There were days when I would walk out to , key in hand, filled with joy and anticipation for the drive to come. There were also days when I wished I would walk out and find that my car had been crushed by a meteor and I’d never have to deal with its bullshit again.

To be honest, this was all my fault. You can’t blame a problem on a ‘70s Volkswagen. They’re so simple that any problem is something I could have fixed. Sure it was rusty. I could have patched that rust. Sure it clunked a lot. I could have refreshed the whole suspension. If I was ever mad that I had to track down some mysterious electrical fault making it run bad, well, that’s what I signed up for after spending $1,500 to buy a car with a fully exposed engine.

As much as it caused me endless annoyances, that’s why I bought the thing; to intentionally put hurdles in my path so that I’d have to learn how to fix them. I have nothing but love for my old Baja, no matter how many times I wished it would burn to the ground so I wouldn’t need to call a tow truck.

What single car have you owned that you loved and hated the most?