Ever since I was the age of two, I've loved cars... When my family would travel to Arizona I'd go walk with my grandfather in the parking lot of the condo complex we stayed at and I'd scour the parking lots for the 'cars with the birds on the taillights' (Ford Thunderbird), which were my favourite at the time as I can remember. My dad would occasionally bring home a Motor Trend magazine from time to time for me to look at the pictures and it was either a late 1992 or early 1993 issue (Had the Mach III Mustang Concept on the Cover, regardless I still have the magazine). In that issue was a three way comparo on the then new GM B-Bodies, the Caprice Classic, Roadmaster, and Fleetwood (it always stuck with me the picture on the title page of the article had them parked in front of a 747). More importantly, there was an auto show special in the issue and I took a special liking to a concept car that was featured.... It was, as I know now the Oldsmobile Aurora Concept, glass roof and all. Of course I was two and a half and couldn't get over that car. I loved it. I remember my dad telling me "it's a concept car and it'll never be made", so imagine my surprise when I opened a 1994 Oldsmobile Brochure to see that it made it to production nearly unscathed (!). Just over three years old, I began to learn to read, directly from the car brochures my dad would bring home from the dealers nearby... Especially vivid in my memories were the 1993 Pontiac and Cadillac Brochures, as well as the 1994 Oldsmobile and Chevy Brochures. I learned to read before my fourth birthday, and I owe it to the strangest thing. Through those brochures I picked my favourite cars. The most striking ones were the Aurora, 1994 88 LSS, Pontiac Trans Sport, Lumina Minivan, Fleetwood Brougham, Roadmaster Estate, and Cutlass Supreme. At that age, I just liked the styling of Oldsmobiles and they became my favourite brand. At the same time, I really loved the Dustbuster vans as well, I was overjoyed when we bought one. Loved that van, it, and the Cavalier always seemed like part of the family, more so than any of our leased vans, my car, or the Malibu. Time will tell if the Impala will live up to that emotional attachment.
I just kept feeding my hobby. I remember shopping for a car to replace our 1989 Grand Am LE Coupe (Gray on Silver two tone) with the Quad4 when I was seven. My dad took me with him to see our salesman that we still deal with today, and we went to the back used lot at Jack Carter Chev/Olds/Cadillac and saw a pristine loaded 1996 Achieva V6 Sedan in Dark Green. I loved it, but alas my mom didn't like its snout and opted for a new and not as loaded 1997 Cavalier in a clownish blue color named after a flower. This car would become my first car nine years later. When there were a few Identical vans on the lot and he wanted to know which one to get, I picked the colours...
I guess by that logic, you could say that the defining cars of my childhood were the Ford Thunderbird, Oldsmobile Aurora and Pontiac Trans Sport/Lumina Minivan, making the 2002-2006 T-Bird, the First Gen Aurora, and 1994-1996 Dustbuster hit the top of my Lifetime "Must Own" List.