A Miata, A Muscle Car, A Hot Hatch And More: Members’ Rides

Welcome to Members’ Rides! This is where we share the cars and stories of Autopian Members. The potential to be featured here is a perk for Autopian Members of every level, from the ultra-affordable “Cloth” tier all the way up to “Rich Corinthian Leather.” Click that link and join today!

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This week’s featured Member is Gene, an ex-journalist who now does PR and communications for a family services nonprofit near Albany, NY. He’s got an incredibly fun garage! We’ve got everything from classic American muscle to a little convertible and a European hot hatch. The diversity here is just awesome to me. Out of all the Member Rides stories I’ve posted so far, this might be the garage I most relate to and aspire to replicate. Not because any one of these cars in particular is extra special to me, but because there’s some of everything in it, and I love that!

How did you get into cars?

I’ve been obsessed forever, reading and memorizing year/make/model from registration stickers from age 4. I love love loved the Dukes of Hazzard. At 45, I’m at well over 200 cars bought and sold since I was 15. I’ve owned maybe 10 nice cars. I just love driving different things. Each car has a story to tell and a lesson to teach.

I’m always on the hunt for new experiences, even in cars that most people think are mundane. I can’t have something that bores me. Cars are the animating force of my entire existence, and driving something that deadens my soul is impossible to stand.

What’s currently in the garage?

• 1969 Dodge Coronet
• 1990 Miata
• 2013 Mustang GT Convertible
• 2013 Ford Escape
• 2004 Sebring ‘vert
• GTI
• 2011 Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor

How did you come by the Coronet?

When I was a kid (I am still a kid), I loved The Dukes of Hazzard more than anything. That show and the Love Bug were my formative car touchstones. I wasn’t much of a mechanic (more afraid to try than anything, despite tons of support from my father), so a few abortive project cars in my middle teens languished. Junior year of college in Syracuse, NY, I saw an online classified for the Coronet about 60 miles away.

I drove my 1987 Dodge Daytona Shelby Z to meet this middle-aged farmer who was preparing to move down to Florida, traded keys and titles, and brought the Coronet home. Though I almost didn’t make it farther than the first gas station…I couldn’t figure out how to fill the tank, until some kindly stranger directed me to the filler behind the license plate. The night I brought it home, I went back outside twice (including once at 3 a.m.) just to take it around the block. I could not believe it was mine.

Wow, you’ve had that a long time. How is it?

It’s needed paint and some bodywork ever since I’ve owned it. It has received none. It’s a 318, has headers and glasspack mufflers, I added a carb and intake. I’ve had it to the Mopar Nationals in Ohio, to Chryslers at Carlisle, and countless local shows despite the fact that it’s not much to look at. It sat for six years in the late 2000s, and these days I only drive it a few times a year, but the driver’s seat of this car will always be home.

Have you had many issues with it?

I drove the car on many road trips, always without a sweat, except for the electric fuel pump starving in the heat at stoplights. It did die at a tollbooth near Columbus, Ohio one time, but five minutes of cooling down brought it back to life. That’s the thing about this car; I always felt like I could keep it moving with duct tape and pliers, no matter what broke. Rolling down interstate highways in that car has always been my favorite form of meditation. The headers and glasspacks playing a beat at 70 MPH soothes my soul like nothing else in existence. 

I’m sure you have some great memories in that car.

It’s funny; I don’t know that I have any specific great stories about the car. Everything just blends into one 25-year warm glow. Countless days in the sun at car shows, talking to whoever’s parked next to me; people wanting to talk about the one they used to have when they see it at gas stations, the thousands of people who ask “Geez, when ya gonna paint it?” 

Never, friend. The car’s going to stay a little rough, just like me.

I drove it everywhere from April to October when I first got it. We have a family camp in the Adirondack Mountains, and when the whole family is there parking gets a little tight. I remember one morning I parked it in the front yard, right next to the neighbor’s elevated yard. I was about a foot from the low stone wall that put the neighbor’s yard about level with my hood. I slept that night on the camp front porch, maybe 10 feet from the car. I awoke around 5 a.m. to watch a good-sized deer walk across the neighbor’s yard onto the hood of my favorite thing in the world. So I jump up and run out the door, chasing the deer off in my boxer shorts. 

It sat for about five years in a remote storage facility in the late oughts, as I blundered through my late 20s. Eventually, I came to my senses and dragged it home. Now, keep in mind, when I parked it I didn’t do anything right…didn’t drain the fuel, change the oil, winterize anything…nothing at all. It came off the trailer at home, I swapped a new fuel pump onto it, and it fired within 10 seconds. 

