Here are photos of my old cars.

My first car, a 70 beetle. My parents bought this for me on my 14th birthday. It was rough. Over the 2 years to my 16th I learned a whole lot about working on cars. No. 1 rule: Don't attempt to strip German Enamel with a hand sander! (The only thing that works is aircraft stripper.)

79 Rabbit 2-dr. A good car. No faster than the Beetle, but I got four tickets in one year in it. Go figure.

My second Beetle (a '67) was actually somewhat rougher than the first on purchase. It needed both floorpans replaced and the running boards came off with a stiff yank. Sold in December '93.

Here's why I bought the '67 -- What a cool, clean, simple dash!

After nearly going deaf driving back and forth between Raleigh, Charlotte, and Boone I wanted a quieter and more comfortable car. This 87 Quattro fit the bill perfectly. Still my favorite all-around car, it got nailed by a deer on Dec. 22 1995. Note the brand-new tires. Bought a week before. Aargh!

92 Jetta GL. The teal Jetta was a great trip car. Sold in June '97.

I finally took up racing in 1999, after talking about it for years. This 81 Scirocco is a great autocross car. I sold it in October 2000. For more, see the Scirocco page.

Here is the wicked fast 1983 2.0l-16v GTI. It had the 16-valve engine from a 90-92 GTI with a big cam, Oettinger ported head, headers, and a full-throttle enrichment box. This is the fastest (straight-line) car I've ever owned. More than a few 911s have been very surprised... The Scirocco was a better autocrosser, due to its better shocks and smaller swaybars. I sold this one in September 1999 to Scott G. It blew a head gasket about a year later and a stock 2.0 l head was installed then the car was sold to someone else. The last I heard (in late 2003) it was sitting abandoned at the German Garage in N. Raleigh. Sad end for such a fast car.

1988 Jetta GL. It's a nice daily driver. No mods, except for a stainless Techtonics exhaust (With Borla muffler. Nice sound.) and 25mm Tectonics front swaybar. I ran this car in HS during the 2001 season and won the CCR championship. In 2002 I retired the Jetta from racing in favor of Steven Rankins Subaru Legacy GT in STS and SM, ending the SM season in 5th for CCR against deep competition. Sold after exactly three years after its purchase date to Dr. Biggly. (he's not a real doctor...) Biggly is campaigned it in HS for the 2003 season and did quite well, winning the NCAC and CCR championships.

Back to AWD, in my first new car: this 2003 Subaru WRX. Purchased in September 2002 on special order, this was the only zero-option 2003 model in the country upon delivery. Zero-option is a bit of a misnomer as it's loaded. Cruise, CD changer, AC, keyless entry, etc are all standard. It's just about impossible to find a truly stripped car any more. This car has taken over favorite status from the 4000Q. For street driving and regional autocross in the 2003 STX class I bought the nice Prodrive GC-07C 17" wheels and Bridgestone S-03 tires. For national and NCAC events I ran DS with the factory wheels and Hoosier tires. I managed to win the CCR STX championship and the NCAC DS championship in 2003. Sold (well traded in) in Oct 2004 for my wife's 2005 Legacy Outback.

While living in Asheville my boss's wife offered me this 84 944. It was far too good a deal to pass up, despite the front spoiler being ripped off in an unfortunate accident. (Her son decided to try off-roading...) After fixing the spoiler and a blown coolant hose I drove it for several months and autocrossed it a few times, putting almost 10,000 miles on the car. After being sold the new owner traded it in straight up for a mid-80's BMW 635!

This 1992 Legacy Turbo was purchased in July 2004 while trying to sell the WRX with the intention of using it in rallycross, daily driving, and maybe eventually turning into a true rally car. It's been a great daily driver and is better at rallycross than the WRX, amazingly enough. However, thanks to the SCCA dropping rally sanction and lots of confusion in the rally community over the status of entry level drivers (we might not be allowed to drive AWD until after years of experience in 2wd...) I'm going to refocus on solo and start doing a few track days. The rally bug has bit hard though, so I'll definitely continue navigating when I get a chance and participate in any rallycrosses I can.

1995 base model Miata. This should do well for autocross and hopefully a few track events!

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