First cars

[Tom K.]

First Car: 1965 Dodge Dart. Put in a 1978? slant six, trans, and steering column, and headed to JH for the winter. Great memories. No pics, darn it.

First New Car: 1982 Saab 900S. My aspirational, first real career job, skier's car. Still miss that flat, six foot long, rear luggage floor!

Trivia: Both of these cars were dogs compared to the 2013 Volvo XC60 R-Design I sold last week, but all three got about the same highway mileage.

 

[Bill Miles]

I believe it was a '67 Ford F150 with a 6' bed and a 351. The three speed (three on a tree) got jammed from time to time. My mom knew how to fix it. The differential gradually failed so I went to a junk yard and the guy put a second hand in for some low price like $30. It was a fun truck. It was pretty beat up, paid $750 for it. It was perfect for livin up on the Rensselaer Plateau and going to work at the State Park.

I built a cap for the back. I don't know how to build things but it turned out pretty good. Insulation, lights, nice bedding on a fast truck. The cap was built with an angeled roof. Lower in the front and higher in the back. Thought that might help keep it from blowing off. What more ya need? Went all over New England with the kayaks finding rapids and camping at the ocean.

Here is another 60's Ford pickup three on the tree story.

My dad was in construction and had one that he kept at the job site. I was working for him in the summer and one morning got in the truck to go pick up something.

The clutch pedal didn't feel like it was connected to anything. Got out and looked underneath. Somebody had stolen the transmission overnight.

 

[no edge]

Here is another 60's Ford pickup three on the tree story.

My dad was in construction and had one that he kept at the job site. I was working for him in the summer and one morning got in the truck to go pick up something.

The clutch pedal didn't feel like it was connected to anything. Got out and looked underneath. Somebody had stolen the transmission overnight.

Wow, now a days it would have been the catalytic converter. Were you able to find an extra transmission for cheap?

 

[Dadskier]

Mainly drove my dads 1973 GMC pickup in HS. Didn't have my own car until I got to Germany in the Army.
Pickup up a 1981 BMW 316 for $1800:

 

[Bill Miles]

Wow, now a days it would have been the catalytic converter. Were you able to find an extra transmission for cheap?

I remember he had some difficulty, surprising for a common Ford 3 speed manual transmission.

 

[coskigirl]

Oh man, my first NEW car was a long tale of woe and misery called the VW Fox.

My second car was a used VW Fox and the weird woes with that one were not fun. Driving down the street at 5:30 am to go to work while the horn honked continuously until it warmed up was a memorable one.

My first car was a Pontiac LeMans but I don't remember exactly what year but something like this in light blue.

My first new car was a 2002 Honda Civic EX in dark blue. That I managed to kill by not doing oil changes. Oops and ouch.

 

[Posaune]

My first car was a '65 VW Beetle (oxidized red). I don't have any pics of the real one but I put one in below. I got it from my mom for the price of buying a set of new tires in 1972. I took it to college and it surprises me a bit that there are not more bugs in this thread. I remember walking up to my college dorm (in '72 or '73) and in a place where you could park parallel to a curb I saw 13 bugs parked in a row. There was no special thing going on, it was just that so many of us drove them.

 

[cantunamunch]

My first car was a Pontiac LeMans but I don't remember exactly what year but something like this in light blue.
View attachment 197905

I remember those very well - a then-gf had a 5speed. Correction: a 5-speed with a broken steering arm she couldn't tell was broken, the car had such vague steering in the first place. Other than that, the paint peeling off, and the TBI catching fire on our way back from skiing, she kinda liked it. I ... didn't, sorry.

 

[François Pugh]

My first car I ever bought was at 15. a '67 mustang convertible. 289 3 speed. rebuilt the engine and all new brake parts throughout. Didn't drive much. Still have it, but it hasn't moved in 10 years. Mice got into it in storage and it's a total rebuild at this point. Hoping to get into it in the next 2-3 years with my kids.

