What was the *First Car* you ever had?

Vanity | July 17th, 2008 | Raineygoodyear

[Alouette]

First car was a ‘64 Olds 88 in 1974. Gas was $0.50 a gallon.

[HeadOn]

Almost forgot - gas ranged from 55 to 75 cents per gallon, and then started to run up over a dollar.

[Doohickey]

‘71 Ford Pinto. 1600cc engine. Smoked like a grease fire making left turns. Went though a couple of quarts of oil a week. Both motor mounts were broken, but there wasn’t enough torque to matter - gravity was all it needed. Ended up driving it to the junkyard.

[theDentist]

<<>>>

[Vigilanteman]

You had an easy childhood. Your Dad gave you a three year old car. I had to go out and buy my first car.

I bought it in the summer of 1974 for $500., not long after I got my driver's license. I worked two jobs to support it.

It was a 1968 Chevrolet Impala with 92,000 miles on it. The aqua blue paint and vinyl roof was peeling a little, but it had a glorious 8-track tape player.

I loved that car but as I grew older, college took priority over the car. I sold it to my brother because I needed the money and actually got more than my original $500 out of it. But my brother didn't take the same care of it and it ended up in the junkyard by 1983.

I'm told it would be worth a pretty penny had we kept it and taken good care of it. Most of the American cars built during that era were junk. The 1968 Impala was one of the few exceptions.

[backhoe]

‘63 or ‘64 VW— had the tiny, split rear window. Side-arm turn signals in the doorpost. No gas gauge- kicked a lever for reserve.

Cheapest gas was 25 cents a gallon...

[dawn53]

Wow, in high school I had a 1957 Plymouth Plaza, this was in 1969. The main thing I remember about the car was that it was green, and it had push button transmission. Gas, I think I paid 25 cents a gallon.

[CaptainK]

1976 Datsun Honeybee. With the Bee on the front panel. Until I erased it off.

$.50 a gallon I think.

Don't hold me to that.

[ladtx]

Same here, similar to the color of this one.

My next one was a 1963 Corvair Spyder.

[nina0113]

73 Pontiac LeMans, bought in 78.

[China Clipper]

Mine was a 1957 Bel Air Chevy coup. It was white, cost me $400 bucks. I worked at Safeway, it was 1974, I was 18, the summer of my junior year in High School, almost a senior. Gas was a whopping 80 cents a gallon.

I was King of the World when I drove it. .
I learned about cars, I learned about cops, and I learned about responsibility. .

The gas cap is in the left rear "wingtip". The windows rolled up and "locked" in place with a little tab. The gauges were big and round, they reminded me of aircraft gauges and I loved the way they glowed at night. Every light, every gauge worked, I made sure of that. I was proud of that, even then the older cars seldom had them all functional..

The body felt solid, strong. Both door closed with a resonant "ker-chunk", not like today's car doors. .
I added seat belts myself, dad insisted. I always felt like I somehow "hurt" the car drilling those big holes for the anchor bolts..

The front seat was huge, plenty of room for three people, or just two "close up". (Remember the "S-O-B" corners?-" Scoot over Baby!).

That car had an engine compartment you could sleep in. I had an Eldebrock "Torker" manifold, "Hooker" headers, a "bored out" 283 cu in engine to 302 cu in, a Muncie "Rock Crusher" tranny 4 speed on the floor, a 4.11 12 bolt rear end, and wide tires..

I could chirp the tires "in all four gears". .

In fact the ONLY ticket I ever got in that car was for "Exhibition of speed" just off the main street drag. I was -ahem- in a speed contest with the chief of Police's son. He had a Duster, purple with yellow accents. A Dodge, 318 cu in. I smoked him. It was the first AND LAST time I "raced" it. Really. Dad grounded me for a month after that one..

(Sigh) I still get excited just talking about it. It was every 18 year old male dream car. Think cruising main street every Friday and Saturday night..

Think "American Graffiti". I LIVED that movie. I would have been Curt....

[SealSeven]

1972 Buick Skylark with a 350 rocket. Great car.

[MortMan]

Had? You mean in the biblical sense?!? ;-P

The first car I ever drove consistently was my brother’s 1978 Berlinetta. Cool car! Gas prices - I don’t remember. But they had to be under $1.00, probably on the order of 78 cents, just based on the history of gas prices that I can recall. This was back in the early 80s.

The first car I ever bought was a beat-up Mercedes 300 in Germany (Military). Thank goodness for gas coupons at the commissary - they saved a BUNCH of money over the price at the pump.

[sharkhawk]

1971 Olds vista cruiser station wagon with the 455 option, bought from my Mom and Dad for $100 in 1981. Gas was $1.25 or so. That car rocked, 14 people in it and still would blow a 1981 camaro off the line. And yes it was the same color as the one from That 70’s show.

[Non-Sequitur]

63 or ‘64 VW— had the tiny, split rear window.

It was a lot older than that. I think VW replaced the split rear window with a one-piece oval in 1953.

[Jim Noble]

1969 Ford Maverick, Freudian Gilt, 6 cyl. automatic. I paid between 0.299 and 0.349 for gas depending on where and when.

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

47 Plymouth 4 door flat head, manual, cost $50 and gas was
17.9, bought in 1954.
It had a bad problem with blowing head gaskets every 1,000
miles or so, every 3 to 4 months.
I got where I kept a spare and could change the head gasket
very fast.
Mostly driven Friday and Saturday to drive ins.
Generally there were 5 girls and 5 guys going to the drive in.

[The Lumster]

1964 Impala SS purchased for $400 in 1971. Blew the engine in 1972, sold it for $100 and bought a 71 VW Super Beatle for $1,000.

Gas was .25 per gallon

[Doohickey]

That was my second car. Bought it for $1600 in 1983. The body was in great shape and even had the original chrome and script. My buddy and I knocked the 4-inch lift out of the back and replaced the springs with some from an El Camino to stiffen it up a bit.

That was the first year of the smallblock 400. There was no tri-power option that year, but I did replace the Rochester carb with a Holley 650 double-pump on an Edelbrock manifold. The original trans was a Muncie 4-speed. Added an aftermarket Hurst shifter and it was good to go. That Goat would get up and haul. The only thing I couldn’t affort was a decent set of headers.

I miss it.

[Malsua]

1977 Plymouth Arrow.

It had some very unique features.

Artic Snow blow air conditioning. (only works in heavy snow storms, delivers the snow in a roaring torrent right in your face through the vents).

Detachable gas tank. Nothing like dragging a full gas tank down the pavement to add excitement to your day!

Leg massager. This happens when the bearing on the drive shaft siezes and the shifter wings back and forth due to the now elliptical orbit of the drive shaft.

Before Caddy and the 8-6-4 engine...this had the 4-3 engine. It starts out with 4 cyclinders and when the cam lobes on the first cylinder go round due to improper lubrication, Viola! A 3 cyclinder!

Who can forget the variable charging system. It sometimes charged, sometimes not! Fortunately, at the weight, you could push start this car. I know, I did, hundreds of times.

How about the permanently locking brakes! Wee, who’d thunk it, the pins on the calipers are exposed to the elements...so they rust...hit the brakes...they stay hit! Woot. How convenient.

Died a timely death with 62k on the odometer. Absolute garbage.