What was your first car?

I had a sweet 1970 lite yellow Ford Falcon with a missing back seat where we put a lawn chair and a cooler. What a summer.

bought it in 1983, dumped it in 1985 when just about everything failed at once.

Bought it for $900, sold it for $895.

Not a bad deal! It was a fun car. They took turns very well!

It started falling apart as soon as he drove off the lot.

And to think the second choice was a convertible VW Thing! Oh, what could've been.

The Pacer was years ahead of its time, not just in styling, but in comfort and passneger innovations and safety. It had amazing crumple-zones, ad little details like en elongated passenger door, for ease of access to the rear seat.

What ultimately killed it was how advanced it had been planned to be, and politics which limited its potential.

For example, it was designed to be powered by the revolutionary (pardon the expression) rotary engine developed by Wankel (this is the excellent engine when eventually powered the Mazda RX-7 for two decades). The licensing arrangement between Wankel and AMC broke down at the last moment, so AMC equipped the Pacer with a substandard, underpowered and untested Renault/AMC four-cylinder motor and the horrible AX-5 transmission. Some Pacers got the inline 6 motor which powered the Hornet and some Gremlins, and that was a good match, but the OPEC embargo was causing people to choose 4-cyl options whenever possible. The auto tranny was pretty good; it was the same one AMC put in all its passenger vehicles, and as long as you kept the ATF fluid level topped-up, it never failed.

But the pacer suffered from the curse of AMC: rust on the tops of the front fenders, and on the framewelds.

Sure, they were fugly, but look how today's cars have incorporated the rounded features and wide stance of the Pacer... when the pacer was introduced, all the other cars on the road featured hard, sharp angles.

I have a friend who has two Pacers presently; a coupe and a wagon. He purchsed his wagon new, and has since put over 400,000kms on it. It's his work car. His coupe was purchased at auction for $200 if I remember correctly.

Actually, unfortunately, my dad's a wingnut from way back. He was listening to Oxyrush and Dennis Prager more than a decade ago.

No AC, a hole in te dash where the radio should go, a total dog--but for some reason I loved that car.

I don't know what year - it was in the early 80's. His name was Ralph - great little car, went anywhere. It's probably still running somewhere.

Then I had an '84 Cutlass Supreme until my wife and I bought our first car, a '94 Saturn.

MAJOR LEMON!

I learned to always park near a hill so I could pop start it when it (inevitably) wouldn't start. That Really scared the shit out of some of my dates!

...You know what "Fiat" stands for, don't you?

"Fix it again, Tony!"

Its name was "Clementine Orange". Had some good times in that little car....

:)


~Shine

Automatic with a shift. My sister gave it to me after she fried the engine by never checking the oil. I had a rebuilt put in and voila, transportation! I was in heaven!

that I paid--get this--$2800.00 for, brand new.

Mine was black.
I was a big hit at the U. of Alabama in 1959.

to me and my husband....

A slightly used 1964 Ford Galaxie....and this was in 1965........

Good times, good times.....

Light yellow, no radio, no AC. I think it cost about $2500. Got a few wrinkles in it and had some body work done. Had it repainted in "Corvette Yellow." Looked cool. For a cheap car it ran good. Traded it in '79 for a Chevy Monza POS. x(

My wife and I bought a 79 Monza from my Brother in law. Total POS. One Time the first year the alternator fell off. Sold it to my brother he eventually left it on the side of the road.

1960 Ford F-100 Pickup.

My first car was a 1965 Impala Super Sport with a 327.

RL

What a gorgeous boat that was.

I'll bet that there are more people whose first car was a Beetle than any other.

In "American Racing Green".

I bought it for $600 from a farmer who bought it surplus from the phone company. It had 235,000kms on it when I got it, and it ran like a top for two years.

It was a fleet model, so when I got it, it had hard vinyl seats, no radio, no headliner, no clock or tachometer, no carpeting, rubber floormats, and plain steel wheels. And it always smelled like rotting peaches, no matter how thoroughly I scrubbed the interior.

When it began to rust, a ghost of the the phone company logo magically reappeared on the doors.

