Favorite / Least Favorite Memory from your first car?

My first vehicle was a 1976 GMC Sierra 4WD pickup. I had this in high school. It was a great truck. The best memory was four wheeling it in a posh neighborhood in Peters Township, PA. We went a mile or so in the woods and came out in somones back yard in a brand new high end housing plan at 1 AM on a weeknight.

The worst memory with this truck was leaving my dad stranded on his way to a funeral in a rainstorm. I used up the gas in both tanks and did not fill it up. He told me to always leave the right tank full as a back up. He noticed that the left tank was empty and switched to the right tank. It was also empty! Boy was he pissed.
 
Favorite memory - traveling across the Pali to go surfing.

Least favorite - traveling across the Pali in my MG Midget with a 9 foot surfboard.
 
My first car was a 74 Dodge charger with a 383 and a 6 pack. What I loved was the speed an cheap gas
 
Favorite was 79 cents a gallon for gas, least favorite was probably landing on top of a tree and having it go through my floorboard.
 
My father and I bought my first car when I was 14. It was a 1966 Mustang 2 + 2 Fastback 4 speed manual. It was in pretty good condition other than the motor was blown and some dents and dings, cracked front wind shield and some torn interior seats, very little rust. We proceeded to tear it apart and do a modified restoration: replacing the blown 289 4V with a 302 H.O. 320 horsepower crate engine, and replacing the front fenders and front/rear bumpers. I worked two summers as a caddy to be able to buy new OEM seat covers. We repainted it the original Ivy Green Metallic.

On the day I turned 16 - March 23rd, 1987 - I got my license and was driving the car that evening. I thought I was a prince. The car looked awesome, it was fast, and I was the only kid in town with a cool old car.

The Mustang was awesome - very fast for a 16 year old. Actually, too fast. You know what you were like at 16 driving - mash the gas all the time. By September I needed new rear tires, my father was not happy and decided to take my keys for the month.

Fast forward to November 1987. I was driving fast just after a light rain and coming around a moderate left turn when I braked late and lost the back end. Next thing I know I was sideways into a big old oak tree. No seat belt on and I ended up in a ball in the passenger side seat. I was hurt, but not too badly, but the Mustang was finished.

I still kick myself to this day because I know I would still have that car if I wasn't so dumb and careless back then.

My father and I parted out the car and he allowed me to buy another car - don't laugh - it was a used 1984 Ford Escort.

-Sparty
 
First car was a 1961 Ford falcon Wagon. Drove it from age 15 up until 20

No bad memories. I rebuilt and installed three diffs, two transmissions and an engine. Plus replaced the suspension since I loved to race around on fire roads in the hills surrounding Los Angeles.

Good memories revolve around high school girls and the folding back seat. Plenty of room to "stretch out" in the back. Who need a VW Microbus anyway?
 
Rusty 1976 Datsun B210 hatchback.

Favorite - The fact that it was an ugly, rusty beast with 210K on the odo and there were little minor things wrong with it, but basically it was a tank and the darn thing started and purred like a kitten for almost 2 years before it died.

Least Favorite - When it finally died I had no cash to get it running again and off the junk yard it went.
 
First car was a 1978 Holden VB Commodore, 308 V8, 4 speed manual.

Worst memories is being followed to work by the cop down the road every morning cause it was lumpy and loud.

Best memories were the small dents on the bonnet from my girlfriends elbows.:kiss::xyxthumbs:
 
My first vehicle was a 1975 Ford F-100 with 300,000 miles on it. It was a 2 wheel drive with a 3 speed manual on the column shift.

My favorite memory was trying to drive it home having never driven a manual shift vehicle before, let alone a "3 on the tree". When I first looked over the truck, I didn't notice the clutch pedal and thought it was an automatic transmission. After paying for it and doing the title work I was in for a surprise when I stepped on the brake and tried to pull the shifter down into "drive" and heard a grinding sound. The guy who sold it to me laughed at me and then told me how to operate it. I said Ut Oh!! :eek: I only stalled it once on the way home so I did pretty good. I rode motorcycles so I had a good idea of how to balance the clutch against the gas pedal already so it wasn't too tough.

My least favorite memory of it was laying under the truck in a traffic jam, shaking the shift tube rods because the transmission was stuck between gears at rush hour. Anyone who ever owned an old Ford 3 on the tree knows what I am talking about. The shift tubes in the steering column were worn out so the darned thing would get stuck in neutral between 1st and 2nd gear at the most inopportune times.

I was a kid with no money but lots of mechanical skills, so I cut a hole in the floor pan and made a crazy dual lever shifting contraption out of 2 lengths of 1/2" electrical conduit. The thing had 2 homemade shifters mounted side by side on a home rigged tripod made with a bicycle wheel axle.

The shifter on the left side controlled reverse and 1st gear, the shifter on the right side controlled 2nd and 3rd gears but only if the left shifter was pulled into neutral first. It was a bit tricky to drive but I got used to it and drove it that way for a year until I got around to installing a Hurst 3 speed shifter.
 
Nappers said:
1974 Chevelle Malibu Classic

1) it was paid for!

