What Did You Want As Your First Car (And What Did You End Up With)?

Getting your first car is a rite of passage for most people. Having the kind of freedom that a car gives you at a young age is like nothing else, and it's an even bigger deal when you're into cars. Getting your first ride as a car enthusiast can help shape what cars you're into for years to come. My 14-year-old son recently surprised me (and made me proud) by telling me he wants his first car to be a first-gen Lexus LS. He's big into JDM cars so he has some... interesting plans for an LS if he gets one. Plans that include a backseat chandelier. It may be weird, but it's cool and I get it, especially since he seems to get his love for JDM cars from me.

He may not necessarily end up with an LS, though. What we want and what we end up with are usually different, especially when it comes to cars. And this kid's love for JDM cars is wide ranging. He could very well end up with an S14 Nissan Silvia/240SX, a car he loves just as much as an LS. That is basically what happened to me — I wanted one thing but the realities of life meant I ended up with a car I would have never expected to drive.

Toyota introduced Scion to the U.S. market in 2003. I was a freshman in high school then and was immediately smitten with the brand. Its marketing was brilliant. From DJ booths handing out excellent mixtapes at auto shows to special events and a magazine highlighting JDM and tuner culture, they knew how to reach the youths and Millennials like me were their prime target. Scion came over with two models initially: the xA hatch and the boxy xB, which I loved. I had to have one. I begged my mom to get me one, but sadly she didn't think I should have a brand new car that young, so I had to watch from afar as other people my age got to drive around in the boxy Japanese car that I loved.

I wouldn't actually get a car until I was nearly finished with high school, and it came by way of a family friend. My first car was a dark blue2003 Acura 3.2 TL. It had over 100,000 miles on it, and being an Acura we weren't really worried about reliability. While I was grateful for the car, I was a teenager and this wasn't a TL Type S. I saw it as an old man's car, something some well off man somewhere bought and kept for years to ferry him and his wife around to dinner and to and from the golf course. I eventually came around to liking the TL, but it took a while.

Now we ask you, Jalopnik readers. What did you want your first car to be and, if you eventually got one, what did you end up with? It'll be surprising to see if anyone actually ended up with the thing they actually wanted. I'll try not to get too jealous.