@Kyser_Soze I hung on to mine too thinking they might be worth lots but turns out $1-2 apiece since they were all 'well loved' and 'well used' and crashed into too many things ;)
1974 VW Camper. Orange with an orange and brown plaid interior. Bought it in 1992 for some amount of money. Sold it 2 or so years later for a lot less than I bought it for. Loved that thing. Looked like this:
@Bingo I owned a 74 VW orange camper, too! It wasn't my first vehicle, but I sure loved owning it. Was great for camping when I lived in Colorado. I kept mine for 10 years and sold it for three thousand more than I paid for it. I wish I had kept it.
@barnabee@Bingo I had one too. Painted it blue, carpeted it, added curtains, and drove it around the country for 3 months. Then the engine blew and I sold it because I had no money for repairs.
@pooflady My best friend in high school owned one except hers was a hardtop. That thing was built like a tank. I think that's why her parents bought it for her.
@pooflady Any image you link has to end in .jpg or .gif. The one in yours has that ?rev-1 at the end. You'd just want to delete everything after the .jpg and it'll show
@pooflady@Bingo That pic name was kinda weird, though. I tried that first and it didn't work. Maybe because of the "@" in the file name? I just uploaded it to Imgur to post back here. Nice ride!
@pooflady There is a hardtop that is otherwise identical just down the block from my friends' house in L.A. where I'm currently visiting. I'll try to take a picture of it tomorrow.
@pooflady In high school, my buddy had one of these with the radio antennae cable loose inside. If I put my thumb on it, it would tune in stations, but didn't work with anybody else's thumb! I NEVER had to call shotgun (front passenger seat)! A year or 2 later, he was diagnosed with epilepsy and hasn't driven since.
@pooflady For a 19 year old single female, this was fantastic. It was only a few years old and had been well taken care of. I tried, except for driving to work on beautiful days with the top down and I'd leave it down. Then happen to notice that it was pouring, run to the parking lot, raise the top, probably 50 gallons of water pouring into the back seat. Did that a couple of times.
1986 Chevy Cavalier black RS model. Drove it to past 200k miles when the rear engine seal gave out and you had to add a quart of oil to drive it to a store. Sat parked for over a year before I decided to just scrap it( had body damage from the only wreck I ever had ). When the junk yard came to get it they put a battery in it, it started up and they drove it on the hauler.
In 2003 I got a 1997 Buick Lesabre Custom with 49k miles on it. Drove it to about 150k miles, and the transmission went out. Scrapped it a couple years after that. Looked like this except I didn't have alloy wheels.
That car got me hooked on driving "old man cars." I drive a '04 Mercury Grand Marquis now. Smooth riding and much more reliable than the Buick ever was. I enjoy a performance car from time to time, they're fun. But the comfort and space in the big cars is hard to beat.
1983 Datsun 280ZX. Don't have a digital photo of my car so I grabbed one off Google. Brandy-spanking new. Was my 16th birthday gift. Yeah, I was a spoiled Daddy's girl. I loved, loved, loved that car. Stupid me, sold it when I had 80k miles on it. :::sigh::: Burgundy mist metallic, 4 seater, no t-roofs (Dad said no), automatic because I didn't know how to drive a stick and didn't want to learn at that time. Car was special ordered when I was 15, before I even knew how to drive.
@bluedog My dad had an 80's 280Z in silver, much like that one. Since my parents were divorced, he would trade cars with her so we all could go on road trips in her van. Then one trip, we got back and found his car totalled. Her boyfriend ran it into a telephone pole. He still talks about that car.
@bluedog my dad also had a 280 zx turbo. Silver with black trim. My mother purchased it when. He was in a business trip. He had it from the early 80's until 91 when the floor rusted out from the salt and winter conditioned roads of PA
1989 Ford Mustang LX. White. Not the 5.0 model.... Example pictured below.
I once got it into an accident while driving to Driving School... And my dad got into a fender bender when driving us to the airport for a college visit.... I did enjoy that car, except in cold weather. Because of the amount of accidents, as a graduation gift, he upgraded me to a 1994 Mustang... He was a partner at a dealership once, hence why vehicles were so readily available to me. However, while I was away at college (Freshmen weren't allowed cars), he stored it at the dealership.... And it was stolen off the lot.
Fast forward to today, I drive a 2014 Ford Fusion Hybrid... Times do change.
My first car was a 1966 VW (Green) Bug. Bought it new. Driving it was such a kick except for freezing my butt off during the winter. Old Bugs had lousy heaters.
@barnabee I had a Fastback, often had to open the window in winter so my breath didn't freeze on the inside of the windshield, where the defrosters weren't defrosting. Fun car though.
@KDemo Uh, interesting name for a park and and a car. I kept my bug for 20 years. I never named her (I knew it was a "her"), but the last couple of years that I owned her, I called her Shasta. "She hasta have this and she hasta have that."
@barnabee My first car was a '58 black & white checkered flag bug. Ironic since it would never win a race! No heater, I use to joke it had AC in the winter and a heater in the summer. Too small for any hanky panky, so I sold it and got a '65 Chrysler 300 with a 413 & 4 barrel carb, what a difference!
'72(?) Ford Maverick. Bought damaged in 1982-3 for $75 from my friend's mom. Crumpled rear panel and probable frame damage (front end tended to lift at 55-60mph), but was great for high school and jobs.
Hideous tan Saab which required pouring a little can of oil into the gas each time you filled up. Which would cause attendants to run out shouting. Bought used in 1972 with wedding money. Actually it was a super car. High point for me was replacing exhaust system (and I was a girl). Such satisfaction.
@smoo99 My first car was a much later Saab ('89 900, 4-stroke, obviously!) but if I ever decide to restore a car, I think I'd like it to be an old two-stroke Sonnet.
@smoo99 2-stroke, so it had to have a freewheel flywheel; otherwise the engine would've died from a lack of oil. It's probably memorable because it was unique.
@brhfl Did third gear eventually go out? I was looking at used Saab 900’s in 2001 and discovered that the transmission couldn’t handle torque generated by the the engine and it was a matter of when, not if, the transmission went out.
1982 Buick Skyhawk bought in 1985 when I turned 16. Hunk of crap, but I was one of the few among my friends that had a car. To them it was a Rolls. Currently driving a Subaru Tribeca, though it's nearing time for something new.
1979 Volvo 245. Rust-red ex-Massachusetts car with a mismatched hood bought in 1998 for $350. I figured anyone driving a 19-year old car across the country ought to be mechanically good at least, which was mostly true. I learned a lot of DIY repairs and put 35k miles in a little over a year, a good bit which was compensated by work at the IRS standard mileage rate ($$).
Alas, one night coming back from a friend's party, another driver ran a red light at 40mph when we hit corner-to-corner. I spun a 180 through the middle of the intersection ... the front end was 24" shorter and bent out 18" to the right. Scariest part was the other party's Civic - she had her 7-year old in the front passenger seat, of which only a third of it remained. The car was crushed all the way to the C-pillar. Both were taken away in an ambulance.
Me ... I opened the door and walked out. Extremely shaken and bruised from the seat belt, but fine otherwise.
@narfcake Wow. My first Civic was broadsided by a red light runner back in the 90s. Bent it into a mild U and jammed the passenger door shut, but despite being declared totalled it still drove fine. Unlike the brand new BMW that had run the light at 40+ and hit us without braking because she was yakking on her cell phone (back when they were rare) and never even saw us. Lifted my car right off the road, flung it around 180 degrees onto the sidewalk, where it was pure luck there was no one hit, as it was downtown and lunch hour. Totalled her car, too, and it had to be towed away. No one was seriously injured, although my passenger got a concussion from his head hitting the side window. The cop was impressed that my little hatchback had taken such a whack from a car twice its size and still managed to protect its passengers, which is exactly why I still drive a (newer) Civic.
1983 toyota tercel wagon that no longer passed inspection in PA (I lived OH) due to body rust and my relatives gave it to me. I was sort of afraid that if I got in a wreck all that would be left was a pile of rust dust on the road. Finally sold it for what I had in it (A/C was broken - burned out compressor - and I was moving to OK and figured that it would be easier to sell it up north with no AC than down south ) and replaced it with an 80 or so (no longer remember) toyota pick up truck that also was a rust bucket with huge holes in the bed however at least it had working AC). Now I am driving a 1990 minivan (aka the ghetto van) that was bought new which, although I think I have rebuilt that motor one part at a time, has more or less reached the end of its useful life…(really hard to get some parts too - had to buy an entire steering column for 100 bucks from the junk yard to get a couple of plastic clips off it. Can't find an AC compressor for it nor belt guides).
@Kidsandliz I drove my first Honda, the first car I'd ever bought new, for 15 years. It finally started failing Texas emissions inspections, so even though it still ran great and got about 30mpg I had to get rid of it. I sold it in NM (no emissions inspection) for 1/4th what I had paid for it new.
Mine was an '86 SAAB 900 turbo. Mother bought it new and passed it on to me when I got my license. I drove and coddled my lovely Swedish baby boy for twelve glorious years. Until one tragic morning, when the temperature gauge decided to die at the same time as the engine chose to overheat for whatever component failure reasons. I had been driving my usual joyous, speeding manner on the expressway, unaware that anything was amiss, 'til horrible screams and flumes of steam suddenly began spewing from under the hood. By the time I was able to safely pull over and run away from the boiling, smoking mess, my poor baby's engine fused a bunch of itself together. It would have taken at least $3k for the SAAB specialist to fix him up, an expense I just could not justify, no matter how much I agonized over it. So I sold my baby boy for $500 in scrap. I bought myself a Toyota Matrix for replacement, which is responsible and reliable and I love having a hatchback, but this new guy is a slow, rumbly, bumpy lumpkin of safety compared to the jet-edge speedy sleekness of my dead Swede. I miss that car so. Last picture I took of my SAAB, as I waited for the scrap truck to come fetch him (as I waited, I pried out the SAAB symbol from the center of the steering wheel; I bored a hole through the plastic at the top and now it hangs as a memorial ornament from the chandelier in my bedroom):
@goldenthorn My first was an '89 900. Every time it went into the shop, it was because of some such cooling problem. Last straw was when it overheated for me on the interstate on Thanksgiving day. Great, fun car, but... it was time to move on.
@brhfl Oh yeah, much as I mythologize and wax overeffusive for my car, I fully admit that it is a massive relief to drive a vehicle where I don't have to get all sweaty and panicky any time I hit even the least little bit of traffic. The SAAB was amazing but holy hells was it stressful to drive during rush hours! After I bought the Toyota Matrix, it took me a good three-four months before I could relax and ignore the temperature gauge completely when driving. It's now been two and a half years yet I still occasionally get that fluttery panic surge in the back of my mind when I encounter bumper-to-bumper traffic. Daaamn do I miss rubber bumpers, though. Never had to stress about parallel parking.
@goldenthorn I still keep the digital computer display thingy in my Pontiac Solstice set full-time to coolant temperature. Haven't quite gotten over the fear!
My lovely '85 Nissan/Datsun Stanza. Cracked axle (I drove like a banshee), and the sunroof only worked if it was above 68 degrees. As soon as it dropped below 68, I was forced to pull out the little wrench and manually crank that sucker closed. Above 68 - the switch worked fine. Go figure. I sold it in the summertime on a warm day.
after she totalled it. I took my portion of the money and purchased a 97 Wrangler in Citron Green Pearlcoat (not my picture bc I totalled that one). But since have had a slew of other cars.
I think I may have done the car progression backwards. Started off mostly in a 76 Corvette, and worked (or totaled, or got stolen) my way down through various cars and trucks until 30 years later I'm now driving a 91 Subaru Justy.
@walarney You drove a fun car when you were young and a practical car later. It sounds like you got it right, where most people get it wrong. On the other hand, my first "car" was a used CBR600F2 so what do I know?
