I look for the car that will likely cost me the least in the long run (initial price, gas, repairs, insurance, etc.) Also, manual transmission. It can be a hassle at times (particularly city driving) but I just like the feel of it. It's like I'm more connected with the car.

Can it get me from point A to point B? If so, I'll take it. I would really like a 1997 BMW M3 though.

I don't really have the money to make a personal decision... yet.

I'm strangely attracted to Firebirds (only pre-2000s models) and trans ams (the older the better). Oh and also it has to be Cherry red.

Fast and Furious [spoiler] Really, that's one of the reasons why I have a Skyline[/spoiler]

Long question! But okay, I'm a pretty big car nut so I'll do my best to answer. For me it all started as a kid, my dad was a huge car nut and would always take me to car shows, races, junk yards, and let me help him work on his 71 Trans Am. That without a doubt is what started me on the path to loving cars. As for what brought me into my own tastes. At first it was simply looks + performance, which lead me to fall in love with what was then current gen late 90s Mustangs. I was in high school, broke, and dreaming. I did my best to save and save but knew I'd probably never have a mustang unless I wanted an ugly fox body. Of course at this time the internet was taking off and I engrossed myself into learning more about cars. As I learned more and more about cars, I learned how much Mustangs suck, like really really sucked especially back then. At this point I dropped the mustang idea, and just went with what I originally liked in the stang. I loved the body style still, the long hood and the option of a convertible (I live in Cali, pretty much a must.) So, my requirements pretty much became, sexy, 200hp+, open top, and of course stick shift. Of course I couldn't afford anything like this even if I wanted. On top of this, my best friend was just gifted a Porsche 911SC from his dad and I was extremely jealous! So time and high school went on, and I was driving a hand me down Ford Taurus that was on its last leg... At 80k miles... Another sour taste for Ford... But I digress... Eventually, one day I drove to school, I had to park on the street as only seniors got parking passes. But this is when I finally met my true love! I walked passed an old 80s looking car, and I immediately fell in love with the lines. I had no idea what it was at the time, I was always raised around American cars and hated Japanese cars, they were all ricers to me back then! But here I was looking at something with a Nissan badge on it! The car I was looking at was a 1985 300zx Turbo (Z31 Turbo[see above for similar]) and I was smitten! It wasn't a convertible, but it had ttops which kept the sexy lines of a coupe but allowed for an open top! It had a little hood scoop on it which looked awesome, and another feature I didn't even think of, flip up headlights! This was the point where I fell in love with Z cars. I researched the hell out of them and was awestruck that they were so incredibly cheap! Everyone wanted the newer twin turbo Z! And of course, so did I, but knew there would be no way. So eventually, when the tranny blew out in my Taurus, my mom helped me purchase my first car with the money I had saved from my part time job. And for just $2500, I eventually found a decent 1984 300zx turbo. It was in crap shape! But I loved it, I'll fix it all I said! Anyways, to cut back to your questions and who I am today when it comes to cars. I became the complete opposite of what I was. I was raised loving American cars, but now I loathed them, sorta. As time went on though, my biases lessoned. I still don't really like ricers, but I no longer openly mock them. I've also become much better at knowing the difference between a ricer and a proper tuner and showing the respect they deserve. Actual ricers though, I just tend to ignore, or laugh at them silently. To each their own and I try to respect that and understand not everyone can afford to do what they really want. Okay, back to story time: today, my biases are pretty much all gone, I love all cars for all sorts of different purposes. I wish I could have them ALL! Eventually my 84 300zx died on me, and I got an 87 300zx, which was basically the same car but with a more modern face lift. Unfortunately this car was plagued with bad luck! I found out too late it had been in an accident and the frame was bent slightly, it was repaired cosmetically, but not under. It was also once attacked by a freakin mountain lion! But that's another story. So, after several years my baby slowly started to deteriorate as I had moved out and had no garage to work on her any more. I needed a more reliable car at this point so I bought a Miata. I loved that little