Illustrated History of My Vehicles COMPLETED!

[DarrenDriven]

#24) 2004 Nissan Titan Crewcab (JAN08-OCT10)
After a couple of years of cramming people into the little back seats of my Tundra, and kicking myself for buying a 2WD truck, I relented and found this Titan with super low miles for a killer price. To this day, I have no idea why the sale price was so low because I never had a single issue with the truck. Ended up selling it over two years later for a little MORE than I paid for it! That is rare!

[DarrenDriven]

#25) 2000 Chevrolet Tracker (AUG09-DEC09)
I wanted a cheap, fuel-efficient little rig that I could thrash without having to worry too much about it. It was summer, this Tracker could go topless and was cheap, cheap, cheap so it became mine.

I hated everything about it. The 12=.6L was gutless. The interior was falling apart. The soft top was a PITA to remove or reinstall. When the weather turned bad I got rid of this... my cousin bought it and presented it to his 16-year-old son as his first car. He promptly burned out the clutch then toasted the transmission. Adios Tracker!

[DarrenDriven]

#26) 2005 Honda S2000 w/ GReddy Turbo (OCT09-AUG10)
After selling the SC430 and trying to replace the open-air fun with a Chevy Tracker (what could I have been thinking?) I firmed my search for a fun car. This AP2 S2000 was salvaged, but looked great... as long as you didn't look at the frame too closely. But for $10,000 with only 45k on it, how could I go wrong? I bought it from an elderly man whose back was in pain from daily driving this car along his 1/2 mile gravel, rutted driveway. His wife made him sell the car.

A local shop had a brand new GReddy turbo kit sitting in willcall when a special order fell through, so I actually got the kit for less than wholesale cast. The favor owed me by another shop resulted in a free installation of that kit, so for around $12k I now drove a turbo S2K.

All was great until one day a woman driving a brand new GMC SUV tried to force her way onto the freeway on-ramp at the front of a long line of waiting cars. When I refused to let her in her boyfriend int he passenger seat threw his Big Gulp at me, which hit me in the shoulder and Coke splashed all over my interior. I nailed the brakes as she drove too close and my front fender dragged down the entire side of her SUV. We pulled over on the on-ramp and I almost dragged her boyfriend from the rig, but instead called the cops and waited.

After a 30-minute wait a cop finally showed up, only to get T-boned while crossing the busy intersection near us. Another hour passed as ambulances, fire engines and more police saturated the area. Ultimately no tickets were issued as the GMC driver said that I hit her and cops were unsympathetic since one of their own was now in the emergency room because of our altercation.

The impact of the SUV tweaked the car's frame even more and now I couldn't get the steering back into alignment at all. Driving the car on the freeway was a little scary now, so I threw the car on Craigslist. A kid from Seattle bought it, quite a steal for a turbo S2K. A week later he called me. I was prepared to hear him bitching me out for selling him a ruined car, but instead he was just thanking me again for selling him such a great car for such a low price. All is well.

[DarrenDriven]

#27) 1996 Ford E350 Shuttle Van "Bondo Condo" (MAY10-OCT11)
My house, a five-year renovation project, was on the market and I was going to spend some time traveling, so I bought a 17-passenger shuttle bus and converted it a camping rig. The wheelchair lift was converted to lift my motorcycle into the back, all of the seats were tossed and bunk beds and an entertainment center was installed, and the exterior got a custom spray paint scheme and a few other little extra touches. To say this rig attracted attention was an understatement. I spent about a year towing my wakeboard boat around Oregon and often called Lake Billy Chinook or Maupin home. Finally sold the rig to a snowboarding outfit on Mt. Hood so they could use it as a promotional vehicle. I still see it around occasionally.



What it looked like when I bought it...

[DarrenDriven]

#28) 2008 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited (FEB11-JUL11)
For some silly reason I thought that I could own one vehicle that satisfied all of my needs. Topless fun motoring in the summer, four doors to shuttle friends around, trailer towing for working on the house, 4WD for nasty winter weather and going up to the mountain... the Jeep solves everything, right? Ugh, I owned it for four months and I couldn't wait to get rid of it. The pathetic 3.7L V6 couldn't maintain speed on the freeway and unexpected cold or wet weather was a bad match for a convertible that didn't bring it's roof around with it. Hello, goodbye, Jeep.

[DarrenDriven]

#29) 2005 Pontiac GTO (JUL11-NOV11)
LS2 6.0L V8. That is the only explanation for this car's existence. This particular car had intake, exhaust and an aftermarket chip that pushed the powerplant to over 450hp. In my quest to find the best bang for the buck fun car, this one is up there. $13,000 for a car that looks like a Cavalier but drives like a Vette seems fair. If only it didn't start falling apart before hitting the 100k mark. Someday I will own another LS2-powered car, but not if its hidden in a GM jelly bean.