@Pamtha Double-sided tape. I've had pretty good luck with the outdoor 20 lb stuff you can get at Lowe's. I think it's Scotch brand. Got to clean everything well, of course.
@jsh139 Me too, sort of. Despite being a "car guy", it's the first manual I've driven for an extended period. I was actually enjoying it, until lately it doesn't idle well and now it's a pain in the ass. (Pedal dance/hand brake at every stop. I used to see cars at stop lights that kept edging forward and assumed they were impatient. Now I wonder if they were just trying to keep their engine from stalling.)
@walarney Yeah, that's a habit I got into with my first Pinto that had a stall problem, and 35 years later I still tend to balance the gas and clutch and creep at lights.
@walarney@moondrake Huh, I used to get annoyed at cars that wouldn't close up the gap at stoplights until I got my manual. Now if it's uphill, unless the gap becomes ridiculous I'm definitely not moving until we're really going. No point putting it in gear to move a foot.
90' Dodge Dakota here, got it for $1 as a hand me down from my parents with 60k. Put nearly another 40k on it until it died a sad death just shy of rolling the odometer. I loved it at school, everyone would be hey can I borrow your truck?....It's a stick shift without power steering but sure...uh oh never mind...thought so. Workout every time you parked it.
Got rear ended by a delivery truck doing 40 "The sun was in his eyes" while turning onto my side street. Spun me around 180 degrees and the remains of my tailgate ended up resting against the bumper of a poor old lady waiting to pull out. Scared the crap out of her so bad her son had to come drive her home. It drove my bed 3 inches into the back of the cab so it was an instant total.
1) Corvair oil burner red--made it through through 2 years of college commuting. 2) Then a lavender 2-dr. Impala with black interior, bucket seats and standard trans. with shifter between the seats. 3) College grad. gift to myself--new '69 Z-28, 4-speed, 302, beautiful caribean blue with the wide white stripes and airfoil. Needed u-joint replaced after aggressive take-offs. Avoided every threat of a ticket by playing girl-dumb, that I was using boyfriend's car to do the shopping. That car would be worth a lot if I still had it in original condition (boo-hoo).
Green '72 Nova, 307 V8. Very plain jane, maybe plainer than the photo. I was not a motor head. I bought it from my step-mom. I got it ca 1980, at the age of 16. But it wasn't a horrible car, had some pickup. Fun to drive.
@joelmw I had a 74 with 350/AT bought for $400 somewhere around mid 1980s. Came with air shocks installed. Previous owner removed the air conditioning. To change from summer to winter mode, I had to remove the home-made cardboard/fiberglass cover over the heater core on the engine side of the firewall and move the mixer flap. Inerior was trashed when I got it, but replaced with junkyard find. (Junkyards were full of these and clones back then.)
@walarney That's way beyond me. But that was the one car that for the whole time I owned it, I did every oil change and tuneup. Seems like it was easier back then.
@joelmw Almost every car was easier to work on back then. Nowadays, one seems to have to be a contortionist with small hands to work in the engine bay of many cars - if it's even possible at all.
@narfcake And even if the locations are easy to get to, lots of these newer cars have one-purpose "special tools" that you have to purchase just to loosen/tighten something. It's annoying.
@jsh139 Actually, I've noticed newer new cars are getting easier to work on. I had to clean an oil pump screen on a 2008 Mitsubishi, and it was a piece of cake to pull the oil pan. Can't say that for many older cars.
@joelmw I’ve owned two 1972 Chevy Novas, both with the straight six engine.
The first one was a ‘one owner car’ literally from an old lady who didn’t drive anymore. I got in '84 for my wife & it lasted forever. That one we put over 90,000 mi on & finally sold it for more than we paid for it. All it needed occasionally was new points & cap and oil changes.
The second one was trouble. It had been owned by Mickey Mouse & the idiot had kludged together lots of patches & problems instead of repairing it correctly. I should have ran from it when I saw zip cord in the engine compartment… oh well… I did move the ‘three on the tree’ to a ‘three on the floor’!
Both of them did have slightly leaking back windows (wet trunk).
1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee in 2005. It only had 2 wheel drive, which wasn't an issue when I got it in Texas, but when I moved to Colorado people would never believe me. "Jeep doesn't MAKE 2 wheel drive cars. Why would they?!" they would say. Then I would show them the sandbags I had in my trunk to prevent sliding on ice.
My first car was a 1979 Chrysler Cordoba hand-me-down from my parents. That thing was a boat. The first car I bought for myself was a 1984 Pontiac Fiero. Loved that car.
1971 Dodge Challenger, not an R/T, just a 318 2-barrel, $300 in 1980 with a failed transmission and a Las Vegas sun-damaged interior. Got the trans replaced, and started tweaking and upgrading. I drove it for years until a rear core plug failed (between the engine block and trans), couldn't afford to fix it and had nowhere to work on it. It stayed stored with relatives for years, and now consumes my garage as a restification project. Someday I'll be able to drive it again. I love that car!
Sorry, no digital pics from when it was running, and its in pieces now...
1987 Toyota R22 Extra Cab Pickup 4WD This is not my truck, but it's what my truck would have looked like with better tires and paint! My build was an in between year and parts were a pain in the ass to get right. There were 3 different starters for that year, and it was a weird cross of a throttle body, just before fuel injection.
That truck never got stuck, never left me stranded, and even towed a few heavier/nicer trucks out of the mud. Granted, I kept parts with me and changed a few things out on the side of the road, but always made it home!
1977 Chevy Monte Carlo. Man, I loved that car so much. It got totaled parked out in front of my house one night, some guy plowed into it so hard the whole back end got lifted over the guard rail. Bent the frame beyond repair. I was broken hearted.
A rose-colored 1995 Pontiac Sunfire coupe bought used after I'd graduated from college. I named her Maggie. I had her just a few months shy of 10 years. Now I have a blue 2005 Sunfire. 4+ years into this car, and it still remains nameless.
2013 Honda CR-V (which is also my current car). It does most of the things I need it to, though I would prefer if there weren't also three other people at my apartment complex and four at my office that also have gray 2013 CR-Vs.
@aarmea That's one of the main reasons I shied away from the CR-V. I hate having a common car. I love the fact that there are few Tribecas on the road. I'm planning on buying a CX-5 when the '16 comes out, though I'm seeing tons of them on the road now.
Datsun 1200. No idea what year it was. Bought it from my sister in 1980 for $500. It was a 4 cylinder car that often ran on just 2. I got very good at cleaning spark plugs.
Like @barnabee, my first car was a 1966 bug, but mine was beige. My parents bought it new when I was three. It was the last new car they bought for about 25 years. I have a distinct memory of the salesman showing them how to put it into reverse. When I was 12, my dad would let me work the stick shift from the passenger's seat. When I was 13 he'd sometimes bring me out to Industrial Park in South San Francisco and let me drive it around. It became mine on my 16th birthday. It survived a couple stupid kid driver accidents (I had to do the repairs myself) and finally, around 1985, a piston rod broke and poked a hole in the block. Luckily, my dad was driving it at the time so I didn't get blamed.
I bought a 1963 Plymouth Valiant ex-Army staff car (white top on OD green!) from a friend for 50 bucks. My dad had to drive it against a tree to re-bend the largish chrome bumper back in on the driver's side, and I had to rewire the turn signals. I drove it around town until my tags came in. When I drove down to the county seat 12 miles away to get the tags, I was so proud to be driving above 35 mph...then I heard a "BANG-BANG!" under the car and then I had no power. I pulled over into the median and park it, and then walk back to pick up my drive shaft, which looked like a used giant toothpick, and a few feet further one on my U-joints. My dad called his wrecker-friend who towed it back to his shop, repaired it and only charged me 70 bucks! Shortly thereafter I left for Navy boot camp and my dad sold it for me after I was stationed in Florida.
I grew up in London. My first car at age 16 was a 1946 MG TC. Oh Lord.......the memories are flooding back. Good times. Great thread whoever thought of it.
A black 1997 BMW Z3 Roadster that had 89k miles on it (not complaining, just saying it wasn't brand new). Loved that car, but totaled it when I was a teenager. Lost tire pressure and was riding on rim. I must have over-corrected because the car swerved into oncoming traffic. Luckily, the driver on the other side was a good driver and avoided a head on with me. I clipped him and spun in a 360, breaking the drivers side window with my face. Thankfully the other driver was okay, and myself as well minus a nice scar across my forehead. Now I'm a very serious and careful driver.
Although from my name you may think it was a 1972 Chevelle, but that was my second car (which I still own). First car was a 1974 Ford Pinto, neon blue, with fur on the dash. Used a quart of oil for every tank of gas. It never left me sitting, as long as I carried a case of 10W40 in the trunk. I bought it for $500 in 1983 and sold it two years later for $600.
@hot72chev My second car was an avocado green '74 Pinto. My dad bought it for me after the '66 bug threw a rod. I often wonder why he wanted to see me dead so badly. I will say this for that car: it had the most comfortable seat of any car I've ever owned.
'61 Chevy Impala. Ran great until the transmission broke on a Sunday as I was driving back to western South Carolina from eastern South Carolina. Back in those days in SC, NOTHING was open on Sundays, and I wound up driving a couple hundred miles in second gear to get home. Sold the car to my mechanic and moved on.
I've owned a bunch of nice cars throughout the years, but my first was a 1983 Dodge Aries K-Car sedan. Bought it from my grandmother in 1992 for $600. Sold it a couple years later for $650. Burned oil like a champ, but got me and my friends to school every day and to the mall on weekends.
@jsh139 That was my second car. 1988 Dodge Aires. Got it for $250 and some major parts had been stripped. Between the junkyard and labor, I had it on the road for $600 or so. Sold it a couple years later for $500. I hated that car because I was broke and I'd go the cheapest route possible on all repairs, which led to more trouble. It's true what they say about how being poor is expensive!
The first car registered/titled in MY name, was my mom's old 1993 Chevy Corsica. White with a Blue Pinstripe, and a blue interior. (not my Pic, borrowed from a google search) but I only had it for a month before my Grandpa Died, and i Got His Car, 1987 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Regency Brougham (but in "Drift wood metallic" (Gold) , with a full Vinyl Top, the Chrome Luggage Rack/Spoiler on the trunk, and wire hubcaps) which is what i consider to be my first car.(at which point the corsica went to my Big Sis, who drove it for another 4 years, until replacing t with a minivan)
it seems like i had that car for ever, but in reality it was dec 98- aug 2001. in which time i Put 50k mi on it, and over 10 grand in repairs were put into it. : windshield always leaked, but i could usually keep ahead of that with silicone.(never had it fixed) The timing belt broke, had the belt replaced,($600) the engine was toast anyway.
installed Remanufactured engine Popped a drive band in the transmission not long after. transmission rebuild brakes down to wear tabs, shop also found leaking brake lines and front struts all of which was around $900 the rear air shocks wouldn't hold a charge, I never replaced them. then in the fall of 2000, I took it to the Local Goodyear for a set of Tires. they totaled the car.
tech nailed the Pillar between the bay doors dead center of the hood.(Car had a Second Gas Pedal to the Left of the Brake - grandpa's right leg had been amputated- kid must have thought it was a clutch) cracked the Radiator, Unibody frame damage, etc. they paid for the repair (obviously), and a year later i bought a slightly used Hyundai, and sold the Olds for book value ($2,000) but everything from the a-pillar forward was less than 3 years old, with about 20k mi on it.
edit - Oh, I forgot that it also was stolen while i had it (had to replace the steering Column, and lower dash, and shell out an additional $600 for a replacement stereo. and the Catalytic Converter went out. and i did the only body work i've ever personally done. had some bubble rust on the left quarter-panel under an emblem - sand, fill, prime, paint.
@jsh139 I actually liked the corsica. ours was a 4cyl ( i don't recall what one they had), but it was possibly the best snow car i've ever had. it just wouldn't be stopped by the white stuff. at the same time it had the Worst ABS ive ever seen. instead of quickly pulsing a few times a second when activated - like ABS is supposed to - when it engaged, you just got 3 full pedal slams back to back. BAM! BAM! BAM! to the point once, upon seeing it from the outside, dad accused me of slamming the trans into Park while it was still moving.