My first daily driver was an '84 Ford escort. 2 tone shit brown I say with louvres on the back hatch. That thing took me and my friends a lot of places until it just died on me in the intersection where everyone left La Crosse WI to get on the interstate back in 1995 as I was leaving for spring break.

my parents had a Corona. it was blue and I remember getting pulled out of the ditch with my mom and baby brother one time when I was about 5-6. As time passed I thought maybe I was just saying it wrong because i saw plenty of corollas but never another corona. But they assured me that's what it was LOL

Well if we are going to talk about parent's cars, I learned to drive in my mom's '69 Pontiac Laurentian that would bury the needle. Got my license with it. Very lucky not to lose my license with it too.

 

[cantunamunch]

I learned to drive in

 

[scott43]

I actually learned to drive one of these at 14. Manual. There was a foot of play in the shift lever.. Where I was working, one of the guys nearly severed his finger and I had to drive him to the hospital.

I borrowed my buddy's bike at 16 to do the motorcycle test. Nice bike actually.. first road ride .. Right to the test centre...

 

[wiread]

Well if we are going to talk about parent's cars, I learned to drive in my mom's '69 Pontiac Laurentian that would bury the needle. Got my license with it. Very lucky not to lose my license with it too.

Neither of those were my parent's cars. That would have been a 1988 old's cutlass supreme 4 door Diesel. Had to hop out and touch a wire to the car from and down into the alternator to "jump start" the alternator every time you started the car.

 

[scott43]

Neither of those were my parent's cars. That would have been a 1988 old's cutlass supreme 4 door Diesel. Had to hop out and touch a wire to the car from and down into the alternator to "jump start" the alternator every time you started the car.

Of course you would!

 

[crgildart]

Bought one of these for $100 cash at the end of 10th grade Needed new exhaust, we put headers on it. Drove it all summer and in to fall. Battery, starter, tires, shocks, couple other things.. Sucked all my summer job money. Finally junked it when the timing belt broke.

Exactly like this but with 10 years of Minnesota rust..

 

[crgildart]

First NEW car. 1981 Firebird V8. Drove this thing all over the country, chains in the trunk for ski trips.

 

[Tom K.]

First NEW car. 1981 Firebird V8. Drove this thing all over the country, chains in the trunk for ski trips.

That car had it all:

T-Tops and a crotch cooling vent!!!

I had an older friend of a friend with a Firebird 455 Super Duty. Factory blueprinted engine (for whatever that was worth). I got a few rides in it, but never got to drive it.

Then again, neither did his wife!

 

[crgildart]

That car had it all:

T-Tops and a crotch cooling vent!!!

I had an older friend of a friend with a Firebird 455 Super Duty. Factory blueprinted engine (for whatever that was worth). I got a few rides in it, but never got to drive it.

Then again, neither did his wife!

I blew that little 8 popper up and bought a built and blueprinted 6.6 litre posi track 79 Trans Am next. Body was full of bondo but that car hauled ASS! I should have kept the 81 and paid someone to swap drive trains.

 

[scott43]

That's what bugged me about my Firebird. I had the 350 but the engine was physically the same as the 455. There was no small or big block for Pontiac. Loved the 1970 SD455 Trans Am in a four gear. Then again, I'd rather just have the LT1 Camaro or boss 302...

 

[Bill Miles]

First new car after college was a 1969 Camaro Z-28. like this one:

Fun to drive, but highest gas mileage ever was 15 mpg on the highway, and plugs would load up pretty bad on short drives around town, especially in cold weather. Badly needed a 5th gear, RPM was 3,000 at 60 mph. Wish I had kept it and stored it away, as it would be worth quite a bit.

P.S. Did drive it over Loveland Pass in a snowstorm once. No chains, but had Michelins which were better than the original Goodyears,

 

[Cameron]

My first new car was a 2005 Neon SRT-4 ACR. I actually miss that car. It wasn't a particularly good car and the transmission was complete garbage when it was cold but was fun to drive.