she set her one day distance record of approximately 950 miles. It took me until the late nineties to eclipse that record and I did not do it with a blind man sitting beside me and three kids in the back seat. The roads in 1962 were nothing like they are now either.
My mom usually drove a 1965 Valiant Station Wagon or a 1966 Valiant Signet in baby blue, but I only have a picture of her in the 1960 Porsche which I now drive. Picture taken in 1961.
My earliest memories were her 54 Chevy. I thought that little red ball in the end of the radio station indicator was a piece of candy, and I always wanted to get at it. I used to stand up on the front seat while she drove, and to the day she died in 2010 whenever she made a quick stop her arm would automatically be thrown across any passengers chest. The 62 Chevy wagon is the next, it used oil even though only a couple of years old, when the attendant would check it and say it need 2 quarts, she would say “just put in one, it just throws the other one”. Around 1968 she got a blue 57 Olds 88 Super 2 door she called her “Blue Baron”. Once when shopping we hopped into the unlocked car to leave and the key wouldn’t turn the ignition. She said “this isn’t my car”, sure enough, it was another parked a few spaces away. One time Dad was driving it downhill from Mt Wilson downshifting into low and hit reverse, the axle hopping like mad and the wheels spinning, he shifted back to low, the car was fine, no damage. Around 1970 she got a 62 Monterey 2 door with bucket seats and floor shifter, It had an under dash add on AC unit which never worked too well. One time she called my dad, the tie rod’s popped off and the car came to a stop at a stop sign with both wheels facing out. The repair shop had not tightened the nuts or replaced the cotter pins. Another time after a long drive on the freeway, Dad was driving, no brakes and the end of the off ramp. He slowly drove it to a gas station, when they pulled the brake drums everything fell out onto the floor. The same shop that did the tie rods came back to haunt us. She later had a new 72 Pinto, scared the hell out of me when she ran a stoplight and the car on my side was sliding sideways in a cloud of blue smoke! I asked her if she knew she ran the light, she said, “what light”? She died in 2010, I miss her dearly.
Always a Oldsmobile or a cadillac that I “helped” pick out.
“Oh,mom, you must get the opera lights”
With out my knowing she Traded the DTS for a Hyundai …we haven’t talked since
Lol(kidding)
Mom refused to drive!!
Dad did all the hauling of the groceries, kids, & school, until each kid got his/her drivers license. Then it was our responsibility to chauffeur her around.
We tried to get her behind the wheel of a 66 Ford Falcon, but this lasted only a few days until she panicked while crossing the Greater New Orleans bridge.
Just to keep the peace, my dad listed her on his auto insurance until he could no longer drive (83 years old).
I associate our late 1982 2 door Olds cutlass Supreme in a nice light shade of green with matching interior with mom. She loved that car and thought she died and went to heaven after the miserable 1979 Fairmont we had before it with no A/C, uncomfortable bench seat, sluggish 85 Hp straight six and no features whatsoever. And oh was it ever noisy.
The Olds was purchased in show room condition in 1987 with but 40K miles from a previous elderly owner who kept it serviced and garaged and like new it’s 5 year life. Dad and I brought the car home to her and she came out stunned at how amazing this car was. We drove it for a good half hour and went right back and signed the papers and picked this gem up the following day. Mom held on to that car right through until the mid 90’s when the road salt Winters started taking there toll on the rear bumper and inner doors and a trade up to a 1992 dark blue Cutlass sedan came in the later part of 1994. She still talks about that 1982 Cutlass to this day and says that was her favorite car of all time. They now drive a 2001 Bonneville and 2008 Impala LS which they are overall very happy with.
Ma loved fast cars, especially when they had no top. 1950 Olds Rocket 88 convertible, ’58 Chevy Impala convert. She got sidetracked for a while with a Corvair, but came roaring back in 1968 with a Ford Mustang coupe, in Brittany Blue with white C-stripes, factory fog lamps and white stripe Goodyear Polyglas GTs. She liked nothing better than to drop the top and take off with her dark hair flying. Ma, after all these years, I still miss you.
64 Mercury Montclair slant back window
74 Ford Gran Torino
78 Mercury Zephyr
86 Ford Taurus
97 Ford Taurus
2011 Buick LaCrosse
All bought new:
51 Buick Super- my mom drove until the brakes failed in 1961. She was 5′ tall then.
61 Rambler Classic wagon- she drove it until 1968, the left front wheel fell off!
68 VW Type II- Sold in 1969, She had trouble reaching the pedals.
69 Mercedes 230S- Great Car, but just too small!
71 Buick Estate Wagon- Nice car, fully optioned. My oldest sister totalled it in 1975.
75 Sedan De Ville- Mom drove it until November of 1976. My Dad kept it in great
shape for 25 years. I exercised it on the DC Beltway every other
weekend.