What did you drive when you went to College?

Uh... that's what you're supposed to take to the retirement community.

How about a MINI or GTI or something?

 

In college I drove a 1986 BMW 325es, and during college built up the E30 race car. All work done by Metric mechanic and Autosport werks,,, it'll keep up with quite a few F-cars... Now out of college drive a E36... but man, my head still turns when I see a nice E30.

 

190E 2.3

My second car was an E30 325i though, seeing as this thread has so much E30 love. Remember this classic pic?
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kewel!

mine was a 73 2002 tii fjord blue w/ navy interior. michelin xas tires mounted on cosmic wheels...and a stebro!

 

what does she know? that car was my first true love...owned two of them!!

 

FIAT 124 Sport Coupe

excellent trainer indeed!

 

1967 to 1969; 1967 Corvair Monza 4speed coupe.

1969 to 1971; 1969 Porsche 911T Targa.

 

I had a 1968 Pontiac GTO, 4 speed NO A/C, hot in the summer, but back then most cars did not have A/C

 

A bicycle. I lived 3 miles from campus and could get there faster on the bike than with the 65 Buick Gran Sport in the driveway. Plus, with a big campus (NCSU), it was invaluable for getting from class to class.

 

I had a 1987 Toyota Camry LE 4-cylinder with 180k on it. The key could be take out of the ignition while the car was started. It would just slide out because it the ignition stalk had been tampered with prior to my ownership. I actually thought this was neat.

I had the key on the same key ring as my apartment key and one time when it was freezing cold (I went to Univ. of Washington), I went to go warm up the car for a few minutes in the morning. Then to get back inside the house to pick up my breakfast (pop tart or whatever) I took the key out so I could unlock my front door.

...Got my breakfast, this was middle of the quarter during my midterms mind you.

I arrived at school and guess what?! I couldn't turn it off! I had put my keys down on the counter at home. This car would also mis-start sometimes, emitting a very loud shriek. Worst car in the world to take a girl in. Its was so embarrassing at the time. The paint was all worn out. All the other guys had tricked out Civic's...I think some still do.

Floaty suspension would make you car sick. I loved driving - especially when I was stressed out. This is the only car that made it worse. You'd take a corner agressively and you'd get just understeer all over the place.

During this same time, I would buy and sell a fair number of cars (mostly cars below $3500 to students) to make some cash. That's how I got to drive some nicer cars during my late high school and college career. My senior year of college (2001) I had this beast of car - a 1992 Mercedes 400SE in graphite with grey interior and 63k when I sold it. That was insane. I had it for just a couple of months. Aside from that I had cars like Scirocco's 16v's and Integra (for just a couple of weeks) among others. That said, the Camry was my main car.

In grad school, I bumped up to a Lexus ES300 (big mistake should have learned) and a Toyota 4-Runner a bit after that.

Its been relatively recent that I got into my first nice car. Pretty unnecessary expense - I thought I'd be more excited about each of them when I bought them but I'm not. Maybe that'll change once I get an F-car...Only one way to find out!

Cool thread...

 

Total bs but wanted to post this link nonetheless:

http://editorial.autos.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=445065&topart=passenger

It bugs me that nice sports cars are seen so negatively (see the caption next to the Murcielago pic). Those same people who hate on people with nice cars don't seem to have issues spending piles of cash on Louis Vuitton bags or spending $4 for coffee.

I remember in high school when I first started buying/selling cars I had a 4-door 1987 325e (delphin grey/blue int) for a bit in the spring. Everyone's parents had an issue with that car. It had a bajillion miles on it and was in horrible condition - on top of that, I bought with my own money from selling two moped that I got for a ridiculous deal. But I caught all kinds of attitude as the kid with the bimmer. Total opposite effect of what I had expected.

What did that teach me?

Get whatever the hell you want, be it a lime green Murcie or an 87 Camry.

 

1994 Pontiac TransAm. 275hp and 325ftlbs. I love it and still have it. Great first car!

 

Triumph TR250 and then an Alfa Romeo 1750 Berlina after the frame on the TR rusted away. GF (now wife) had a BMW 1600.

 

I know exactly how you feel. My father used to tell me stories about his first BMW (a 2002 which soon became the first Alpina tuned 2002 in the US) Anyways, that started my Bimmer hunting when I was about 14. To pay for my first BMW I first shoveled up horse crap at a rodeo, hooked up sewage lines at a RV park, than (thank god) worked at a Pizzeria. Bought my first BMW ('86 325es) for 1K. Cost another 2K to get it to run for more than 15 min. When I started driving the car (age 16) I couldn't believe the crap I got from kids at school. I mean, I worked my ass off, doing things no city boy from Philadelphia should be doing to get that car. My junior year in HS I bought a 87 325 (in amazing condition) That one never went to school with me, instead I built for racing. The reaction from kids was ten times as bad when they found out I had two. And now 6 years later I still get bad looks and ugly remarks from people who see me in my E36, or who find that I own 3 BMWs now...

How to deal with it: lol, I'm laughing already. 1: drive cars that are fun to drive. 2: dont be shy to race the stupid kid in his Honda, or guy in corvette. The looks are priceless.
I think I'll start selling bumper stickers that read "Dont race a car you wish you had" , anybody want to buy one lol..... The real question is why do we have the cars we have? I dont continue to drive and buy BMWs because of the status symbol, I drive them because of stories my dad used to tell about how sport cars would flash their lights at each other to say hi, I drive them because DAMN they are fun, and perform great. Why do I want a Ferrari? partially because I'm Italian, and I see it as national pride and heritage, because I drove a 308 for 2 miles when I was 18, and promised myself that one day I'd own a Ferrari, (though hopefully a 512 lol) I would bet anybody here drives their car because they love the car, not because of what it says.

 

Wow, some of you had some pretty cool cars in college. I had a '66 MGB that I spent more time fixing than driving, and I had an '85 Grand Wagoneer for a couple years that sucked every last penny out of me for repairs and gas.
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i drove a sliver/red 1984 saab 900 turbo that my dad got me while i was in high school. i really loved that car, and even took it to the track a few times. i put 40K miles on it in 7.5 years; it had about 209K on it.

 

Haha! Nice! Shoveling crap at a rodeo builds character right?!

 

1993 black 6 speed corvette coupe

 

1992 Toyota Celica GT 5 speed. Nice little car. In high school I briefly had a 1977 MGB, I wish I still had it.

 

I had a 1998 Ford Contour SVT that was Silver/midnight blue...then i got a 2000 Audi A4 1.8T Quattro that was silver/black. I was one of like 10 Audis exactly like mine on a campus of no more then 7000 students

 

1980-81, I drove the 59 Corvette in my Avatar sometimes. Fixed it up during high school from a basket case. My degree is Automotive Technology and I could keep the car off the streets and park it inside the shop, so I would take it down in nice weather. The rest of the time I walked or drove my $75 Chevy II, or borrowed Mom's Diesel Chevette. You can put 5 college girls in a 59 Corvette with the top off, if you stack them just right.

 

It was a much better feeling knowing that I paid for my E36 by selling art, and not shoveling crap lol..

 

Your right a '59'! The VW was old when I bought it in 1970 and needed a paint job. So I had it painted with the union jack....something different.

 

I also built this car during college, but never took it to campus. It did see a little street use, but usually around 2 am!
As you can see, I had no money for clothes or haircuts, had to feed Sunoco 260 to the 460" motor thru the 1150 Holleys.
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