What was your first car? What happened to it?

ciscokid · April 1999

This is a cool topic.

My first car was a 1965 Buick Riviera. I owned it from 1985 to 1993. It was my high school / college car. It was big, comfy, old but fast. Everybody thought it was my grandfathers car. I put over 100k miles on that car. I finaly gave it up when I graduated. The 425ci engine got 10 mpg on a good day, parts cost a fortune, and the a/c did not work. Yet I would trade any of my cars to have it back .... that is except for my 1997 Buick Riviera.

carnut4 · April 1999

Earlier here, I mentioned my first real car-a 55 Chev. I forgot about the one I had for a few months before that. A 42 Studebaker coupe-for 35 bucks. It had a flathead six from a 53 model with overdrive. It was shot. I would wind it out in second, shift in to 2nd overdrive, and when the rods started knocking and the blue smoke poured out-I knew it was time to back off-WAY off. One day as I was turning left into the highschool parking lot, the right door flew open and all my sister's books fell out on to the street. Some of my friends were walking and saw the whole thing and laughedd The trunk floor was completely rusted through. But what the hell-for 35 bucks, it got me around, and it was fun. I put a wolf whistle on it and drove around belching blue smoke and whistling at pretty girls on the sidewalk. Finally got a terycloth slipcovver for the front seat-and sold it for $75. The couple who bought it had to make 3 payments of $25. Before they made the last payment they tried to drive it from San Jose, CA to Klamath Falls, OR. Didn,t make it. Near some little town near the border, the brakes went out completely. I believe the car went to a junkyard in Dorris, CA-near the border. The couple came back and balked about making the last payment. I was amazed that anyone would even try to drive that car on a 600 mile trip. They finally paid. A month later, I found my 55 Chev. By the way, Studebaker and Rambler were still producing flathead sixes in the sixties!

harleybill · April 1999

My first car was a l955 Ford 2 door Victoria. I bought it for $250.00 and went to work. I found a 57 Thunderbird 312 and put a Mellings Full Race Cam , solid lifters and a big ole Holly on top with a dual point distributor. I pulled off all the chrome and dark grey primered it. Then I redid the seats in "genuine wild Alaskian naugahyde" and took out the speedo and put some gauges in the speedo slot and replaced the old six volt radio with a speedo out of a triumph tr3. I put a Super Sun tack on the steering column so that it appropiately blocked my vision and all others could see it. I had glass pack mufflers with some 3 inch pipes off a Euclid construction truck welded to extend just under the rear axle so the cam lope would resonate under the car. I never did replace the transmission so the three speed was mounted on the floor with a sparkomatic spring loaded shifter.

I could tear the gear splines off first gear and did more than once. However, I could get a junk yard 3 speed exchanged by a local dirt track racer for only $75.00 parts and labor. My father sold the car when I was drafted and went to Vietnam in l967. I would really liked to have it back now. I am sure I would have installed the 3.93 gear and the 4 speed with Hurst shifter it really needed. Plus a good set of Hooker headers would have really made it rock n roll.
That was my first one and I really feel for kids today who never will have the opportunity to enjoy an experience like this.

Take care out there road agents !!!!!!!!

vivona · April 1999

carnut4 said "Maybe incompetent mechanics could be a new topic? Boy do I have some stories to tell on that one!"

We got such a topic already! So, come on over to Maintenance Topic #143 and tell your stories.

hardgrov · April 1999

I have two first car stories. The car I used to pass my road test and the car I drove (when available) was a 1965 Plymouth Barracuda. What was my Dad thinking?! It had the 273 V8 and floor mounted TourqueFlite tranny. A gold beauty.
Light in the rear and easy to spin the tires. It was a 'family' car that my Dad used for his daily commute. I ran it into a wall in January, 1970.
Sigh.

The other first car was the first one I owned. It was a 1958 Ford Fairlane 500 with a V8, radio with front and back speakers, and no butterfly valve in the carburetor. Painted flat black, there was NO rust (bought it from a guy in Encino)
and the starter didn't work. I paid $75 for it and helped a friend put a starter in it ($25). I drove it on the LA freeways for 2 months and sold it to some new arrivals from Michigan for $125 !!

