What Was Your First Car?
Decatur Metro | June 13, 2012Here’s mine. Though it didn’t have such a slick cap on the back.
Thanks to Joe for coming up with the question!
Here’s mine. Though it didn’t have such a slick cap on the back.
Thanks to Joe for coming up with the question!
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The car I learned on was a bright orange 1976 VW Rabbit with stick-shift. The first car I called my own was a brown 1980 Corolla Hatchback…nice car until I rolled and upended it near Rifle, CO and nearly killed my cousin. First brand new car of my own was a 1984 Toyota Van.
I learned on a 1982 VW Rabbit stick shift (tank green)! The clutch was a little worn and you never knew whether you were in reverse or 1st.
Mine was a white ’82 Rabbit stick shift. It had been totaled and rebuilt. I got it in ’86 for $500 and crashed it into a restaurant my first day driving by myself when I confused the clutch for the brake. Four years later, with the front bumper and one door tied on, a window permanently sealed shut and the ceiling cloth falling in and other problems, it died at 5 pm in the middle of North and Highland. Someone helped me push it over to Buddy’s before the tow truck took it to the junk yard.
1964 Pontiac Catalina. 100,000 miles. $100. Drove that into the ground. Then I got a hand-me-down red 1968 Chevy Impala convertible from my big brother which is really the car of my youth and of my dreams. 307 V-8 that drank oil and gas, with a two-speed transmission. That lasted until 120,000 miles. It’s amazing how much better cars are today.
A ’58 four door hardtop Chevy (no center post between the door windows). It was about as flexible as a slinky (beside no top bracing, has an “X” frame with no side members) and leaked like a sieve in the rain. The rear floor would fill with water to a depth of two inches until I finally drilled a couple of holes in it. To pick up on what Dave said, this was even worse. It has a 348 engine with a DynaFlow-like transmission that has no gears – all turbines. I got 15mph.
Can’t argue, though – it a free hand-me-down from an uncle. Later, he then gave me a ’65 Plymouth that was pretty nice.
Make that 15 mpg. (Editing time ran out).
1976 Chevy El Camino.
And yet, I survived.
Learned to drive in a ’66 Buick Skylark coupe. First car of my own was a 1970 VW Fastback, faded orange, purchased third-hand in 1979 for $800, it had 170k miles and a lot of rust on it when I got it. I put many thousands of miles on it over the next couple of years and just managed to coast it into the dealership for $50 trade-in value when I bought my favorite car I’ve ever had, an ’81 Honda Civic hatchback, 5-spd.
Ha. Wimps. My first car was a Chevy Corvair. Long throw gear shift. No seat belts. I asked the mechanic to stop the oil leak and he said it’ll just start squirting out somewhere else.
The Corvair actually launched Ralph Nader’s career (“Unsafe at Any Speed”).
My first car (also rear engine, air cooled) was a ’65 VW bus and was literally unsafe at any speed — loose steering, zero power, questionable brakes, and one thin piece of sheet metal between your front legs and the Almighty.
78 Super Beetle for $500, beat all to hell. No back seat, my feet got wet when it rained, had to leave the windows half down even in winter as not to die from various fumes. And since I couldn’t drive a stick when I bought it, yeah… a few dings were added. LOVED that car.
72 Chevy Impala and it was enormous. You could play volleyball inside it.
One time, as a teen driver, the front fender hooked the siding of our house as I backed out of the garage. The car dragged about a third of the siding off that end of the house before I could hit the brakes. Big car.
1969 VW bug with a sun roof. Brand new for $1,800 .Installed my own 8-track for loud music. With the windows closed the bug was air tight and…. Oh, never mind.
1966 Chevy Chevelle. Two door, 283 v-8; two speed automatic transmission. That 283; two speed tranny was impossible to destroy. When I finally sold it, the guy that I sold it to took it to the shop. It had a broken front shock & three broken engine mounts from where I had jumped it; you know “Dukes of Hazard” style. It was 1981.
Hah! An acid-green Datsun B-210, accentuated with rust spots here and there. I was so thrilled, I immediately took it to be detailed, & when the car wash guys saw it, they all laughed. Undeterred, I insisted they give her the works, so they did– for free! Didn’t improve her looks much, but she served me well for many miles. And yes, I had a cassette player put in, because that was the very latest in music technology for cars at the time…man, this question now has me in a seriously retro mood! More like this, please…
1982 Buick Regal. The engine seized up because I was too stupid and lazy to be bothered with such things as motor oil. After the head gasket was replaced, it got stolen from the parking lot of Candler Park Market. When the cops found the car it had been stripped bare.
