Your first vehicles

[Rustyt1953]

A question in two parts:

1: What vehicle did you learn to drive on?

2: What was the first vehicle you owned?

re 1: Dad's 1968 Valiant. A slant six 225 chick magnet.



re 2: my 1964 T-Bird.

 

[alwslate]

I learned to drive in High School. Driver's Ed class, an Oldsmobile if I remember correctly. My father never let me drive his car one single time. My first car was a 1953 Studebaker.

 

[326MOD10]

I wasn't as lucky (cool) as you.

Learned to drive on a Plymouth Horizon that my sister drove.

Learned to drive a stick on my brothers Datsun (B210 I think).

My first car was a 1976 Ford Mustang II. I used to joke that it was "garage kept". Grove's Garage, which was my cousins husband's repair shop.

 

[lihpster]

Learned to drive in a Pinto wagon owned by my brothers girlfriend. Learned to drive stick in my mother's Nissan pickup. First car I owned was a Chevy Vega. Such fine automobiles. Like a dream come true.

Actually, as transportation, all 3 were good cars. Reliable and cheap to drive and maintain. I had a special attachment to the Vega as I bought it with a blown engine and me and my brother rebuilt it. Ok, it was mostly him, but I held the flashlight and the umbrella and handed him tools and beers. one of my favorite memories with him and there were a lot of them.

 

[wood714]

Learned to drive in my dad's 60 Chevy. This picture is close, but dad's had large holes in the rear quarters, and I used a street sign in the rear right floorboard to keep people from falling out. My mom always had nice cars, His was used for going to work, fishing, and hunting.

This was my first car. 68 Firebird, 350 4 speed.

 

[NYlakesider]

First to drive a 60 Dodge Dart, my fathers car

My first vechicle (age 16) I bought a 59 Chevie Bell Air in 1963. It had the optional 283 power pack motor. Kind of a fast car for the era. Did not realize it then but it was a sort of rare car as it had the optional 4 spd manual transmission. Not many of those made!

I had it about 8 months and bent it up bad on a big tree that ran out in front of me!

 

[Eric300]

Learned on a 1964 Ford Country Squire Station Wagon (with broken power steering pump). My first car (that I bought myself) was a 1969 Mercury XR7 302 4 speed.

 

[Vtgw938]

I learned to drive on several cars, don't really remember which one we had when I was 15. I do remember my first car which I bought at 15 with a learners permit. It was a 1966 Chevelle SS, 396 with a four speed. No this wasn't mine as I don't even have a picture of it, but it is pretty close.

 

[45Smashemflat]

Learned in a 76 Dodge Dart, “leaning tower of power” 225 slant six.

First car was a 74 Ford Ranchero. Swapped in a 351 C Cobra Jet to replace its blown motor. (Swapped the C4 for a C6 tranny too.)

 

[JohnRippert]

When Dad's Mom went into a home he brought her 1976 Buick Skylark with a 3.8L V6 home. When I got my learner's permit I got to drive it with a adult along. It was supposed to be only for emergencies in case Mom's Dad had a problem and needed to go to the hospital. However, I learned how to disconnect the odometer and always made sure to put the gas level back where it was before I went joy riding. My first car was my maternal grandad's 1965 Plymouth Fury III 4-door with a 318 2-barrel V8. Not much power but you could fit about 8 teenagers in it. I managed to get it up to 120mph on 45 South while keeping up with a Firebird on the way to Galveston for the day. The driver of the Firebird was quite surprised when we pulled up even with him. He got off the freeway, we slowed down and after the next overpass we saw a cop. Luck of the stupid, don't you know. That would have been a expensive ticket and a lost license for a year.

 

[Rob613]

Learned to drive on my parents ‘97 Silverado.

My first truck was an ‘89 F250 with a 7.3 IDI diesel, bought it from the farmer I was working for at the time. Hauled me and some buddies to a lot of rodeos.

 

[BKLooney]

Learned to drive in a 1968 Ford F100, the first car I ever owned was a 1975 Camaro.

