What Was Your First Car?

falstaff · Sat Sep 19, 2015 4:03 pm

We haven't had a good car thread in a while.....

What was your first car? Not a car that you shared with your parents or siblings, but the first car that was yours?

Mine was this 1964 Mercury Comet. I bought it in 1993 at an auto parts swap meet in Kirkwood, Missouri. I fixed it up and had it painted. The car had a 260 V-8 (4.2L) and three speed manual transmission.

A few years later I ended up selling the car to Jack Roush, who's youngest daughter drove it for a while. It is still owned by the Roush family.

757MDE · Sat Sep 19, 2015 5:17 pm

Renault Twingo first gen.
Still have it and will do until it literally falls apart (or I win a lottery, first one's more likely).

tz757300 · Sat Sep 19, 2015 5:58 pm

1987 Jeep Grand Wagoneer. Man, I loved that car but hated the crap gas mileage it got.

*not my car, but same color/style

jetwet1 · Sat Sep 19, 2015 6:06 pm

Ford Capri 1.6 gl very much like this one.

Revelation · Sat Sep 19, 2015 7:12 pm

I had a '72 Ford Pinto I bought for a few hundred dollars and drove for a few weeks before finding out its engine was trash.

Here's a random photo from Google, but mine never looked this good.

UltimateDelta · Sat Sep 19, 2015 8:02 pm

2001 Pontiac Grand Prix that's pretty much identical to this one:

It was a great first car- easy to work on and had the endlessly reliable 3.8L V6. I've still got it, and hope to keep it going for a while yet.

zanl188 · Sat Sep 19, 2015 8:04 pm

'76 Chevy Vega wagon. Kept a case of oil in the back. Jury rigged fuel pump wiring. Fun to drive.

falstaff · Sat Sep 19, 2015 8:52 pm

Quoting zanl188 (Reply 6):
'76 Chevy Vega wagon

My mom had one of those from 1976 to 1979. It was silver with red/white seats. It was a neat little car, it had A/C full instrumentation and a four speed. I would love to have it now.

Quoting TZ757300 (Reply 2):
1987 Jeep Grand Wagoneer

Back in the 1980s all the "yuppies" in my suburban Denver neighborhood had those, if they didn't have a BMW 325. My mom had a Ford Bronco. I always liked those big Jeeps and they still bring a good price if they are in good shape. I recall seeing stretch limo versions (complete with plastic wood) around Denver in the 80s.

PITingres · Sat Sep 19, 2015 11:20 pm

First car I bought myself was a used 69 Dodge Dart, pale blue 4 door. It was a great lesson in how not to buy a used car, and it's a testament to how indestructible the 225 slant 6 was that I got another thousand miles out of it. (The previous owner had apparently managed to blow out half the valve seals and it got 50 miles to the quart of oil, unless heavily sawdusted...)

First new car was a 1980 Dodge Omni 4 door hatchback. I loved that car but it was expensive to keep on the road. It would run great, no problems, for maybe a year and then would need new front wheel bearings or something equally ridiculous. After 10 years and 100,000+ miles I sold it to a junker for $130. My oldest boy, who was maybe 12 at the time, said "gee, I just paid $150 for a skateboard..."

einsteinboricua · Sun Sep 20, 2015 12:33 am

Many firsts (all colors are exact)

First car I drove (at age 14): 1999 Ford Focus

First car I was given officially: 1996 Chrysler/Dodge Caravan (the family van)

First car I could call my own (but did not buy): 2008 Suzuki SX4

First fully owned car (current one): 2013 Kia Rio

YVRLTN · Sun Sep 20, 2015 12:52 am

1998 Fiat Cinquecento Sporting 1108cc, it was one of the very last built with Seicento steering wheel. I later had full Abarth kit added to it.

ER757 · Sun Sep 20, 2015 1:22 am

1976 Toyota Corolla wagon. Bare essentials, no A/C, no power steering, no radio, just basic transportation. But I bought it new with my own money so was really proud. It was a great little car. I installed a cassette deck in it for music and used it to haul our band's PA equipment to gigs (was surprising how much room there was inside for cargo) and beat it to hell. It wouldn't die - got great mileage and I never spent a nickel on it other than routine maintenance.

