2003-2005: When I got my license at the tender young age of 18, I immediately went looking for an el-cheapo car with my dad. We found this, a 1988 Toyota Corolla DX 1.3:
Slow, soft, as bare bones as you can imagine (no tachometer, no clock, no nothing), but it was my first car and therefore the most amazing car in the entire world. After 2½ years of ownership, I sold it to some old farmer who needed a car his dog could ride along in. I bought a used Thinkpad with the money I got.
2008-2012: A couple of years later, the need for a car came back to me. So to get really stupidly cheap insurance and good fuel mileage, I went and bought a brand new 2008 Fiat Panda 1.3 Multijet:
Full warranty and 66mpg, what was not to like? I had it for four years and it took me through all kinds of weather and bad road conditions, while never putting a foot wrong. Sold it to my ex because I was looking for something with a bit more power, she wanted to buy the car because she knew it well already and knew how well I'd taken care of it.
2012-present: So to replace it, I went looking for used cars. I almost came home with a mildly tuned Ford Fiesta ST150, but in the end, I completely fell (as did my dad) for a 2000 Peugeot 406 TS4:
It's such a different car to the Panda. Partial leather cabin, air conditioning, great factory radio, 160HP (vs. 70HP in the Panda), great ride, smooth flowing French handling, automatic wipers and all that jazz. I'm not going to sell it off again, not for a long long time.
When the time comes, my next car will probably be a family-friendly wagon of some sort, most likely with a 140-160hp diesel. We all turn responsible at some point, I guess.
Bonus bike:
2010-present: During my ownership of the Panda, I decided I wanted a motorcycle. So I went out and bought a 1996 Suzuki Bandit 600:
Boy racer exhaust was installed by the previous owner, I put the lower handlebars and bar-end mirrors on it. And a 138dB dual-tone horn.
I have yet to own anything that isn't a 4-cylinder of some kind. I'll have to remedy that someday.