News

Call for Cool First Cars!

Ah, your first car. The subject of countless pop songs (although "Baby, You Can Drive My Car" was probably about something else) and embarrassing high school memories.

Pine Tree Commercial Realty’s Graham Grochocinski tells us his first car (shared with his brother) was a used ’98 Chevy Cavalier convertible, above, with a horribly leaky roof. “Here I thought I was going to be a regular chick-magnet with a convertible, but instead I drove around in a white bird poop magnet.” On the bright side, Graham’s then-girlfriend endured countless road trips and dates with a wet towel on her lap, thanks to the leaky roof, through high school and college, and today they’re happily married (with no more wet towels). At work, Pine Tree just added Neeka Armstrong and Meredith Kramer to its omnichannel marketing team and recently acquired a 142k SF regional shopping center in Asheville, NC.

Here’s your Chicago reporter in her first car back in high school. It was a '96 Pontiac Grand Prix and a hand-me-down from her older brother (who actually bought it used, spoiler and all, from a surprisingly trendy elderly woman). She wishes she could say her memories involve drag racing or re-creating Ferris Bueller scenes. In reality, they’re more like driving away with her flute on top of the car, getting called to the dean for parking in the faculty lot, and writing dorky notes to her friends on the windows with magic marker.

Send your first car stories and photos to marissa.oberlander@bisnow.com!

Continue reading this story with a free account

Log in or register
Sign up for more articles like this
Subscribe to Bisnow's Chicago Newsletters
Related Stories

Gaming & Leisure Stays Bullish On Bally's Casino Project Despite Delays

Morningstar Releases New Details On Over 350K SF In Q3 Office Leases

New Bears Stadium Proposal Floated For Bridgeport

Prologis To Develop 3.8M SF Industrial Park On Former Casino Site

$120M Ambulatory Center Planned For Suburbs: The Chicago Deal Sheet

Obama Center Shows Chicago Is Starved For Development

Mapped: Major Chicago Office Sales Since 2024

Empty Pews On Prime Plots: As Congregations Shrink, Dutch Churches Land On The Property Market

$3B Foundry Park Project Breaks Ground: The Chicago Deal Sheet

'We Don't Have To Worry About The Future': Chicago Geothermal Apartment Tower Takes Shape

Foreclosure Auction Set For Loop Office-To-Residential Conversion

2.1M SF Chicago Office Complex Set For November Sheriff's Auction