Tell us about your first car!
 

We all drive a wonderful car now, but what was the first car you were given or bought to drive when you were a kid? Be sure to include your age at the time, what you paid for it, and take a few sentences to describe it and what you liked most about it and what you hated about it. If you have pics, post them!

I'll go first:

1972 Toyota Corona Deluxe, faded red paint, Crager mags (believe it or not), very wide tires on the back, red white and blue stars and strips racing stripes up the hood, over the roof and down the back. A rare RWD Toyota sedan. Looked ridiculous with the mags and stripes, had no power whatsoever, but got me to my job at McDonald's.

Bought it off my first girlfriend's dad for $400, and sold it for $700 after I put $500 into it in a year.

Loved the fact that it had a bench seat, which was very, very good for making out with my first girlfriend. All I can remember is how that woman could swirl her tongue in my mouth and drive me absolutely bonkers... because that's all she would do with me! I look back on that car with great pleasure as well as great frustration.

Hated the car because of it's automatic transmission, which was on the column... and poorly engineered at that. It sat in a parking lot for three days once while my buddy and I tried to figure out why the stupid thing wouldn't start. Discovered it was left in gear... no key-locking device was on the car in those days when you shut off the engine with the car in gear.

Anyone else? There's got to be a million great stories out there, and I'd like to read yours!

Hmmm...first cars.
My first car was an 85 Audi 4000 quatro coupe. Not a ton of power but was fast in its own right in those days. Was all wheel drive though.
It was a charcoal grey with a grey cloth interior. It was standard transmission. I will never forget putting, I think it is spelled....Fetapaldi(?) wheels and within two weeks managed to bend both of the front wheels. I was living in Stamford Ct at the time and the roads were terrible.
No bench seat for my girlfreind at the time, but will never forget having sex in the front seat of that car on a dark night in the local park or parking lot.
My next car was an 87 Audi 5000 turbo. Fast car but really bad sudden acceleration problems. nice back seat though :)

1986 BMW 535i

black leather, 5 speed, brand new grey/blue metallic paint. By the time I got rid of it, it had 20% tint, the new (like 2000 model) gunmetal M5 wheels, exhaust, custom all Rockford Fosgate stereo install, including custom upolstery (I still remember my mom's expression the day we were taking the cutting wheel to the rear deck...), and almost a new engine. Ahh... those were the days.

Of course, it had no working a/c when I bought it. 1 compressor, 1 dryer, 1 high pressure line, 1 low pressure line, 2.5 pounds of R-12, and 16 hours of back-breaking labor later, you'd freeze your butt off if you left it on high for more than a minute.

Yeah, everyone should include those stories, too. For us, it was the parking lot of the local elementary school. I remember my girlfriend wearing those knee-high leather stiletto boots for me one night, thinking that I'd like it. I did, of course, but I asked her to take them off before we climbed into the back seat -- I didn't want them tearing up the leather.

What a dumb move! :)

63 vette roadster in silver blue with dark blue interior, white top. Put some chrome wheels on it later.
:dance:
Ahh, that was a great car indeed! What a summer we had.

My first car was a 198something (forget which year, it was so long ago) BMW 318i. Was a great little car! Dark Grey exterior, black interior, and was just fun to drive.

1968 Firebird purchased in 1977 for $1,000. Navy blue with white vinyl roof. 350 engine. Hydromatic transmission. Goodrich Radial T/A's. Blew the head gasket tring to keep up with a 911. My first painful experience with Porsche...until getting the bill for my 30K service. lol Sorry, no sex stories....I don't kiss and tell. I'll only say that the logistics were WAY better than a boxster!!

84 Honda Accord purchased for $2500. Sold for $600 :(

First Car...
 

1987 Pontiac Firebird. 305 cid V8. 4bbl carb. Much too much power for a young kid of 16 :) I now spend my days ********************ing that these young kids drive too fast. They zoom by me and get to the exit 2 seconds before me. I might as well hitch my pants up, start yelling at kids to turn their music down...

