eBay Motors recently flew me from LA to Vail, Colorado, where I had my choice of four machines to off-road: A Porsche Taycan Crossturismo on all-terrain tires, a Lexus GX, a Toyota Tacoma, and a Jeep Cherokee XJ. As much as I loved the Lexus GX (as I wrote about earlier), it was the XJ that has my heart, even though it may not actually be objectively better than the Lexus. And that’s simply because the XJ — more than any other vehicle ever built — just makes me feel at home.
The first car I ever owned was a 1992 Jeep Cherokee XJ that I bought from the Scott Stadium parking lot in Charlottesville, Virginia for $1,400. It had 220,000 miles on it, rusty rocker panels, and an exhaust leak, and I was pretty nervous because I had just turned 19 and I had absolutely zero experience working on cars.
What followed, though, were years of me simultaneously learning how to wrench on cars and learning about mechanical engineering in college. The combination of hands-on and theoretical engineering work — at the same time — was life-changing, and gave me a profoundly deep understanding of how cars work.
I drove that Jeep from 2010 until I moved to LA in 2022, and right now it’s sitting abandoned in the woods in northern Michigan. Hopefully I’ll rescue it someday.
Anyway, I mention my trusty old XJ because my drive in eBay Motors’ XJ — one the company had purchased from eBay Motors and modified using parts obtained through eBay Motors — had me feeling all nostalgic.
Yes, the eBay Motors XJ is built to a much greater extent than my XJ. I had just 31-inch all-terrains and a three-inch lift; this white Jeep out in Colorado had 35s and probably a 4.5 inch lift. Plus, the eBay Jeep was a 1999, with the facelifted interior and exterior.
And yet, it still felt so familiar.
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The trail took us through gorgeous Rocky Mountain woods, with the dirt having been eroded and worn away by previous trekkers. This allowed the Jeep’s solid axles to show their stuff, just flowing right over the terrain with alacrity:
 
Even though I’m fairly sure the vehicle hadn’t been re-geared, the 4.0-liter motor’s prodigious low-end torque, combined with the Jeep’s low-range gearing and light curbweight, meant I barely had to touch the gas pedal to get up steep grades and over large boulders.
When I look at that engine bay, when I tap that throttle pedal and feel the instant response, when I turn that steering wheel and feel that vague but buttery power steering, when I tap on those marginal brakes, when I look through the huge greenhouse at my clearly-visible surroundings — it all just makes me feel at home. It’s the Jeep that taught me everything — how to off-road, how to wrench, how to drift in the snow, how to rip donuts, and on and on.
It’s not an objectively great vehicle when it comes to ride quality, noise, fuel economy, and I could go on and on. But it’s got soul, it can off-road like a monster, it’s cheap, parts are available (on eBay Motors, my hosts would probably like me to remind you), it’s small and lightweight, and most importantly: It feels like home. If it were possible for one to have a “best friend” automobile, the XJ would be mine, and as was made clear when driving this white one in Colorado, I don’t think that will ever change.
What vehicle makes you feel the most “at home” when you’re behind the wheel?
Hmm, the one that “fit” best and felt most like home was the 1972 BMW 2002. Was sorry I had to let go of it (cracked head, needed a commute car right then), wouldn’t mind having one again, but the price for decent one is way up there now. Would settle for a Honda 1st gen Insight or Del Sol again though.
Any Toyota Camry before the new gen. That was the family car of choice for 20 years.
Late to the party on this one but probably most small to medium Japanese cars from 1995 to 2005 or so. Grew up with Accords, Corollas and Altimas in the family, had a Protege, had an Impreza, my parents had Imprezas, my wife had a civic when we met etc. While there were differences in them they all had a very familiar feel.
That would be my ’97 Grand Cherokee…Dad bought it new in August 1997, and it wasn’t long before we were spending Sundays driving around deserted parking lots in preparation for driver’s ed. It ended up being the vehicle I drove when I was in college; it also took my mom and me on our first vacation after Dad passed away, and it was where I was sitting when I got the call that I had landed my current job. I’m responsible for a good chunk of the miles on the odometer; I don’t think you can spend that long in a vehicle without feeling something about it. Even now it still feels so familiar, and it drives great.
