Through ironically colourful colourblind eyes....

I love driving. I didnt know I would like it so much until I got my licence. And I didnt really get into the whole suped up car thing until I got my current ride, a Suzuki Swift GTi. Special cars, in my opinion. Any 1300cc engine that can keep up/outrun popular 1500/1600cc sport cars is special. Worse when theyre boosted. If you ever hear a story about a white turbo cultus hanging on to the end of an Evolution, its not a folk tale. Throughout my 9 year automotive life Ive driven a number of cars. Here I highlight a couple of my experiences.

Daihatsu Cuore:The car with which I learned to drive. Very small car. My driving instructor was classic. He would play the radio loud and chat about all sorts of crap while we were on the road. His theory was I will be doing that when I get the plastic, so might as well get used to it from the get go. The very first time I was on the road, a man had stopped at an inappropriate place. As I pulled around him, my instructor told me to stop alongside the car, leaned out the window and yelled "Yo pu**yhole how you fi stop ya so, yu can drive yu eediat?!!", after which he quickly turned to me and said "drive drive, DRIVE!!". So now you know why I drive the way I drive. Its not my fault i'm a victim, i've been psychologically scarred. Another time he told me to pull over at a bus stop while he "chatted up" a young lady. After we drove off he turned to me and said "that, is how you look woman". He doesnt teach driving anymore, I think he runs taxi now.

Toyota Paseo: My mother's car, the car I drove regularly after I got my licence. I loved this car, my favourite for sentimental reasons. Two door, very small, not much room for any, ahem, "activities". But we made do none the less. This is the car in which I started by unofficial business of 'running taxi', a business which continues to this day. As one of the few among my friends that drove to school I was always picking up or dropping home somebody. This is also the car with which I seemingly made a reputation for myself for my 'efficient driving' as I'd like to call it. Again I say, its not my fault i drive the way I do, I am a victim. Sadly, this car is no more. The engine blew sometime ago, and one day I came home and it was gone, sold. I didnt even get to say goodbye.

Honda Accord: My father's car I alternated driving with the Paseo. This car had issues. Regularly leaked oil so was always topping up, had transmission problems so had to drive it like a manual, even though it was an automatic. I was coming home one night at about 1 am, stopped at a traffic light near Grants Pen. In this not-so-safe neighbourhood is where the car decided to stall. Upon finally getting it started the car was barely moving. Transmission was gone. Luckily though, once the car made it over a little uphill slope it moved a little faster. I was relieved to get home without incident. This car was not maintained well, and eventually the engine fell out the bottom of the car.

Suzuki Samurai: My father had this jeep the same time as the Honda. I barely drove it because I didnt like it. No power steering, and very uncomfortable to drive. I could feel every single bump in the road. I later learned this was due to over-inflated tyres. My girlfriend at the time drove in it once, and never again. The vibrations made her boobs hurt. This was sold not too long ago.

Toyota Corolla: Apart from it having an automatic transmission, this was a pretty decent car. Fairly new at the time we got it, peppy for a 1300cc, had some decent tyres and rims. The inside was still a bit cramped, but definitely roomier than the Paseo. I had the most eventful road trip to date in this car. 7 of us in two cars were going down to Negril Independence weekend, for three days of nonstop partying. I was one of the drivers. Before we left town the other driver Rudi realized I had a blown tail light. Minor issue, easily replaced. But now looking back I see that was an ominous precursor of things to come.

Going up a gentle hill in Mandeville I see some dark coloured splashes of water appear on my windscreen. The place was dry, had no idea where it came from, but continued going. Soon after I glance down and see my temp gauge all the way up to H. Pull over, fly the bonnet. Radiator burst. Apprently I had pushed the car a bit too hard coming up the hill. After getting some directions from the local we took our time driving in to town, with the radiator cap off, looking for a radiator repair shop. 3 hours, 3 1/2 bottles of coolant and couple thousand dollars later, a new radiator was in the car. Only problem was the part that connects to the engine via a hose was too small. The guy wrapped it with electrical tapeso the hose would fit over it. Stupid move. Couple minutes after we were back on the road I was overheating again. The tape had melted (obviously), hose came off. For the next 3 or 4 stops we were trying all sorts of things to try keep the hose on. Eventually a friend used a wire hanger and did some tying thing with it to hold the hose in place. 9 hours, many bottles of coolant and a much lighter wallet later, we arrived in Negril. A trip that shouldve taken 4 hours. Incidentally, a couple months later my then girlfriend told me her parents had a similar thing happen to them, only they used Crazy Glue to patch up the crack in the radiator. Now why didnt I think of that. Right now that car is being used as taxi.

Honda Integra: Both my parents owned one. Didnt drive my father's own much, so no incidents there. However, in my mother's own I got into my first accident soon after she got it. Two cars were overtaking, and the second car didnt have enough room to pull back over to their side in time, so they scraped the entire length of the driver's side. Other than that, the only other incident I can remember was coming into Kingston from a trip to Ochi and a couple was making use of the spacious back seat before I ever had a chance to. If there was ever a time I felt a little bit like what you might call a 'suck out bag juice', that was it. This car is no longer around, it was stolen about a year ago.

Suzuki Swift GTi: The car I now drive, the first Ive ever owned. Cheap to buy, expensive to maintain. Light, small, quick. Great stopping power. The interior is neither impessive nor spacious, but as mentioned before cramped interiors have never stopped me before. Definitely a fun car to drive, no doubt. This car made me interested in the inner workings of the engine. For a while I was addicted to wheelsjamaica.com, reading, learning. I havent had any major incidents like I did with previous cars, but just the same Ive spent some major cash on lots of little and not-so-little things. For the rest of the year I plan to get as much fun out of it as I can, and change to something else next year. Rudi just got a Golf GTi the other day. Im REALLY looking forward to future country trips :D

Come next year what kind of car will I get? Your guess is as good as mine.