My Automotive History

My automotive history begins with the white 1970 Peugeot 402 in which I was driven home from the hospital after I was born. My parents traded it for a navy blue 1974 BMW 518 two years later. This was followed by a white 1976 BMW 520. In 1977 we got a red Honda CVCC (BPZ-033) as a second car. This little gem had a manual choke and an automatic transmission. In 1979 we moved to the US which began an 8-year dark period in my automotive history. Upon our arrival, my family bought a maroon 1980 Chevrolet Citation (277-BGE) and a year later we also got a silver 1972 Buick LeSabre. In 1984 we traded the Buick in for a maroon '84 Nissan Stanza hatchback. In 1986 we traded the Stanza for a tan 1986 Nissan Stanza Wagon (659-ETS). In 1987 we traded the Chevrolet in for a navy blue 1987 Mercedes 190E 2.3 (916-NHD) which my mother still drives today with about 100,000 miles. 1990 was the glorious year in which I bought my first car, a navy blue 1987 VW Golf GL (628-RSN) with 104,000 miles. People said I was crazy for buying such a high mileage car, but when I sold it in 1994 with 184,000 miles it was still running like a top. In June 1994 I bought my first brand new car, a VW Golf /// LE (EW-10566) and also a 1974 VW SunBug (796-ZYI) in July. In 1995 I briefly had a black 1972 Mercedes 250E with 80,000 original miles. In 1997 I bought my first motorcycle, a 1980 Yamaha XS-400G (XK8250) with 19,000 miles. Not a crotch rocket, but a fun ride nevertheless. In 1997 I moved to New Zealand and sold the 1974 SunBug but kept the 1994 Golf in storage (with 85,000 miles). In New Zealand I bought a 1980 VW Golf GTI (PA1696) with 120,000km on the clock. I also bought a Honda NV400SP motorcycle (59RYT) with 87,000km. I then returned to the US to pursue an MBA and sold the New Zealand vehicles towards the end of 1998.

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