Comments on: What Was Your First Car?

By: iheartnelliebelle

iheartnelliebelle — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 17:13:42 +0000

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.

By: MelissaM

MelissaM — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 15:29:38 +0000

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!

By: RetailQueen

RetailQueen — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 19:36:36 +0000

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.

By: Labdad

Labdad — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 18:22:19 +0000

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!”

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 17:55:26 +0000

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.