[Jonesy86]

Ls2 frs maybe?!

[DarrenDriven]

Originally Posted by Jonesy86

Ls2 frs maybe?!

Hmmmm.

[DarrenDriven]

#30) 2007 Dodge Ram Quadcab (JUL11-JUL14)
I wasn't looking for a burly lifted truck, but @TraviigotSWAG found this one pretty cheap and when I took it for a test drive I loved the raised view. It got terrible gas mileage (5.7L Hemi w/ 11.5" wide tires), getting in and out was a challenge (no steps), loading anything in the bed was a huge pain and trying to park downtown was nearly impossible (can't fit in a garage)... but the respect that I got on the road made it all worth it. Sometimes I feel invisible on the road in my little cars, but nobody missed this thing. I am pretty sure everyone assumed the driver was an asshole and had a big gun, but I tried to be as polite as possible when I was in the Ram.

[DarrenDriven]

#31) 2005 Nissan 350Z Roadster (DEC11-MAY12)
I just sold the GTO because it was sort of a pile of crap, but I wanted something fun to drive. I found this Z on Craigslist for $13,000 with low miles and a burned out clutch. I emailed and waited... almost a week before I got a response. I thought it was a scam because the car was priced so low, but it turned out that the owner was an elderly woman who had bought the car after her husband had died. She had almost immediately toasted the clutch, then let the car sit for over a year under some pine trees next to her trailer park home.

When I showed up to look at the car, I was horrified. A year of pine needles and sap had given the car a Mad Max appearance. I managed to get it started and drove it tenderly around the trailer park. The clutch slipped badly, but it would drive. I offered her $10,000 and she agreed immediately. I should have offered less!

A new clutch and some deep cleaning brought the Z back to new like-condition. I lowered her and bolted on some 19" Axis Allies. Unfortunately, I was less than impressed with the interior and didn't really like driving the car with the rubber band tires on it. I threw her on Craigslist for $17,000 for around a $5000 profit and immediately a buyer for a nearby dealership snatched her up. Adios.

[DarrenDriven]

#32) 1999 Isuzu Amigo (MAY12-NOV12)
After testing the waters of a small SUV with the horrible Tracker, then going full bore on the anorexic Wrangler, I finally settled on something that I liked. This little Amigo was something I had wanted since high school but had forgotten about. I liked that the rear portion of the roof was a removeable hardtop and that it had two sunroofs with the roof attached. This one was 2WD with the four-cylinder and a manual transmission... quite fun to drive, but a little underpowered.

It wasn't long before the timing belt jumped, bending all sixteen valves in the little 2.2L. After fixing that myself, and not truly trusting the engine anymore, I got rid of this little beast... but the seed of addiction was growing.

[DarrenDriven]

#33) 2013 Scion FR-S w/ Innovate Supercharger (JUN12-JAN15)
My search for a fun new car was finally answered when the concept FT86 became reality. Lightweight and relatively cheap, I couldn't plunk my deposit down at the Scion dealership fast enough. I was Portland's first Asphalt 86er, and the second owner in the city to take delivery of the car, the first being a contest winner who got his car a month early.

Over the course of the next couple of years she received numerous upgrades, most prominently a supercharger that added much needed power and torque. Ultimately, I decided to sell off the FR-S after getting in trouble for driving her stupidly too many times. She went to Spokane with her new owner, so keep your eyes open!

[DarrenDriven]

#34) 2001 Isuzu Rodeo Sport (DEC12-)


#35) 2001 Isuzu Rodeo Sport (DEC12-JAN13)
After liquidating my 1999 Amigo, I stumbled across two very low-mile replacements at about the same time. Both were 4WD with the upgraded 3.2L V6 instead of the lame 2.2L four-cylinder. The silver rig was SUPER cheap, but an automatic. The black rig was a manual that came with a soft-top AND an extra hard top. I bought both, swapped a few parts around and then sold the silver rig. The new owner is the mayor of Tequila, Mexico!

The black rig is still one of the favorite vehicles that I have ever owned. During the summer I remove the roof and the sunroof glass for open air driving, and during the cold season the hard top seals out the elements perfectly. A set of studded tires and 4WD makes snow a lot of fun! I am a little embarrassed to admit that I really, never want to get rid of this little toy.

[DarrenDriven]

#36) 2006 GMC Savana Cargo Van (JUL14-)
I have to confess that I watched a few too many episodes of Sons of Anarchy when I shopped for this van. Their support rig was exactly what I wanted... and I pretty much got it. This GMC Savana isn't your run of the mill van, though. It has the extremely rare driver's side barn doors (in addition to the passenger side barn doors) and the fairly-rare AWD drivetrain. The inside has all custom tweed panels and a raised platform in the back that is perfect for throwing a mattress down and camping.