What's the story behind your very first car (1 Viewer)

[Bob Graz]

In 1977, I went looking to purchase my first car. I was in college and had about $1200. to spend. In 1977, a used Ford Fairlane at the dealer was $3,000 plus. Since I had only about 1/3 of that I went to the used car lots in town. The ones with the lights and multi-color banners hung all over the lot. Upon walking onto the lot I was met by a used car saleman who's name was Moose. Really, his business card said Moose. I told Moose I had $1200 and it was incredible, nearly every car on the lot from a volkswagon beetle to a caddy was $1200. Off in the corner was a 1974 Dodge Charger with a smashed fender. Nice looking car though, 318 in it and about 30k miles on it. Moose offered it to me for $1200 and another $150 to fix the fender. I test drove it, it seemed fine so I bought it, expecting it to breakdown at anytime. Turned out it was a great car and I got a great deal. It was quite a head turner too, very sleek.
As it turned out it was all down hill from there. A 1980 Pinto (with the plastic gas tank guard), a 1984 Tempo (the car from hell) and the notorious 1995 Windstar with the head gasket and tranny problems. Wish I had my 1974 Dodge Charger back.

 

[Steve Schaffer]

Bob,

Think it might be time to quit buying Fords?

My first car was a 1962 Corvair Monza coupe, purchased from a private party in 1968 at 43k miles. Paid $625 for it, drove it until 1972 when it had 113k miles on it. Traded it in for a new 72 Corolla and got $450 trade in for it. It still ran very well and went 2k miles on a quart of oil when I traded it in.

 

[Eric Kahn]

the first car I bought myself was a 73 chevelle strip job
bought it in 84, it was a 6 cyl manual everything car with no radio, the windshield leaked, it burned a quart of oil every 250 miles, the previous owner hade replaced the 3 speed with a close ratio 4 speed that did not really work with the highway gears in the rear end (on hindsite, i could have probably sold the tranny for more than I paid for the car) the rear axle seals leaked and I had to replace them, the speedo read 25% low-45 on speedo was 60 in real life, and it had grand prix bucket seats in place of the original bench seats, they took me almost a day to get them level instead of at a weird angle

It is amazing what you will put up with in your first car and be happy
I would not put up with all those problems nowdays

 

[Jim_F]

I could have gone a long time without this jaunt down memory lane.

My first car was a sharp 1968 Coronet which my aunt bought for herself with the intention of giving it to me for my HS graduation. Unfortunately, she passed away when before I reached graduation. My dad took care of the car until it was time to pass it along to me.

On my first date after taking possession of the car, I was rear-ended by a drunk while waiting at a red light. My date suffered whiplash injuries and the car was damaged beyond its book value. I managed to get the car back on the road (albeit as a beater) for a bit, but dumbf**k that I was at that age, I soon wrecked it for good.

A few months later, I got a 1969 Catalina, but within a year I was driving it while on a date and-you guessed it-I was rear-ended by a drunk, my date suffered whiplash injuries and the car was totalled.

Small wonder that I'm not a driving enthusiast.

 

[AviTevet]

I got my first car as a hand-me-down from my mom, then dad, then sister. It was an 86 Subaru GL wagon, FWD 5-sp. My mom was always afraid it was going to break down in the middle of the road, so I couldn't drive it more than 30 miles/leg. It never broke down. Then when I got a job I sold it for really cheap and got a Subaru Impreza WRX and I've had it for a little over a year. It's possibly the perfect car! Nice handling, AWD for trick rally-x stunts, turbo 4 cyl for gas mileage or high power on demand, relatively high ground clearance for a sports sedan so I can take it to the mountains, good ergonomics, and a nice trunk. The only way it could be more perfect was if I got the wagon. Then it would have the handling and power of a sports car but the utility of a van, while maintaining the mileage of an econobox.

 

[Greg Rowe]

Phew, at least I'm not the only person who is pretty new to cars here! My first car was bought used by my brother. He drove it for many years. He then lent it to my sister to use in Florida. She used the car for about a year, then it came back to NY. Then my brother moved to Florida and took the car. It stayed there for quite some time until he sold it and bought a truck. He hadn't received payment from his friend and my parents asked if he'd sell it to them. So, he did, and my parents gave me the car. It was a 1988 Chevy Beretta. I drove that car for 3 or 4 years (a chevy made it to 160K miles!). Then, this May I bought a 2002 celica . My wife took the beretta until we had the funds for a car for her. Just yesterday the plates came off of the beretta. I'm gonna miss that car .
Greg

 

[Jay H]

The first car I got possession of (not exactly owned, I didn't actually "own" a car til after I graduated college. But the car that I actually got to use under my parent's name for college was a 4 door red 1981 Datsun 510 hatchback. 1.6l 4 cyl Auto tranny. Nice car, solid mechanicals, very reliable but no power and prone to rust on the quarterpanels. Hard to start the carburated engine in the cold Syracuse winters but it would always eventually turn over. But like many old Japanese cars, the panels were falling apart and duct tape was it's savior for awhile!

