What was your First Car?

[crater64]

1966 Ford Mustang hardtop, black over black, 289/2V with C4.

I've also owned a '63 Studebaker Lark. Curious if anyone else here would admit to having owned a Studebaker...

[kycarguy 935]

I remember this thread from 2002 but can't find the post with my old user name.

My first car was a 1971 Datsun with many many BRE parts. I would take every paycheck in high school over to Coast Datsun in Long Beach, Ca. and give it to them. I would fall asleep at night reading the Competition Parts Catalog.

After I added the racing hood and flares I needed to get it painted. Porsche Guards Red was my choice.

I wish I still had that car. I still have most of the BRE parts I bought back then.

I am looking for another one if anybody knows of any for sale.

[trader220]

1972 toyota corona

[Shaun @ Tru6]

First car, 64 1/2 Mustang, not drivable
while pulling the motor on that
73 240Z, not drivable
while fixing rear wheel bearings and getting the Webers set-up
63 VW Crewcab Pick-up...first drivable car.

[MOMO3.2]

Fiat 124 Spider.

[IDGAF27]

First car I started driving was fathers 1976 LADA 1300ccm.
First car I bought myself and "flipped" few months later 1986 Nissan Micra
Looking like this, same collor. That was back in 1990........
If remember correctly, took one full tank of gas to drive from Essen, Germany to Kaunas,Lithuania wich is approx 1600km.......

[Noporscheform]

My first was a 1957 Porsche speedster (real) in 1968 when I was 14. It was a basket case that a neighbor had in the garage when he passed away and his wife sold it to me for $300. No top, no interior, the wrong engine ( I think), no floors, no windshield, no trim. The floors had been repaired with sheet metal and a pop rivet gun. (We did not do a PPI). I kept it for three- four years and sold it for $500. I did learn how to put it into a four wheel drift in the back yard, no rollbar, not even bothering to attach the set of VW seats that were in it, lucky we were not killed. Replaced the Porsche with a 1961 Maserati 3500 gt. The women I bought the speedster from had the Maserati in her father's garage. It was her brothers and he was in California and wanted to get rid of it. It did not run, paid $1,000 for it, and eventually put another $2,000 into it to get it running. Sold it to the mechanic who I believe still has it today. These two started the adventure of buying anything out of the ordinary. Five Porsches, Fiats, VWs, BMWs, Triumphs, English Fords, etc. Today I still have the Triumph Tr-3 I bought in college (38 years ago) and am looking to purchase another 911. But at this time still NOPORSCHEFORME

[dw1]

At about the same time, I got a '67 Camaro (327 4bbl, 4spd) and a TR3A. The 3A had so many replacement parts, I could never tell its year for sure.

The Camaro may have been my first car by a small margin.

The Camaro started dark blue, having been previously been painted by a prior owner, with light blue metallic "rallye stripes" bordered with white pinstripes. I and some friends returned it to its original light metallic blue and removed the stripes, but painted the tail-light panel and rocker panels "RS-style" black. Of course, I installed headers, glasspack mufflers (hush Thrush, if memory serves) and true dual large-diameter exhaust pipes. Unlike many of my peers who went for Holley carbs, I kept the Quadrajet carb but reworked it.

The Camaro was, for a brief time, even turned into a reasonably well performing bracket car. The 4.10:1 rear helped.

These cars were in addition to a Triumph Bonneville, which itself replaced a Kawasaki enduro bike.

I learned how to drive a sports car properly in the 3A, and learned what not to do by driving the '67 Camaro.

The early-to-mid 70's were an interesting time auto-wise, as muscle cars were cheap and plentiful, and Brit sports cars were readily available at affordable prices.

After the Camaro was gone, I carried a photo of it in my wallet for a number of years....Yearning for a lost love...or a lost youth.....

[jasonlee]

My first car ( bought by me) was a 1976 Toyota Landcruiser FJ 40. Rebuilt from the ground up. Very cool truck. Still wish I had it. Low end torque monster. Plus the recaro seats I had put it in it were so comfortable, and would be great in my P car.

