Cars? I've had a few.

 Looks like you caught us some new commenters with your Mustang-o-rama drama Saturday, Tuna, Well done. 

 Well. much like one of those commenters, ArtbyJoe, my first car was a '55 4 door Sedan.  Only mine was a Ford. Looking through pictures of those type of cars as best I can remember it looks like it might have been a Customline.

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 I suppose at one time it might have been lime green, but when my Grandfather gave it to my Dad in the mid 60's, it had survived 10 years of Denver winters, so was more like a puke-green.  Another gift from those winters to the vehicle was the floor board on the passenger side had a hole rusted through it.  I remember going over the pass on US 85 between Trinidad CO and Raton NM at about 20 MPH, it was all it could do.  Given that Mom and my brother and sisters were driving behind us followed by several peeved drivers of other vehicles, the car became known as the "Super Putt Putt". Dad drove it as his go to work car until he went to Vietnam.  He then bequeathed it to me.  

Unfortunately, the amount of information about cars that I knew nothing about was monumental, and it died shortly thereafter from a lack of oil.  Sold it to the junk yard for $25.  

I got my  next car in my Freshman to Sophomore summer.  I was painting houses at Columbus AFB and Dad and Mom offered to go halves on a car.  We bought a 76 Chevy "Spirit of America" Vega for a couple of grand.

Dang, things change! Back then I had hair and no waist.  Now, I've got lots of waist and no hair!

 

I paid off my half that summer.  I think I surprised the heck out of my Parents.  Made several trips from Lubbock to Columbus, 915 miles and about 19 hours.  The hatchback was full of cases of Coors as it wasn't distributed then east of the Mississippi.  I was a popular guy with Dad and Mom's friends on those visits.  Dad got transferred to Nellis late in my Junior year and the trip got shorter. 914 miles, still 19 hours. The aluminum block cracked in my Senior year, So I took out a loan for $600 to replace it.  Paid that off by graduation.  While in grad school (1 year wait for UPT), I lent it to a friend who needed it for something.  He got hit in the passenger door by someone running a stop sigh.  Unfortunately, the other driver had no insurance, but he worked at a body shop, so he'd fix it for me.  He fixed the door but not the bent frame.  Top controllable speed after that was 55.  Which is why I KNOW I wasn't doing 75 in the 45 zone in Hondo as the Deputy Sheriff insisted.  Sold her for $100 to one of my UPT classmates who was staying at Laughlin as an IP.

The next vehicle was a 1980 Silver Grand Prix that I bought in Del Rio just prior to graduation from UPT. 

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 It was a very comfortable ride,  I drove that for about 9 months through Lead-In and F-4 RTU, but got an assignment to Kunsan.  No cars allowed.  So I left it with Mom and Dad for safe keeping.  Mom fell in love with it.  Returning from Kunsan, I learned that she was reluctant to part with it.  So I sold it to her for the amount  remaining on the loan. Since I'd taken out a 3 year loan and been gone for a year and been paying an additional $100 more per month, She got a good deal.  But, hey, She's my Mom!

Used that money as a down payment on a 1982 Lemon yellow Grand Prix.

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 Drove that one from Las Vegas to Moody, where I met my wife, who was driving a Sunbird.  Kept both of them through the Moody assignment and drove them to Holloman.  About a year into that assignment, Little Juvat arrived on the scene.  Since both Mrs J and I were on active duty at the time, we called in a marker and asked Mom to visit for a bit while Mrs J and I figured out the parenting while on active duty thing.  To show our appreciation for her help, we decided to go to Sunday Brunch at the Inn of the Mountain Gods , a resort owned and operated by the Apache Indians in the mountains near Ruidoso NM.  On the way back down after breakfast, Mom and Little J are in the back seat, when he has what can only be described as an "explosive decompression".  Who knew such a little guy could that full of...In any case, Mom was somewhat trapped in the back seat.

Which is why our next car was a four door.  So we decided to sell the Sunbird to one of Mrs J's enlisted folks.

