Comment by dpifke
My first car (hand-me-down from my Dad) was a 1980s Datsun, that I managed to total within a few weeks of getting my license, much to the consternation of my younger brother and sister who expected it to eventually be handed down to them as well.
The "left door is open" voice alert will forever be ingrained in my memory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hJBko3-oV4 It seemed so futuristic when the car was new.
I daily-drove a 1981 280ZX Turbo for three glorious, infuriating years. The L28ET would boost like a freight train one minute and then randomly cut out because the AFM flap got sticky or the injector harness decided it was allergic to moisture. Fuel pump relay? Shot. Turbo coolant lines? Weeping. ECU temp sensor? Lies constantly. Every single ground in the engine bay needed cleaning twice a year or it would just die at traffic lights for fun. But man, when it ran (which was most of the time) that long hood, perfect 50/50 weight, and the way the turbo spooled with that glorious whistle made every commute feel like a low-budget 80s action movie chase scene. It leaked, it overheated, it ate alternators, and I still miss it every single day. Cars were allowed to have personality back then, even if that personality was “occasionally tries to strand you on the motorway lol