Mine's pretty quick and easy:
1982 - First car, '73 Dodge Dart Swinger with a new Earl Scheib paint job. Slant 6, 136K miles, set me back $850 hard earned (trust me!) ones.
1983 - '71 Chevy Malibu - A little old lady selling cosmetics at the Walgreens I work at decides to get a new car. She sells me the 12 year old Malibu with 60K miles and a green hack paint job with drips galore (done by her nephew or something). My beloved Dart Swinger gets kicked to the curb as I raise the $950 needed to buy the Malibu. Side note: The little old lady liked me and she didn't need the money. The 350 V8, 245HP Malibu assumes its destiny as my college car, providing scintillating power as I drive back and forth between Phoenix (1500 ft. above sea level) to Flagstaff, AZ (7,100 ft. above). Also demonstrates what aerodynamic styling can do, as the 12 MPG delivered in city driving goes to a whopping 14 MPG on the highway.
1987 - '88 Red Chevrolet Beretta GT - The kid graduates from college, is making the whopping $22K a year and moves to the big time. 2.8L MFI engine, five speed manual transmission, performance handling, this is not your grandfather's Beretta. Sweet car, engine ran flawlessly the whole time I owned it.
1993 - '93 Eagle Vision TSi – Chrysler moves from the outhouse to the penthouse with it’s line of LH “Cab Forward” cars. The kid has moved a notch or two up the management ranks and the Beretta will no longer do. The LH cars are in full ad blitz and the Vision TSi combines practicality with performance and sharp looks.
2000 – ’00 Chrysler 300M – Since the 300m introduction in ’99, the kid has the hots and vows one day to own one. Fall 2000, model closeout time, the deal is just too good to pass up despite the kid’s vow to drive the 109K mileage, perfect condition Vision “till it drops”. Side note: Chrysler has subsequently ditched the Eagle nameplate, no one knows what it is and few calls on the resale market. This is the final insult after years of being asked “How’s the Intrepid running?” by family and friends. Coworker steals a beauty for $4,300.
2004 – ’04 Chrysler Crossfire – ‘Nuff said
Not the end.