[Scott Douglas]

Ed
I'll go you one better, my brother and I rebuilt a Studie!
'64 Cruiser 289 w/solid lifters, Carter 4-bbl, 3-spd auto, front disc brakes.
Failed my first driver's test in it after rebuilding the carb. Throttle response was very good and the inspector/tester said "You go around corners too fast."

[nameisbauer]

'87 Camaro.

V6, T-tops.

[Stickman]

1972 Olds 442

[sballard]

1970 Dofge Charger. Biggest POS ever made. No wonder they are valuable now - there can't be many of them left.

Second car was a 1973 BMW 2002tii. Absolutely Fantastic Car. And my introduction to DIY mechanics since you couldn't (and still can't) depend on the dealers to do anything right.

[crater64]

Originally Posted by Scott Douglas

Ed
I'll go you one better, my brother and I rebuilt a Studie!
'64 Cruiser 289 w/solid lifters, Carter 4-bbl, 3-spd auto, front disc brakes.
Failed my first driver's test in it after rebuilding the carb. Throttle response was very good and the inspector/tester said "You go around corners too fast."

Oh, that's a familiar looking pile. Sad to say my '63 had the OHV six; its throttle response was good albeit very slow. Those ATs were Borg-Warners and front discs by Bendix, the same that were used on Jaguars of the era.

Sportos and Studes...I'm sensing a pattern here...

[msterling]

1974 Mercury Capri 2.8l V-6, 4-speed, ANSA quad exhaust, Pirelli CN36 tires, thicker anti-sways with hard bushings. A blast at autocrosses. Better rust-proofing would have helped save this car. Not my car in the pic but it is the right color. Dang, even the exhaust looks right. I wonder if someone restored mine. Not the same wheels.


In my dreams it looked like this:



Next was a 76 TR-7 "I've made a huge mistake"
Next was a 78 Saab 99 Turbo (First year for this car. Sadly, I was t-boned by a Buick)
74 Opel Manta (winter beater)
80 Saab 900 Turbo
84 Saab 900 SPG Turbo (165k trouble-free miles)
some boring cars & trucks....
94 Mustang GT conv.
92 BMW 525T (fuhrer-vagen)
88 911 Carrera Cab (keeping this one)
01 Audi A4 2.8 Quattro
04 BMW 525I

[MarKoBrow]

1964 Volkswagen Beetle with a 12v 1600 engine Great Car!

[VroomGrrl]

The first car I ever bought and had titled in my name was a 76 Toyota Celica which I bought in 1982.

There were family cars that were considered "mine" at various points before that, a 69 Impala and a 72(?) Super Beetle, which was the first car considered "mine" for daily driving as soon as I got my license at age 16.

[Mattlock18]

1978 Buick LaSabre that was hand painted (and by hand I mean with a paint brush) by the previous owner. There were even a couple of bristles from the paint brush in the paint. It was really two couches encased in a steel body. I got hit once by a Pontiac Grand Am and the Pontiac was essentially totaled and my Buick had a dent the size of a baseball in the quarter panel. Who needs airbags when you can just drive through everything else.

[slw911SC]

It's the early 70's, man! I had a 1967 VW Beetle. $700. Dark blue on grey with white pinstripes. Yellow tinted Radyot fog lamps, EMPI headers and muffler set up, silver and black painted wheels, snows on all 4 - all the time, black and white checked bra up front, wooden shift knob, leather covered steering wheel - all putting out a mighty 35 hp from a 1.3 litre motor. Hash burns on the seats, and too many ribald good memories to recount here! Keep on truckin'!

[the]

1973 914 2.0.

This was when I was just about to turn 16, in the early 80s. I remember I looked at a few, found this one in Westlake Village (L.A. area), and drove out with my dad to buy it.

I remember the seller handing over the keys. 25 years later, the car is long one, but I still have the actual keychain that I got that day!

I've used it ever since, and still use it today.