4th Generation Mazda B series pickups. I had an ’89 B2200 and a ’90 B2600i 4×4. Dad had a ’91 B2600i RWD. I’ve been in Toyotas and Nissans of the same era, I like the Mazdas more. They did all the things I needed a pickup to do. I just don’t really have need of a pickup anymore. Doesn’t keep me from looking to see if one is for sale, though.
I would say the gmt400 platform Chevy Tahoe. I’ve had two of them and kno them pretty well in all aspects. It’s one of those cars that,for me,you can just get in and drive and everything seems familiar.
It’s two for me: the ’88 K2500 that was my first vehicle and the ’88 MJ that I’ll have to pry out of my dad’s cold, dead hands. The K2500 taught me almost everything I learned about wrenching and never left me stranded (outside of a two mile walk to Napa for a fuel filter, which was farther than walking home). The MJ was the truck I wanted since I got my license and have driven it many times. I always get asked if it’s for sale and tell everyone no, even if it were mine to sell. It’s slow, may not be safe to take on 45, but it’s the small truck I’ve always loved.
For me it’s a car that I never drove. My parents had a 1964 Pontiac Bonneville Safari, with a 389. Nothing was faster, plusher, more comfortable, or more relaxing than that giant wagon. We made several interstate excursions in that car I felt as safe as anywhere in the world. It had crazy luxury touches like air conditioning and electric windows. I washed the car often because I loved it so, the final touch being the Turtle Wax chrome polish on those massive bumpers. They sold it a few months before I got my driver’s license. They worried about fuel mileage before anyone else cared. Cruel fate!
The Volvo 240, specifically with the later dashboard. The first car I ever drove was an ’89, my first car was a different ’89 (with that first car for parts), and since then I’ve owned a ’93 sedan and ’92 wagon (those two being five-speeds). It’s been a decade since I’ve driven one, now, but the knobs, sliders, buttons, and little steel-cored knickknack tray are still just the way a car interior should be laid out, to me.
Well, with an armrest. Gotta have an armrest.
Darn you, David, for making me relive this.
The car that has above any other (and by a considerable margin) felt like home was my ’06 Subaru Impreza 2.5i track car.
It had a laundry list of modifications. It was converted to RWD. And in the last phase of its life it had an EZ36D H6 motor swap.
Getting in that car felt like putting on a familiar pair of well-worn work gloves. It had a fixed-back Recaro race seat with head restraints. Because of my driving position, getting into the seat was a bit like vehicular gymnastics because of its proximity to the steering wheel. I would watch friends struggle to climb inside, but the process had become second nature to me. And with the head restraints, once inside, it felt like a cocoon — ready to do some fkin business out on track.
I’d take it to Thunderhill or Buttonwillow and hang with cars in the corners well outside of its price range. And then I’d cruise up I-5 for the multi-hour ride home jamming to my music, with a trunk full of tools.
Driving it daily didn’t really make any sense. It felt poorly acclimated to slow speeds and tight, parking lot maneuvers. But once you got it up on its toes at 70mph through a corner, it was at home. And so was I.
Mercedes W211. It’s the car I spent the most seat time in learning to drive. It was an E320 4MATIC, so not the fastest or sportiest version, but oh so relaxing to drive.
The truck I grew up with and learned to drive in. I delivered an exercise machine a few miles away yesterday and it just plain felt good to go on a longer drive than to the local drive-in for our monthly-ish meetup. ’64 F100 crewcab.
I learned to drive in my mother’s mid-60s Mini and have loved the originals ever since. I currently have a fully restored 1967 Mini Traveler (station wagon). It was home the minute I sat in it. Jason did an unbelievable birthday sketch of it and sent me searching for a canvas roof panel.
I have loved most of my cars. Perhaps the one that felt most like home was my 1985 300ZX. I spent a lot of time on my folks’ garage floor working in it, I learned a LOT about wrenching on it, I even painted one whole side of it.
Alternatively, my 2009 Mazda 6. I proposed to my wife in that car (“So, wanna get married?”), drove my son home from the hospital in it, and had some serious surprises in it (blown transaxle, rotten subframe, she said yes).
The last generation of Oldsmobile Eighty Eight. It was my first car and I drove it for 17 years. The only automatic car I’ve owned and it was wonderful. Every control fell to hand without hesitation and I trusted and knew all of its handling dynamics. I wish I didn’t have to sell it but 17 rust belt winters did it in. It had to be sold to a state without rust inspection.