As for what jfmiller was saying, try having sex in the front seat of a firebird with bucket seats!

jonnybgood, I feel the same way you do! I was making old-man-noises the other day, saying something like:

"That kid needs to quit dropping his cash into that boom box on wheels, get a haircut and stop with the tattoo collection he currently has!"

Yup, time to wear the sansabelt slacks up around my armpits and tell everyone what life was like "in the old days."

Now back to your first car! Who else will contribute?

added image
 

1987 Plymouth Duster. I paid $2200 for it in 1992. fine car for a 17 year old kid learning to drive. It looked fast, but wasn't. Hatchback versatility. I had it until I was 22 when I sold it for $400 to buy my Integra GS-R.

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...698_4_full.jpg

1985 Toyota MR2
 

got it brand new, white w/ black interior, 5 speed. i think it was $14,700 out the door back then, it wasnt cheap. it was a blast. had it until 92'.

The first car I bought was a 1957 Chevy 210 2dr post for $300 from my brother's friend when I was 14. The first car that I had that I used for an extended period of time was a 1968 Chevelle that I paid $800 for when I was 16. That car looked good, ran good (327 4spd) and was my high school "love machine". My biggest problem was leaky air shocks that would leak until the rear fenders would rub on my wide rear tires (had the skinny ones on the front like a drag car). That car was stolen the week after I graduated high school. So I bought a 71 Trans Am with 30k miles for $2,200 to go to college.

A renault 4 :-)
I attached a picture so you guys can realize what sort of disaster we are talking about... :D

My first car was an '86 Olds Cutlass Sierra. My mom got in an accident in it before she gave it to me and never got it fixed. The whole time I had it; there was a big dent in the hood and a smashed grill. It had two nice bench seats with plenty of room on the inside :dance: The roof liner fell down all the time and I kept a stapler in the car to stick it back up when ever it fell down. I had about a million stickers on the back when I finally got rid of it. My sister drove it for a bit after I got a different car, then it was donated someplace.

My second car was a '91 Toyota Tercel. My uncle sold it to me for a $1, it had about 150K miles on it when I got it, but it was in totally perfect condition. I think it had about 60 Hp and would struggle to go up a hill if I had three friends in the car. At first I hated the car, however it got about 6 million MPG and I could literally go 2 months at school between fill ups. Today I appreciate the time I owned this car for one and only one reason. It was a stick. To that point I had no idea how to drive manual, I was forced to learn. Without this Tercel, I’m sure my Box would have had the Tiptronic in it today.

The whole time I was in high school I drove the P.O.S. Cutlass (lovingly known as the S-Mobile) then in college the Tercel. When my younger sister was old enough to drive, my parents went out and bought her a VW Cabrio. To say I was pissed was an understatement. To quell a potential family civil war, my dad eventually handed me down his Firebird which I still use as my daily driver today.



There are a bunch of Firebird/Boxster owners, interesting. :cheers:

VW bug for me
 

1964 VW bug. Lots of fun no gas gauge I believe it was 40 hp. I had it when I was learning to fly. Actually it prepared me for taxing an airplane since the car was very subjective to cross winds.
I once ran out of fuel and went to a gas station to "borrow a gas container". Needless to say the manager said no then I bought a 16 oz coke and drank it proceed it to fill it with gas and that got the car going again. :cool:

1989 VX Fox. Bright Red. We bought it new (I was only 8), and I later bought it from my mom in high school, and drove it into college, where I sold it for a 1997 Integra.

After blowing too much money turning my integra into the "ultimate rice mobile," I bought the Boxster this past summer.

First car Horsepower: something like 92
Second car HP: around 130
Current car HP around 220

So the next logical step would be somewhere over 300 HP, right? :)

1962 Rambler Classic
 

The only car I've ever owned that you could repair with random stuff out of a junk pile or hardware store, which I did many times (drawer locks to replace broken trunk lock, radial tire sidewall chunk to replace the rubber clutch linkage [that was fun when the original broke in traffic], pc. of plexiglass for a side vent window, etc.). The exhaust system parts fabricated out of #10 food service tin cans and furnace cement was a wonder to behold!

