The Dodge Daytona is a car that was made by Dodge in the late 1980s. It was known for its cool features, like headlights that popped up when you turned them on.
Manual transmission fluid is a special oil used in cars that have a manual gear system. It helps the car change gears smoothly and keeps the parts inside working well.
The BMW 3 Series is a small luxury car that's known for being fun to drive and having nice features. The 2000 model, especially the convertible version, can have some problems, which is why some people say it wasn't the best choice.
Lemon laws help people who buy cars that have serious problems. If a car can't be fixed after several tries, the owner might get their money back or a new car.
Car
Jeep CJ7
The Jeep CJ7 is an older model of Jeep that is built for off-roading. It was made from 1976 to 1986 and is popular among people who like to drive on rough terrain.
The Nissan 300 ZX is a sporty car that many people loved in the late '80s and early '90s. It's known for being fast and fun to drive, and it has a stylish look that makes it stand out.
The Mazda RX-7 is a cool sports car that uses a special type of engine called a rotary engine, which is different from most cars. It's known for being light and fun to drive, especially the last version made, which many people really love.
The DeLorean DMC-12 is a famous car that looks really unique with its shiny metal body and doors that open upwards. It's well-known because it was used in the 'Back to the Future' movies, making it a popular choice for collectors.
The Nissan 240SX is a sporty car from the late '80s that is popular among car enthusiasts, especially for drifting. It's known for being fun to drive and is now considered valuable.
JDM means cars that were made for Japan. People outside Japan really like these cars because they can be special or different from what is available in their own countries.
Semi-autonomous driving means the car can help you drive by itself for certain tasks, like keeping a safe distance from other cars. It makes driving easier, especially in heavy traffic.
Autopilot is a system in some cars that helps drive by itself, taking care of things like steering and speed. It's especially useful when you're stuck in traffic.
FSD means Full Self-Driving, a feature from Tesla that lets the car drive itself more than regular autopilot. It includes extra tools to help with driving.
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So, my very first car was a 1989 Dodge Daytona, and it was silver in color, and my dad purchased
it for me with the hopes of my grades improving, which they certainly did for a time.
I thought it was a neat car, probably because of a couple things.
There was a TV show on at the time called Hunter, and they had a Dodge Daytona.
Few, it had pop-up headlights, which I was a huge fan of, and three, it had a speedometer
that went to 120 or 125, which at the time made me think, hey, this car must be able to go that
fast. Believe me, it did not. So, if I hadn't described the smell of one of my cars,
what would I think of? That's a great question. The real answer is manual transmission fluid,
and that smell never seemed to escape me, meaning just with many different cars. Not just because
they were manuals, but because they all leaked, or I ended up changing the fluids in them because
the transmissions weren't in great shape. But anyway, I feel like that smell reminds me
of body odor, and I don't know why, but it's like one of the worst types of body odor you can put in a bottle.
So, a life lesson that I learned behind the steering wheel. I would have to say cars are freedom,
and I'd probably forgotten that until my daughter turned 16 and started driving her car all over
the place and burning lots of gas. The exact same thing me and my friends did. It is definitely
freedom. So, I would say my worst car was a 2000 BMW 323 CI convertible, and I say worse because
it was an early production model. 2000 was the first year of the new E46 body style. I waited
for a while. I pre-ordered. I ended up taking one off the showroom floor, which was probably
a very pre-production, and that car just had problem after problem after problem.
I probably could have traded it in on the lemon law, but I opted to let them extend the warranty.
Big mistake because the car just kept having more problems. Ultimately, I sold it.
Did I ever buy another BMW? I can't say no. Will I ever buy one again? Probably not.
So, what was my best or worst road trip mishap? I would say the worst one.
And now that I think about it, I can think of two tied to this car. One was with my Jeep CJ7.
