History of my Cars

A lifetime behind the wheel — and counting

For as long as I can remember, cars have been more than just a way to get from point A to point B. Growing up in Mountain View, California in the late '60s and '70s, I was surrounded by car culture before I could even reach the pedals. The rumble of an engine turning over, the smell of a garage on a Saturday morning, the way light hits a freshly waxed hood — those things got into my blood early and never left.

My first car was a hand-me-down 1966 Mustang from my Aunt Susan. This car was a mess, three shades of primer grey, dents everywhere, but it was mine! From that moment on, I was hooked. What started with that Mustang has turned into a lifelong collection of 52 vehicles — German sedans, air-cooled Porsches, British grand tourers, vintage trucks, electric sports cars, and a few impulse buys I'd rather not talk about.

Not every car below has a photo gallery. Some were gone before cameras were everywhere. But every single one has a story, and together they tell the story of my life — the places I've lived, the deals I've made, the friends I've met along the way, and one very patient car salesman.

A note about Tom Yamamoto

In the early '90s, I backed my red Mercedes 300E into a tree at Dina's Shack in Palo Alto. Rather than fix it, I drove it straight to Carlsen Porsche, Audi and Volkswagen. That's where I met Tom Yamamoto — a long-time customer who had just sold his business and was planning to return to Japan because he thought he was having a boy. It turned out to be a girl, so he stayed in the States and became a car salesman instead. I was his very first customer.

He took my banged-up 300E on trade for a black-on-black automatic Audi 90S. I came back the next day and told him I hated it. He let me swap it — I'd only had it one day — for a new Audi 90CS Quattro in green with tan leather and a manual transmission.

That was the first of over 20 cars I would buy from Tom, stretching from that 1991 Audi all the way through my 2022 Porsche Taycan. Through Audis, Porsches, VWs, Range Rovers, and more — Tom was always my guy. Cars marked with 🤝 TOM below were purchased through him.

Legend: 📷 GALLERY = Has photo gallery · 🤝 TOM = Bought from Tom Yamamoto · 🏛 VINTAGE = Classic / vintage vehicle · ⭐ FIRST = Milestone car

The Full List

40+ vehicles and counting

THE 1980s — GETTING STARTED

~1983 · 1966 Ford Mustang ⭐ FIRST · 🏛 VINTAGE My very first car — a gift from my Aunt Susan. The one that started it all.

~1984 · 1983 Toyota Celica GTS Purchased from my high school friend Mike Matienzo, he got a Camaro IROC.

~1987 · 1987 Audi 4000 CS Quattro ⭐ FIRST White / Tan leather / Manual transmission My first brand-new car. The beginning of a long relationship with German engineering.

THE 1990s — THE TOM YAMAMOTO ERA BEGINS

~1993 · 1991 Mercedes-Benz 300E Red / Chrome AMG wheels The car I backed into a tree at Dina's Shack in Palo Alto. Drove it straight to Carlsen, traded it in for the next car...

~1993 · 1993 Audi 90S 🤝 TOM Black / Black / Automatic Tom Yamamoto's very first sale. Owned it for exactly one day. Hated it, automatic transmission two-wheel drive... NOPE!

~1993 · 1993 Audi 90CS Quattro 🤝 TOM Dark Green / Tan leather / Manual transmission The swap. The real beginning of 20+ cars with Tom.

~1995 · Porsche 911 C2 📷 GALLERY · 🤝 TOM My first 911. Air-cooled. The car that changed everything. - I wanted the Twin-Turbo, but I would quickly learn there is a waiting list for new customers, so I ordered the twin-turbo and drove off with my very first new Porsche my 30th birthday gift to myself.

~1996 · Porsche 911 Twin Turbo 🤝 TOM Because one 911 was never going to be enough. - This was the one I wanted. Should have NEVER sold it. But. Shiny Objects...

~1997 · 1972 Chevrolet K5 Blazer White 🏛️ VINTAGE A five-year restoration project, purchased in 1997. Found a vintage fiberglass top, then during a storm a neighbor's tree smashed it. I was so heartbroken I sold it — I couldn't deal with what happened.

