What was YOUR first car? Your favorite car? (VANITY)

[Number57]

Was talking to a friend about old cars & old times today (for me, that means the early 80s, when I got my license). I've had a LOT of cars. Most clunkers, as I was usually broke, but a few gems. I've had better cars, and I've had worse. But here's my 1st & fav picks.

My very first car, purchased in 1980 for the Princely sum of $150, was a true tank: the 1969 Chrysler Town & Country station wagon. Weighing in at an impressive 3,700 lbs (IIRC), it had a wheezing 383 CI, after-market manual choke sticking out of the dash, and some very nice wood-like vinyl stuck to the sides.

Mine was blue. It was Rad. I loved it. It lasted 3 weeks.




My favorite car (out of the 50+ I've owned over the years) might surprise some of you. It was a tough choice, but I settled on an odd little 4-door I owned from 1985 to 1986. I think it is my favorite because it was such an unusual car to see in Michigan (never seen another since), and because it was such a tough little bugger. It was even stabbed by a drug-crazed hippy once. How many people can say that about their car? True story. The Fiat Mirafiori 131S (mine was this exact color)..

I was SHOCKED to learn that my parents never owned a car until they were married. That blows me away. Their first car was a 1952 Mercury Monterey.



My mom's favorite ever was her 1955 Ford Fairlane Victoria (crown vic, I guess). Hers was Red/White:



Dad's fav was a 1964 Corvair, which had been built for drag racing, then de-tuned for the street. The original HP was 140 for that engine, after tweaking for the strip he estimates it was over 300 HP. After de-tuning it was about 240. Still a LOT of power for a car of that size.

He owned a number of Corvairs over the years, and this is the only one he doesn't have a picture of... he sold it not long after buying it because of the 70s gas crunch, when premium gas (the engine required it) hit a jaw-dropping .60 cents a gallon.

Here's a similar car:

OK that's it! If you enjoyed this, please leave your Firsts and Favorites!! Thanks for reading.

[meyer]

Had one of these, 1971. Bought a '70 for parts...

[Number57]

I almost chose the Chevette as my favorite (owned four over the years) but they *were* just too common. Don’t see many these days.

[oldenuff2no]

My first vehicle was a 1949GMC pickup. It was the 5 window truck and I wish I still had it. I drove the crap out of that truck. When I went into the military it had a blue printed/balanced 327 with a 4 speed behind it and a camero rear end in it. It rattled and it clanked but it would go down the road. I had the biggest cadillac mufflers on it that I could find. It idled down the road quietly and I kept my foot out of it in town. It looked just like any other old rattle trap pickup but when I needed to I could get around the corner down the logging roads and out of sight in a big hurry. My favorite car was a 67 camero, 4 speed, 327 with a high rise topped off with a 6 pack. It was quicker than the truck. I put it together in 69 and that car would scream. I remodeled a 69 camero in 74 after Nam but I got stupid and totaled it.
I used to love driving muscle cars and pushing them to the max.

[REDWOOD99]

First car - 1968 Rambler. Got me thru college and started me in my 1st business.

Best Car - My current 2003 Dodge Neon. 288,000 miles. Still gets 35 MPG, only 2 tune-ups but 5 sets of tires.

[Yardstick]

Mine was a silver 1977 Toyota Celica. It was 1987 and I paid a whopping 750 dollars for it.

The fastbacks looked like little Mustangs and the notchbacks looked like little Challengers. I had a '75 notchback in '90. Seems like we picked it up for $1200. Cool little cars.

[Randy Larsen]

‘69 Mercury Cougar with a 4bbl 351 Windsor, White Leather Seats, White Landau top over mellow yellow paint,Uniroyal Tigar Paws...f60-14’s in the front, g60-14’s in the rear!

[PackerBoy]

Depend what you mean by "first".

The FIRST car I ever drove was a '69 Buick Wildcat. Loved it.

The FIRST car I ever owned was a '82 Ford Escort. Hated it.

The FIRST car I ever paid cash for was a '92 Mazda Miata Special Edition. Secretly love it (secretly because it is most assuredly a chick car) and am still enjoying it on weekends.

[redangus]

My first car was a white `61` Pontiac Catalina 2 door. It was a hand down from my dad. I drove it into the ground finally putting 135,000+ miles on it. May late wife and I had a lot of fun in that car when we were in college. They just don’t make cars with that much room anymore. My favorite car was a tie between my 1972 Fiat 124 Spyder, red with a 5 speed and double over cam engine. It was a scream to drive and was my first convertible and my first sports car. The other favorite was actually a truck. My 1999 new body style GMC extended cab, step side pickup. It had everything That GM could put in it and I put much more on it, i.e. headers, true dual exhaust, cold air intake, hot spark plug wires and reworked ECU. I could break the tire loose anytime I felt like it, it rode like a limousine and got 20+ MPG on the highway at well over the national speed limit.

[latina4dubya]

‘82 Mustang... cute, good car... got lots of compliments on it when it was clean...

[Fiji Hill]

Have you noticed that American cars from that era (roughly '75 to '85) simply do not exist anymore? Seeing one on the road nowadays is like seeing a ghost.

In California, smog regulations may be a factor in the disappearance of these cars. Interestingly, one occasionally sees a car from the 1950's or 1960's on the road, particularly Chevrolets.

[labette]

"..65 Impala SS. 327 .."

A pal in high school had one. Beautiful car.

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

1969 Mach1 Mustang.428 Cobra jet.Silverjade with white interior.I can still see it now.SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET

[Old Professer]

Yeah, we watched you through the built-in skylights...

[Yardstick]

I’m sure that was a factor. Those poor cars really had everything stacked against them. Poor styling, poor quality control, and godawful pre-fuel-injection emissions systems.

[atc23]

Favorite Car = Lotus 11 First Car = 63 Buick Special 6 cyl, 195CID 3 Speed - very nice little car

[Kirkwood]

My parents almost bought a Mach I 69 Mustang in red metalflake. My mom complained about not enough trunk space. Dang! I would have gotten to drive it in high school.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

[A.Hun]

She is giving it away tomorrow and I think she is in shock.

Best of luck to her, after 30 years, it's got to be like giving up a loved one!

The Apollo was a Nova clone, I bought my Nova in '74 for 600 bucks. It was totally ragged out! It had a 230 ci 6 cylinder and a two speed automatic with vinyl bench seats.

At least it ran.

[atc23]

Another Fine car = 67 Bultaco Road Racer

[Number57]

First car? :P