Your First Car

[rstev1955]

1960 Studebaker Lark. Had a 3 speed with overdrive. Got that sucker up to about 120 one night on a deserted road out of Phoenix.

 

[cezzna]

1971 VW beetle purchased wrecked from a junkyard with the parts to fix it. Replaced the generator about five times. Purchased for $400 and sold three years later for $600. Then I upgraded to my grandparents 1971 Ford van which wasn't very shagadelic if you know what I mean.

 

[Birdstrike]

If I could do that over again

Interesting to note how many of us expressed regret at getting rid of that first car. Another V8 moment. Who knew someday we'd regret trashing those early wheels. Should have parked one of them in Aunt Sophie's garage for 30 years and it may have been worth something today.

 

[Timebuilder]

I agree.

The guy I sold the Charger to trashed the thing in short order.

 

[jarhead]

Every fall in my little town, there is the annual town celebration, with scheduled events like a rodeo, parade. Carnival, etc. Also, there is a two day display of automobiles sponsored by “The Minnesota Street Rod Association”. It is held outdoors in a large park. There is every manner of car on display there, numbering around 2 to 3 hundred vehicles. It looks like a scene out of the movie “American Graffiti” Clearly, there are some among us who did something better than park a car in Aunt Sophie’s garage. These vintage cars from the 30’s, 40’s, 50’s 60’s and 70’s, are in better shape than they were coming off the dealers floor when they were new.

I always attend that show, and the owners of these street rods, are mostly guys who owned cars like these in their youth. I always find those cars that were like ones I had, or my friends owned when we were in high school. There are paint jobs on those beauties that are 7 layers deep, waxed and shined to a mirror finish, and chrome just gleaming, and not a speck of dirt or dust anywhere. All the exhibitors are very open and approachable, and enjoy questions about their “pride and joy” I too, wish I had saved my first love of a car, and had it preserved well enough, both physically and mechanically, to be able to cruise main street on a summer Saturday evening.

 

[tuna]

My first car was a '77 Datsun 200sx. We callled it the "disco mobile". Once fit seven people in it (me driving, two in the passenger seat , three across the back, then rolled down back windows so my buddy could put his feet out one side, and his head out of the other!) Man, I did some stupid sh*t when I was 17 !

 

[Unchilled]

Can't remember actual model year but the 1st one that was bought for me (for something like 1500 DEM about $900 USD at that time) in 1989 was a 14 years old BMW 315i.

The first ever car that I bought for my own money was here in the USA, a probably 1990ish or older Ford Festiva (red)with well over 200k+ miles. We loved that car after riding the bus for 2 months. It had a working A/C. We got it for $800 and sold it for $600 and it did not break down once, but I had to throw in a quart of oil after every 100-200 miles.

A Ford leaking oil? No way!

I'm 20 and my first car was a 1984 Mercury Cougar that I got when I was 16. Not only did it leak oil but it also burned oil. At around 245k I accidentally let it roll down my driveway and into a brick wall and totalled it. Now I have a crotch rocket.

 

[I.P. Freley]

1972 Chevy Monte Carlo. 350cid V8 and a TH-350 automatic.

It was well and truly clapped out when I acquired it, to the extent that you could put small items in and out of the trunk from the outside without actually opening the trunk lid (no lie!). I won't even get started on the AM-only radio. Had a boombox in the back seat to play my tapes.

It went away after the front suspension broke. Big potholes in the NYC suburbs...

Nicknamed: The Urban Assault Vehicle (hey, it was the mid-80's and "Stripes" was still fondly remembered!)

 

[Dizel8]

1977 Cadillac Coupe DeVille with 95K miles or so. White with green interior. Bought from a Mexican used car dealer, whose office was a trailer. The choice was between that and the Lincoln Continental. Price 950.

Everything worked to perfection, except the dashboard clock.

Sold it 6 months later for 1500.

 

[typhoonpilot]

1972 Chrysler New Yorker 2 door with the soft top and a 440 engine. What a land yacht that was. A Toyota pick-up hit me from behind once and it left a tiny little dent in my bumper while trashing his entire front fender

Typhoonpilot