~1998 · 1998 Porsche 911 C4S 🤝 TOM The last of the air-cooled 911s. End of an era. Tom told me to hold on to this one. They only made the air-cooled for the 1st half of 1998 then it was the new water cooled, - again shiny objects, Tom / Carlsen bought it back from me when I took delivery of the new water cooled twin-turbo. They kept the car and it became a concourse Porsche. I don't even want to know what they are selling for now.

~1998 · 1998 VW New Beetle (White) 🤝 TOM The first of four New Beetles. Yes, four. I fell in love with the new Beetle and so did my friends, so I think I had it for about 6 months before my friend Bob Kraus bought it. - so then I got the 2nd one...

~1999 · 1998 VW New Beetle (Green) 🤝 TOM Beetle number two. This one also maybe 4-6 months, I am guessing allocations were difficult because my friend Kenneth Coker bought it... and finally the YELLOW arrived at Carlsen.

~1999 · 1999 VW New Beetle (Yellow) 🤝 TOM Beetle number three. -- this was the color I wanted, it was an automatic and then the new turbo manual arrived, and so I traded in the yellow for the Silver, turbo manual with black leather interior.

~1999 · 1999 Audi A8 🤝 TOM The flagship. Full-size luxury, Quattro all-wheel drive.

~1999 · 1965 Ford Mustang GT Convertible 🏛 VINTAGE A different Mustang from the one Aunt Susan gave me — this one was a GT convertible.

THE 2000s — GOING BIG

~2001 · 2000 VW New Beetle Turbo (Silver) 🤝 TOM The final Beetle. Collected the whole set, this one lived with me for a bit. I updated the wheels.. it was a fun car to drive.

~2001 · 2001 Land Rover Range Rover 4.6 HSE (1st) First of two Range Rovers. Purchased from Los Gatos Land Rover.

~2001 · 2001 Porsche 911 Twin Turbo (996) 🤝 TOM The water-cooled generation. Still fast. Still thrilling.

~2001 · 2001 Audi S8 🤝 TOM The A8's faster, meaner sibling.

~2001 · 1998 Audi S4 🤝 TOM The sport sedan.

~2001 · 1998 Mercedes-Benz 230 SLK Compressor (Blue/Black) 🤝 TOM The little roadster. Purchased from Tom — he took it on trade.

~2002 · 2002 Mercedes-Benz CL55 AMG Black/Black Supercharged V8 grand tourer. A gentleman's muscle car. Purchased from the Mercedes-Benz dealership in San Jose.

~2003 · 2003 Land Rover Range Rover HSE (2nd) Because one wasn't enough. Purchased from Los Gatos Land Rover.

~2003 · 2003 Mercedes-Benz SL55 AMG Silver/Black The drop-top version. 493 horsepower with the top down. Purchased from the Mercedes-Benz dealership in San Jose.

~2003 · 2001 BMW M5 High-powered, manual transmission, rear-wheel drive — purchased online. A favorite for Jonathan Tyler and me to drive and do e-brake kick-turns. Only possible in a car like this. Lots of fun.

~2005 · 1971 Chevrolet K5 Blazer Black 🏛 VINTAGE Classic American iron. - I got this when Gas was $5 a gallon I think 2005. It ran on propane, it was a beast.

~2005 · 2004 Audi AllRoad Quattro 2.7T 🤝 TOM The adventurous Audi — air suspension, twin turbos, and Quattro all-wheel drive.

~2006 · 1995 GEO Metro (Blue/Black) The little SF commuter, Nathan typically drove it. - we nicknamed it Oscar-de-la-Metro

~2006 · Audi RS4 🤝 TOM The high-performance Audi. A proper sports sedan.

~2008 · 2008 Audi R8 📷 GALLERY · 🤝 TOM Mid-engine, V8, and looked like nothing else on the road.

~2009 · 1997 Porsche 911 Targa 🏛 VINTAGE Open-air Porsche motoring. - This one I picked up in 2009 when I was looking to move to Sydney. It was going to live in the parking garage at my San Francisco Condo.

THE 2010s — VARIETY

~2010 · 2009 Bentley Continental Flying Spur Mulliner British luxury, W12 power. The New York years. Purchased used from a dealer in St. Louis — I drove it back with my buddy Chris Nolan.

~2011 · 2011 Smart Fortwo Electric Tiny, electric, and fun around the city.