My peterbilt 389. It is literally my home on the road. Lol. I feel like I am cheating at this assignment
Pre-GM Saab 900s and 1st generation Subaru Legacy. The former just fit me like it was a perfectly tailored suit and the latter . . . I’m not sure if that’s quite the right answer for the question since it was more about my specific Legacy than them in general. Maybe ’80s GM B- and G-bodies, too, due to a lot of familiarity.
I grew up in CG900s, drove an NG900 in high school (it was free from a friend of the family), and bought my own CG900 when I started college. Nothing could ever top that car as a daily.
I just wanna talk about this: “It’s not an objectively great vehicle when it comes to ride quality, noise, fuel economy, and I could go on and on.”
XJs are not objectively GREAT at any one of those things, but they combine decent ride, noise, fuel economy, and space with rather strong stock off-road ability and truly great reliability/durability. They strike a remarkably perfect happy medium, and they are a GREAT all-rounder.
I also feel at home in an XJ: specifically my dad’s 1995 2dr manual in tan on tan. I grew up in that thing; it was his daily driver from before I was born until I was like 14. It will remain a family heirloom.
Golden era Hondas (87-99 Civics, Accords, Preludes, Integras). The interiors are just so perfect on most of them, simple, nicely made, and nicely laid out, with great visibility. It’s a real shame they’re getting expensive since rust has killed so many of them; they truly are incredible daily drivers. If I win the lottery, my daily of choice would still be an EF hatch.
For me it will always be the square body GM trucks.
My first car was one, and I have had more than I can easily count in the intervening years because I am old enough they were wicked cheap up until my 30s.
Sitting behind the wheel of one feels comfortable and normal even if it has been years since sitting in one.
I don’t know that I have just one, but there are a few that I feel are the automotive equivalent of comfort food.
The first is the GMT400 trucks and SUVs, especially the pre-airbag ones of which I have owned several.
The second is the second generation Ford Explorer, of which I have owned many (and still own one).
The third is the Lexus GX, which has become over the many years I have owned it probably the closest to feeling like home.
I loved my Jeeps and all, but their compromised nature made them more of an event to drive than the calm I feel when I climb into my GX (or enter my home, at least when the kids aren’t around).
’64 VW Bug, and ’89 Mitsubishi Montero.
Grew up in the Bug, learned to drive in it, and it took me places most cars would never dream of…next best thing to 4WD.
The Montero was a rock…it was my long-distance commuter and mountain climber. Did some truly stupid shit in it, and it never let me down. Like the Bug, it just felt right to be in the driver’s seat of it…an extension of myself. I know that’s a weird thing to say about an SUV, but it talked to me.
I had an “89 Dodge Raider (2 door Montero) from 1990 to 2012. It had a V6, 5 speed manual and coil springs in the back. We were moving from LOs Angeles to Montana and wanted 4wd. My 11 year old son and I fell in love with it the moment we got into it. Sold it to a retired banker as his fun car. Still miss it.
But the car I feel most at home is my 1974 Fiat X1/9 which I bought new. It had to spend a few years in the garage while I tried to find a mechanic who would sort a couple of things. When I finally got it back on the road last year, everything fell to hand. I guess that happens when you drive a vehicle 143,000 miles.
I think German built A1 Volkswagens. My first three cars were two Sciroccos and an A1 Jetta plus my mom had a Rabbit convertible for a while. So I know where everything is, and that certain smell from the trunk carpet
For me, it’s the humble VW Bug. I don’t own one. I don’t want one. But it was the car of my childhood. Riding around in my mom’s bug, owning one myself in high school. Every one of my siblings owned one at one time or another. The shape, the interior, the noise, the many flaws. All imprinted on my mind under home/family/growing up.
I guess my old ’93 Toyota pickup would get the nod. It was a total heap that spent more time dead in my driveway than running, but when it ran everything about it just clicked for me and it always felt *right*. Loved the way it drove, looked, and sounded. I’ve had a succession of 4runners since that have all been FAR better cars in every way (aside from style) and I’ve liked all of them, buuuuuuut they just don’t quite fit the same way.