Bureau of Silly Threads Presents: My First Car

[westingman123]

Mine was a '76 Mustang II, brown with a tan Landau roof. It was a manual transmission, which I knew little about except for driving the "three on the tree" truck on the farm. Mama and Dad paid for it, and I paid them back each week from my part-time job proceeds.

That little 'stang took me EVERYWHERE. I drove it until the wheels fell off, then moved up to a Cutlass, which is another story. My high school chemistry teacher used to switch cars with me when he needed a "bigger" car to drive, and I'd take his MG to work. Talk about sitting on the ground.

 

[pdub]

65 Mustang

This was the first car I ever had. Back in 1976 when I bought it these cars were all over the place. Every used car lot you drove buy had several Mustang's for sale but typically lots of 65 through 68 models of all types were most abundant.

I fell in love with the Mustang after seeing the commercials on TV when they first came out. When my parents decided my mom needed a new car I suggested a Mustang. Of course that was vetoed as being "not practical" for a family with 3 kids.

When I got mine I looked in the paper and saw the ad for this convertible listed at $199.00 (This was 1976, Bloomington, Minnesota. The land of rusted out cars) My mom went with me and talked the guy down to $175.00 as she said you never pay what they are asking! I drove the car for a year before getting into a wreck and then selling the car as is.

This is a good example of what the car looked like. Wimbledon white with a black interior.

Patrick

 

[rp2813]

Patrick!  I LOVED my '65 Mustang.  The favorite out of all cars I've owned.   That car took off like a shot and the steep streets of San Francisco were no match for it.  It didn't have power steering, and I liked it that way.  Wimbledon white with blue interior.

 

I purchased it in spring of 1978 for considerably more than you paid.  Early Mustangs have almost always been a hot commodity here on the west coast.

 

[pdub]

Ralph-

Used cars were (and probably still are) much cheaper in the snowy area's that use salt on the roads during winter months. The cars rust very quickly and some people even have 'winter/beater cars' and store the good car to be used only during the dry summer months.

I too love Mustang's and always will. I currently have a '72 hardtop and a 2000 GT.

Patrick

 

[d-jones]

I'm not kidding here folks!

I know it's not a car but what the heck. I joined the Army when I was 17 back in 1980 as a tank crewman. My MOS was 19E, or 19 echo as the Army would have called it. I completed basic and A I T at Fort Knox Kentucky and was issued my very first drivers license ever, and the only vehicle listed on that license was the M60A1 main battle tank. At Fort Hood Texas I was assigned to Alpha Company 2/67 Armored and placed in 2nd platoon were I became the driver of Alpha 24(read Alpha two four)meaning 2nd Platoon, fourth tank. It looked pretty much like this one you see here, except it had the obligatory two by four on the front slope between the two headlights. I spent a great deal of time working on that tank, getting it back into shape after years of neglect. To this day the smell of diesel exhaust takes me right back to its drivers seat.

 

[hydralique]

d-jones . . .

I hope they didn't make you pass a parallel parking test to get that license!

 

[gizmo]

my first car was an Austin 1800 MkI.

It was standing unused on ther roadside near home, I asked the owner if it was for sale, I got it for $50. It needed a few minor repairs for roadworthy certificate, all up it cost me about $500. It was a great old car. Synchro on second was tired so I had to learn to double-declutch.
It was white with red interior.
The Austin 1800 had the hydrolastic suspension, which had no springs or shocks, but a rubber-cushioned cylinder ("displacer") over each wheel, the displacers were connected front-to-rear on each side.The displacers were filled with water, with a rust inhibitor added. The It gave fantastic handling and a very soft ride. Performance was...leisurely. But once you got it up to speed, you didn't have to slow down for corners...

Vey good memories of this car.

In the attached link, there are a number of versions shown. Mine was the Mk I, the same as the white car left column, three down from the top. (GA107) Rear of my car was the same as the grey car,middle column, second from top.

http://www.elevenhundred.com/austin1800/photo.php

 

[hydralique]

IIRC the 1800 "Landcrab" also had a notably strong unibody for the era, no doubt part of the reason for the excellent road manners, along with the Hydrolastics and long wheelbase. Issigonis may not have known much about styling or marketing but he damned well knew how to make a safe, good handling and economical car. It's ironic that once BMC and Leyland merged to form British Leyland the best engineered small cars they made were Issi's sedans and not the MG and Triumph sports cars they were famous for. They never bothered with the Landcrab here in the US but sent the Marina instead, which was a huge sales flop regardless of the ads bragging about it having the same engine as an MGB. I don't know that the Landcrab would have done better but at least it would have offered a really good driving car, something that the Marina couldn't give in any way or form.

 

[58limited]

I hope they didn't make you pass a parallel parking test

Parallel parking an M60A1 is easy - just drive it to where you want to park it, irregardless of what is already there!

 

[1952crestwood]

Grandpa bought it new, then Dad got it in 78...

then I got it for my first car in 1980. 1968 Mercury Monterey 4 door sedan in Wimbledon White. I think this is a Montclair but it's just like mine from all I can tell. That 390 was wicked fast, and I startled more than one of the "cool cars" of the time by striding right past them in, causing some shocked faces. Never judge a book by it's cover.

 

[dirtybuck]

1974 Chevy Vega GT

My sister owned the car at first and I took it over. The car was medium blue (an "exclusive" Vega color). I took it over in February of '75. I got out on my own when I was 19 and kept it until October of the same year There was ALWAYS something wrong with it (basically the carburetor and then the clutch, as it was a standard 4-speed) until I finally got it to one of the BETTER Chevy service departments. It costs me an arm and a leg, but after the bugs got ironed out, it did it's job until I bought a '75 Nova coupe.

The only thing missing on this picture is the white GT striping.

 

[washernoob]

Robyn! That Mercury looks like a gorgeous car. I have never seen that model.

 

[moparguy]

1968 Mercury...

Hey Robyn, those Mercurys are great... and Brandon, this relates to the tv show car thread... if you like them, look for some of the original Hawaii 5-0 episodes, McGarrett drove a 68 Mercury for several seasons!

 

[labboy]

1981 Dodge Colt

It was the Colt made by Mitsubishi and was red. Wonderful first car. It had 49K miles on it when I got it and over 200K when I gave it to a neighbor who was going to overhaul it. Got me all the way through college with only having to do brakes, tires and replace the starter.

 

[blackstone]

1965 Pontiac Catalina

I was still in college, with no intentions of buying a car, but at a Thanksgiving dinner, a family friend was selling the Catalina. He was a traveling salesman, and the car had just been slightly damaged, with over 120K miles. He was selling for $100; my father jokingly suggested $50, and the deal was unexpectedly done. After college, sold the Catalina (for a profit), and moved onto Suburbans. Can't very well deliver a washer in the trunk of a Catalina, no matter how big it is.