(this is a Hornet, but it's basically the same).

My Hornet was yellow but otherwise like the one pictured.

I learned to drive (on a stick, no less) on her. When I got my license, 2 days later I got cut off, and wrapped her around a telephone pole at 45mph. Can't believe I'm alive to even talk about it. Damn, but she held up for me.

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:crazy:

Those early years of the Mustang were the best, in my opinion.

:thumbsup:

It's been a great car !

I hope to move up to an Altima when the Sentra dies.

but in 1984, I bought a 1972 Chevy Impala.

Big ol' piece of shit, perfect for cruising the downtown streets of Washington, DC.


"The roach," we called it. What a fucking garbage wagon.

What a tank, but it was mine.

Used to be my grandfather's - they gave it to me when I graduated from high school in 1980. I drove it until 1997! I loved that car :-)

Didn't have seat belts and the drivers bucket seat wasn't bolted down. At parties, I often would just take the bucket seat out and always have a place to sit.

Mine was a black Dart with the auburn roof. 8 track player and my only 8-track was a Johnny Cash album.
I had to use a stick to jam open the carburetor in order to get the monster to start. When I would get to a red light or stop sign, I'd have to throw it into neutral and keep revving it in order to keep it going.

Does anybody remember those little things!

82 maybe. I really liked it fairly reliable ran it to death and still got money out of it

That car was evil, I tell ya, evil! I won't go into the history, but I assure you, it's very bizarre.

After I'd had enough and traded it for another car, the next owner tracked me down, called me up, and her first question after introducing herself was, "What the hell is wrong with that car?"

It was evil. I think someone sinister had died in it or something :)

It had 212,000 miles on it.

Bought it at my uncle's dealership. I wanted a yellow one with a brown interior, but had to take red because I needed it right away. My parents surprised me with the racing stripe. I was so embarrased but couldn't tell them. The day I walked out into the driveway(they'de gone and picked it up for me) and saw it was the day I realized that I had Dorks for parents, and I was one of the fortunate ones. How could I not love what they did?

Mine was that crappy 70's metallic green color and the floorboard was made from a stolen speed limit sign, but DAMN that 440 engine could throw you back in the seat!

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Even though I don't drive, I've always wanted a 1970 Dodge Challenger just like Kowalski...

1981 Chevy Citation. Ran like a dream and was very peppy. I had it for almost 7 years and gave it to my sister where I got a "newer" car. She sold it 4 years ago. I actually still see it around town every now and then.

Was a really cool car. Loved it.

Opal, he called it his mini corvette!!! Loved that car into the ground. When my mother was in labor with me, they we speeding to the hospital, with her holding on to the door, yelling at my dad telling him not to pull over for the police chasing them with lights and sirens going. However, before taking off from the house to the hospital, my father called in an escort from the police!

Dependable little white 4-door that faithfully trekked cross country on I-10 many times, Miami to Los Angeles and back. I had 160,000+ miles at the end. The rotor wore out and had to be replaced twice; no significant problems.

I had a burgundy one with a hatchback. That sucker never had problems, other than AC. I gave it to my dad after I enlisted, and he wrecked it with I think 190,000 miles on it.

It was two tone metallic brown/tan. I loved that car!

I think Fred Schneider was talking about a '75 Malibu when he said, "I've got me a car, it's as big as a whale, and it's about to set sail!" I've had sofas that weren't as big as those bench seats front and back. It was like a building with wheels. You could sit inside at the control tower and watch this enormous thing cruise through town like a tank. If you were to hit something, the event itself would be small and faraway, and you could sit there on your couch, unaffected by any mayhem you caused. "Ooops, I took out the corner of a building. Should I get out and deal with it? Or just back up and drive away slowly?"

The thing would eat a quarter tank of gas in 15 minutes flat. That was just warming it up and driving 12 miles. And if you wanted power, that thing would get up and hit it. I dunno what was under the hood. They told me several times. It rocked, and that was all I needed to know. I sold it for a song when I needed money.

It sucked. The timing chain kept blowing out in the wintertime.