Kaphias · Sun Sep 20, 2015 2:13 am

2000 Subaru Legacy Wagon. Awesome car. I hope I can run it until it quits, because I really can't think of anything else I'd rather have as a daily driver.

Quoting falstaff (Thread starter):
A few years later I ended up selling the car to Jack Roush, who's youngest daughter drove it for a while. It is still owned by the Roush family.

This is way cool.

[Edited 2015-09-19 19:14:04]

TSS · Sun Sep 20, 2015 4:44 am

One like this (1970 Chevrolet Nova 4-door)

But mine was the same color as this one

307 2bbl V8, automatic transmission, non-functional dealer-installed "shin banger" A/C (which I removed the second day I owned it), and an aftermarket 8-track tape player that actually worked very well. Manual steering, manual brakes, and body-colored wheels with "dog dish" hubcaps.

vikkyvik · Sun Sep 20, 2015 5:21 am

Don't think I have any readily accessible photos of it, but the first car I owned was a silver 2002 Honda Civic EX. 1.7L 127 HP, with a 5-speed manual. My dad bought it new, then sold it to me in 2006 or 2007.

It got totaled in early 2010, with something like 114,000 miles on it. Was still in great shape and still on the first clutch, which I was happy about.

That was the car on which I learned to drive stick shift. And now, two cars later, I'm still driving stick. Just can't let it go....

af773atmsp · Sun Sep 20, 2015 6:07 am

2001 Volkswagen Passat 1.8L 4 cylinder turbo, automatic transmission.

Bought it from the original owner in 2012, and it lasted until this summer with around 150,000 miles on it. Needed a few very expensive repairs and it just wasn't worth keeping. I do miss it though.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=4046163

cougar15 · Sun Sep 20, 2015 11:29 am

1958 Norris Major in british racing green with 13HP! And I dont have a pic

melpax · Sun Sep 20, 2015 11:51 am

1983 Holden Camira wagon. Parents bought it for me way back in 1991.

Mine was much nicer than the one above! With the 5 speed manual, it actually wasn't a bad thing to drive, but 1980's Holden build quality was another thing......

Can't remember the last time I saw one on the road.

Got sick of the ribbing I got from mates who had Falcons & Commodores, and sold it to buy a 280ZX.

Redd · Sun Sep 20, 2015 11:54 am

1st 1990 Jeep YJ

2nd 1982 Mustang GT

I these two together for a while, the YJ made me obsessed with off-roading, had that lifted with bigger tires. The Mustang taught me how to drive. With the Mustang I had the motor bored and stroked to 5.8L, very lumpy racing cam, edelbrock heads, headers, 800cfm edelbrock carb, 9" rear end with 3:73 gearing and some other tricks.

That car tried to kill me many times, but had it clocked at 12 seconds even on the 1/4 mile which was very fast back then, 14 years ago...

**not actual pictures of my cars. I chose the most similar.

Aesma · Sun Sep 20, 2015 12:56 pm

2002 Citroën C3 1.4i SX apple green : bought by my parents at 6 months from a Citroën employee, I finished learning to drive on it and the family van (2002 Citroën Evasion 2.2HDi), it replaced a 1999 Fiat Brava 1.6 16V that had an oceanic incident (stuck in sand, tide came, car was fully submerged). They gave it to me 5 years ago. Stock picture :

2013 Renault Clio III Tech 1.5 dCi 75 white with company markings, 5 doors but only two seats : a leased car provided by my company, along with a gas/toll/parking card. Stock picture :

1989 BMW 320i (2 liter inline 6) 2 doors sedan, Burgundrot, basic package (no rims, no A/C, no leather). It was given to me by the friend of a friend of a colleague. A bit of a beater in its current state, I'm putting some money in it to get it in good mechanical shape (and to pass the French mandatory technical control), will probably keep the body as is though, except maybe a front fender. Mine doesn't look this good :

So three cars, none I bought so far.

idealstandard · Sun Sep 20, 2015 5:28 pm

Quoting Kaphias (Reply 12):

Unless you do something majorly wrong with those Subarus, they just don't quit on you!

i run an 06 Outback 3.0H6 and it's on well north of 200k at this point, still everything works, bit greedy on petrol but what do you expect

Quoting melpax (Reply 17):

Is that essentially a Vauxhall Cavalier estate?

