When I'm Cool Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 Okay, I'll attempt another question. Eric, you've written about cars in several of your songs. Are you a car enthusiast? What kind of cars do you like best? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Cartmill Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 I don't see Eric as a big car enthusiast, But I didn't know he would like rare French dogs either.I bet he has a cool but practical SUV though...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Carmen Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 Well, I got rid of my Porsche Carrera 4 last fall (Not exactly a great car for Cleveland in the winter). I had it for four years and I did enjoy driving it. Unfortunately, there aren't a whole lot of places to drive 165 mph around here. About the most fun I could have with that car was second gear on a winding country road. I had the "tiptronic" version which allows you the option of automatic or manual shifting. My wife and I have two almost identical Lexus 330's for winter driving. With a couple of exceptions, I've found the Lexus to be the best engineered car I've ever driven (the sunroof switch is goofy, as are the automatic windows). I've been browsing for the past few months, looking for something that really knocked me out. The Mercedes McLaren SLR would be my first choice IF IT DIDN'T COST ALMOST HALF A MILLION DOLLARS! Great looking vehicle, though. I saw one in person in L.A. and it was just about the coolest car I've ever seen. The Porsche Carrera GT is almost as nice but that one rings in at about $250,000. Having grown up in the midwest, I just don't think I could ever plunk down that kind of cash for a car. My Porsche tested my upper limits for indulgence and I don't think I could cross that threshhold without feeling intense guilt. I like the Bentley GT and they're supposed to be coming out with a cabriolet version this year, but I suspect that one will also be in the $200,000 price range and I'm just not goin' there. A BMW Z8 is a possibility. I've entertained the idea of an old Jag XKE Series 1, as well. The only problem with the Jag would be that the Lexus has spoiled me with all it's creature comforts, and the Jag was engineered in the 60's. The new Jag's aren't bad but they seem a little bland to me. My brother just bought a new Mercedes 500 SL. Great looking, but Mercedes quality control has been lacking in recent years. I owned SL's from 1978 to 1998 and they were darn nice cars. Then there's the BMW 650 ic. Kinda cool, but the back end looks like a Camaro. I don't know. The jury's still out on this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stringer Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 There's almost nothing like a new sports car sitting in the garage. Well maybe a new boat in the slip!! I love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darlene Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 I've been in love with the Jaguar XKE all my life. The coolest guy on campus had one when I was in school (both the guy and the car were amazing). Whenever Herman sees anything about an XKE he tells me because he knows I'm still nuts about them. --D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LC Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 Eric, those models are a far cry (I would guess) from your earliest cars. So let's go back to the mid-1960s to get the full-circle picture: What type of vehicle might you have been cruising around Cleveland back when you started driving? (The first car I ever drove was a used, puke-green, four-door 1971 Chevy Nova that tended to stall in cold weather. Ugh. This would have been in late 1976....) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 Eric...Remember the dark blue Cougar you had in the late sixties????That was a cool car for that time period! Twin black SUV's are nice also... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raspberrywine Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 Thats interesting, my girlfriend and I have identical Ford Focus's! Well, not exactly, I have the high powered SVT variant which is a fun car with the stick. But her car is clean and you can actually sit in it. Mine you have to sit in horse poop if you actually want to use any passenger seat. Still, its good to support American manufacturers also with all their financial problems. Ive got an old 944 in the garage gathering dust whose gearbox imploded.Some Porsches are a little stiff I think. My favorite car I ever owned was the Lotus Sunbeam. When I lived in England. It is essentially a rally car and you only have to use first gear for driving on the side of a mountain. German gearbox, incredible. Always 2-3-4-5. Great car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Early Wynn Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 May I recommend the 1997 Ford Taurus with a sunroof? I've got one I'd let you have for a reasonable price. A true classic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Carmen Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 My Mom had a gutless, turqiose Corvair that was the car I got to drive. I vaguely remember that dark blue Cougar, I think that was my Mom's car as well. The first car I bought was a red Pontiac Firebird. Good little car. Later I bought a black Thunderbird which my brother dubbed the "pimpmobile." After that I puchased a navy blue Jaguar XJ6. Worst electical system ever designed. Didn't like to start in cold weather. Didn't like to start in hot weather. I sold it less than a year later and bought a cognac Mercedes 350 SL with a custom painted black hard top. For the next 20 years, I drove the little two seater Mercedes convertibles exclusively. Then I became a responsible Dad and bought the Lexus SUV. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Cartmill Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 I was wrong again. He IS a car freak... Scion Xa...30 mpg...a hatch for my tools...though sometimes I have to pedal up hills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raspberrywine Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 Same car Fred Flintstone had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