@earlyre Mine had the 2.8L V6. Had tons of problems with that car. Coil packs, oil burning, suspension bits, electrical gremlins, squeaks and rattles, even the paint was starting to peel. Eventually it blew the head gasket at around 90,000 miles and I said to hell with it.
1978 Mercedes 300SD: The car was the same age as me and I loved it. The size of a godsdamned tank but the turning radius was about the same as a Miata's. The turbo part of the diesel was a button under the accelerator that was pressed if you floored it; as far as I could tell all it did was release an extra plume of exhaust to obscure your low speed getaway. The previous owner had been a large man and you haven't known luxury until you've sat in an old Mercedes leather seat that was truly broken in. Pneumatic automatic locks that sometimes didn't work in cold weather, and if was really cold I had to pull out a butane torch just to get the key in the driver's side door. The fuel gauge wouldn't go lower than 1/4 tank so one time I was out of town and my sister "borrowed" my car I found out by being stranded in rush hour on a major Atlanta road way. The upside is I learned how to prime a diesel engine. After a replacing the tranny and serious issues with the sunroof it still kept costing the blue book value just to keep it running every year so I had to get rid of it.
My first car that I own, is quite recent. 2013 Nissan Sentra SR Not my photo, but same color, year, and almost same model (missing spoiler and sport seats in the image.)
My parents gave me their old 1987 Cadillac Sedan Deville then later replaced it with their old 1990 Cadillac Sedan Deville. While they were gas guzzlers, they certainly were fun to drive. Especially after I added 12" subwoofers to the trunk in high school.
I learned to drive on a 1931 Ford Model A. It was my Mom's run around town car in the 1960's, and Dad tried to teach me to drive in it in the early 70's. After he pulled it out of the flower bed (he assumed that theoretical knowledge of car fundamentals would automatically translate into perfect driving skills), we ended up going to the parking lot for the local minor league baseball team. It seemed to be the go-to place for a lot of people to learn how to drive, and there was a cop parked right in the middle observing the on-goings. We drove up and asked if it was OK to be there, and he said sure, and offered to switch cars. I regret turning him down.... My first "car" was a KZ400 I bought off of somebody who relocated out of the area without his wife. Yeah, it was sorta a passive abandonment of her and the bike.... First car was a VW squareback with a primitive fuel injection system. That was loads of fun; I got the book "How to Keep Your Volkswagon Alive for the Complete Idiot" to help out on repairs. The next vehicle was a 1980 Toyota truck. The previous owner had purchased it new and put on 116,000 miles in three years, and had run out of a depreciation deduction on it. I had a blast with it; a bit of a wiring issue with the distributor, replaced the generator a couple of times, and the front oil seal was always going out. Had a few rear fender benders in it; nothing is scarier than to be stopped in traffic and watching the car behind you not slowing down. I got the thing up to 300,000 miles before it blew it's head gasket (ironically as I was driving to see a potential replacement). Replaced the head gasket (did the work myself), and sold it to someone for $800 cash. The replacement was a 1989 Toyota truck long bed with 4 wheel drive. The previous owner had made it his first new vehicle purchase, and almost instantly regretted getting the 4 instead of the 6. I bought it with 37,000 miles on it for $8,000, and I still have it with 225,000 miles on it (yes, it's 25 years old; unfortunately California does not have a classic car registration program; instead they make me take it to an intensive smog check place every two years). And it still has the front oil seal problem the 1980 had. Somebody once observed that you don't get rid of Toyotas because they stop working; you get rid of them when you get bored with them. I guess that's true, my current daily use vehicle is a Prius.
My dad paid $500 for a 1973 red Ford Pinto in 1979 for my high school graduation. He was able to get it cheap as their tendency to turn into a fireball and have the doors jam shut when struck from behind at even low speeds was all over the news. Disclaimer: That's not me, but it looks like where I live.
The first car I bought for myself was a 1973 red Frod Mustang with a 352 Cleveland engine in it, also for $500. It had been wrecked and the body was about half Bondo, and the body wasn't attached to the frame so it would slide around in a hilarious and alrming fashion. But that car could go. I ended up with an Escort after that, then I got a Honda and a drop dead gorgeous fully tricked out Eclipse and that was the end of my relationship with American cars.
1990 Gray Honda Accord. I LOVED that car. Got it with about 120k miles, put about 50k on it myself before a lady pulled out it front of me and totaled it :-( Luckily for me there was a cop behind me that saw the whole thing so I didn't get blamed.
I used the insurance money to buy a green 1998 Chevy Blazer, also a fantastic car, and the one I drove the longest. I wish I had another one of these, it was fantastic for hauling medium sized loads.
I got a red 1964 GTO as a graduation present from my parents. Hurst four-speed shifter, electronic ignition, limited slip differential, 4.11 rear end, etc.
Traded it a year later for a blue-charcoal Grand Prix -- 421 cubic inches with the "Bobcat Treatment" from Royal Oak Pontiac in Royal Oak, MI.
Both were great cars when gas was under $0.50/gal.
What diversity in this thread! So many vehicle years represented, and everything from a $50 surplus car to really classy vehicles in inexperienced hands. Too bad I didn't have time to keep up with the thread last month, but still worth reading through for the smiles & stories.
First car - 72 Olds Cutlass 4-Door. Baby shit brown / tan, not the color pictured. Totaled it out on the Interstate in a (very) light rain. No tread left and I spun it three times and took out a Drive-In sign (350 4 barrel and I liked to drive it hard). My parents bought me a 82 Cadillac Cimarron to replace it which I totaled on purpose because, well, it was fucking Cadillac Cimarron (even though it was an almost brand new car at the time and ran great, I couldn't stand it). They put me in a Big Bird yellow 72 Ford LTD 2-Door after that. Thing was a tank and you could get like 10 people in the trunk and sneak them into the Drive-In (yes, the same Drive-In I took the sign out at). Great car and plenty of back seat room - and fast as a bat out of hell for how heavy it was . . . Ended up being impounded for hauling liquor across state lines for consumption by minors. After that I rode the fucking bus until I bought my own.
1985 Dodge Colt that looked like this one. My Dad's plan was to get something that he wouldn't be too upset about if my younger brother or I totaled it (I did not, my brother definitely did two years later).
Now I'm trying to figure out what my daughter's first car will be. My only requirement/challenge beyond safe & economical is that it be a standard. Unfortunately they're not as common in the US now.
@glindagw Even sports cars aren't, now. A lot of top end cars (well out of my price range) are paddles-only now (I blame wannabe F-1 racers). I was disappointed to see the new Golf R (almost in my price range) is not avaialable with a manual on the current pre-orders and hope they'll change that at some point. Now is a good time to direct you to Save the Manuals. Many Subarus are still availble with a manual, although usually not at the top trim level, so you're outta luck if you want leather seats and a manual transmission (unless you go for a WRX, but that doesn't strike me as a good first car for a teen).
@jqubed No, not giving her a WRX, that seems like a recipe for disaster. She's already pushing for a Subaru (that's what I drive) but they hold their value. If she's lucky we'll find one for her. I want to make sure that she can drive anything later on in life without any hesitation. I don't want her stuck at the crag or unable to drive overseas.
@glindagw I took my driver's test in a Colt. The lack of power steering made for a lot of fun through the serpentine portion of the test. My hands were flying back and forth, the tester told me to speed up. I looked at the speedo and I was doing 30 mph. You were supposed to do 15. I aced every damn part of the test and the asshole failed me for 'going too slow through the serpentine portion.' He was obviously intent on failing me regardless of how I had done. I took it again, drove the exact same way with a different instructor and passed.
My first car was a 1996 Volvo 850 wagon (similar to this but with no spoiler, and I'm pretty sure the wheels were different). It was my parents' car but I drove it through high school and a little after, and it was a good car for me. The first car I bought was a 2002 Volvo V70 XC which I bought from my parents (we were Volvo people for a while). That Swedish car with All Wheel Drive was great for getting to my job at the TV station when it was snowing. It looked a lot like this, but again, the wheels were different. The first car I bought by myself was a 2013 Volkswagen GTI. It's my first manual and I love it. I am still a Volvo boy at heart, though. I'd be very tempted if they ever bring the V40 over here (though it would probably be out of my price range). Or if I could ever afford a V60 Polestar, I'd totally go for it.
@duodec Gorgeous car, so different from the turbo bricks of more recent decades (though I like those, too, particularly the 90s versions. Part of me wants a T5R).
1964 Volkswagon Beetle It has been sitting motionless in my moms garage for about 16 years. The kicker is there are heapload of new parts populating the interior seats, including new bumpers, door handles, chrome trim, door panels, interior carpet, and I had just finished up a rewire when I parked it. Maybe get back to this project in 30 years when I retire.
This looks exactly like my first car. 96/97 Chevrolet Cavalier LS Sedan, same color even. Paid $4k for it with 60k miles in 2001. Finally sold it last year for $500 with 130k more miles on it and a nagging front axle problem. Super dependable car, got me through half of high school, all of college, and 6 years beyond that.
@lowerone Lol - My mother had an Omni. Yep, two tone brown. Total piece of shit. Her transmission was going and she couldn't drive it in reverse. She had to be sure to pull in places she could drive straight out of. Cleaned it up, took it to the dealership where they took one look at it without driving it and gave her a good price as a trade. She came home with a new Colt (I mentioned above having taken my drivers test in that one). The dealership called her later that day and said, "Did you know your car won't go into reverse?" She told them, "I know YOUR car won't go into reverse." Don't think she ever went back to that dealership...
Mine was a 71 Pinto Runabout. My dad bought it for me for a hundred bucks when I was got my license in 1986. It needed new carpet bad, so we made our own molded in place carpet by installing some light tan house carpet, we lined the inside of the car with water bed liners and filled it to the dash with water! It looked great. Two years later my father would die. Even though it was a just a Pinto. I loved that car and the memories of my father it brings me.
A 1966 Chrysler New Yorker wagon. Bigger than some apartments. I was in LA working for a rock band and I swear I could put enough PA equipment in there for a stadium and still sit six people. Drove like a ocean liner full or empty.
@BlarneyRubble Freaking awesome. Beautiful wagon, would have been proud to own it. Might have had to station lookouts in the back to change lanes though.
A maroon 1977 Plymouth Volare with a cream trim around the back window. That thing could fly! Is maroon close to purple, @Barney? I bought all of my cars myself, but I was "asked" to give my brown 1970 Dodge Dart to my grandfather.
@duodec@cleverogre Oh hell I still do that ALL the time, left foot just starts to go and then I remember it is on the stalk! I also remember using the starter button on the floor of Grandpa's truck (choke and throttle were on the dash) and in one of the farm trucks we had there was a plastic bladder on the floor that you'd step down and and prime and pump the windshield washer fluid with. The salt on the roads in winter really ate up those switches, had to get them replaced often . . . I think that some trucks still had the floor mounted "dip" switches through the very early 90's. They were gone in most any car I drove made after the late 70's or the early 80's.
@cleverogre That is where the high beam switch belongs; the overburdened overloaded fragile turn signal switches on newer cars that cost hundreds of dollars are really crappy...
@jqubed Back in the old days cars did not use relays (a relay in this sense being a device that uses a small amount of electrical current to switch a larger current - by using a relay you can use a smaller lighter switch with smaller wires to control a large current). So the high-beam switch had to have wiring to and from it that was capable of handling the fairly large current going to the high beams. Also the switch contacts had to be large enough to handle the load. So going back to the days of old, it was easy to put in a foot operated switch that was: 1) large enough to handle the current, 2) easy to route large wires to, 3) reliable and long lasting, and 4) cheap to manufacture. It was the influence of European cars that caused the change. By the sixties most if not all European cars had stalk mounted high beams. During the foreign car boom of the sixties (which was mostly European) the new (to the US) stalk mounted control made the foot switch look old fashioned. Needless to say Detroit did not want to look old fashioned, so they started to convert American cars to the latest style. Now, no more foot dimmer. Bummer.
