Tuesday, August 21, 2007

August 2007: sadly, sold the 2002 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 Cabriolet; when told that the Porsche was going away, Isabella protests "Noooooo! I want the Porsche to stay here forEVER!!!"; Rich must sneak out when the truck arrives to take it away, lest he must deal with her melt down which doesn't help his own mixed feelings about this sale; does this mean I am making Rich consolidate cars? no, she had nothing to do with this; Rich is "making room for a new one"...
Car Count: 8

February 2007: a 1973 Datsun 240Z was added, without Lucy's knowledge; read story behind it here

Car Count: 9
See more pictures of this Datsun here.













September 2006: added another air cooled engine to the collection, the 1973.5 Porsche 911T (ask Rich the significance of the ".5"); I think the nickname for this car is Sammy Hagar because the previous owner looked like him...

Car Count: 8 (Prius, Audi, modern Porsche, Corvair, Jaguar 420G, Jaguar XKE, BMW, old Porsche)
See more pictures of this Porsche here.

August 2006: along with the future baby boy, Rich acquired a new baby, a 1972 BMW 3.0 CS

Car Count: 7 (Prius, Audi, Porsche, Corvair, Jaguar 420G, Jaguar XKE, BMW)
See more pictures of the BMW here.

August 2006: surprise! we take ownership of a 1966 Jaguar XKE; this is the first car I've met that had its own professional pictures taken; even I have to admit that it is a neat car

See more pictures here and here.
Car Count: 6 (Prius, Audi, Porsche, Corvair, Jaguar 420G, Jaguar XKE)








July 2006: deposit placed on a "surprise" car; hmmm...
Car Count: 5+?! (Prius, Audi, Porsche, Corvair, Jaguar 420G, ??)

September 2005: sold Georg, our city parking friendly VW Golf
Car Count: 5 (Prius, Audi, Porsche, Corvair, Jaguar 420G)

August 2005: bought 2005 Toyota Prius; read more about why here

Car Count: 6 (Golf, Prius, Audi, Porsche, Corvair, Jaguar 420G)

July 2005: sold the Subaru SVX, Rich's college dream car
Car Count: 5 (Golf, Audi, Porsche, Corvair, Jaguar 420G)

June 2005 – bought 2002 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 Cabriolet, aka MLC (Mid Life Crisis)
To read the rationale behind this car purchase, read here.

Car Count: 6 (SVX, Golf, Audi, Porsche, Corvair, Jaguar 420G)

March 2005 - officially sold the Forester (remember: its assumed sale was the reason the Audi was bought); it was being used by a friend since December 2004
Car Count: 5 (SVX, Golf, Audi, Corvair, Jaguar 420G)

October 2004
- bought 2002 Audi Allroad without telling me; aka Mama Car (name given by Isabella)

Car Count: 6 (Forester, SVX, Golf, Audi, Corvair, Jaguar 420G)

August 2004 - Josh sold Daddy-O on eBay Motors
Car Count: 5 (Forester, SVX, Golf, Corvair, Jaguar 420G)

June 2004 - gave the Miata to my nephew
Car Count: 5.33 (Forester, SVX, Golf, Corvair, Jaguar 420G, Cutlass)

February 2004 – bought 2000 Volkswagen Golf aka “Georg” (think from the Sound of Music); we "needed" another small car to replace the Miata since we have a baby now

Car Count: 6.33 (Miata, Forester, SVX, Golf, Corvair, Jaguar 420G, Cutlass)

(2003 - what? no new car?? I was pregnant so we were a little busy...In the meantime, we enjoy being a red car family)


December 2002 – bought 1995 Surbaru SVX aka “The Sweet Ride"; you can drive with the windows down when it’s raining - wow; oy, we're already married so I'm stuck with it

Note the extra large photo here in honor of the SVX.
Car Count: 5.33 (Miata, Forester, SVX, Corvair, Jaguar 420G, Cutlass)

May 2002 – bought 1998 Subaru Forrester aka “Betty”, the name of the previous owner, also slang for a girl snowboarder which fits since we bought this all wheel drive car for drives to Tahoe

Car Count: 4.33 (Miata, Forester, Corvair, Jaguar 420G, Cutlass)

(1999 to 2002 - why the "no new car" blackhole? Rich was living in Japan)

sometime in 1999 - sold the Prelude and the Colt
Car Count: 3.33 (Miata, Corvair, Jaguar 420G, Cutlass)

May 1998 – bought 1991 Mazda Miata aka “Junior”, my dream car and my first; bought for me by Rich when I was in Hong Kong before I even decided to move back to the U.S.; "you'll need a car eventually..."

Car Count: 4.83 (Miata, Prelude, Corvair, Jaguar 420G, Colt, Cutlass)

sometime in 1997 - I divest out of Daddy-O, so official Daddy-O ownership is now between Josh, Denise and Rich
Car Count: 3.83 (Prelude, Corvair, Jaguar 420G, Colt, Cutlass)

sometime in 1997 - sold both of the Nissan pickups
Car Count: 4 (Prelude, Corvair, Jaguar 420G, Colt, Cutlass)

sometime in 1997 - bought 1991 Dodge Colt Vista AWD; jointly owned with Josh

Car Count: 6 (Prelude, 2 Nissans, Corvair, Jaguar 420G, Colt, Cutlass)

February 1997 - bought 1967 Jaguar 420G within 3 months of me spending all of my money on the condo?! @#$%&! picnic tables inside are especially fun; we eventually rode in this car on our wedding day, so it's got special significance

Car Count: 5.5 (Prelude, 2 Nissans, Corvair, Jaguar 420G, Cutlass)

1996 - gave "Moochie" to his brother to use during grad school
Car Count: 4.5 (Prelude, 2 Nissans, Corvair, Cutlass)

1995 and 1996
- bought TWO 1990 Nissan pickups - one automatic, one stick

Car Count: 5.5 (Prelude, Accord, 2 Nissans, Corvair, Cutlass)

1994 - bought 1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme aka "Daddy-O"; jointly owned car with Josh, Denise, Rich and I; everyone in Oak-town keeps offering us $ for the car

Car Count: 3.5 (Prelude, Accord, Corvair, Cutlass)

Fall 1993 - bought 1965 Chevrolet Corvair Corsa Turbo - unsafe at any speed, says Ralph Nader

Car Count: 3 (Prelude, Accord, Corvair)

Summer 1993 - bought 1985 Honda Accord aka "Moochie"; used as a commuter whenever he had to go to Sacramento for work; license plate he got for it was "I < Heart > Ribs"
Car Count: 2 (Prelude, Accord)

July 1992 - bought new 1992 Honda Prelude aka “Gunther”; Rich was deciding between this car or the SVX; thank God he chose this car because I don't know if I'd date a guy who owned an SVX!
Car Count: 1 (Prelude)

Most pictures are on my Smugmug account. There are also a few pictures on Rich's site under "Playthings" and "The Chen Automobile Emporium"