First car...

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cfz2882

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 9, 2010
Messages
2,642
Location
Belle Fourche,SD
Got my first car in 1985,a '74 nova 4-dr that cost me $250-metallic green
with a black vinyl interior it had a 2bbl 350 and automatic tranny.
it had some minor damage to both ends and a bit of rust,but it still ran
good at 140,000 mi after a badly worn timing chain was fixed,and also the
A/C still worked!Used the car for about a year then got a '69 camaro with
no engine and stripped my nova for the engine,tranny and other parts.
Still have the plates,steering wheel and a few other parts from my 1st car.
 
Mine was

a '82 Olds Cutlass Supreme Brougham. It was like driving a Lazy Boy. This was in '92. Sometime I had reach under the car and hit the starter with a tire iron for it to start.
 
My first car was and is my 1997 Ford Expedition XLT. 140,000 miles and still going well.

Its nice cause I can haul all my junk in it!

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Mine was a 68 Chrysler Newport two door. What a boat and how I didn't die driving around in that thing. One of the motor mounts was broken so if you stepped on the gas to hard the engine would come up and hit the hood! The brakes would send you through the windshield if you didn't touch them just right. I paid $50 bucks for it from my friends grandparents. My mom made me get rid of the the "death trap" a year later and I used her car, a 76 Gran Torino which we all loved, until I got my REAL first car, which was an 81 Mercury Capri. Man I loved that car, midnight blue with a pewter gray interior. 125,000 miles on it when I traded it in.
 
My first car was a 1959 Nash Metropolitan, it was my great-grandfather's...and he gave it to me when I turned 16 in 1976.

This picture was not my car...but it was the same color.

I had it until 1998.

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'68 newport

jmm63,my dad still has his '68 two door newport-has the 383 magnum engine
and yes it has also had the motor mount problem too!and yes,the brakes
(drum)take a little getting used to lol.My dads is red with white interior.
Also forgot to mention in my post above that my '74 nova had the imfamous
'74 only seatbelt interlock system though it was disabled by the time i got
the car-i still have the circuit board from that systems primitive computer
box that was under the driver's seat..
 
Wow Ken, what a fun first car!  How'd you like shifting that thing?

 

You grandfather was a wise man.  He couldn't have found anything more gutless for a 16-year old to drive.
 
'75 Renault 12 GL....

...with the 'unchoked' 1289cc engine...

My folks had a 1977 Ford Fairmont GXL with a 351 V8 and auto gearbox....There was no way they were going to let me near it, and no way I wanted to be let near it. So they played one of the cruelest tricks on a 16 year old I can possibly imagine....

Put yourself in the picture....April, 1986....

me - 'Dad, what am I going to learn to drive in if you won't let me near the Ford?'
dad - 'Mmmmmm.....'
me - 'Mum?'
mum - ....'Mmmmmm'
me - 'Well I can get my permit in a few months and need to be able to practise - I reckon if I had a car and you helped, it would be less than half the cost'
dad - 'Well how about if we buy you a cheap car and pay for your driving lessons?'
dad - 'We'll also register and insure it and you can pay for your fuel on my account at the garage'
dad - continues 'All you have to do is be available to take your and collect your sister where ever she needs to go until you pay for the car'
me - STUNNED to the point of being giddy....

I actually heard until .....'we'll register and insure it and you can pay for your fuel on my account.....'

....the rest was only 'back ground' noise by this stage....

The fine print was that they needed to know contact numbers of everywhere I intended to be - friends, events, even shopping centres. I was once paged in the local mall to the information counter where my mother said 'You need to go and collect your sister from xxxx place and take them to the movies. Diane can't take them (friends mother)'

How embarrassing do you think that was for a 17yr old?

My sister milked those last couple of conditions for at least 12 months, which wasn't hard since I was about to go into the last year of school and my folks were reluctant to let either of us have 'weekend jobs' - study was more important....

So not only did they have a captive chauffeur for my sister, they actually prevented me paying the car off to keep it that way....

The only places I couldn't be reached were: Swimming at the local river, movies and at the park....we swam, picniced and saw a LOT of films towards the end of that 12 months....
 
