As some of you from the chat may know, I got my car fixed and I’ll be getting my license in a week or two.
I was just curious as to what kind of cars people own. Post pictures if you can.
I have a greenish/tealish '93 or '94 Ford Taurus. I’m about to get a new head unit (with a cd player) installed. So far, after driving it around only for a bit, despite only going about 90 mph max, am quite satisfied with my car.
What is it with you yanks and cars?
And speed?
Well, it’s just about impossible to get around without a car in America. Also- don’t call a southerner a Yank, even if it is a term meant for an American in general in your country, many of them will bash your head in for saying that.
As for speed… most people could care less about that, to be honest. Not only that, but they could also care less what their car is- unless they have a shitty minivan, like me (98 Ford Windstar, grey). 
I drive a blue two-door 1990 Pontiac Sunbird convertible. The radio sucks, it doesn’t even have a casette deck, and I have no money to get a new radio. But it’s a trade off for having a convertible.
For a relatively inexpensive price, they have it so that you can plug your CD player into a cigarette lighter, assuming your car has one of those.
Why the legendary hatmobile of course. Pictures of it, and it’s awesome license plate can be found in the california meet picture archives, but I’m not bothering to dig them up.
And what? Drive around with headphones or some speakers clunking around? I’ll stick to the radio for now.
No- the sound comes out of your radio.
The lighter isn’t connected to the radio, that would just provide power. I don’t even have a casette deck in my radio, so I can’t hook a cd player it using a converter.
I have a red 98 dodge neon. :moogle:
I commute everywhere. Not saying much though, because I barely go anywhere. 8P
2000 Dodge Intrepid
<img src=“http://images.automotive.com/reviews/images/00intrepid.jpg”></img>
Zip? Round 130
Yank? I’m a Johnny Reb, excuse yourself please.
Anyway, my car doesn’t really go that fast. It’s got zip, but the zip only goes to - like I said - 90ish. And for the most part, getting a car is a symbol of freedom. Now that I have a car, I have more freedom to do as I wish. I don’t have to rely on others for a ride, and if I want to go somewhere I don’t have to bug somebody to get me there.
That and having a car gives me a greater range of mobility than walking. Trust me, it’s not an obsession - I don’t know shit about cars except how to turn it on, drive it, gas it up and change the oil. I mean yeah, some people like cars a lot, but then again some people like video games. So what?
2000 Grand Am. Mine since mile 2.
<img src=“http://www.rpgclassics.com/staff/zepp/zeppcar.jpg”>
I don’t believe it’s so much necessity as it is the idea of the “car” has been associated with the idea of “freedom”, and it’s not JUST a corporate conspiracy to get people to buy more cars, though that certainly plays a part. Having a car was certainly a necessity where I grew up, in the suburbs of Chicago, a city plagued by sprawl and a deteriorating mass transit system (hardly unique to chicago, mind you). But along with that, there was always the fascination of being able to go anywhere I wanted, and I don’t mean just to the grocery store. Any American who reads a novel like “On the Road”, despite how much he might loathe the beat era, still feels a little sense of adventure at being able to explore and discover the world on our own. I don’t think I’m being as clear as I possibly can. It’s a difficult mindset to explain, because even though we do feel proud of that mindset in a sense, we are also starting to understand the economic and environmental downfalls that half a century of car dependence have caused us. It’s a tough situation to be in.
What Mr. Angst is trying to say (poorly, I might add :P) is that they sell a kit, I found mine for $20 at Best Buy, that has a transmitter. So you plug the contraption into your portable CD player and your cigarette lighter, tune to an unused station on the radio dial, and adjust the little tuner thingie until the radio picks up the signal from the CD player through the transmitter. And volia, you have a CD player in your car with no tape deck.
Granted, it’s not as good as having a CD deck in your car, since at times the tuning isn’t perfect and it gets a little staticky, but it’s better than commercials. And I’m sure if you purchased a more expensive one, it’d have better tuning capabilities.
leaps back on topic Oh, and I have a 1996 Chevy Corsica. Black. My second car.
Psh, dial? My radio isn’t that ghetto :P. And I wouldn’t spend 20 bucks on that, I can get a radio for 80, that’s a quarter of the price, so I’ll just wait until I have the money. I really don’t care right now anyway, I don’t hate the radio that much.
'87 COrolla with only 107000 miles (my activation and drivng to and from Pendleton everyday drove those up tremendously), and I got it at 68000. I just cleaned it last week and it looks fabulous. I have a fly radio in it though. It was more than i wanted to spend at the time, but it is sweet. It plays MP3s and WMAs, CDs, satellite radio enabled, remote control, sweet display system, and great volume control. Probably more too. If the car was sportier and had fewer miles, I’d spruce its engine up since it is in desperate need of MORE POWER. insert Tim the Tool Man Taylor grunt
My first car, which I had until September of 2002, was a 1988 Toyota Corolla. I loved that little car. However, it had AC problems, and it was just sort of time to move on. My parents sold it while I was asleep recuperating from a stomach virus.
About a month before we sold the Corolla, I got a 2001 Grand Am. I really enjoy it.
edit - Pics? I don’t have any, but you get a decent idea from zepp’s picture. Mine’s silver, has four doors, and has different hubcaps.
Zepp covered the reason for a car, I’ll tell you about the speed.
Because it’s fun, duh! Also, to save time and get to places faster to have more fun or not get fired or in trouble with the boss.
However, as Zepp said, there are some areas that you need a car. Like working at Pendleton and having a varying class schedule would make getting rides very hard and put many people out of their way, espeically going to Pendleton. Also, I liek to do stuff with friends, this is much harder to do without a car (I experienced this challenge when I had my wisdom teeth pulled and was on vicoden or however it’s spelled).
I’m renting a TTC bus and train on a per-ride basis.