 

[whitestang]

I learned to drive my parents 66 BelAir wagon. My first car was a 61 Nomad wagon that was rusty and had 98k on it. Sorry no pictures of either did not have computers then.

 

[Ματθιας]

Learned how to drive with a 1969 Ford Fairlane 500 in 2 door hard top Lime Gold with Dark green interior. It was 302 on the column automatic. With drums all the way around, it was a bit scary to drive. My sister wrecked it.

The first car I owned was a 1983 Z/28 Camaro Crossfire Injected 5.0L 4 speed auto with T-tops. White over gold with tan mouse fur cloth interior. It was loaded. It wasn't that fast but the factory exhaust would set off car alarms idling by. I got it when I was 19, and insurance payments nearly killed me! I still have it.

The picture is a 1984. 82-84 are basically the same body and ground effects.

The pictures I pulled from the internet.

 

[Chuck24]

Learned on a 64 Ford Galaxy, mostly drove a 66 Ford pickup. First brand new car was a 75 Ford Granada, the biggest piece of junk I’ve ever owned.

 

[erikpolcrack]

Learned on a 57 Ford V-8 with a 750 CFM four barrel. Folks gave it to me a year or so later. Great fun. Had two used cars I later bought but couldn't yet officially own: a 58 VW Combi Van and a 67 VW Convertible. My first new car/registered in my own name was a 72 Camaro 350.

 

[Bald1]

I learned on a lot of different cars but mostly my dads 77 3/4 Chevy Camper Special. It was a Silverado back when that was a trim level and not the name of the truck. I took my road test in moms 78 Ford Fairmont. My first car was a 1970 Malibu with 307. Dark red black vinyl. Could have easily been a SS clone. My second car was my beloved 68 Camaro. 350 and close to 400hp on dyno. I wish I still had pics of all the cars I’ve owned and the ones my friends had growing up……. My uncles was probably the the best. 68 Olds 442.

 

[6518John]

I picked out a new Corvette at my uncle’s Chevrolet dealership—427, T-tops, 8-track, etc.

I got a 1970 Chevy C-10, six banger, 3 on the tree, AM radio. It was a retired work truck.

 

[twodog max]

My first car was a 1961 Chevy Impala 4 door with three on the tree. I actually learned in my Dads 1956 Chevy PU manual and my grandads 1965 Impala auto. My granddad was a retired State Trooper by the time I was learning. He put up with no nonsense in a car...ever. I suppose he had seen to many highway fatalities.

 

[pasound]

'67 VW Bug was the first car with a standard, but I'd passed my driving test in my dad's '66 Pontiac Catalina - a living room on wheels.

 

[45Smashemflat]

Did the blinkers say “Port” and “Starboard”?

 

[swsig]

1. I learned to drive in two cars in 1960. My school's driver training car was an enormous 1960 Oldsmobile 4-door sedan. To my new driver self, the hood looked like an aircraft carrier flight deck, but the Olds was actually fairly easy to drive. For "homework", I drove our more modestly sized family car, a 1956 Chevrolet 210 4-door sedan. I enjoyed driving it because it had the classic 265 V-8 engine and dual exhausts with glass pack mufflers. It had plenty of power, and sounded way cool. A dozen years later, I learned to drive a stick in Mrs. swsig's Datsun 510. It was so easy to shift, it took me less than an hour to learn to drive it.

2. The first car I bought was in 1973. I wanted a sports car, but I had a family, so I compromised and bought a new BMW Bavaria 4-door sedan. It out-handled and out-braked any American car I'd ever driven, went from zero to 60 in about 9 seconds (good for that period), could run at 120 mph all day, and got 20 mpg on regular gas. I kept it 25 years, and sold it when I could no longer find a mechanic who could maintain it properly.

 

[jeffrefrig]

I learned to drive in a 65 Chevelle, 4 door 230 Turbothrift. Dad gave it to me my senior year. 1st car I bought was a 67 LTD.

