Whips

We've decided that perhaps now might be a good time to start looking for a new car. Mine, at the ripe old age of 6, already has over 142,000 miles on it, and Robin's, while relatively low mileage, is OLD (14) and is randomly beginning to drop pieces in the middle of the road. So as I contemplate the next new car purchase, I was thinking back over what I've driven through the years. In order:

Red 1967 Ford F150 pickup truck, 3-speed manual shift on the column; I learned to drive in this baby....

Rust (the color, not the state of the car...) AMC Spirit, don't recall the year. Ugly, crappy car, but it was MINE and it got me from college to work and back, so that was cool.

Navy blue 1985 5-speed manual Nissan extended cab pickup. My first new car.

Light blue metallic 1990 5-speed manual Toyota 4WD extended cab pickup; I loved this truck.

Red 1993 Mazda MX-6 5-speed manual sports car with black leather interior. It was fun to drive, except when it snowed; this thing was terrible in rain and snow, so I got rid of it.

Black 1994 Mazda 4WD automatic extended cab pickup with matching cap; loved it until it developed an intermittent, undiagnosable electrical problem that would cause the truck to just STOP for no reason. Not a *feature* you want when you drive on the highways of NJ......

Current car is a blue 2001 Subaru Forester 5-speed.

For the next vehicle, it will definitely NOT be a manual transmission. I am over that. I drive a 25+ mile stretch of road each way to work, with enough traffic lights that on days my knees are bothering me, I come home with a swollen kneecap from all the shifting. My top three picks right now are another Forester, a Toyota RAV4 or a Honda CRV, all Consumers Report top picks. Hmmm, now if I could only decide on a color.....