What car did y'all have for your very first car?

[Pruitt Will Do It]

1969 Chevelle Malibu - bought for $400 right before I turned 16.

in 1973 My dad had a Malibu that looked like that it was even the same color

 

[Z06VolinWV]

Got it for Christmas in 1995.
67 Camaro SS/RS
(Don't mind the chubby kid, that's my younger brother)

 

[JFreak]

Got it for Christmas in 1995.
67 Camaro SS/RS
(Don't mind the chubby kid, that's my younger brother)

Nice car. But not exactly the best for snow driving!

 

[1972 Grad]

"Spot on" as the limeys would say. I later had a TR4 too, before I decided to "go German". Had a lot of fun with a '72 Porsche 914 for a year and a half till I moved to Texas and totaled it on the way to work one morning (was run into a concrete abutment on I-45 by an illegal in a Camaro...) and then I went in hock for a '73 911T which I drove for 20 years and was the best car I've ever owned.

I had a 73 911 T Targa for about 10 days as well as I remember in 1983. It was Matra Racing Blue, or Ford Racing Blue, or Petty Blue as most call it. I traded a 82 or 83?? Mazda RX-7 even up for it. I sold it because a friend wanted to buy it, and I was afraid I would wind up dead. As someone who had driven nose heavy muscle cars and Corvettes forever, I almost had the tail of the Porsche pass me twice in a week and a half. When I get too deep in a curve, I was used to scrubbing off speed by backing off. I found it hard to accelerate when the car oversteers. It was entertaining though. Those rear engine cars are an acquired taste.

 

[1972 Grad]

1971 240z

Loved those when they first hit the showrooms. They would bring over sticker. I had a 78? 280Z. Also, I bought a new 81 280ZX Turbo automatic , sold it, and bought a new 82 with a 5 speed. Should have kept the auto. The stick wasn't available in 81. Dumb mistake on my part.

 

[Zues1]

64 Pontiac Tempest. 6 cyl, push button auto on the dash. That car wouldn't do 60 off a cliff. Meh........

 

[volinbham]

I had a 73 911 T Targa for about 10 days as well as I remember in 1983. It was Matra Racing Blue, or Ford Racing Blue, or Petty Blue as most call it. I traded a 82 or 83?? Mazda RX-7 even up for it. I sold it because a friend wanted to buy it, and I was afraid I would wind up dead. As someone who had driven nose heavy muscle cars and Corvettes forever, I almost had the tail of the Porsche pass me twice in a week and a half. When I get too deep in a curve, I was used to scrubbing off speed by backing off. I found it hard to accelerate when the car oversteers. It was entertaining though. Those rear engine cars are an acquired taste.

lift off oversteer - tough to fight your instincts.

 

[Zues1]

,

 

[pismonque]

1976 Ford Fairmont Futura, 2 door

Oh man. My first was the 1978 Fairmont, looked like the one below. It wasn't that great looking but it could do 0-60 in 26.8 seconds if I didn't stall it.

 

[RavinDave]

I had a 73 911 T Targa for about 10 days as well as I remember in 1983. It was Matra Racing Blue, or Ford Racing Blue, or Petty Blue as most call it. I traded a 82 or 83?? Mazda RX-7 even up for it. I sold it because a friend wanted to buy it, and I was afraid I would wind up dead. As someone who had driven nose heavy muscle cars and Corvettes forever, I almost had the tail of the Porsche pass me twice in a week and a half. When I get too deep in a curve, I was used to scrubbing off speed by backing off. I found it hard to accelerate when the car oversteers. It was entertaining though. Those rear engine cars are an acquired taste.

Only 10 days? That's too bad. Here is a picture I took in 2005 when my car had well over 250,000 miles on it, more than 80% of those while I owned it. Yeah, the handling takes a little getting used to. I'd love to own another one and preferably a Targa; was thinking about buying one a year ago but got a new truck (another F-150) instead. For sheer handling that 914 with the mid-ships engine was the "bees knees". It was the 4-cyl, not the 6, but nevertheless got me nicknamed Leadfoot by my supervisor at Dow Chemical where I worked when I bought it. Used to commute across the Mississippi River on I-10 when I worked at Dow, and one day going home the 914 stalled out, acting like it was vapor-locked, right in the middle of that dadgum bridge with the structure heaving up & down; luckily it was only a poor ground on the fuel pump which I was able to rectify with a screwdriver...

 

[RavinDave]

This one would be about my speed. I spied it in a parking lot along my daily commute recently, where one does not normally see many expensive imports... any time I see a 911 my heart rate picks up a bit anyways, so I had to pull over and take a couple of snapshots. Had it been for sale I might have had to at least take a test drive...

 

[Carl Pickens]

Is that a '92? I had a white '91 and still kick myself for ever getting rid of it.

 

[GUNTERSVOL]

Those are neat cars, no doubt. I always liked Triumph cars of the 50's-70's. I saw a t-shirt once that said "the English drink warm beer because the have Lucas refrigerators." Anyone who owned a British car with Lucas electrics will understand. My dad had a Jag XK 150.

Wow..... I too had a 58' XK150... technically it was my third car after trading off a 64' VW convertable for a 66' Datsun B210 and then a guy with a new baby traded me the Jag almost straight up..... Mine spent many nights in the shop.......... Mine had a really unusual three speed borg warner racing automatic transmission in it... Had this for my senior year in HS.... It beame evident I could drive the car OR go to college.... so it got parked and took off for Belmont from Knoxville in a 63' Old F85 wagon, not exactly on the cool list..... Eventually sold the Jag to cover my last years college expenses.... fun while it lasted though....