When I'm Cool Posted April 6, 2006 Author Share Posted April 6, 2006 Eric, this is so cool, thank you. With the lyrics, "Sometimes you get a hula hoop, sometimes you get an Edsel and Take your Mustang off the blocks" I figured you were a Ford guy. Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julesberry Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 My first car was a used 1969 Firebird. (Mine was blue). It looked like it was painted with a paint roller. But I loved it. It was fast. Unfortuneately it was totaled in an accident where the other driver "fell asleep" at the wheel, veered off the expressway, drove up a hill and t-boned me on a bridge. I remember being mostly upset because my box of cassette tapes flew off the front seat and ended up on the passenger side floor.Believe it or not, my next car was a 1970 Ford Thunderbird (Red) with suicide doors. A big boat with lots of power. I probably got about 5 mpg.Lots of cars in between, but now I have the Focus without the horse poop. Well with less horse poop anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Cartmill Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 I had a Ford Focus for 2 1/2 years...3 recalls (including a stalling fuel-filter problem on the way to Vegas), a cracked cooling system part, new brakes needed every 20,000 miles, and 3 MPG below the lowest Est. MPG,...This Bad American went back to Japanese. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julesberry Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 I've had my 2005 Focus for only six months, but I love it, it's a fun little car to drive. Last car before was an 89 El Dorado. I was always waiting for the next thing to fall off, so I was always stressed out and having nightmares about it. Now I have time to stress over other things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Cartmill Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 Let's hope after 5 years of modifications, the Focus has gotten the kinks out...Mine was a 2000 model. And maybe the assembly line worker drug tests are more accurate as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 We bought a '06 chevy Impala LTZ 3 days ago. All the bells and whistles. Love it. It replaced my '01 Impala. 89,000 miles on it at trade-in time and I never had a speck of trouble with it.My 1st was a '76 silver camaro with a black vinyl top. Wish I had that one sitting on blocks somewhere! My hubby had a white TransAM and then a black one with the gold firebird painted on the hood. Not sure of the years, but he loved them both. My brother had a schoolbus yellow Gremlin! Oh my!! Hope you all don't think less of me now!!!--Julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlesteve Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 I first heard the Raspberries in high school, in my first car, a '65 289 Mustang. Sure seemed appropriate at the time.Seattle Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Cartmill Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 Julie! Favorite all time film: "Smokey And The Bandit" or "Dukes Of Hazard"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poor4Life Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 The first car I ever owned was a hand me down from my Father. A Gold 1969 Ford Galaxy 500 which we painted metallic Blue. The first car I ever bought on my own, was a 1979 White Camaro. I LOVED that car until it started leaking oil all over the place, then I had to get rid of it.I'm currently driving a Red 2002 PT Cruiser, and I love it...Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LC Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 A note about that memorable '71 Chevy Nova from my first driving days: It was winter '76 and the big song of the day was a wonderfully depressing ballad, "All By Myself," that sent me digging into the Raspberries catalog. My other teen cars were hand-me-downs, including a pathetic Chrysler stationwagon I had during first year of college so I could get back and forth to work. (I remember having a car full of freshman once, headed to some bar in Rochester, NY, and I had "Run Away" playing when some girl goes, "Is that Dan Hill?" Don't know why I remember that; I just do.) Later in college, I drove a '73 Cutlass and a '75 Ford Granada (ugh). And right after college, I went out and bought a brand new... '82 Cutlass Supreme. I drove it for 6 years and then bought an '88 Cutlass, which I drove for 14 years. My friend said I should have been an Oldsmobile spokesman. I wasn't in love with Cutlasses, but they were just reliable, solid, workmanlike cars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 Well Tony, I'ven never seen either of those 2 "films". My faves? "Ordinary People", "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and "The Passion".--Julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 My brother had a black Corvair-it was a piece of ****, but he bought it for $25 and sold it for parts for $50. This was in the early 70s. My first car was a Chevelle. Now I drive a 2000 Dodge Stratus- purple with grey interior! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Carmen Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 My Mom's Corvair looked like a dumpy little bathtub with wheels. ec Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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