There's a thread over at Pistonheads inviting people to list all of the cars they've owned. Let's focus a bit more: What are the three cars you've owned that you've loved the most...and what are three you never really bonded with the way you hoped to? (I'm not talking about that Chevette somebody gave you when you were starving and needed to get to your night job...rather a car you thought you'd enjoy but didn't).

Here's mine to get us started:

Loved Most:
2006 Aston Martin DB9 Volante
1974 Lotus Europa Special
1981 Porsche 928S (gray market)

Disappointments:
1971 Ford Mustang Mach One
1985 Merkur Xr4ti
2001 Audi A6 2.7t

 

Favorites:
My Lagonda's (1984, 1985 and 1988) - the look, smell, and uniqueness.
My Vantages (2007, 2009, 2015 GT, 2015 V12S, and replacement V12S) - the 2015 GT and the 2007 the most visceral, however, the V12S the most 'special'.
MY 928's (I've had probably 6 or 7 over the years).

Worst Ever:
My 2015 Mustang 4 cylinder - with the miniscule engine seemed far to big and ponderous - a land yacht, could not wait till the lease was up.
1974 MG Midget - most fun I ever had driving - but the car literally fell apart as it was driven.
Chevy Vega - literally rusted away as I owned it... went to a power car wash once and without any indication there was rust, the entire front right fender fell off.

 

Favorites:
1967 Pontiac GTO
2007 Aston Martin V8 Vantage
1969 Chevrolet Corvette

Disappointments:
1988 Jeep Grand Wagoneer (liked the vehicle but reliability was dismal)

I've had lots of cars and liked them all. The Grand Wagoneer was the only car I've ever had that wasn't reliable.

 

My favorites:
1. AM DB9 2005 6spd Manual
2. MB E63 AMG 2008 x2
3. 2011 RRSSC
4. 2006 Maserati Quattroporte F1

Seconds:
2004 Chevy Suburban
1993 Corvette Conv
1989 Corvette

Worst:
2000 Lexus ES300
2002 Chevy Suburban
1999 Dodge 1500 Quad Cab

 

Picking only 3 best/worst is almost as tough as trying to remember every car that I have owned for the Pistonheads list.

I haven’t had the Vantage V8 Conv. long enough to decide which category it will belong to. Time will tell how fondly I look back at it.

Best: (based upon the memories I have of what they did for me at the time, rather than any performance comparison)
Triumph TR5
Lotus Elan S4 Sprint
Jaguar E-Type S2 Conv.

Notables:
Austin Mini Mk1 – Gotta love your first car for the freedom it finally gave you.
Saab 9-5 Aero - great mid-range punch
MB SL550 – I just sold it to make way for the Vantage

Worst:
Austin 1100 - I understand why Basil Fawlty beat his car with a tree branch.
“ START! Start, you vicious bastard! Come on! Oh, my God! I'm warning you, if you don't start...! I'll count to three: 1... 2... 3, right, that's it! I've had enough!
You tried it on just once too often! Right! Well, don't say I haven't warned you! I've laid it on the line for you time and time again! Right! So, this is it! I'm gonna give you a damn good thrashing!“

MGB - The excitement of getting my first sports car was soon let down by the realization that I wasn't excited about it and wanted a Triumph TR instead. Sorry MGB fans.

Lotus Elan S2 - The excitement of getting my first Lotus was soon let down by the realization that I had bought a poorly maintained dog. The S4 Sprint made up for it later.

 

Top 3:
2010 DB9 Volante. Had her now for 2 years and I have a disturbing amount of love for this car.

1999 Volvo C70 HPT Coupe. Was my first “dream car” purchase and was a beauty, with a fantastic sound system. Pity about the turbo lag.

2002 Jaguar XJR 100. Fabulously British, and quite rare, with plenty of ooomph from that supercharger. Was unfortunately a tad sensitive to potholes, and that’s a problem in NJ & NYC.

Worst 3:
Audi A6 Avant. I love wagons (currently have a 2005 Volvo XC70 boat with 80k miles and love it to bits), however the Audi was good until it flooded from a 2 day rainstorm. All because a leaf clogged a drain hole in the battery compartment next to the front wind screen. Audi refused to help, and since then I’ve refused to buy another Audi.

2011 Toyota Rav4 V6. An absolute sleeper, it’s a little rocket. However, sounds like a tin can every time you close the door and contrary to Toyota reputation, had a number of issues before hitting 10k miles.

1999 Cadillac Seville STS. 32 valve northstar v8! Where do you sign up? This was my first new car when coming to the US. I like big cars so it felt good at first, however, even with that big engine, was underpowered (the afore mentioned rav4 would have kept up). It was also painful to get serviced. I know Cadillac have been working to improve the brand and experience - for good reason. I went through 3 dealers, complained to corporate and yet couldn’t get a good service experience. Was happy to say good bye.