 

[vol_in_ar]

Oh man. My first was the 1978 Fairmont, looked like the one below. It wasn't that great looking but it could do 0-60 in 26.8 seconds if I didn't stall it.

thats it, mine was a dark blue

 

[NorCalVol67]

My '71 Camaro was not fleet of foot. One day I wanted to see what speed I could get it to on a small section of Cherry rd in Memphis, the end of the section was the corner where Charlie Rich lived. I don't remember what I got it to, but I nearly drove it into a fence at the end of the road as I slammed on the breaks and turned the wheel. My Dad asked why I had bald spots on the front tires and I said I had no idea.

I did manage to get it to 100 mph on Walnut Grove around Germantown - when it was still the sticks - and it took about 12 minutes.

 

[1972 Grad]

Wow..... I too had a 58' XK150... technically it was my third car after trading off a 64' VW convertable for a 66' Datsun B210 and then a guy with a new baby traded me the Jag almost straight up..... Mine spent many nights in the shop.......... Mine had a really unusual three speed borg warner racing automatic transmission in it... Had this for my senior year in HS.... It beame evident I could drive the car OR go to college.... so it got parked and took off for Belmont from Knoxville in a 63' Old F85 wagon, not exactly on the cool list..... Eventually sold the Jag to cover my last years college expenses.... fun while it lasted though....

I saw an XK150 parked behind Andy Holt Apts. in about 1971. The hood had come loose and wrapped itself over the front edge of the roof. They had bent it back down and strapped it shut. Same thing happened to my dad's when my brother was driving it. He lied about where he was, and how fast he was going. I found out from his friend. Dad never knew.

 

[volinbham]

Oh man. My first was the 1978 Fairmont, looked like the one below. It wasn't that great looking but it could do 0-60 in 26.8 seconds if I didn't stall it.

I worked at the Clean Machine car wash in Bearden in the early 80s. Some rental company with a fleet of Fairmonts used to bring them through. Biggest POS build quality ever. Paint came off on the towels when drying the car. It was the low point for Ford Motor Company and shortly before they launched the "Quality is Job 1" strategy.

 

[RavinDave]

Wow..... I too had a 58' XK150... technically it was my third car after trading off a 64' VW convertable for a 66' Datsun B210 and then a guy with a new baby traded me the Jag almost straight up..... Mine spent many nights in the shop.......... Mine had a really unusual three speed borg warner racing automatic transmission in it... Had this for my senior year in HS.... It beame evident I could drive the car OR go to college.... so it got parked and took off for Belmont from Knoxville in a 63' Old F85 wagon, not exactly on the cool list..... Eventually sold the Jag to cover my last years college expenses.... fun while it lasted though....

I mentioned owning a TR4 in response to 1972's earlier post. I had actually borrowed money from the Dow Credit Union to buy a 63 Austin Healey 3000 that had been spiffed up nice by a dude in Louisiana who did this for a living, and he also had an immaculate 59 XK 150, white with red leather, but it was out of my price range. Long story short I went back to purchase the Austin Healey two days after I told him to hold it for me and dam if he hadn't already sold it to somebody else! Couple days later I found the TR4 which was a bit ragged out but only half the price of the Austin Healey, leaving funds to invest in a new A/C unit for my little bungalow in Baton Rouge.

 

[82_VOL_83]

1966 Ford Falcon, blue like this one

Mine was a '68. Got it in 1977.

 

[RavinDave]

I worked at the Clean Machine car wash in Bearden in the early 80s. Some rental company with a fleet of Fairmonts used to bring them through. Biggest POS build quality ever. Paint came off on the towels when drying the car. It was the low point for Ford Motor Company and shortly before they launched the "Quality is Job 1" strategy.

Reminds me of the old joke about Fords - Fix Or Repair Daily... probably applies even more to the old British makes, particularly Jaguars, but the Triumphs while they did require a good bit of maintenance they were pretty easy to work on.

 

[pismonque]

I worked at the Clean Machine car wash in Bearden in the early 80s. Some rental company with a fleet of Fairmonts used to bring them through. Biggest POS build quality ever. Paint came off on the towels when drying the car. It was the low point for Ford Motor Company and shortly before they launched the "Quality is Job 1" strategy.

Wow, I always thought it was just mine that did that, no joke. Actually, it was just the hood though that did it on mine. The car was silver like in the picture but the hood eventually became a mismatched gray. I always figured the engine heat was the difference.

 

[vol_in_ar]

Reminds me of the old joke about Fords - Fix Or Repair Daily... probably applies even more to the old British makes, particularly Jaguars, but the Triumphs while they did require a good bit of maintenance they were pretty easy to work on.

I had a TR7, think it was an '80, and it was a wiring disaster

 

[volinbham]

Wow, I always thought it was just mine that did that, no joke. Actually, it was just the hood though that did it on mine. The car was silver like in the picture but the hood eventually became a mismatched gray. I always figured the engine heat was the difference.

It was Ford of the time. My sister had a Mustang II that did it. There was no clear coat and you could barely drag a towel across it. When you did it was whatever color the car was.

 

[volinbham]

my buddy had one of these for his first

[youtube]

 

[RavinDave]

I had a TR7, think it was an '80, and it was a wiring disaster

Yeah, I remember the TR7. Never drove one but I would guess NOT so easy to work on like their earlier models. The TR6 was a pretty decent car, I knew a couple guys that had them but I never owned one of those either.