1979 Honda Civic Hatchback
Bought it when I was 14 years old for $100. It had been totalled in an accident, but I pried the fender off the back tire with a cro-bar and replaced the rear light that was broken. Stick shift with an 1,169 cc engine. I once drove it 110 miles per hour on the rte. 4 hill that runs through East Greenwich between the milk farm and the high school. Also, took it for “air” several times on upper Middle Road. Kept it until I was 17.
1984 Audi 4000s
Nice car for a teenager who bought with his own hard-earned money @ $3.25/hr. Stick shift, really expensive to run due to fuel injection issues…had it serviced by Hans Imports in North Kingstown. Kept this until I was 19.
Honda Spree
I got this for around $100. Fun to ride around on but probably looked silly. When it was about to run out of gas, it would speed up to ~40mph. Worked great until I tried to jump-start it but reversed the polarity and fried the electric system.
1979 Fiat Spyder
I managed to own or borrow this for a summer. Fun to have a convertible except for that one time when I floored it to ascend a hill on rte 1 and the gas pedal got stuck. It was a hairy situation as I approached a construction site at 80mph and couldn’t unstick the gas. Eventually, I shut off the ignition, but not early enough to escape the police officer that was pretty upset with my driving.
1986 Chevy C-10
Got this truck from a vehicle auction. It had been in a rollover. It had a lift kit on the body that was actually just 2 hockey pucks in-between the body and the frame. Rebuilt it, put in a bunch of aftermarket engine parts like a holley carburetor and edelbrock intake manifolds and headers with straight exhaust pipes.
1978 Dodge Truck
My dad bought this, but I have happy memories in it.
1978 Dodge Sportvan (Sweet Pickles)
A monster van with an extended cab. Fun to drive. Huge V-8 engine, passed everything except the gas station. Lost interest when a brake job cost thousands.
1981 Yamaha Midnight Special
Very powerful 1100cc engine. Fun to ride until I hit a Cadillac (his fault, not mine) and went over and through the handlebars. Badly broken leg, otherwise fine.
1984 Toyota Celica
Stick shift. Strong 4 cylinder engine, rear-wheel drive. Fun ride. Was $400 and had been rear-ended. I pulled the dent, filled the repair site with bondo and spray painted with silver Krylon paint. I sold it to Rone and it was stolen and used in a series of robberies. The police questioned me and Rone about them.
Stanza
What a piece of junk. I was driving it on the highway and the sunroof actually flew off. Worked fine, but then I got rear-ended in a hit and run accident. There was no question that the car was totalled.
Maxima
Nice car, but this was my last “old and cheap” car. I remember paying over $600/month in repairs and a commercial came on TV for a sweet Jeep Cherokee, brand new that would lease for less money monthly.
1996 Civic Hatchback
I liked this car. Got it used in 1998. Sat low, stick shift. Basic but peppy.
1998 Toyota 4Runner
Really nice SUV. Fun to drive, nice to look at. Never went off-roading with it.
Ford F250
Not enough cargo for a family trip, not enough truck for serious work, but a lot of power in the engine. Fix Or Repair Daily.
2009 Chevy Silverado
First vehicle I ever bought brand new. Proud to have purchased with no options. Just a work truck with a vinyl floor. V-6 engine
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