Mr_Shiftright · April 1999

I had a 1959 Chevy 4-door I won in a card game (in lieu of a $25 pot, a considerably sum of money in 1969). It was my "street car" in Manhattan, and I had my nice car in a garage (this at a time such things were affordable to mere mortals). One day I went to the car only to find a huge gash,big enough to stick your hand in, from the front fender, through both doors to the rear tailights...nobody of course, heard or saw anything...oh, New Yawk!

badgerpaul · April 1999

I miss $25 cars, a couple come to mind a 69 Kingswood Estate Wagon with no floor boards, it lasted an entire weekend. Ended up selling it to somebody who wanted the engine, only to find it had a cracked block.
The other was a 60 Impala 4-door sedan, the ignition switch was jammed so I had a couple of wires hanging under the dash to cross, it ended up lasting a couple of weeks until my dad got sick of looking at its rusty hulk in front of the house and made me get rid of it.

Mr_Shiftright · April 1999

Too bad...had you held onto it, that car would be worth $25 today.

isellhondas · April 1999

I grew up in a Chevy town. Some of the kids did drive Fords and Chrysler products but they really weren't "in".

49-54 Chevys were hot stuff back then. We would lower them, split the manifolds, etc.

At that time, 200.00 would buy a REALLY nice one! For 100.00 or so, you could get one that looked and ran pretty well.

Once, I followed a buddy who was buying a 1950 Chevy for 50.00 from an elderly couple.

That Chevy had probably never been on the freeway before and didn't like it!

As I followed, it threw a rod so hard it took the generator off the side of the engine!

By buddy said " the hell with it" limped it off the freeway and left it parked on a residental street. Never saw it again...

carnut4 · April 1999

The same highschool buddy had two of them: The first was a '39 Dodge 4-door he bought for $7.50. The body was fine, but the engine had a crcked head. He'd start warm it up while we all watched the steam and water seep through the crack. But it ran fine, like those old flathead sixes. For Halloween, he took a cutting torch and cut most of the roof away and stripped the interior. A bunch of guys piled in with two crates of tomatoes[ripe]. You can guess what they did as they cruised around town. An arrogant braggart we knew was cruising around in his Dad's new white Imperial. The Imperial got creamed. His other car was a '55 Ford for $25. Ran on 7 cylinders. 292 with overdrive. The low rearend[4.11] gave it good dig off the line. More than one ego was bruised by being beat at the "stoplight grandprtix" by that ugly, 7 cylinderFord. The car finally got bashed by sledge hammers at a carnival, where most of the $25. was recovered. Last time I saw the car, it had no glass left, not one straight panel-but it still ran!

bankinbob · April 1999

My first car was 56 4 door chevy, $250 it had a 265 v-8 and 48,000 miles and std trans. I went through 3 rear ends and a lot of used tires.

acpop · April 1999

My first car was a 1974 Chevy Camaro Type LT, Originally purchased new with another Camaro for my uncle's wedding present by my grandfather (his other car was a Rolls-Royce!) The car quickly rusted out the rear quarter panels (before he got home from the dealer, I suspect). The car was given to my father in 1976. It served dutifully as a second car until 1987. (Dad broke down and had bodywork repaired and repainted the car in 1984). In 1987 I got the car as a Junior in High School. It had the 160hp 4-barrel V8, gobs of torque, and had such a subdued exhaust note at idle that most stop-light opponents figured it must have been a 6. Wrong! It was a good "cool" car for a pimply-faced high schooler but really was never my style. But as a hand-me-down, let's face it, it could have been much worse!
For graduation I got a brand new Acura Integra with a 5-speed which offered involvement that the Camaro could never offer (except for straight-line speed.) However the car was next supposed to go to my little sister but by 1990 my parents decided to get her a smaller car, and instead gave the Camaro to my aunt.
Sometime in '92 or 93' the car was totaled after running backwards off the road into a ditch. The engine, however, still ran and was transplanted into an early 70's Chevy pickup which runs to this day. I don't know if that old "Heartbeat" will ever stop.

spokane · April 1999

Carnut4's '42 Studebaker Coupe provides me with a vivid recollection. I once had a near-duplicate of his car ...even down to the "engine exchange."

