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If you could have any car, and money were no object, what would it be?
If you were 16 and could have any car, money no object, what would it be? (The answer may or may not be different, but often family and work causes you to have different priorities.)
Selfish reason for asking: I'm working on final revisions for a novel and I need to fill in the parts that say [note: describe car]. I don't drive (legally blind) so this is something I could really use some help with. You may, of course, feel free to have fun with your fantasy cars. Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
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When I was sixteen I had a certain delorean, with certain time traveling properties that I was intrested in. That would be my choice.
BUT! Now that I am seventeen I realize how immature I was being and would much rather have a 97' camaro. Red with a hot pink stripe just to show how awesome I really am.
I didn't pick any transformers or greased lightning because they are both much more than cars, being a giant robot and some kind of jet.
Posts: 549 | Registered: Feb 2008
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Cars aren't important to me as anything other than a way of getting from point A to point B, so like X I'd go with a new hybrid. Probably a Prius, but if someone were giving me one I'd take a moment to research it first.
I've always felt this way about cars, so when I was 16 I'd probably have just chosen the most reliable and fuel efficient car on the market.
If we're going with fantasy cars, though, I guess I'd take the one from Back to the Future. If that was taken, I'd probably go with Bessie.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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When I was 16, I wanted an old VW Bug (this was before they started making them again). One day, a friend and I discovered an orange one that had been dumped on the portion of the church grounds (our court was right up against the church's parking lot) that was at the bottom of a large hill by a stream. I was so excited! I started lobbying hard for my dad (who is no auto guy and I am no auto girl) to help me fix it up. Needless to say, it never happened. My dreams were crushed! (not really)
Now, I just want a car that has decent gas mileage and for which I didn't pay an exorbantant amount for extras like a spoiler, fancy hubcaps or a moon roof. I own a Hyundai Elantra that is silver (cheaper insurance) with a single CD player in the hub. Talk about luxury. Posts: 691 | Registered: Nov 2008
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When I was 16, I thought an Audi would be cool. A purple one.
Next car we buy will be an 8 passenger Sienna. Preferably green. Possibly blue. After that, a Sprinter, probably. (Yes, I now choose my cars for how many car seats they can hold.)
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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quote:Originally posted by ketchupqueen: Next car we buy will be an 8 passenger Sienna. Preferably green. Possibly blue. After that, a Sprinter, probably. (Yes, I now choose my cars for how many car seats they can hold.)
Since one of the cars I need to fill in is for a mother of 7 going on 8, I think you and she may be on the same page. Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Christine: Since one of the cars I need to fill in is for a mother of 7 going on 8, I think you and she may be on the same page.
My mom is partial to Plymoth/Dodge mini vans. Her kids are all grown, but she carts around my four little cousins and my grandmother easily...or four sets of golf clubs. You know, whichever.
Posts: 691 | Registered: Nov 2008
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I suppose I should add that if I could have any car, it would be one that drove itself...since that's the only kind I could drive. Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
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I want a post-soviet central and eastern European tram. I would put in couches, a wet bar, maybe a little bunk for sleeping, and live in it, riding the tram lines around different cities by day, fighting crime by night.
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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Lyrhawn, if you ever get one of those,I can't marry you.
My dream car is a 50s era Porsche, possibly a little newer.
I have to admit though, I own a 1969 Volkswagen Convertible, which my dad restored for me at 16, though I've never driven it (he does). So I've probably already got my convertible for life.
Christine, if you give a few details about your character, I can help you come up with the perfect car.
And Xavier, I have heard a rumor that someone is prepared to buy a specific car for 10 million when Carol Shelby dies.
Posts: 5362 | Registered: Apr 2004
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When I was 16 I wanted a 1959 Austin Healey 3000 in baby blue with a buttercream interior. Today, I'm not so sure, but I think for a fantasy car I'd still like some kind of little roadster - something tiny and just for me to whip around the roads at night with some blues playing loudly on the radio.
In real life, we're looking for a car that isn't enormous, has a roof rack, hatch back, and can tow a small boat or little trailer. I'd also like it to not be hideous to look at, but so far not much luck.