What led to the Miata?

I picked it up in 2010 right before my wedding. We’d never owned a convertible. The car had been in a hailstorm, and rather than fix the tiny dents it was repainted with an incredibly thick coat of paint, which has cracked and flaked off over the years. I paid $1,200 for it with a bad clutch; my sainted father did the clutch while I was on my honeymoon, and it’s been almost entirely trouble-free ever since. It looks worse every year, but I absolutely love driving it. It will likely never see a paint booth.

How do you like it?

The car has lived up to the hype from day one. After the clutch was done, it was trouble-free for 10 summers. We took it to the camp a few times, but packing for two people for a weekend meant my wife’s lap became cargo space. I will say that about two and a half hours is all the time I ever wanted to spend in the car; it fits like a glove, but not for an entire day. 

There’s just a joyous feeling of mechanical simplicity to the car. I know there are electronics, but the car creates the feeling that your foot is literally attached to the fuel injectors and that each micron of movement is translated into a skosh more or less throttle. Newer cars feel like simulations; the Miata feels like reality. 

How’s the Mustang?

I bought this in 2016 because I wanted something nice. It was and still is, mostly. I added an intake and a Borla catback, and it’s been pretty trouble-free. I think my challenge with this car is that I haven’t found its soul. It makes cool noises, has good power, behaves well, but even after 60,000 miles in the seat it still doesn’t feel like my friend. It’s mostly just a tool.

What led to the great Escape?

I bought this because I needed a winter car. Then my wife claimed it. It’s got 193-plus thousand miles now and it’s still chugging along. It has the 2.0 turbo, it’s got a newer trans in it, leather, loaded, it’s a perfectly good commuter and ends up being our road trip car. No complaints.

How did the Sebring come into the fold?

I’m a terrible influence. My wife, who is a saint for indulging my car sickness, wanted to have both summer and winter cars the same way I do. I found this Sebring one state over in late 2022 owned by a hot rodder who took immaculate care of it, only had 84k miles on it. It’s competent and hasn’t had any issues since we’ve had it, but it’s the absolute last thing in our fleet that I’d drive given the choice (no disrespect to Tha God SWG). 

And you recently added a Crown Vic?

Last week, I couldn’t resist picking up a 2011 Crown Vic Police Interceptor. It has 303,000 miles on it. It was an unmarked car, so it has a full cloth interior, aluminum wheels, and looks mostly civilian. I bought it from a guy who’s been using it as an Uber since 2017 and 120,000 miles. It’s got so many new parts and it’s so clean! There’s a ding or two outside, but inside it’s incredible. I bought it as a backup to the GTI, and also because I felt like the car needed a good home. Plus it had a new NYS inspection sticker on it, and inspections are the bane of my existence. Even on my newer stuff, I always hold my breath.

What’s the story with the GTI?

I had a 328IX for a short time, and after selling that, I wanted something somewhat presentable but entertaining. I’ve had a few 2000s-2010s Audis and VWs, enjoying them while experiencing enough expensive breakage that I knew they weren’t great bets as reliable daily drivers.

Not that I listen to me. This car has had some mods. Things like a blow-off valve, a sorta-reputable tune, it’s lowered an inch. It pulls hard through all the gears, though with the tune the power comes on like a light switch. Nothing, nothing, still nothing, then BOOM. Not what I’d have chosen, but it’s fun regardless. It handles well, has made a few 300-mile trips, and aside from needing tires, plugs, fuel injectors, O2 sensors, calipers, e-brake cables, and a few other things, it’s been a peach. 

What’s in the dream garage?

This changes all the time. When I got married in 2010 we pulled together a list of the cars I’d owned, and I think it was close to 100 then. Let’s just say that I haven’t slowed down since. And almost nothing has been especially nice or fancy. Lots and lots of beaters.

I just like experiencing different things. I would love a ’71 C10. I had one year back. It did 40 years of farm labor, then a kid kind of hotrodded it. It was low, had a stupid tunnel ram sticking through the hood, and it ran pretty lousy, but I loved it. I just want stuff that gives me the feeling in the pit of my stomach that I get when I’m cresting the hill of a rollercoaster. Maybe that’s a Hellcat Charger. I just want to drive anything and everything. I love being surprised by the dynamic goodness of an unexpected, unloved car.

I couldn’t say it better myself. Thanks Gene!

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