That brings back memories! Another early-80s Buick here … I still remember squealing and leaping and down the hall after the dealership called: “We’ve been talking to your Dad on the phone, young lady. Come on down and pick out a Skylark.”
I learned to drive, however, on my grandfather’s Ford Granada. After beloved grandpa died, we discovered that he was holding the car together with an inspired combination of duct tape, coat hangers, and tin foil.
Wow…. I got a 1967 purple 2 door Buick Lesabre, and my dad put a governor on it, and set it on 55 mph. Guess he knew a speed demon when he saw one. Easily could fit 8 folks in front and back and still have room for more. It was a beast!
It was 1985 and my first car was a 1967 Volkswagen Bug. It had an amazing 40,000 miles on it. Paid $800 for it, drove it for 3 years and put an astonishing 9,000 miles on it and sold it for $800. Great car and I wish I still had it.
ha, in 1995, my dad gave me a 1977 Chevy Nova 4dr, in the worst possible color/interior, the faded light tan/beige exterior, It had horribly sticky brown shiny vinyl/pleather interior. while it had an awesome v8, it was automatic so that part wasn’t fun but it was a free handmedown car that my dad had gotten for free from his dad, so at 16, I was not complaining at all. A year later (1996) I “moved up” to the handmedown from my dad’s mom, the 1982 chevy citation 4dr hatchback. this one was blue outside and blue cloth inside. but IT HAD A TAPE PLAYER. what has 2 thumbs and didn’t have to live with an 8track player? THIS GUY! I remember recording songs off the radio on cassette to play in the car on the way to school.
1985 Chevy Cavalier. I have nothing else to say except screw you people with cool first rides.
I feel ya, J_T. 1977 Mazda GLC.
I also had a Mazda GLC, 1979, Wagon. Orange. We used to joke GLC standed for Gutless little car. Put a killer stereo in and mounted the speakers in boxes with about 10 feet of speaker wire so I cut on top of car while we parked. I rolled the car once and had two head ons and survived them all. Gave the car to my sister and it lasted close to 200K.
Strange parallels, sir! My older brother also rolled ours. Slid off a slippery curve into a ditch against a bunch of really substantial tree branches that basically flipped the car back onto the road. Once he realized he wasn’t hurt or dead, he reached down, turned the key, and the car fired up. Drove it to a gas station where there was sufficient light to review the damage and essentially every panel was mangled.
All it ended up needing was a front end alignment. Dad refused to file a claim on his insurance so we did teenage-quality Bondo and spray paint repairs on all sides. My brother ended up taking it when he moved to Massachusetts, where he lived out in Hull, on the peninsula. The car got washed away by Hurricane Gloria in 1985.
1993 red Hyundai Accent. I beat you all for dork car queen.
Of course, mine was brand new and my mommy paid for every expense including my horrific insurance premiums as long as I kept it up. It finally got totaled in 2001after 6 accidents and I have had to pay own way ever since.
1992 Pontiac LeMans. Not cool in the slightest but my parents bought it for me and you’d be surprised how many college kids can fit in one of those. Best thing about it, that I didn’t appreciate until later when I was on my own, was that it was paid for!
I learned to drive in a 1971 Ford Country Squire station wagon. It was a great beach mobile but was a serious PoS. My own 1st car was “purchased” by my dad ( but I payed for it), a 78 Ford Pinto, with an 8 track (Kansas! Boston! Marshall Tucker!)
What followed was possibly the stupidest purchase of my life — a Fiat X19. Check the oil, change the alternator. But it sure was cute when it was running!
92 ford Ranger extended cab. bought new with my own money. Sold it to my aunt after we had kids and I started bike and train commuting.
1955 Ford Fairlane. Bought it with my savings from my paper route and bagging groceries at Kroger.
Seems like yesterday!
A 1977 Volkswagon Rabbit stick shift. Pretty sweet.
In 1969 I got a ’55 Olds Super 88 Holiday ragtop for $150. I used to buy oil by the case at Times Square Stores and keep it in the trunk to add a couple of quarts every time I filled up. One morning I noticed that the front tires were pointing inwards. The A-frame had cracked. Our mechanic said it looked like it wasn’t the first time. He’d be happy to get it welded if I didn’t mind driving a death trap. Hello, junkyard.
