What was your very first car?

[ern-diz]

Originally Posted by CoryM

Do trucks count?

Sure do! And that's a sweet one. Any plans to put it all back together again?

Originally Posted by kimona

When I was 16 years old, I bought a black 1963 Cadillac Fleetwood, and shortly after a white 1961 Austin Healey Bug-Eye Sprite. I owned both these cars through high school and for a few years following.

Wow. That Caddy is tremendous. Why did you decide to part with it?

Originally Posted by NYC-SE

1964 Dodge Dart. It was originally my Grandfather's and was older than me (not by much). I used to ride on his lap and help steer when I was a kid. Was in the family for a long time and sometime in the late 80's I wound up with it. I had it until sometime in the early 90's when it died on me on my way to work. I pushed it to the side of the road and went to work. 12 hours later I went back and it was gone. No idea what happened to it. I like to think that someone found it, got it started and that it lived another day.

Anyway great car. Slant six engine was super reliable. After all it lasted close to 30 years. Of course by then the body was in pretty bad shape.

This is NOT a picture of my actual car, just a photo I found online to give you an idea of what the car looked like. It's even the same color, but as I said mine was in considerably worse shape than this one.

Nice! I love Mopar. Great story. Curious if you reported it stolen, or just let it move on?

[NYC-SE]

Originally Posted by ern-diz

Nice! I love Mopar. Great story. Curious if you reported it stolen, or just let it move on?

Yeah I had to as I didn't have the plates to turn in. Of course in those days cars didn't have VIN numbers stamped all over them. I can't recall correctly if they actually had one at all other than an "assigned" VIN. Anyway NYPD said good luck finding it. In those days it was not uncommon to see abandoned or stripped cars on the streets in NY. This happened in the south Bronx. I did search the area for it but couldn't find it. There were a lot of junk yards in the area and I kind of suspect one of them just hitched up a tow truck and carted it away for scrap. That kind of thing was not uncommon at the time either, even with cars just parked on the street. NYC was crazy back then. Any way the police gave me a report so I could cancel my insurance and satisfy the DMV.

Funny story, several years prior to that this same car was stolen from in front of our house. Reported it to police who said the same thing. "Yeah...good luck finding it." Six months later my dad gets a call from NYPD saying they found it. When we got it back it had a brand new radio and speakers in it and a full tank of gas!

[scratchpaddy]

Originally Posted by NYC-SE

Funny story, several years prior to that this same car was stolen from in front of our house. Reported it to police who said the same thing. "Yeah...good luck finding it." Six months later my dad gets a call from NYPD saying they found it. When we got it back it had a brand new radio and speakers in it and a full tank of gas!

That's hilarious!

My first car was a 2003 Cavalier. It was actually really nice, with all the goodies most Cavaliers didn't get: factory ground effects, shiny alloy wheels, sunroof, power everything. I loved it. I never got a picture of it intact, though. I was working part time at a body shop in rural Georgia while going through college. We bought it at auction with minor front end damage, which we fixed up. It had 74,000 miles, and I paid $2,500 for it.



Only 3 months later, a girl driving her dad's Mercedes made a left turn right in front of me on Highway 74. I hit her going 55mph. Neither car was fixable.



This was just after Cash 4 Clunkers, and the market for small cars was suddenly white-hot. Insurance bought the car for $5,700. I replaced it with a Cobalt, which lasted for three years before a drunk kid t-boned it in a parking lot while trying his hand at "drifting."



Insurance wrote me another check for, oddly enough, $5,700.

[kimona]

Originally Posted by ern-diz

Wow. That Caddy is tremendous. Why did you decide to part with it?

I bought the Cadillac from a limousine service. It had been retired from active service for several years, and had a rebuilt motor and transmission. It was sitting under a tarp in the corner of a huge underground garage. When I went to see it for the first time and the guy removed the tarp, I was surprised to find the car in absolutely mint condition. I enjoyed driving the Cadillac until I was about 19, when I found a 1968 Mustang that I fell in love with. I remember selling the Cadillac way back when to a very happy gentleman named Basil Mortley. I sold the Bug-Eye Sprite shortly after selling the Cadillac when I found a 1966 Sunbeam Tiger.

