How Many Cars Have You Owned? How Many More Do You Think You’ll Own? Autopian Asks

The life of a car enthusiast is one that confuses some people. The average person might have a car or a couple, and those cars are merely transportation appliances. If life were a cartoon, you’d witness smoke coming out of someone’s head when you explain to them that you drive a Yugo instead of the latest Camry. You might witness a blue screen event if you explain that said Yugo is only one of a dozen cars in your arsenal. How many cars have you owned throughout your life and what were the highlights?

I bring this question up because this subject has come up a number of times for me recently. The topic of fleets is also theme day over at the sweet car forum of Opposite-Lock. My parents have finally realized the scope of what’s going on. I’m storing four cars and a motorcycle at their house and they finally popped the question. My mom was shocked to hear that I‘m currently sitting on 14 cars and 8 bikes. My dad’s ears perked up and he just wanted to trade stories about cars.

I recently went to a couple of press events and the question about what’s in my “stable” is always one that draws in some eyeballs. The motorcyclists expect maybe two bikes, not eight, and they certainly don’t expect one of them to be a Suzuki RE-5. Likewise, the car people also expect maybe a few cars, but definitely not five Smart Fortwos, a Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI, or a Volkswagen Phaeton.

If I were to tally up everything I’ve ever purchased, I’ve had over 30 motorcycles, around 30 cars, and two buses. Most of these vehicles were purchased in the period of 2017 to today. I used to revive barn find motorcycles for fun, which is how I arrived at that number. A lot of my cars were Gambler 500 vehicles or bad Volkswagens, which pumps up that other number.

There’s a second question in here, and it’s how many more cars do you think you’ll own in your lifetime? I’m not sure I can say. One of the dreams I have is to open up a personal museum of my favorite vehicles under one roof, like Beau, but with less money. Of course, I also have a career where following my heart with cars is practically a job requirement.

I don’t see myself getting many more vehicles right now simply because I don’t have the space or the money for them, but I could see a future proposed by Matt Hardigree:

I could see that being a local news story written about me one day. Just don’t let me become Ron Dauzet. Everything has to run and I have to drive them.

Here’s where I turn things to you. How many cars have you owned? What were they? How many more do you think you’ll own?