First Car Stories

[EdoHart]

I hope this is an interesting topic.

I bought my first car at 17. It was a 4 door Maxda RX2 which my Dad steered me toward because it required a lot of mechanical work to get it running properly, and he thought that the time I spent working on the car meant less time driving it, thereby lowering the chance of having an accident (he was willing to put me on his insurance for my first car).

What he didn't know was that car was a rocket. It got 17 MPG no matter know matter how you drove it - slow, fast - it didn't matter. So I drove it as most 17 year old kids would drive it - fast, and that car was fast. I learned a lot from that car, how to perform 4 wheel slides, tires so bald that the steel belts are exposed are a lot of fun in the rain, tires are expensize, getting airborn bends parts, getting water in a distributer kills the ignition system, how to replace an engine, how to climb a hill which only 4x4 trucks had made (and how to back down a hill which only 4x4 trucks had made), I don't like body work. I had a lot of close calls, but thankfully no accidents.

As much fun as that car was, I've had nightmares about owning that RX2 again.

 

[Barko1]

That was probably a bit more nimble than my 63 Pontiac with a 389 and manual steering. Parallel parking turned me into Charles Atlas.

 

[Jamesiam]

When I was in my teens I purchased a Blue Chevy Nova, forget the year. At that time I was an up and coming surveyor who worked in an undeveloped area of lowlands in Florida. In that 10x10 mile area the only interconnecting roads were gravel and I eagerly volunteered to go to our stock trailer to pick up a few bundles of wood lathes. Three days after buying this 500 dollar car I sped at speeds up to 40 mph around gravel turns when I lost control and slammed into a tree. I hit the tree so hard that the car actually ripped off the frame. The frame ended up being about 2 inches from the ground but I was fine, although I had to get rides to work again.
A few months later I had a beat up Pontiac Lemans T-37. In that same area of Florida, now St Lucie West, while driving around we stumbled upon a 50 gal drum of oil that the construction crews used for all equipment. We promptly took around 3 gallons of it and drove to the one strip of concrete running through the area. I proceeded to pour oil on the pavement and either punched the car from a dead stop or power broke it. Gosh there was so much smoke it was incredible. Driving home later I noticed something didn’t feel right. As I inspected my car I noticed that the rear tires had got so hot, that they were now smooth except for the embedded asphalt that I had picked up.
Okay just one more great story (to me anyway). With that same T-37 whenever I would come home at night instead of making a simple right turn on a nearby street I would love to cut through this guys yard and just punch it, peeling up his lawn in neat long strips that I could see the next day. Around this time I kept getting flat tires every other week, like five in total. One night while cutting through his lawn I heard a loud bang then thump, thump, thump. As that banging continued I raced a few blocks away and pulled over. I was surprised to find a 2x4 full of nails sticking in my tire, flat tire mystery solved. I stood there grinning but never cut through his lawn again.
No one was injured during my inconsiderate youthful stupidity.

 

[Lighthawk]

My first car was a 1963 Rambler with a flathead six and three-on-the-tree. Cost me $250 smackers. Learned how to do a clutch, brakes, tuneups, and replace head gasket on that great practice vehicle with my Craftsman tool kit.

The Ramber was great for driving down to Dog Beach (OB, in San Diego) and necking with
my high school sweetheart. The front bench seat could lay back, completely flat and even with the rear seat, creating a big romper room interior Why don't they do that now?

My GF, Margie and I had driven out onto the tidal flats late one night to park. After several hours I came up for air and looked out the window to see the tide had risen all around us. My Rambler had been parked on a slight rise, which meant going back to the mainland involved crossing a deeper channel. I gassed it hard and as we hit deep water I felt the tires leave the sand as we carried momentum to the other side. A wave of salt water came over the windshield and soaked the engine compartment too, which caused a few electrical issues later on.

Thanks for bringing back old memories, Edo.

 

[lqhikers]

wish i still had it!

1949 chevy 2 door fastback 3speed on the column 6 inline eng.

and then i turned it into a custom!
lowered it by blocks on the rear springs,heated the front coils to lower!
frenched the headlights,filled the hood bullnose,custom grill from i think buick grill
dual exhausts,with the baffles removed from mufflers,and for that period (1954) dual speakers with a fader switch
on the radio,wide white wall tires,and to top it off tuck and roll interior from Tijuana .
fuzzy pair of dice knitted by girl friend.

in those days if you had a car you almost always had a girl friend!

cruised the drive in Mel's in Corona del Mar so cal.
gas price if i recall was around .30 cents a gal.!

was able to do all that on my pay from my first job,dish washer in local dinner house at $1.10 per hour.

times they do a change!