BreninTW · Mon Sep 21, 2015 1:19 am

The first car I had was a 1892 Ford Escort 1.3GL -- my parents bought it from my aunt and gave it to me for my 21st. It was a 5-door painted baby blue with a horrible tan interior; similar to the one below.

Ideal first/student car -- reasonably fuel efficient, dirt cheap and easy to maintain, and uncool enough that there was little risk of it being stolen. Only problem with it was the 4-speed gearbox -- it couldn't maintain speed in top when driving into a stiff headwind.

The Escort was replaced with the first car I bought myself: A 1984 Alfa 159i. Electric everything, A/C that was dodgy, no heater, 2.0-litre fuel-injected engine. Got it up to 180 km/h on the freeway one day. Got similar fuel efficiency to the Escort. I sold it when I started travelling overseas -- discovered just before selling it that the previous owners had not used proper coolant in the cooling system, which meant the head bolts had eroded. The head bolts were cast into the engine block on this motor, so instead of just replacing the eroded bolts, I had to replace the whole engine block. I sold it for roughly 25% of the value of a new block. It was similar to the one below, but finished in white and had different mags.

After those two, I had an Opel Astra (1998 model I think), which was written off following an unfortunate meeting with a Hyundai on the freeway. That was replaced by a 2002 Nissan Sentra 200TS which was a hooligan in respectable clothing (and had hooligan-esque drinking habits).

Then, earlier this year, the Sentra was replaced with the first brand new car I've ever bought myself, a 2016 Mazda 6 Diesel Sport Nav. It has far more respectable drinking habits than the Sentra; far, far more space; every bell and whistle Mazda could throw at it; and it can certainly hitch up its skirts and get a move on if required.

IMG_0639 by breninasia, on Flickr

ArmitageShanks · Mon Sep 21, 2015 1:26 am

1997 Ford F-150. Not so good on gas but it was a beast and would go anywhere. However when you own a truck its never truly yours because everyone you know calls you for help moving, doing landscaping, and hauling crap every other day!

[Edited 2015-09-20 18:26:59]

airportugal310 · Mon Sep 21, 2015 1:44 am

No pics, but my first car was a 1990 Toyota Corolla...thing was a tank. It was great in the snow too, but that's mostly because I didn't suck at driving in the snow, either. She has unfortunately gone to the old car graveyard in the sky...

My first new car was a 2008 Nissan Sentra, 6-sp. She came with me from Massachusetts to Hawaii, and her an I are having fun but she's starting to fail me in all sorts of ways (A/C leak, TPMS failures etc...none of which have been cheap fixes)

melpax · Mon Sep 21, 2015 9:08 am

Quoting idealstandard (Reply 20):
Is that essentially a Vauxhall Cavalier estate?

Yes, the Camira was a Cavalier with Holden badges. Apparently the wagon version was developed by Holden, and bodies were shipped over to the UK to be turned into Vauxhalls for the UK market.

Bongodog1964 · Mon Sep 21, 2015 9:35 am

Quoting BreninTW (Reply 21):

The first car I had was a 1892 Ford Escort 1.3GL -- my parents bought it from my aunt and gave it to me for my 21st. It was a 5-door painted baby blue with a horrible tan interior; similar to the one below.

Quoting BreninTW (Reply 21):
Ideal first/student car -- reasonably fuel efficient, dirt cheap and easy to maintain, and uncool enough that there was little risk of it being stolen. Only problem with it was the 4-speed gearbox -- it couldn't maintain speed in top when driving into a stiff headwind.

I don't know what you had to complain about, I had the Escort 3door 1.1 base model in yellow on a Y plate as my 1st car. The plus point was that it was only 2 years old (uncle's ex company car) the minus was that it limped to 70mph at which point the dashboard started to rattle. I doubt it could have gone much over 75. Kept it for a year and traded it in for a Escort 1.6GL 5 door in dark blue. It served me well as I got back the exact 2k I paid for it. The only car I have ever broken even on.

mad99 · Mon Sep 21, 2015 10:16 am

My first car(s) were mini coopers. I would buy non runners and get them running and sell them on. I found a few special ones like a 997cc real cooper (most are not real, just mini's with later engines and disk brakes).

