OK, Dave started this topic on his blog. I think Teddy put him up to it. What was the first car you owned yourself? If you would like, you could also tell what you learned to drive in or first drove.
My first car was a 1954 Chevy 4-door Belaire. Robins-egg blue and white, two-tone. It used a gallon of oil a week...mostly leaked out of the rear seal whenever I went up a hill. It served me well until I drove my girlfriend to work one day, she went to stand on the floor to get out, and put her foot all the way through to the ground. She was really mad that it ruined her nylons. That was the beginning of the end...she wouldn't ride in it anymore.
I learned to drive in a 1930 Model A Ford...a hardtop pickup (yes, they had roadster pickups, too). I still love Model A's.
-Scotty 2011 Spyder RTS-SM5 (mine) 2000 BMW R1100RTP, motorized tricycle & 23 vintage bikes 2011 RT-622 trailer, Aspen Sentry popup camper, custom motorcycle trailer to pull behind the Spyder
The first car i owned and paid for myself was a New 1964 Plymouth [remember them?] Barracuda 273 V8,
Out the door, 26 hundred dollars. Before that my ride was a 59 Mercury [remember them?] with a 430 Lincoln engine. Oh and that 430 got 18 mpg, But who cared when Gas was 18/20 cents a gal and with a fill up 6 drinking glasses,; Gas wars those were the days, And nobody got shot during those wars.
I learned to drive in the hay pasture...in an old flatbed truck?..3 on the floor...I was not big enough to pick-up the hay bales so I drove...if I jerked in my shifting the guys would beat me up...I learned real quick to use the clutch....my sister was 2 years older...her 1st car th.jpg
we had to share when I turned 16...that did not work well...so my dad found me this gem thCA3H8OP5.jpg
except he painted it red and white....I drove it thru 11th grade...then my next car was 006_sm9.jpg
this was the cat's meow...every time you filled up with gas..it took a quart of oil.....my 1st brand new car was a Pinto... thCANQ1O6X.jpg
Last edited by flamingobabe; 01-19-2013 at 12:27 PM.
A hand-me-down 1957 Studebaker Economy from my Grandpa. A green/white top with a 6-cylinder you could put in a shoe box, vacuum wipers that would stall when you went up a hill or accelerated, one arm rest for the driver and a defog that was so inefficient I had to have my girl friend sit next to me with an ice scraper and scrape the INSIDE of the windshield. In the end, I was getting almost 60 miles to a quart of used tractor oil. But had a ball with it because it was indestructible! Good first car.
My first car was a used 1960 Ford Fairlane my uncle bought for me as partial payment for working on the farm that summer. The first one I bought, from another uncle, was a 1967 Mustang fastback-still wish I had that one. Dale
There were rumors that Ronson did the design work on the Pinto for Ford.
I had a 73 Pinto, The most under powered car i ever had, My 45 Jeep would out run it.
I learned to drive in the hay pasture...in an old flatbed truck?..3 on the floor...I was not big enough to pick-up the hay bales so I drove...if I jerked in my shifting the guys would beat me up...I learned real quick to use the clutch....my sister was 2 years older...her 1st car th.jpg
we had to share when I turned 16...that did not work well...so my dad found me this gem thCA3H8OP5.jpg
except he painted it red and white....I drove it thru 11th grade...then my next car was 006_sm9.jpg
this was the cat's meow...every time you filled up with gas..it took a quart of oil.....my 1st brand new car was a Pinto... thCANQ1O6X.jpg
I guess we have another thing in common. This was probably my third summer driving this.
How about a 52 Plymouth three window coup that I resurrected from a junk yard and had it painted phantom blue by Earl Schibe. Flat head six with three on the column and a portable transistor radio laying on the back panel.
Graduated to a 56 Ford Country Squire station wagon with the cowboy vinyl interior.
There were rumors that Ronson did the design work on the Pinto for Ford.
I had a 73 Pinto, The most under powered car i ever had, My 45 Jeep would out run it.
Bob,
I Might have had a slower vehicle than that...
A Government fleet-spec aMC with a German 2 litre 4 cylinder engine... at 40 mph on level roadway; it would kick down a gear if you turned the air conditoning on!
I got passed on several uphill stretches by eighteen wheelers hauling concrete blocks!
1980 AMC Spirit 4 speed manual color silver !!!!!! Purchase price of $600.00 off a farmer. Put American Racing Mag rims on it, tinted the windows and put (2) 15" subwoofers in the hatchback.
One of my mag rims came off the rear of the car at 65 mph in Cape Cod (late at night). Sparks flew from the rear of the car until I got it to the side of the road. I did not find the wheel until daylight the next morning 1/4 mile down the road in the ditch. Long night, but great times !!!!!!!
