First Car

10 November 2017 | Army Air Corps

[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?

[Made In The USA]

Can’t say I miss Plaintiff either!

[usconservative]

I had her about 3 years. Loved that car! Dated my now ex-wife while I had that car (we were high school sweethearts.)

Should've kept the car and got rid of her.....

[usconservative]

Lots of HS dating in that thing. Remember taking it to the prom, the starter solenoid crapped out and I had to reach under the car to smack the starter to engage it.

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.

[central_va]

So tell us, how many MPG did that rolling living room get?

[oldtech]

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.

[Thunder 6]

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!

[Col Freeper]

Mine was a 1956 Chevy Nomad. Same colors as this one. 300 HP 327 built by a famous engine builder in California. 4-Speed wide ratio tranny. Black bucket seats. Chrome wheels and hubcaps. $1000 in 1966. Liked everything about it. Wish I still had it.

< http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc197/patrick_rodgers/2008_vacation/2008_07_24_Charleston_West_Virginia/2008_07_24_0035_72.jpg.html >

[usconservative]

IIRC, it was about 6mpg. Only took it to local car shows for the most part.

[usconservative]

Just saying “thanks!” for posting this thread and all the great memories it brought back as a result.

[Made In The USA]

That’s funny, my prom date became went from wife to plaintiff as well!

[usconservative]

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.

[redangus]

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.

[Drumbo]

Upon High School graduation (1973), my parents gifted me my mother's 1967 White Oldsmobile Delta 88 coupe (with less than 20K miles). It had the 425 Super Rocket (wall-to-wall motor/123 in. wheelbase) with Turbo hydro-matic 3 speed transmission, posi-traction differential, dual exhausts, factory air, strato bucket seats, factory optional seat-belts and a black vinyl fastback roof.

It was big and fast and that summer, I took it to a converted airstrip in Pungo, VA almost every weekend to drag race and more often than not it won. With the huge trunk and backseat I could haul my drum kit to gigs. I was a military brat, so gas on base was 25¢ a gallon. I could fill-up (about twice a week) for less than $10. I put another 20K on it that summer.

Disconnecting the factory AC compressor belt was necessary for racing and since I was mechanically tarded, I always needed a mechanical minded friend along to do the tweaks (at the price of letting him run a heat or two).

It was hands down, the biggest, fastest, heaviest, bestest car I ever owned. When I went away to college in September, I sold it to help pay my tuition.

[PLMerite]

First car, 1979, a 1969 Chevy Camaro.

[yarddog]

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.

[az_gila]

In 1968, an early Fiat 600 with suicide doors. It was cheap...:^)

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.

[Drumbo]

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.

[Army Air Corps]

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.

[HP8753]

I've never had a new car. Had pretty good luck with 1 yr old lease returns.They were the closest I ever came to a new car.
1998 Chevy Lumina got it with 12,000 miles and sold it at 295,000 miles for $500
2001 Grand Am 6 cyl. got it at 14,000 miles and sold it at 245,000 for $600
2002 Chevy Blazer got it at 13,500 miles. Still own it at 252,000 miles.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

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.