| Thread Number: 40650
Bureau of Silly Threads Presents: My First Car |
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Post# 601245 6/5/2012 at 15:46 (354 days old) by Ultramatic  (New York City) |
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| Post# 601246 , Reply# 1 6/5/2012 at 15:49 (354 days old) by washernoob (Omaha Nebraska) | ||
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Post# 601249 , Reply# 2 6/5/2012 at 15:58 (354 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Post# 601253 , Reply# 3 6/5/2012 at 16:07 (354 days old) by StrongEnough78 (California) |
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 Technically this was my first car, however it wasn't running as I was planning on restoring it. I never got around to it though and sold it. I never got to drive her. So my first running, drivable car was a 64 Sedan DeVille. I have pictures of her, if I find one I'll post it. I have a love-hate relationship with that car. Loved her, but when she would break down I'd hate her. She's been in storage for a few years now. She just refuses to be on the road. Cosmetically though, she was beautiful and all original.
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| Post# 601254 , Reply# 4 6/5/2012 at 16:07 (354 days old) by arbilab (Ft Worth TX (Ridglea)) | ||
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......everybody knows what they look like. "My" first car was '64 Beetle in '67, light green. Though before that family got a new car and I inherited use of the '55 Ford station wagon which worked well hauling band equipment. | ||
| Post# 601257 , Reply# 5 6/5/2012 at 16:16 (354 days old) by washernoob (Omaha Nebraska) | ||
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| Post# 601263 , Reply# 6 6/5/2012 at 16:33 (354 days old) by wayupnorth (Maine - Vacationland ) | ||
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| Post# 601269 , Reply# 7 6/5/2012 at 17:04 (354 days old) by washernoob (Omaha Nebraska) | ||
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Post# 601277 , Reply# 8 6/5/2012 at 17:56 (354 days old) by paulg (My sweet home... Chicago) |
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 I owned a 1973 Vega wagon which looked and ran great when I purchased it used in 1978 but literally decomposed continuously afterward.
I installed a furry black carpet in the back. I used that Zayre-type bathroom carpet. So cooool. It was a totally fun car to own and drive and a perfect first car. The quality however was deplorable and it consumed two quarts of oil per week at the end (about three years later). | ||
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Post# 601281 , Reply# 9 6/5/2012 at 18:21 (354 days old) by cuffs054 (GA) |
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PaulG I hadn't thought of Zayre in years! My bro had the pinto and vega. I had the gremlin. Oh yeah, there was the dauphine and yugo but some things are best left alone. | ||
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Post# 601284 , Reply# 10 6/5/2012 at 18:37 (354 days old) by rp2813 (SF Bay Area) |
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 Surplussed by Pacific Telephone & Telegraph in 1960, which is when my dad bought it. It was mine to drive as soon as I got my license, at which time it was sporting a fairly recent coat of Bell System-issue "locker green" paint that came with the truck, and that I helped my dad apply with his Wards (of course) compressor and paint gun. That's the 40-year old paint you're looking at in the picture below. I still drive this truck regularly. It has never sat idle for very long and is basically original (do not mistake that for pristine) inside and under the hood.
Experts will say it can't be a 1950 because the bed is from 1954. Having worked for PT&T's successor and steeped in holdover Bell System culture for 17 years, my guess is that they changed out the old style beds for new ones with flat top surfaces that lent themselves to mounting a cargo box. Such trucks still had years of deterioration to write off, and retrofitting made more sense than buying new. They recycled their phones to death. Their fiscal system likely didn't encourage selling off perfectly good assets. This bed update created a gap in the area where a slightly different shaped fender met the existing running board. A metal patch was riveted in place to fill it. Easily reversible back to the original bed, but hey, look at the thing. I'll never go there. 
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Post# 601285 , Reply# 11 6/5/2012 at 18:38 (354 days old) by rp2813 (SF Bay Area) |
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Post# 601289 , Reply# 13 6/5/2012 at 18:54 (354 days old) by twintubdexter (Palm Springs) |
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 A 1962 Buick Electra 225 Sport Coupe (Sport?) It was the car I wanted my parents to buy when I was 12 so when I got old enough I bought one. I really wanted the 1958 Lincoln Continental "Breeze-Way Window" Coupe the neighbors across the street were selling but my dad said no. He was the Ben Cartwright "truck" type.
