On Our Wall: What kind of car did you drive when you were in college?

by | Jan 3, 2018 | Alumni Network, Winter 2018 | 0 comments

“I drove a 1995 Mustang GT 5.0 at Mines. The first car I ever built and drove was a chopped and hacked 1931 Chevy Legend; I started on it at age 11.”

-Greg Widgery ’10


 

“1992 Mazda Protege, a stick shift I bought in 2000 at the end of my freshman year. It was all I could afford (barely), but I didn’t know how to drive a stick, so Xaviea Bell ’04 had to test drive it and drive it home for me.”

-Glenda Bell ’03


 

“1993 full-size Chevy Blazer. It’s still in my driveway and runs like a champ.”

-Scott Hodgson ’03


 

“1975 Oldsmobile Delta 88 four-door sedan with a Pontiac 400 engine. Light green with a vinyl hard top.”

-James Lane ’89, MS ’92


 

“A 1986 Toyota Camry, in typical Toyota beige-gold. My then-boyfriend, now-husband drove a 1997 green Ford F-150.”

-Andrea Drake ’06


 

“Didn’t/don’t own a car. A bicycle was my go to.”

-Christen Boyer


 

“1979 Mustang Indy Pace Car.”

-Darrell Dinges ’83


 

“1952 Dodge pickup.”

-John Babcock ’74


 

“A purple 1995 Geo Metro with pinkish purple stripes on the side.”

-Abby Smeltzer ’16


 

“Baby blue 1975 Dodge Colt.”

-Anne (Wagner) Cornellisson ’82


 

“I, too, was an avid pedestrian.”

-Maia Hunt ’96


 

“1958 Chevy, red and white. Sadly, no photo from 50 years ago.”

-Dennis Fagerstone ’71


 

“This is my husband’s, and he still has it. 1997 Subaru Impreza. It’s limping along after three years out of school.”

-Katie List ’13


 

“1981 maroon Chevy Chevette. Lived on Thomas Hall 1st floor.”

-David Wayman ’83


 

“1958 Corvette. I bought it from a guy at University of Denver with 98,000 miles.”

-Todd Brown ’69


 

“RTD.”

-Colin Fitzgerald ’07


 

“I walked to and from campus. No car required.”

-Eileen Hartsock ’13


 

“We remember the first car we drove in college.”

-Mines Formula


 

“No car, lived in the dorms until my senior year, then in an apartment just a block off campus.”

-Brian Sherwood ’78


 

“’66 Mercury Cyclone. This picture is one I just rebuilt to look like the one I drove to college my freshman year in 1972.”

-Richard P. Wilson, Jr. ’76


 

“Blue 1964 Mercury Comet at Colorado School of Mines, followed by ‘72 Datsun 240Z when I got my first job.”

-Karen Tonso ’72


 

“I had a 1985 Buick Skyhawk, a quirky little 4-banger with studded snow tires that could get through anything—well it couldn’t get through the snow in the March 2003 blizzard, but that’s because the snow was higher than the car.”

Rachel (Holland) Deballion ’03


 

“1974 VW Thing. I completely restored it in high school with my dad and still drive it today.”

-Kirt McKenna ’12, MS ’17


 

“Brown 1991 Honda Accord Coupe. It was my first car, and I still have it.”

-Benjamin Collins ’12


 

“Gold 1987 Audi 5000”

-Jennifer Ayers-Brasher ’00


 

“1991 Subaru station wagon.”

-Christopher Platkus ’10


 

“By foot or by way-too-large bike bought off Craigslist.”

-Margaret Lutz ’13


 

“1999 Mazda 626.

“My Dad’s rule was our first car has to be older than us to force us to work on it. But I’m a ’95… the catch? The (I think DU) grad who had it before me drove it for weeks without oil. You could hear chunks of junk rattling around in the combustion chamber.

“So we only paid $750 for the car, $850 for an essentially new engine, borrowed an engine crank from a mechanic friend who just retired and built essentially a swingset frame with wheels on it to pull out the engine and put in the new one. Did all the labor ourselves and got a 117kmile car (with a ~30kmile engine) for just about $2000 when all was said and done. And lots of valuable experience tinkering with things, putting them together and making them work again. That and I learned from my dad not to forget/lose the rubber grommet on the engine before putting it back in… she leaks micrograms of oil onto the alternator now. It’s super annoying.

“A small price to pay for the love of fixing machines you’ve never opened up before. Something I do all the time at work and home, and just a good mindset to have, regardless of profession, but especially as a STEM professional.”

-Jacob Wikowsky ’17