What was your first car ! Give us some background.

[Bonnewagon]

Such great stories and with a common theme- too young to legally drive. I was around 13 and putzing around bolting side-shaft lawn mower engines to bicycle frames and racing the guys with mini-bikes and sometimes winning. A neighbor noticed this and gave me a 1961 Saab that wouldn't start. It was a 2-stroke 3 cylinder but I got it running. When I snuck it out for a spin my Mom caught me and raised holy hell. No license, insurance, registration, the whole deal and she made me get rid of it. The first car I actually bought was a 1959 Ford Ranchero with a hi-po 289 and 3 speed on the floor. I swapped it for a 1965 BSA 650 Lightning which I left in Germany. I miss the BSA more.

 

[O. D. Showtime]

My first car was a 1970 Impala Custom...2 door with the concave rear window. Red with black vinyl roof and black bucket/console interior. Car was 10 years old at the time. My buddy had a brother that lived in a housing project and it had been sitting there for quite awhile. We inquired about it and I picked it up for $850. Had the 300 horse 350 in it. Car was overheating on the way home so we tore the carb & intake off changed gaskets cleaned the carbon out from under the intake, replaced thermostat etc and put it back together. Finished that up late one night and while driving my buddy back home I dropped her down to first at about 30 mph and spun the tires.....we both had huge smiles on our faces. Drove that car all through high school and then some....ended up selling it to my cousin for his first car and bought a restored 1969 GMC Sierra Grande 1/2 ton.

Here's a pic of a pic...complete with rallies and white walls....

 

[G-Body_Vet]

My first car was a 1970 Impala Custom...2 door with the concave rear window.

My 2nd car was a white 2 door '72 Caprice with that same window, a 400 sbc, and fender skirts. I've always liked big 2 door cars since then.

 

[87BlazeLS]

Can't imagine getting one like that now for $850. Geeze those things were cheap back then even in
real nice shape. However I purchased my v8 87 mc for the same price in 2014 not running but intact stock.

 

[Pedrolif]

View attachment 49702 My first car I purchased back in 1986 just before I turned 16... Came with a 260V8 and that's why my dad liked that car for me, I wouldn't end up wrapping it around a tele pole like my brother did with his T/A.

Was going to comment on youngins', but then math caught up with me. LOL. awe poop. But I will say, it doesn't matter what the motor is, it can always be wrapped around something if you try hard enough.

...The first car I actually bought was a 1959 Ford Ranchero with a hi-po 289 and 3 speed on the floor. I swapped it for a 1965 BSA 650 Lightning which I left in Germany. I miss the BSA more.

The only reason I disliked this was because you got rid of a BSA. Ranchero.. meh, not much of a Ford guy, but the BSA, for old British bikes, they're getting harder to come by. Hope the dislike doesn't bring your reputation on the forums down in any way, I've seen nothing but good from you. Someone fill me in on how the rewards (psh...) effects of thumbs (for lack of better terms) work and I would be grateful.

These stories do make me wonder though... what is the age population/diversity of the members here?

 

[87BlazeLS]

These stories do make me wonder though... what is the age population/diversity of the members here?

I'm 58 and I would say on average the median age on this site is between 30 and 45.

 

[Pedrolif]

Just for the hell of it, and the beer I've consumed tonight, going to drop a thread in general for age. Me myself and I, 36 but damn do I normally think I'm younger then I am.

 

[Bonnewagon]

Hey man, no one misses that BSA more than me. I was transferred to Germany in August 1974 and being an E-5 I was entitled to bring a POV so of course the BSA got shipped over. It arrived in November and I had to take a train from Nurnburg to Bremerhaven to get it and there I was told it was too loud. Eventually they let me leave with it and I hopped on the Autobahn when it started to rain cats and dogs. I bailed at nighfall and stayed at a gasthaus and they let me park the bike in the barn. Next morning when I went to leave there was a fresh killed deer hanging next to the bike. I got back on the Autobahn and of course it rained even heavier than the day before. Even though I was cruising at 90mph, I got passed like I was standing still by Porshes and BMW's, in the rain. As I approached the town of Kassel, the rain got to the ignition and the bike quit running. I left it at a gas station and the attendant hooked me up with a ride from a German airman who took me to Wurzburg and I caught a train back to Nurnburg. A friend with a van helped me retrieve it but the bike never ran right again even though I changed the entire electrical system. It would work fine for a while then die for no reason. Disgusted, I sold it and bought a ten speed bicycle and rode that all over Germany. For the record I am 62 years old and I still ride a bicycle .

 

[sportriderOK]

September, 1981. I had been driving for a few months and had been using my Mom's 77 Grand Prix to drive to my part time job. My dad and I were having a major disagreement about my first car. I wanted my buddy's 73 Nova hatchback. Orange with a white top, 350 auto, cool car. Dad had a friend with a 71 Bel Air 4 door with a six, three on the tree, and puke green. The Bel Air had low miles, like 23k or something, but I was already an outcast at school and that car would have done me in. I was 16, and my Dad had to register the car in his name since I was a minor, and he refused to budge on the Nova. When my Dad left town on a business trip, I had my mom's car at work, and she needed it for her errands. She took my money and bought the Nova from my friend, put it in her name, drove it to my job, and took her car back. If my Dad had a problem with it, I never knew! I had the Nova about 8 months before it was rear-ended in traffic on interstate 75 in Dayton, Ohio. The back bumper ruptured the gas tank as the car decreased about 18 inches in size. No injuries, but no more Nova. And yes, I'd love to have that Bel Air today!

 

[pontiacgp]

My 1st was a 67 Volvo 124, great car for loading up with supplies and it would still fit 6 cases of beer in the trunk for a weekend of camping..