The owner and his mechanic (the one with the pair of channel-locks) were lifting off the cylinder head from a '46 Studebaker Coupe as I walked by. The owner said it had "a bad knock" for the past fifty miles. The "mechanic" saw that the #2 cylinder contained no piston; only a rod and record-depth scoring of the cylinder walls. He told the owner that repairs would be beyond the scope of his channel-lock and screwdriver toolbox.

In less than ten minutes the car was mine for $60. Body was OK, tires almost new, everything else worked. A few blocks away, the body of a '52 Studebaker Champion had recently fallen victim to a wild Fraternity party but I correctly guessed the motor was OK. Would you believe four guys with a chain and fencepost could easily lift that little engine out of the '52 in the dark of night? New piston rings, rod bearings, gaskets, brakes, starter and generator brushes pushed the total investment to $130.

I drove the car about 25K miles with no real problems. Cruised at 60+MPH OK. Turned it on it's side during a hunting trip; three of us flipped it back on it wheels and continued no worse for the wear.

Carnut, I believe this one would have made it to Klamath Falls! Of course, this was an expensive car; the $60 cost was 70% more than your $35. I did not have a wolf whistle but I did have a "pre-electric" Borg-Warner overdrive like yours.

Many years later I learned that only 2,465 of the '46 3-Passenger coupes had been produced. It was the only one I recall seeing. No wonder some people asked if it was a Terraplane or a Hudson.

Mr_Shiftright · April 1999

the low production was probably because steel was very hard to get right after the war.

carnut4 · April 1999

Good story. I remember at the time I had my '42, there was a '41 coupe running in B-gas drag racing around the country. That was actually a pretty good body style. If it hadn't been for that "daylight" trunk floor...a friend and I once pondered the car with a Chevy 327 and all the rest--not meant to be.. Thanks for sharing your Studebaker story.

spokane · April 1999

You're right Carnut; those Studebaker coupes looked pretty good. I, too, knew a guy with a '41 Coupe, it was in pristine condition. His was a Commander with the "big" 94 HP engine ... outclassed my 80 HP Champion altogether.

I later had a '51 Studebaker 3/4-ton truck with the same 80 HP eggbeater engine ... acceleration was not it's strong point.

Shiftright ...while steel availability was a problem, it's my understanding that '46 production was cut short to accommodate changeover to the all-new '47. Other that the drivetrain, that car really was "all new." I'm sure you remember that no one accused the '47 Studebaker of looking like anything else.....

Mr_Shiftright · April 1999

Yes, Studebaker did get a bit of a jump on the other manufacturers in re-tooling after the war. Most 1946 cars were just re-hashes of the 1941 models, as were many 1947 cars, but Studebaker did have a fresh car in '47. I think you're right, the 46 Studebaker was made only for a few months--the company probably put out no more than 20,000 cars total in 1946...that low number doesn't seem to affect value very much, but it is interesting to note.

prophet2 · May 1999

Great stories from everyone!

I advanced from newspaper carrier peddling on a one-speed bike to gas station jockey in 1964 at age 16, picking up a '55 Chevy 210 4-dr sedan for $300: 80K on odometer, 235 "Blue Flame" in-line 6, 3-speed column shift, no radio, "4-40 AC" (four windows down, 40 mph). Body by Fischer, amended with Bond-O. A classic "beach car" which took us to many surfing/skin-diving/fishing jaunts when I had the weekend off. We nicknamed this bomb "the Black Knight."

A mechanic's dream, however, as I experienced a constant parade of repairs and maintenence items:
tires (6.70 x 15), radiator, clutch, shocks, head lights, carburetor, muffler, leaf spring, etc. I saved on lubrication: monthly or every 1000 miles done during "slow" periods for free.

My brother dreamed of inheriting this "heap" when I left for college, but it was sold for parts. Today, he's a certified auto mechanic; every family should have one in-house.

jeffs · May 1999

1964 Oldsmobile Starfire Coupe, 394 ci
buckets, console
huge hood and deck lid, weighed 4500lbs
tough to find parts for
bought in '75 for $150, sold in '77 for $150
next guy drove it for 1 year then lost track
replaced with a abused 1970 Olds 442, 455 ci 4 speed for $500
too many tickets before the suspension fell apart
put the engine and front disk brakes into a 1966 Pontiac Tempest convertible
now that was a sleeper!!

