As car enthusiasts, we always enjoy an opportunity to discover the strengths, weaknesses, quirks, and characters of car brands and models we haven’t experienced before. Who among us would turn down the chance to drive a 700-horsepower super pickup truck from Ford, partake of the EV revolution in a Tesla, or – if you don’t mind dead brands – bask in the innovation and weirdness of Saturn and Saab?
Some say variety is the spice of life, and with my have-driven list stretching across more than 30 brands, I certainly agree.
I may have missed a few, but the lineup of brands I’ve had seat-time in includes:
Acura
Audi
Bollinger
Blue Bird
BMW
Buick
Cadillac
Chevrolet
Chrysler
Dodge
Ford
Geo
GMC
Honda
International
Jeep
Kia
Lexus
Mazda
Mercedes-Benz
Mitsubishi
Nissan
Nova Bus
Oldsmobile
Pontiac
Plymouth
Saturn
Scion
Smart
Subaru
Suzuki
Toyota
Volkswagen
One of my life’s missions is to experience as many vehicles as possible and writing for this wonderful site has opened so many doors to doing that. I mean, the list doesn’t include motorcycles, boats, planes, or locomotives! Still, I have a long way to go. You’ll note that I’ve never driven a Saab before or any truly obscure car brand. I also don’t have a ton of experience driving supercars and no experience driving any Jeep Wrangler. Yep, I’ve buried Smarts and minivans in mud and have gotten massive airtime in a Jeep Renegade on a dirt track, but I’ve never driven Jeep’s famed Wrangler. Thanks to David, my first Jeep drive was in a pristine XJ.
It’s hard to pick a favorite vehicle from that list because I’m a firm believer that every car is awesome in its own way. With that said, if I were going to throw down money on a new vehicle right now, I would buy a Ford F-150 FP700 and laugh all the way into a jail cell.
Here’s where I turn the microphone to you. Tell us about all the different car brands you’ve experienced, whether briefly or long-term. Which impressed you most – and least? Which brands seemed best able to maintain the brand’s “feel” across different models? Which brands have you driven most? Which brands do you hope to add to your list? Tell us all about it!
I think the list is around 20-ish marques. Most unusual that I’ve gotten to drive is probably Merkur—it was a Scorpio, too, not an XR4Ti, and I liked it a lot. I once worked at an auto museum; in that context, probably the coolest cars I got to drive were a BMW Hydrogen7 (although the hydrogen tanks were no longer hooked up, so it was basically just a gas V12) and one of the Plymouth Satellites used by Jerry Brown when he was governor of California. That one was cool for the history; it was wretched to drive.
I’ve kept a list… 94 individual vehicles across 20 brands.
I’ve been DDing for various family & friends for ~30 years, so I don’t even remember them all. No real exotics, and somehow only one ‘real’ SAAB ( ie 2-stroke), and not the later plebeian ones
“…SAAB ( ie 2-stroke)…”
That by itself is an exhaustive (so to speak) list of what I’ve driven so far today. It’s only noon here, though.
I like this question – I have a few obscure ones like Invicta, TVR, Matra, Premier (the Indian one), Mahindra & Mahindra, GAC, LDV (the Chinese one that was Russian and before that British, driven in Australia), Proton, Daihatsu.
Porsche
BMW
MINI
Mercedes
Chevrolet
Ford
Chrysler
Jeep
Fiat
Alfa Romeo
Lancia
Ferrari
Lamborghini
Volvo
Mazda
Toyota
Subaru
Lexus
Honda
Polaris (Slingshot)
That’s what I can remember off the top of my head…
Oh, and Mitsubishi. It was an i MiEV, I’ve tried to block it out.
Oh, and Smart
We were supposed to keep track?!
I would have to really spend some time thinking, I’ve worked around cars and they’ve been my main hobby for a long time and have driven a large number of different things because of that, the list is shorter on newer cars in the last few years though.
Interesting exercise! I came up with 24. Somehow I don’t remember ever driving an Oldsmobile.
Own / Owned: Ford, Lexus, Subaru, Mazda
Driven: Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Infiniti, BMW, Mercedes, Alfa Romeo, Audi, Porsche, Chevy, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Cadillac, GMC, Tesla, Hyundai, Lincoln, Lamborghini, Maserati, Genesis, Chrysler, Mitsubishi
Actually impressed my count is so high (27), but so is everyone else’s on this site
Alfa Romeo, Acura, Audi, BMW, MB, VW, Ford, Chevy, Daihatsu, Saab, Volvo, Porsche, Jaguar, Volvo, Toyota, Honda, Lexus, Subaru, Nissan, Ferrari
I’ll add myself to the list of those who are probably forgetting something but, off the top of my head, I’ve owned fifteen and, including those, have driven thirty-four:
American Microcar, Austin, Borgward, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Datsun, Dodge, Ford, GMC, HMV, Honda, Humber, International, Jeep, Kia, KV, Mercury, MG, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Plymouth, Porsche, Riley, SAAB, Subaru, Toyota, Triumph, Volkswagen, Volvo, Willys, Yugo, and Zap.
I was tempted to count Volvo twice because Volvo AB and Volvo Car BV were separate companies and I’ve owned cars from both but ultimately it’s probably fairer to say that their combined products count as a single brand.