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| Post# 601290 , Reply# 14 6/5/2012 at 19:02 (354 days old) by rickr (as da hood turns...) | ||
 My first car was this 1958 Chevy. I bought it in 1972, when it had less than 10,000 miles on it, and still had the original tires! I put these tires and wheels on it shortly after I bought it. It had a 348 engine in it, power steering, power brakes, and a clock, and an am radio. The power steering pump was attached to the rear of the generator, and was driven via the generator. I kept this car for three years, and drove it about 40,000 more miles. It was sold at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Auction in the fall of 1975.
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Post# 601294 , Reply# 16 6/5/2012 at 19:25 (354 days old) by xraytech (S.W. Pennsylvania, near Pittsb) |
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 For me it was my mothers hand me down, 
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Post# 601295 , Reply# 17 6/5/2012 at 19:32 (354 days old) by yogitunes (New Jersey) |
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| Post# 601299 , Reply# 18 6/5/2012 at 19:40 (354 days old) by cfz2882 (Belle Fourche,SD) | ||
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bought a '74 4dr 350 nova in '85 for $200,green with black vinyl interior. had bad brakes when i bought it,but the A/C still worked great | ||
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Post# 601314 , Reply# 19 6/5/2012 at 20:22 (354 days old) by appnut (TX) |
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Post# 601393 , Reply# 20 6/6/2012 at 05:22 (353 days old) by chuffle (West-central PA) |
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While I learned to drive in a 1967 Beetle, took my driver's test in a 1973 Beetle, the first car that I purchased was a lime green (I think VW named it Viper Green) 1976 Beetle. 
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Post# 601397 , Reply# 21 6/6/2012 at 05:41 (353 days old) by Frigilux (the open prairie of Minnesota) |
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Post# 601403 , Reply# 22 6/6/2012 at 06:26 (353 days old) by polkanut (Wausau, WI ) |
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Mine was a POS '79 Plymouth Horizon that spent more time in the mechanics garage than ours. It was blaze orange with a god awful black vinyl interior. YUCK!!! | ||
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Post# 601451 , Reply# 25 6/6/2012 at 10:44 (353 days old) by ptcruiser51 (New Jersey) |
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 1959 Ford Galaxie similar to this one.
Shot transmission, unremarkable acceleration, hit-and-miss radio reception, spotty oil pressure, and many other extras. Fortunately, we lived on a hill so I could roll it down to start when needed. Burned oil like crazy, I used to buy the re-refined stuff and put it in myself. I finally junked it when the engine mounts gave out. I'm still a Ford guy, see avatar. 
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| Post# 601470 , Reply# 26 6/6/2012 at 11:59 (353 days old) by washernoob (Omaha Nebraska) | ||
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Post# 601482 , Reply# 27 6/6/2012 at 12:35 (353 days old) by 58limited (Port Arthur, Texas) |
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Post# 601484 , Reply# 28 6/6/2012 at 12:44 (353 days old) by whirlcool (Just North Of Houston, Texas) |
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 I had a 63' Chevy Supersport Coupe with the 327 engine and my first car. I bought it in 1967. It was white outside with a red interior. I liked the "Cold" light that came on when the car was first started up.
It was a great car and actually very reliable. I think the only problem was that I had to replace the clutch once ($100 at the dealer) and replace the dual exhaust one time. The only negative thing about the car was the gas mileage. No matter how good you were on the gas I could never get above 14mpg. And when you are in high school with only a very low paying part time job even $0.39 per gallon gasoline ripped your budget apart. And the insurance was almost $500 per year, which was ungodly expensive even for the time because I was a teen driver and my dad wouldn't put me on their insurance for a better rate. I originally wanted a 64' bug for a first car but I let my dad talk me out of it. I liked the strangeness of the bug more than that of the SS. Now that I think about it I think he knew how much more expensive the SS would be to operate and that I would have to work so much to keep it up I'd probably never be home. And that was true, I worked two part time jobs and went to school. It was wake up, school, work, bed over and over again 7 days a week. So right before college I traded the SS in for a Corvair which got around 20mpg. 