sebringjxi · May 1999

While my first car was a 1959 MGA, my early driving experience came at the wheel of a 1969 Mercury Marquis. It was an aircraft carrier of a car with a 429-4V (that stood for 4 barrel, not valves) that declared "premium fuel only" on the breather lid. I think it was rated about 385 hp and probably 400 ft lb of torque. I had no competition on top end. Now, some guys could get off the line quicker because of lower weight and higher (numerical) rear gears, but on top end, I was king. That big sucker would bury the hand at 120 at about 80% throttle and just keep on digging. Had a buddy with a 1969 Caprice Classic with a 396 4V. It was a 4-door hardtop, that's hard to explain to kids today, but it had no pillar between the front door and back door windows. When the windows were down it looked like a 2 door car. He always tried to beat me with the Merc. Never did it. We both got our licenses late in our Sophomore year so we had almost 2 1/2 years to rag one another. I'll never forget when he came to school all puffed up and proud that his dad had traded cars and replaced the Chevy with a Pontiac Grand Ville. Anybody remember those, it was as big as a house, I think that's where the name came from! Anyway it had a 454 4V and he thought he had me licked. Nope. Same result that big Merc would out run anything but radar waves! It had a 28 gallon tank, I think, and I could fill it with Texaco's best for less than $10! Sure was hard on rear tires, though

cooksterdog · May 1999

FIRST CAR? 1949 PONTIAC "beetleback" SEDAN, FOUND IT IN AN ORANGE GROVE IN ANAHEIM CA. MY DAD HAD A COW WHEN I DRAGGED IT HOME! IT HAD BEEN STLEN AND ABANDONED IN THE GROVE AND THE GROWER SAID IF I WOULD REMOVE IT IT WAS MINE! 1963, I WAS A JUNIOR IN HIGH SCHOOL AND ANY CAR COULD GET YOU A LOT OF FEMININE ATTENTION! THE OLD BEAST HAD A STRAIGHT 8CYLIDER, YES I SAID STRAIGHT EIGHT!!! A BATTERY ABOUT 20 INCHES LONG AND A DUAL RANGE AUTOMATIC THE OLD AM RADIO HAD ABOUT 8 VACUUMN TUBES AND TOOK 5 MINUITE TO WARM UP! I LOST MY VIGINITY IN THA OLD BEAST SO IT HAD A LO9T OF FOND MEMORYS!!!

badgerpaul · May 1999

I remember the Grand Ville, my dad had a '71, it had the 455 v4 in it. The sad thing was, that in '71 the General had detuned it's engines to run on regular gas so this tank wasn't as quick as the '68 Bonneville it replaced.

alext · May 1999

My first car was 66 AMC Rambler Classic 770 model.

It ran on a 237 cid v8 that roared so loud I could be easily identified up to a mile away. It was a beautiful blue-green color that was called "Coronado Aqua" in those days, and it got me from place to place very nicely. One of the best fringe benefits about having a beautiful old car in the 90's is the attention you get. I would have people staring at my rambler at every stoplight.
Unfortuneately, the car was headed for the ground. I bought it from my uncle in Wisconsin where the winter salt on the roads rotted the undercarriage to pure hell. And going from that climate to Miami was perhaps a mistake, as the heat and humidity only loosened up everything that could be loosened. The driver's side floor collapsed and ended up like those cars in the flintstones where you could use your feet as brake pedals. The choke was is bad condition and even after getting the butterfly cleaned it would often take upwards of ten minutes to get the old beast started and running. And although Miami is as flat as a dime, any type of incline like a parking structure ramp could cut the engine off while it was running and prevent it from starting again.
Any way, about 6 months into driving the rambler, the brakes failed and I smashed into an infiniti I30. After that, everything went downhill. I spent more than I paid for the car to replace the radiator, water pump and fan and do a complete overhaul on the front and rear brakes. I didn't have any money left over to take the rambler to the body shop to replace the front end (not to mention that rambler body parts are hard to come by).
So to make a long story short, the rambler turned into a money pit. So, after 2 years I was within 2 weeks of moving to California and had to get rid of the rambler. Well, a friend gave me a 88 honda for free so I had reliable transportation and my parents refused to keep the rotting rambler in their driveway. So I junked it for $80. Boy was that a sad day.
Someday, when I make enough money, I'll buy another rambler (63-69) and restore it.

kingjr · May 1999

My first was a '68 "Goat" and I still have it. I ordered it from the factory in the summer of 1967, got it in October. Because I moved around a lot during my 30 years in the Navy, I stored it in 1986, but I am taking it out of storage in June so I can get it running again.

