Just like first love, everyone must remember his/her first car. What was it? And what do you miss most of all about it? Let's cruise down memory lane, shall we?
My first car was a 2nd hand, dark red 1987 Toyota Tercel. It was a 2-door hatchback and powered by a puny 1.3L engine. That thing took me to and from high school in Arizona reliably--but not stylishly. It was no "chick magnet", not even by a long shot in a small working-class town. Every time it's on a highway on-ramp (which is every school day, morning & afternoon), I'd floor it and it'd STRUGGLE miserably as it attempts to gain some speed uphill. Sometimes there's a more powerful car behind me, seemingly mocking my snail-pace Tercel and just waiting to blow by me as soon as we're on the highway.
But I loved that car. It was my first ride. It didn't stall in the winter, and it withstood the burning Arizona summers. I'd wash it, wax it, and change the oil myself. What I miss most about it is its practicality. It was no gas guzzler and required low maintenance (so it went easy on my high school student budget).
Towards the end of my senior year, the muffler developed a gaping hole and produced LOUD noises. I didn't know how much a new muffler would cost, but whatever the amount I didn't have the money. So, with sadness, I sold it after graduation, right before going off to college in Philly. To this day, I still think of at red Tercel from time to time. Might it still take some young kid to and from school? Or is it parked in front of some dirty old trailer home? Worse still, is it left for dead in some automotive "graveyard"?
Wherever it may be, I carry fond memories of that car with me. It served me well and gave me a great feeling of freedom! But, as a student, I didn't have the money to return the favor. As I look ahead, I hope to one day own an "everyday sportscar" (something like the NSX or even the M5). The "spirit" of the red Tercel would be awakened inside me, as I floor the pedal on an on-ramp and feel the car shoot forward in fast fury...thinking of what my little Tercel could have been, would have been, if it were to "grow" with me to that day.