Your first car

[pawngal]

A 1963 MG Midget. I froze to death

My first '65 Sprite I drove year round for 3 years in Iowa winters.
I don't recall ever being cold.

Judging by the replies here, a lot of us owned English sports car in our youth. Gotta get my '74 Midget back on the road by next summer. Since I got the Mini Cooper the Midget has been neglected.

 

[TheHobbyist]

Memories

Wow, haven't thought about this one in a while. Got my license in the winter, day two with the license, hit a do not park sign, gliding on the ice. A proud moment for Mom and Dad I'm sure.

Let's face it, it was not cool, not fast, but it got me where I was going (work and school). Seats were actually more comfortable than most though...plush velvet I believe bench seats haha

 

[Rustyt1953]

Thanks for all the replies. It has been a fun, nostalgic read.

 

[wood714]

My first car was purchased from my sister's BIL, when I was 16, for $900 bucks. It was a 1969 Chevelle Malibu with a mighty 307 CI V8. That sucker was loaded for '69. It was light green with a black vinyl top and rally wheels. (not mine in the picture, but identical)

Had a 2 speed powerglide floor shifter, power windows, power seats, A/C and was only 5 years old at the time. Of course it was the 70's, and I had to have some air shocks, wide tires, Cherry Bomb pipes and that lovely white angel hair in the rear deck with my triaxle Jensen speakers, ripping out the Doobie Brothers from my 8 track tape deck.

Oh how I mistreated that car, I wish I had been smarter, but i was just a dumb kid. Dad would just look at it and shake his head. Mom would say, "Well you're Daddy had to have his back bumper dragging the ground to look cool in our day." Which I still think looks good on the proper aged car.

The weird little rice burners that came after the muscle cars got phased out didn't make any sense to me. Wide but low profile tires that were pushed to their limit with spacers, those were odd looking to me. I'm stuck loving the old iron, like the '69 Mach I 428 CJ, 4 spd I got later in life, but sadly don't have anymore. Those days you could see a car's tail lights way out in front of you, and you knew what it was, year make and model.

Can't do that with many these days. Cool thread, making me wish I had that Chevelle again, in the condition it was in when I GOT it, not after I was through with it. Poor baby.........

My second car was a 69 SS 396 Chevelle. You could hear it blocks away. Monster Crane cam, competition valve job by Ellison Engine in Elmwood, 780 dual line Holly, Hurst Super Shifter, and headers with tiny Thrush header mufflers. No exhaust pipes at all. Had 456 gears in the 12 bolt rear end. Only pic I have of it.

 

[model3sw]

1967 GTO

In 1969 at 15 years old, I purchased my boss's son's 1967 GTO, exactly as the attached image shows (which is not MY GTO, rather, an image I borrowed from google)

As I would not be eligible for a Student Driver's license until almost another full year, the car had to be entrusted to my oldest brother and stored in his home garage until I obtained my Driver's license AND had insurance and registration.

In my day you were NOBODY if you didn't own a muscle car. AND ... the guys who knew how to spin wrenches to make it faster were considered gods !!

Paid for with money that I worked my tail off to save.

The "old school" dads, like my dad, believed it you wanted something bad enough you'd work to buy it. I guess that's what help me become a self-sufficient man.

Sal Raimondi, Sr.

 

[wood714]

In 1969 at 15 years old, I purchased my boss's son's 1967 GTO, exactly as the attached image shows (which is not MY GTO, rather, an image I borrowed from google)

As I would not be eligible for a Student Driver's license until almost another full year, the car had to be entrusted to my oldest brother and stored in his home garage until I obtained my Driver's license AND had insurance and registration.

In my day you were NOBODY if you didn't own a muscle car. AND ... the guys who knew how to spin wrenches to make it faster were considered gods !!

Paid for with money that I worked my tail off to save.

The "old school" dads, like my dad, believed it you wanted something bad enough you'd work to buy it. I guess that's what help me become a self-sufficient man.

Sal Raimondi, Sr.

That's way too nice for a normal like.

 

[LVSteve]

My first car in 1979 was a UK GM product called a Vauxhall Viva HB. Mine was built in 1968 I think. Aah, the rush of that mighty 1159 cc OHV motor. The roar of the air through the single choke Zenith carb could be all but drowned out by the tappets if you didn't adjust them regularly. Actually, if you could hear the tappets you were losing vast amounts of power because the valve lift was so minimal. Also, this model usually suffered at the hands of Ford and Mini mechanics who always set the timing dwell incorrectly and fitted spark plugs that were too cool.

It was a pig on fuel around the town where I lived (all hills, 24 mpg on short runs) but could get well over 40mpg on a run provided you kept the cruising speed reasonable. It was built for the US 55mph blanket limit by accident, I think. Mine was a four door, which was a little unusual. It did have a vast trunk for a small UK car. Think TARDIS. It didn't have a radio, which drove my buddies nuts.

Had a few firsts in that car, but forum rules and all that...


The one in the picture must have been some fancy deluxe variant with those wheels and dual wing mirrors.

 

[hostler]

1972 Chevy Vega GT. Fun little oil guzzling rust bucket. When I turned 16 the deal my parents made with me was, I find a car I want, they pay half, I pay half (the car cost $800), once I have wheels I can get a job and pay my part of insurance and all vehicle expenses.

