Your First Car

Purple Saturn - $1200

When I moved to L.A., I caved in and bought my first car: a 1994 purple Saturn that would only occasionaly go into reverse. The nerd I bought it from made me take off my shoes and wear these paper slippers when I entered his house to sign the title. Plentiful parking in L.A. meant the reverse problem wasn’t too big of a deal, but I did end up getting stuck and having to spend the night on some guy’s couch one time after a really bad date.

Alterna-Cars

I seriously considered leasing one of those mobile advertisement cars that pay for your gas. I would have enjoyed the reaction of the vallet guys when I was the designated driver on Hollywood nights. “Please take care not to damage the giant can. Thanks.”

1982 Toyota Tercel

All paid with money I saved from paper routes and birthday checks. It was a good little car for a teenager.

1985 Chrysler LeBaron

Mine was gold and had hood vents, which displayed amazing flames when the engine caught on fire as we drove it home.

1989 Honda Accord

The headlights flipped up. I had a pink, furry steering wheel cover and matching pink license plate frame. I loved that Honda something vicious.

Then some dude rear ended me the week before prom and I had to spend my last summer at home driving to my job at Jamba Juice with a bungee cord keeping my trunk closed :(

1984 Grand Marquis Mercury

Otherwise known as ‘The Boat’

Oh yeah it was brown too.

One time my friend borrowed it and she got in a car accident. She was fine, look at the size of that thing, but the trunk never closed again. I would go over bumps and the trunk would bounce up and down, nice feature.

You also had to use two feet to drive this baby in the winter, otherwise the car would die.

1989 Dodge Caravan

Hated it until I realized my girlfriends and I could pack in as many boys as we wanted.

Beck

My 95 VW Jetta – his name was Beck. We went everywhere together, and was quite possibly one of the most reliable cars I have ever owned. RIP!

So Long, Smokey

When I moved to Chicago, I finally dumped the old tin can, which I had ultimately knighted “Smokey.” Some kid actually bought it from me for $900, even after I told him it didn’t reverse, and that he’d have to drive around with the heat on so the radiator wouldn’t crack. The only way this story could have been better is if Smokey had had a vanity plate that said “Diva 4 Life” or something.

Tempo

I had an 88(?) Ford Tempo except it looked a lot different than the one in the picture. I named it Duckie because it had duct tape hold pieces of it on. No, no…it was sweet. Totally something every 16-year-old girl dreams about. If only those MTV Sweet Sixteeners could have seen me then!!

1988 Subaru Station Wagon - Red

Firetruck red, to be more specific. Just like this one (which isn’t mine) except without the guitar. A more gutless car you will never see. Everything had fallen apart to just the point where it still worked, but barely. I have a new car, but it’s moved on to my sister: still shiny and with over 200k miles on it.

A/C in off or high only and with no button. Speakers that only work half the time (if you kick them properly). A trunk door that falls on you and has no lining covering the wires inside.

Favorite moment: Accelerating onto the highway to get my friend home, he says “Leigh, we’re going so slow! Floor it!” To which I reply, “I am flooring it.” We made it to 45 mph after about a minute.

74 Ford capri II

74 ford Capri II. The black cat, it used to be called. I felt just as cool as the dude on the hood.

77 Plymouth Volare

This car had huge potential to be a BAMF, but due to the lack of funds and excess of problems it was sold. I miss you Volare.

1982 Toyota Tercel (mine was really gray)

I couldn’t find a gray Toyota Tercel pic so I stole this
image. Anyway, I loved this car and it was very dependable. I’m not sure how I fit in there since I’m 6’ 2", but I don’t think it mattered to me. It had no pick up and was so small, but it was kinda fun to drive. I remember when I turned on the AC it would slow down quite a bit.

1983 Volvo 240 DL

It sometimes took a LONG time to start but not before making a hideous “oh I’m going to start someday but I’m going to embarass you terribly before I do” sound.

That and the brakes would sporadically not work. hrmph.

1994 Infiniti J30t

Actually a pretty sweet ride, the one tiny flaw was the brakes, no mechanic could find anything wrong with them, but they made a noise like banshee being strangled to death. I’d pick people up for school and they’d be waiting out front before I even got to their house because they heard the brakes from down the street. At one point the stereo and AC both died, and I could only afford to fix one. I picked the stereo. I live in FL. Thank god for sunroof/power windows.

1978 Olds Cutlass Supreme aka "Money"

My car was green with a light metallic-flaked paint that I paid $600 for. The brakes would occasionally lock up when they overheated, so whenever that happened, I had to wait for them to cool before I could move again. The reverse eventually went out, so I had to park on the street, which in turn, the car ended up being covered with gray paint and orange stickers notifying me to move it. I ended up letting the tow company do that for me.