Whats the story behind your first car?

[Rhudeboye]

Inspired by the 82 year old [FONT=&quot]1928 Rolls-Royce P1
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My 1st car was a 1990 Toyota Celica GT. Got it a year after graduation with some help from mom and dad. And I held onto it till 2002 when I sold if for a fair price. When I 1st got the Celica I was single, that car took me all over the east coast. Mostly through my hometown DC,MD, VA but also NY, MA, PA FL and once to VT. When I got married my wife and I added thousands to the odo with little get aways and frequent visits to friends. Even with the addition of our son the trusty Celica kept us mobile with the addition of a car seat fit snug in the back. The Celica has seen 2 minor fender benders, won about 4 illegal street races and lost suffered 3 extremely embarrassing defeats, Vette, RX7 and Viper.Yes I challenged them as I feared no car (I simply wasn’t smart enough). Even though we had purchased a 2nd car somewhere around 1996. The Celica was always there when needed. It never left us stranded and was still running well when i sold it with over 210,000 on it. My wife still points them out to this day.

My oldest car now is our 3rd vehicle, a 1996 Toyota Landcruiser with 260,000 miles on it. It has almost 100% original parts and still runs great. Even though the check engine light is now on and it appears to be leaking oil.

I tend to find myself giving all attention to our modern cars and forgetting about the old. We were about to sell it but figured we wouldn’t get much for it due to the high miles. But as I think about all that truck has been through I think I’ll be happier restoring it.

A lot of great memories.

 

[cnfowler]

Well, my first car was a 1985 Chevy Corvette. It had the color-matched removeable targa top. The color was medium metallic grey with graphite leather. It had 72,000 original miles and was absolutely stunning inside and out. I purchased it in 1999 with the help of my parents. I got it from the second owner. He had purchased it in 1987 while living in California. He saw it on his way to work at the dealership and bought it on his way home. It had 52,000 miles on it when he bought it. Over the next 12 years he put 20,000 miles on it. It was always garaged and always had a custom dust cover (indoor only car cover) on it. He was reluctantly selling it due to him dying of liver cancer. I purchased it for $7,500. I couldn't believe I was the proud new owner of a Corvette!

A lot of my friends were jealous when I started back school that year. It was my senior year. I couldn't help but laugh because the people that had the biggest 'problem' with it were driving new Mustangs, Civics, pickup trucks, and even new BMWs. They had a problem with my $7,500 Corvette, but they were driving vehicles 3 - 5 times the cost of mine.

After just over a year of ownership, I got stupid and sold it. I thought about that car at least once a day for over three years. Amazing how long it took me to get over it. I've owned many cars, trucks, SUVs, and motorcycles over the years - Toyotas, Lincoln, Nissan, Subaru, Honda and Suzuki motorcycles, Jeep, Pontiac, GMC, Chevy, Ford, Range Rover...not a single one makes me regret selling it like the Corvette does.

This is a scanned photo a couple weeks after bringing it home.

Here's the sad day I sold it. An Army helicopter pilot purchased it. (I worked at a local video store and was headed off to work - that's the reason for the purple shirt!! LOL)

Colin

 

[SeaJay's]

Well my first car was an 88 Chevy Celebrity. A POS car! But I couldn't complain my parents bought it for me for $800 in my senior year of high school (2001). Needed new exhaust and a radiator. And I must that car would not die! I literally beat the crap out of it. It wasn't a nice car that I was proud to cruise around in, but it was a car none the less and it got me where I needed to go. I owned it for two years then sold it to my sister who drove it for another 2 years.

My 2nd car was an 86 Olds 442. I bought it off of my then step father for $3,000. The cars motor had just been replaced with an Olds Rocket 350. The car was in OK shape for being so old. I owned it for several years and it was my "Christine" as my mother called it. Always gave me problems, I blew the motor about 6 months after owning it. But it was still under warranty, so it was fixed for free. Then the transmission blew, so I put in a rebuilt TH350 with full B&M shift kit and able to handle 500 horse. I also added a B&M slap shifter and 3000 stall converter. Well, needless to say after I put the tranny in the motor blew again. This time it wasn't under warranty. So, I had my uncle who lives in Missouri build me a Olds 400. Well, money got tight and I never ended up having the motor shipped up here. I ended up selling the car after it sat for two years. My Olds motor is still sitting in Missouri, and as far as I know the motor is still good. He cranks it over every couple weeks.

