Posted on 11/10/2017 6:19:44 PM PST by Army Air Corps
Calling All Freeper Gearheads!
Let's talk about first cars! What was you first vehicle? What did you like most about the car? What drove you nuts? Do you wish that you still had it?
Can’t say I miss Plaintiff either!
Should've kept the car and got rid of her.....
Boy does this bring back a memory! Went to my senior prom with my now ex-wife when I had mine. Candy apple red, white vinyl seats, raised white letter tires, it was just a beautiful car.
The day before we went to my senior prom I spent hours and hours waxing her. (The car, not the ex. Although come to think of it waxcking her would've been a good thing...)
Anyway, the morning of prom my parents woke me up laughing telling me to go look at my car. Now ex-wife wrote "I love you" in big letters on the hood, trunk and doors. Right in the dew that had settled on the car overnight and through the five coats of wax I'd lovingly and laboriously applied the day before.
Sold it because it got 8 miles per gallon and I was stupid enough to think that was a good reason. I still look online for this or maybe a 1970.
I'm not sure what mine was rated at back in those days, I can tell you that I went through lots of rear tires with it though. Something about having all that torque at the low end was just so damn ................ FUN!!
If you think 8mpg was bad, I had a 66 Cadillac Calais with a 500+ cubic inch V-8 under the hood that the gas gauge dropped every time I hit the gas pedal.
BTW, if you think 8mpg was bad, guess what this got:
That's not a picture of the one I had, it is however the same year, make, model, color, rear fender skirts, etc. I bought her for $250 from the original owner. Restored the interior, got the original AC and AM Tube Radio working again, sanded the quarter-sized surface rust spot off the drivers side fender skirt and had her repainted the original color (above.) Mechanically she needed a new flywheel, starter, hoses, belts, tune-up, valve cover gaskets, transmission seals and a valve job and I think that was it. She ran like a purring kitten. Soooooo smoooooooth. The interior of that car was so big you could raise a family in one.
It's funny, Barret-Jackson has one just like my old one for sale. As much as I'd love to have that car back, I have my eyes (and heart) set on a '72 Stingray now that my divorce is over and everything's settled. Always wanted one and by God I'm gonna get one before I die.
So tell us, how many MPG did that rolling living room get?
My first car was a ‘53 Buick Super. One tough car that took a lot of abuse & was very reliable. It burned a lot of gas,but at the time gas was very cheap.
1973 VW Type 412...orange. Bought it from my Aunt for 25 bucks. Had a hole rusted thru the floorboard under the gas pedal, and the heater was busted...in winter, in northern Illinois. I was in HS and couldn’t afford to fix the heater, so it was blankets and scraping ice off the inside of the windshield. Didn’t stop me or my buddies, we were mobile!
Many trips to Wisconsin made in that old car (drinking age was 18 up there). It’s a miracle we survived it...
Great memories!
IIRC, it was about 6mpg. Only took it to local car shows for the most part.
Just saying “thanks!” for posting this thread and all the great memories it brought back as a result.
That’s funny, my prom date became went from wife to plaintiff as well!
That’s been quite a trend as I’ve seen so many friends getting divorced. I read somewhere the divorce rate at my age is over 60%. (I’m 55 in two weeks.) Thanks, no-fault divorce.
My late wife and I had a lot of fun in that car in college. Kids today will never understand the beauty of a big back seat and a front bench with no center console. Left hand on the wheel, arm on the window sill and the right wrapped around your girl as you cruise down a two lane road listening to the AM radio and going nowhere in particular. Great memories.
First car, 1979, a 1969 Chevy Camaro.
That 425 Rocket V-8 was one great engine.
I had a 65 Delta 88 tricked out exactly like yours except for the bucket seats and the vinyl roof. Mine was also a four door sedan.
That thing would fly. and it handled surprisingly well too.
All in all the best car I ever owned. I got it third hand from Daddy, to older brother to me.
Stock pic shown - it had a real 4 cylinder water cooled engine which at 600cc is smaller than most motor bikes now. Easy to park on campus and could get four of us up to 50 mph.
That’s cool. I used to cruise Atlantic Avenue at Virginia Beach blasting Ike Turner’s “Rocket ‘88” on the factory installed 8-tack, lol. The doors, console, dash and glove box was all wood panels.
I still remember the car I dreaded racing the most was a ‘69 Delta ‘88 sporting a 455 Super Rocket with a manual 4-speed (Hurst) that could shut-down anything off the starting line. If I’d had the manual tranny, I think I could have matched it on the quarter mile.
You are very welcome. That is why I started these Friday car threads - share experiences and memories tied to these wonderful fire-breathing machines that become part of our lives.
Loved my Blazer in Saudi Arabia. Blew an engine at the Red Sea. Many Blazers there were swooses* from several other vehicles. Egyptians painted it and replaced the engine.
* Swoose - a WWII term referring to a bomber that was put together from many different other planes. Part swan, part goose.
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