When I was 17 and got my first REAL car ('85 GSL-SE), I didn't know anything about cars. I thought the marks on the dip stick were referencing all the oil, not 1 quart. So when I'd check it and notice it was nearly all the way down, I'd just add about 4 quarts. haha.

Also, I never did an oil change in the year and a half that I owned it. Probably 20,000 miles. In fact, I don't remember doing any kind of maintenance on it at all.

That car was crazy. First day I had it I got a ticket for going 65 in a 40.

It had this terrible RPM oscillation problem, where it would go from about 800 to 1500 RPMs then back down to 800 over and over every couple of seconds. It'd do it at idle only, and if I hit the accelerator hard in neutral it'd normally go away. But it'd do it again at the next stop.

Taught my girlfriend (now my wife) how to drive stick. She sucked bad at first, but learned pretty well eventually.

Drove it through 2 Iowa winters.

Went airborn a couple times, once off a highway off-ramp going 65 MPH. Landed *perfectly* at the base of the hill that forms the off-ramp. 4' tall grass right in front of me; trying to back up just caused the rear wheels to spin. I turned the wheel all the way and drove up the side of the hill no problem. People stopped ahead of us to see if we were dead.

The fuel gauge stopped working, so I'd just have to fill it up all the time. And run out of gas now and then.

I couldn't afford new tires, and they were so bald that the metal wires were coming out. Invincible teenager that I was, I didn't care. I drove that car 130MPH like that (as fast as the car would go). When a tire would go flat (usually happened overnight), I'd just buy a new used one. I did this about 4 times. I used to think my car was so powerful, cause it'd chirp the tires in the first 3 or 4 gears; really they were just bald.

One morning I put the car in the ditch to avoid running over a jogger. Ripped the exhaust off. Man it was loud after that. I used duct tape to hold the exhaust together. I'd last a couple hours. Also, that crash ruined a wheel, so I used the spare after that.

Then the headlights stopped working. High beams worked fine tho, so I jammed a pencil in the multifunction lever to keep the high beams on all the time.

Then the taillights went out, but the brake lights worked. So I'd have to drive with my foot on the accelerator and slightly on the brakes at the same time to make it look like they were on at night.

Then I joined the navy and let my girlfriend have the car. It broke down shortly thereafter. Her father sold it, and the new owner fixed it (I think he just did a tune up). I was going to try to buy it back and restore it, but it was crashed in 2000 and crushed just earlier this year at a junkyard.

Funnest car I've ever had.

Then one of my buddies on the ship had a Mustang. He had all the magazines, and I started reading them. Learned alot. I subscribed to a bunch of car mags and learned more. Read books and learned more. Then I got a '95 Cobra Convertable. Treated it so good, my wife and kids were jealous. Used to hang out at www.corral.net which is basically like www.rx7club.com except for Mustangs. These car forums are the best place for info bar none (well, except maybe a master mechanic that specializes in your car).