All steel dash - you could use refrigerator magnets to post notes on it! And notice the speedometer went all the way up to 12. Reclinable bench front seat - very handy for certain activities... :D

Easiest oil change ever - no need for jacks or ramps with the amount of ground clearance and the oil filter was mounted on top of the engine. You could actually stand on the ground inside the engine compartment to work on the 192 cu. in. straight six engine. Got something over 30 MPG with 5+ friends in the car. We'd take my car to boneyards to find the parts for my friend's Lotus Europa JPS we were rebuilding and could fit whole sections of his car in the trunk.

Bought it for $125 with ~40K miles on it - literally from "a little old lady", made nearly $2000 clear from insurance payoffs over the three years I had it (people kept rear-ending me due to the small dim tail/stop lights - I'd end up towing their badly-bent relatively new car to the gas station with my almost-undamaged car, their insurance company would declare my car a "total" and pay me $500; repeat...).

Three years later sold it for $125 when I couldn't get a replacement starter and window wiper motor (powered by engine vacuum) to keep it going. Of course the next JC Whitney catalog to show up had both parts!

I was getting phone calls from later owners for years - that beast just kept on going...

Next in the early parade was a kick ass 318 V8 Plymouth Satellite, as the B-52s sang: "...faster than the speed of liiiighhhht..."

1956 VW Bug
I was stationed in Germany from 1965 to 1967 and enjoyed the VW on all types of German roads. I was stationed in Giessen. One Saturday, two other GI's and myself decided to go to Koblenz, about 90 miles away. I don't ever remember why we decided to go there, but it was a great drive on backroads for three young people. Stopped along the way at a couple Gasthaus's for some fine German beer, ogled some women, and, in general, celebrated being young with no attachments.

a 1964 Karmann Ghia.. bought it for $50. Used to have to park on hills so I could roll start it when it was time to go. Even then I knew topless was the way of my life!! Drove that car for a year roll starting it every time.

my first car back in 1995 was a 1994 Honda civic VTEC 125HP stock, probably some 130HP with exhaust and intake mods, very nice car, reliable, fast (8.4 sec 0-100km/h) nice for sex in the back ;-)
second car in 2001 was a 1997 BMW 318 TI 140HP stock 151HP on dyno (again axhaust and intake), first own RWD (altough I learned to drive with with a 1986 toyota Celica also RWD) enjoyed the BMW realy much, and great sex inthe front and rear ;-), last month bought my 1998 Boxster with 10.000km on it, love that car in all ways exept for sex ;-)
maybe in the summer with top down ;-)

'64 chevy rag top, broken motor mounts, split rear window, 3 on the column if I shifted too hard the d**n thing got stuck in 2nd gear. Mine was junk but Jeannot yours was down right UGLY, but we have arrived.

1964 Triumph Herald aka "Chick Magnet"
http://www.misdiagnosedillness.com/i...h_herald_1.jpg
OK, maybe anti-magnet ;)

The first car I drove regularly was a 1990 50Hp Nissan Micra 1.0L. Supposed to be Mum's car, but she decided there was no way she was ever going to drive a manual transmission, so it was shared between my brother and I.

My first true car that I owned though was a 1984 VW Golf GTI MkII, one of the very first MkII's. I bought it from my Uncle in Germany, and imported it into the UK. It was a fantastic car, but very old, very used and eventually blew up on the side of the A5 near Milton Keynes. I didn't have it for long, but have very fond memories of it, including the time when one of the engine mounting bolts sheared off and the whole engine rotated everytime I put my foot on the accelerator. :rolleyes:

My first car was a 1983 GTI I bought in 1988. Silver with the blue interior. That was my favorite car until the Boxster (mostly because of nostalgia). It was easily the slowest car I owned and probable had the least amount of grip, but it was just so much fun to drive. A lot like how the Boxster is. Both are no nonsense drivers’ car, that can really do it all.
It took me 12 cars, two were Porsches, to find another car that made me feel like the GTI did.
I’ll be driving a Boxster for awhile.

