The long and winding road to Insight ownership...

[Lee]

’47 Studebaker Champion, came home on the end of a rope. I was 15 at the time.
’71 Fiat 850 Spider, also came home on a rope. I rebuilt the top end of the engine (twice) and drove this one to high school.
’74 Toyota Corolla station wagon. Belonged to my Dad but he had pity on me always fixing the Fiat.
’71 Fiat 850 Coup with a 124 twin cam engine dropped in to it (1400 cc). Fast but never ran long.
’71 Fiat 850 Coup. Parts car to keep the other two running. Toyota died about this time.
’71 VW Karmann ghia convertible. Dumped the Fiat spider.
’77 VW Rabbit, came home on the end of a rope. About this time I sold the Fiat with the transplanted engine to pay for a ring (best car deal I ever made).
’80 VW Rabbit pickup diesel. Wife’s office mate gave this to us, steelership said it had a cracked head and no trade in value. I replaced a hose and drove it for another 60k miles.
’85 Honda Prelude, came with the wife deal (I list it here but I didn’t get to drive it much)
’74 VW Bus, came home on a rope. I always wanted one of these, not sure why. I got rid of the Rabbit and the Bus about the same time.
’85 Toyota mini truck. This is the first vehicle I owned worth more than $500, Dad gave it to me when the Rabbit pick up died, he had pity on me as I was trying to go back to school after working as a mechanic for 6 years (handy skill when you have a bunch of junk cars).
’91 Honda CRX HF. Replaced the Prelude, this was my wife’s car till I graduated collage and started working then we traded.
’85 Chevy van with a diesel. Came home on the end of a rope, replaced the engine then sold the Toyota.
’97 Honda Civic HX. Replaced the CRX, first new car that I got to pick
’04 Chevy truck, crew cab with a Duramax diesel. This was supposed to replace the van but my wife continued to use the van for a while for its seating capacity.
’06 Honda Insight. This is how I got here.

So currently I have a ’47 Studebaker in the barn. I have never driven this car but I have sunk plenty of $ in to it, but it is not restored yet. ’85 Chevy van that I should dump but my kids like driving it around the property. ’04 Chevy truck that sits in the drive most of the time, it’s used to tow and haul as needed but not driven otherwise. ’97 Civic my wife drives and the Insight.

[Aaron Cake]

This is still such a great topic...

1976 Mazda RX-5 Cosmo
Owned: 2007 - Present
As I was driving by a local auto wreckers a few months ago, I spotted what first appeared to be an old Datsun waiting to be crushed. Closer inspection revealed that it was in fact a Mazda RX-5, one of the more rare rotary cars of that era. While popular in Japan, the RX-5 was not a big hit in North America due to it's odd styling created by the Japanese interpretation of American cars of the time. This particular RX-5 is in remarkable shape. My only guess is that it was someone's project car and they either got bored or could not complete the project. All the necessary body work has been done and the car sits in primer. Basically complete it's just going to need a few minor touch ups before it's painted. The interior will need some work, and I'm planning to swap in the EFI 13B from an '84 RX-7. Overall it's going to be a simple restoration, but parts will be a little hard to find.

RX-7 Forum post with pictures:
http://www.rx7club.com/forum/showthread.php?t=687592

YouTube Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWmHLbUyY0k

[uhtrinity]

1976 Subaru 2 door - first car in High School
1988 Yugo GL - Fun to drive and so low tech you could make road side repairs with a screw driver a pair of pliers
1989 Isuzu Space Cab
1994 GMC Jimmy - Totaled in head on in 2003
1994 Ford Explorer - My backup to the Insight
1997 Saturn SC2
2000 Insight

[Caryfd227]

1986 Pontiac Fiero SE V-6
1988 Pontiac Fiero GT V-6 (with T-Tops ... rare!!)
1986 Pontiac Fiero GT V-6
1992 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Diesel
2001 Yamaha YZF-R6
2002 Subaru Impreza WRX
2005 Subaru Impreza STi
2006 Honda Insight

[orac]

How did I miss this thread the first time around? I'm glad it's been resurrected.

1973 Ford Maverick, sky blue, 2-dr, AT, 200 cu in straight 6 (1981-1984) sold to my brother's ex-girlfriend.

1977 Honda Accord hatchback, blue, MT, 1600cc 4cyl (1984-1989) bought from my sister-in-law, developed a bad oil leak so donated it to charity for the tax break.

1989 Ford Probe, titanium, MT, 2.2 liter (?) 4 cyl (1989-1999) special ordered new just like the one on the cover of the brochure. Sold after an accident to the right rear quarter panel I didn't want to bother repairing and as an excuse to buy a convertible.

1999 Ford Mustang convertible, chrome yellow, MT, 3.8 liter V-6 (1999-present) special ordered, turns out to be one of only 11 made with the int/ext/top color, engine and transmission combination. Still enjoy top down driving for errands most of the year.

