What brought you to imports?

As the title states, what brought you to imports? Post up your story of that defining moment when you decided to go the other way. Your epiphany, your calling whatever , when that voice told you to leave the domestic scene. I have a few stories and tend to get wordy, so sorry.

I'll start.

I have always like all things cars. Every brand has offered something special to an enthusiast. In the 80's my wall was adorned with a 1987 RUF 911, Shelby Cobra and a Ferrari 308 GTB and a Lambo Countach. My dad was always a car enthusiast and I learned how to spin wrenches at a very young age, like diapers, literally. Got the pics!

Christmas Eve 1987, my neighbors wife bought him a white 1987 Lotus Esprit Turbo. She sounded and looked like no other car I had seen in person. That was my first ride in an exotic type vehicle. Man that car was sweet.

The real moment was in 1996. I was driving a 1994 Mustang GT when I ran upon an Eagle Talon TSI AWD. I decided to give it a run much against my passengers line of " it's gonna eat your ass!" IIRC it was a 20 mph street start and the Talon did just that, ate my ass. After that moment I truly knew that 8 cylinders and flowmasters were not necessary in car prowess and turning corners was may more fun than a straight line.


Post 'em up!

Okay I'll bite

Growing up my stepfather raced SCCA Trans-Am series and some IMSA. I literally grew up at Sears Point Raceway (now Infineon) and also Riverside (before they tore it down) Willow Springs, and the all famous Laguna Seca Speedway...I was at one of those tracks every single week. Welded up my first chassis when I was 7 yrs old. My stepdad raced a 68' Camaro and this was the first car I ever drove.

Fast forward to my teen years and I bought a 88' Camaro, nothing special just had a 350 with a 400 turbo trans in it. Then a buddy of mine got seriously injured and received a huge settlement check. He wanted to build a muscle car so together we built a 68' Mustang coupe..302 bored .30 over and all the goodies that go with it. That was it I was in love with Mustangs. Then a couple years later I saw around a 1998 Cobra that was orange and knew that I had to have one.

After I joined the military on return of my first deployment I went down to the Ford dealership (literally the same day I got back from overseas) and smacked 10K down on a brand new 2004 Ford mustang GT. I did all the usual bolt-ons and only 5K later got T-boned in the middle of an intersection. That is when I knew my love for Mustangs had no limits. I then deployed again and this time re-enlisted and received a huge bonus. The hunt was on I was going to find me a Competition Orange 2004 Cobra. Low and behold I found one and when home for R&R I flew out to NC to pick it up. I had a lot of money sunk into this car and as I say "I fathered that child" She had 535whp and 517wtq. by the time I was done with her. Promptly returning to the sand box I was in a convoy and was hit with an IED. Although I seemed to appear okay I had torn both of my labrums in my right and left hips. After surgery I received orders to go to Ft. Drum and I knew that is snowed there a bunch and just couldn't see taking the Cobra. I then decided to get rid of it and traded it in on a brand new 2007 Chevy Silverado 4X4. Well within a month of having it I couldn't get in and out and found out I had to have surgery again. (Sorry for the long drawn out story but I have to tell it to get to the point)

So I realized I had to get rid of this truck and since my baby was gone (04 Cobra) I just couldn't see jumping into another one so fast. I decided to drive my buddy's 06 Evo IX MR. Wow talk about a different feeling!! That was it I went down the following day and bought a brand new 2006 Evo IX SE. After I was done with the Evo I will never be without an AWD car again. I have actually had that car around a 25mph corner at almost 80mph and the only thing it did was lift the drivers side rear tire a little bit. I did every mod I could besides a stroker kit. FP black pushing 28psi fully built and ported head, speed density, cams, springs, retainers, valves ect... after I was done I was safely pushing 450.24 and 388. I drove that car as far as I could every time I got behind the wheel.

Now, the very moment I saw the 2011 STI sedan...I was at an Evo meet actually..lol, and I asked my friend "hey man what car is that over there?" he said oh that's the 2011 STI. BOOM DONE!!
I went out two weeks later and picked up my STI. I will ALWAYS have some sort of tuner AWD in my garage but that being said I also have a 1994 Mustang GT with a full HCI sitting in my garage right now too. This is my sixth Mustang I have owned and I am sure I will always have one of some sort sitting there.

Sorry for the long drawn out story but I am pretty sure that's what the OP is after??

I looked at an insurance quote on a V8 Mustang back in my early 20's vs. a quote on the STi. Decision made...lololol

Furthermore...besides watching WRC events on TV around 98-2003, I always wanted a WRX when they were first
released stateside in 2002. A couple years later, when the STi was released here, I was obsessed. MUST ACQUIRE STi !

I never really got into domestic. When i was young my dad drove a 1st gen RX7 that I loved. Then he had BMWs, where i quickly realized that the trim, power, and comfort were just leap years beyond the domestic offerings at the time. While some domestics have bridged the gap since then (CTS-V vs M5), i'm a true technophile at heart.

To me, domestics seem to be the "brute force" approach combined with cutting cost corners. Nothing in the american performance market really strikes me as being techonolgically advanced and forward thinking. The Viper still uses a pushrod...why? because why not! It's the NASCAR mentality, why bother pushing the technological envelope if we dont have to. Z06 rear leaf springs (ok, i know there are some advantages to those...but not really). Mustang solid rear axle. All big displacement V8s. I guess i *understand* the appeal, it just never appealed to me.

I'd rather have a small engine, bustling with technology (thinks like VGTs really get me going), and lightweight components. How do the new Challenger SRT8 (a frikkin 2-seater!) weighs like 4200 lbs?! Did they make the engine out of lead?

Jeremy clarkson has a movie "The Good, The Bad, The Ugly" that pits an american car vs the "equivalent" european car. So for the 2-seat sports coupe...mustang vs elise. I'll take the elise any day.