A 198? Chrysler Le Baron Turbo Convertible. Red! It had possibly the world's fastest heater/AC unit. It's where my love-affair with the drop-top began!

Mine was 1972 Chrysler import from French called Simca w/ manual tranny. The name itself was embarrassing to mention to other people who asked what kind of car it was. Anyway, I bought it from my boss who was using it to run errands for his staff. I paid $300 with 40,000 mi. on it. It ran great for a few weeks until the clutch didn't engage. Pushed it all by myself to a nearest mechanic, who told me that the clutch ran on hydraulics and there was a crack in the container which caused all the fluid to leak. By the time I bought this car, Chrysler had already stopped selling this car in just two years! This was its harried answer to the gaining popularity of Toyotas and Hondas at that time. Ford had a Pinto and the Chevy had Vega. Anyway, I could not find parts for this car anywhere. My only [U]search tool at this time ( mid 70's) was a Yellow Pages phone book. So I had to use duct tape around the reservour until the fluids seep out and refilled everyday. Then fuses shortened out without warning and blew out all the lights, so I could only drive it during the day. No radio, no blinkers, no gas gauge....it was a disaster. I had to practically give it away to get rid of it. Anyway, that experience convinced me not to get another French made car, ever! :barf:

My first car was a 1981 Nissan 280ZX Turbo. It was not in the best condition, but I really loved that car. It had a 140k on it when I got it and was showing its age. I am still amazed at all of the equipment it had even by today's standards - leather, t-tops, climate control, allum. wheels. Unfortunately I did not have the funds to keep up with the repairs at the time and it could have used some body work and new paint. 15 years later, I consider my recent purchase of a Boxster as the first real replacement for my beloved Z.

Love reading this thread. Mine was a '60 VW bug that had been totaled in '70 and my dad's customer gave it to us. I rebuilt a motor for it. I forget the displacement but remember it had a whopping 36bhp!!! Those were air cooled flat fours with push rods back then. They were easy to push start. Even with a date sitting inside. lol

Anybody recall the scene in "Sleeper" when Woody Allen finds a 200 year old VW in a cave??

My first car was a 67 Austin Mini, British Racing Green. Paid $500 for it in 70. My dad though I was nuts. Chevy guy. Learned to drive a stick after picking it up. Kept it two years. A mechanical and electrical mess but lots of fun and many great memories. Moved on to VW bugs... 66, 71, and 76. Easier to fix and swop motors.

My first car was a 1973 Chevy Nova that I inherited from my Mom. Next was a 1976 Olds Cutlass 442 (not the real ones with the power, this was in the middle of the emissions learning curve, the 350 only made about 145 HP). Although this was my car I didn't buy it (Graduation gift for choosing a state school (Rutgers) rather than Princeton or Wake Forest, saved Dad a ton of $$$$ so the least he could do was buy me a car ;) )

The first car I actually bought and paid for myself was a 1979 VW Scirocco. After the lowering, Koni's, Widened rims, Goodyear Wingfoots, "secret" sway bars and body stiffening, "enhanced" fuel injection, headers, Ansa exhaust, shaved heads and degreed cams it was a terror at the local autocross. I was beating "prepared" 911's brought in on trailers :D Hard to believe that was over 25 years ago...... :eek:

First car.....2001 Porsche Boxster bought in September of 2001. :D

My first car was a Fiat 128. It was so boxy, people would say they didn't know if I was coming or going! Very underpowered. I put a great sound system in it!

I swapped with a friend for a semester in college. He took it to school down south in Mississippi. I went to school at Illinois. One day he told me it was stolen. Till this day, I think he lied to me, sold the car, and bought an engagement ring for his girlfriend.

I was fully insured, so it all worked out in the end. The friendship was not so lucky!