 

[zliegen]

My first car was a 1995 Buick LeSabre, I got it when I was 17. When I got it, it had around 130,000 miles on it and had a newly rebuilt engine in it. Previously owned by an elderly couple who seemed to take good care of it judging from appearance, but I had nothing but problems with it mechanically. Some notable things about the Buick: Found an old tobacco pipe shoved between the two front seats tucked INSIDE of a disconnected HVAC hose that went to the vents in the back seat, about a year after I bought it. Also found a half eaten chocolate bar and christmas music mix tape from 1994 around the same time. Alternator broke shortly after I bought, transmission started slipping as well and sometimes it would randomly stall. Enter the Honda.

After all the problems with the Buick and the terrible fuel efficiency (it was getting around 12MPG) I bought another car, a 1992 Honda Accord, and let the buick sit to rot in front of my house.

The Honda had a plethora of small problems including the radio, power locks, motor mounts, rust around the wheel well, bald tires, etc. But it only had around 120k miles on it, and the engine ran fine and transmission worked just fine and dandy (as a Honda with such low mileage should) and it was pretty cheap. I drove the Honda like a mad man because it was so much fun compared to the land boat I was driving before, eventually it ended with me drifting it into a curb and screwing up the ball joint because I was a dumb teenager. Due to my lack of car knowledge I didn't know there was anything wrong with the suspension and the ball joint failed while I was driving down the road and this took out nearly the entire suspension and drivetrain. I scrapped it for 75 dollars.

Now I drive a 2000 Mazda Miata.

 

[Rhudeboye]

Some notable things about the Buick: Found an old tobacco pipe shoved between the two front seats tucked INSIDE of a disconnected HVAC hose that went to the vents in the back seat, about a year after I bought it. Also found a half eaten chocolate bar and christmas music mix tape ...:laughing:

I drove the Honda like a mad man because it was so much fun compared to the land boat I was driving before,...:laughing:

Now I drive a 2000 Mazda Miata.

:xyxthumbs:

 

[Rhudeboye]

$7500 :urtheman:

 

[tuscarora dave]

My first car was a 1975 Ford F-100 pickup that one of my Dad's friends "Chuck" sold me for $300. It had a gas guzzling 360 under the hood with a "3 on the tree" and needed a clutch and pressure plate before I could drive it out of Chuck's place. Chuck and I went to a local junk yard where the owner of the junk yard turned a wrecked Ford pickup truck up side down with a front end loader so we could yank the clutch and pressure plate out of it easily. He charged me $20 for both.

We got the clutch job finished and I told Chuck that I didn't know how to drive a stick let alone a 3 speed on the column. He showed me which gear was where and I learned how to drive a stick on my 25 mile journey back home with it. Along the way home the shift tubes in the steering column got jammed twice at 2 different red lights so with people blowing their horns I quickly learned that if I climbed under the truck and jiggled the rods connected between the transmission and the steering column that this would get it unjammed.

The original white paint was nearly all gone and it had small dings and dents all over the body so I bought a gallon of Bondo and filled all the dings and dents and then bought a gallon of flat black exterior house paint from the clearance rack at a local hardware store, a foam paint roller, paint pan and a few rolls of masking tape and had at it. It actually looked decent. I later bought a few cans of GM Corporate Blue engine paint and painted a stripe down the side of the truck.

I worked with Chuck at a transportation rental company, washing buses and vans where they had a diesel fired pressure steam cleaner. Against the wisdom of Chuck (he said the sludge on the engine was holding in all the oil) I steam cleaned the oil and sludge off of the engine, pulled the heads, removed all the valves and cleaned the 1/2" of carbon off of the top of the valve face, lapped the valve seats and reassembled the engine and painted the engine Ford Blue. Shortly after that all the oil leaked out of the engine and it spun a bearing.

Chuck was a great guy and was sure to let me know that he had told me so. He sold me a 302 and a Hurst 3 speed shifter and let me use his garage for the engine swap. I later put headers, new dual exhaust out the rear of the truck and replaced the cam and lifters. A few weeks later I crashed it into guide rail and had a junk yard come get it. This all happened in 1990. About 4 years ago I was helping a guy put a transmission in his van and when we went to a local junk yard (different yard) to get the tranny for the swap, I looked up over the hill and low and behold there sat my old F-100.

