Your first vehicle...lets hear about it!

[Coley]

Just wondering what everyone's first vehicle was and what the story was behind it?
Mine was my parents car which I bought off them for $500. It was a huge '67 Pontiac Grand Parisienne...which was the Canadian equivalent of the U.S Bonneville model.
It was a pretty typical 'high school special' and my friends liked that car because it seemed to be able to hold about a dozen people...and often did.
It was a relatively good car but was getting a little long in the tooth when I bought it and not something that even today I long to relive....which is the thing about some first vehicles.
I didn't learn too much about mechanics on that particular car nor was I required to apart from the odd dead battery due to stereo wiring issues. My Dad for the better part just kind of smiled and shook his head at the teenage angle on auto mechanics....sound/music first....mechanical stuff second.
All Good
Coley

[Already Gone]

Mine was a 1957 Ford 4 door 6cyl ( Sears Rebuild ) with an automatic transmission. The older man that lived across the street had bought it new and was going to trade it in. The man said the dealer was going to give him100.00 trade value so if I wanted it I could have it for 100.00. I bought it in May and that July while driving 75MPH on the 401 Highway for over 100 miles at 11:30 on a Sunday night with my girlfriend sleeping on the seat a rod went through the block.

[Ironhorse]

Never had a car during high school, bought my first car when I came back from Viet Nam in 1970. Bought my one and only F**d product, a 1969 Mustang Mach 1, 351 Cleveland, 4 spd with the Rallye Package. Had just under 12,000 miles and paid $2,600 for it. In retrospect and 20/20 hindsight I didn't know I should have kept it. Couldn't buy the same car now probably for $26,000, but back then Mustangs were a dime a dozen and everybody had one. Oh well,

[firedemon]

my first car was a 73 dodge polara 4 door with a 318 40 thousand miles ran awesome . it had a broken motormount on the driverside and I didn't know what the noise was . driving home from school with about 12 friends in it we were horsing it a little and the passenger side mount let loose . the motor twisted completely sideways pulling the throttle cable full throttle when it twisted the oil filter hit the torsion bar spraying oil on the exhaust crossover . guys in the back seat said it looked like the smoke screen from a james bond car . I had both feet on the brake butt off the seat and pulling on the steering wheel as hard as I could that tank wouldn't even think about slowing down . friend turned the key off finally got it to stop had to change those shorts . lots of fond memories with that car only paid 50 bucks for it most fun ive ever had with a car .

[firedemon]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

Never had a car during high school, bought my first car when I came back from Viet Nam in 1970. Bought my one and only F**d product, a 1969 Mustang Mach 1, 351 Cleveland, 4 spd with the Rallye Package. Had just under 12,000 miles and paid $2,600 for it. In retrospect and 20/20 hindsight I didn't know I should have kept it. Couldn't buy the same car now probably for $26,000, but back then Mustangs were a dime a dozen and everybody had one. Oh well,

ya I wish I had that one

[Whitlock]

Mine was a 1967 C10 costom. It had a 327 with a t400 behind it 4:11 gears, small window,steel bed.
It was my Stepdads painting truck. I came home with a report card that was all A's and he gave it to me.
It took months to get all the house paint sanded off the body and scraped off the windows. He just had the engine and trans rebuilt so I was set for awhile.
I ended up painting it when I got out of high school and not long after that I was headed to work and a drunk pulled out in front of me and totaled it.
That was 30 years ago.Where did the time go?

W

[mgore68]

Long story...

Mine was a LWB 69 custom 10 that belonged to my dad. It was the regular green with the white roof and all the upper and lower trim. 350 with a 3 speed on the column that would sometime hang up when you were shifting and you had to pull over and fix the linkage under the hood. A friend had a buddy that offered to paint it for me for $300 since I had left the door open backing up and caught a pine tree with it, not pretty.

I spent that summer at his place after school and work at the local grocery store sanding and sanding and more sanding until one morning I show up and there sits the prettiest thing I had ever seen. We painted it Midnight blue metal flake with a 74 corvette white top. It was beautiful. We redid the interior to black and my dad bought me some Keystone gold 10 wheels and white letter tires.

I was driving to school and work at 14. My mom drove a bus for the schhol and she took the car home afterwards so I parked at the far end of the school. I showed my buddies on the trade school bus my hard work and they all loved it as we went by. On a Saturday morning on the way to work somehow my ground on my battery shorted out and killed the truck so I had to leave it. I called my uncle to see if he would go by and check it out. He showed up at work and told me the truck was not where I had told him and I got sick.

