My Car Collection in 2025
I've been a car enthusiast my entire life. I think we can pin the blame on my dad for this one. My dad drove a 1961 Chevrolet Apache10 shortbox truck when I was born in 1996. We worked on it all the time when I was young and used it like a real work truck. It wasn't a show piece. Unfortunately over the years the truck got too rough and required too much difficult rust repair (I'll write a post all about the cancer that is rust on cars, someday). My ultimate fantasy in life is to find this exact truck some day. The new owner had plans to restore it back in 2014 when it was sold, so maybe some day I can find it. Maybe some day. In the meantime I have quite a few project cars on the go and I wanted to talk a bit more about how I ended up with so many cars. These are listed in chronological order of purchase date.
Getting started with something new
After the truck was gone, we moved onto something new and much more accessible: old Japanese cars (mostly Hondas). When I took shop classes in high school, my shop teacher always had tons of cars on the lot for us to work on (you're a beauty Mr. Sukut, hope you're doing well). But one of his cars really caught my eye: a 2000 Acura Integra SE in Milano red. I can't exactly say why I loved the car so much at the time, but I wanted one. I remember being struck by a vision of retro futurism: the car was already very old at the time but it looked like it was from the future. So naturally, when I got my license at 16, I would not stop talking to my dad about how badly I wanted us to get an Integra. We started looking at Integras and the market was pretty mixed. Lots of cheap ones but they generally looked pretty rough. We eventually found one in fantastic shape and in a higher trim level (GSR) owned by a Honda technician, but unfortunately it was out of our price range. I dunno what happened inside my dad's head, but the next day he said "let's just buy the nice one".
My 1996 Integra GSR
14 years later, I still own that same 1996 Integra GSR in Granada Black Pearl. It is my absolute favorite car in the world and I have driven it everywhere. It is my prized possession. We bought it at 194,000km in 2011 and it currently sits at 345,000km in 2025. It's still in very good shape, but a lot of the clear coat is gone from the upper surfaces like the roof and trunk. My dream is to send it to a restoration shop some day for all the body and paint work. I daily drove this car to high school and college when I was young, but I learned quickly that you probably don't want to daily drive a car you love so much. Someone in the grocery store parking lot is always eager to put a fresh scratch or ding on your car.
My dad's 1993 Civic Si hatch
My dad and I really loved that Integra. So much so that my dad wanted his own Japanese classic. We ended up browsing old Japanese cars for ages and finally found something interesting: a 1993 Honda Civic Si hatch (commonly referred to by its VIN as an "EG" hatch). It was in rough condition, but the seller only wanted $1000CAD for it. We bought it, and my dad cursed me out the entire drive home for "talking him into buying a total piece of shit". It was impossible to shift it, it was running on 3 cylinders, and it died at least twice on the way home. When we got home, I had a feeling we would be selling it again soon. I could not have been more wrong though. My dad was hard at work fixing the issues on the car. He started by replacing the cap and rotor on the distributor which was enough to get it running right. Soon the only issue was the transmission. It shifted terribly and I think the clutch left the chat a few years prior. My dad managed to find the exact same car on Craigslist, but in even worse condition. It ran, but just barely. We towed it home for fear of a fire lol. The seller only wanted $100 since that was the scrap value of the car. My dad proceeded to swap over all the good parts from the donor car to the main car, the big one being the good transmission. He even made some good money continuing to part out the donor car and selling parts on eBay. After the new transmission was in, the car was really ready for the road.
My dad's 1989 CRX Si
A year or two later, my dad ended up working in the parts department at our local Honda dealer. This really changed everything: we had access to all the parts and documentation we could need, and we met some great local Honda enthusiasts. Eventually one of his co-workers put their old 1989 Honda CRX Si for sale. You guessed it: we just had to have it. We haven't really done much with this one or even driven it much, but it's an absolute gem and I want to see it stick around.
My dad's 1991 Miata
Back in 2019 my dad kept talking about how much he wanted a convertible and maybe an S2000. He eventually settled on a first generation Miata since they are so much cheaper. Well, he somehow found a collector condition 1991 Miata in classic red. I won't lie: I still want the Honda S2000, but the Miata is amazing.
My 1998 Acura EL
At the start of 2024, I was in the market for a "beater", a car I could drive around town without worrying about. To anyone who's been watching the used car market in recent times, you know how rough it is out there. You can basically expect anything under $2000CAD to be a total piece of shit that needs tons of work. I looked at many different cars, all types of makes and models too. They mostly sucked and seemed like a huge headache. One posting seemed interesting: a 1998 Acura EL with "only" 230,000km on the clock. I emailed the seller and heard nothing for almost 2 weeks. Out of the blue, the owner gets back to me. I go look at it with my dad and our expectations are low. To our surprise, it was clean, and started up just fine with a fresh battery. I was sold. We bought it for $1500CAD and drove it home. To this day, I believe purchasing this vehicle may have been the luckiest thing that ever happened to me. I drove it for a full year with no major work or service. It has been bulletproof reliable. Even the heated seats and mirrors work! In recent times I've been a little more ambitious doing more work on it, but nothing major (exhaust manifold, radiator).
My dad's 1997 Honda CRV
At this point you're probably thinking "man this guy doesn't have anything mean or critical to say about any of these cars, he just loves them all". That's true, but it all changes here. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big CRV fan, but so far this thing has been a total lemon and pain in my ass. I don't think my dad made the wisest call buying this one. This is one of the only cars he bought on his own (we always did it together). Anyway, long story short, I believe most of the issues I've been having just stem from bad home mechanics poking this thing. Every wiring harness I touch has been at least a little hacked up. Thankfully, I think I've finally turned the corner on this one. I've been working on it constantly lately and it finally seems reliable. Only left me on the side of the highway twice in one week!
My 2008 Ford Ranger Sport
This is where the story changes a bit. Unfortunately on November 2nd 2024, my father passed away in a bicycle accident. None of us saw this coming. He was healthy and only 63. This changed everything for me. I'm pretty knowledgeable about cars and don't mind picking up a wrench, but I relied heavily on my dad to navigate my car projects. This was the first car purchase I had to make completely solo. We really needed a truck to help deal with my dad's estate, so I started searching for a third generation Ford Ranger. I ended up buying a 2008 Ford Ranger from a local pool and water company. It's an excellent truck and I'm really enjoying it so far. I remember after I bought it, I got my partner to drive it home while I drove my EL behind her. I remember thinking to myself "the love of my life is in that truck... I really hope I got this right". It was that same moment I realized I had started my transition into my dad's old role. I was now the "car guy of the house" and it was my responsibility to make sure the cars were safe and reliable.
Wrapping up
Going forward, I would mostly like this blog to be a record of what I'm currently working on with these cars. This format is a little different than what I'd generally like to post here, but I figured I should explain how I ended up with so many cars. The only car from my dads collection that isn't currently in my name is the 1989 Honda CRX Si. For now, my brother has taken it, but he doesn't have as much interest in working on cars, so it's still under my care and you'll get to see it here.