Les,lqhikers

 

[RJones]

My first car was in ’65 Corvette, 396, side pipes with 411’s. I remember that car making me a very good mechanic and it was a magnet for traffic tickets. However, I have great memories cruising the beaches in the summer with the top off. Gas was cheep!

 

[SunMan]

My first car was in ’65 Corvette, 396, side pipes with 411’s. I remember that car making me a very good mechanic and it was a magnet for traffic tickets. However, I have great memories cruising the beaches in the summer with the top off. Gas was cheep!



That's one helluva first car!

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Lets see, my first car.In 1958 I bought a 1937 chevy coupe for $50 in running condition.I had great hopes for it .So it sat in the back yard. I found a 1953 Dodge Ram "hemi" V8 to hot rod the car,but without much money the car just sat there.I soon got rid of the car and traded the engine for a 1938 Ford coupe with a frozen engine,which also sat around with nothing being done on it. In 1959 I got my drivers license and started to drive my moms car a1956 Ford Victory two tone white over gulf stream blue.Quite a chic magnet at the time. I managed to hot rod it so much that my mom didn't want to drive it any longer and she "sold" it to me.I drove that car pretty hard and traded it in for a 1957 Ford convert another chic magnet.In 63 the "war" came along and I joined the navy and was sent to calif.Oh I grew up in the Philly area. When mom saw that i wasn't coming back home any time soon and that I had made it known that I was finished with the east coast she sold the 57 convert and the 38 ford coupe that was still sitting around the back yard.

After three years in the navy it was time to get a car so I "ordered" a new 67 mustang in April of 66 while I was in Japan for delivery to Medford OR. In those days cars weren't "released" until usually October. I had to wait for the specific day to get the car,unlike today when new model cars are released at any time of the year. I had one of the first 67 fastbacks on the road for 1967 again a semi chic magnet. I kept that car 11 months and traded it in on the current car I have. My 1967 Shelby GT 350. Through a lot of luck I guess, I have managed to keep this car now 45 years. Several years ago a good friend passed away and left me her 1965 mustang convert,a "girlly" car.They share the garage and get driven once in a while.

I have been a car guy since the mid 50's and remember looking at HotRod magazine for the issue about the Oakland roster show and wished I had a cool rod like that. I did have friend that was a year or so older and had a 1952 Jaguar XK 120 coupe that he managed to stuff a Chrysler 300 Hemi V8 with 8 carbs into it. What a screamer. We would hit the local Hot Shoppe drive in and cruise main. What fond memories. I lived American Graffiti before the movie was thought of.

Thanks for starting this thread. I think I'll roll the 350 out into the driveway and start it up just to listen to the great sound these cars make.In all my years driving the "red" car I only received one ticket which I earned. One night I was showing off ,here in Monterey where I live there is a tunnel and I thought I would show off.Of course I didn't see the cop sitting on the side by the entrance to the tunnel. So pulling out from the light I wound out first to about 55 hit second to about 70 than went right to fourth.Well at the end of the tunnel I saw the red lights flashing at the beginning of the tunnel so i just coasted to the side and waited with registration and license in hand. All the cop asked was how fast I thought i was going ,oh 50 or so I said.Well he said that he couldn't tell because I was pulling away so fast that he couldn't keep up. I had a slight grin on my face that he didn't see and he gave me a ticket for 50 in a 35. I guess today I would have been locked up and the car taken.So it's speed limit for me now.

Thanks for reading this it's fun to remember back to the "good old days"

Frank

PS now I drive daily a Ford Escape Hybrid,who knew

 

[EdoHart]

***snip***

Thanks for reading this it's fun to remember back to the "good old days"

Frank

PS now I drive daily a Ford Escape Hybrid,who knew


Frank, it is so cool that you still own those cars.

About 3 weeks ago I bought an Escape (non hybrid). Ford calls it a 4 wheel drive, but it's really a part time all-wheel drive. I had it on a back road learning how it works and got the inside, back wheel to chirp around a corner as it engaged the rear axle. I bought this car for economy, and will probably never use it's limited sportiness.

I think the reason I had a nightmare (more like disappointment, as in "Really, that's my car again?") was from driving this Escape hard through a few corners.

 

[MarkBC]

I don't have an interesting first-car-story

...
...but I just saw a Subaru commercial called "first car story" tonight, and was wondering if it was the inspiration or just a coincidence. It had a link to a do-it-yourself F-C-S generator:
Subaru -- First Car Story

 

[CraggyMan]

Ah yes, old memories. My 63 Chevy Nova, paid $120, no front grill or bumper, only one of the two front doors worked properly. Drove it to Yosemite from Portland for my first big time climbing trip with a webbing and carabiner system to hold hood down. Many epic journeys across the west, never went anywhere without a full tool kit and a sleeping bag. Sold it 4 years later for $120.