 

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63' Chevy Impala SS

That was my first car.  I got it in 1966 & paid about $800.00 for it.  With a 327 4BBL V8 and a four speed, it certainly was fast!

 

Actually I wanted to buy a 64' VW Bug as my first car. But my father talked me out of it. He said the SS was a more appropriate car for a high school sophomore.  After we located the car and bought it when I got home my father went on a tirade telling me that I am going to have to pay for the insurance and the gas and that as long as I live under HIS roof he'll get to drive it as often as he wants.  So with this car that averaged about 11mpg and a high insurance rate I found myself working all my spare time and had little time for anything else. I kept this car for about a year and got a 64' Ford Galaxy 500 convertible with a 289V8 2BBL automatic. This car was way easier on both the gas and insurance, but not really as reliable.

 

 I swear to this day he wanted me to buy that Chevy just to keep me out of the house and working.

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my first car..

Now this is my first car, it is a Opel Corsa Color Edition. I think in the US it is called Vauxhall Corsa, but I´m not sure about this, but at least in GB it is called Vauxhall.
I got it about a year ago and I´m pretty pleased with it so far!

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My first:

A 1956 Two tone Green and White Buick Station Wagon. The green was not this intense , but close. Light and Dark Green Vinyl

interior with rubber floor.  1968 . Bought it from Uncle "Dickey" . He had bought it from his oldest Brother , Homer "Eugene",

who had bought it brand new.  I don't know what Uncle Dick had paid Uncle Gene for it, but Uncle Gene flexed and made him let me have it for Fifteen Bucks . Twin turbine Dynaflow 322 C I  2barrel.  Had to burn Mrs. Mertz in it! Thank God it was only  .48 cents a gal!
 
1959 Ford Galaxie 4-dr. hardtop

What a bomb, but at 17 in 1968 I was itching for my own car! Small-block V8, Fordomatic transmission. The radio worked only sporadically, it was an event to hear a record all the way through. Chrome fender skirts! Shot upholstery and many other extras. It leaked oil like a sieve and burned what it didn't leak. Fortunately we lived on a hill so I could coast it to start when the battery wouldn't crank. All this luxury for $200.

Afterwards I worked part-time at a car dealer and got a deal on a 1961 Pontiac Catalina. Big-block V8, Hydra-matic trans, in great shape. Just one minor annoyance, it was a "Florida car". In those days heaters/defrosters weren't standard and this car didn't have them. I nearly froze in the winter. I was dating my ex at the time; she had a new Plymouth Road-Runner so we used her car when it was too cold. It lasted until some spaz rear-ended me full speed at a stoplight. The rear wheels actually came up off the ground. They found my radio knobs in the back seat. Ruined way beyond repair.
 
My first car was...

a silver, 1984, Pontiac Fiero. It was only 2 years old when I got it, and I only had it less than a year because I blew the engine! My dumbass self never thought about checking/changing the oil! =(
For the next 6 months, Mom made me work part time to save for a new car. I was able to save $1300.00, and the deal was whatever I saved, she and my Dad would match that amount. Imagine my shock when she surprised me with a new, 1988, Mustang for H.S. Graduation! I then had to give that money I had saved to my Mom, and she used it as collateral to ensure my insurance would be paid..
 
My 1st car was a royal POS 1979 Blaze Orange Plymouth Horizon.  That car had so much wrong with it, it should've been painted lemon yellow.  Timing belt crapped out, transmission died, carberator couldn't be adjusted right so the engine would either race or die, no in-between. A/C puked as well.

 

Drove that bomb from 1987-89.  In March 1989, my dad's aunt sold me her 4 door 1978 Ford Granada Ghia Edition, light jade green with dark jade green vinyl top.  Paid $100 for it.  It had exactly 10,002 miles on it when I bought it.  It had a dark jade Kasman cloth interior which felt like you were sitting on a cloud.  A friend of mine took all the tiny surface rust spots out and repainted it.  I put a chip guard all around the bottom too.  I drove that car until 1991 when I sold it to my youngest sister for exactly what I paid for it.  Wish I had that car now. 
 
My first car was a 1946 (the year I was born) Chrysler Windsor four door sedan with Fluid Drive. It was close to the color of the car in the photo. It had no dents or rust. I got the tube radio fixed. The cost in 1963? $70.00. I drove it almost a year (no trouble) and then bought a 1948 Packard Custom 8 (just 36,000 miles) for $400.00. I still like Packards.