Well...Some of my so called buddies had hooked a chain to it and drug it about 15 miles out in the woods and stripped it completely, kicked out all the glass, took the carb off the motor, you name it. Even hit it in the tailgate with a truck to push it and messed it all up. Somehow my uncle, grandpa and a family friend actually followed the tire tracks on the dirt road and found the truck in the next county. Then they followed the tracks back close to home and found all my stuff hid close to one of the boys houses. Wound up being 3 guys I went to trade school with. I wound up getting 1500 out of them in court and they went to juvi.

Next phase... I managed to put the truck back together myself pretty much. I took the $1500 and my dads friend built me a 350 with 10:1 aluminum pistons a high rise and big holley on top and a souped up cam. A monster stereo system was installed and the legend was born. I got outran by a mustang one night and the guy that built the motor heard about it and chewed me out. I told him I could not get traction and it would just spin. He told me to spin the tires in reverse and make them line up with me and it would lock my rearend. Well, next race that's what I done. My cousin was in the seat next to me and when I popped the clutch his head hit the back window and the guy flagging us said the front tires cam off the ground. After that day I outran corvettes, 350 z's you name, never lost again. Lord the memories. sorry it wound up so long.

[Boyd67]

67 chevelle, dark blue, 406 CI. Traded my go cart to one of my dad's friends for engine parts

[Lancialonnie]

Mine is a little unusual, a 67 Sunbeam Alpine. My grandfather had bought it and after a few years it was just sitting in his yard needing some work. In my sophomore year I had signed up for high school auto shop (do they still have this anywhere?) so my grandfather gave me the car. I had to change the head gasket and rebuild the brakes and I was good to go for the rest of my high school years. I had a ton of fun and have a lot of memories in that car. It was a bit small for parking with dates/girlfriends, but with the seat reclined.... After high school I blew the engine and traded it with some cash for a 67 SS/RS Camaro with a built 350 and I've been hooked on V8s every since! Now that was the car I should have kept but my brother totaled it out and I had just got married and couldn't afford to rebuild it, good times!

[Boog]

The first actual car was an old corvair me and two buddies pooled our money together to buy. It wasn't registered or operated on the streets. Seems like we paid $35 for it. The thing burned more oil than gas honest. We mudded it and beat the snot out of that thing. Had the time of our lives. I don't remember how long that car lasted.

[71CHEVYSHORTBED402]

Mazda RX2. I believe it was a 1971. These are the coolest little cars on Earth IMO, and they're very rare. Big collector's item in Australia. The interior on these is beautiful, great ass and front end, and with the 4-speed I've yet to drive anything quite as fun to drive, and that includes a 69 Porche.

My mother's boyfriend sold it to me for $1100 in 1977. He had the rotary engine rebuilt. At the time there was little consideration for consequences, and I had no issues pinning the needle at 145 MPH,even at night. Flipping it 180 degrees (totaled) down a dirt road @ 35 MPH probably saved my life. I'd love to have another, but locating parts would be a battle. Mine was the same color as the first image. Sorry for all the pics, but these are pretty neat:

[ho70]

1979 I bought this 68 GMC custom (307 powerglide) from my dad for $1000. I was 15. Once I had my license we were unseperable. I had it painted, mags and new engine. Kids and house, then sold it at 32.

[35boulder]

Mine was a '62 VW convertible. Bought new by my Dad and given to me in '69 when I was in high school. total of 36hp but it was a car. Would love to know where that one ended up!

[ga-stepside]

When I got out of tech school in spite of my objections my father decided he would find me a car. He was not a car guy by any stretch and asked what car I was interested in. I told him I didn’t really have any particular car in mind but I did not want a ’58 Chevy or a ’60 Ford. Of course what he decided on was a robin’s egg blue, 6 cylinder, three on the tree, no carpet, no frills ’60 Ford for $500. I hated that car. It vapor locked constantly in traffic, I swear I pushed that car more than I drove it. Within a year I got a good job I traded it for a brand new ’65 Sunbeam Tiger. Sure wish I had that Tiger now.

[NoNeck]

One of the first cars I purchased with my own money was a 1965 GTO. The 389 was blown and the only engine I had access to was a 1966 396/360 HP from a '66 SS Chevelle. I installed the engine and Muncie 4 speed using only the Chevelle mounts and headers. Direct bolt in. Sweet. The 396 was a hoss in that GTO!