 

[93fox]

my first car was a 1993 Mustang GT. the foxbody style! my dad bought it for me for $3,500! me and all my friends named it "frankenstein" because it different colors all around! it was mostly all red, some primer spots here and there, a black hood, a green fender, a white bumper! it was a mess! but the car sure was fun, it had a built 302 motors with all the nitrous hidden because it was a "sleeper" all i needed to do was hook up a nitrous bottle and i was ready to rock! i was going to school and i hardly had time to drive it! the clutch was a leg workout! it was so damn hard since it was a performance clutch! but it was fun! but i rarely had time for it, so my dad thought it was too much performance for my age (16) and sold it! it sure was a fun car!

 

[JohnHenry]

I bought a 1951 Chevy Panel Truck in 1964, at age 15, for $100. Her gas tank was rusted out, so I punched a hole in the firewall, attached a hose to the fuel line and ran it into a five gallon gas can that was held securely between my brother's feet on the passenger side floorboard. (You can't make this stuff up!)

Since neither of us had a license, we ran the beast exclusively on woods roads, venturing onto blacktop only at night.... DARK nights.

Note to Pennsylvania State Police: What is the Statute of Limitations for Driving With Head Up A$$?

I made some monumental "detailing" and "restoration" screwups. The floor and walls of the cargo compartment behind the front bench seat were lined with plywood. I painted the wooden parts with a mustard yellow, oil-based house paint that I found lying around. (I was ready for Woodstock!)

Here comes the obscene part... I wanted to get her painted, so I figured she needed sanding. I would save oh so much money by doing the "prep" work. So, I grabbed Dad's Singer brand rotary sander and put some 40 grit paper on the disk (lying around... you know the routine.)

After about a six inch swipe on the hood, even I knew that couldn't be right. So I drove it to the body shop for an estimate.

I'm sure that those guys are still laughing!

 

[feslope]

1959 pink Thunderbird Convertable. My parents divorced in 1962. I had always liked mother's car so, dad gave it to me. After a blue metallic paint job I drove it the rest of the way rhrough high school and college. Gave it to my sister in June 1969. RIP 1959-July 1969.

 

[seatown88]

My first car is a 1966 Mustang my grandfather gave me. It has been in the family since 1970. It is definitely a prized possession of mine. My grandfather took great care of it, he had the interior and paint restored in the 80's so it's a little weathered. I daily drove it to high school for 3 years before purchasing my second car and then it has pretty much sat ever since (4-5 years). It's in driving condition, but I want to put some work into it and have a fun summer time driver. Just need more time/funds. However this will be a car that will not leave the family, means too much to it.

 

[BillE]

Do I dare enter this conversation?

First car was a white 1949 Renault 4CV with a '57 Delphine engine (with NO starter-had to crank it). Hated the white, so did a sand job, and resprayed with 1/2 dozen or so spray cans of black (in the driveway). Yea, it looked like it too, until I learned about wet-sanding. In the end, well still looked @#$%, but that was the start of 'The Addiction.'

Yea, I'm an OF...LOL

Bill

 

[WJave]

First one was a 1972 Ford Bronco I got in 1975. Dark forest green with a white top and all chalked up. Hit it with rubbing compound, polish and waxed. Looked brand new. Sold it in 1978 when I left for the Navy. Wish I still had that thing!

 

[Rhudeboye]

My first car was a 1975 Ford F-100 pickup

Along the way home the shift tubes in the steering column got jammed twice at 2 different red lights so with people blowing their horns I quickly learned that if I climbed under the truck and jiggled the rods connected between the transmission and the steering column that this would get it unjammed..

Dave- Somehow I knew you had an entertaining story to tell. :laughing: The quote above is just too much.

My first car is a 1966 Mustang my grandfather gave me.