We have a lot of history together.

Green, 2 door, 283, Hurst four banger, Hooker Headers, three quarter race cam.

Id give my left nut to get that car back again. Hell Id give both nuts.

Year? Hand-me-down from my mother in about 1971, so . . .?

Sounds too cool!:bounce:

:toast:

My father was a car salesman and I was able to buy a new Chevy LUV truck in '75 for $2400.

loved that car!

5-speed - Reved just high enough to hook me on Honda forever.

my bf had a 1980 Chevy Caprice Classic tan
what fun we had...

i loved it...a lot of great memories

That was the model year before it went all angular and got the cool flip-up headlights, iirc. Thirty-three MPG and super-fun to drive--the perfect car for a college student.

orange

White. Dad bought it for me for my high school graduation for $50, fixed it up, it ran like a dream!

Which was a lot of fun to drive after learning on pick-ups and driving the family's 64 Ford station wagon in high school. Now I wish I had that wagon - good times! 3 on the column, positraction- you could take ten people and a keg to the river and be back to school before the bell rang while all the hard asses in thier 4x4s were still spinning all 4 in the sand hahahahhahahaha

Made of compressed rust. One early evening in 1985 I drove it head-on into telephone poll. Some cuts, bruises, and I lost one tooth. You can guess for yourself what the car's condition was.

it was fun to drive and great in the snow.

the brakes went out and the headlights went out - while I was driving it. Fun...

black and white, a TANK. i burned the engine up by never putting fluids in (ok, i was only 17!)

The fenders and lower door panels were rotted out due to New England road salting but other than that it ran great. Power windows/locks,the clock and radio still worked. I had to "Bondo" the shit out of it to get my inspection sticker in NH.
It was a boat, but a fun summer cruiser!

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that I still have ... ndearing little guy, if uncool. Didn't buy a car til a few years ago when I hit my 30s and needed wheels out here in the boonies ... quite proud of that actually ... before that, I was lucky enough to live on the great idea of the mass transit system for a long time.

I bought my first car at 15 years old. a 1963 Chevy Impala convertible, It was red. Had a 283 engine. Powerglide transmission. I put crome reverse wheels and baby moons on it. I was so proud of that car. Sadly, I totaled it out on a winters night. I had just taken my girlfriend home. The road was quite icy with a large crown in the middle. The car just slid down the crown of road and into a power pole. I do miss that car.

Tan.

doesn't exist in nature. :bounce:

I bought it only becuase it was so pretty and I was so young and stupid-- silver w/ black seats!

Actually the Pontiac version of the Vega, the Astre.

Mine was lime green with a black plastic interior. Terrible car... the best example of the worst Detroit ever offered.

Love the look, though. They still turn heads.

My climbing partner had one and we would go from DC to WV. It handled really well, nice balance. You could drift it around turns feathering the gas to control the oversteer/understeer.
We did go through 3-4 quarts of oil every trip though.

My legacy from a cranky uncle with a soft spot for me. Received the car just in time for my senior year of high school, 1987.

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in 1965.

nice car but it had major frame issues. Traded it in 1 year later and they gave me the sticker price for the trade in value...I am sure it ended up in their lab for them to figure out how it got off the assembly line so f*cked up..

And it had about 150,000 miles on it. I started driving it and about four months later it blew a gasket, and it cost about the same to put a down payment on a new car then it did to fix the one I had.

Traded for a 1954 Chevy 3100 (step-side) that my dad and I rebuilt and restored together. Kept it until my mom found out I was dragging down on the dikes. :)

I ended up with a Pontiac Fiero when I left for college. Cute little car with a lot of problems.

Metallic doo-doo brown, 4 door hatchback.
Tried to intall a third-tailight when they came out, but the adhesive keep loosening, so I drove the poor thing with it flopping around, into the back windshield everytime I stopped.
Never could remove the permanent smell of old cocoa-butter sun lotion...fun times.

great car

wrecked it three days after I got it, then I got a 92 Dodge Dakota.

wrecked it three days after I got it, then I got a 92 Dodge Dakota.