What’s your automotive history & journey that led you here?

[superj]

you reminded me of two more, so i added them to my list

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[Troporex101]

35M
1998 Tacoma w/ Arb bumper. Still running
1999 Mustang GT
2004 Tacoma TRD
2015 VW Jetta TSi. Lively little turbo
2017 Tacoma TRD
2019 WRX STI
2023 Audi RS3. 5 cyl gut puncher
2024 Ranger Raptor

 

[rikairving]

Too many cars
There were a few others that my buddies and I passed around and only kept a few weeks, but these are the ones I actually registered and insured!
Too hard to remember the years of ownership, so listed by model year.

1963 Falcon with 170 L6. 0 to 60 in an hour and a half!

1963 Olds F85 with 215 alum V8. Funky column mounted power glide tranny shifter, reverse was all the way down beyond drive! Dog off the line, but smooth and potent on the highway. Drove it about 6 months, and more than doubled my money on it.

1967 Fairlane with 200 L6. Cheap ride at the time. Purred like a kitten, great on gas but couldn’t get out of its own way.

1968 Torino GT fastback with 302, bench seat and 3 on the tree. Wish I hung on to that! Only a very few were made like that. Put in a 4spd that I traded the 63 Falcon for at the local parts yard. Young and dumb!

1968 Country Squire wagon, with a 390 and a C6. Real strong drivetrain. A hand me down from my dad. Rot was bad. Frame had dozens of welded on angle repairs. Was approaching 300k when an electrical fire finally killed it.

1969 Torino wagon with 351 auto and posi. Was originally built set up as a tow car, but I turned it into a screaming sleeper. Auto tranny died, so it too got a 4 spd. Rot killed the body, motor & tranny ended up in a buddy’s 32 ford hot rod.

1969 Torino convertible. 302, nice car, but top jammed and twisted apart then rear end grenaded. Another New England rot box….

1971 Torino Cobra. 428 4spd. Motor was modified and had dual progressive opening 4 barrel carbs. Only had it 6 months. Too much fun to drive. Speeding ticket machine. Was always a race between the gas gauge and the tach!

1971 Fairlane wagon. Bare bones, but always ran. Was my commuter for a couple years.

1972 Country Squire wagon. 351 that was anemic due to smog stuff. A land yacht!

1973 Vega wagon. At least a quart of oil every gas tank. Smoked like hell, but ran good. Had to take it on the highway at least once a week to clean the plugs…. Rot finally got it too.

1976 Ford F250 360 4x4. My first brand new vehicle. The same size as a current Ranger, but half the motor of what these new trucks are.

1978 Dodge van. 318 that never failed to start. Became my riding groups Harley ambulance!

1978 Toyota Tercel. I was like the 4th owner, and the motor was tired, and very loose. 40ish mpg! CAT got plugged with blow by, so drilled a couple holes through it so the motor could breathe. $400 car that served me for a year or so and almost 30k miles! Sold it for $500!

1981 Ford escort. Bought it with a blown 1.6, to replace the Tercel. Dropped a 1.9 in it and drove it almost 200k. Rot got it too, but it owed me nothing….traded it for a bedliner for my 92 Ranger.

1987 Ford Taurus wagon. Then wife’s car. Bought as a family car, but my family outgrew it.

1988 Ford Ranger extended cab. 2.3 stick, my commuter for years.

1990 Ford Aerostar. Replaced the Taurus. Ate transmissions. Always needed something. Hated that car.

1992 Ford E250 van. Bare bones truck, bought for my side work. 302 was way underpowered.

1992 Ranger base XLT. Great commuter. Another new buy. Drove it for 2 years, 65+k miles, and sold it for $200 less that I bought it for. My favorite little truck.

1997 Ranger extended cab 4x4 with a 4.0. Good for hauling the boat, but drank fuel like a big V8. Didn’t keep it long.

1997 E250 extended van, replaced the 92 E250 too small dog. Had the 4.9 L6. Great strong motor.

1997 Aerostar extended van. Bought as kids were hitting high school. Last family car we owned.

1999 ford E350 box truck. Replaced the extended E250 van. Side business was doing well. Marriage not so much…

1999 ford F250 extended cab 4x4. Nice truck, my regular job commuter, and weekend hauler.

