First Car?
- Thread starter dmclone
- Start date
1991 Pontiac Grand Am.
The best thing about that car was "Low Rider" coming on the radio as I drove it to the dealership to trade it in.
The best thing about that car was "Low Rider" coming on the radio as I drove it to the dealership to trade it in.
1989 Buick Regal. Had a cassette tape stuck in the tape player so I had to press rewind or fast forward to listen to the radio.
At 14 yrs old:
Sky Blue 1989 Pontiac Firebird 350 with chrome mags and flowmaster exhaust. Miss it, but sold it for more than what I paid for it. Winning!
Sky Blue 1989 Pontiac Firebird 350 with chrome mags and flowmaster exhaust. Miss it, but sold it for more than what I paid for it. Winning!
My first car was a copper colored 1972 Mercury Capri -- bought with the help of a summer job with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) building an electrical transmission line between Po Station and Fults, IL.
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1955 Olds Super 88 Holiday
This picture is not of my first car but mine was identical except dark grey where the orange is. That was one hot running car!I bought a work car when I was 14 but here is what I bought (with a little help) when I turned 16. What did you have? Is it still your favorite?
Sorry for the quality, the picture is 23 years old.
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Cyclonepride
Thought Police
First car. Well I drove my dad's 1960 VW Beetle - heater didn't work, no gas gauge (I don't mean the gas gauge didn't work, it came without a gas gage. If it sputtered when you were low you switched to the reserve tank like a motorcycle.) With more than one person inside on a cold winter day you had to scrape the frost off of the inside of the windshield due to condensation and freezing from your breath. The brakes were weak. Top speed was about 65 MPH going down a bit of a grade, slower if heading into the wind. All in all, a bit of a death trap. My younger brother rolled it and came out with a few scratches but nothing serious. It was replaced with a '63. By then they had included an actual gas gage right there on the dash! It still had the reserve tank, though. It wasn't really as nice as the '60 though. It generally would not start by cranking the starter but was easy to start by bumping. I was working at Hy Vee and used to park on the lot on the only slightly sloping area, come out after work and turn the key on, give it a bit of a push, hope in, pop it into second, then pop the clutch to take off.
The first car I actually co-owned with my brother (the one who rolled the VW). It was a 1957 Ford 2 door sedan that had belonged to our grandparents. Inspired by the whole American Graffiti car culture in the mid 70s we got a cheap paint job (black) and rebuilt the engine and thought we were pretty cool with our Craig 8 Track player and the speakers on the package tray. This was my college car for two or three years. I sold it to my younger brother who still owns it today after rebuilding it the last few years. Been in the family since new in 1957.
After that I latched on to 1964 Ford Custom 4 door. The exterior was "rough" but the interior was in perfect condition. A nice 289 engine but there was no weather stripping on the door windows so if it rained then froze the doors would not latch closed when they were opened for the first time. I remember driving back to Ames on I80 with the passenger door held shut by stringing the passenger seat belt through the door handle and latching it. The driver door I held closed with my left hand. It was probably 10 below Zero. I stopped at several rest areas to blow the hand dryer to warm up my hands. Oh, the heater didn't work in it. Also, it would not start if the temperature dropped below 10 degrees. 10-20 was iffy. I remember a little game I used to play - coming out of a store with my buddies I would say, "I will trade my car for any vehicle in the lot - sight unseen".
One of my goals in life when I was going to graduate was to one day own a car less than 10 years old. I achieved that goal 6 months after graduation.
The first car I actually co-owned with my brother (the one who rolled the VW). It was a 1957 Ford 2 door sedan that had belonged to our grandparents. Inspired by the whole American Graffiti car culture in the mid 70s we got a cheap paint job (black) and rebuilt the engine and thought we were pretty cool with our Craig 8 Track player and the speakers on the package tray. This was my college car for two or three years. I sold it to my younger brother who still owns it today after rebuilding it the last few years. Been in the family since new in 1957.
After that I latched on to 1964 Ford Custom 4 door. The exterior was "rough" but the interior was in perfect condition. A nice 289 engine but there was no weather stripping on the door windows so if it rained then froze the doors would not latch closed when they were opened for the first time. I remember driving back to Ames on I80 with the passenger door held shut by stringing the passenger seat belt through the door handle and latching it. The driver door I held closed with my left hand. It was probably 10 below Zero. I stopped at several rest areas to blow the hand dryer to warm up my hands. Oh, the heater didn't work in it. Also, it would not start if the temperature dropped below 10 degrees. 10-20 was iffy. I remember a little game I used to play - coming out of a store with my buddies I would say, "I will trade my car for any vehicle in the lot - sight unseen".
One of my goals in life when I was going to graduate was to one day own a car less than 10 years old. I achieved that goal 6 months after graduation.
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Just like this, had factory air conditioning that would shoot ice particles at the occupants when it was really humid. Paid 1,500 dollars for it with 30 some thousand miles on it in 1975. I had lots of hair then. Falstaff with riddles on the inside of the caps. 99 cents a six pack when it was on sale. put over 100 k more miles on it before I was done with it. Craig powerplay tape deck in front and powerplay speakers in the rear. A cassette player that all my friends said " where are you going to find cassette tape to play in it.
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My first was a 73' Charger SE, all black, just like the one pictured. Loved that car, but sold it to attend ISU.
1976 Toyota Corrola Wagon with faux wood paneling on the sides, it's nickname was rusty. Trust me, I didn't pick up any chicks in that p.o.s.
1976 Chevy Monte Carlo - got about 8 miles a gallon (on a good day) but it was loud, fast and fun!!!!
In 1995 I had a 1980 2 door Toyota Tercel. It was orange and rusty. But it wasn't a bad first car and I learned how to drive stick with that car. No air conditioning. When I needed a more reliable car and when I took a car to Iowa State my sophomore year, I had a 1990 Ford Tempo. That car was pretty reliable until 2001 when it started to require minor repairs every couple of months. During the late 90's and early 2000's every third student in Ames seemed to be driving an early 90's Ford Tempo (my family even had 2 that got passed between 3 kids until they gave out). In 2001 I graduated from Iowa STate and bought my first new car a 2001 Malibu. That Malibu is still being used by my sisters at Iowa State. I suspect that the early 2000's Malibu's are today's verision of the early 90's Tempos 