It is white w/red interior, 400ci (360 hp), Rochester Quadrajet, 3 spd Hurst shifter. The only modifications are radio (had to cut a bigger hole in the dash) and different wheels, though I still have the original wheels and wheel covers. Everything else is stock.

The engine has never been apart (yet) and it has about 150k miles, most of which I put on. Very few mechanical problems during the 20 years of driving before storage. I still have all repair and oil/filter change records. A truly great car.

My wife claims I will sell her before I sell the GTO. I asked her yesterday if she was appreciating or depreciating. Things got real quiet.

rea98d · August 1999

Right after WWII, my Grandpa bought a used Terraplane for little of nothing, and drove it for several years after that. That car survived a massive explosion of a fertilizer-carrying cargo ship in 47 that destroyed most of the town, my grandpa getting married in 48, and numerous other milestones before he let it go for almost nothing. The reason he sold it was because when the clutch finally went out (common occurance in manual cars), the mechanic said new clutches were not available for that car any more. My grandpa bought up all that man had in stock (not more than 2 or 3), and when he ran out of clutches, he put the car up for sale. While waiting to get on the Boliver/Galveston ferry, a man saw the for sale sign, walked over to the car, and offered him $50 bucks for that car. He said he would take it only if the man followed him home so he wouldn't have to walk. He always regretted selling that thing, saying many years later that had he kept it, it would have been worth a lot of money, but at the time, he needed the 50 bucks a lot worse than he needed an old car with no clutch.

Mr_Shiftright · August 1999

Great story...and I think Gramps can rest easy wherever he is--unless he had the roadster or convertible Terraplane, the old sedans really don't bring much money today, so really, in terms of 1950s dollars, he probably sold it at a good time, when 50 bucks could buy a whole lot more than it does now (two lattes at Starbucks?).

Good sturdy and honest car, the Terraplane.

scozim · August 1999

My first car was a '65 Ford Falcon Futura - 2 dr hardtop, 289 V8 and rare vinyl top. The best thing about it was nobody else in school had one. The late '70's Camaros and Trans Ams were hot, but there wasn't a Falcon to be seen, let alone a 1960's car.

Mr_Shiftright · August 1999

Those were interesting cars...did you know that the V-8 Falcons ran the Monte Carlo rallye ('64 I believe, and they were called "Sprints" then) and did quite well against the finest European cars.?

carnut4 · August 1999

Those WERE interesting cars-simple and effective-and of course were the platform for the Mustang-which went WAY on down the road. Practical, inexpensive drivers to own now.

spokane · August 1999

I chanced to meet a very independent sort of fellow in the late 70's who owned one of he Sprints and had been involved with the Monte Carlo rallye. In his view, these cars were "Ford Sprints"; it quickly became clear that I was not to associate this performance car with the "Falcon" label.

Mr_Shiftright · August 1999

Perhaps in the sense that it was a specially-built car, yes, but PLEASE...I'm looking at a picture of one racing in the Monte Carlo rallye and it's got the word FALCON in big letters on the left front fender! (See Automobile Quarterly, Vol 17, #4). So you can call it a Falcon anytime you want, because that's the correct version of history.

spokane · August 1999

Thanks, Shiftright. I believe you. Indeed, I am sure that Ford Motor Co. wanted the Falcon name to be seen in Rallye competition. I was dealing with an older fellow in a non-rallye-conscious small town. I think he felt a personal need to dispel the staid Falcon image in order to convey to the non-racing folks of the area something of both rallye competition and his beloved car.

Mr_Shiftright · August 1999

Well, unless he actually has one of the rallye cars, his Sprint is a lot more Falcon than it is Monte Carlo racer, that's for sure! The MC cars were extensively re-worked.

prophet2 · September 1999

Shhhh ..... this one's a sleeper! I've been looking around for a '64 Sprint, 289 V-8, 4-speed, hard-top okay, convertible even better. When I was a part-time gas-jockey, my boss had one in Wimbledon White w/red interior and wire wheel covers. A customer had the '63 Sprint (260 V-8), also four-on-the-floor, in black.