 

favourites
1965 Triumph TR4 (still got it)
2007 B7 RS4 (sold for the V8V)
2007 V8VM

least favourite
Series 1 Discovery
Suzuki Swift GTI

 

best.
1987 porsche 944... first porsche
2009 vantage
2001 Bmw 4.6 X5
2000 lotus esprit
worst
ford pinto (yes i had one)
Nissan pulsar
Honda accord (4 cyl)

 

Best:
Ferrari 330 GTC-best ever
Ferrari 246 Dino GTS
Aston V8V/14'
R8/15'
Worst:
2008 Porsche 911S (boring)
74' Alfa Spider
74' BMW 2002

 

LOL love how everyone can read the title/count to three ... guess I'll just have to break the rules, too.

I won't include my current V12VS.

FAVES

'93 VW Corrado VR6 (had it 13 years, modded the hell out of it, including turbocharging - God, I miss that car)

'14 Jaguar XFR-S (just turned it in at lease end; without question the best daily driver I've ever owned; such a beautiful beast of a car)

'04 Audi RS6 (bank vault build quality; monster all weather performance; the best rainy trackday equalizer)

'12 V12V ('nuff said)

'08 Lotus Exige S240 (antidote to all modern cars; what steering is supposed to feel like; still own it, duh...)


3 DISAPPOINTMENTS

'01 Audi TT 225Q (good looks, winter traction, little else to recommend)

'09 V8 Vantage 4.7 (sacrilege I know, but this was my first Aston and the engine and suspension were let downs)

'01 BMW 330i (let down by a slush box transmission but meh handling and build quality)

 

FAVORITES

1970 Jaguar E-Type Roadster
1987 Porsche 911 Cabriolet
2009 Aston Martin Vantage Roadster
(Still own them all)

DISAPPOINTMENTS
1985 Plymouth Voyager (so bad it counts for 3 cars)

 

Loved most:
2016 Vantage GT
1965 jaguar E-Type coupe
2011 Lotus Evora 2-0

Disappointments:
1999 Mercedes SLK sport / stick
1974 Triumph Spitfire (AKA S**T fire)
1983 Pontiac Trans Am / Stick
1986 Mustang SVO / stick
The list could go on, but you get the point.
Ron

 

Loved most:

1. 2007 V8V (newest love)
2. 1985 BMW 635CSi (I wish ex-brother-in-law didn't crash it)
3. 2013 Subaru BRZ (most fun to drive AND reliable car I've owned)

Disappointments:

1. 1997 Mercedes E420 ("old man" car that wasn't reliable)
2. 2002 Saab 93 Viggen (Convertible & Turbo fun until engine blew)
3. 2001 GMC Jimmy 4X4 (let down after years of owning Jeeps)

 

Loved:

1. 2008 V8V (of course - my dream car)
2. 2008 Mitsubishi Evo X MR (highly modified track car - regularly beats Porsches, Ferraris, Corvettes. Absolutely bullet-proof - thrash the living daylights out of it on the track, then drive it home)
3. 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia (only car that gets as many stares as the Aston)

Hated (all when I was poor and couldn't afford nice cars!):

1. Honda CRV (underpowered, uncomfortable)
2. Honda Civic (piece of junk, replaced by a Nissan Altima, which I loved!)
3. Nissan Murano (a nice 3.5L V6 ruined by a horrible CVT transmission)

 

Top 3 favorites:
1. 2007 V8 Vantage - This is the fun car I have owned the longest and I do not see myself selling it anytime soon.
2. 2002 Honda S2000 - My first fun car. I thought it was a great driving experience until I bought #3 below.
3. 2005 Lotus Elise - It is the true definition of driving experience and feedback. I found myself rarely driving it because of Phoenix traffic and feeling vulnerable in the tiny thing. I parted with it to purchase the Vantage.

Top 3 disappointments:
1. 2013 Focus ST - FWD failure with an electronic differential. All said electronic system wanted to do was burn up the brakes. The only way to truly disable it was to reflash the car which would void any powertrain warranty. I bought it as a part time track toy and have since went back to first generation Miatas for that purpose.
2. 2012 Lexus CT200h - The pretentious Prius. I thought it would be a great daily driver but I was horribly mistaken. It was the definition of an automotive appliance - no enjoyment at all. My 2016 Audi A3 e-Tron replaced it and has plenty of power and 20 miles pure electric range (the office is 5 miles from home).
3. 2006 Chevy Colorado - The only vehicle I have ever lemon law returned to a manufacturer. With ambient temps below 50 deg F. the truck would refuse to start. They could reproduce the issue at the dealer but never fixed it. 7 trips later I filed a lemon law claim.