First Car Stories

I had a 2005 Nissan Altima. It had a blown head gasket, broken control arm, no safety shifter, “misfire on cylinder one” codes, no abs, gas door doesn’t work, fishbowl except for the back window which has tint that has crinkled so you can’t see out of it, the emergency brake doesn’t work, faulty gas gauge, broken motor mounts, and it’s extremely shaken wheel I replaced the alternator, cv axle, three of the six spark plugs, and so far one of the motor mounts. I love that car but hate it at the same time, it’s fine one moment and bi polar the next.
Does anyone else have “special” first cars?

 

Welcome to TW! Good thread to start...

First car was a '68 Mustang Coupe bought in 1980 for $400. The thing was already rusted out to a significant degree but the doors still worked. Floor pans were such that if I hit a big enough puddle, my buds in the back seat would get drenched . Learned a ton about working on vehicles just to keep them going with that car. I sold it about 6 years later for close to what I paid for it to a dude who needed the PS pump...

 

I got my parents' old '70 Cougar. Pea-soup green. 351 Cleveland, drums. Could beat my friend in his '69 911 to about 100mph, then he would walk away. Just before I took my babysitter to junior prom, I let Earl Schieb paint it black for $99.95. She was pissed I spent $$$ on painting the car. "Painted" the rugs black too. Every 18 months or so we were back at Sears to get a new set of tires, pro-rated for wear. After about 3 times they said no more, these tires are designed for a Pinto, not this big fast car.
Mechanically, pretty sound, except the alternator was only secured to the block by a single stud. I used to shear that off pretty regularly (see 911 above) and have to limp over to the local gas station to have it drilled out. Even T8 bolts couldn't hold up.
The front headlight covers had a slow pressure loss in the hydraulic line, so it was always half-asleep. But those sequential trigger tail lights were sex on wheels!

What I wouldn't give to have that car back. . .

 

My Mom's Torino Wagon was the same color green, throw in some rust and peeling wood grain vinyl. That wagon was very Family Truckster looking.

 

In 1963 I bought a 1960 Corvair, three speed. Quick off the line. I loved that thing, Ralph Nader was wrong.

 

I delivered pizzas in a 1960 Corvair around 1970. Only had it 3 weeks when I was rear ended.
The force of the impact caused me to bend the steering wheel towards me.
The rear engine saved my life. You're right, Ralph Nader WAS wrong!

 

My first car was a '66 Plymouth Fury. My dad paid $100 for it. It was about 10 years old at the time. It had the 318 Poly engine with a tiny 2-bbl carb and a skinny single exhaust. I drove that for 23 years! Did lots of work on it. Not repairs, improvements: 4-barrel intake manifold with Holly spread-bore double-pumper carb, Weiand aluminum intake manifold, dual exhaust with Sonic Turbo mufflers, electric fan, electric fuel pump, Direct Connection electronic ignition, open air cleaner, B&M TorqueFlite 727 street/strip transmission (chirped the tires on the 1-2 shift), wider aluminum wheels with good radial tires. Had so much fun with my old Plymouth!

 

My first car was this 68 Firebird 350 4 speed. Paid $1,500 for it and it was a dog, and about 50% fiberglass. I traded it even for this bone stock 69 SS 396 4 speed Chevelle that had a flawless body. Zero rust or glass. My cousin worked at Ellison Racing in Cincinnati. I bought a monster Crane cam kit that he put in and set the heads up for it. I also put a Edelbrock intake manifold, Hooker headers, and a 780 dual line Holley on it along with 456 gears. It was scary fast, and rattled the dishes in my moms china cabinet when I pulled in the garage. It had no real exhaust, just the headers, and a set of Thrush header mufflers. I sure as hell wish I still had it.

 

In 1978 I got in my grandma's 1971 Ford LTD to move it so my brother could get his Chevelle SS out of the driveway. It was mint green and I recall the dash looked pretty similar to my Mom's '72 Country Squire wagon with a 400M. I was only 14 or 15 at the time, but I had driven cars before. Heck, I used to drive my best friend's dad home from late night fishing trips; me manning the wheel of his pickup, pulling a boat, with him asleep in the passenger seat after 4 hours of fishing and a six pack of blue ribbon (he drank the pabst, I did not). Anyway, I started up granny's big ford and started to back up and absolutely torched the tires. Dad came running around the house yelling at me. I had taken my foot off the gas by then. I had no idea she had opted for the optional 429 in that car. That car had way more balls than the skinny tires could handle.

