Your first car...

[Rocky]

A posting elsewhere on this site gave me an idea that we can have some fun with.

What was your first car? Pictures if available.

I will start with mine: A black 1958 Chevy Impala Convertible, 348 cu. in. with 3 2-barrel carbs and "three on the tree." This is the only photo I have of it. It is a blow up from a small snapshot that I had, and I carried in my wallet. I used to tell everyone it was a picture of my "first love." My bride had the photo enlarged, airbrushed and framed and gave it to me for Christmas one year. You can see the distortion in the grille because my father's 1956 Packard 400 was parked in front of me, and the rear fender antenna went right in front of my grille in the original photo. The person who enlarged it and did the airbrushing of the background "reconstructed" the grille, and it is noticeable. Loved that car! It would go like "ca-ca" shot from a cannon! If you look through the back window, you can see the front fender of a 1959 Studebaker Lark which was parked behind me.



What about the rest of you car guys?

 

[ratflinger]

Not this car, but close enough. 283 4-barrel, 3-speed stick. '63 Chevy Nova

 

[sour_grapes]

I wish!!

 

[Old Corker]

Not falling for it Rocky. Your trying to hack my Tic Toc channel aren’t you?

 

[Rocky]

Not falling for it Rocky. Your trying to hack my Tic Toc channel aren’t you?

Phil, I am very low-tech. I don't know what a "Tic Toc channel" is, nor do I know what you are implying. Please explain. Thanks.

 

[Old Corker]

Phil, I am very low-tech. I don't know what a "Tic Toc channel" is, nor do I know what you are implying. Please explain. Thanks.

Sorry, Rocky. Poor attempt at humor.

 

[ibglowin]

I'll play. First car was a 1973 Opel GT that looked just like this pic. It was in perfect condition and had low miles. German made IIRC and was quite fun to drive. I think I purchased it in 1977. No back seat and no real trunk. You could store your groceries etc. in a rear deck behind the bucket seats. Had a push stick for the head lights.



https://www.erclassics.com/opel-gt-1973-o7236/

 

[bstnh1]

Had this Renault for a few years then moved up to a 1964 Ford Falcon that cost me a whopping $1900 new! Bought the new car, a new house for $12,550 while earing $5200 a year. Gas was 24 cents a gallon and life was good.


'64 Ford Falcon (Not mine)

 

[cmason1957]

I was never cool enough to own a sports car. The first car my (now) ex-wife and I bought together was soon after we graduated from college in 1980. A Dodge Omni (basically a VW Rabbit), stick shift, she didn't know how to drive a stick, but I took her to the worst area of North St. Louis, stopped on a big hill and told her to get us home. Luckily, she had driven tractors, being a farm girl. I remember that engine had a great big VW stamp on it, but they used a typical Chrysler carburetor, after the second year, the carb had to be taken apart and cleaned up every winter or you got to drive a stick with one foot on the gas and brake at every stop to keep enough gas going through the carb or it died. Fun Times.

 

[JustJoe]

A posting elsewhere on this site gave me an idea that we can have some fun with.

What was your first car? Pictures if available.

I will start with mine: A black 1958 Chevy Impala Convertible, 348 cu. in. with 3 2-barrel carbs and "three on the tree." This is the only photo I have of it. It is a blow up from a small snapshot that I had, and I carried in my wallet. I used to tell everyone it was a picture of my "first love." My bride had the photo enlarged, airbrushed and framed and gave it to me for Christmas one year. You can see the distortion in the grille because my father's 1956 Packard 400 was parked in front of me, and the rear fender antenna went right in front of my grille in the original photo. The person who enlarged it and did the airbrushing of the background "reconstructed" the grille, and it is noticeable. Loved that car! It would go like "ca-ca" shot from a cannon! If you look through the back window, you can see the front fender of a 1959 Studebaker Lark which was parked behind me.

View attachment 82572

What about the rest of you car guys?

That is exactly the same as my first car except mine had a single 4 barrel carb. Got married shortly after getting it and it was my first and last classy car.

 

[Rocky]

That is exactly the same as my first car except mine had a single 4 barrel carb. Got married shortly after getting it and it was my first and last classy car.

That is too cool, Joe. I am assuming you mean the 250 HP 348 with a 4-barrel. I also had a half continental tire mount on mine that you can just see the chrome ring of in the picture. My trips were on a vacuum linkage and when I started out, I was running 1 2-barrel. Then the other two would kick in and almost push me through the seat.