 

[Smokecreek1]

Ah yes, old memories. My 63 Chevy Nova, paid $120, no front grill or bumper, only one of the two front doors worked properly. Drove it to Yosemite from Portland for my first big time climbing trip with a webbing and carabiner system to hold hood down. Many epic journeys across the west, never went anywhere without a full tool kit and a sleeping bag. Sold it 4 years later for $120.




How about a 1950 flat V8 stick, 4 door ford (grey) that I got when I graduated HS-main problem with it was you could hot wire it real easy and the door locks could be unlocked easy too and everyone knew it and my "friends" used to like to move it while I was in class at good old Santa Rosa JC about a million years ago. Had a friend used to meet me after class and we would drive around and try to find it. After they parked it on the grass in front of the admin building I had enough and had the JC cop sort of " arrest and detain" them the next time they moved it! Didn't press any charges against them but a joke is a joke, and sometimes enough is enough! They stopped doing it after that and it lasted a few more years until I got a 56 ford with 3 duces-ah what a long time ago that was-and I'm still alive and having adventures with my 99 F150 and Gramby!

Smoke

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

How about a 1950 flat V8 stick, 4 door ford (grey) that I got when I graduated HS-main problem with it was you could hot wire it real easy and the door locks could be unlocked easy too and everyone knew it and my "friends" used to like to move it while I was in class at good old Santa Rosa JC about a million years ago. Had a friend used to meet me after class and we would drive around and try to find it. After they parked it on the grass in front of the admin building I had enough and had the JC cop sort of " arrest and detain" them the next time they moved it! Didn't press any charges against them but a joke is a joke, and sometimes enough is enough! They stopped doing it after that and it lasted a few more years until I got a 56 ford with 3 duces-ah what a long time ago that was-and I'm still alive and having adventures with my 99 F150 and Gramby!

Smoke


Nice smokecreek.Yes those 56 fords were nice.You remember how easy it was to jump the starter solenoid with a screwdriver and a short piece of wire to supply power to the ignition? My mom would always wander how I could drive her car without the key. She was nice never called the cops on me.Yeh the old ford flat head was a nice engine. I enjoy seeing rods today from the early 30s and 40s who still use the original engine instead of some monster "chevy".

Seems like that was in a galaxy far,far away.
Frank

 

[Smokecreek1]

Nice smokecreek.Yes those 56 fords were nice.You remember how easy it was to jump the starter solenoid with a screwdriver and a short piece of wire to supply power to the ignition? My mom would always wander how I could drive her car without the key. She was nice never called the cops on me.Yeh the old ford flat head was a nice engine. I enjoy seeing rods today from the early 30s and 40s who still use the original engine instead of some monster "chevy".

Seems like that was in a galaxy far,far away.
Frank


Casa ER

Sure does-we were young and dumb-remember trying to drag race with the 50-the thing to do back then, dropped three transmissions out on the old back roads of Sonoma, learned how to put em in and all about cellinoids (sp) and how to give it a dump or fix a car! Down to the wrecking yard and ready to go again! Can't fix these new things like the old ones, sure miss that, pop the hood today and you get lost-our throw away economy,' bout the only things made to last today you can buy at Sears- My 3 duces were a problem, I was working my way through JC, hit the gas trying to impress some sweet young thing, and there goes a half a weeks food money-the good days, shut off two sets of carbs to save $, car ran like hell-not meant to run that way- i ended up in the army, my sister got it, had a boy friend fix it up and terrorized the world-my brother wrote me a letter-about how she drove down main street side ways, carbs a "blasting away". Ah what fun-don't know if I could live through it all again-might be fun though!!

Smoke

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Casa ER

Sure does-we were young and dumb-remember trying to drag race with the 50-the thing to do back then, dropped three transmissions out on the old back roads of Sonoma, learned how to put em in and all about cellinoids (sp) and how to give it a dump or fix a car! Down to the wrecking yard and ready to go again! Can't fix these new things like the old ones, sure miss that, pop the hood today and you get lost-our throw away economy,' bout the only things made to last today you can buy at Sears- My 3 duces were a problem, I was working my way through JC, hit the gas trying to impress some sweet young thing, and there goes a half a weeks food money-the good days, shut off two sets of carbs to save $, car ran like hell-not meant to run that way- i ended up in the army, my sister got it, had a boy friend fix it up and terrorized the world-my brother wrote me a letter-about how she drove down main street side ways, carbs a "blasting away". Ah what fun-don't know if I could live through it all again-might be fun though!!