I think it was the early 80s. It was just beat up, rusty. I was driving one night. I had to go
actually had to go to work one night, and it was about 45 minutes away. I went to the gas station,
filled up, pulled the light, the switch for the light switch was one of those old school
pullout ones, and the switch fell out in my hand or the plunger, if you will. So, that didn't
work out very well. The other time was in that same Jeep where we were driving home from
being out several front spines. My one friend was the designated driver, and we're out of stop.
All of a sudden, we go to go, and I hear the car go bang, bang, bang, bang, bang,
underneath. Turns out that the drive shaft broke, and so the drive shaft was just spinning. So,
parked it on the side of the road. I came back the next day with some tools. I took the
drive shaft out, and then I just drove it home with four-wheel drive, keeping in mind
it was only driving the front wheels. So, a song that was always on my car's mixtape or just always
on. I would say Silent Lucidity by Queensrike or Plush by Stone Temple Pilots. Silent Lucidity
for two reasons. One, I think graduating high school in 1991. I'm assuming that song came out
then, but I remember hearing it at our prom. And a good friend of mine played that a lot in his car.
Also, Plush by the Stone Temple Pilots. Same story of the latter. Good friend of mine played
that all the time in his Nissan 300ZX. So, if money was no object, what three cars would I
have in my dream garage? So, I would say a twin-turbo version of my 300ZX, along with
certainly the money to maintain it. A FD, or if you will, last generation of the Mazda RX-7.
And my DeLorean, which I already have. So, I am one-third of the way there.
So, do I believe that cars have souls? I don't know if I would say that,
but I would say the memories of cars can spark dreams, if you will. And I have a great example of
that. I had a good friend in high school who had that 1990 Nissan 300ZX that I always wanted
and a car like his, and ultimately, he ended up wrecking it. But I wanted to figure out
how to afford a car like that. It was probably $30,000 brand new in the early 90s. And I didn't
know how I would afford that car. So, it ultimately drove me into my career, which was kind of funny
reading the want ads, as they called them back then, or jobs in the section in the newspaper.
And I found a job that paid $31,000. I just needed to get some training. And at that
time, it was on Novell Network, which was an early file and print server, if you will, kind of early
networking before the internet came to rise. And so, flashback probably 30 years later,
I never bought the car. I found out, sadly, that my friend had passed away. We had lost touch.
He had passed away many years before. And just thinking about him and the car brought
back a bunch of dreams. And literally, when I would travel, I just kind of have a weird dream.
And I dreamed about him. And I was pretty close with his family. It was like their home was
like my second home. And all of a sudden, I remembered the Z, the Z I never got purchased.
And lo and behold, I found the Z. I probably pulled the trigger too quickly and should
have looked at more. But the Z is mine. It needs to be repainted. It's about five
different colors right now because it kept getting hit on my street. But I love that car.
And I had never driven a Z, let alone his, until I drove my Z. So it's very special to me.
So what's the most underappreciated car I've ever driven? I would say for the time it was my
1989 Nissan 240SX. It didn't have a lot of power, but it handled wonderfully. It was very
well balanced. Didn't have a lot of feel, if you will. Nissan's were kind of known for
at the time for their steering being kind of dead or vague, if you will. But the car tracked
amazingly. And of course, these days, having that car, those cars are worth so much money if
you find a unmodified, unmodified one, just because they're so desirable for drifting and
really all things JDM, Japanese, domestic market cars, to the point that people actually import them
from Japan to drive in the United States and elsewhere. So what's an automotive smell,
sight, or sound that instantly brings me back? I would say it's the door open or
key left in the ignition sound of my Nissan 300CX. Just that sound, I hadn't heard it in 30 plus years,
is exactly the same sound as my 240SX. It was a Nissan of the same time period. But that sound
just instantly took me back. I would also add, maybe it's just a feeling, those cars at that
time, Nissan's at least, had something to prevent the key from or the car key from being left in the car
if you turned it off. So it was a little button you had to push to get the key out.