Here she is, a garnet 1984 Chrysler Laser Turbo. My wife says I wanted it because it looked like the 928 I lusted for, but could not afford at 17 years old. I had saved for a car from 6 years old when my parents said they would split the cost of my first car with me. The summer after I graduated high school my dad asked me what car I had my eye on. It showed up in the driveway the week before I was off to college along with an empty savings account. In the end, it held up for 107K miles and put our first daughter to sleep in the car seat many times.

from my faded memory . . . .

it was a 1972 VW "SuperBeetle" -- iirc, the difference between it and a bug were the rims, the chassis length, the engine size, and the "Formula Vee" stripes (lol).

it was passed down to me when i turned 16 in, errrrr, 1982. power was absolutely negligible, so i revved that thing like there was no tomorrow before upshifting (no tach to know exactly where that was). it had about 100k on it. i went through 2 clutches in 4 years, much to the distress of my dad. turns out i was sitting too far from the pedal -- i moved in closer on my next car and took it to 100k w/o a clutch issue.

anyway, this car (and my dad) taught me to drive a stick, how to change a car's oil, and how to score beer. :cheers: it got the job done until i got my second car in 1986, a vw scirocco. here's to you, orange bug!

http://homepage.mac.com/brettduxbury..._4_-_31-56.jpg

http://homepage.mac.com/brettduxbury..._4_-_22-55.jpg

1958 Jaguar XK150 "Fixed Head" (hardtop) Coupe. It had been an SCCA race car and had a straight pipe exhaust, no muffler whatsoever. Unbelievably loud. Had to sell it when I was drafted six months later. I was hung up on Jags for many years thereafter. Fortunately I have since recovered.

Triumph TR3
 

Mine was a 1960 TR3 red with black interior....purchased in 1963 for $800....then a 1964 VW after I totaled the TR. 1967 I bought a new sprite then got another TR3 then a 1967 MGB GT.....then I decided that I wanted to drive my car for more than 2 days without fixing it and since I had gotten married and my wife and child enjoyed eating and shelter I bought a more sensible car to go to work. I haven't been the same since that woeful day...that is until last month when I bought my 2004 Boxster.

Sorry...long
 

My first Car was a 1939 Ford V8 2-door Coupe. An older guy, named Joe McConnel lived down the Block and was a real Motorhead. I didn't have an older brother, and so Joe was a great substitute. Much of what I learned about Cars I learned from Joe. I'd hang out at his garage, cleaning Parts and handing him Wrenches, etc.

Anyway, when I had just turned 13 (1967), Joe acquired this '39 Ford. We spent most of that summer trying to get it to run. We timed the Valves, replaced the Plugs, Rebuilt the Carb, replaced the Starter, Battery and Generator. But, whatever we did, we could not get the thing to run.

In August, Joe got his Induction Notice to report to Marine Basic Training in 30 days at MCRD - Parris Island. I asked Joe what he was going to do with the Ford and he replied "Probably Junk it, I can't figure out what's wrong..."

I pleaded with Joe to let me have the Car. He finally agreed so long as I has my Father's approval.

That night at Dinner, I told my Dad all about it. He said, you're too young to even drive, what would you do with it. I told him that I'd take it apart, fix it up for the day when I could drive and then he wouldn't need to get me a Car.

Now, it didn't hurt that my Dad's first Car was also a '39 Ford, that and I had promised to Cut the Lawn, Shovel the Snow, Paint the House FOREVER! if I could have this Car.

So, after Dinner, down the Alley we both went to meet Joe at his Garage. My Father took one look at the Car and I knew I was IN. But he asked all the Fatherly questions, making Joe assure him that the Car was unrunnable. After a little chat, we pushed the Car up the Alley to our Garage.

Daily, right after school, I'd tear out to the Garage, hook the 6-volt Battery up from the charger and sit and listen to the Radio with all my friends. Obviously, owning my own Car at 13 raised my status considerably!

I had replaced the 3-On-The-Tree with a Floor Mounted Shifter from Hurst (quite an engineering feat for a 13 year old), when I removed the distributor and noticed that it didn't have a Condensor, they probably made them that way I thought.