Posts: 1676 | Registered: Jul 2000
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NOW -- if I could do it over, I would choose something that would increase in value (instead of depreciate) -- like a '69 Camaro
But back when I was actually 16, driving a 1965 Plymouth Valiant (high fives CaySedai here) -- back then I wanted a Jeep. Jeeps were cool. You could off-road in them (I was in farm country)
(off-roaded in my Valiant once. Got stuck)
Posts: 9538 | Registered: Aug 2003
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quote:Originally posted by ketchupqueen: Next car we buy will be an 8 passenger Sienna. Preferably green. Possibly blue. After that, a Sprinter, probably. (Yes, I now choose my cars for how many car seats they can hold.)
Since one of the cars I need to fill in is for a mother of 7 going on 8, I think you and she may be on the same page.
If I had 7-going-on-8 kids, a Sprinter would be my ONLY choice, because it has lap/shoulder belts, head restraint, and top tethers in all rear seating positions. So it can hold forward-facing car seats with tethers, kids in boosters, and then kids big enough to not need them, all fairly safely (it has a bus chassis instead of a van, making it more stable and less likely to roll when packed to capacity. And, most options over 8 passenger do not have head rests in every position, which is dangerous to passengers in backless boosters or seat belt only.) (It would have to have rear air conditioning added, though, I think that still doesn't come standard.) Of course my kids will rear-face as long as possible, but by the time I have a Sprinter I am confident there will be many more options out there for this, and that can be done in pretty much any car. If possible, I'd probably put the rear-facers on the outboard driver's side seats, so that they didn't interfere too much with everyone else loading in.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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To clarify, the oldest of the almost 8 children is 21, and there is a nearly even 3-year spading all the way down, so they don't need quite that many seats...only 2 car sets and 1 booster. I think a regular mini-van that comfortably seats 7 would work fine. I was trying to decide between the Sienna that you mentioned and a Town & Country, which my neighbor swears by -- then again, her husband worked for Chrysler. Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
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I'd go with the classic Caravan or Town and Country, but that's what my mom drove from 89 to 2008 (I was born in 86).
Posts: 5362 | Registered: Apr 2004
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My dad is involved with motor press, and has test driven a new car every week for as long as I can remember. I have long since decided (and it hasn't changed) that if I could drive any car, it would get good gas mileage, enough room, but not too big, and have its controls in a very normal, standard place. I've ridden in a number of really really weird BMWs or cars where the ignition was in between the front two seats. Leather seats are cold in the winter and hot in the summer. Two-doors are annoying, but if you are 16, you are no longer in the back. I was 100% happy with the 1995 Geo Prism I drove in high school, because it was all of the things on my list. I suspect most people are not so relentlessly practical. I am also not that interested in cars (sorry daddy).
What are you trying to show in your story? That money is no object so your character got the best car money could buy (ah ultra-rich people)? You kept mentioning the money, but presumably that's important, because generally, when you ask the "if" question, the money thing is understood. The thing is most people never see the really really expensive cars (more than a house) to even begin to want them. If you want that, google most expensive cars, pick one, read about why it's so "great" and drop the price in your story.
BMW has rich and fancy value, though they are the most annoying cars as far as actually driving them goes, they just get weirder and weirder. As a brand, it's well recognizable, and also a young person's expensive car.
One set of "rich" people I know drove new matching Audis, another honking SUVs. In the latter case, the person's father bought her a new Nissan Murano as a thank you for her letting her older half-brother have the old car that didn't run so well a month before going to college where she couldn't have a car her first year anyway. If you guessed her half brother was her mother's kid, you guessed right. There's something about rich people and SUVs though. The perceived safety by being bigger than everything.
if you are looking for coolness, when I was 12, some friends were rather enamored with the new Beetles. They were unique and cool in that day, and kids like the unique stuff. The Prius seems to be the only hybrid out there as far as culture is concerned, even though it's really not.
Smartcars have recently hit the US. A bit impractical for your large family. My dad hates them, since they aren't better than hybrids in terms of gas mileage. I don't know what kids today think of them, but they may have the cool factor the new beetles had in 1998. Someone younger comment.
About minivans: if you haven't heard of the car type, and your character isn't obsessed with cars, just say it's a minivan. In the Baby-Sitters Club, Mallory's family had 8 kids: the kids were split in half and the Pikes drove two station wagons. Can you imagine only one parent taking 8 kids anywhere?
My little sister (15) really wants a jeep..