@Pavlov The way I heard it, in Europe the use of high beams as 'passing lights' was common; you would flash your high beams to let the car(s) in front of you know you were overtaking and passing them. I don't recall that being common here; it wasn't taught in our high school drivers ed courses either. But if you are flicking the high beams on and off as opposed to just turning them on, then off again only when oncoming traffic or other event made it necessary, the stalk with both momentary and fixed on positions is easier to use. Amen on relays too; when I put a set of H4 halogen Carellos on my '71 Challenger (sans relays) they drew enough current when the high beams were on to trip the self-resetting breaker in the actual headlight switch . They would run for a moment, the turn off for 20 seconds or so, then back on... I had to put a relay kit in to stop that (and it had the added benefit of driving the headlights at alternator voltage instead of about 11.8 volts due to all the resistance in the harness.
@duodec Flash your bright lights to pass or have a car move out of the fast lane in a lot of cities in the US and you're liable to catch a bullet. Yes, the flashing of the bright lights is very common in Europe (especially to pass), never really gave much thought to why they stalk mounted the switch, but makes perfect sense.
@Pavlov@duodec My Volkswagen's high beam switch is designed to make it easy to flash them; I think the manual even said that was the purpose of the design. That makes a lot more sense if it's a normal part of passing in Europe. The only other reason I know of to flash the high beams besides those already listed is to warn drivers of a speed trap ahead, but that's often illegal. As for getting drivers to move out of the left lane, discovering that passing on the right is legal in my state ranks as one of my favorite days in 2013, and I got a job that year after being out of work for 8 months.
@jqubed Read this in the Washington Post a week or so ago - Flashing headlights to warn oncoming drivers that the police are waiting to catch speeders is protected by the First Amendment. So held a federal trial judge in Monday’s Elli v. City of Ellisville (E.D. Mo. Feb. 3, 2014), and he wasn't the first — see, for instance, this Florida trial court ruling, as well as State v. Walker, No. I-9507-03625 (Williamson Cty. (Tenn.) Cir. Ct. Nov. 13, 2003).
So flashing your lights is apparently protected speech, at least in that Federal District.
As for passing on the right, legal or not, I do it all the time . . . I'm getting old and when I gotta go, I gotta go right now.
If your next topic is "Who was your favorite teacher in school?" I will have verified that this is just an elaborate ruse to break into my yahoo account.
@thismyusername that was exactly my next suggestion for a forum topic. then "which pet is your favorite?", and "does your father have a weird middle name?".
My first car was a 1990 Dodge Shadow (bought in around 2001). It had a reconstructed title, and was left at a mechanic because they couldn't afford the $550 they owed him for the new heater core and a few other fixes.. The previous owner authorized the mechanic to sell it to me for the amount owed, and I got about 3 years out of the car before I busted the power steering lines on a rock and sold it as-is for $50.
I was in school for computer programming at the time, and I had my uncle paint Tux, the linux penguin, on the hood. It definitely made the piece of crap car stand out in a crowd! haha
Wish I could afford to own one. It'd make me have to rely less on others to take me to the grocery store and my many doctor's appointments. Have never owned an automobile.
First mode of transportation:
'69 Suzuki 90 with split trans. 4 speeds trail, 4 speeds street.
Drove it to school & on trails almost every day. It was a blast. My parents helped me buy it.
Then, I got a great deal on an '69 Opal Kadett Rallye & drove that to school.
Then, I bought a '64 Chevy Impala with a small block & 4-speed
Then, I got a '70 Chevy van. I moved a lot & just needed a van. It had a few parties in it also… Small block 307 with 3-on-the-tree. Put over 100,000 on that one…
That covers the first 7 years…
@f00l I want those vehicles back too!! I’d really love that. sigh…
Even that little Suzuki would be fun for the grandkids to rip around our property.
The Opal was such a blast to drive. A German quality car, it never had ANY problems & was pretty fast.
The Impala was so much fun with that 327. I think it had the AM/FM radio option. I wasn’t afraid to push the gas pedal down occasionally.
The Chevy van was wearing out. The engine would have lasted forever, but the body was wearing out.
I’ve owned so many cars & trucks since…
@daveinwarsh My first car was a '68 Opel (non Rallye). I loved that little car, but I found out that they do not do well in a crash with a '61 DeSoto.
On the good side, the concussion that I received, knocked some sense into my head – I no longer wanted to be a lawyer.
My cousin is a lawyer, as is her husband. Early in their marriage, they bought a pretty little house on a small lake. Several neighbors warned them about one of their next door neighbors - who was famous for being extra friendly with cookies thrown in whenever someone new showed up.
And the she would start the low level complaints. About nothing. And then she would threaten to call code enforcement. And sometimes the two parties would reach accommodation. Or sometimes she would call code enforcement. And then send letters from a lawyer. And threaten to sue. And she kept logs of everything. Everything real, everything imaginary.
One guy she did sue, but he was famous for loud music at 3am and prob deserved it.
So Ms Interfering Busybody showed up at my cousin’s house to introduce herself, complete w cookies. And while they were talking, Busybody asked what my cousin’s husband did for a living.
My cousin said, “Oh, we’re both lawyers.”
Busybody was quite taken aback. So the conversation went on, and Busybody repeated, “You said you were both lawyers, didn’t you?” after a bit. She did this more than once.
And for 10 long peaceful years, until Busybody moved into a care facility, no one got complaints. No lawyer letters. No code enforcement.
And at least every few months, Busybody would bring over a plate of wonderful homemade cookies.
In 2002 my parents bought me a 1989 Buick Riviera. Looked just like this:
It had a touch screen and digital gauge cluster:
It also had a bad alternator and a slipping transmission. The other kids thought I was doing it on purpose when I would rev the engine then suddenly peel out when leaving school. It was actually the transmission lagging far behind the automatic shifter.
Mine was a minty green, 1970 something Chrysler Newport. Basically a big ole rectangle on wheels. I could always find it in parking lots because the 80’s had much smaller cars and the end stuck out. My little sister and her friends called it The Bomb.not to be confused with da bomb. They had no trouble taking rides to school and the mall in it though, or making me try to race other cars at stop lights. It might have been bulky but my baby could fly and had an extremely smooth ride. The car belonged to my daddy first. I paid to get it repaired, about 600.00, and I had my first cat. I loved that car…still do.
My first car was a 1999 Oldsmobile Intrigue that my parents were nice enough to buy for me when I got my license. It was Forest Green and had only 35K miles as it had been a fleet executive car in its former life. (pictured is an example, not my car)
Sadly it only lasted a few months, heading to school one morning headed straight into the early morning sun I rear ended someone who had stopped in the middle of the street. I was really disappointed as I loved that car. As others have similarly expressed, it wasn’t a cool car by any means but those ‘plush’ cars they make for execs have amazing ride quality and the ‘Shortstar’ engine gave it plenty of get up and go.
'71 VW Bug Convertible. Bright yellow, black rag top. Original everything. I went to visit my brother and the car died (needed a new engine). I left it with him and told him I’d send the money for an engine when I got it. He traded it to someone for a working car when his truck died. I loved that car.
Does Matchbox count?
@nadroj They should, I still have mine from when I was a kid & I'm 58!.
@Kyser_Soze I hung on to mine too thinking they might be worth lots but turns out $1-2 apiece since they were all 'well loved' and 'well used' and crashed into too many things ;)
1974 VW Camper. Orange with an orange and brown plaid interior. Bought it in 1992 for some amount of money. Sold it 2 or so years later for a lot less than I bought it for. Loved that thing. Looked like this:
@Bingo I owned a 74 VW orange camper, too! It wasn't my first vehicle, but I sure loved owning it. Was great for camping when I lived in Colorado. I kept mine for 10 years and sold it for three thousand more than I paid for it. I wish I had kept it.
@barnabee @Bingo I had one too. Painted it blue, carpeted it, added curtains, and drove it around the country for 3 months. Then the engine blew and I sold it because I had no money for repairs.
I love purple.
@Bingo Thats a bitchin van
@Bingo Those things, in good condition, sell for more than their original price.
@phatmass Ugh. I know. Makes me hate myself for selling mine for like $500
@Bingo I had one, I sold it and bought a popup.
1988 Chevy Blazer S10 4.3L like this one
I sold it after a couple months for a '87 325is (should have kept the e30. Below is just an example)
'63 Galaxie 500 convertible. This isn't it but looks exactly like mine. Same color and all. Loved that car. If anyone knows how to show the picture, please do.
http://assets.hemmings.com/uimage/20112144-770-0@2X.jpg?rev=1
@pooflady My best friend in high school owned one except hers was a hardtop. That thing was built like a tank. I think that's why her parents bought it for her.
@pooflady
@pooflady Any image you link has to end in .jpg or .gif. The one in yours has that ?rev-1 at the end. You'd just want to delete everything after the .jpg and it'll show
@Bingo Thanks.
@pooflady @Bingo That pic name was kinda weird, though. I tried that first and it didn't work. Maybe because of the "@" in the file name? I just uploaded it to Imgur to post back here. Nice ride!
@mehjohnson Thank you.
@pooflady There is a hardtop that is otherwise identical just down the block from my friends' house in L.A. where I'm currently visiting. I'll try to take a picture of it tomorrow.
@pooflady In high school, my buddy had one of these with the radio antennae cable loose inside. If I put my thumb on it, it would tune in stations, but didn't work with anybody else's thumb! I NEVER had to call shotgun (front passenger seat)! A year or 2 later, he was diagnosed with epilepsy and hasn't driven since.
@pooflady For a 19 year old single female, this was fantastic. It was only a few years old and had been well taken care of. I tried, except for driving to work on beautiful days with the top down and I'd leave it down. Then happen to notice that it was pouring, run to the parking lot, raise the top, probably 50 gallons of water pouring into the back seat. Did that a couple of times.
@pooflady I was wrong. It isn't a hard top.
1986 Chevy Cavalier black RS model. Drove it to past 200k miles when the rear engine seal gave out and you had to add a quart of oil to drive it to a store. Sat parked for over a year before I decided to just scrap it( had body damage from the only wreck I ever had ). When the junk yard came to get it they put a battery in it, it started up and they drove it on the hauler.
'66 Mustang convertible. Black with white interior. Paid $600 for it in '72.
@lisaviolet DO WANT!
@mehjohnson That's my only regret in life. I sold that baby for fifty bucks. But I did take the battery out first.
I love purple.
@lisaviolet The black and white is great on that car. Too bad it's gone, lives on in this thread hah. Now it's drawing stars instead of stares :)
In 2003 I got a 1997 Buick Lesabre Custom with 49k miles on it. Drove it to about 150k miles, and the transmission went out. Scrapped it a couple years after that. Looked like this except I didn't have alloy wheels.
That car got me hooked on driving "old man cars." I drive a '04 Mercury Grand Marquis now. Smooth riding and much more reliable than the Buick ever was. I enjoy a performance car from time to time, they're fun. But the comfort and space in the big cars is hard to beat.
1983 Datsun 280ZX. Don't have a digital photo of my car so I grabbed one off Google. Brandy-spanking new. Was my 16th birthday gift. Yeah, I was a spoiled Daddy's girl. I loved, loved, loved that car. Stupid me, sold it when I had 80k miles on it. :::sigh::: Burgundy mist metallic, 4 seater, no t-roofs (Dad said no), automatic because I didn't know how to drive a stick and didn't want to learn at that time. Car was special ordered when I was 15, before I even knew how to drive.
@bluedog My dad had an 80's 280Z in silver, much like that one. Since my parents were divorced, he would trade cars with her so we all could go on road trips in her van. Then one trip, we got back and found his car totalled. Her boyfriend ran it into a telephone pole. He still talks about that car.