Jay

 

[AllanN]

My first car a 1989 Toyota Tercel started out as my uncles. The engine blew in it at 140k my uncle took the engine out and was going to fix it but never got around to it. My aunt finally made him sell it. My dad needed something a because his truck was falling apart. He bought it from my uncle got a a used engine from another wreaked toyota and fixed it up. He drove it for a few years but did't really like it because of its size. Then a friend of my grandmothers who was getting to old to drive decided to get rid of her 1980 Buick station wagon. My grandparents who had a Caddy and a GMC SUV did't need it, so they gave the wagon to my dad. My dad kept the Toyota around till I got my license. The only thing between me and that car then was learning to drive a manual. I later sold that car because it looked like a POS. For a 1991 Chevy Cavilear. Drove it for about 2 1/2 years until I got my new Ranger back in 2000 in my senior year of college.

 

[Charles J P]

My first car was a 1985 Chevy Celebrity. It only made it about a year before it was completely totalled after a 200 pound deer attacked it. Since we only paid 1100 (in 1996 with 84,000 miles on it) for it, the insurance company totalled it out. My next car was a 90 Olds Cutlas Sierra, which was way worse than than the chevy but it had 108,000 when we bought it. We also paid 3-4 times as much though. I drove that until I left for college and didtn take it my freshman year, and then got an 88 Acura Legend. This car rocked. I bought it with 110,000 miles on it and put another 70,000 on it until just this last summer. We did have some repairs on it (both CV joints and parts of the exhaust) finally, this last summer the air was gone, and one of the CV joints was going out again indicating a shoddy repair job or a deeper issue. I am now driving a 2002 Mazda Protege 5 which is my first new car. As a side note, I am a bastard at the car dealership. I got the final price of the mazda for about 3-400 above invoice, and got $3000 in trade for the Acura (which means I only paid $1000 to drive it for 4 years and 70,000 miles )

 

[Chris Smith]

My first car was a '87 SAAB 9000 Turbo 5 spd. I loved that car. My dad orignally leased it but put so many miles on it that it would have cost almost as much to turn the car back in as it did to buy it outright.
He drove it everywhere. I was 7 when he got the car new, and playing baseball (he was my coach as well.)
Anyway I remember him hooking up this C-Clamp to this hoop on the back of the car and then hooking up the "grate" to drag the baseball field with it. It was really funny becasue there is this guy dragging the field with a SAAB. He did this until I was 15 and wasn't able to play ball anymore (H.S. started and I'm built more like a football player )
He tried to sell it for a few months when he got his new car but eventually just kept it and gave it to me when I turned 17 (driving age in NJ). Drove it for about 2 yrs, burned out a clutch (hey, I was a new driver, okay?) Replaced that. Finally sold it to a friend of mine who drove it for another 20k miles. Had like 209k when he finally gave it to one of those Cars for Vets programs. Wow, that was a good car.

 

[Mark C Sherman]

My First Car Was A 1969 Caddy Coupe De ville which was named "SHERMAN'S TANK" this thing was HUGE. I could Fit 3 people in the front and 4 in the back no problem. I could lay down in the trunk (I'm 6'3). which was great when I went Skiing with all my friends. All of us in the car and 4 pairs of Skis in the trunk it was great.

The only downside was it got about 12 feet per gallon just Kidding it got about 8MPG. the engine was huge a 472 CI with a turbo 350 tranny and a posi rear end. Thank god gas was only .89 a gallon back then (1990)

 

[Randy_Sh]

First car I drove was a hand-me-down from my grandfather-he reached the age where he couldn't drive anymore right around when I turned 16. I was cruisin' in a metallic Brown '86 Chevy Cavalier 4 door. It had a few cigarette burns in the dash, door panel, sun visor-guess grandpap forgot he was smoking when reaching for those things...it had only front speakers with the absolute worst AM/FM radio...I drove it until I went to college then it was handed down again to my sister...she named it the shaggin' wagon and drove it through out high school. For laughs a friend of her's bought her a "Crown" air freshener.

The next fine automobile that I drove is still what I am driving today...I needed a car to get to my co-op job so my parents purchased a fine '92 Geo Prism-pretty much a Toyota Corolla. This was in '94 and it had only 17k miles. Light Metallic Blue with Blue interior. Well, I am up to 110k miles and still cruisin' along in the Geo. It's the ultimate commuter car. Fill it up once every 3-4 weeks. It's loving life now that I only have a 8 mile-10 minute commute to work. At that rate it should last forever...we take my wife's car on any long trips...oh yeah, after I graduated from college, I traded my folks my 486DX-66MHz PC for the title for the Geo. I think I made out pretty well.

Although the Geo's going strong, it doesn't stop me from window shopping...really like some of the new Nissans...hmmm Maxima...