Boy, did that car stop traffic, especially when we would have Hannibal riding in the bak seat with the top down. He was my buddy Ed Murphy’s St. Bernard.
Beige 1980 Plymouth Champ: I loved it because it was mine, got good mileage, and had a stick shift. It was real reliable. Wish I had kept it for when my kids learn to drive. Minivans do not seem like good vehicles to learn on.
A 1965 Olds F85, bought in 1970 for $600. 330 cubic inch V8 with a 2 barrel carburetor linked to a “Three on the Tree” transmission. I’m pretty sure the only option was an AM radio. Bench seat in the front. I put a Tenna combo 8-track tape player and FM radio in it.
It transported six people in comfort, if not style!
1981: Bought a ’71 Ford Pinto for $200. Yeah, THAT Pinto. The exploding kind. Why did I buy it? Because my brother had a Pinto and knew how to work on them.
Drowned it in a 2-foot deep puddle. Once the distributor and clutch dried out, it actually ran again.
First new car: 1988 Honda Civic hatchback. Financed at 11.95% interest.
LOL, My friend in high school had a Chevy Monza that he drove into what appeared to be a shallow puddle. Half way through the puddle water was coming up over the hood and leaking in through the doors. The car made it through the puddle before stalling, but it started up after a few minutes and somehow managed to run just fine for several more years.
Hmmm…. you bought your first car when I was in elementary school.
OK…so I’m older than you. Your point?
Just surprise. I always pictured you a little YOUNGER or around the same age!
Well, thanks! But alas, I’m solidly in my mid-40’s. Good to know I seem younger on line.
And for those of you who had cassette players in their first cars, I’m envious. HATED my 8-track player.
Then you are little younger than “bought my first car in 1981″ made it seem! I got an 8 track player when I was really little- I think at the end of the era of 8 tracks. I thought it was the coolest thing ever. But then again, I am not sure I could read at that point….
When I was 16 I had to share a tan 1985 Volvo sedan named Super Car, because it would never die, with my brother. The flaw in this plan was that he was 60 miles away in Athens, GA. When I was 17 I got a triple white 1989 VW Cabriolet stick shift that I absolutely loved even though it was always in need of something fixed & the top leaked. Still my favorite car I ever owned.
1977 Buick Park Avenue. Had a 403 in it and would haul — except you could watch the gas gauge move when you were pushing it… Spent all my money on a Kenwood car stereo that got stolen about a month after I put it in!
It was white with a baby blue vinyl top and had baby blue velour interior. Could comfortably fit 7 folks and seeing that I was pretty darn short, I could lay horizontal across the backseat!
Threw out an engine rod, but it still ran (barely) as long as I warmed it up for about 15 mins before driving to school.
I wish I still had it today, would be a perfect pimp-mobile.
Fiat 128 Wagon circa 1978. Everything you heard about Fiats was true. Finally took the plates off and left it on the side of a street during ‘no parking — street sweeping’ hours and it got towed away, never to be seen again.
The other family car I drove was a land yacht, a late ’70s Mercury Marquis. That thing would go 90 down the highway before you knew you were even moving!
FIAT = Fix It Again Tony
I’ve owned two Fiat Spiders… guess I am some sort of masochist. lol
Loved both of them… but they would break if you looked at them wrong!
Black with Red interior 1964 Mustang convertible 4 speed with a 289. Bought it used in 1969. Of all the cars I have owned and there have been several that are the one I really wish I still had.
My first car was a Fiat 128 sedan – I thought is pretty cool and no one else in town had a car like it – but yes – as others have mentioned here – it was very unreliable.
Was it by any chance bright yellow, purchased used?
No it was fire engine red but, yes it was bought used.
MY 1970 Fiat 128 Sport Coupe ( looked like this: http://www.volantevintage.com/cars/?id=VV0001109 ) was bright yellow and purchased used in 1973. I think I had it all of four months, during which time I had to replace the water pump and the alternator! For me, FIAT didn’t stand for Fix It Again, Tony,” it stood for “Fix It All the Time!”
’83 Ford Escort. Drove it to Daytona the summer I turned 17, at, shall we say, excessive speeds. The radiator plug literally melted on the way back. Had to stop and add water every few exits for nearly a hundred miles. Still amazed the engine survived.