There were '64 Futuras in the two-door-hard-top, 260 V-8 configuration, but it's the Sprint I want. An alternative to the over-priced Mustangs.

isellhondas · September 1999

You and I might have pumped gas around the same time!

We had a customer with a black '63 Sprint convertable. This was very much a Chevy town, but that was one nice car! The only thing he modified was the exhaust. He had a nice set of "pipes" installed with glasspacks.

It had a sweet sound and could hold it's own against 283 Chevys and the like...

Memories....I can still hear it!

pomy11 · October 1999

What a car it was, four door about a million pounds of steel, fluid drive. Sold it out of high school for a 64 Impala, for $75. Never saw it again.

wolfgang7 · January 2000

Other than driving a '54 Chevy 2DR and '59 BelAire Sedan that were 'family' cars, the first car that I actually paid for was a '64 Impala 4 door hardtop. I paid $741 for it with 48K miles on it. It had a 283V8 with a Powerglide automatic. After I drove it for several years, I gave it to my sister who eventually wrecked it. Then 25 years later, I bought another one just like it to restore. Didn't keep it long before selling it to my brother who is better at fixing things and he sold it a year later.

shaken123 · January 2000

My first car was a 1976 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Landau edition. (I don't know if that counts as a classic or not.) My parents bought it new when I was two years old. I inherited it my senior year in high school and am still driving it. About 190,000 miles on it. Few problems.

Yes, I'm looking around for something else now. But I feel kind of like a traitor.

It's basically the only thing I've ever ridden around in.

rea98d · January 2000

I know how you feel. check this out:

(I hope this works)

rea98d · January 2000

That's a 78 Grand Marquis my grandparents bought new. They gave it to me in 96 and I drove it till July when the tranny cratered. While I don't know the rules of classic vs. antique vs. old, I'll count your Monte Carlo as a classic :-)

bubukitty · January 2000

I have some great memories of my first car, a red 1966 T-Bird with the regular roof with rear quarter windows (not landau). Bought it in 1975 (I was 19) from the original owners, with 106,000 miles on it. It was a 428-4v and had the towing package. Rear fender skirts and was just a gorgeous car. I always got a lot of complements on it...it was a real eye catcher. Not too many dating memories as I was in college at the time and needed most of my money for school (and gas!), plus I was a little shy and dorky at the time. But I sure had one of the best looking cars around! Paid $750 for it and it ran like a champ and was faster that all get out. Black interior with the rear seats that curved around. Was just a super car. Dash on the car was like a jet fighter! Had to re-build the carb on it (leaking gas pretty bad), and it ran better than ever after that and got 18MPG on the freeway going 65! Not bad for a 428. Had it for about a year. Drove it to Idaho (from S.F.) for a summer job in a lumber mill and had all my earthly belongings packed in it. I remember having to wax it about once a week as the red paint kept oxidizing in the hot Idaho sun! (the original owner had a cheap red repaint on it from Earl Scheib I think--looked good when buffed out though!). Sold it for $850 when I needed some cash for college a year later. Last I remember seeing it was when the new owner was driving away and he was taking a left turn and seeing the cool sequential turn signal. I remember thinking that it looked beautiful driving down the street just at dusk and wishing I didn't have to sell it....then it was gone forever more. I really missed that car.

markman4 · January 2000

This car was great. I think I paid about $1200 and it had 90,000+ miles when I bought it. My Dad did not want me to get it...should of listened to him. I think I spent about $800 in major maintenance every 1000 miles for the time I owned it. But sure wish I had it back now. I actually learned to drive in a 1960 Mercury Comet Station wagon. Now THAT is a car I would like to have now. I traded the Cougar on a 1974 Ford Galaxie 500 and I saw it around town later. Some kid had bought it and look like he wrecked it, since it had a different colored fender on the front.

dave1442397 · February 2000

I bought this one in 1988, my first summer in the US. I paid $300 for it, ran it for three months, then sold it.
I had never experienced automatic transmissions before (too expensive to run in Ireland), but after three months it didn't feel quite right to me.
Still, I had a buyer. I warned him that it sounded a little off to me, but he drove it around for a few miles and said it was fine. He gave me $600 for it, took it home, and I went back to Ireland a few days later.
We had a mutual friend, who told me he drove it into NYC and lost reverse gear in a parking lot. He got it home, by which time it was slipping a lot in Drive too, and parked it on the street.
He then proceeded to buy a transmission for it, which he left sitting in the back seat.
After the winter snows had melted, the local authorities noticed that the previous Fall's leaves were still piled around the car, and towed it.
That was the end of it, and to this day it's the only car I ever made money on.