Anyway, the next day, I ran down to the Corner Gas Station (remember those..??) on my Bike with the Gas Can to gas up the Mower to do the lawn (to keep up my promises). The Owner came out and I casually asked if Cars from the '30's had condensers. He replied " Of Course, every Car has to have one". So I asked where I could get one. He disappeared inside the Shop and came back out with a Condenser for a '46 Ford which he gave to me and said might work.

I dashed home and cut the Grass in Record Time. Ran to the Garage, installed the condenser and refitted the distributor and, holding my breath, turned the key and stepped on the Starter Button--- Vrooooom..... :)

Then it hit me, I was only allowed the Car so long as it didn't run. I'd have to keep my little Triumph to myself for the time being.

Anyway, After School took on a whole new meaning for me and my friends. We had a Private Alley, which meant that the DMV Rules did not apply. I could legally drive it's 1 block length.

My buddies and I would get in the Car and run down to the end of the Alley. It was too narrow to turn around, so I had to put the Car in reverse and Back Up the length of the Alley and repeat the process, which we did endlessly. The first 1,000 mi. put on the Car by me were split 50/50 between Forward and Reverse.

Then, one day, my buddies and I were on our usual Down and Back runs. When I got to the end of the Alley, I put in the clutch, shifted into Reverse and swung around to look behind me. The entire rear window was filled with the image of my Father... :eek:

Anyway, I surrendered the Keys which I was only able to get when I was working on the Car. But, in the next two years, I installed new Brakes, Radiator, Shocks, a Thrush GlassPac Muffler and stripped the Body and painted it a couple different shades of Primer Gray.

On my 16th B'day, my Father took me to the License Bureau where I passed my Driver's Test with a 99 :)

I ran the rims off that old Ford. Added an Edelbrock High-Rise Manifold and the biggest Holley Carb I could find. Maybe the best addition was a Bumper Sticker which read "Don't Laugh Lady... Your Daughter may be in this Car!"

Unfortunately, Joe never returned from Vietnam to see this thing running. He was killed in a Mortar Attack at Da Nang where he was stationed. But, I'll remember Him and that Car for the rest of my Life!...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

PREPARE TO BE AMAZED!!

Presenting the 1985 Toyota van - no name, just van.

Dad bought it in Dallas, brought it to Europe where my dad was stationed while I was in high school, ended up in Virginia where I inherited it and I finally had to give it up after 225,000 miles when it started leaking exhaust into the passenger area and wouldn't pass emissions.

I really miss that van - during college I took out the seats and had a full size couch in the back! ohh the days....

I still remember the time my dad was driving it on the autobahn and pulled out into the fast lane in the way of some guy driving a fast BMW. They had to hit the brakes and as they passed later all in the backseat gave us the finger so we all saluted them back! hah

One one awesome feature we never really used.. it had a fridge and icemaker in it and two sunroofs! wow.

oh and the Dutch neighbors (living in Holland) called it a bus because it was so big.. looks like a star trek shuttle craft - got lots of stares back in the day.

Great Stuff!

My first car was a '50 Chevy 3 window pickup. My dad bought it for $500.00 and spent the next 5 years restoring it. Every Father's Day or other celebration we would pitch in to get another part to help finish the truck. By the time it was done it was light grey with a burgandy pin-stripe. The interior was in a burgandy hounds-tooth with a Sony tape deck and speakers in the doors. He did a fantastic job integrating everything and it really looked original. No hop-ups for this truck! It'd do about 60 MPH if you were going down hill. Of course, the air wipers were a trip. I remember constantly finding 50 year old men standing outside my truck trying to get a better view. They just don't make trucks like that any more! Wish I sill had it. I probably look for one every other month or so. Good times, Good times.

My next car was a '72 Opel GT. Fun little car, lot's of issues. And YES Brucelee, I drove that one in the snow too! My dad still has that Opel in the garage and has been tinkering with it for the last 15 years or so...