This is what I drove to high school. A 1949 Chevrolet convertible, with a straight six and three-on-the-tree. It cost $275 including fender skirts and lowering blocks in the rear for an "okie rake." Those were removed before I actually started driving the car.
1961 8-door Corvair Greenbrier. I drove this car longer than any other, but I eventually drove more miles in my 1987 Sundance.
1987 Plywouth Sundance.
Assorted K-cars. My vehicle of choice for many years. Comfortable, economical, reliable, and theft-resistant (nobody wants them).
1989 Dodge Aries. This one had the front end rebuilt twice, once after hitting a deer at 55 miles per hour, and again about 8 months later after hitting a BMW that made a left turn in front of me. Killed the deer, did $12,000 damage to the BMW, it took less than $200 in wrecking yard parts to fix the Aries each time.
1992 Plymouth Sundance Duster with 5-speed manual transmission (hard to find in California).
Not shown: 1959 Chevrolet Biscayne sedan, 1960 Corvair, 1965 Corvair, a couple of Corvair station wagons (1961 and 1964, I believe), 1976 AMC Pacer, 1979 Oldsmobile Cutlass Cruiser diesel station wagon, 1986 Ford Escort, 1991 Plymouth Voyager, 1994 Plymouth Sundance Duster, 1990 Dodge Omni, 1988 Dodge Mini Ram Van (a Caravan without side windows in the back), 1993 Plymouth Sundance. And a couple of Damian's cars, a 1985 Dodge 600 convertible and a 1988 police package Dodge Diplomat. There may be others, but that's most of them, and it shows the pattern — GM in the beginning, one American Motors and one Ford (one was enough of each), and Chrysler ever since. Nothing Japanese, I spent many years working on VTR's for a living, I've seen how the Japanese build machinery.