This is interesting for me to comment on. When I was very young, I liked riding in the Fords both my aunts owned. One aunt was handed down my Grandmother’s dark blue 1966 Falcon Futura 4-door My other aunt drove a baby blue 1967 Galaxie 500 XL hardtop coupe. My father had a lime green metallic 1967 Mustang hardtop. There was always something about the design, colors, shapes and textures of Fords that I liked at an early age.

I the early 70s, I aquired a festish for Ford Country Squire wagons with dual or rear facing third seats. When the 1972 Pinto Squire Wagon came out, I thought it was cool, just right sized for a small kid like me lol.

In general, I ended up liking other Fords that came along. I particularly liked the 1975 Granada coupes. Still though Pintos remained a favorite. My Galaxie 500 aunt by the mid 70s had a white 1966 Toronado which I thought was cool, especially the flat floor. She traded the Toronado for a new yellow 1976 Mercury Bobcat which she had until she passed away 3 years ago. I learned how to drive a stickshift in that Bobcat.

Meanwhile my mother had bought a red 1974 Mustang II notchback which I liked very much at that time. Later she ended up with a 76 Torino wagon which she had to sell and replace with a medium dark blue 1974 Mustang II notchback.

By these times, Charlie’s Angels was on full force on prime time Wednesday night TV. I had a weekly dose of Farrah’s Cobra II. I was finally getting near driving age, so I would fantasize about getting my driver’s license and look for used white with blue stripe Cobra IIs in the Auto Trader. In 1980, I found a 1976 on a used Buick dealer lot for $1700. My dad snapped it up for me. It was alittle rough around the edges and high mileage but it would run. So started my passion for this particular Mustang II. By then the all new 1979-81 Fox Mustangs had been out. I liked them at the time but I didn’t care that I had the older much cooler looking Cobra II like Farrah had.

Well when you are young you eventually tire of old worn out things that don’t run well. I’d crush on other kinds of new cars thinking I could get something newer. For some reason I liked this particular 1980 Dodge Mirada in light blue metallic, smooth roof no vinyl, dark blue vnyl bucket seats and the Tuff sport steering wheel. Some time later this really nice red 1966 Mustang hardtop showed up on a used lot. Back then they were cheap like an ordinary used car. Then I later I had a crush on a 1982 Ford EXP. All I did was think about these cars for awhile but it just wasn’t reality.

A few years passed and I get to my senior year in high school. My Cobra II was starting to turn into a clunker. Meanwhile I started to go Camaro crazy since the 3rd gen F-bodies came out. For a senior year early graduation gift, I was allowed to order a 1983 base Camaro with just T-tops and a few inexpensive dress up options. No AC and no power options. 4-cyl with stick shift. It was realitively slow but I didn’t care. It looked good and handled better than any car I had ever droven before.

A few years pass. At some point I bought an older 1978 Ford LTD II 2dr HT with the sports touring package. I was bk those old Ford interiors that I really loved. I still had the 83 Camaro at the time which I intended to sell but didn’t. I really wanted a Z28 with the V8 and AC. So I bought a 1985 model. The 83 Camaro was traded and the LTD II sold outright.

I absolutely loved the Z28 at the time. I had it until it was almost paid for too. After that car for almost five years I bought an 89 Grand Prix at the end of model year sale. I was bored and wanted a new car. It was not too long that I traded it for a 1989 Z28 Convertible. Then turned around in 1992 and got a new Firebird T-top.

Then suddenly passion was building again over the upcoming 1994 Mustang made in a style with classic cues that I always wanted Ford to build that way. No more generic Fox Box sedan look that was more suited as an updated Pinto. I ended up buying a 1994 Mustang convertible. I was back in the passion of Mustangs and Fords. After this car I had two used Tbirds, 1985 and 1989. The 89 had minor front end damage I repaired with 1996-97 parts.

More years pass that I won’t bore anyone with. More cars out of necessity. After the 1989 Tbird I traded for a 1999 Mustang. After that a 2003 Escape because I became a home improvement nut and needed to haul shit frequently. There were other boring old cars in between. Then came my 2008 Mustang and 2010 Mustang. Both fueled passion for Mustangs again because they were retromodern like old Fords I loved.

I have not had any passionate cars since. I am just glad to no longer be burning up since the end of 2013 in a 1991 Ford Probe with no AC. My used 2003 Toyota Matrix with working AC and 30 mpg is just lovely to me, especially with the shitty factory Delco GM radio removed, replaced with a touch screen audio video player with a back up camera. Oh and ice blue interior LED lights...

I still get passion looking at many classic cars and late model 2015+ Mustangs...