Does your first car hold a special place in your heart?

[eytonxav]

I worked a lot from 12 yo and saved enough to buy my first car in high school, a 67 SS396 Chevelle. I still miss that car even today.

[RunningBum]

Another Pinto here. It did last me 4 years, I'll say that for it.

[Tiger8693]

Yep. 1969 Mustang Mach 1 was the first, but owned many 'muscle" cars after that. That was the first, and paid $1500 for it when I was 14, before I could (legally) drive.

[MarieIG]

Yep. A 1964 Caddy a/k/a The Gray Ghost, or per DF - MarieIG's Bumper Car. It had wings.

It was like a moving apartment; and was frequently packed with teenage girls. I was the designated driver on Friday nights. The trunk was huge, I stored beach gear, riding gear, tennis gear, whatever I wanted in that trunk.

It was old, but it was freedom. I loved it.

[Downtown]

Yes! ‘72 Datsun 510. I loved that car!

[aja8888]

1951 Chevrolet 4 door sedan bought for $35 out of a junk yard. Once I got it running and tagged,it wasn't much to talk about. Here's the only photo I have of it.

1951 Chev.jpg

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Does your first car hold a special place in your heart? Why?

1956 Chevy...and yes, most definitely yes.

In the fall of 1962 my parents bought a new car, a 1963 Chevy - the least expensive, zero options model dad could find. I had just started my soph year in HS, quit the football team, and started working part-time after school and weekends at Safeway. Dad didn't trade in the old car, telling me I could drive it since I was working. He would pay for the insurance but everything else was on my dime.

Dad had purchased the car new in 1955, a 1956 Chevy Bel Air two door sedan. Had an in-line 6 with a "three on the tree" shift manual transmission. And like the new car that replaced it, it had zero options - not even a radio. Heck, it didn't even have an oil filter, which meant the oil had to be changed every 1,000 miles!

Think it had about 75,000 miles on it when I started driving it and I recall the odometer (and speedometer) stopped working at 110,000 miles, when I was a freshman in college. No way to know how many miles it had by the time the engine blew while driving it home from college my sophomore year - it rolled to a stop for the last time at the side of the road, just a few miles outside my home town. Dad had it towed and sold it for $200. He gave the money to me to use for a down payment to buy my own car.

I remember I had worn the oil pan drain hole so large from all the oil changes that even a double-oversize drain plug was too small to prevent the oil pan dripping.

Great memories in that car, especially of a Swedish exchange student my senior year in high school. She did an amazing job of broadening my horizons and allowing me to experience things I had previously only imagined.

Except for the fancy wheels and lack of whitewall tires, this is the exact car/color:

[njhowie]

1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass

[pacergal]

Inherited many hand me downs from parents.
The first car DH and I bought was an old 280Z, don't remember the year. It was awful, always needing work.
Finally sold it and bought a small Toyota Pick up. I loved that one!

[txtig]

After dropping out of college (I later dropped back in and graduated), I got a full time job and bought a new 1974 Ford Econoline 100 cargo van . . . a stripped down model with no bells and no whistles. I outfitted it with shag carpeting, paneled walls and ceilings, a nifty under-dash cassette player, box speakers and a couple of bean bag chairs. It took me cross country a number of times, serving as both my means of transportation and my home on the road. Rumor had it that it was a pretty good place to acquire an illegal smile. I do miss that old van, but thinking back, I guess it was foreshadowing my current toy, a 38’ Class A motorhome.

[jfn111]

My first car was a 1960 Corvair that was a hand me down from my sister. That car was a POS but it was mine and I loved it.

[aja8888]

My second car (after the 1951 Chev bit the dust for the second time) was a 1947 Plymouth. I loved this car and it was a "boat" being propelled by a 80 HP straight six (flathead) with a three speed manual transmission. The back seat was ENORMOUS and served me and my girlfriend well. Drive in movie visits with that car were memorable.

I have no photos of the car but here is a representative one:

1947-plymouth-special-deluxe-p15-4-door-1.jpg

[Morgan22]

First car was an AMC Gremlin that my sibling and I purchased together and shared. Brother found it at an auction for us. It lasted about six months. POS

[chilkoot]

First car was a Mercury Capri which, coincidentally, also caught fire one time. Luckily this was just outside a repair shop and they let me use their extinguisher while the fire was still very small. I let them do the repairs since there was no towing involved and it actually ran again. Still needed something or other to be fixed about once a month. POS.

[Keim]

I just took my restored 76 Monte Carlo out for a cruise this morning. Got it in 1984.

[Tom52]

My first car at age 16 was 1963 Impala Super Sport with 327 engine and 4 speed tranny. I paid $550 for it in 1969. I had it for two years and traded it in on a 1969 Camaro. Guy across the street saw that I traded in the Impala and immediately went out and bought my old car.

Both of my first two cars are fondly remembered.

[cbo111]

'64 Datsun pickup truck, paid $200 for it in 1974. Bald tires, bad cylinder rings. It smoked like a chimney and required the addition of a quart of oil every 50 miles. The spark plugs would foul every month or so and need to be replaced. The passenger door would fly open once in a while, giving my passengers quite a start. The windshield wiper motor was inoperative. Fixing would require complete removal of the dashboard, costing more than the car was worth. It was, therefore, not a rainy day vehicle. A real hunk of junk, but I loved it.

[38Chevy454]

My 68 Pontiac GTO, still have it after 40 years now and continues. Rebuilt engine and repainted stock color when I was 16. Still runs great. But needing an exterior refresh. It has been a second car or less since I was 18. GTO is an all original numbers matching car, my hot rodding was at 18 built a V8 Vega. That was my college car. The GTO stayed at home since it was too nice to take to college.

[aaronc879]

In 1996, at age 17(or maybe a couple months before I turned 17?), I had saved up almost $3000 from saving birthday money, and allowance for years as well as making a little money mowing lawns of neighbors. I spent $1500 of it on my first car, a 1986 Toyota Corolla. Nothing special but it felt great paying cash and having my very own car. Insurance was crazy expensive and I had to pay for it all myself but it was worth it. No more school bus or walking 2 miles to and from school in the snow and cold. I was able to leave my neighborhood and get a real job to make better money.

[Marita40]

Loved my first car. Bright orange manual Opel Kadett, not sure of the year but I got it used in 1977. Black leather interior that gave me burns in the summer. Kind of a fish tail. Did I say bright orange? It positively glowed! I was the envy of my college house.