 

[Don Smith]

The first car that I purchased myself was a 99 Ford Contour. I bought it new off the lot about 3 1/4 years ago. Next summer, I'll finally have it payed off.
Overall, the car has been pretty good. It's black with dark black tinted windows (a pain to keep clean) and a 24v V6 that gets 170 horsepower (not bad for a smaller car).
All of that being said, I will never again buy another Ford. Every experience that I have had at a Ford Service Centre has been a nightmare. The worst was when I had the service manager at a Ford dealer tell me never to come back because I refused to pay twice for a repair that should have been fixed the first time when I brought the vehicle in the day before.
Next car will probably be a Honda, something that I should have bought in the first place.

 

[Ralph Summa]

My Dad bought a vomit brown 1980 AMC Pacer about a month before my 16th birthday back in 1985. He bought to get back and forth to the spot where the van-pool picked him up. All I could think about was turning 16 and NOT wanting to drive "an upsidedown fishbowl on wheels". Well, it wasn't to be my car. He bought a second Pacer (metallic blue) a week later just for me! It turned out to be the most popular car in my school, and that was way before the Wayne-mobile!

GOD! I miss that car!

 

[Dennis Reno]

My first car was a '78 Mercury Monarch (in 1986). It was my Great-Grandmothers car and upon her death it became my Dad's. It was green (before green cars were popular again) and it had a lime green interior done in a paisley pattern. Dad decided to keep it as my sister and I were both of driving age. The car looked and smelled like a "Granny-mobile"! My sister and I had decided on calling it the "Granny-mobile" until one faithful day.

My Grandmother (Dad's mother) had been in a car accident and needed a loaner, so my Dad told her she could use the Monarch. During her drive to work a bus ran a stop sign and plowed into the passenger side of the Monarch. The impact was so hard that the frame was actually bent. Most people would have trashed the car, but not my Dad! No, he had the frame straightened and gave it back to us! Both passenger side doors did not work, they were crushed beyond repair. The car dog tracked and above 45-50mph the car shook terribly.

I'm happy to report that after less than a year driving the "GREEN BOMB" it finally gave up the ghost. A combination of the damage done by the accident and my sister's inability to perform any maintenance doomed the car.

Don't get me started on my second car. Anyone else ever drive for years without a speedometer???

 

[Craig]

My first car was a new 1969 Plymouth Roadrunner my parents got for me when I was a senior in high school. I paid for half of it over the next three years. I didn't ever have any spare money during that time due to paying on the car, but I didn't care.

First car I bought all by myself was a new 1976 280Z. In 1978 I traded it for a 1972 Porshce 911T, my car addiction was just getting serious.

 

[KyleS]

I was lucky I didnt have to fully purchase my first vehicle (parents kicked in more then half) but I did get the fortune of putting in a ton of work on it. It was a 78 Totota Truck with 33.5x12.5 in tires a 2 inch body life and a ton of body damage that we bought from my uncle in 92.
Well we tore that truck down to the frame sandblasted it and painted the frame, then piece by piece we fixed it up. Puddy and Bondo for the body, new interior carpet (in everything floor, ceiling, & walls) replaced the cracked dash, etc. About the only thing that we didnt replace was the engine, tranny, & rims/tires. It was a lot of work but when it was all done and painted it ran/looked better then a brand new truck off the lot and was a hell of a lot cheaper. Of course 2 years later my brother rolled that truck end over end after he fell asleep at the wheel. but had some great times in that car.
KyleS

 

[Kyle Richardson]

My first car was a 1966 Mercury Monterey and was 4 years older than I. It was light blue and was named the blue boat and had a 390 in it because it needed all that engine to get the beast rolling. My that was a huge car.
One fond memory was when I was still a teenager and my best friend and I were on a double date. We decided to head to the park where he made out with his girlfriend in the back seat and I made out with my girlfriend in the trunk. I'll bet I could have fit a queen sized mattress in that trunk

 

[AllanN]

We decided to head to the park where he made out with his girlfriend in the back seat and I made out with my girlfriend in the trunk

I have managed to make out in every car myself and my parents have owned while in high school. But never in the trunk. 80 Buick wagon, 89 Toyota Tercel, 91 Taurus, 91 Cavlear. My 2000 Ranger has seen no action. :frowning:

 

[Christ Reynolds]

my first car was an 86 volkswagen jetta gl, purchased for $1000. ran like an absolute tank...for a jetta. 33 mpg, even after 189,000 miles. drove it 50,000 miles in two years, changed the oil after 30,000. dumb of me, i know, but it didnt burn a drop. and the oil i drained wasnt in horrible condition either. the only problem i had with it, was the fan motor was broken, but that was the case when i bought it. so i couldnt let it idle for more than 5 minutes, without driving it over 25 to cool down the engine since then, ive loved vw, jettas in particular. ive had 3 of them, including a 2000 gls, which was a great car for the money. my 2000 jetta got 36 mpg highway, and i had an 84 jetta gli, with 230,000+ miles on it, that got 32.
CJ