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Post# 601533 , Reply# 29 6/6/2012 at 16:16 (353 days old) by westie2 (Siloam Springs, Arkansas) |
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 My first was 1966 oldmobile 98 LS. My grandmother bought it when it came out in 1965 and died in March of 1966. big car power everything. Did good to get 12 mpg traded it in 1969 for a Green VW Bug was commuting with wife to college 90 miles away. Here is a picture of one but mine was Gold with white roof.
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Post# 601545 , Reply# 30 6/6/2012 at 17:04 (353 days old) by ronhic (Canberra, Australia) |
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Post# 601630 , Reply# 31 6/6/2012 at 22:10 (353 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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I lost the 1970 Cadillac 3 years later when I was hit by a truck that failed to stop at a red light. The car and the truck were totaled. I walked away without a scratch. The guy in the truck was not so lucky. I had some money saved up and I had the Cadillac bug bad, so I got, what else? A 1971 Cadillac Coupe DeVille. Same colors as this advertisement picture, Casablanca Yellow with a Brown vinyl top.
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Post# 601674 , Reply# 33 6/7/2012 at 04:16 (352 days old) by Spankomatic (Ukiah,CA) |
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Post# 601685 , Reply# 34 6/7/2012 at 05:59 (352 days old) by toploader55 (Barnstable, Ma.) |
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 1970 Monte Carlo.
Similar to " Alittle old Lady only drove it to church on Sundays". It was owned by an elderly tailor. The car had only been in the rain twicw and never saw snow when I bought it. Beautiful Car. I wish I still had it. The pic is not the one I owned, but same color and different wheels. 
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Post# 601687 , Reply# 35 6/7/2012 at 06:08 (352 days old) by chromacolor (Omaha) |
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Mine was a 1972 Pontiac Bonneville. I LOVED that car! Here is a pix from the Pontiac brochure. Mine was a 4-door in this color. 
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Post# 601715 , Reply# 37 6/7/2012 at 08:38 (352 days old) by franksdad (Greenville, South Carolina) |
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 was a 1959 Ford Ranch wagon that my brother picked up from his brother-in-law. It was white. It wouldn't run and we tried to repair it - but it never made it to the street. I sold it about a year later to a scrap dealer for $25.00. I graduated from high school in May 1973 then in June 1973 I bought a brand new 1973 Chevrolet Impala sport coupe 350 4 bbl. I kept that car for 11 years. An Impala was not my first choice, but I had an aging father and felt I needed a car he could get into and out of. However, it was a GREAT car!!!!! Many happy times and fond memories with that car! This picture is not of my car but it looked just like it - same light copper metalic and black vinyl roof. 
This post was last edited 06/07/2012 at 13:46 | ||
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Post# 601759 , Reply# 38 6/7/2012 at 13:42 (352 days old) by kevin313 (Detroit, Michigan) |
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 Mine was a 1979 Dodge Diplomat 4 door sedan in Cadet Blue with a dark blue vinyl roof. It had a 318 V-8 engine and it ran well. It virtually the same car as a Dodge Aspen, but upgraded with some nice features. It rode well - had torsion bar suspension and I had a lot of fun driving that car around. It had one of the early electric rear-window defoggers and I just thought that was the best thing ever. I traded that car in for my first brand new car - a Dodge Aires K Car! I thought I would help Lee Iaccoca save Chrysler, and he wrote me a letter thanking me for my purchase.
Here's a picture of a 1979 Diplomat 4 door in brown. 
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Post# 601761 , Reply# 39 6/7/2012 at 13:56 (352 days old) by franksdad (Greenville, South Carolina) |
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Post# 601763 , Reply# 40 6/7/2012 at 14:01 (352 days old) by westingman123 (st louis,mo) |
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 Mine was a '76 Mustang II, brown with a tan Landau roof. It was a manual transmission, which I knew little about except for driving the "three on the tree" truck on the farm. Mama and Dad paid for it, and I paid them back each week from my part-time job proceeds.
That little 'stang took me EVERYWHERE. I drove it until the wheels fell off, then moved up to a Cutlass, which is another story. My high school chemistry teacher used to switch cars with me when he needed a "bigger" car to drive, and I'd take his MG to work. Talk about sitting on the ground. | ||
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Post# 602065 , Reply# 41 6/8/2012 at 23:41 (351 days old) by pdub (Portland, Oregon) |
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 This was the first car I ever had. Back in 1976 when I bought it these cars were all over the place. Every used car lot you drove buy had several Mustang's for sale but typically lots of 65 through 68 models of all types were most abundant.