2003 Toyota Camry V6. Beautiful car, ex’s divorce gift….

2004 Focus ZXW. 2.3 and quick! Got laid off for a while and was consulting, driving long distances and feeding the F250 was very painful. My older boys learned to drive in it. Great car, 100k trouble free miles, just oil, brakes and tires. Gave it to my widowed sister as she was car poor. One of her teenage son’s friends drunk stole the keys and went on a midnight joyride, wrapping it around an oak tree. Car’s design and airbags saved his life.

2008 F250. Great hauler, 8 mpg whether empty or laden. Maine DOT winter road treatments ate it up. Only got $2k in trade in 2014.

2008 Escape fwd 2.5 L4. Bought it in late 2007 to replace the focus. My commuter for 2 years.

2009 Escape 4x4. Last year of the larger design. A great car for another 4 years and 100k miles.

2013 F150 SCab with 3.5 EB. 4X4 off road set up with 13k lb. max tow. Really wanted the 5.0, but could not find one set up to tow. Salesman says they are very rare, (was shopping 2013 leftovers). He goes “Buy the ecoboost, they are more available.” I didn’t want an anemic V6 for towing. He goes
“Have you driven one?” So I tested one, and was impressed.
Was like an engine twice its size. First turbo for me. Still own it. Bought it as a sight unseen order no-show sitting on a train in early 2014. 150k miles and motor has starting making cold start noises. It’s now my utility around the county truck. Nothing long distance. On the fence if I want to rebuild the motor.

2017 Kia Sorento EX. 2.0 TDI. Was my commuter til retirement. Yeah I know all the Kia horror stories, but this wasn’t one. Other than mice attacks on the wiring, it was trouble free. Got it fixed and added barn cats to the property. No more rodent issues! Well designed car, good lines, lots of nice options, great mileage, good power, and didn’t burn oil. 93k miles, just brakes and tires at 60k, and a couple wheel sensors. Bunch of recalls, but none burned me. Just sold it.

Now, it’s my 2025 Ranger FX4 XLT, 2.3, desert tan, black appearance package, tow package, running boards, factory spray bed liner. Really like the truck, and am overall pleased. Approaching 3k miles, and motor is starting to loosen up, and gaining real pep. Have added a few things, and wish to add more. Didn’t want the Lariat excess stuff, but wish it had the gauges. Specifically oil pressure and trans temp. Searching for an aftermarket OBD add on.

 

[AlloyPony]

I'm not even going to try to list the 30+ vehicles I've had over the last 30 years.

But, when I graduated college I bought myself a new Ford Ranger Supercab FX4 (first year of the FX4 packaging) as a "congrats for earning your degree" gift to myself. I had a tremendous amount of fun in that truck fourwheeling with my buddies, hauling my ATV around, dating my future wife, etc. Every once in a blue moon I still pass it out on the road somewhere and it brings back memories.

So, now that I'm a few years away from finishing my government career I am strongly considering ordering myself another Ranger as a "congrats for making it" gift to myself. I think that would be cool.

 

[bigb]

Like others I've had many, many vehicles over the years so I'll post the latest ones. I had a 2002 F350 7.3 diesel for 16 years that I sold last month for more than I paid for it and it sold in under 24 hours. This is what the Ranger will be replacing. It was a great truck and I didn't really want to sell it but I already have too many vehicles and it was just way bigger than I needed so it rarely got driven.

I also have a 2015 VW Golf Sportwagen TDI that's a blast to drive and runs on chump change. (my wife's Infiniti FX-35 in the edge of the pic which I am in charge of as far as maintenance)

And a 2011 Winnebago on a Mercedes Sprinter diesel chassis-can you see I like diesels? (I had just finished a 2 stage paint job on the front cap when I took this pic, went from dark brown to white to keep it cooler in the sun)

And my latest purchase, a 2000 Jeep Wrangler. It's in near mint condition and less than 20K on a rebuild.

So far I do all my own work except AC, glass and tires. That may change with the Ranger as it will be my first new personal vehicle ever, and under warranty. But I'll likely still do all I can as long as I can, I enjoy it and I like to see it done right. I also have a large shop and rollaways full of tools. No lift though and I've managed without one all these years so not about to get one at this stage of the game.

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