 

[MiBor]

1986 Toyota Celica GT-S
Fun car, but it was a cop magnet. I don't know why...
Not my picture, but it's the same car.

 

[joeswine]

well, I wasn't as rich as you guys mine was a black 69 chevy with no back floor on the rear driver's side the on the driver's side you had to pull the window up and down with your hands not good in the rain or snow in Philley, it had a multitude of problems, but it was mine until someone stole it. 

 

[winemaker81]

my first was a 1971 Pontiac Catalina 4 door, dark green. 400 engine, 2 barrel carb (didn't need a 4!) The car was a tank.

I was rear-ended by a late model Subaru in 1982. The two guys in the car with me didn't realize we had been hit, and wondered why I pulled over. My rear bumper was rusted and the chrome peeling (this was Upstate NY, USA, lots of road salt in winters), and the hit produce a couple of minor scrapes, no real damage. The Subaru had the bumper pushed in, the grill smashed, the hood curled in, and the lights were askew -- $5,000+ damage at today's prices. The owner didn't want to report the accident, and since my car was undamaged, I was ok with it. I suspect his driving record was illustrated by his rear-ending me ...

 

[Rocky]

my first was a 1971 Pontiac Catalina 4 door, dark green. 400 engine, 2 barrel carb (didn't need a 4!) The car was a tank.

I was rear-ended by a late model Subaru in 1982. The two guys in the car with me didn't realize we had been hit, and wondered why I pulled over. My rear bumper was rusted and the chrome peeling (this was Upstate NY, USA, lots of road salt in winters), and the hit produce a couple of minor scrapes, no real damage. The Subaru had the bumper pushed in, the grill smashed, the hood curled in, and the lights were askew -- $5,000+ damage at today's prices. The owner didn't want to report the accident, and since my car was undamaged, I was ok with it. I suspect his driving record was illustrated by his rear-ending me ...

View attachment 82598

Yeah, Bryan, that car was more than two tons (4128 lbs.) and they were monsters. Here are the specs for your car:

Classic Car Specifications, Engine, Wheelbase, production numbers, VIN numbers for Antique Cars, Classic Cars, Vintage Cars and Muscle Cars (classiccardatabase.com)

I took my driver's test in a car that was over 4500 pounds and looked exactly (year, color and model) like this:

 

[winemaker81]

Yeah, Bryan, that car was more than two tons (4128 lbs.) and they were monsters. Here are the specs for your car:

Thanks! I recall the car was over 2 tons of steel, at a time when cars were made of steel. The car would comfortably seat 4 in the front and 5 in the back. The one thing I didn't like was the gas mileages, 8-12 MPG ...

That's a beautiful car! I'd love to have an old one like that (or my Catalina, for that matter!).

 

[crushday]

My first car was the very non-sexy 1979 Toyota Corolla just like this one pictured. I bought it the summer before I started my freshman year in college (1985) for $1300. Even back then it got over 40 MPG. Since gas was only 73 cents a gallon (Seattle, where I grew up) you could fill up for under 8 bucks.

For some more price perspective, my first year of college was $6,000 all in. Senior (5th year) college expenses was $14,000. It really creeped up in 5 years. In 1990, after college, I moved to Montana for my first job, driving the ‘little sh*t’ packed to the ceiling.

 

[jswordy]

Body and paint by Jim; engine by Jim. I have another I am working on now. The photos were taken by my college roommate, a photography major who went on to shoot lots of album covers for country music artists and earned a Grammy for one of them.





Current project... Again, all work by Jim... Can't wait to retire to have time to finish it up.



Oh. Before...

 

[Kraffty]

1968 Merc Cougar gifted (handed down) to me by my parents on my 16th birthday, the same day as I got my license, in 1973. Same exact color, roof and wheels as this pic I found online. I didn't realize until many years later what a great gift it was in the sense of how new of a car it was and what great condition it was in.

 

[jswordy]

1968 Merc Cougar gifted (handed down) to me by my parents on my 16th birthday, the same day as I got my license, in 1973. Same exact color, roof and wheels as this pic I found online. I didn't realize until many years later what a great gift it was in the sense of how new of a car it was and what great condition it was in.
View attachment 82620

My friend across the street had one when we were growing up. His was a 1967, when it was the Motor Trend Car of the Year, and had circular gold factory decals in the back quarter glass saying so. Who knows what that car would be worth today as a survivor? I love that era of Cougars – a plush Mustang, is exactly what they were.

Sometimes, I think of the "used cars" we all owned as teens. Lord, what they are all worth today.