One was a real 1275cc with a big sliding sun roof i found rotting in a shed. It was fast and when cornering the body would twist enough so you could see light between the door and body.

Another was a home built (not real cooper) with a bored and stroked engine, knife edge cam and a big 45 dcoe webber carb. The guy i bought it from never moved the speedo, just let it hang down and the carb took its place, so from inside you would get the noise, smells and occasional fire ball backfire direct from the carb. I had to start it with cold start spray directly into the carb with the door open and me outside, one foot on the throttle, one hand on the spray and one on the key.

good times!

JJJ · Mon Sep 21, 2015 10:35 am

A diesel 2nd gen Renault 5 (or Supercinco as the ad tried to boast).

Dependable if slow. Nothing in the way of comfort (not even a stereo) but it ran despite being mistreated in every possible way.

oly720man · Mon Sep 21, 2015 10:46 am

Pale blue VW Beetle 1200 that lasted about 5 years before one of the main engine bearings decided to die. Great car to learn about car maintenance though because just about everything could be dismantled. Had the fun of the cylinder head blowing out so that meant removing the engine and getting it repaired. The starter motor had the occasional habit of sticking when hot, which it did when I drove from Manchester to Farnborough for the airshow (in 1984 IIRC.)

Stealthz · Mon Sep 21, 2015 11:06 am

I saw an ad in early 1974, dad said "There is no way you are buying a sports car" .. managed to prevail upon him to drive me to look at it.
Still insisting there was no chance I was buying it..mum convinced him to at least go through the motions of road testing it.
Dad heads off on his own and returns in about 15 min with a grin from ear to ear proclaiming "we can go and see the credit union in the morning"
I still own it, we had started to restore it in 1989 when my brother in law(the "prime contractor") injured his back..been stored in a dry shipping container since and we are about to restart the restoration process!

(This is not my car.. but close!)

777Jet · Mon Sep 21, 2015 11:24 am

My first car was a Holden VL Commodore.

After that one, I had four more VLs

Bongodog1964 · Mon Sep 21, 2015 12:38 pm

Going back to how slow and rattly my 1st car (Ford Escort) was, in the UK in 1979, its maon competitors were the Vauxhall Astra, Hillman Avenger, Morris Marina & Austin Allegro. The Escort did have the advantage over these that there was a fair chance of it not breaking down which is more than can be said for the competition.

modernArt · Mon Sep 21, 2015 12:45 pm

In 1983, a 1973 BMW 2002 came my way (identical to the image below). Wish I would never have sold.

B777LRF · Mon Sep 21, 2015 1:20 pm

First was a Citroën 2CV, primarily held together by rust bonding the paint. Left at a musical festival it had brought us to, but then gave up the ghost completely when it was time to transport us home.

Second was a Fiat 128, which had the same structural integrity as the 2CV. Left it outside a bar when I was too drunk to drive back to the army barracks, and honestly couldn't be bothered with the daily problems it caused any longer. Suggested to the range master we used it as target practice for the tanks, but he didn't take me up on the offer.

Third was a Ford Fiesta 1.1, which was given to me by a colleague. It did what it said on the tin, problem was I didn't really like what the tin said to start with!

Then I got a brand new Mini Cooper in 2002, and since then have only owned cars I really like.

flyingturtle · Mon Sep 21, 2015 1:35 pm

I will answer for my parents...

Saab 600.

Later, a VW Golf... don't know which model.

David

CXB77L · Mon Sep 21, 2015 2:45 pm

My first car was a 1982 Ford Laser Ghia.

It was a 1.5 litre, four cylinder, 5 speed manual, manual choke, no power steering. Despite being a top of the range 'Ghia' variant, its only 'luxury' was the velour seat trim as opposed to vinyl, and alloy wheels. It was a fun little car to drive.

I bought it in 1999 and sold it a year later, because I wanted a Falcon. Still, the Laser was my first car and I'll always remember the good times.

This is the car I replaced it for: a 1989 Ford Falcon GL that I owned for 7 years, and spent more than double the amount I bought the car for in repairs to keep it going, admittedly - including a complete engine rebuild. That old 3.9 litre in-line six had a penchant for cracked cylinder head gaskets, as anyone who's ever owned one would attest to.