Owned and/or driven: Chevy, Plymouth, Ford, Dodge, Honda, Mazda, Subaru, Nissan, Toyota, Hyundai, Volvo, Oldsmobile, Jeep, Cadillac, Mercury, Mitsubishi, GMC, AMC, Pontiac. So 19, and a pretty underwhelming list for how long I’ve been driving.
As a driving instructor, more than I can count. Just about every brand in the USA over the last 30 years.
Mercedes, come on over to Chez Comin’ if you want to add Volvo to your list. I have 6.
BMW, MINI, Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Mercedes-Benz, Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge, RAM, Fiat, Chevrolet, Pontiac, Mazda, (whoever made the Skip Barber Formula 2000 cars), Porsche, VW, Saab, Subaru, and Hyundai
This is everything I can remember. There’s probably something in there I forgot, but honestly my list is kind of boring. I need to up my game!
Audi
BMW
Chevy
Ford
Honda
Hyundai
Infiniti
Jeep
Mazda
Mercedes Benz
Nissan
Scion
Subaru
Toyota
Volkswagen
22 I think, in no order in particular other than “when my brain remembered them” Ford, Honda, BMW, Mazda, Jeep, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Chevrolet, Hyundai, Chrysler, Acura, GMC, Dodge, Volvo, VW, Buick, Subaru, Pontiac, Tesla, Saturn, Kia, Lexus
Owned/currently own: Toyota, BMW, Audi, VW, Subaru, Jeep, Honda, Mazda, Lexus, Saturn, Merkur.
Driven: Ford, Lincoln, Chevrolet, GMC, Pontiac, Porsche, Tesla, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Eagle (DSM), Dodge, Chrysler, Buick, Infiniti, Acura, Cadillac, Hyundai, Kia, Isuzu.
So… 30-ish?
I feel like I am missing something in the “driven” category. Most of those have been either rentals, or cars that belong/belonged to friends and family.
Daily driven- Mercury, Mazda, Toyota, Honda, Ford.
Had my ass in the seat and hands on the wheel- Add GMC, Jeep, Chevy, Buick, I think Nissan? I can’t remember if I’ve test driven one before. I went along with family members looking at them but was not shopping for myself. Maybe I should have added Nissan to my DD list since the Mercury was a rebadged Nissan.
I have owned 13 brands and easily have driven another 13+ that I can think of, loads of rentals and cars of friends/relatives.
Ok let’s see here. I worked at a car dealership for a sec so that’ll add a lot.
Mercedes, Audi, Volkswagen, Subaru, Lincoln, Volvo, (those first six were all at the same dealer) Polestar, Tesla, Rivian, Nissan, Infiniti, Ford, BMW, Range Rover/Land Rover, Fiat, Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep, Ram, Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, GMC, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Saturn, Avanti, Saab, Suzuki (Every Kei Van, university has a bunch of them), Honda, Acura, Hyundai, Kia, Lexus, Toyota, Porsche, Jaguar, Mazda (every gen of Miata included), Maserati, Mitsubishi, Mini. There’s probably a few more in there, but that’s what I can remember at this point.
Some highlights: AMG G-Wagen, Audi RS3 A6 Avant S8 and R8, VW Golf GTI and R, Subaru WRX (3 different generations), and BR-Z (both gens), Volvo V60 Polestar Tuned and V90 CC, Cadillac XLR, Acura TLX Type S, Porsche Boxster, all Miatas (including MazdaSpeed), C3 C4 C5 C6 and C7 Corvettes.
Family-Owned, 3 Dodge (Minivan, Challenger RT, Charger RT), 1988 Avanti Coupe, 1979 Corvette 4sp, 1993 Saab 900 Turbo Convertible 5sp, 2016 Focus ST (daily), 2012 Mini Countryman 6sp, 2020 Mazda CX-5.
Acura
Audi
BMW
Buick
Cadillac
Chevrolet
Chrysler
Dodge
Eagle
Ford
Geo
GMC
Honda
Hummer
Hyundai
Infiniti
Isuzu
Jeep
Kia
Land Rover
Lexus
Lincoln
Mazda
Mercury
Mitsubishi
Nissan
Oldsmobile
Pontiac
Porsche
Saab
Subaru
Toyota
Vauxhall
Volvo
Volkswagen
Including rentals, 15 to 20.
Least impressive was a 2000s Hyundai. Sure they looked ok a first but after one year of ownership it looked and ran like a 10 year old beater. I have seen better reports on the new models.
Most impressive is my z28, it is mix of what I want and a family connection as I am second caretaker.
AMC, Ford, VW, Audi, Mini, Chevy, Volvo, Polestar, Honda, Mazda, Subaru, Dodge, Plymouth, Datsun, Toyota, Nissan, Peugot, Kia, Jeep. Used to travel for business, but most of these brands are personal or friends cars.
I counted 19 different brands that I’ve driven. Mostly boring USDM makes, so I won’t waste time writing it out. In fact, the only Detroit brands I haven’t driven (at least among things sold in this century) are Hummer and Mercury. I’ve only owned 5 makes.
But I do seem to think (at least so far), I’m the only one that would have Studebaker on their list.
Owned 16 different brands. Guesstimating I’ve driven 20-30.
28 brands and 113 different models.