@bluedog Those were great cars. -sigh-
@barnabee You can reminisce over at /r/datsun
@The_Baron Drooling on my computer is probably not good for it.
I love purple.
@bluedog my dad also had a 280 zx turbo. Silver with black trim. My mother purchased it when. He was in a business trip. He had it from the early 80's until 91 when the floor rusted out from the salt and winter conditioned roads of PA
1989 Ford Mustang LX. White. Not the 5.0 model.... Example pictured below.
I once got it into an accident while driving to Driving School... And my dad got into a fender bender when driving us to the airport for a college visit.... I did enjoy that car, except in cold weather. Because of the amount of accidents, as a graduation gift, he upgraded me to a 1994 Mustang... He was a partner at a dealership once, hence why vehicles were so readily available to me. However, while I was away at college (Freshmen weren't allowed cars), he stored it at the dealership.... And it was stolen off the lot.
Fast forward to today, I drive a 2014 Ford Fusion Hybrid... Times do change.
@BillLehecka I've got a Fusion, too, but not the hybrid. Go figure - my husband's Escape gets marginally better gas mileage than I do.
I love purple.
My first car was a 1966 VW (Green) Bug. Bought it new. Driving it was such a kick except for freezing my butt off during the winter. Old Bugs had lousy heaters.
@barnabee I had a Fastback, often had to open the window in winter so my breath didn't freeze on the inside of the windshield, where the defrosters weren't defrosting. Fun car though.
@mehjohnson I'm getting cold just thinking about it.
@mehjohnson I thought you sat so close to the windshield that your breath would melt the frost?
I love purple.
@barnabee - Same here!, but not new. Natalie P Coffin Greene cost $300. (Named after a park near my home)
@KDemo Uh, interesting name for a park and and a car. I kept my bug for 20 years. I never named her (I knew it was a "her"), but the last couple of years that I owned her, I called her Shasta. "She hasta have this and she hasta have that."
@barnabee My first car was a '58 black & white checkered flag bug. Ironic since it would never win a race! No heater, I use to joke it had AC in the winter and a heater in the summer. Too small for any hanky panky, so I sold it and got a '65 Chrysler 300 with a 413 & 4 barrel carb, what a difference!
'72(?) Ford Maverick. Bought damaged in 1982-3 for $75 from my friend's mom. Crumpled rear panel and probable frame damage (front end tended to lift at 55-60mph), but was great for high school and jobs.
Hideous tan Saab which required pouring a little can of oil into the gas each time you filled up. Which would cause attendants to run out shouting. Bought used in 1972 with wedding money. Actually it was a super car. High point for me was replacing exhaust system (and I was a girl). Such satisfaction.
@smoo99 2-stroke! Saab 96, perchance?
@smoo99 In the early stages of restoring an old 2-stoke Saab 96. Can't wait to flip some people out at the gas station :)
@smoo99 My first car was a much later Saab ('89 900, 4-stroke, obviously!) but if I ever decide to restore a car, I think I'd like it to be an old two-stroke Sonnet.
@narfcake Yup. I have memories of freewheeling down hills in it. But why?
@smoo99 2-stroke, so it had to have a freewheel flywheel; otherwise the engine would've died from a lack of oil. It's probably memorable because it was unique.
@narfcake Also it was eerily silent. Also I was young and in love.
@smoo99 If someone could remind me how to upload pictures, it's possible I have a picture of it somewhere.
I love purple.
@brhfl Did third gear eventually go out? I was looking at used Saab 900’s in 2001 and discovered that the transmission couldn’t handle torque generated by the the engine and it was a matter of when, not if, the transmission went out.
@huja Nope, everything else eventually blew up (ok, slight exaggeration), but the transmission never gave me any trouble.
I don't think I even have any pictures of it, but it was a white 1986 Pontiac Grand Am, with a red interior. Looked just like this:
It was a pretty great car that I kept for a long time, until it rusted enough that I figured it was time to upgrade.
I love purple.
@Barney I would have loved a purple car! But I bought it used, and white was the only color available. Boring.
@pitamuffin Awww.
1982 Buick Skyhawk bought in 1985 when I turned 16. Hunk of crap, but I was one of the few among my friends that had a car. To them it was a Rolls.
Currently driving a Subaru Tribeca, though it's nearing time for something new. 
1979 Volvo 245. Rust-red ex-Massachusetts car with a mismatched hood bought in 1998 for $350. I figured anyone driving a 19-year old car across the country ought to be mechanically good at least, which was mostly true. I learned a lot of DIY repairs and put 35k miles in a little over a year, a good bit which was compensated by work at the IRS standard mileage rate ($$).
Alas, one night coming back from a friend's party, another driver ran a red light at 40mph when we hit corner-to-corner. I spun a 180 through the middle of the intersection ... the front end was 24" shorter and bent out 18" to the right. Scariest part was the other party's Civic - she had her 7-year old in the front passenger seat, of which only a third of it remained. The car was crushed all the way to the C-pillar. Both were taken away in an ambulance.
Me ... I opened the door and walked out. Extremely shaken and bruised from the seat belt, but fine otherwise.
I love purple.
@narfcake Wow. My first Civic was broadsided by a red light runner back in the 90s. Bent it into a mild U and jammed the passenger door shut, but despite being declared totalled it still drove fine. Unlike the brand new BMW that had run the light at 40+ and hit us without braking because she was yakking on her cell phone (back when they were rare) and never even saw us. Lifted my car right off the road, flung it around 180 degrees onto the sidewalk, where it was pure luck there was no one hit, as it was downtown and lunch hour. Totalled her car, too, and it had to be towed away. No one was seriously injured, although my passenger got a concussion from his head hitting the side window. The cop was impressed that my little hatchback had taken such a whack from a car twice its size and still managed to protect its passengers, which is exactly why I still drive a (newer) Civic.
1983 toyota tercel wagon that no longer passed inspection in PA (I lived OH) due to body rust and my relatives gave it to me. I was sort of afraid that if I got in a wreck all that would be left was a pile of rust dust on the road. Finally sold it for what I had in it (A/C was broken - burned out compressor - and I was moving to OK and figured that it would be easier to sell it up north with no AC than down south ) and replaced it with an 80 or so (no longer remember) toyota pick up truck that also was a rust bucket with huge holes in the bed however at least it had working AC). Now I am driving a 1990 minivan (aka the ghetto van) that was bought new which, although I think I have rebuilt that motor one part at a time, has more or less reached the end of its useful life…(really hard to get some parts too - had to buy an entire steering column for 100 bucks from the junk yard to get a couple of plastic clips off it. Can't find an AC compressor for it nor belt guides).
@Kidsandliz I drove my first Honda, the first car I'd ever bought new, for 15 years. It finally started failing Texas emissions inspections, so even though it still ran great and got about 30mpg I had to get rid of it. I sold it in NM (no emissions inspection) for 1/4th what I had paid for it new.
Mine was an '86 SAAB 900 turbo. Mother bought it new and passed it on to me when I got my license. I drove and coddled my lovely Swedish baby boy for twelve glorious years. Until one tragic morning, when the temperature gauge decided to die at the same time as the engine chose to overheat for whatever component failure reasons. I had been driving my usual joyous, speeding manner on the expressway, unaware that anything was amiss, 'til horrible screams and flumes of steam suddenly began spewing from under the hood. By the time I was able to safely pull over and run away from the boiling, smoking mess, my poor baby's engine fused a bunch of itself together. It would have taken at least $3k for the SAAB specialist to fix him up, an expense I just could not justify, no matter how much I agonized over it. So I sold my baby boy for $500 in scrap. I bought myself a Toyota Matrix for replacement, which is responsible and reliable and I love having a hatchback, but this new guy is a slow, rumbly, bumpy lumpkin of safety compared to the jet-edge speedy sleekness of my dead Swede. I miss that car so.
Last picture I took of my SAAB, as I waited for the scrap truck to come fetch him (as I waited, I pried out the SAAB symbol from the center of the steering wheel; I bored a hole through the plastic at the top and now it hangs as a memorial ornament from the chandelier in my bedroom):
@goldenthorn My first was an '89 900. Every time it went into the shop, it was because of some such cooling problem. Last straw was when it overheated for me on the interstate on Thanksgiving day. Great, fun car, but... it was time to move on.
@brhfl Oh yeah, much as I mythologize and wax overeffusive for my car, I fully admit that it is a massive relief to drive a vehicle where I don't have to get all sweaty and panicky any time I hit even the least little bit of traffic. The SAAB was amazing but holy hells was it stressful to drive during rush hours! After I bought the Toyota Matrix, it took me a good three-four months before I could relax and ignore the temperature gauge completely when driving. It's now been two and a half years yet I still occasionally get that fluttery panic surge in the back of my mind when I encounter bumper-to-bumper traffic. Daaamn do I miss rubber bumpers, though. Never had to stress about parallel parking.
@goldenthorn I still keep the digital computer display thingy in my Pontiac Solstice set full-time to coolant temperature. Haven't quite gotten over the fear!
My father bought a 1940 Packard from an old, old lady who "only drove it to church on Sunday"… it is still in the family.
My lovely '85 Nissan/Datsun Stanza. Cracked axle (I drove like a banshee), and the sunroof only worked if it was above 68 degrees. As soon as it dropped below 68, I was forced to pull out the little wrench and manually crank that sucker closed. Above 68 - the switch worked fine. Go figure. I sold it in the summertime on a warm day.
@Pamtha my first was an 86 Nissan Stanza, sister and i bought it in 2000 with 70k miles on it and she totalled it a year later (before I turned 16).
though mine was all silver even the bottom trim. it was loaded with power everything and moonroof.
after she totalled it. I took my portion of the money and purchased a 97 Wrangler in Citron Green Pearlcoat (not my picture bc I totalled that one).
But since have had a slew of other cars.
I love purple.
I think I may have done the car progression backwards. Started off mostly in a 76 Corvette, and worked (or totaled, or got stolen) my way down through various cars and trucks until 30 years later I'm now driving a 91 Subaru Justy.
@walarney You drove a fun car when you were young and a practical car later. It sounds like you got it right, where most people get it wrong. On the other hand, my first "car" was a used CBR600F2 so what do I know?
@SunnyBeach Can't practical cars be fun too? My "weekend" car? RWD, turbocharged, stick shift ... and station wagon.
@SunnyBeach Have one of those in my garage still. :)
@walarney How did you do that? Not that I have a truck with that problem, or anything.
@walarney I learned to drive stick on one of those!
@Pamtha Double-sided tape. I've had pretty good luck with the outdoor 20 lb stuff you can get at Lowe's. I think it's Scotch brand. Got to clean everything well, of course.
@jsh139 Me too, sort of. Despite being a "car guy", it's the first manual I've driven for an extended period. I was actually enjoying it, until lately it doesn't idle well and now it's a pain in the ass. (Pedal dance/hand brake at every stop. I used to see cars at stop lights that kept edging forward and assumed they were impatient. Now I wonder if they were just trying to keep their engine from stalling.)
@walarney Yeah, that's a habit I got into with my first Pinto that had a stall problem, and 35 years later I still tend to balance the gas and clutch and creep at lights.
@walarney @moondrake Huh, I used to get annoyed at cars that wouldn't close up the gap at stoplights until I got my manual. Now if it's uphill, unless the gap becomes ridiculous I'm definitely not moving until we're really going. No point putting it in gear to move a foot.
90' Dodge Dakota here, got it for $1 as a hand me down from my parents with 60k. Put nearly another 40k on it until it died a sad death just shy of rolling the odometer. I loved it at school, everyone would be hey can I borrow your truck?....It's a stick shift without power steering but sure...uh oh never mind...thought so. Workout every time you parked it.
Got rear ended by a delivery truck doing 40 "The sun was in his eyes" while turning onto my side street. Spun me around 180 degrees and the remains of my tailgate ended up resting against the bumper of a poor old lady waiting to pull out. Scared the crap out of her so bad her son had to come drive her home. It drove my bed 3 inches into the back of the cab so it was an instant total.