I fell in love with the Mustang after seeing the commercials on TV when they first came out. When my parents decided my mom needed a new car I suggested a Mustang. Of course that was vetoed as being "not practical" for a family with 3 kids. When I got mine I looked in the paper and saw the ad for this convertible listed at $199.00 (This was 1976, Bloomington, Minnesota. The land of rusted out cars) My mom went with me and talked the guy down to $175.00 as she said you never pay what they are asking! I drove the car for a year before getting into a wreck and then selling the car as is. This is a good example of what the car looked like. Wimbledon white with a black interior. Patrick 
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Post# 602068 , Reply# 42 6/8/2012 at 23:55 (351 days old) by rp2813 (SF Bay Area) |
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Patrick! I LOVED my '65 Mustang. The favorite out of all cars I've owned. That car took off like a shot and the steep streets of San Francisco were no match for it. It didn't have power steering, and I liked it that way. Wimbledon white with blue interior.
I purchased it in spring of 1978 for considerably more than you paid. Early Mustangs have almost always been a hot commodity here on the west coast. | ||
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Post# 602071 , Reply# 43 6/9/2012 at 00:17 (351 days old) by pdub (Portland, Oregon) |
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Used cars were (and probably still are) much cheaper in the snowy area's that use salt on the roads during winter months. The cars rust very quickly and some people even have 'winter/beater cars' and store the good car to be used only during the dry summer months.
I too love Mustang's and always will. I currently have a '72 hardtop and a 2000 GT. Patrick 
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Post# 602092 , Reply# 44 6/9/2012 at 02:42 (350 days old) by d-jones (Burbank CA) |
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 I know it's not a car but what the heck. I joined the Army when I was 17 back in 1980 as a tank crewman. My MOS was 19E, or 19 echo as the Army would have called it. I completed basic and A I T at Fort Knox Kentucky and was issued my very first drivers license ever, and the only vehicle listed on that license was the M60A1 main battle tank. At Fort Hood Texas I was assigned to Alpha Company 2/67 Armored and placed in 2nd platoon were I became the driver of Alpha 24(read Alpha two four)meaning 2nd Platoon, fourth tank. It looked pretty much like this one you see here, except it had the obligatory two by four on the front slope between the two headlights. I spent a great deal of time working on that tank, getting it back into shape after years of neglect. To this day the smell of diesel exhaust takes me right back to its drivers seat.
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Post# 602117 , Reply# 45 6/9/2012 at 09:14 (350 days old) by hydralique (Los Angeles) |
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I hope they didn't make you pass a parallel parking test to get that license! | ||
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Post# 603938 , Reply# 48 6/15/2012 at 19:25 (344 days old) by 58limited (Port Arthur, Texas) |
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| Post# 603954 , Reply# 49 6/15/2012 at 21:17 (344 days old) by 1952Crestwood (Arlington, VA) | ||
 then I got it for my first car in 1980. 1968 Mercury Monterey 4 door sedan in Wimbledon White. I think this is a Montclair but it's just like mine from all I can tell. That 390 was wicked fast, and I startled more than one of the "cool cars" of the time by striding right past them in, causing some shocked faces. Never judge a book by it's cover.
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| Post# 603979 , Reply# 51 6/16/2012 at 00:01 (344 days old) by washernoob (Omaha Nebraska) | ||
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Post# 604022 , Reply# 52 6/16/2012 at 06:24 (343 days old) by moparguy (Virginia) |
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Hey Robyn, those Mercurys are great... and Brandon, this relates to the tv show car thread... if you like them, look for some of the original Hawaii 5-0 episodes, McGarrett drove a 68 Mercury for several seasons! | ||
| Post# 604095 , Reply# 54 6/16/2012 at 13:45 (343 days old) by Blackstone (Springfield, Massachusetts) | ||
 I was still in college, with no intentions of buying a car, but at a Thanksgiving dinner, a family friend was selling the Catalina. He was a traveling salesman, and the car had just been slightly damaged, with over 120K miles. He was selling for $100; my father jokingly suggested $50, and the deal was unexpectedly done. After college, sold the Catalina (for a profit), and moved onto Suburbans. Can't very well deliver a washer in the trunk of a Catalina, no matter how big it is.
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