1970 Vega, which was a piece of junk. I don’t miss it.
1972 Mustang Mach One. Yellow with black racing stripes. Blew out the engine because I didn’t realize it had a small oil leak and needed regular oil changes. I would die for a car like that now.
Mine was a bright yellow ’75 AMC Pacer. Probably on of the most comfortable cars ever. Three on the tree and no power steering made driving it a nice workout!
Mine was a 1970 Datsun 2000 convertible. My friends had a MGB and a TR4 with about 900cc 4-speeds. The 2000 had, well 2000ccs and a 5-speed. That thing could fly!!! I wouldn’t even use 5th until I was on the freeway. Japanese cars were unknown at the time and I got a lot of jibes like “does it need batteries? Do you have to wind it up?” because Japanese products up to that point were toys. I had the Datsun for 4 nearly flawless years and would have kept it forever if it hadn’t been turned into an accordian at a stop light. Shortly after that, Datsun made a sensation by introducing the Z-car.
Ohhh- 1974 red Plymouth duster without air conditioning. I bought an under the dashboard after market air conditioner that was about 3 feet wide. Good times
Learned on my mom’s Big Blue Boat (’74 Chevy impala baby blue station wagon), then graduated to my dad’s spare, a ’65 Comet. That thing was a tank, no seatbelts or heat, only am/fm radio. It was passed on to my sister for her high school days, and was completely redone for her in college (her boyfriend promptly crashed it 2 weeks later). Amazingly, my dad still has the car and it is being hauled out to Idaho this summer for my sister. I wonder if my neice/nephew will have a go at it in 6 years?!
Mine (in 1988) was a ’72 tank green Plymouth Valiant. The bench seats comfortably seated ten people. We called it the mob-mobile because the trunk was huge, and obviously designed to hold bodies.
A 1973 Ford Pinto, white with orange stripes. And orange shag carpeting.
Christmas 1988: Santa brought my 17-year-old self a midnight blue 1980 Datsun 200SX. It had an aftermarket cassette player added, which I recall seeming like a luxury, as well as cruise control. It was an awesome car.
Learned to drive on my mom’s red 1984 Ford Aerostar minivan. Can’t recommend it.
Chevy Vega. Oil seal leaked, they fixed them, they leaked again. Swore I would never buy another GM car. Kept that promise
Second car – Ford Pinto. I can’t remember how that ended but it didn’t blow up on me.
Third car Datsun B-210. Looked like hell, ran like a charm. I think I drove it to New Orleans and back, without air conditioning.
1976 Buick Opal. Same color as a German Cockroach.
1971 Datsun wagon, bright orange, named Betsy. Anytime she would start to sputter and stall I would just pat the dashboard and tell her what a good girl she was and off we went.
1973 Maverick. 2 door, Blue, white vinyl top, white vinyl interior. 302 cu in Mustang engine with a 2 barrel carb. Way too much engine for that car. It literally floated when you went over 55. Nearly killed myself and several friends multiple times. Still loved the car.
I had a 1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass that had been purchased brand new for my mom, then handed down to my dad, then to me. They had it repainted for me, it had bucket seats, a V8, an eight track (that I used a cassette adapter with….remember those?), & it was blue with white interior.
Oh, it was an awesome car that I loved.
I flipped it over into a tree within a year.
1970s vintage Audi Fox, this would have been in 1979 or 1980, light blue exterior and dark red vinyl interior. 8-track player, the only two I acquired before the car’s demise were the soundtracks to Saturday Night Fever and The Rocky Horror Picture Show (don’t ask). It had severe electrical problems and I had to put it in park and rev the engine at stop lights so it wouldn’t die. After I was t-boned by a red light runner, my parents bought me a Honda Civic two-speed, another challenged automobile.
A 1974 baby blue VW Beetle. First it was my sister’s car and then my father bought it from her for me and presented it in 1988 as a college graduation present. It meant the world to me. I loved that car.
A 1973 Gran Torino, which originally had a vinyl top, but only primer up there by the time I bought it for $600 cash (loaned to me by my grandparents, who then refused repayment) in 1985. It had intermittent wipers, power steering and cruise control, luxuries I would not see again until three cars, later in 2000. Somebody sprayed a fire extinguisher in it one night while it was parked in front of our house, and let me assure you, fire extinguisher does NOT come off vinyl bench seats. Ever. I carried a can of brake fluid cause it had a pinhole leak in the brake line, and when the brake pedal would pop to the floor, I knew it was time to pull over and top ‘er off. Ah, memories!