Posted on 08/10/2008 5:57:25 PM PDT by 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.
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.
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.
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.
‘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!
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.
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.
‘82 Mustang... cute, good car... got lots of compliments on it when it was clean...
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.
A pal in high school had one. Beautiful car.
1969 Mach1 Mustang.428 Cobra jet.Silverjade with white interior.I can still see it now.SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET
Yeah, we watched you through the built-in skylights...
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.
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.
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.
First car? :P
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.