 

[CajunBass]

My first was a 1964 Ford Falcon, four door, 170 CID six with a three on the tree.

Good car. I had very little trouble with it. About the only thing I remember going wrong with it was the clutch linkage broke one night. I crawled under it, and taped it together with a half roll of nylon reinforced tape I had in the car for some reason. Shifting very carefully, I got it back home, where a nut, washer, and bolt made a more permanent repair.

 

[deno56]

1968 Ford Mustang.

 

[rubiranch]

I don't have a picture of my first car but it was a 1950 Ford 4-dr with a V-8 and overdrive.

It was just like this one and even the same color.




This was my second car, a 1957 Ford Fairlane. It only lasted 3 weeks.



My third car was a 1962 MG 1100 2-dr sedan like the one n the picture. Front wheel drive with a "liquid suspension".

 

[Chubbo]

My first car was a 1936 Chevrolet Two door sedan. Bought with my own money. That old, rusty, bucket of bolts, taught me a lot, as far as cars are concerned. One story, that I remember, The extremely heavy passenger door's hinges actually broke off, letting that heavy door, fall onto the feet of the chief of police's wife, as she exited the car, at their home. She worked with me at the local grocery, and I was dropping her off at their home, for lunch. There are many other stories, about my first car, that I'll leave untold. I got rid of that car as soon as possible.
Chubbo

 

[Rustyt1953]

Happy to see you posting, Chubbo.

 

[Greg G]

'64 Plymouth Valiant. It was four years old. I took out the front bench seats and installed some bucket seats that came out of a Corvair. Three on the tree. Good transportation but for a teenager it was not cool.

 

[Rustyt1953]

'64 Plymouth Valiant. It was four years old. I took out the front bench seats and installed some bucket seats that came out of a Corvair. Three on the tree. Good transportation but for a teenager it was not cool.

I took my driver's test in my dad's '64 algae green Valiant Signet with the slant six. 0 to 60 in 6 minutes.

It was a chick repellent.

 

[Mike 139]

My first Car was a 1953 Ford Crown Vic....Flathead V-8 that a neighbor down the street sold me for $35.....I was fortunate my High School offered an Auto Mechanics Class.... constantly working on that Ford or walking....I still have most of the Starter set of S-K Wayne tools ,Ratchet and Sockets bought at School.

Converted it to an 8 Volt system by putting in an 8 Volt Battery and adjusting the Voltage regulator....spun the starter faster so it would start before killing the battery....Compression on that Flathead was shot...

Back than, You could take Auto Shop, Machine Shop or wood Shop....Girls took Home Ec or Office machine/typing classes...

Got a job on weekends at the local Shell station, after about a month, the Owner says, “ Mikey, you need anything, take it and fill out a credit card slip. “. Alot of times , on payday, I would get a handful of the slips I had filled out. He was a good guy to work for....Had access to the lift too, as the full time Mechanic was off on weekends.

Amazing, the amount of friends that want to go riding around with you when you have Gasoline...IIRC Gas was around .25 a gallon....

 

[zeke]

65 chevy cargo van was first vehicle. Only ever owned one car.

 

[Salty RI]

My first Car was a 1953 Ford Crown Vic....Flathead V-8 that a neighbor down the street sold me for $35.....I was fortunate my High School offered an Auto Mechanics Class.... constantly working on that Ford or walking....I still have most of the Starter set of S-K Wayne tools ,Ratchet and Sockets bought at School.



Converted it to an 8 Volt system by putting in an 8 Volt Battery and adjusting the Voltage regulator....spun the starter faster so it would start before killing the battery....Compression on that Flathead was shot...



Back than, You could take Auto Shop, Machine Shop or wood Shop....Girls took Home Ec or Office machine/typing classes...



Got a job on weekends at the local Shell station, after about a month, the Owner says, “ Mikey, you need anything, take it and fill out a credit card slip. “. Alot of times , on payday, I would get a handful of the slips I had filled out. He was a good guy to work for....Had access to the lift too, as the full time Mechanic was off on weekends.



Amazing, the amount of friends that want to go riding around with you when you have Gasoline...IIRC Gas was around .25 a gallon....

A friend of mine had a 53, I think he paid the same for his, it was a 4 door, he drove that car a 100 miles a day going back and forth to college for 5 years.

Sent from my LGL455DL using Tapatalk

 

[LVSteve]

My third car was a 1962 MG 1100 2-dr sedan like the one n the picture. Front wheel drive with a "liquid suspension".

Found an interesting article on that car.
1966 MG 1100: The Classic Review


My mother owned a Princess Vanden Plas version of the same car. The added weight of the posh trim did little to improve the performance. The gearbox imploded on hers and that was all she wrote. Shame really, the car was a 1275 twin-carb motor away from being nice.

 

[Bob L]

My first car in my name was a new 1971 Vega GT, paid $2061 out the door, tax, title and license. # years later, when the top of the fenders rust out, I talked to Chevrolet Customer Service and was told that it was not a problem with the car because Vegas in California were not rusting out. Got down to where I could replace the engine in about 4 hours. Other than that, a great little car. Put a lot of miles on it.