1) Corvair oil burner red--made it through through 2 years of college commuting. 2) Then a lavender 2-dr. Impala with black interior, bucket seats and standard trans. with shifter between the seats. 3) College grad. gift to myself--new '69 Z-28, 4-speed, 302, beautiful caribean blue with the wide white stripes and airfoil. Needed u-joint replaced after aggressive take-offs. Avoided every threat of a ticket by playing girl-dumb, that I was using boyfriend's car to do the shopping. That car would be worth a lot if I still had it in original condition (boo-hoo).
@MSticklefeather @barney -- you missed one! Lavender car alert!!
@Pamtha I love purple.
Green '72 Nova, 307 V8. Very plain jane, maybe plainer than the photo. I was not a motor head. I bought it from my step-mom. I got it ca 1980, at the age of 16. But it wasn't a horrible car, had some pickup. Fun to drive.
@joelmw I had a 74 with 350/AT bought for $400 somewhere around mid 1980s. Came with air shocks installed. Previous owner removed the air conditioning. To change from summer to winter mode, I had to remove the home-made cardboard/fiberglass cover over the heater core on the engine side of the firewall and move the mixer flap. Inerior was trashed when I got it, but replaced with junkyard find. (Junkyards were full of these and clones back then.)
I love purple.
@walarney That's way beyond me. But that was the one car that for the whole time I owned it, I did every oil change and tuneup. Seems like it was easier back then.
@joelmw Almost every car was easier to work on back then. Nowadays, one seems to have to be a contortionist with small hands to work in the engine bay of many cars - if it's even possible at all.
@narfcake And even if the locations are easy to get to, lots of these newer cars have one-purpose "special tools" that you have to purchase just to loosen/tighten something. It's annoying.
@jsh139 Actually, I've noticed newer new cars are getting easier to work on. I had to clean an oil pump screen on a 2008 Mitsubishi, and it was a piece of cake to pull the oil pan. Can't say that for many older cars.
@joelmw https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjH4fOIsYPSAhWIRyYKHQdbCAoQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fseattlesparkedcars.blogspot.com%2F2014%2F04%2F1975-chevrolet-nova-sedan.html&psig=AFQjCNEoAEoO0imOdIJPdIkdZ45E0VSHrw&ust=1486742370914875
@joelmw I’ve owned two 1972 Chevy Novas, both with the straight six engine.
The first one was a ‘one owner car’ literally from an old lady who didn’t drive anymore. I got in '84 for my wife & it lasted forever. That one we put over 90,000 mi on & finally sold it for more than we paid for it. All it needed occasionally was new points & cap and oil changes.
The second one was trouble. It had been owned by Mickey Mouse & the idiot had kludged together lots of patches & problems instead of repairing it correctly. I should have ran from it when I saw zip cord in the engine compartment… oh well… I did move the ‘three on the tree’ to a ‘three on the floor’!
Both of them did have slightly leaking back windows (wet trunk).
1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee in 2005. It only had 2 wheel drive, which wasn't an issue when I got it in Texas, but when I moved to Colorado people would never believe me. "Jeep doesn't MAKE 2 wheel drive cars. Why would they?!" they would say. Then I would show them the sandbags I had in my trunk to prevent sliding on ice.
@hallmike With or without "rich Corinthian leather"?
@narfcake I read that in the accent it deserves.
@hallmike Loved the Chrysler Cordobas. I had 2 over the years, a blue '76 with blue velour interior, and a black '78 with black leather bucket seats.
I love purple.
@hallmike I had a car that I painted 84 Fiero blue. Guy at the paint shop said it was the most blue pigment he's ever put in a paint mix.
1971 Dodge Challenger, not an R/T, just a 318 2-barrel, $300 in 1980 with a failed transmission and a Las Vegas sun-damaged interior. Got the trans replaced, and started tweaking and upgrading. I drove it for years until a rear core plug failed (between the engine block and trans), couldn't afford to fix it and had nowhere to work on it. It stayed stored with relatives for years, and now consumes my garage as a restification project. Someday I'll be able to drive it again. I love that car!
Sorry, no digital pics from when it was running, and its in pieces now...
1987 Toyota R22 Extra Cab Pickup 4WD
This is not my truck, but it's what my truck would have looked like with better tires and paint! My build was an in between year and parts were a pain in the ass to get right. There were 3 different starters for that year, and it was a weird cross of a throttle body, just before fuel injection.
That truck never got stuck, never left me stranded, and even towed a few heavier/nicer trucks out of the mud. Granted, I kept parts with me and changed a few things out on the side of the road, but always made it home!
@Thumperchick Top Gear approved! The only thing that killed the Hilux's is rust. "Galvanizing? What's that?"
1976 Chevy Nova SS. Sure wish I still had it!
1977 Chevy Monte Carlo. Man, I loved that car so much. It got totaled parked out in front of my house one night, some guy plowed into it so hard the whole back end got lifted over the guard rail. Bent the frame beyond repair. I was broken hearted.
1988 ford escort gt that I bought new. It was totaled while parked a year later...
A rose-colored 1995 Pontiac Sunfire coupe bought used after I'd graduated from college. I named her Maggie. I had her just a few months shy of 10 years. Now I have a blue 2005 Sunfire. 4+ years into this car, and it still remains nameless.
I love purple.
2013 Honda CR-V (which is also my current car). It does most of the things I need it to, though I would prefer if there weren't also three other people at my apartment complex and four at my office that also have gray 2013 CR-Vs.
I love purple.
@aarmea That's one of the main reasons I shied away from the CR-V. I hate having a common car. I love the fact that there are few Tribecas on the road. I'm planning on buying a CX-5 when the '16 comes out, though I'm seeing tons of them on the road now.
Datsun 1200. No idea what year it was. Bought it from my sister in 1980 for $500. It was a 4 cylinder car that often ran on just 2. I got very good at cleaning spark plugs.
1965 Chevy Bel Air
Lincoln Mark VIII
Like @barnabee, my first car was a 1966 bug, but mine was beige. My parents bought it new when I was three. It was the last new car they bought for about 25 years. I have a distinct memory of the salesman showing them how to put it into reverse. When I was 12, my dad would let me work the stick shift from the passenger's seat. When I was 13 he'd sometimes bring me out to Industrial Park in South San Francisco and let me drive it around. It became mine on my 16th birthday. It survived a couple stupid kid driver accidents (I had to do the repairs myself) and finally, around 1985, a piston rod broke and poked a hole in the block. Luckily, my dad was driving it at the time so I didn't get blamed.
@SSteve I love purple.
I bought a 1963 Plymouth Valiant ex-Army staff car (white top on OD green!) from a friend for 50 bucks. My dad had to drive it against a tree to re-bend the largish chrome bumper back in on the driver's side, and I had to rewire the turn signals. I drove it around town until my tags came in. When I drove down to the county seat 12 miles away to get the tags, I was so proud to be driving above 35 mph...then I heard a "BANG-BANG!" under the car and then I had no power. I pulled over into the median and park it, and then walk back to pick up my drive shaft, which looked like a used giant toothpick, and a few feet further one on my U-joints.
My dad called his wrecker-friend who towed it back to his shop, repaired it and only charged me 70 bucks! Shortly thereafter I left for Navy boot camp and my dad sold it for me after I was stationed in Florida.
I love purple.
I grew up in London. My first car at age 16 was a 1946 MG TC. Oh Lord.......the memories are flooding back. Good times.
Great thread whoever thought of it.
@1wally1 MG TC - Best car ever! :)
@1wally1 yep! This thread is fun
A black 1997 BMW Z3 Roadster that had 89k miles on it (not complaining, just saying it wasn't brand new). Loved that car, but totaled it when I was a teenager. Lost tire pressure and was riding on rim. I must have over-corrected because the car swerved into oncoming traffic. Luckily, the driver on the other side was a good driver and avoided a head on with me. I clipped him and spun in a 360, breaking the drivers side window with my face. Thankfully the other driver was okay, and myself as well minus a nice scar across my forehead. Now I'm a very serious and careful driver.
Although from my name you may think it was a 1972 Chevelle, but that was my second car (which I still own). First car was a 1974 Ford Pinto, neon blue, with fur on the dash. Used a quart of oil for every tank of gas. It never left me sitting, as long as I carried a case of 10W40 in the trunk. I bought it for $500 in 1983 and sold it two years later for $600.
I love purple.
@hot72chev My second car was an avocado green '74 Pinto. My dad bought it for me after the '66 bug threw a rod. I often wonder why he wanted to see me dead so badly. I will say this for that car: it had the most comfortable seat of any car I've ever owned.
I love purple.
@SSteve My friends in college used to call mine the Pinto-Go-Boom. I don't remember the seat being particularly comfy.
@hot72chev I don't think it was anything inherent in the seat, just the way it fit my tall, skinny body.
'61 Chevy Impala. Ran great until the transmission broke on a Sunday as I was driving back to western South Carolina from eastern South Carolina. Back in those days in SC, NOTHING was open on Sundays, and I wound up driving a couple hundred miles in second gear to get home. Sold the car to my mechanic and moved on.
I've owned a bunch of nice cars throughout the years, but my first was a 1983 Dodge Aries K-Car sedan. Bought it from my grandmother in 1992 for $600. Sold it a couple years later for $650. Burned oil like a champ, but got me and my friends to school every day and to the mall on weekends.
Not mine, but similar.
@jsh139 A nice Reliant automobile!
@zachdecker you beat me to it! and as much crap as people gave the K-cars, I still see several running around in like new Condition regularly
@jsh139 My brother had an Aries. It was ugly, slow, and could survive the apocolypse.
@The_Baron It was definitely a tank!
@jsh139 That was my second car. 1988 Dodge Aires. Got it for $250 and some major parts had been stripped. Between the junkyard and labor, I had it on the road for $600 or so. Sold it a couple years later for $500. I hated that car because I was broke and I'd go the cheapest route possible on all repairs, which led to more trouble. It's true what they say about how being poor is expensive!
The first car registered/titled in MY name, was my mom's old 1993 Chevy Corsica. White with a Blue Pinstripe, and a blue interior.
(not my Pic, borrowed from a google search)
(but in "Drift wood metallic" (Gold) , with a full Vinyl Top, the Chrome Luggage Rack/Spoiler on the trunk, and wire hubcaps) which is what i consider to be my first car.(at which point the corsica went to my Big Sis, who drove it for another 4 years, until replacing t with a minivan)
but I only had it for a month before my Grandpa Died, and i Got His Car, 1987 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Regency Brougham
it seems like i had that car for ever, but in reality it was dec 98- aug 2001. in which time i Put 50k mi on it, and over 10 grand in repairs were put into it. :
windshield always leaked, but i could usually keep ahead of that with silicone.(never had it fixed)
The timing belt broke, had the belt replaced,($600) the engine was toast anyway.
installed Remanufactured engine
Popped a drive band in the transmission not long after.
transmission rebuild
brakes down to wear tabs, shop also found leaking brake lines and front struts all of which was around $900
the rear air shocks wouldn't hold a charge, I never replaced them.
then in the fall of 2000, I took it to the Local Goodyear for a set of Tires.
they totaled the car.
tech nailed the Pillar between the bay doors dead center of the hood.(Car had a Second Gas Pedal to the Left of the Brake - grandpa's right leg had been amputated- kid must have thought it was a clutch)
cracked the Radiator, Unibody frame damage, etc.
they paid for the repair (obviously), and a year later i bought a slightly used Hyundai, and sold the Olds for book value ($2,000) but everything from the a-pillar forward was less than 3 years old, with about 20k mi on it.
edit - Oh, I forgot that it also was stolen while i had it (had to replace the steering Column, and lower dash, and shell out an additional $600 for a replacement stereo.
and the Catalytic Converter went out.
and i did the only body work i've ever personally done. had some bubble rust on the left quarter-panel under an emblem - sand, fill, prime, paint.
