Time To Play Parking Lot Challenge!: Choose One Car From These Parking Lots To Drive Forever

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You know what’s a great way to spend the tail end of a Friday afternoon when most of your work-brain has already checked out and is sobbing in the break room of your mind, but you still have to sit in front of a computer, looking productive? Playing Parking Lot Challenge on The Autopian, of course, with all your fellow Autopians! It’s the best, so let’s get to it.

You know how to play, right? It’s easy: we have a picture of a parking lot, and from that lot you must choose one (1) car, and that car will be the only car you ever own, forever. High stakes stuff, motherjumpers. So choose wisely, and tell us in the comments, along with your justification and reasoning, because you will have to defend your choices.

This time we’re going to do three (III) parking lots, two from a Sainsbury’s location in the United Kingdom, because they have a fantastic photo archive of “car parks” (that’s crazy Brit for “parking lot”; in America, a “car park” is where you take your car to frolic off-leash with other cars) from Sainsbury’s stores of the years.

The third one will be a picture of a parking lot from the Los Angeles International Airport, just to mix it up a bit.

Okay, ready for the first one? Let’s do it – Here’s Number 1:

Some good stuff there! A Mini, some Fiats, Opels, holy crap, an NSU Prinz! What’s it gonna be from all these little fuel-sipping wonders?

Okay, Number 2:

 

How about this one? From the early ’90s, and we have a good mix of Volkswagens and Fords and Rovers and other stuff. Lots of options!

Okay last one, Number 3:

Okay, now let’s head to America, specifically, sun-baked LAX:

Some good stuff there, too! And, likely rust-free! Look at that Eclipse up there, and…is that a mud-spattered Volvo? What’s the story there?

Pick, explain, talk, argue, and so on. Let’s have some fun here.

 

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Mercedes Streeter

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102 thoughts on “Time To Play Parking Lot Challenge!: Choose One Car From These Parking Lots To Drive Forever”

  1. I may get the Friday afternoon milaise but some of us actually have to WORK so just now reading this from home. Always seeing thing late from the left coast, but a cost I’m willing to pay to live int he water starved and fire prone paradise.

    Jack Trade, incredible observational skills, I missed what definitely looks like a Sebring convertible at the rear fence of the LAX fence (my other ‘home’ airport), and MaximillianMean had the car I spotted in the Mustang convertible.

    I owned both, among other convertibles (both green, oddly enough), and both had their issues, but overall could be sorted out for now to kingdom come. I mean, this is for life, right?! Come on, the stakes are high, live a little, enjoy a convertible, you’ve always wanted one!

    The Sebring, despite its manufacturer, was a decent car all said and done. The back seat was HUGE for a convertible, you could almost fit adults back there, so much so, that I drove one from the central coast of CA on Highway 1 all the way to Victoria, BC, and I do mean, regardless of what ‘Highway 1’ was at any one section, twisty, badly maintained, goes through towns, etc., that’s the route. It was glorious. It took two weeks all said and done (business meetings) including the incredibly boring drive back down the interstate (for time). That Sebring had a big truck, and between that and the back seat, it was easy to carry everything that was needed, including the ice chest on the back seat for, you know, refreshments. Only issue the whole trip was all the gravel that OR puts in their interstate paving mix. Soon as OR interstate hit on the way back, the road noise from the mix just about drove me crazy.

    The Mustang, just like the Sebring, has poor build quality overall, but damn if that wasn’t a fun car. Actually bought it to give to my daughter (who of course destroyed it after I gave it up after a year, but I expected that), but drove it from TX to CA and it was a great ride. Last ticket I ever got in TX was leaving the state that trip at 600AM from Ft Worth and going 287 up toward Wichita Falls to eventually get on I-20 (too hot for i-10), and with no one on the road but me, I opened that sucker up. Radar detector went off and I hit the brakes, looking down I was doing 115. I was down to 85 when the Ranger got a good fix on the car. Most expensive ticket I’ve ever had to pay. Gladly paid it because the Ranger told me if he wrote me up for 85, he would have to impound the car and take me to jail. It was too early for that stuff apparently.

    Both cars were plastic interior crap mobiles, rattled like crazy, but had so much potential. Hell, I thought about trying to put a supercharger on the Sebring just for fun. Lord help me.

  2. To be a little oblique but why not, for number 0 (the you must choose banner pic) is that an ’80s white Ford Sierra I spy? I want that one.

    Those C-pillars are pretty distinctive.

  4. I will take that white Rover 820 from the 1991 picture, thank you very much.

    My family car growing up was the 825TD and I don’t care what people say about reliability, it was awesome.

    Yes, the trunk lid was misaligned from factory (and could not be fixed), the dashboard warped within a couple of years, and there were rattles all over the place. But it served us well for over 10 years, and it felt classy as heck while doing so. I must have hand washed it a few hundred times and could recite the manual by heart. It was a truly special car.

  6. Re Sainsbury’s ’91, is that a VW Fox prominently in front?

    And I really hope that in distance up against the fence at LAX, that’s a Sebring convertible and someone chooses it…

      1. Ah, thank you!

        It didn’t have the ungainly but still oddly interesting proportions of that era’s Jetta coupe and it was too short to be a Quantum.

  7. 1977 – I’ll take the blue Mercedes wagon top right.

    1991 – I’ll take the pastel yellow chevy (nova?) Top right behind the pole

    Modern – give me the Avalanche top left by the stop sign. That was my 1st new car back in ’06 so I have a soft spot for it.