[CoryM]

Originally Posted by ern-diz

Sure do! And that's a sweet one. Any plans to put it all back together again?

Yeah. Someday I'll bring it back to life but for now there is racing to be done. What happened is I was in the midst of fixing/modding it and I hurt my back. Unable to work for 2yrs I had to let it sit. It's just as well because I was going to do a wild build on it, and now I just kind of want it back how it was when I drove it (but with a modern engine).

I only paid $700 for the truck btw. Two weeks later I was offered $4500 for it. After driving the truck I went on to a whole slew of beater 80s Toyotas (RWDs) so I appreciate the Corolla.

[ern-diz]

Originally Posted by NYC-SE

Yeah I had to as I didn't have the plates to turn in. Of course in those days cars didn't have VIN numbers stamped all over them. I can't recall correctly if they actually had one at all other than an "assigned" VIN. Anyway NYPD said good luck finding it. In those days it was not uncommon to see abandoned or stripped cars on the streets in NY. This happened in the south Bronx. I did search the area for it but couldn't find it. There were a lot of junk yards in the area and I kind of suspect one of them just hitched up a tow truck and carted it away for scrap. That kind of thing was not uncommon at the time either, even with cars just parked on the street. NYC was crazy back then. Any way the police gave me a report so I could cancel my insurance and satisfy the DMV.

Funny story, several years prior to that this same car was stolen from in front of our house. Reported it to police who said the same thing. "Yeah...good luck finding it." Six months later my dad gets a call from NYPD saying they found it. When we got it back it had a brand new radio and speakers in it and a full tank of gas!

Wow, just when I thought the story couldn't get any better. NYC was crazy then, as in, The Five Seven type days?

Originally Posted by Sirius-XM

1972 Volkswagen Super Beetle. In many ways it was like my Yaris. It was reliable, fuel efficient, fun to drive. It was my only other car to have a name. My Super Beetle's name was "Jersey Bob", my Yaris is "Miss Sakamoto". Unlike the Yaris, the Super Beetle needed a lot of regular maintenance, brakes had to adjusted every few months, points, condenser and spark plug changed every other year. The generator use to throw brushes regularly and the need to rebuild the auto-stick solenoid was a constant issue. It was over ten years old when I got it so rust was already a losing battle but oh how I loved it.

Nice. I still love bugs to this day.

Originally Posted by bronsin

As a teenager I constantly read and re read John Muirs opus How To Keep Your Volkswagen Alive For The Complete Idiot cover to cover perhaps 1000 times. I even made a complete copy of it on my 1917 Remington typewriter for my girlfriend.

My parents didnt like foreign cars my father bought Chevys and my mother was worried about their safety.

So imagine my surprise one day when I came home from college for Easter weekend when I saw a blue 1969 VW Beetle in the driveway. (I took the bus and was walking home from the station) Wow who do we know who has a VW?

And how would they dare park it in my fathers driveway?

My father was sitting at the kitchen table when I asked him who s VW that was in the driveway.

Its mine I bought it for $300. Its got a blown engine. Put your money where your mouth is and go out and fix it!

I was out the door like a shot and all over that car! In a couple of hours I had the engine out and was taking it apart just like the book said to do.

I didnt need to look at the book though.

The engine was trashed and not rebuildable so we bought a factory rebuilt short block from VW for $400 ( CHEAP EH?)

I think what led to my fathers change of heart was the Energy Crisis. Gas had just doubled from 29 to 60 cents a gallon. This was 1974.

The car was damaged a few months later by a motorcycle passing in a no passing zone doing 80+ mph. Dad liked the car so much he bought a brand new 74 beetle a Love Bug that was safety green/yellow. (there was also a red/orange Love Bug.)

Sorry no pics!

Great story. Like so many, it sounds like the bug started your wrench turning ways.

Originally Posted by scratchpaddy

That's hilarious!

My first car was a 2003 Cavalier. It was actually really nice, with all the goodies most Cavaliers didn't get: factory ground effects, shiny alloy wheels, sunroof, power everything. I loved it. I never got a picture of it intact, though. I was working part time at a body shop in rural Georgia while going through college. We bought it at auction with minor front end damage, which we fixed up. It had 74,000 miles, and I paid $2,500 for it.