That in turn got replaced in 2006 by an 11-month old 2005 Ford Fairmont which I still have - best car I've ever owned. Some minor issues given that it's now a 10 year old car, but on the whole it's brilliant. Smooth, powerful 4.0 litre in-line six; sharp, firmly weighted steering ... it's a delight to drive.

Three cars, three Fords. If all goes to plan, my next car will be a Ford too - I've taken quite a liking to the new Ford Mondeo which I plan on buying within the next six months or so.

sccutler · Mon Sep 21, 2015 2:50 pm

1961 Chevrolet Impala Sport Sedan, 348 "Turbo Thrust" engine (meaning, dual exhaust and a single 4-barrel carb), Turboglide transmission (smooth but incredibly inefficient), factory AC (quite rare) and dealer-installed, add-on power steering (barely worked).

Fun car, bought from an old lady with 37,000 miles; wish I'd found it about two years later, then I might not have wrecked it. Oh well.

It was followed by 2 (yes two) Renault 10s; wrecked one, sold the other for $20.00 after the engine spun a main bearing in rural upstate New York), a Chevy Vega GT (not a bad car at all, despite the reputation), a Ford F100 pickup (miss it still), a Honda Civic (worst car, by far, I ever owned), then a series of grown-up cars which generally do not bear mention.

boilergo · Mon Sep 21, 2015 5:26 pm

While I was saving for my own car, I started out "sharing" my mom's 2003 sinfully ugly CRV EX. It was a good car, not bad on mileage, and with a tiny enough motor that you couldn't get into an real danger. Going any faster than about 75MPH was pretty scary in that thing.

My first real car came almost two years after that, as I finally had saved enough to buy the 2006 Honda Civic Si. That one lasted about a year until I hydroplaned into a jersey barrier and got a replacement of the same color and model. I drove that car until 2010 when my little brother bought it from me, and I went back to driving another CRV.

PHLBOS · Mon Sep 21, 2015 5:31 pm

1969 Ford LTD 4-door sedan w/the Brougham interior trim (such wouldn't become a separate series until 1970) with the base 302 V8 engine. Owned from 1982-1984.

Mine was similar to the one pictured below but was champagne gold w/the black vinyl roof:

cybergus · Mon Sep 21, 2015 9:04 pm

First car was a 1999 Daewoo Matiz in Silver:

This little fella took me to places, it was a battle horse.

Cheers

Tavo.

Dreadnought · Mon Sep 21, 2015 9:06 pm

My first car:
1971 Chevy C10 pickup

The first car I bought with my own money:
1980 Mustang (what the hell was I thinking???)

First car I bought with my own money and never regretted it:
1982 BMW 320i

vikkyvik · Mon Sep 21, 2015 11:07 pm

Quoting BreninTW (Reply 21):
1892 Ford Escort 1.3GL

Wow, talk about an antique!

Quoting BreninTW (Reply 21):
a 2016 Mazda 6 Diesel Sport Nav.

Nice. I bought a 2015 Mazda 6 earlier this year (gasoline though, not diesel). I quite like it, though I do wish they still made the V6 version.

csturdiv · Mon Sep 21, 2015 11:20 pm

My first car was a 1976 Oldsmobile 442, very similar to the one below. I was very fortunate that gas was under $1 when I was in high school in the late 80s. But I still spent my entire paycheck earned from slinging burgers on gas and insurance.

BreninTW · Tue Sep 22, 2015 12:26 am

Quoting Bongodog1964 (Reply 25):
I don't know what you had to complain about, I had the Escort 3door 1.1 base model in yellow on a Y plate as my 1st car.

Ah, that was the normal sedan one wasn't it? Not the notchback?

And ... driving conditions in South Africa (especially in Johannesburg) are very different to most of the driving conditions in the UK. The 1.3 engine was gutless in that atmosphere ... the car itself was good, just could have done with the 1.6 motor and different colours!

Quoting vikkyvik (Reply 41):
Wow, talk about an antique!

Oh phooey!