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A '64 Ford Galaxie sedan, stripped down, bench seat, 289 with automatic, hubcaps -- not wheel covers, and one-speed windshield wipers. Dark green with beige interior. Bought in 1973 as a work car for $995 and paid it off on credit over a one year period.  It had about 50K miles on it.

 

Never had a problem with it. Drove it down to Mazatlan, just below the Tropic of Cancer in 1974 with three other people and even going through the Mojave and Sonoran deserts in 100+ degree heat at speeds up to 90 MPH, the temperature needle never went past mid-range.

 

I bought a '65 Mustang in 1978, probably my all-time favorite car, to replace the Galaxie. The clock was still working on the Galaxie when I sold it. That car was a real cream puff, but I was ready for something more sporty. No clock on the Mustang. I quickly realized just how much I had relied on the Galaxie's clock.
 
1963 Mercury Monterey 2-dr

Present from my Dad on my 21st birthday. This is the one which had the rear window slanted the wrong way, and the center section of which could power up and down. It had the 390 cube engine and would cruise at 90mph all day, much to the chagrin of my passengers. I don't even have a photograph of it, the only thing I still have is the first license plate, MI1970 KTJ-194.
 
Oh my!!

Those old Windsors are absolutely gorgeous! I have seen 3-4 for sale on craigslist around here. UGHH! I just drool when I see them. Such beautiful big cars!
 
Nash shifting...

Ralph, it was an experience...three on the tree and you had to double clutch!

It certainly wasn't a "chic magnet"...but I wasn't concerned with that sort of thing...even back then!
 
There is a 1966 Ford Fairlane 500XL on craigslist locally, restored, for $6,000.

Its got the automatic 289. My dad is IN LOVE WITH THE CAR, and is considering going and taking a look at it. Next to the mustang and Galaxie, the Fairlane is his most favorite car.

What do you guys think? Is the 289 a good motor? I know lots of the fords had em, and I hear they generally are very well built.

I just dont know squat on the Fairlane. I used to love the Galaxies, and never gave the Fairlane much of a look as there were only pre 1964 ones for sale (which Im not too fond of the body style)

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1957 Murray

Christmas, 1957, I would have been 2 1/2. And I still have it, though it is in need of a total restoration. It went through my younger brother, my two nephews and my niece, thus the odd yellow paint job. Originally it was a metallic blue with white trim and decals on it.

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Washernoob

The 289 is a very good engine from what I have heard. It started life as the 221 CID Challenger 221 V8 and was introduced in the new for 1962 mid size Fairlane because the old 292 Y Block V8 was to big for the new Fairlanes engine bay. Halfway through the model year  a larger version of this engine was introduced...the 260 CID  Challenger 260, In 1963 the 260 was enlarged to 289CID to replace the old Y block 292 in the standard Ford. The 292 Y blocks orgins date back to 1954 and the 239 CID and 256 CID Y block engines offered in Fords and Mercurys respectively which were the first OHV V8's Ford and Mercury offered (the first OHV engines offered by FoMoCo were the 1952 Ford 6 and the 1952 Linclon V8).  But I am digressing....anyway the 289 was enlarged to 302 CID in 1968 and became a Ford mainstay through the early 1990's when the trusty 5.0L as it became known in the 1980's was replaced with a more powerful 4.6L unit. The neat thing about the 289 is that and all its incarnations before and after it share things (so I have been told) like filters and such that you can still get at palces like Advanced Auto. I have said all that to say I have never heard any bad things about the 289 and with some hot rodding I have heard it can be down right mean....PAT COFFEY
 
My First Car

When I was in college, my mother gave me her 1966 Chrysler Newport 2 door hardtop. She bought it in 1976 from an elderly woman for just $300. It was avocado green with a black cloth/vinyl interior. The engine overheated, power steering and transmission leaked, the front power windows died--but that baby still kept running. I finally sold it to the junkman and bought a 1974 Dodge Monaco. It was my last big car, as I went through a Nissan Sentra, a Ford Granada, two Ford Escorts and three Saturns. But you never forget your first car.
 
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