hardguy · February 2000

Great little Car! Bought it from my Mom for 200 bucks, when I was 16. Only a six banger, but it could move. Really reliable car, but it was noisey!
That's why I like Ford's,they are much quieter, at least they used to be. I guess GM quieted their product down a lot now.
Had it until I was 18. Let somebody drive it and he turned it over. Me and three other guys were in the car, nobody got hurt, but I had a lot of explaining to do. That was back in the sixties, and from that day to now, I never let anybody drive one of my cars!

thatvolkswagen · February 2000

I guess i am using an "older" car as a classic here, but its one I wont forget. My first car was a 1979 chevy caprice 2-door. It had a 350 with a 4-bbl., automatic (of course) and that big wraparound rear glass. I bought the car the summer before my senior year of High School in 1994. It had belonged to a neighbor who had used it as a "work Car" so that he wouldnt have to ding up his brand new 300ZX at his office parking garage. It was the typical 17-year old project car. I immediately bought a cherry bomb muffler with chromed exhaust for it (wanted to use up all of the power coming from that low-power highway cruiser engine) from RS Strauss. Bought a chrome valve cover and air cleaner cover dress- up kit from JC Whitney. I yanked off the shift knob from the column and replaced it with a bored-out 8-ball (from the local billiard hall, I feel bad about taking it now). And with the $250 commision I had recieved from helping my cousin sell his Jet-Skis I took it to the local "el-cheapo" body shops and had a metallic green enamel job sprayed on. Last but not least, I bought a set of IROC rims for it from the salvage yard (with tires). My faux-street-machine was not that quick, but it throbbed, which is what I wanted at 17. The big IROC wheels rubbed the wheelwells on hard turns, but it was OK by me. All together I paid $1800 for the car and all the crap I slapped on it. It lasted me from that summer to two weeks after graduation, when I detonated the 350 motor trying to race a Mustang GT (stupid, I know). Not wanting to spend all my graduation cash trying to rebuild it, I junked the car and bought a fairly clean Audi. Its been Audi and VW ever since, and I am NEVER turning back. But every now and then I think back to the old phony-musclecar and smile.

smolie · February 2000

In August 74 I paid $300 for a 63 Impala 4 door hardtop 327 with a Powerglide automatic and dual exhaust. It wasn't in the best of shape but it got me to school everyday. A lady ran a stop sign and bashed in the right rear quarter panel. I traded it in 1975 for a 71 Camaro.

kmag · February 2000

the one based on the Pinto. Bought it for $1200 in spring 1979. White, 4 cyl, 4 speed, basic 2 door coupe. What a piece of crap by todays standards! 22mpg, slow, bad handling-it was like a shrunken LTD. Seats were black plastic-hot as blazes in the summer, especially with no AC. I traded it in on a new Dodge Colt in 1981 and got $400. I saw it about two years later, smoking, the back suspension collapsed but still going.

cobra23 · February 2000

My first car was purchased new by my parents in 1970. I bought it from my mom when I was 17 and paid $1100. It is the Cobra model of the fastback Fairlane and is Black Jade Metallic. The 428CJ was incredibly powerful, especially for a 17 year old; I never lost a race! Well, I kept this car and, after years of neglect, completely restored it in 1997. For me, this car is as close to a time machine as it gets! When I drive it, I swear I flashback to when I was 17!

hok1 · February 2000

This is an incredible, but true story. I had a Honda Civic that would not pass inspection because
of rust underneath. (PA inspection) It was sold to junk for $250.00. The junk dealer sold it to a Floridian wholesaler for $500. The wholesaler sold to a retailer in Puerto Rico who in turn, sold this same car for $2000.00. Maybe I am naive, but this really surprised me!

Mr_Shiftright · February 2000

Ah, a good lesson in Supply and Demand....big Supply of rusty cars in PA, low demand. No cheap cars in PR, big demand.

What was your first car? What happened to it?

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