@earlyre I had a 1988 Chevy Beretta (sister car to the Corsica). That thing was a huge POS.
I love purple.
@jsh139 I actually liked the corsica. ours was a 4cyl ( i don't recall what one they had), but it was possibly the best snow car i've ever had. it just wouldn't be stopped by the white stuff. at the same time it had the Worst ABS ive ever seen. instead of quickly pulsing a few times a second when activated - like ABS is supposed to - when it engaged, you just got 3 full pedal slams back to back. BAM! BAM! BAM! to the point once, upon seeing it from the outside, dad accused me of slamming the trans into Park while it was still moving.
@earlyre Mine had the 2.8L V6. Had tons of problems with that car. Coil packs, oil burning, suspension bits, electrical gremlins, squeaks and rattles, even the paint was starting to peel. Eventually it blew the head gasket at around 90,000 miles and I said to hell with it.
@jsh139 we had an 89 celebrity with that engine(actually what the corsica replaced) we never had any issues with it other than a bad ecu.
Well, once upon a time someone who shall remain nameless put WAYYYY too much oil into it, and blew out the rear main seal...
@earlyre That's really a great story about that car. Sorry to hear how it left you, but a tragic-fun ending you'll have for life.
My first car was a 1981 Mercury Capri 5.0. The first one I owned when I got my license was a 1972 Ford Pinto. It was banana yellow.
@jmendenhall I was always told the Capri would outrun the Mustang. True??
@Pamtha My model was the same as as the Mustang. The only difference was the Capri had a tachometer and (nicer) leather seats/ interior
I love purple.
1978 Mercedes 300SD: The car was the same age as me and I loved it. The size of a godsdamned tank but the turning radius was about the same as a Miata's. The turbo part of the diesel was a button under the accelerator that was pressed if you floored it; as far as I could tell all it did was release an extra plume of exhaust to obscure your low speed getaway. The previous owner had been a large man and you haven't known luxury until you've sat in an old Mercedes leather seat that was truly broken in. Pneumatic automatic locks that sometimes didn't work in cold weather, and if was really cold I had to pull out a butane torch just to get the key in the driver's side door. The fuel gauge wouldn't go lower than 1/4 tank so one time I was out of town and my sister "borrowed" my car I found out by being stranded in rush hour on a major Atlanta road way. The upside is I learned how to prime a diesel engine. After a replacing the tranny and serious issues with the sunroof it still kept costing the blue book value just to keep it running every year so I had to get rid of it.
I love purple.
Either 78 Caprice Classic or 1991 Honda Civic 3door (depending on who purchased it) ;-)
@unixrab B-body box! That car was actually downsized in 1977.
@narfcake we called it the tank
An AMC DJ Postal Jeep. Can't recall the year.
@Ignorant Would the year really matter? They didn't really change them over the years!
@narfcake very true
My first car that I own, is quite recent.
2013 Nissan Sentra SR
Not my photo, but same color, year, and almost same model (missing spoiler and sport seats in the image.)
@JerseyFrank ... be honest -- you created this thread just to keep Barney busy didn't you ;).
@katylava Actually, I'm just slowly farming answers for security questions
My parents gave me their old 1987 Cadillac Sedan Deville then later replaced it with their old 1990 Cadillac Sedan Deville. While they were gas guzzlers, they certainly were fun to drive. Especially after I added 12" subwoofers to the trunk in high school.
I learned to drive on a 1931 Ford Model A. It was my Mom's run around town car in the 1960's, and Dad tried to teach me to drive in it in the early 70's. After he pulled it out of the flower bed (he assumed that theoretical knowledge of car fundamentals would automatically translate into perfect driving skills), we ended up going to the parking lot for the local minor league baseball team. It seemed to be the go-to place for a lot of people to learn how to drive, and there was a cop parked right in the middle observing the on-goings. We drove up and asked if it was OK to be there, and he said sure, and offered to switch cars. I regret turning him down....
My first "car" was a KZ400 I bought off of somebody who relocated out of the area without his wife. Yeah, it was sorta a passive abandonment of her and the bike....
First car was a VW squareback with a primitive fuel injection system. That was loads of fun; I got the book "How to Keep Your Volkswagon Alive for the Complete Idiot" to help out on repairs.
The next vehicle was a 1980 Toyota truck. The previous owner had purchased it new and put on 116,000 miles in three years, and had run out of a depreciation deduction on it. I had a blast with it; a bit of a wiring issue with the distributor, replaced the generator a couple of times, and the front oil seal was always going out. Had a few rear fender benders in it; nothing is scarier than to be stopped in traffic and watching the car behind you not slowing down. I got the thing up to 300,000 miles before it blew it's head gasket (ironically as I was driving to see a potential replacement). Replaced the head gasket (did the work myself), and sold it to someone for $800 cash.
The replacement was a 1989 Toyota truck long bed with 4 wheel drive. The previous owner had made it his first new vehicle purchase, and almost instantly regretted getting the 4 instead of the 6. I bought it with 37,000 miles on it for $8,000, and I still have it with 225,000 miles on it (yes, it's 25 years old; unfortunately California does not have a classic car registration program; instead they make me take it to an intensive smog check place every two years). And it still has the front oil seal problem the 1980 had.
Somebody once observed that you don't get rid of Toyotas because they stop working; you get rid of them when you get bored with them. I guess that's true, my current daily use vehicle is a Prius.
My dad paid $500 for a 1973 red Ford Pinto in 1979 for my high school graduation. He was able to get it cheap as their tendency to turn into a fireball and have the doors jam shut when struck from behind at even low speeds was all over the news. Disclaimer: That's not me, but it looks like where I live.
The first car I bought for myself was a 1973 red Frod Mustang with a 352 Cleveland engine in it, also for $500. It had been wrecked and the body was about half Bondo, and the body wasn't attached to the frame so it would slide around in a hilarious and alrming fashion. But that car could go. I ended up with an Escort after that, then I got a Honda and a drop dead gorgeous fully tricked out Eclipse and that was the end of my relationship with American cars.
I love purple.
I have only owned two, and they have both been silver Nissan compact/mid-sized pickups.
I love purple.
1990 Gray Honda Accord. I LOVED that car. Got it with about 120k miles, put about 50k on it myself before a lady pulled out it front of me and totaled it :-( Luckily for me there was a cop behind me that saw the whole thing so I didn't get blamed.
I used the insurance money to buy a green 1998 Chevy Blazer, also a fantastic car, and the one I drove the longest. I wish I had another one of these, it was fantastic for hauling medium sized loads.
I love purple.
I got a red 1964 GTO as a graduation present from my parents. Hurst four-speed shifter, electronic ignition, limited slip differential, 4.11 rear end, etc.
Traded it a year later for a blue-charcoal Grand Prix -- 421 cubic inches with the "Bobcat Treatment" from Royal Oak Pontiac in Royal Oak, MI.
Both were great cars when gas was under $0.50/gal.
I love purple.
What diversity in this thread! So many vehicle years represented, and everything from a $50 surplus car to really classy vehicles in inexperienced hands. Too bad I didn't have time to keep up with the thread last month, but still worth reading through for the smiles & stories.
i bought a 76 powerwagon in 1977 when i was 15, looked a lot like this one, but mine had a white roof, and white below the chrome body moulding.....
I love purple.
First car - 72 Olds Cutlass 4-Door. Baby shit brown / tan, not the color pictured. Totaled it out on the Interstate in a (very) light rain. No tread left and I spun it three times and took out a Drive-In sign (350 4 barrel and I liked to drive it hard). My parents bought me a 82 Cadillac Cimarron to replace it which I totaled on purpose because, well, it was fucking Cadillac Cimarron (even though it was an almost brand new car at the time and ran great, I couldn't stand it). They put me in a Big Bird yellow 72 Ford LTD 2-Door after that. Thing was a tank and you could get like 10 people in the trunk and sneak them into the Drive-In (yes, the same Drive-In I took the sign out at). Great car and plenty of back seat room - and fast as a bat out of hell for how heavy it was . . . Ended up being impounded for hauling liquor across state lines for consumption by minors. After that I rode the fucking bus until I bought my own.
@Pavlov Some good stuff there!
@Pavlov Even this many years later, I feel I need to party with you.
I love purple.
1985 Dodge Colt that looked like this one. My Dad's plan was to get something that he wouldn't be too upset about if my younger brother or I totaled it (I did not, my brother definitely did two years later).
Now I'm trying to figure out what my daughter's first car will be. My only requirement/challenge beyond safe & economical is that it be a standard. Unfortunately they're not as common in the US now.
@glindagw Even sports cars aren't, now. A lot of top end cars (well out of my price range) are paddles-only now (I blame wannabe F-1 racers). I was disappointed to see the new Golf R (almost in my price range) is not avaialable with a manual on the current pre-orders and hope they'll change that at some point. Now is a good time to direct you to Save the Manuals. Many Subarus are still availble with a manual, although usually not at the top trim level, so you're outta luck if you want leather seats and a manual transmission (unless you go for a WRX, but that doesn't strike me as a good first car for a teen).
@jqubed No, not giving her a WRX, that seems like a recipe for disaster. She's already pushing for a Subaru (that's what I drive) but they hold their value. If she's lucky we'll find one for her. I want to make sure that she can drive anything later on in life without any hesitation. I don't want her stuck at the crag or unable to drive overseas.
@glindagw I took my driver's test in a Colt. The lack of power steering made for a lot of fun through the serpentine portion of the test. My hands were flying back and forth, the tester told me to speed up. I looked at the speedo and I was doing 30 mph. You were supposed to do 15. I aced every damn part of the test and the asshole failed me for 'going too slow through the serpentine portion.' He was obviously intent on failing me regardless of how I had done. I took it again, drove the exact same way with a different instructor and passed.
@glindagw Get your daughter a used Prius. Air bags to the max, never breakdown, get 40mi/gal if you drive like a fool 50-60 if you don’t.
1973 Rotary Engine Mazda RX 3 with manual trans. What a fun car to drive!
81 Chevette.
@phatmass I'm sorry.
My first car was a 1996 Volvo 850 wagon (similar to this but with no spoiler, and I'm pretty sure the wheels were different). It was my parents' car but I drove it through high school and a little after, and it was a good car for me.
The first car I bought was a 2002 Volvo V70 XC which I bought from my parents (we were Volvo people for a while). That Swedish car with All Wheel Drive was great for getting to my job at the TV station when it was snowing. It looked a lot like this, but again, the wheels were different.
The first car I bought by myself was a 2013 Volkswagen GTI. It's my first manual and I love it.
I am still a Volvo boy at heart, though. I'd be very tempted if they ever bring the V40 over here (though it would probably be out of my price range).
Or if I could ever afford a V60 Polestar, I'd totally go for it.
@jqubed The only Volvo I ever wanted was the P1800 model. Beautiful car; my neighbor had one and I coveted it.
@duodec Gorgeous car, so different from the turbo bricks of more recent decades (though I like those, too, particularly the 90s versions. Part of me wants a T5R).
1964 Volkswagon Beetle
It has been sitting motionless in my moms garage for about 16 years. The kicker is there are heapload of new parts populating the interior seats, including new bumpers, door handles, chrome trim, door panels, interior carpet, and I had just finished up a rewire when I parked it. Maybe get back to this project in 30 years when I retire.
This car - 1979 Camaro Z28, but in a 2 tone paintjob. I paid $900 for it in ~1992. The motor blew a couple weeks later. Cost me $1,000.
This looks exactly like my first car. 96/97 Chevrolet Cavalier LS Sedan, same color even. Paid $4k for it with 60k miles in 2001. Finally sold it last year for $500 with 130k more miles on it and a nagging front axle problem. Super dependable car, got me through half of high school, all of college, and 6 years beyond that.