Smoke

Yeh don't know how we lived through it then! I still can take my "red time machine" out just have to watch out for the cops and crazy drivers.. It's hard to be missed by the law when you are driving a candy apple red car with large white strips. I was being pulled over often back in the day just for "a look see". In the day there wasn't much on the road that could beat me in a drag. Than I got smart for if I put my foot in it the toilette of a 780 CFM 4 barrel could drain a lot of food money,real quick. Needless to say at todays gas price, plus I have to use octane boost I take it easy "most" of the time....but it sure is fun to drive.

Frank

 

[Smokecreek1]

Yeh Frank, we can remember!

Smoke

 

[Foy]

OK, I'll play along here:

The day I turned 16 I was given the old family station wagon, a '63 Chevy, 283, 2bbl, 2-speed PowerGlide slushbox. Not nearly enough car for the budding dirt-track professional I envisioned myself to be.

Dad up and decided to sell the wagon to a client of his and I managed to blow the head gasket on the way to deliver it. I never owned up to what I'd done (parked it at the gentleman's house when he wasn't home and had my buddy pick me up while steam was still emanating from the tailpipe).

I then "inherited" my older sister's '69 Impala 2-door hardtop, 327, 2bbl, PowerGlide. She's hauled off and got married all of the sudden, much to our parents' consternation, so they relieved her of the car they'd bought for her, which of course they still had title to. Definitely more like it, but still way underpowered, at least for my tastes. I did manage to win some gravel road "midnight time trials" with a fortunate combination of dumb luck and some four wheel drift skills (and some abject stupidity thrown in for good measure).

Once I got up to the Blue Ridge Mountains and enrolled at Appalachian State, I picked up a '67 IH Scout 800, 266 cu in V-8 dumptruck motor, 3-speed floor shift w/ unsynchronized 1st gear. That engine was so heavy and the truck was geared so low I could hang the back end out pretty much anywhere and everywhere and never lose the front. Had a ball in and around Watauga County, NC on gravel roads. That was 1973 and I've had some sort of 4WD Scout, Jeep, Suburban, or 4WD pickup ever since, over a dozen in all, including company-owned trucks. The present Queen of the Fleet is an 02 F350 single rear wheel Crew Cab Diesel, easily the finest truck I've ever owned. She's got + 220,000 miles on her odometer and still rattling along like a (very loud) sewing machine.

Foy

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Nice story Foy.See isn´t good to play along? The things we did in "the day",any wonder we all made it through.
Frank

 

[Smokecreek1]

You know almost everything we drove over all these years brings back some type of memory-some good-some bad, but I was the most fearless in my 61 VW-drove that places I wouldn't take my F150 or my old BLM 3/4 ton Power Wagon. Bought it in 1968-after getting out of the army. Lived up at Tahoe back then, never once was stopped my a snow storm on 88 or 50-CHP always waved me through. Drove it into the Golden Trout Wilderness with three other friends right after it opened up, up a 4x4 road (i think it was the only access from the east side back then to the lake), when it got stuck, just picked it up and moved it over the bump or what ever-only non-4x4 to make it in!. So sure of our fishing skill that we were we going to catch a ton of the famous "golden trout" brought just beer and a box of instant rice and some flower; caught three fish-beer saved us! Got stuck in those killer sand dunes off of HW 50-today I probably get sent to jail for driving up there, but we all did in those days, have not been back since those days, yep have another beer, dig her out and off to more adventures-worst truck-a 1990 Chev 4x4 3/4 had for a while in BLM-spent more time in the shop than in the field and even the Chevy folks in Detroit said it was a lemon-knew it was bad when on my first trip down a gravel road-had two flats-back to back with my nice new 2ply stock tires-got my new 8 ply tires real fast after that-never could figure that out-spend all this $ getting a rig with all the bells and wizbangs right from the factory & ready to do field work from day one and put on a set of street tires-ah the memories!

Smoke

 

[UglyScout]

I'm not old enough to have a cool story....

1986 Ford Ranger 2wd. Got it before I had my license and sweet talked my mom into letting me drive it to school so she didn't have to

Drove the crap out of that truck - offroad, on road, camping trips, everywhere. It was a road trip machine, good mileage, plenty of bed space and reliable.

I drove it to Alaska for college and wrecked it on the freeway on the first snowy day of the year! A contractor in a medium duty truck spun out in front of me and I had no where to go but into the side of his dump bed. I continued to drive it all smashed up the rest of the school year, then drove it back down to Oregon in the spring. I got pulled over by the cops all the time just to check my insurance The first question would always be "Ya hit a moose?" Good times...