Only 3 months later, a girl driving her dad's Mercedes made a left turn right in front of me on Highway 74. I hit her going 55mph. Neither car was fixable.

This was just after Cash 4 Clunkers, and the market for small cars was suddenly white-hot. Insurance bought the car for $5,700. I replaced it with a Cobalt, which lasted for three years before a drunk kid t-boned it in a parking lot while trying his hand at "drifting."

Insurance wrote me another check for, oddly enough, $5,700.

Funny how that worked out lol. Cool pics, thanks for sharing.

Originally Posted by kimona

I bought the Cadillac from a limousine service. It had been retired from active service for several years, and had a rebuilt motor and transmission. It was sitting under a tarp in the corner of a huge underground garage. When I went to see it for the first time and the guy removed the tarp, I was surprised to find the car in absolutely mint condition. I enjoyed driving the Cadillac until I was about 19, when I found a 1968 Mustang that I fell in love with. I remember selling the Cadillac way back when to a very happy gentleman named Basil Mortley. I sold the Bug-Eye Sprite shortly after selling the Cadillac when I found a 1966 Sunbeam Tiger.

Basil Mortley! I can see why you didn't forget him lol.

Originally Posted by SirDigby

my first car was a 78 Oldsmobile delta 88; $200. after 2 years of ownership I decided to flush the transmission. it stopped engaging the transmission 6 weeks later. I did not know about how super old fluid "becomes" the friction material. to the junkyard it went

Wow, $200.

Originally Posted by sickpuppy1

Back in the day, I must of been higher than I thought, cause my 1st car was a 1973 Ford Pinto station wagon in Baby blue!!! And I bought it brand new! What was I thinking,lol. I actually had a blast with that car and ran the hell out of it. I had the 2000cc engine instead of the 1.6. The 2.0 was german built instead of england. It was a overhead cam engine, and while ford red lined it at like 5800 rpm, I found out from a hot rod magazine that it was good for over 7500 rpm! I routinely shifted at 7200, and after reversing the jets in the carb,cutting a 1/2 loop off the coil springs and koni shocks w/michelin radials I ended up running a fair amount of gymkhana races with it! The standard Pinto was so light in the rear it was useless in the corners. The wagon added just the right amount if weight on the back end to balance it bit better. It was so funny to see a baby blue pinto wagon beating the times of Porshe 914 's and Trans Am's back then. This isnt my car but it looks close!

Classic!

Originally Posted by Bluevitz-rs

Neither are in any way collectors cars but they both hold a lot of sentimental value to us.

Totally get it; would love to still have my little 'rolla FX.

Originally Posted by Dodge Aries K

My first car was a 1984 Dodge Aries K station wagon. I lo ed that car. Parents made me get rid of it (I was 14) because I spent too much time messing with it apparently. Im still mad about that almost 17 years later haha.

Hence the screen name; I should have guessed lol.

Originally Posted by ACKING_QC

the very first car that I bought with MY MONEY was a Toyota Celica ST182 .. Canadian automatic... bought it for 1000$CAN put 1500$CAN to repair it, (completely new brake system) aannd the oncomming summer, the gase tank got leaks litterally EVERYWHERE ... this car was a damn bomb... had to get rid of it for ONLY 250 bucks .. for the 2-3 months I drove it, it was a HELL of a lot of fun !

I like those years of Celicas. My mom had a GT around the same year. Sweet little cars.

Originally Posted by CoryM

Yeah. Someday I'll bring it back to life but for now there is racing to be done. What happened is I was in the midst of fixing/modding it and I hurt my back. Unable to work for 2yrs I had to let it sit. It's just as well because I was going to do a wild build on it, and now I just kind of want it back how it was when I drove it (but with a modern engine).

I only paid $700 for the truck btw. Two weeks later I was offered $4500 for it. After driving the truck I went on to a whole slew of beater 80s Toyotas (RWDs) so I appreciate the Corolla.

Very cool.

Really enjoying reading everyone's firsts lol. Doubly glad I decided to make this post.

Keep 'em coming!

[kimona]

Originally Posted by ern-diz

Really enjoying reading everyone's firsts lol. Doubly glad I decided to make this post.

Keep 'em coming!

Yup, good thread. Looking forward to many more posts... and photos.

[ern-diz]

Originally Posted by kimona

... and photos.