This is my first car (still have it). It was given to my dad in the 80's as payment when one of his clients couldn't pay up. The car (or shell of it) sat on our property for 15 years, just growing trees around it. When I was 12, I asked my dad if I could work on it. His response: If you can make it drivable, on your own, with your own money, on your own time....it's yours. So yes, my dad "gave me" my first car, hahaha.
Anyway, after saving every penny for 5 years, luckily being able to buy 2 complete parts cars for $500, getting a job at a paint supply place when I was 15 so that I could mix my own paint (I was never paid in money...I was paid in paint and materials) and learn the tools of the trade, this is what I drove my senior year in high school....
BTW: I probably have $1800 of actual cash invested in this car....the rest was broken knuckles and sweat
Circa 1994:
Circa 2000 (My senior year of HS):