JJJ · Tue Sep 22, 2015 7:41 am

Quoting B777LRF (Reply 33):
First was a Citroën 2CV, primarily held together by rust bonding the paint.

Heh, I clearly remember watching my dad and uncle doing an engine swap on a 2CV without any prior experience. Other than the bouncy ride (it would swing for like a minute after hitting a pothole or running over train tracks) it ran for many years afterwards. Oh, and they painted it lime green.

The things you could do back in the time before all those electronic gimmicks.

melpax · Tue Sep 22, 2015 9:43 am

Quoting 777Jet (Reply 30):
My first car was a Holden VL Commodore.

After that one, I had four more VLs

Back in the day when VL's were still reasonably newish cars, a mate wrote off 3 cars during the course of a year, 2 of them VL's. He then bought a Nissan Skyline with the same injected 6 cylinder engine.

The VL's are still not a bad drive after nearly 30 years, the Buck V6 in the VN model that replaced it was a gruff old beast in comparison.

Quoting CXB77L (Reply 35):
This is the car I replaced it for: a 1989 Ford Falcon GL that I owned for 7 years, and spent more than double the amount I bought the car for in repairs to keep it going, admittedly - including a complete engine rebuild. That old 3.9 litre in-line six had a penchant for cracked cylinder head gaskets, as anyone who's ever owned one would attest to.

Had an EA as well back in the 90's, the head gasket was almost a maintaince item, they would usually last for 100,000 kms or so, and the ignition modules that kept going...... Apart from that they were a very long-lived car, my parents had one from almost new, it ended up doing 500,000 kms on the original motor before being written off at the hands of my uncle, got rammed up the back by a Landcruiser at a set of lights.

falstaff · Tue Sep 22, 2015 6:42 pm

Quoting Dreadnought (Reply 40):
First car I bought with my own money and never regretted it:
1982 BMW 320i

I surprised you didn't regret it, a lot of people had trouble with their CIS (known to many as the "Continuous Investment System"). Those were fun cars to drive.

Quoting Dreadnought (Reply 40):
1980 Mustang (what the hell was I thinking???)

Was it a straight 6 model?

Quoting csturdiv (Reply 42):
My first car was a 1976 Oldsmobile 442, very similar to the one below. I was very fortunate that gas was under $1 when I was in high school in the late 80s. But I still spent my entire paycheck earned from slinging burgers on gas and insurance.

A buddy of mine had one of those in high school. It was a DOG compared to a real 442, but was still a neat car. I recall my buddy's had swivel bucket seats.

Quoting modernart (Reply 32):
1973 BMW 2002

Those are neat. I always wanted one. They all rusted away where I live.

Quoting melpax (Reply 17):
1983 Holden Camira wagon. Parents bought it for me way back in 1991.

Looks like a Chevy Cavalier wagon.

sccutler · Tue Sep 22, 2015 6:59 pm

Quoting falstaff (Reply 46):
Quoting melpax (Reply 17):
1983 Holden Camira wagon. Parents bought it for me way back in 1991.

Looks like a Chevy Cavalier wagon.

Same car. Not a bad car, nothing exciting, but a good appliance.

Dreadnought · Tue Sep 22, 2015 7:14 pm

Quoting falstaff (Reply 46):
I surprised you didn't regret it, a lot of people had trouble with their CIS (known to many as the "Continuous Investment System").

Mine was simple and light. 5-speed manual, no A/C, no power windows, seats or anything. Wonderful in the mountain roads, and that little 2.0 liter inline six was just a turbine. Nothing ever went wrong (although I think I replaced a water pump at around 200,000 km). Loved that car...

Quoting falstaff (Reply 46):
Was it a straight 6 model?

Nope. 2.3 liter 4-banger, 4-speed manual. Terrible car.

[Edited 2015-09-22 12:16:00]

Bongodog1964 · Tue Sep 22, 2015 7:16 pm

Quoting BreninTW (Reply 43):
Quoting Bongodog1964 (Reply 25):
I don't know what you had to complain about, I had the Escort 3door 1.1 base model in yellow on a Y plate as my 1st car.

Ah, that was the normal sedan one wasn't it? Not the notchback?

Hatchback, same as yours. In the UK the sedan (booted version) was an Orion not an Escort.

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