I put this story here, because "what I'm driving today" seemed to require it.
I've always been a fan of European cars and cars that the people in Europe buy. Our overseas friends must understand that if you came of age before around 1986, you were required to buy a larger, less efficient American-made car. Fuel was cheap and mechanics were scared of "foreign cars," as were our parents. My father offered to help me get started with my first car, matching the funds I'd saved and paying my first year's insurance. He even offered to give me his aging early 70s two-door Chevrolet Impala, which was a pretty nice-driving car. When I settled on the Scirocco he withdrew the offer. He had an "I told you so moment" every time it broke down, which was often. But I still loved that car and went on to own around 14 of them, as well as Porsche, Audi and other VW products.
But the kids at high school drove 1970s Mercury Cougars, Chevrolet Impalas, Ford Mavericks and the like, They were heavy, relatively slow and inefficient but they conventional wisdom of the day insisted they'd be safest in an accident, since every other car on the road was built like a tank. I totaled (destroyed) a few VWs, usually driving too fast, but was never injured.
After decades of working on French and German cars and with a fishing boat to tow, I bought my first of two Jeep Cherokees (5 speeds - rare!), then a new Subaru (manual trans). By the way, almost every car I owned was a manual trans model, which was unusual among my peers. But I loved to shift. I was also tired of cars that needed attention, hence the move toward Japanese cars. I never, ever let anyone work on my cars and only recently paid to have a clutch installed (GASP) on the Subaru. A few weeks earlier, I replaced the lower control arms myself. I can't pay do have someone do an inferior version of a job that I could do myself. But removing and reinstalling the Subaru trans alone in my garage isn't safe at all these (post-HRT) days.
We ended up buying 2 more new Subarus over the coming years. My wife dives my 2016 six speed manual model (a rarity). We bought a heavy travel trailer (caravan) and I needed a stronger tow vehicle, so I kept it simple:
2023 Honda Passport. 3.5 litre motor, 9 speed ZF automatic, tows 3500 pounds. And the motor will go 350k miles if properly cared for. Fuel economy is less than acceptable for places with expensive petrol (U.S. prices are jumping now) but ok for this side of the pond.