car! It was a ton of fun, but it ended up being pretty unreliable as well. I had to replace the alternator 3 times in about 2 months and eventually the accessory belt slipped, which ran the water pump and it overheated almost instantly and cracked the radiator. I took the car to the closest mechanic to have it fixed up and one of the guys at the shop was looking to buy a Miata! I was tired of this car even though it was tons of fun.. So I called a co-worker who picked me up, and I went to get my title and my now nonop Z so I could drive something in the meantime and sold the Miata the same day to the mechanic. I took the $2000 he gave me and went straight to the Nissan dealer to buy me a new 370z. Unfortunately they only had a white automatic and some other crappy base models. Gross. But, they had one car I did always like, especially as a youngin. A red 2007 C6 Corvette. I loved the lines, always did love vettes and it met my exact desires I had in highschool! It was sexy af, had a targa top, 400 horse power and a 6 speed. It was like my high-school dream car x10! I bought the car right on the spot and loved it.. At first. I had never owned or driven anything that fast. Eventually though, I got disillusioned with it, the speed and power got real boring real fast. Just cant do anything with it on the street. Along with that it had tons of minor electrical issues and it just felt extremely cheaply made. I figured okay, somewhat understandable, I'll take her to Laguna Seca though, she will be fun as -blam!- on the track!! Nope, it was fun, but I just didn't get that special fun feeling that my Miata and especially my Z always gave me. It was at this point I decided to drop $15k on my Z to repair the frame damage, the lion attack and all the other small problems. All this on a car on its best day that is worth $5k. I could easily get a twin turbo now, but I no longer like them as much. I love my Z31 because it is extremely unique. It is the red headed bastard child of the Z family. Everyone either prefers the older ones or the twin turbos. But not me, I love the uniqueness of it, and to me it is by far the best looking of them all. She's still being worked on, but I hope to have her back in a month or two. Moving on, I also recently purchased a dodge challenger scat pack. This is a very strange one for me! As I mentioned, I'm not a fan of American cars, and Dodge is even more unreliable than Ford! But my girl friend needed a new car, so we were test driving everything from STi to Mustangs and of course the Challenger. Showing up in a nice shiny Corvette will let you test drive just about anything! At least it had that going for it! My gf will only drive a stick(yes she is that awesome) so that's why we test drove mostly performance cars, and hell she even took her Civic Si to Laguna Seca and tracked it with me. So we needed more of that for sure. When I test drove that challenger though, it was fun, like really really fun and I was once again smitten! I didn't buy one though when we test drove. I went home and eventually got over it. Unfortunately, we went back a couple months later and test drove one again... I couldn't get it out of my head after that one and had to have one. I scoured the country for the exact model I wanted and purchased a 2016 plum crazy challenger scat pack fully loaded with everything but an automatic of course. The car is in my name but my gf will be driving it primarily. I'm looking to sell my vette and when I do I'll drive the scat pack until my Z is done. Then we'll sell her Civic. What's funny is the next time we go to the track, she'll be driving the 400hp+ American car and I'll be driving the 200hp Japanese car. This Challenger is a bit of an anomaly for me, I really never thought I'd like this car so much. It really blew away any remaining biases I might have had. Shit, its the first car I've ever owned with a back seat! In a few years the plan is to hopefully have kids,(long complicated story there) and I'll take the challenger back. Will probably go back to the STi idea as well so she can have four doors and a stick still. I'll turn my Z into a dedicated track car and hopefully have a friggin garage I can do it in!!! Phew! So there you go, that's my story. Props if you made it through the whole thing. I'm not even sure if I really answered any of your questions though! Edit, adding pics. My Vette and Z before she was an old deteriorated mess: http://imgur.com/a/6hYXu Challenger: http://imgur.com/a/6hYXu

I drive my brother's old car, I've never been a fan of flashy cars but now that I drive one it's pretty hard to maintain that opinion lol. After I graduate from college I'm getting a motorcycle though, cars are nice but I've always dreamed of having an awesome motorcycle to zip around on.