And We'll Have Fun Fun Fun...

SUMMARY: No TBird, but a few other vehicles

Backfill: date

That I can recall, I've fallen in love with only two cars in my entire life. One I was lucky enough to eventually own, and the other, never did.

But, kiddies, let's talk about the actual four-wheelers with whom I've shared my life. See Human Mom, see Human Mom drive. Drive fast, Human Mom! Not too fast!

ONE

In college, the ads for Le Cat Black caught my heart like almost no other car ever had. I mean, boys and girls I knew would talk about 'Vettes or Sting Rays (also a Corvette, but at the time, who cared?)  or TBirds or Lamborghinis.  But this car--its secret identity being a Mercury Capri--was all black with gold gold GOLD accents! The wheels, the pin striping, the fabric on the seats. Dunno, I just really wanted that car.

When I left college for a full-time job, I found a used one for sale in the paper by a young man in the military who was transferring to Germany, and it eventually came home with me! My heart filled with joy!  (Thanks to the Financial Bank of Dad, whom I paid off over a couple of years.) I washed and waxed that car by hand often, and used vinyl protectant inside. Everything was shiny! And it felt so good to drive, too. Standard (manual) transmission, on the freeway I felt like I could drive anywhere. Probably 1976 model.

This was the only photo I've found of my car. Was sure I had more.
Look closely for the gold and black and chrome in the rims.
Pinstriping starting to fade. [sad face]

TWO

Dragons live forever, but not so little cars...  Memory is blank on why it was time to replace Le Cat Black, but it clearly was, and income was good enough to afford payments on a NEW, yes NEW, car.  Looked at several similar cars by different makers--the Mitsubishi (model?) we liked but the salesman was so obnoxious that we left (with him yelling after us what idiots we were to pass up the deal and we'd never get that deal again) (you can see why we left). At Toyota, we could drive this one off the lot or we could order a black one and wait for a few months.  Opted to take this one.

I loved my 1983(? or 2) Toyota Supra! My dad used to joke (time and again, when boats came up in conversation) that if he had a sloop, he'd name it Chicken Noodle Sloop.   So now I had a  Supra. What else could I do?  License:  CKN NUDL.

New Supra! We got all the paraphenalia--bra, car cover, blah de blah.
I believe the bra ended up in the garage after maybe 2-3 years.
Difficult to put on, couldn't leave it on for washing.
Car cover probably lasted my patience less than that.

Supra (note CKN NUDL) at Yosemite.

THREE

I loved my sporty cars. Again, I don't recall any more what was going on with CKN NUDL that it was time to replace it, but a co-worker just happened to be moving to Singapore and was selling his cherry (excellent condition) Acura Legend.  A luxurious four-door sedan. My Adult Car.  At a reasonable price; financed it, and it came home with me in 1991.

Same colors as my Supra! And... now I don't remember whether it was standard transmission! How could I forget?

My luxurious adult car, right after I got it, before the custom MYOWNTM license plates
(Legend--(in) My Own Time, get it?  Most people thought it was My Own Trademark)
In front of my fabulous driveway gate--always wanted one like that, and had this one custom made from a drawing!
(Note "F", my last initial, in the middle. So cool! Loved that gate!)

The Legend was nice, did a lot of traveling, but getting to overnight agility events with 2 dogs was crowded enough (once at the end of the weekend I attracted a crowd of other agility folks wanting to see how in bejeesus I'd get all the things stacked around CKN NUDL in there. Had to pack the trunk like a jigsaw puzzle, with each piece having its specific place. Dogs on seatbelts on seats, other items packed on floors in front of seats. 

FOUR

But, yep, it had a lot of miles and was showing it, PLUS I had just gotten a THIRD DOG (Tika)! No was gone fit.  So, time for another used one, bought thru Toyota dealer and financed again.  My 2000 Toyota Sienna.

The quintessential agility and traveling car!  See what I said about The Quintessential Agility Car.

Automatic transmission; couldn't get it in standard, they didn't make 'em!

Tried to come up with a pun for Toyota Sienna or Van or Minivan
but, perhaps for the good of the world, I didn't.
Came up with about 30 possible dog and/or agility related ones.
Mutt Mover was way down in he list, but it was available.

MUTT MVR got around. This, at a dog agility trial at sunset,  about to go home.

Poor old MUTT MVR was slowly decaying--one speaker didn't work, the automatic door didn't work, the rear windows wouldn't open, things were falling off inside and outside, and then when the catalytic converter failed, I desperately wanted to get rid of it before my next smog check.  Turns out that a 17-year-old Sienna with nearly 250,000 miles on it was worth virtually nothing. I donated it to a local animal shelter (for whatever money they could get).

FIVE

But first, I needed a replacement.  Looked at things other than minivans. Looked at other brands of minivans.  I had been carrying 2-3 dogs and gear around with me for nearly 20 years by then and it was perfectly sized for that; I had traveled on my own and slept in it and it was the perfect size for that; and it had been remarkably reliable, which was good for my pocketbook AND for the long distances I traveled to sometimes remote places.  So I got--  SAME car, BRAND NEW model. Paid cash! (And there went THAT stash.)

2017 Toyota Sienna: Came in only boring colors.  The least boring was this blue.  (See Meet MUTT MVR II for details.)

Put 15,000 miles on MUTT MVR the 2nd in the first year. So much fun to drive!
Here, near Las Vegas.

THE OTHER CAR I FELL IN LOVE WITH AND WANTED BUT NEVER HAD

1970s Pontiac Firebird Trans Am , yes with the big firebird across the hood. So sleek! Could probably go 400 miles an hour and 0 to 60 in 2 seconds!  (I dreamed big.)  In sparkly blue or black.

BONUS CARS

Seen in parking lots.  Might have gone home with either one of these! Because of the color! (Well, the old Chevy because it's awesome, too.) I think the colors would've been hard to maintain, though.