Reminiscing About All of My Old Cars | #JustDadThings

I thought I’d kick off this series of Just Dad Things with the the most dadliest things I know: reminiscing about every car I’ve ever owned and telling you stories about them.

My First Car: 1992 Jeep Cherokee Laredo

I couldn’t have asked for a more awesome first car: a 1992 Jeep Cherokee Laredo with around 250,000 miles. I bought it from a coworker of my then-girlfriend when I was 17 or 18 for $900. The previous owners were gracious enough to let me pay for it in two chunks. I drove it not only to work, college, or down to Phoenix, but to also popped it into 4-wheel drive, taking it down the countless unpaved desert roads around my hometown. I’d say it was an old car when I got it around 2005, but I didn’t care.

I don’t know what color it was originally, but it had been painted forest green. Funny enough, the previous owners had recently graduated from Crown College in St. Bonifacius, MN, which teenage me had no idea that I would end up earning a Master’s degree from there 12 years later. It had a heating block installed, which was a ridiculous concept in Arizona.

The Boat: a 1992 Buick LeSabre

I went my first year of college without a car, which worked out because campus was in downtown Minneapolis. My sophomore year, my parents gave me a 1992 Buick LeSabre that they had found a deal on.

My poor Buick. It wasn’t a great car for having in the middle of a city. First I replaced the master brake cylinder, then the engine would die at random times. Eventually, I had it parked in a parking lot and a neighbor kid hit it. It was pushed it over the curb when he was practicing driving his dad’s SUV. I ended up selling it to a friend for $100.

The Couples Car: 2007 Ford Fusion

My wife’s parents had made a promise to buy her a car when she graduated college. By that time, we were married. Her pick: a 2007 Ford Fusion, the less powerful descendant of the Ford Taurus. It was a nice first car as a married couple, but the tiny four-cylinder engine shook the whole car when idling. It survived our move to the Pacific Northwest, but sadly met it’s end when someone rear-ended me and totaled it. Maybe not the sort of car I’d do any reminiscing about, but that accident ended up leading to an amazing adventure in Minnesota. That’s a story for another post.

The Family Car: a 2007 Chevy Impala

With our Fusion destroyed, my wife and I needed another car fast. Friends offered to loan cars to us, but we had two small children at that point. They were filling those borrowed cars with discarded Cheerios and pureed fruit. No stranger to driving a full-size sedan, we found a 2007 Chevy Impala and turned it into our first, real family car.

Too bad the engine lost compression in two cylinders, the mufflers rusted out, and the rotors started to go. Oh, and I also spun off the road and landed in a ditch one winter – right after I had the motor replaced. But insurance didn’t total it and it’s my daily driver today.

My Beloved 2001 Jeep Cherokee

Winters in Minnesota are slightly brutal (just kidding, they suck), so when I was introduced to someone selling a 2001 Jeep Cherokee, I instantly knew I wanted it. It was a throwback to my very first car, right down to the smell of the interior. That might sound like a weird thing to be reminiscing over, but sometimes smells take me back in time to a good memory. In this case, it was my old Jeep. Unlike my first car, the fuel pump in this one was starting to go, but could turn over (almost) every time, even in the -30° weather. I no longer have the Jeep, but it still lives on in my heart.

So that’s it! Which car do you find yourself reminiscing about? Was it everything you hoping and dreaming about? Or did it end up crushing your wallet (or your soul)?