1978 Dodge Omni
@lowerone Lol - My mother had an Omni. Yep, two tone brown. Total piece of shit. Her transmission was going and she couldn't drive it in reverse. She had to be sure to pull in places she could drive straight out of. Cleaned it up, took it to the dealership where they took one look at it without driving it and gave her a good price as a trade. She came home with a new Colt (I mentioned above having taken my drivers test in that one). The dealership called her later that day and said, "Did you know your car won't go into reverse?" She told them, "I know YOUR car won't go into reverse." Don't think she ever went back to that dealership...
I love purple.
Mine was a 71 Pinto Runabout. My dad bought it for me for a hundred bucks when I was got my license in 1986. It needed new carpet bad, so we made our own molded in place carpet by installing some light tan house carpet, we lined the inside of the car with water bed liners and filled it to the dash with water! It looked great. Two years later my father would die. Even though it was a just a Pinto. I loved that car and the memories of my father it brings me.
I love purple.
A 1966 Chrysler New Yorker wagon. Bigger than some apartments. I was in LA working for a rock band and I swear I could put enough PA equipment in there for a stadium and still sit six people. Drove like a ocean liner full or empty.
@BlarneyRubble Even the Wagon Queen Family Truckster is jealous.
@BlarneyRubble Freaking awesome. Beautiful wagon, would have been proud to own it. Might have had to station lookouts in the back to change lanes though.
@BlarneyRubble The big Chrysler C-Body wagons were and are awesome. We had a '69 Custom Suburban (Fury based) and I loved that car... Mopar FTMFWin!
1992 mitsubishi moneytrap, i mean galant.
my first car i bought all by myself was a 2003 toyota corolla s.
A maroon 1977 Plymouth Volare with a cream trim around the back window. That thing could fly! Is maroon close to purple, @Barney? I bought all of my cars myself, but I was "asked" to give my brown 1970 Dodge Dart to my grandfather.
@mahoneyli I love purple!
1979 Fiat X1/9. I totaled it after owning it for 2 weeks.
Scared to die, I replaced it with a 1977 Dodge Royal Monaco - Brougham
@cleverogre And another Mopar FTMFW!
@duodec to this day, I still occasionally try to hit the high beams with my left foot.
@duodec @cleverogre Oh hell I still do that ALL the time, left foot just starts to go and then I remember it is on the stalk! I also remember using the starter button on the floor of Grandpa's truck (choke and throttle were on the dash) and in one of the farm trucks we had there was a plastic bladder on the floor that you'd step down and and prime and pump the windshield washer fluid with. The salt on the roads in winter really ate up those switches, had to get them replaced often . . . I think that some trucks still had the floor mounted "dip" switches through the very early 90's. They were gone in most any car I drove made after the late 70's or the early 80's.
@cleverogre That is where the high beam switch belongs; the overburdened overloaded fragile turn signal switches on newer cars that cost hundreds of dollars are really crappy...
@duodec Are they crazy? I'm already working 3 pedals with 2 feet and they want to give my feet more things to do?
@jqubed Back in the old days cars did not use relays (a relay in this sense being a device that uses a small amount of electrical current to switch a larger current - by using a relay you can use a smaller lighter switch with smaller wires to control a large current). So the high-beam switch had to have wiring to and from it that was capable of handling the fairly large current going to the high beams. Also the switch contacts had to be large enough to handle the load. So going back to the days of old, it was easy to put in a foot operated switch that was: 1) large enough to handle the current, 2) easy to route large wires to, 3) reliable and long lasting, and 4) cheap to manufacture. It was the influence of European cars that caused the change. By the sixties most if not all European cars had stalk mounted high beams. During the foreign car boom of the sixties (which was mostly European) the new (to the US) stalk mounted control made the foot switch look old fashioned. Needless to say Detroit did not want to look old fashioned, so they started to convert American cars to the latest style. Now, no more foot dimmer. Bummer.
@Pavlov The way I heard it, in Europe the use of high beams as 'passing lights' was common; you would flash your high beams to let the car(s) in front of you know you were overtaking and passing them. I don't recall that being common here; it wasn't taught in our high school drivers ed courses either. But if you are flicking the high beams on and off as opposed to just turning them on, then off again only when oncoming traffic or other event made it necessary, the stalk with both momentary and fixed on positions is easier to use. Amen on relays too; when I put a set of H4 halogen Carellos on my '71 Challenger (sans relays) they drew enough current when the high beams were on to trip the self-resetting breaker in the actual headlight switch . They would run for a moment, the turn off for 20 seconds or so, then back on... I had to put a relay kit in to stop that (and it had the added benefit of driving the headlights at alternator voltage instead of about 11.8 volts due to all the resistance in the harness.
@duodec Flash your bright lights to pass or have a car move out of the fast lane in a lot of cities in the US and you're liable to catch a bullet. Yes, the flashing of the bright lights is very common in Europe (especially to pass), never really gave much thought to why they stalk mounted the switch, but makes perfect sense.
@Pavlov @duodec My Volkswagen's high beam switch is designed to make it easy to flash them; I think the manual even said that was the purpose of the design. That makes a lot more sense if it's a normal part of passing in Europe. The only other reason I know of to flash the high beams besides those already listed is to warn drivers of a speed trap ahead, but that's often illegal. As for getting drivers to move out of the left lane, discovering that passing on the right is legal in my state ranks as one of my favorite days in 2013, and I got a job that year after being out of work for 8 months.
@jqubed Read this in the Washington Post a week or so ago - Flashing headlights to warn oncoming drivers that the police are waiting to catch speeders is protected by the First Amendment. So held a federal trial judge in Monday’s Elli v. City of Ellisville (E.D. Mo. Feb. 3, 2014), and he wasn't the first — see, for instance, this Florida trial court ruling, as well as State v. Walker, No. I-9507-03625 (Williamson Cty. (Tenn.) Cir. Ct. Nov. 13, 2003).
So flashing your lights is apparently protected speech, at least in that Federal District.
As for passing on the right, legal or not, I do it all the time . . . I'm getting old and when I gotta go, I gotta go right now.
If your next topic is "Who was your favorite teacher in school?" I will have verified that this is just an elaborate ruse to break into my yahoo account.
@thismyusername ha!
@thismyusername I'm thinking some good discussion topics are "what is your mother's maiden name" and "what is the street you grew up on"?
@thismyusername that was exactly my next suggestion for a forum topic. then "which pet is your favorite?", and "does your father have a weird middle name?".
@thismyusername
Fav teacher for some kids:
@f00l
/youtube J Geils homeroom angel
My first car was a 1990 Dodge Shadow (bought in around 2001). It had a reconstructed title, and was left at a mechanic because they couldn't afford the $550 they owed him for the new heater core and a few other fixes.. The previous owner authorized the mechanic to sell it to me for the amount owed, and I got about 3 years out of the car before I busted the power steering lines on a rock and sold it as-is for $50.
I was in school for computer programming at the time, and I had my uncle paint Tux, the linux penguin, on the hood. It definitely made the piece of crap car stand out in a crowd! haha
Wish I could afford to own one. It'd make me have to rely less on others to take me to the grocery store and my many doctor's appointments. Have never owned an automobile.
1974 beetle sedan
the wipers,speedometer and fuel gauge don’t work but its a runner.
Since when did they make a 4-door Beetle?
First mode of transportation:
'69 Suzuki 90 with split trans. 4 speeds trail, 4 speeds street.
Drove it to school & on trails almost every day. It was a blast. My parents helped me buy it.
Then, I got a great deal on an '69 Opal Kadett Rallye & drove that to school.
Then, I bought a '64 Chevy Impala with a small block & 4-speed
Then, I got a '70 Chevy van. I moved a lot & just needed a van. It had a few parties in it also… Small block 307 with 3-on-the-tree. Put over 100,000 on that one…
That covers the first 7 years…
@daveinwarsh I once had a 74(?) ‘Mercury’ Capri that looked a lot like that Opel. Nice little Euro-sporty hatchback for its time
@daveinwarsh
I want all your vehicles. ❤️
@f00l I want those vehicles back too!! I’d really love that. sigh…
Even that little Suzuki would be fun for the grandkids to rip around our property.
The Opal was such a blast to drive. A German quality car, it never had ANY problems & was pretty fast.
The Impala was so much fun with that 327. I think it had the AM/FM radio option. I wasn’t afraid to push the gas pedal down occasionally.
The Chevy van was wearing out. The engine would have lasted forever, but the body was wearing out.
I’ve owned so many cars & trucks since…
@daveinwarsh
I’ve got an old VW diesel Jetta. Turbo. Pre cheating TDI.
It really likes to cruise going at least 80mph. I try not to let it turn me into an asshole.
It makes me happy.
@daveinwarsh My first car was a '68 Opel (non Rallye). I loved that little car, but I found out that they do not do well in a crash with a '61 DeSoto.
On the good side, the concussion that I received, knocked some sense into my head – I no longer wanted to be a lawyer.
@Barney
Lawyers made decent $ back then.
And they have their uses.
My cousin is a lawyer, as is her husband. Early in their marriage, they bought a pretty little house on a small lake. Several neighbors warned them about one of their next door neighbors - who was famous for being extra friendly with cookies thrown in whenever someone new showed up.
And the she would start the low level complaints. About nothing. And then she would threaten to call code enforcement. And sometimes the two parties would reach accommodation. Or sometimes she would call code enforcement. And then send letters from a lawyer. And threaten to sue. And she kept logs of everything. Everything real, everything imaginary.
One guy she did sue, but he was famous for loud music at 3am and prob deserved it.
So Ms Interfering Busybody showed up at my cousin’s house to introduce herself, complete w cookies. And while they were talking, Busybody asked what my cousin’s husband did for a living.
My cousin said, “Oh, we’re both lawyers.”
Busybody was quite taken aback. So the conversation went on, and Busybody repeated, “You said you were both lawyers, didn’t you?” after a bit. She did this more than once.
And for 10 long peaceful years, until Busybody moved into a care facility, no one got complaints. No lawyer letters. No code enforcement.
And at least every few months, Busybody would bring over a plate of wonderful homemade cookies.
@f00l Well, I do make wonderful cookies.
@Barney
So it was you huh? I gotta tell my cousin that you didn’t go to a care facility - you snuck outta town!
In 2002 my parents bought me a 1989 Buick Riviera. Looked just like this:
It had a touch screen and digital gauge cluster:
It also had a bad alternator and a slipping transmission. The other kids thought I was doing it on purpose when I would rev the engine then suddenly peel out when leaving school. It was actually the transmission lagging far behind the automatic shifter.
Mine was a minty green, 1970 something Chrysler Newport. Basically a big ole rectangle on wheels. I could always find it in parking lots because the 80’s had much smaller cars and the end stuck out. My little sister and her friends called it The Bomb.not to be confused with da bomb. They had no trouble taking rides to school and the mall in it though, or making me try to race other cars at stop lights. It might have been bulky but my baby could fly and had an extremely smooth ride. The car belonged to my daddy first. I paid to get it repaired, about 600.00, and I had my first cat. I loved that car…still do.
This iis the closest photo I could find, def not the right color. Mine was a much lighter green.
My first car was a 1999 Oldsmobile Intrigue that my parents were nice enough to buy for me when I got my license. It was Forest Green and had only 35K miles as it had been a fleet executive car in its former life. (pictured is an example, not my car)
Sadly it only lasted a few months, heading to school one morning headed straight into the early morning sun I rear ended someone who had stopped in the middle of the street. I was really disappointed as I loved that car. As others have similarly expressed, it wasn’t a cool car by any means but those ‘plush’ cars they make for execs have amazing ride quality and the ‘Shortstar’ engine gave it plenty of get up and go.
2000 Jeep Cherokee Classic (before they became round/bubbly and oddly shaped.
'71 VW Bug Convertible. Bright yellow, black rag top. Original everything. I went to visit my brother and the car died (needed a new engine). I left it with him and told him I’d send the money for an engine when I got it. He traded it to someone for a working car when his truck died. I loved that car.