2000 Honda Insight, silver, MT, 1.0 liter 3 cyl (2005-present) found on Craig's list. My daily commuter car (only 15 miles each way). Coming up on the end of my 2nd year of ownership happily averaging over 75 mpg since I bought it. (LMPG was under 50 when I got it.) Reading the forum here has helped me know the ins and outs of getting the most from it. I couldn't be happier.
___
Neil

[jack9994]

1974 Ford Escort Mk 1300 Sport
1982 Ford Fiesta 1.1
1984 Ford Fiesta XR2
1984 Vauxhall Astra 1.2
1982 Vauxhall Carlton Estate
1992 Audi 100 2.0E Estate
2000 Renault Grand Espace (for the family)
2001 Honda Insight (for me)
2006 Mitsubishi Evolution IX (sold about 2 months ago)

[Fred]

Got my CVT Silver Insight in June of '06 and before that I drove...I drove...for the life of me I can't seem to recall... ;)

Good one! :-)

Got to thinking that of all the cars I used to have or ever drove ... while the Austin Healy Sprite and the Mercedes 220D were supurb from the view of owner satisfaction, "The Silver Bullet" easily holds its own against those two - which were in fact really good cars.

Fred / Proud Owner of "The Silver Bullet"

[atlaw4u]

I purchased my first vehicle in 1986 when I turned 15. I don't know if I can recall all the vehicles I have owned since then but here goes:

1. 1982 GMC Cheyenne short bed
2. 1986 Mazda Rx7
3. 1989 Chevrolet Corvette convertible
4. 1991 Chevrolet GMC Cheyenne step-side
5. 1966 VW Karmann Ghia
6. 1972 VW Karmann Ghia
7. 1958 VW Karmann Ghia
8. 1959 VW Karmann Ghia
8. 1963 VW Karmann Ghia
9. 1955 VW Beetle Rag Top
10. 1956 VW Beetle Rag Top
11. 1994 Cevrolet Corvette convertible
12. 1996 Honda Civic DX Hatch back (great car)
14. 1991 Honda Accord EX sedan (stolen and never recovered)
13. 1997 Honda Accord LX sedan
14. 2000 Honda Civic coupe
15. 2002 Honda CR-V LX
16. 1999 Honda Accord LX sedan
17. 1999 Dodge Neon (worst car of them all)
18. 2007 Honda CR-V EXL
19. 1999 BMW 328i
20. 2002 BMW 325i (silver)
21. 2002 BMW 325i (blue)
22. 1969 Chevrolet Nova
23. 1997 Honda CBR 1100
24. 1999 Suzuki GSXR 1100
25. 1998 Suzuki GSXR 1100
26. 2000 Honda Shadow Aero 1100
27. 1968 Chevrolet Camaro
28. 2000 Honda Insight 5 speed (my favorite)

[ikhoudvanu199]

my rather short, and sad...but i am young

1991 honda civic DX
Owned: Oct 2005-May 2006
My dad bought it new, used it daily, then he upgraded to a new civic. Me being the oldest child got dad's old car when I got my liscence. unfortunatly i lost control when i hit sand on an onramp and totalled it. Not my fault, was not going too fast at all.

1992 Mazda MX-3 GS V6
Owned: June 2006-Jan 2007
I bought it as a replacement to the civic. Loved this car, put alot of work into it. But I totalled it by wrapping it around a telephone pole driving too fast in the rain. Totally my fault

EDIT: didn't know we were including motorcycles
2006 Honda CBR 600 f4i
Owned: Sept 2006-present
My first bike, love it. Bought it with the intention to have alot of fun on it as well as save some gas. Now that I have the insight the bike is purely for fun

1994 Geo Metro
Owned: Jan-Feb 2007
Only bought it as a replacement for the mazda cause i needed a car to drive(no public transportation out here). It cost $500 and i probably got ripped off. It shaked like crazy at anything over 60mph, smelled bad, and the drivers door barely opened.

2000 Honda Insight
Owned: Feb 2007-present
Needed a new car to replace the metro, was looking at possibilities and came across the car for sale at the local honda dealer. At the time it was the only Insight for sale on the east coast. Went into the dealer to ask about the 150k mile warranty(as cost of the batteries was my main concern). Came back the day later and bought the car. Traded in the Metro for about $3

[shifty35]

My list of cars is pretty short compared to some..

1991 Toyota Celica ST 5 spd
1995 Honda Civic EX Coupe 5 spd
1997 Honda Civic DX Hatchback 5 spd
2000 Honda Insight 5 spd

The Civic's were where I first got interested in cars... the 95 coupe ended up as a 260 hp turbo single cam monster, the second was ~150 hp single cam naturally aspirated.

Decided I'd give the atmosphere and millions of air breathing inhabitants a break and bought an Insight... favorite car by far.

I do look forward to high powered electric sports cars though... since energy is energy, there is technically no reason that fast acceleration should be inefficient.