POP

[1970 charlie]

My first vehicle was a 70 lemans 2door 6cyl power glide. I couldn't handle the 6cyl so I bought a wrecked 70 gto (it had a bent frame) and no motor or trans,Put the two together with a 283 and a 4 speed that was mine first car.

[truckster]

I drove my dad's car a total of one time after I got my license. I worked all summer (concrete forming) and bought a 67 Impala with a 283, Powerglide, and a single Cherry Bomb glasspack. It was a dull gold color with a single white front fender. The previous owner had glued fuzzy plaid cloth on the dash. I lost the key and ended up keeping a hotwire in my pocket so I could drive it.

My favorite memory of that car is taking friends tubing in the summer and getting into the car and burning our legs on the vinyl seats

[davischevy]

I got my license in February of 1968. I worked at the Lyric Theater at night.

At Supper my dad looked at my mother and said "I guess he will have to drive your car to school and on to work". My mother had a new Chevy. Mom said "He's not driving my car".

That called for a trip down to the Chevrolet dealer. We bought a car for $350. My dad paid $100 down and told me I could pay the rest.

I drove out in a 1957 210 2 dr post. It was light blue and white. I wish I had that one back.

[special-K]

My first car was a '56 VW bug family friends had. It was stuck in a creek with a back seat area full of firewood and a broken transaxle. It was 1970 and this one was noticeable older looking, I said I'd like to fix it up, and they gave it to me. I swapped a newer transaxle in and it went from there. I ended up hopping it up and fixing it up. My dad had bought a '63 Kombi new, turned it into a camper, and ended up building up the engine to handle our family trips up to the grandparents in the mountains. So I came up helping him and learning about VWs. The '56 was red oxide all through HS and the engines got bigger and faster. I ended up with it all restored, Mercedes Blue, with all the go fast goodies. I kept it about 10 years, gave it to my dad to use when he retired, he ended up giving it to my sister, her boyfriend made her sell it, andthe guy who bought it took it back over to Germany. I hated to see it get away, but for a car restored by a HS (& few tears after) I thought it was pretty cool it went back home.
Here it is barn fresh after returning from living in CA in '78

[davischevy]

s-K, did the VW go to California with you?

[mongocanfly]

The first truck I bought and paid for with my own money was a 1955 1st series truck that I bought back in 1983 for $600..I've still got it and am in the process of gathering parts to do a ground up rebuild. The first truck I was allowed to drive was my dads 1957 international 3/4 ton 4x4 which he still has..

[alsriv2]

My first truck bought and paid for by me, was a 1970 Dodge short box D200 with a slant 6, 3OTT. Dad allowed me to buy it for $150 NEVER expecting me to get it on the road. Well, at age 14, I needed something to keep myself occupied, so I learned welding and basic body repair and I ended up taking this severely rusted out (was a former lobsterman's work truck) and made the truck whole so it would pass Maine state inspection. Took 2 1/2 years and drove that truck everywhere during high school. It literally was the most reliable vehicle I have ever owned.

[Keith Seymore]

First car: '74 Chevelle (base Malibu).

My dad ordered this car for my mom to drive.

454, TH400, 3.42 posi, 8" Corvette rally wheels; swivel buckets, rally cluster with tach.

Still have it; I have raced this car for 37 years. Best ET is 9.85 at 136 mph (naturally aspirated). Took me to two NMCA World Championships (runner up both times); 15 top ten finishes in 15 years.

http://www.hotrod.com/cars/featured/...olet-chevelle/

K

(Super Chevy/Popular Hot Rodding photos by Robert McGaffin)

[dieseldawg142]

'68 Nova. bought it when i was 14 as a basketcase with a blown 307/glide. spent the next 2 yrs dumping any money & spare time i had in it, dropped a 327/t350 into it. was a fast, fun little car for a 16 yr old (first pic)
then i went up north for 4 yrs & parked it at my parents house (second & third pic )......asked them if they could start it every now & then, drive it around the yard maybe. had ordered a car cover, but it showed up after i had left, my dad went & picked it up- too bad he left it sitting on the rear seat for 4 yrs, car had sunk into the ground from never moving or being started, but he did spray primer on some bubbles on the 3/4........ ahhh, parents...

[Low Elco]

"72 Cutlass Supreme bought Summer of '88 for $650. Still looked good, stripped the vinyl top off, fixed the rust holes and painted it black. Stereo, (remember trs-80's?)350/t350 and a TALL gear. NOt much for dragging but had a great happy place at 90-95 and would run there all day. Had '85 Trans Am buckets. Many many good stories in that car. Sold right before I went into the Navy Sept. '89.