2) had to sell it, got a speeding ticket, used insurance money to pay ticket, no insurance, no driving per Dad!
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I posted earlier and didn't wanna post the fact that it was a Chevelle Malibu Classic, seemed the car had an identity crisis, LOL! I too got a speeding ticket, going to work to work at Wendy's, 42 in a 30 and I even tried to get out of by telling the cop I had different size rear tires, he looked and said "yeah, that will do it" and handed me the ticket.
 
After a few short-term refugees from the boneyard in high school, my first decent car when I went away to college in Michigan was a '64 Impala SS. With a 327-300 horse, Muncie 4 speed and 3:31 gears, it scooted along pretty well.
64SSImpalafront.jpg


Favorite memory: Street-racing against Roadrunners. For the most part in those days, guys who wanted a cheap muscle car and had little or no tech skills bought a new Roadrunner. Of the eighty or so I raced, only two got the better of my old Chevy.

Least favorite: Stock Muncie shifters were notorious for misbehaving at the wrong time. Coming across I-94 in Detroit at rush hour, a 4th to 2nd gear downshift for a traffic jam left it stuck in 4th gear. Not wanting to destroy a clutch in the slow moving traffic, I jumped off at the first exit, unfortunately one of the worst neighborhoods in Detroit. All the stereotypes were there-big dudes on the street corner wearing full-length leather coats in a July evening, burned out stores from the '68 riots etc. I was too scared to pull over. Finally I came across a small trucking terminal and pulled in the lot. Immediately, a couple redneck types approached the car. Explaining my plight, I asked for a few minutes to get under the car and align the shift linkage. "Y'all couldn't a picked a worse place to break down" said one. "Go ahead, we'll watch out for ya". A minute later I was thanking them profusely and burning rubber to get the hell away. On a college student's budget, I still managed to scrape up the funds for a Hurst shifter shortly afterwards.

Bill
 
BillyJack said:
After a few short-term refugees from the boneyard in high school, my first decent car when I went away to college in Michigan was a '64 Impala SS. With a 327-300 horse, Muncie 4 speed and 3:31 gears, it scooted along pretty well.
64SSImpalafront.jpg


Favorite memory: Street-racing against Roadrunners. For the most part in those days, guys who wanted a cheap muscle car and had little or no tech skills bought a new Roadrunner. Of the eighty or so I raced, only two got the better of my old Chevy.

Least favorite: Stock Muncie shifters were notorious for misbehaving at the wrong time. Coming across I-94 in Detroit at rush hour, a 4th to 2nd gear downshift for a traffic jam left it stuck in 4th gear. Not wanting to destroy a clutch in the slow moving traffic, I jumped off at the first exit, unfortunately one of the worst neighborhoods in Detroit. All the stereotypes were there-big dudes on the street corner wearing full-length leather coats in a July evening, burned out stores from the '68 riots etc. I was too scared to pull over. Finally I came across a small trucking terminal and pulled in the lot. Immediately, a couple redneck types approached the car. Explaining my plight, I asked for a few minutes to get under the car and align the shift linkage. "Y'all couldn't a picked a worse place to break down" said one. "Go ahead, we'll watch out for ya". A minute later I was thanking them profusely and burning rubber to get the hell away. On a college student's budget, I still managed to scrape up the funds for a Hurst shifter shortly afterwards.

Bill
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Did you happen to get off on Woodward?
 
Klasse Act said:
Did you happen to get off on Woodward?
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No, I seem to remember the "Grand River" exit as the area I had my shifter problem.

I know there was lots of serious street racing North on Woodward, but I didn't go there much, as my little 327 was no match for the hard core muscle that prowled the street in those days. Most of my fun was had around Gratiot, Telegraph or Northline roads.

Bill
 
BillyJack said:
No, I seem to remember the "Grand River" exit as the area I had my shifter problem.

I know there was lots of serious street racing North on Woodward, but I didn't go there much, as my little 327 was no match for the hard core muscle that prowled the street in those days. Most of my fun was had around Gratiot, Telegraph or Northline roads.

Bill
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Being an eastsider, I always went out on Gratiot in HS and when I got a little older, I street raced down by city airport, not a good hood at all but it didn't matter, everyone was down there to race! People go out to Woodward now due to the Dream Cruize, its been a hot spot since 1995:dblthumb2:
 
The first vehicle I drove was a '73 El Camino. The first one I bought was '77 Grand Prix LJ with a 400 C.I. motor. That car could haul some butt.
 
A friend car

My college friend and fellow musician played an outrageous Les Paul, but when it came to common sense he was missing a few frets.

His mother gave him a Dodge Dart or Lancer, whatever the model was that had the slant six.

She offhandedly remarked that this car was the type of car that if it broke down you just left it and walked away. Meaning of course that it was not worth putting any money into it if repairs were needed.

He took her literally.

On the way to school the car broke down, not too uncommon for cars of that era.
He got out the car in the middle of the street and just walked away and went to school, leaving the car in the middle of he street for the police to find it and impound it.

Needless to say his mother was not pleased.
 
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