Anyway....a couple of years later I was about to get my license and sadly Grandma had passed. She was only 62.....which seemed old to me then....but not so much now.

Mom and her sister and brother got together to split up what money and belongings she had. I begged Mom to get that LTD figuring it would make an EXCELLENT first car for me. My uncle Terry listened to her and then said, "That car is way too nice to let a kid drive it. And anyway, I want it."

So, I ended up with a '78 puke yellow plymouth Volare wagon as my first car instead. It was only a couple of years old but already had rust holes through both front fenders. The 318 had been fitted with Chrysler's early electronic carburetor designed to meet emissions. Best I could tell the way it worked was to sense if the engine was running. If it was, it would cut down the fuel supply until the engine died. No more emissions.. Problem solved. Dad's mechanic tried everything to get that car to run right before finally giving up and putting a standard carb on it (which was against the law to do, even back then.)

And granny's LTD with the 429? Uncle Terry lost it in a poker game on his way back to Joplin. He had to buy a bus ticket to make it home. Thanks Uncle Terry.

 

Heh. '63 Rambler sedan, puke green. Bought it for $100. I was 16-17. Out of all the stories that took place . . .

The trunk had to be wired shut. We used to head south for surfing and sleep in it at a pull-off by San Juan Capistrano before it was all buried under condo's and strip malls. We always managed to buy beer even at 17, and in this case there was a case of bud talls in the trunk (yeah I know, stuf horse p*$$ with the foam farted off, we were 17.)

On the way we pulled off at a viewpoint to check the waves and this Trooper rolls up beside us. I didn't have a surf rack yet, so the boards were in the back seat with the noses sticking out the window. Trooper gets us behind the car, not inches from the case of beer, discussing how it' s not legal to have a board sticking more than 36" out of a vehicle. I was doing everything I could to not look down at the wired shut trunk, Trooper comments on it, even gives the trunk lid a bounce or too (god don't open it god don't open it god don't open it . . . ) helps us wrangle the boards so the noses are almost touching the windshield and tails at the back window. He drove away.

Somehow I managed not to pee myself.

 

My first car was a ‘61 Corvair and stick shift

Yep….I’m that old

Had a ‘57 Chevy 4 dr hardtop too

 

1964 GTO #104, 389, trips, glide, AC.

Bought in spring ot '68 w/29k miles, paid $1k saved from mowing lawns and bagging groceries.

The car was quite reliable but took a fair amount of work to keep it tip top. Had it 11 years...... While other rides came and went.

I too had a couple of piles, but they all filled a purpose at the time and most made a buck when sold.

 

‘70 Plymouth Duster 340.
Beat the living hell out of that car and put it into the trees twice before finally finishing it off.

 

This was my first car. Exactly like this one but not in so good shape lol.
1976 Toyota Celica Liftback 20R 5 speed. Almost nothing worked on it but took me to SF, NV, AZ, UT with no mechanical issues. Super reliable

 

Sorry, no pictures of my mom's car.

 

1987 Toyota extra cab SR5 4x4. I was 16. Always wanted a Toyota truck when I was a kid.

 

My first car was an 86 VW GTI painted it flat black and cut the springs it was pretty low. It had a crank sunroof. Paid $800CDN and insurance was $3200 I am 39 now so this was like 23 years ago

 

My first car was a 1961 Rambler Ambassador, kind of like the one in the picture. But mine had a white top. My parents gave it to me in 1970, when it was worth maybe $25. With a lot of work and a Miracle paint job, I raised the value to $75. The doggone thing was equipped with AMC's 327 V8 engine, which would beat most Mustangs off the line. That baffled most of the high school crowd. It also got appalling fuel economy as the engine began to wear out. In 1971, a friend and I tried out Nevada's "reasonable and proper" speed limit south of Reno. In no way were the Firestone retread tires up to what I did to it that day, but we survived. By November, I was getting metal shards on the dipstick, so that was the end of the line. I replaced it with a new 1971 Gremlin with a 3 on the floor and a 4.2 L inline six. I drove that for a zillion miles, even after I got married. That Gremlin utterly hated my wife, as if a car could have a personality. So in late 1979--2 days before the US Embassy in Tehran was stormed--we replaced the Gremlin with a 1980 Mazda GLC, which we drove for 16 years.

 

Im only 52...
Parent gave me there 1972 Volvo station wagon...
Was on my back at 15 years old swapping-out a transmission & installing a used $275 trans, it worked...