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.