And the first time I drove that car, it was total muscle memory. I knew exactly to take that key
out without even thinking of it. Keep in mind, there are 30 plus years had passed since I drove
a car like that. So who taught me how to drive stick shift? It was my dad. Now why was it my dad?
Because after I had that 1989 Dodge Daytona, which was automatic, I made some friends at school
that had manual transmission cars. One had a 1985 Nissan slash Datsun 300CX. The other one
at the time had a, I want to say 1988 Mazda RX7 Turbo II. And their cars were stick shift.
It was just how involved they were in the process of driving the car, how more connected they were.
And I had to have a stick shift car. I ended up buying a 1986 Mazda RX7, which was the
first year of that body style. I think it was the FC. And that was a stick shift car.
That was the car I learned to drive stick shift on. And it's still muscle memory to this day.
And my dad taught me how to drive. So it's very special to think about those times.
So what upgrade or mob would I never do to a classic? This is a great question because I really
do like the electric power steering that I added to my DeLorean. It really makes the car
like a different car, like a more modern car to drive. But I've really never done any other
mods to my cars. And my advice to people, including myself, would be just make sure you can easily
undo the mod if you think you're going to sell the car for some point, or it would have some
significance to a future owner. For the last question, which automotive invention do I think
has changed driving the most? I would say semi autonomous driving, call it
auto cruise, call it self driving, call it autopilot, if you will. That has changed
driving for me tremendously because I used to hate sitting in traffic. I'm so much calmer
in traffic now. In fact, if I'm in a lane and somebody's trying to speed up or getting
too close to me, I just move over. And it's really enabled me to go on trips a lot more
trips than I used to like. Because if I'm stuck in traffic, I just put it in autopilot.
In fact, I will purchase the supervised FSD. It's a hundred bucks a month or so. When
I'm going on a trip, it's good for 30 days. And it just makes my life so much easier to
the point that I drove up to Long Island and back on one day. And really, I didn't break a sweat to the
most part.
About this episode
Reflecting on his first car, a 1989 Dodge Daytona, the host shares personal stories about how it influenced his life and academic performance. He reminisces about the thrill of pop-up headlights, the smell of manual transmission fluid, and the freedom cars represent. The conversation touches on memorable road trips, the challenges of owning a problematic BMW, and the emotional connection to a Nissan 300ZX. The episode also explores the significance of automotive memories, the evolution of driving with modern technology, and the importance of preserving classic cars.
In this special “host‑becomes‑guest” episode of To All the Cars I’ve Loved Before, co‑host Doug pulls back the curtain on his own automotive story—from the moment his dad surprised him with a 1989 Dodge Daytona (silver, pop‑up headlights, 125‑mph speedo dreams) to finally owning the Nissan 300ZX he lusted after in high school. Along the way Doug revisits:
The unmistakable manual‑transmission fluid smell that still triggers vivid “garage memories.”
Why a 2000 BMW 323Ci (E46) convertible became his worst car and ultimate “never again” lesson.
A fog‑soaked, pre‑GPS road‑trip mishap in a rusty Jeep CJ‑7 that ended with a broken driveshaft.
The mixtape tracks—“Silent Lucidity” by Queensrÿche & “Plush” by Stone Temple Pilots—that defined his cruising years.
A dream garage trifecta: twin‑turbo 300ZX, last‑gen Mazda RX‑7 (FD), and his beloved DeLorean.
How semi‑autonomous driving / Tesla Autopilot transformed his view of road trips and traffic.
The hugely under‑appreciated 1989 Nissan 240SX that balanced handling perfection with driving legend status.
Plus: stick‑shift lessons from Dad, the debate over cars having souls, and Doug’s one rule for classic‑car mods. Whether you’re into classic cars, JDM icons, car restoration, or just great car podcast stories, this episode packs in nostalgia, hard‑won wisdom, and plenty of pop‑up‑headlight love.
Check out our new guest inspired road trip playlist "The Songs that Drive Us" and share your favorites - https://carsloved.com/playlist
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