05-25-2003, 05:20 AM
My first car was a 1984 Mazda RX-7. It looked something like this one (a 1985, but who's counting?): http://ebay1.ipixmedia.com/abc/M28/_EBAY_6...4824064/i-1.JPG
My grandmother had bought it new. She was dating, and I guess she wanted something flashy to impress her dates. It was a complete impulse buy, and she didn't test drive it. When she picked it up, she realized that she wasn't strong enough to control the stick shift. The steering was not exactly easy either. So, she kept it in her garage, and only drove it when we came to visit, or when her date would drive. :P
She gave it to my parents, who gave it to me a little while after I got my license. When I got it, it was 8 years old, and had 49,000 miles on it. I also learned how to drive a stick shift by driving the car around. But, "if you can drive it, you can have it" is darn good incentive to figure out how to shift!
Since then, I've had a few cars in the 1984-88 range, plus a couple of older ones. But, that's got to be by far the nicest car I've ever owned. It's also spoiled me as far as steering goes- I've never been happy with the handling of my other cars. With the RX-7, I felt like I could place it where I wanted it in the lane. In other cars, I feel like I am steering by approximation. The only downside to the RX-7? Just try to find someone who can work on a rotary engine when you break down at the start of a holiday weekend on the interstate outside of Jackson, Mississippi! I had to tow the car out of there, ugh!
I hadn't thought about that car in quite some time, thanks. I hope you enjoy your first car every bit as much as I enjoyed mine. :)
-Griselda
My grandmother had bought it new. She was dating, and I guess she wanted something flashy to impress her dates. It was a complete impulse buy, and she didn't test drive it. When she picked it up, she realized that she wasn't strong enough to control the stick shift. The steering was not exactly easy either. So, she kept it in her garage, and only drove it when we came to visit, or when her date would drive. :P
She gave it to my parents, who gave it to me a little while after I got my license. When I got it, it was 8 years old, and had 49,000 miles on it. I also learned how to drive a stick shift by driving the car around. But, "if you can drive it, you can have it" is darn good incentive to figure out how to shift!
Since then, I've had a few cars in the 1984-88 range, plus a couple of older ones. But, that's got to be by far the nicest car I've ever owned. It's also spoiled me as far as steering goes- I've never been happy with the handling of my other cars. With the RX-7, I felt like I could place it where I wanted it in the lane. In other cars, I feel like I am steering by approximation. The only downside to the RX-7? Just try to find someone who can work on a rotary engine when you break down at the start of a holiday weekend on the interstate outside of Jackson, Mississippi! I had to tow the car out of there, ugh!
I hadn't thought about that car in quite some time, thanks. I hope you enjoy your first car every bit as much as I enjoyed mine. :)
-Griselda
Why can't we all just get along
--Pete
--Pete