~2011 · 2011 Porsche 911 Twin-Turbo 🤝 TOM Another Twin Turbo. Silver/Black. Still chasing that feeling from the first one.

~2012 · 2012 Bentley Continental GT Coupe The two-door Bentley. Grand touring at its finest. Purchased from the Bentley dealership in Los Gatos.

~2012 · 2012 Mini Cooper Goodwood Built at the Rolls-Royce plant. One of only 1,000 made.

~2012 · 1966 Jeep CJ5 🏛 VINTAGE Old-school off-road. - Don't drink wine after snowboarding in Tahoe, you might win an auction.

~2013 · 2013 Porsche Cayenne Diesel 🤝 TOM The practical Porsche. Sort of. I hated how it looked factory, so I optioned it with all the GTS trim — the out-the-door price was 2x what a typical Cayenne Diesel would cost. But it sure looked cool.

~2013 · 2013 Porsche 911 C2S 🤝 TOM Traded the Bentley GT and the Goodwood Mini for this one. Black/Black.

~2014 · 2014 Porsche Macan 🤝 TOM The Macan replaced the Cayenne Diesel — it was just too slow, I needed more get-up-and-go. The Macan was a better size, until I realized I couldn't get out of it without bending my non-bendable neck.

~2016 · 2016 Tesla Model X Falcon wing doors and the future of electric. Advanced technology that broke all the time — I spent more time at the Tesla dealership than on the road.

~2017 · 1993 Porsche 928 GTS 🏛 VINTAGE The last and best of the front-engine, V8 grand touring Porsches. I always wanted one. Purchased from Jonathan Ward — turns out it was a lemon. After $50K in service work, it was never right. I started by wrapping it in a dark grey and painted the wheels black; when I moved to Austin, the dark grey was brutal in the Texas heat so I returned it to its factory silver. The friendship with Jonathan eventually ended, and I sold everything I'd ever purchased from him. Sold.

~2017 · Vintage VW Bus 🏛 VINTAGE Purchased from Jonathan Ward. Sold before the friendship ended.

~2017 · 1950 Chevrolet Thriftmaster 🏛 VINTAGE A custom commission built to my specs by Jonathan Ward, costing nearly $300K. Luckily I picked a unique color scheme and was able to sell it for $345K on Bring-a-Trailer — one of the few cars I actually made money on.

~2018 · 2018 Tesla Model 3 This one was special. My friend Ben Morton worked at Tesla, so the first batch went to employees — I got his car, VIN 495. It was hand-built under the tents outside the factory. It now lives in Ventura with my friends Chris and Haley and their two French Bulldogs and baby daughter.

THE 2020s — CURRENT

~2021 · 1993 Mercedes-Benz 500E 📷 GALLERY The Porsche-built wolf in sheep's clothing. A true collector's piece. This was a dream car from the day it came out, but they were so expensive — and when I finally had the money, no one was selling them. I picked this up via Bring-a-Trailer while living in Austin.

~2021 · 1966 Chevrolet C10 Longbed 🏛 VINTAGE Bought from the owner of Moment Motors.

~2022 · 2022 Porsche Taycan 📷 GALLERY · 🤝 TOM The last car bought from Tom. Electric, fast, and still unmistakably Porsche. -- I ended up selling it back to Porsche for full price.

~2022 · 1988 Mercedes-Benz 300SL EURO 📷 GALLERY This one I didn't get until 2022, I found it on an online website. the Seller was shady, all his claims about the condition were false. Spent the next two years restoring her.

~2023 · 2023 Rivian R1S · Rivian I had pre-ordered the Rivian back in 2018. The moment they announced the R1S, I switched my configuration from the pickup truck to the SUV... Handsdown the BEST SUV I have ever owned. -- She lives in Austin with my dear friend Camden.

~2024 · 2024 Suzuki Ignis · Suzuki Guadalajara My first car I purchased in Mexico. It was impressively big inside though small on the outside.. I sold it to my neighbor Karen who bought the house across the street.

~2025 · 2025 VW Taos · VW Guadalajara My second car purchased in Mexico. A practical and surprisingly fun little SUV for daily driving around Ajijic.

There might be more — they'll come back to me eventually. This page is a work in progress.