    1. I am with you justin, red mk1, white MK2 and then because I am just as stupid as I was in 2012 the a4 avant. Praying it is the 1.8tqm like I had but somehow not as determined to bankrupt me. Close friend has a b6 over 300k so maybe I get lucky.

    2. Well, you’re consistent at least, haha. Hard to go wrong with a practical Golf.

      Tell me, what 2 door tan VW is that in the second pic? I think it’s a VW by the badge, door handles and general styling, but I could certainly be wrong.

      3. The one front and centre? It’s a VW Polo saloon, which, depending on its age was either badged Derby, Polo Classic or just Polo.

  10. 77: I’d go for the orangish Opel on the far left.

    91: Nothing’s really jumping out at me, so I guess that white Honda.

    LAX: That Wrangler with the really obnoxious green paint.

  12. 1977: The red MK1 Golf far left. This was a hard choice between that and the Mini but I feel like the Golf would be a much more livable car with the bit of extra room it offers

    1991: My first thought was the yellow car up front because I thought it was some old Toyota but then I realized it’s actually a Rover P6. I’m feeling risky today so give me that P6 and it’s unnecessarily weird front suspension

    LAX: That first gen Pathfinder up front. It looks nice but not too nice to where I’d feel bad taking it off road and getting it dirty.

  13. You nailed my afternoon pre-5:00 mood, so I’ll play. There are some intriguing cars in the ’77 photo. The ’91 photo put me to sleep. Which leads me to the LAX photo. Not sure if that blue Jeep is a TJ or older, but if I’m driving it for the rest of my life, I’ll stick with the Jeep.

  15. 1977: The red fastback on the far right right, next to the red Golf. Why? Why not? Looks sporty-ish.
    1991: Is that mustard colored car near the entrance to the store an older Ford Cortina? If so, sure I’ll take it. How many chances to you get to own a mustard colored car?
    Modern LAX: The red Mustang Convertible. Being a Mustang, I would actually be able to keep it running for the rest of my life without bankrupting myself.

    Overall, the Mustang will provide the best combo of usefulness and fun to drive. It’s a ragtop, so you can haul anything with it.

    1. You beat me to it on the Mustang and why. Excellent call.

      And I’m putting my money where my bits and bytes are…I’m doing this exact challenge IRL, except my Mustang is older than the one here.

  16. Truthfully I didn’t see anything whatsoever that rang my bell. I suppose the Mitsubishi GT3000 in the bottom row of LAX. There are plenty of dead ones for spare parts. It does have some sporting intentions that can be improved on after market.

  17. 1977? White Mini in the foreground.

    1991? Red Mini smack in the center under the orange sign.

    I kind of love Minis and have since I was little, I finally got one I could afford and bought myself an r53, wish I could have found a classic one for a reasonable prce though.

    LAX? Red dually dodge ram on the front row. I used to have that truck in white with a 6 speed and the last of the 5.9 6bt Cummins engines. Loved it but when the economy tanked it killed my cabinet shop right along with it so The Brain(cartoon reference) had to leave Pinky behind.

  18. First: the Mini or the Prinz.
    Second: if that’s a Celica far left in the front row, I’m in it
    Third: meh, I ( sadly ) lost interest in late-model cars a decade or so back. I’d probably go for the muddy Volvo cause, tho I’m serious about washing salt off, I never wash mud off my car: I had to work to do that decorating, and I’ll enjoy it as long as possible.

    I like this! You should get pics from areas with more obscure cars so we can all yearn to have something odd-to-us. South America has some great oddball ( to me in the US ) cars

  19. Gimme the green Fiat 128 in 1977, the white Mk2 Golf parked close to the store in 1991, and the black Nissan Pathfinder, far left, at LAX. All are cars I have history with, and know I like. If I can only have one of the three, I’ll take the Fiat, and make it work. Somehow.

  20. I’d take one of the Minis in the first photo because they’re fabulous little things to drive, the E12 5-Series in the second photo because it’s quite good, and the 996 in the third photo because come on.

      1. That one took me a bit. See the blue two-door Jeep with the tan cloth top, front of row, first full row on the right? Follow that row up, past a little jump, and there’s just a bit of rear of a black 996 hanging out past a dark sedan.

    2. Great choices. But I’d take the red mini in the 1991 photo – it looks like it’s one of the upgraded 1980s ones. Maybe the Sierra if it was one of the quicker ones (unlikely…)

    3. Can’t find an E12 5-series in the second picture… If you are referring to the green 3rd Gen. Opel Ascona/Vauxhall Cavalier, which has a somewhat similar rear, you definitely don’t want to drive that forever!!

  21. Silver Mitsubishi convertible for sure at LAX. With what appears to be a front end black bra to emphasize just how classy it is. Some people can afford to drive a classic Merc convertible into their golden years at the country club. Others can re live summers hustling to make payments and dreaming reading an old aftermarket catalog for ways to snaz up their ride. I will get that ride has a kickass woofer in the trunk to blast Too Live Crew and Naughty by Nature while ridin through the burbs

  24. I’m shopping the LAX lot, since it is modern and the correct continent for me. The boring but practical choice would be the GMT900 Suburban. It can haul people, tow cargo, it will be likely to be reliable, and if it needs to hold up forever, parts will be available as long as there are Ice engines.

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