Tell Me About Your First Car?
Posted by christiancarguy on 8 April, 2009
Mine was this 1960 Rambler American (upside down bathtub) Named by my sister who had it before me ANDY. Three on the tree for those of you who remember 3 speed manuals that where shifted from the column. Battleship grey, wasn’t she a beauty, carried me all over the Mesa in Albuquerque, New Mexico where I lived when I had her. Great memories wish I still had her.
In the commnet line please tell us about yours…..including the name you gave it.
Join us on:
Connect On:
Follow us on:
View us on:
18 Comments on “Tell Me About Your First Car?”
My first car was a 1952 Ford four-door coupe, a year older than me. It cost me $50.00 and a hair cut. I bought form the guy I was working for at the time (1970). It was the “work truck” for the service station I worked at. Had one of the best engine’s that Ford ever made: a “flat-head”.Everything worked fine…when it worked. The vacuum wipers didn’t work in the rain and the carburetor would flood and leave me stranded about once a day. I had it for about three months before we got my second car, a 1963 Chevy Nova. a friend of mine bought the Ford and it caught fire and burnt to the ground when it back-fired back through the carburetor (see flooding problem). AAHHH…they don’t make them like that any more
My first car was my mom’s burgundy 1979 Oldsmobile Delta 88, which they purchased new. It was a 4-door equipped with an Oldsmobile 5.7L -350cid- V8 (the L34) with a 4bbl carb. and the THM200 3-speed transmission (however, a mechanic once told me that it was actually the THM350). By the time I got it, it had around 88k miles on it. Unfortunately, my mom wasn’t one to change the oil on a regular basis (once ever year or so), so the engine blew at 94k. It was replaced with another 350cid engine out of a 1980 Olds Custom Cruiser (I don’t know the designation), and away I went. I was a sophmore in HS when I got it, and it lasted through my senior year. Living in the Chicagoland area is rough on a car, so it died after accumulating 125k or so. It was called “The Tank” by my friends, because its size and the fact I could fit up to nine people in it (the front bench seat helped). It was clumsy and got no more that 17mpg max. Off the line, it would lay some rubber, but not much due to a paltry 160hp and 270 lb-ft of torque. Not much for such a heavy car. However, I do have many fond memories of that vehicle.
How cool, Andy, being a flat head 4 wasn’t overly quick, but did have a great deal of torque at low rpm, we would just let it idle up most the dirt mesa mountain roads. Back on the pavement I could get a little squeak on a hard shift to second, but oh well I din’t need to replace the tires often.
1970 Mustang Mach I 360 (?) Cleveland .. yellow. My mom bought it in 1970 and gave it to me in 1974 while I was in high school when she bought another car. I was embarrassed at the time because I thought it was an old car – all of my friends got new Camaros…but was assured by all the guys in my town that it was a cool car. I drove it until 1979 – all through college. I learned alot about car maintenance driving this car… the front end was squeaky a lot which was embarrasing when I tried to be cool going around the drive-in… no a/c which I didn’t even think about. i wrecked it once. thanks for asking… thanks for the memory. wish we could post photos… You are a Facebook friend… I’ll post one on my photo album.
My first car was a 1969 Plymouth Roadrunner 4-speed. It was green with mag wheels and red sidewall tires. It sounded good and ran great but the gas mileage wasn’t so good, about 8 MPG. I bought it used during my first year of marriage in 1970 and remember just standing looking out the window at it parked out front. I would say, “Honey, don’t you need me to go to the store or somewhere?”, just to have an excuse to drive it.
Wow, Bill and Marcia I am very Jealous, how cool…Was that the Mustang they used in the James Bond Movie Diamonds are forever…. I loved when it turned on it’s side
1973 Mercury Comet (I called it the “Vomit”).
74 Chevy Vega stick shift green w/white roof.
I thought I was somethin’ else!
I had a 1983 or ‘84 Renault Alliance.. It took some beatings in my driving… It was white.. I tried to take it to a used car lot, but they would not buy it because of the name…
1974 International Scout. Best 4Wheel Drive I ever owned.
A 1970 Buick Wildcat with a 455 under the hood, boy could she fly
It was blue with white rolled and pleated leather seats. I loved that car!!! I called her Ol’ Blue.”
My first car was a 1955 chevrolet of my Dad’s, that I’d rolled onto its side. Was green & white, but had 2 yellow doors after a visit to a junk yard. Dad gave it to me in disgust after I wrecked it. It already had nearly 200,000 miles on that old six. I drove it for about 40,000 then sold it for $50. Just transportation to get to school and work back in 64. Ran really great, and never burned oil, which then was something.
Hey Walt, did you give the 55 a name???..I guess it’s worth a whole lot more than $50 if your buyer still has it…Thanks for the memories…Robby
“My first car was a 1953 F-100. I bought it for $375 the day after I turned 15 in 1988. I drove it down the road (with a milk jug for a gas tank) just once before tearing it apart. For the next year plus my step dad and I worked on it all the time! We had some good times and some fights about it but it turned out pretty good for a couple of guys who had NO idea what they were doing. We painted it a bright white and kept the flat head in it! and lots of spare parts in the tool box!! I took a lesson from my elders who I’ve heard say ” if I’d only kept that …….” Well it hasn’t ran in 10 years, but I still have it. It doesn’t cost anything to sit there and maybe one day the Lord will allow me to be able to restore it again. It was an awesome first ride, one of a kind for my high school!”
“‘67 VW bug – a classic! I painted in a Chevy color “Competition Blue” and had flared, chrome exhaust pipes… I was “BAD” in High School wit’ it!”
My father bought a 1952 Nash (built by the Nash Kelvinator Company) in 1956 for $700.00. It had a flathead 6 and 3 on the tree with overdrive that engaged at 28 MPH; all he had to do was take his foot off the gas for the OD to kick in. It was painted black, had a 6 volt electric system and I remember that the carb was mounted on top of the engine (as opposed to being on an intake manifold). He drove it to and from work every day and I don’t remember him ever having a problem with it. My mother hated it as it was not a highway vehicle. Once we took it to Trinity and she complained about it beating her black and blue. Maybe that was an exxageration, but we never made another highway trip with it. He named it his Texas Cadillac! In 1964, he traded it in on a new Chevrolet truck and the dealer allowed him $350.00 on it; he wrote a check for $2346 for the balance. The truck was assembled in Baltimore and the salesman told us they had to stop the line to build it (it was called a Carryall then; suburban now) and it was special-ordered. He always regretted not buying it back and giving it to one of us kids…
My first car was a 1958 chevy biscayne we bought from a family friend. It started burning oil and 9 months after I bought it, it was burning a gallon of oil a week. My father and I pulled the engine out and another family friend with a machine shop rebuilt it for about $300.00. That’s hard money at $1.25 minimum wage (OK- now I’m close to telling my age!). It was never as popular as the 55-57 Chevy models but was cheap to buy and to own. I remember getting paid $12.00 a week, going to school full time and buying gas, oil, tuition, lunch and car insurance. Were these the good old days? I’ll say they were! (No, I never named it. But I have had other cars that I did name…)
Wow, my Dad traded for a 1936 Nash that had a similar overdrive, I can still remeber going to the barn it had been stored in since the 50’s, we pushed it down the road becuase the battery was dead (a 6 volt system as well) with the gas that had been in it since the 50’s, (this was in 1970) believe it or not, it craked up and we brought it on home. It was a flat head 6 with twin ignition. I remeber when we opened the (hoods) the distributor cap had those twelve wires coming out and we marveled that it must be a staight twelve….Not….but very cooll… Thanks for the memory
1973 Chevy Camaro, tinted windows. It was great