We'd had great success with Pontiac so far and decided to continue the streak with a Pontiac 6000 LE (that's the Luxury Edition, Beans.  It had an FM Radio and 8 track)

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 The fighter pilot in me was not ready to give up on the image, so I continued to drive the Grand Prix (2 doors=more sporty).  Mrs J went for the luxury, I mean, FM radio and 8 Track?

Unfortunately (as far as cars are concerned, other aspects of the next assignment were extremely fortunate), our next assignment was Okinawa where cars were again not authorized.  Besides the Japanese drive on the other side of the road.  So, once again, Mom got the car, which was fortunate because the Grand Prix had been totaled by somebody running a stop sign.  We bought a 4 door Japanese something or another that wasn't rusted all the way through.  Salt air having that effect on vehicles.

Now it's finally time for me to pay my dues for 12 good years of flying.  I'm headed to Leavenworth.  (Yes, Beans, the prison is there, several actually.  No, I'm not going to jail...yet). But I need transportation.  Since I'm Air Force and the school I'll be attending is Army, I and my non-Army counterparts have to show up early so we can learn to speak Grunt-ese. (Beans, it's pretty easy, just say "Hoo-ah" to everything.  Inflection is used to convey meaning.)  I'm arriving just as the prior year's class is leaving.  There are lots of cars advertised on the bulletin board.  

I choose a Volvo.  It was an easy decision.  It had seat heaters.  This Texas boy knows it gets cold in Kansas in the winter.  Bought it from a guy in the Portuguese army.  Sold it two years later to a guy...in the Portuguese army.  Nice car, shaped much like a tank, which helped me get into the Army mindset.

Mrs J arrives the following summer for her turn at understanding Grunt-ese, bringing with her MBD who's just now turning one.  Little J had decided I needed adult supervision, and had joined me the previous summer.  We were together as a family again.

At this point, Mrs J makes a command decision.  We need a minivan.  

It looked a lot like this one except for tinted windows.  I had some self respect left that I needed to protect.
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We've completed school and have received orders to Hawaii (Yeah, I know, tough duty.) The van goes with us, but the nature of my job is going to require a second car.  I'm looking at the bulletin board when my boss walks in.  He tells me he's just been offered a job as the Airfield Manager at Kwajalein.  (Yes, Beans, the Statue of you is still there.) The catch is he has to sell his cars and he's got to be in position in 30 days or so.  Would I take power of attorney and sell them for him?  Sure.  He's got a Toyota sedan and a red Mazda RX-7 convertible.  I ask him how much he's asking for them.  He tells me remaining loan value.  I ask him how long he's got left on the RX-7. 6 Months.

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Sold! Drove it home that afternoon.

Kept that car through Hawaii, the Pentagon and 10 years here in Texas.  We're now here in Texas, we own a wine tasting room, run a Wine Tour company, teach school and raise two kids.  I've still got the Mazda, but Mrs J needs something a bit more practical for the wine related businesses.  While the Mazda is a blast to drive, it doesn't have the capacity needed to supply a wine store with product.  So, we buy a Dodge Ram truck, and I start to drive that as the primary car.  Mrs J drives the Mini-van.  The Mazda sits.

Which anyone who knows about the Rotary Engine knows that's a bad idea.  It finally gives up, doesn't start.  There's nobody with in range that knows how to fix it, so I sell it to somebody for next to nothing.  He managed to get it running again and I saw it around town a few times but I heard he'd left town and was living in Wisconsin.  Which I found interesting, one thing the Mazda did not have was a efficient heater.

But...Now I'm driving a truck, not the Ram.  MBD totaled that just after getting her license.  Everyone involved was fine, although she was not so anxious to drive for a while.  No, we bought a used GMC pickup.  Drove that for years.  It fit me like a glove,  had 250K on it when Mrs J sold it to her sister.

I was a little "irked" to say the least.  At least until she had Little Juvat take me down to the Ford dealer in San Antonio and let me buy a new F-150.  

That's Mrs J's Ford Transit Connect in the background.  Everybody involved except Mrs J refers to it as...
The Clown Car

 

Made the last payment on my truck on the first of this month.  Now, it's mine, all mine!