 

[SweetMK]

My ma bought me a 1962 Impala 2 door when I graduated from high school,, (1968)

The first ride I bought with my own money was a 1968 C10 Chevy,, 307, Powerglide,, baby blue, and white,,

(this was my "artistic photography" stage,, so black and white pic)

That is not water behind it,, that is a field,, probably harvested soybeans,,,,

I was in the US Navy,, nothing else to spend money on,, so,,,,,

 

[Sistema1927]

We had some huge boat station wagons in driver's ed, and then I spent most of the time between then and my 16th birthday practicing in the folks 68 VW Squareback Sedan. I took my test in that car in El Paso, Texas.

About a month later I bought a 68 Pontiac LeMans for $600, followed closely by a 63 Plymouth Valiant Slant-Six for fifty bucks. Sold the LeMans to a buddy who never paid me, and bought a 66 Ford F100. I soon owned 2 1/2 Corvairs, a 65 convertible, a 66 Monza, and a half interest in another 66 Monza parts car.

I started selling real estate while in college, and bought a 74 LTD to transport clients. One guy couldn't come up with $100 in earnest money, so he sold me his 68 Ford Fairlane for the $100. Along the way I picked up and soon sold a 50 Ford Business Coupe and a 50 Chevy pickup.

All of these were before I married at age 22. While engaged to my wife I bought her a 72 Ford Maverick to get her back and forth to work after we married.

As our marriage progressed we owned an assortment of new and used vehicles, but I determined a few years ago to let others pay for the depreciation and only buy vehicles with a bit of wear on them now.

 

[kraynky]

I learned to drive by sneaking out of church with my good friend whose Grandmaw left her keys in her 1967 4 door Impala. Robert told me about it and asked me if I could drive. Of course I said yes! I'd been standing up in the back seat behind my Dad for years watching him drive!

I backed out of the space, idled to the stop sign and then turned left and hit the gas! That sucker tried to swing it's tail end around to the right (I might have punched it a bit too hard, and the road was a bit wet from a morning shower), but all my years of learning counter steer from sliding my bicycle to a stop kicked in.

I straightened it out and we cruised around town for close to a half hour before returning to church. No problems. I think I was 14 or 15 at the time.

We did it with other cars over time, as I fine tuned my driving skills. On a few trips we returned with the "borrowed car" to find that the original parking space was taken by someone else! So we parked it wherever we could. This was maybe '72 or '73, and it was a different world back then in small town America.

When I turned 16 my Dad told my Mom that he was going to take me out to learn to drive. Not really thinking about what a special moment it might have been for Dad, I just jumped in the 1964 Cutlass convertible and drove us around town.

Dad didn't say a word until we got home and Mom asked, "Well, how'd he do?" Dad tossed the keys on the counter and said, "That ain't the first time he's drove." Nothing else.

My first car at 16 was a 4 year old 1969 Chevelle Malibu. Two door, with a mighty 307 V8, power windows, power seats, A/C, bucket seats & a floor shifter with a 2 speed Power Glide tranny. It was a really nice car for a year or two. It was 1974 and I had to add glasspacks, air shocks, wide rear tires and 6x9 speakers in the rear deck with an 8-track stereo!

Wow, the memories that came flooding back in with this thread!

 

[DWalt]

My first car was a 52 Studebaker. Actually it was my mother's, but I drove it much more than she did. The first car in my name was a 52 Chevy. Bought it for $250, it was as stripped down as you could possibly get. Drove it all through my college years, then passed it on to my brother.

 

[S&W Fan]

I took driver's ed in high school, 1974. We had simulators in the basement of the gym that could be either "3 on the tree" or auto. The instructor would have us do both. We also had behind the wheel instruction in dealership donated cars.

Somehow my goofball older brother convinced my dad to trade in a beautiful Chevelle, tan, landau top, small V8 on a Fiat 850 Spyder LOL!! What a piece of junk, it was the first car I drove. The summer between my junior and senior years of high school I got a job as a mechanic's assistant/parts runner at the Alfa Romeo/Fiat dealer in our town-those skills came in very handy haha.

 

[pmanton]

A 1948 Buick 4 door sedan. I was 16 in 1954 and my father was a Buick man.
Oh well it beat walking.

 

[jimmyj]

Learned to drive- 1951 Henry J.
First car- 1937 Phymouth Business Coupe. ($35.00)