However this will be a car that will not leave the family, means too much to it.

icture:

 

[RTexasF]

1962 Bonneville convertible. I was 20 years of age and stationed at Barber's Point Naval Air Station in Hawaii. It was instrumental in protecting female tourists from the horrors of communism in all of the bars in Honolulu :laughing:

 

[zliegen]

1962 Bonneville convertible. I was 20 years of age and stationed at Barber's Point Naval Air Station in Hawaii. It was instrumental in protecting female tourists from the horrors of communism in all of the bars in Honolulu :laughing:

Talk about an awesome first car! That's amazing. Im the MAN
I love this thread! The relationship between a person and their car is usually a decent story. Does anyone else feel like they've "bonded" with their cars? Sometimes I feel like my cars know what's going on. Like they have a soul almost. :laughing:

Keep the stories coming guys

 

[Rhudeboye]

so did a sand job, and resprayed with 1/2 dozen or so spray cans of black
Bill

The original white paint was nearly all gone and it had small dings and dents all over the body so I bought a gallon of Bondo and filled all the dings and dents and then bought a gallon of flat black exterior house paint from the clearance rack at a local hardware store, a foam paint roller, paint pan and a few rolls of masking tape and had at it. It actually looked decent. I later bought a few cans of GM Corporate Blue engine paint and painted a stripe down the side of the truck.
.

I wanted to get her painted, so I figured she needed sanding.!

After a blue metallic paint job

Note how many started detailing, in some form or another, with their first car. You guys got the itch early.

 

[silverfox]

My first car was a 68 Chevy Camaro, RS, all black with a red interior. 327, 325 HP small block, 4 speed manual, and a really heavy clutch. I drove this car while attending college and it was a sweet ride. A lot of things happened in that car, some of which are not suitable for a public forum. I eventually had to get rid of it when reality of marriage and kids forced me to buy a more "practical" car.

I swore that someday if I ever had the opportunity to buy another one, I'd do so. When I heard that the Camaro was being dropped in 2002, I was really bummed out, because I though the opportunity to special order a new Camaro had passed me by.

I've come full circle...and I literally waited 42 years to buy another new Camaro. I now own a 2011 Camaro SS, Red Jewel Coat, with flat black matte stripes. Its a sweet ride, a whole lot better than my 68 was...and the 450 HP doesn't hurt....only in my wallet.

I'm 57 Y/O...and when my friends think I've lost my mind, I just tell them that at this point in my life I've discovered over the years...that its better to be happy, than right. I'm one happy man, and wow....that car really kicks...but it also rides like a dream ...when I want to just pretend I'm an old man driving a Buick.

 

[Nick McKees37]

1986 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight Regency Brougham. Bought it from my brother for $400 when I was in 10th grade. The car was in GREAT shape. I had it for less than a year when I was sitting in a traffic jam and the timing chain gear lost a couple teeth and that was it. I pulled the top end of the motor apart only to discover what I had been fearing the most - bent pushrods, chunks taken out of the lifters, beat up camshaft, and so on. Unfortunately the 3.8 V6 (Renamed 3800 in 1988) is what you call an interference motor. When the timing chain/gear goes, 99% of the time the motor goes with it.

I still remember the day the junk yard came and picked it up from my house. I sold it to them for scrap for $100 and watched as they towed it out of my driveway.

As my friends called it; "The Couch On Wheels". They don't build 'em like they used to. rops:

Great idea for a thread. :dblthumb2:

 

[vet]

My first car was a 57 Ford Custom 300 4 door. 272 engine with 3 on the tree. Dad hated it, said it would nickel and dime me to death. The funny thing about it though, if I floored gas, even once, it would boil all the water out of the radiator, I have no idea why, so I drove it decently.

Dad finally convinced me to get a 'good' car, and co-signed for me to get a 2 year old 64 Galaxie fastback with a 289 automatic from a lady who 'pampered it'. Yeah, it took over a month to get passing gear unstuck, and the paint job "that never needed waxing" never was. One day, I got a can of rubbing compound and rubbed teh whole car out by hand, and then put a coat of Simonize hard wax on it. Took about 10 hours, no beer breaks. I was pretty pleased with the results, but it only held the shine for about a week. It got about 12 mpg whether I drove it nice (the speed limit) or hard. Then Uncle Sam 'invited' me to do a hitch in the Army, and I totaled it on the first day of my furlough before I went 'Nam. Hit a combine in my lane as I crested a hill, then the ditch, and then rolled it. Unbuckeled the seat belt, and was out of the car before the farmer got the tractor and combine off to the side of the road. Of course I got the ticket, but I wasn't hurt. Dad only let me drive his car once while I was on furlough, and wouldn't you know it, that would be the day the water pump went out of it.

Lots more cars after the stint in the Army, but that's for another time.