Is there an experience or event in ordinary life that can compare with that of a new car? Sure, getting married or becoming a parent is a special event, and so is moving to a new home. But after those, the experience of a new car seems to me to be one that is unique.

For someone who grew up as a car-crazy kid, there was no experience comparable to that of a brand new car in the family. There are some for whom the new car experience became a boringly regular experience, and there were others for whom it was not an experience at all. I was somewhere in the middle of that spectrum.

I still have vivid memories of new cars from my childhood. The first one I recall was in the summer of 1964 when the parents picked up a new dark green Oldsmobile Cutlass. I was all of five years old, and recall proudly riding in the back seat and helping my parents show off its cool features to my mother’s aunt Alma, whom we visited on the drive home. I also remember the December night of 1965 when my father drove into the driveway with his white 1966 Ford Country Squire station wagon. I still remember the swirling snow in the air and the car being illuminated by the holiday lights in the front of the house.

After that, I remember my mother’s new cars far more vividly than those of Dad because we lived with Mom after the parental divorce. From then on, Mom’s car-buying habits were to buy new during the summer (at the end of the model year when dealers were clearing things out for new models) and to keep them for a long time. I was actively engaged in the process as an adolescent/teen when she bought the new 1972 Cutlass, to the point of still remembering the factory names of many of Oldsmobile’s paint colors that year, and how un-enthusiastic I was about the light green shade on the car she chose. I remember how funny it seemed when she had a friend drive it home from the dealer in 5 p.m. traffic because she was a little too anxious to do it herself.

She broke her habit and bought another new car in 1974 after discovering that 4 doors were better than 2 with growing kids and their friends. I was becoming interesting in politics at the time, but had no time to listen to President Richard Nixon make his resignation speech on television because there was a new Pontiac Luxury LeMans (in Honduras Maroon) in the garage. I still remember the smell of that car and how I spent as much time in the closed garage as I could on that sweltering August night until the heat finally drove me back into the house.

I finally got my own chance to buy a new car when I graduated law school and got the news that I had passed my bar exam. I had spent the previous several months on an epic hunt for the perfect choice for a new car, driving things as disparate as a Saab Turbo, a Chevy Cavalier and a Mustang G.T. with a V8 and a stick shift. When it was time to get serious I settled on the original “hot hatch” or “pocket rocket” – a 1985 Volkswagen GTI. It was late September and I chose one of the last ’85 models on the lot. One of the lawyers I worked for owned a sailboat, and asked me to join his crew for a race the first weekend I owned the VW. That would have been the highlight of most peoples’ weekend, but I remember accepting but being disappointed that I could not be out driving my new wheels. I recall driving 100 miles (one way) the next day to visit my sister (where the above photo was taken). Although I bought it with the idea that I would own it forever, I sold it after 2 years and reverted to my habit of buying older ones.

It would be over 20 years before I would buy another new car. I had been able to avoid the process by acquiring one nearly new car through marriage and another as a 1-year-old used vehicle that seemed nearly new. But when it was time, we special-ordered a new model in high demand and waited for months for it to be delivered. It came fresh off a ship from Japan to a Honda dealer in Indianapolis, and I still remember taking the call during a continuing ed seminar that it had finally arrived. I also remember the cloudy November late afternoon when we picked it up. I ran into a light rain on the way home and recall noticing for the first time how the windshield wiper blades were two different sizes. However, I was in the midst of a busy family life and did not spend hours just sitting in it as I once would have. Or maybe it was because I bought it out of practicality and not out of love.

Five years later we bought another one. This time, the process was started in response to one of my cheap older cars suffering a catastrophic failure and the missus saying “I’m tired of you and your cheap old cars. I want something new.” Being on the front side of college years for three kids, utility and cost were prime constraints and we chose accordingly – the minivan with a low entry price and a long warranty on offer at a local Kia dealer fit the bill. Like the 2007 Honda Fit, we got one at the beginning of a new model year. Unlike the Honda, this one had not one single option on the sticker. This one was probably my least exciting new car experience to date, but it was still a great feeling to drive, with its pristine paint finish and its powerful engine.

I had thought at the time that perhaps I should repeat the process after five years, so that we would do a total fleet turnover every decade. But we settled in with those two once-new cars and have continued to use them until now, when we have finally decided to re-experience that new car smell.

You might think that after so many years and knowing that I am at an age where a new car should last me a long, long time, I would have re-enacted my great new car hunt from 1985. Instead, I kind of stumbled on one, did a little research, and bought it – all in the space of about a week. And somehow, I was able to combine some practicality (no, it does not have a Hemi or the other go-fast hardware) with those old feelings of excitement. For those interested, I went into more detail about the car itself (a Dodge Charger) over at Curbside Classic (linked here).

I am happy to report that after so many years, the experience of a new car has not degraded from my increasing age and having become jaded from so many experiences in life. In fact, I am more excited by this one than that I have been by any of the new cars in my recent past. Nope – I sit in this new car and I am just as intoxicated by the smell and the feel of the pieces that surround me as I was in 1985 or 1972 or 1964. Maybe the 1960’s-inspired color makes me feel like a kid again.

One difference is how slow I am to become familiar with its features. In my youth, I would pore over brochures and owners manuals until I became a walking encyclopedia on the car’s operation. Not any more, as it turns out. This is either because I am getting older or because the car comes with so many gadgets that are totally unfamiliar to me. I think I will blame the car. I am sure I will eventually learn how everything works, but until then I will continue to be amazed at everything a new car can do now.

When I bought my first new car, I was sure that I would keep it forever. This time, I realize that there is a chance that this might actually happen. I don’t intend to drive it to work every day – there is a faithful old Kia minivan that is perfect for this task. Other than going to/from work, neither Marianne or I drives nearly as much as we once did, so this one will spend much of its time lounging in the garage rather than accumulating the hard miles of daily family life.

Of course, new cars have a funny way of becoming old cars, with parking lot dings and parts or features that decide to stop working. I know that phase will eventually come. But until then, I think I will stop writing and go out and just sit in my new car and soak up the experience just as I did as a kid.

Other than the image from the 1974 Pontiac brochure, all photos are of the actual vehicles which the author was fortunate enough to experience as brand new cars.