Posts: 1757 | Registered: Oct 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Christine: Wow! That's not a car, it's a bus!
To clarify, the oldest of the almost 8 children is 21, and there is a nearly even 3-year spading all the way down, so they don't need quite that many seats...only 2 car sets and 1 booster. I think a regular mini-van that comfortably seats 7 would work fine. I was trying to decide between the Sienna that you mentioned and a Town & Country, which my neighbor swears by -- then again, her husband worked for Chrysler.
If you have a family of almost-10, and ever want to go anywhere as a family, you NEED a "bus". (I used to live on a block where several families had 15-seater vans.)
As for the Sienna v. the T&C, I love my Sienna, and it has a far better repair profile (as per Consumer Reports and the independent mechanic I was going to before I bought the Sienna (still under warranty, so not currently going to an independent)) than any of the Chrysler vans. Better safety profile too.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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quote:Originally posted by theamazeeaz: What are you trying to show in your story? That money is no object so your character got the best car money could buy (ah ultra-rich people)? You kept mentioning the money, but presumably that's important, because generally, when you ask the "if" question, the money thing is understood.
I may have overstated it a bit.
quote:Originally posted by theamazeeaz: About minivans: if you haven't heard of the car type, and your character isn't obsessed with cars, just say it's a minivan. In the Baby-Sitters Club, Mallory's family had 8 kids: the kids were split in half and the Pikes drove two station wagons. Can you imagine only one parent taking 8 kids anywhere?
No, I can't. In fact, at most I could imagine one parent taking 6 of them...and I suspect that would be rare. The oldest two are legal adults and have their own cars. In fact, the oldest two are the subject of the "If you were 16..." part of the question.
I am very interested in reading people's responses in general, though, and not just for this project. I think the answer to the question, "What car would you drive..?" is an interesting study in personality. Most people here seem to be going with practicality.
Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
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quote:Originally posted by theamazeeaz: Can you imagine only one parent taking 8 kids anywhere?
First of all, sure. People I know do it all the time. Especially if "anywhere" includes "to school in the morning". It's all very well to say the older ones have cars, but IME many high schools have limited -- or no -- parking for students.
Second of all, so assume both parents are coming along. It's still considerably cheaper to drive -- and park -- one large van versus two smaller minivans or station wagons!
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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What is the character looking for? Do they like fast, practical or utility?
As far as what I wanted more than anything when I was 16, it was a 993 911 Turbo. I am also sure if I were to somehow have gotten one I would probably be dead.
16 year olds and fast cars are bad news.
Realistically I would have been thrilled to be in a Jeep, Bronco 2, or FJ40.
Right now I am enjoying my 04 Subaru Impreza STI. It's pretty quick. I could safely say it is all the car I want without having had any formal advanced driver training.
I've had both an older Impreza, and a 77 Tbird. I still have a 74 FJ40 in project mode.
quote:Originally posted by Christine: Wow! That's not a car, it's a bus!
To clarify, the oldest of the almost 8 children is 21, and there is a nearly even 3-year spading all the way down, so they don't need quite that many seats...only 2 car sets and 1 booster. I think a regular mini-van that comfortably seats 7 would work fine. I was trying to decide between the Sienna that you mentioned and a Town & Country, which my neighbor swears by -- then again, her husband worked for Chrysler.
They'd still need head support and lap-shoulder belts in every position. And they'd appreciate the extra room. I'd choose an 8 passenger Sienna. Excellent safety ratings (better than the T and C) and seats more people safely.
I still think they would have a larger vehicle for family trips, but I could see around-town being in the minivan most times.
Except when they are driving around kids AND kids' friends. That happens, you know, even in large families.
My husband's first boss had 10 kids. They owned a 15 passenger, an 8 passenger, 2 5 passenger vehicles, plus 2 trucks for hauling and such.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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A swoop-fendered car known as a Bufori, made in Malaysia. The cars get their inspiration from 1930s cars but include modern details like ergonomic adjustable seats, a satellite navigation system and Bluetooth telephone. This car is the Bufori MKIII La Joya, a two-seater with a V6 engine and a five-speed tip tronic gear box. Inside, is glossy wood and soft leather with gold details on the dials. Available in the States with a base price of around $110,000.
If we're dreaming . . . Posts: 5609 | Registered: Jan 2003
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