This was not mine but it will give you an idea what they looked like.
1956 Pontiac 4 door with straight 6. I paid $100 for the car in 1973 which turned out to be too much, lol.. It sure taught me alot about mechanics as it broke down about once a week. I could not afford parts so a local auto wrecker would let me come in and take out parts for free so I could get it running again.
Learned to drive in a 1939 Chevy Master 85 2 door, when my Grandfather got another car, I bought the 39 for $15 and put a 302 Jimmy in it, Wayne 12 port and a bunch of other stuff. Scared a lot of people with it, including myself.
A 1974 Nova, hatchback. Midnight blue metallic that I bought new. I even got the tent option from a dealer. You could lock up the hatch with hose clamps. Then slide the canvas tent over the back. Put down the rear seats and you were camping! There was a double zipper door flap to get in from the back and screened windows on each side. Outside flaps in case of rain to cover the windows.
it had a 3 speed manual and I had gotten the straight 250 cu.in. Thinking I was going to save some gas? NOT! No A/C. I cooked in that car during the hot muggy Summers in GA.
After two years, I went through about a dozen alternators or voltage regulators in the next two years. I discovered one night after I had just replaced another alternator and the GEN light started to glow, what was the cause of my problem? In order for GM to save a bit of money, they routed six wires across the hottest part of the engine. Across the valve cover where the exhaust manifold attached. One of the wires was shorting to the block all that time! So, I spliced in six inches of wire to each circuit and routed the wires under the exhaust manifold. Wrapped them in aluminum foil and secured it with zip ties. Never had a problem again.
My Dad had insisted that I got power steering when I ordered it for resale down the road. Wow. I sold it for $50 many years later. Just think, I might have gotten less if it weren't for that power steering!
Started out with a '56 Buick Roadmaster I inherited from my brother when he got drafted. Loved that old tank. A guy wrapped a brand new '68 Mustang around the front of it. I tried to fix the Buick but the frame was bent. Then I inherited my brother's '62 Bel Air. He wrecked that one for me just before he left for 'Nam. I fixed it and drove it until I got that welcome letter from Uncle Sam. The first car I bought was a '61 Impala, straight six. Plywood for a rear floor. Paid $300.00 for it. Drove it until the rear went out. Then I bought a '66 Chevy II. I so wish I still had that car. First new car was a '74 Nova hatchback, burgundy. Hatch leaked like a sive and couldn't keep speedometer cables in it.
Last edited by bruiser; 01-20-2013 at 10:41 AM.
USAF '69-'89 E7
Thailand/Vietnam 1972
Member: Royal Order of Rat Bastards
Since I got my first one at age 15 I have now owned 63 cars. About half of them weren't worth keeping but I sure would love to have the other half back.
The first one was a 1930 Ford Model A. I found it in a farmer's field in southern Ontario in the summer of 1954. I towed it back to the Texaco station I worked at for my summer job and the owner of the station helped me get it on the road. We cut out some of the rust on the fenders, welded and leaded in new metal. Replaced the tires, cut plywood to replace the rusted out floorboards, re-made a set of my mother's old curtains for a new headliner, sanded and primed it and finished it with coats of ice box white paint. The back two cylinders were filled with water so we rebuilt the engine, installed new rings and bearings, re-cored the radiator and by the time school began in the fall.... I had my wheels ready to go.
With a top end speed of 52 miles per hour it took a long time to get from point A to B but eventually it got me there. Three speeds with no synchromesh in first taught me the need to double clutch when down shifting. A cool machine that seemed to attract the female of the species more than some of my friends who were running newer cars with V-8's.
Penny and Rick have owned many motorcycles starting in 1974 with Hondas, then to Suzukis, Gold Wings and ultimately Spyders.
74 Honda 360T (pair); 78 Suzuki GS 1000 (pair); 82 Honda Aspencade; 84 Honda 400; 87 Yamaha 1100; 99 Honda Valkyrie; 01 Suzuki Burgman(triked); 02 Honda GL 1800(triked); 10 Spyder RTSE; 11 Spyder RTSM; 12 Spyder RTSL (pair); 20 Spyder RTL (current)
'56 Ford F100 pickup truck. Powder blue, in fact the blue was somewhat powdery and would rub off on your clothes as you walked by it. Some previous owner had swapped out the V8 with a straight 6, with a 6-volt system! What a pain that was. Steering had a half turn of free play, so was also real fun to drive. Rust holes in the floorboard, like Scotty's, so there was a piece of plywood under the floormat.
What a mess that truck was...
Mark & Mary Lou Lawson
Snellville, GA USA
'10 RT-S PE #0031
'10 RT-622 Trailer
'08 Yellow SM5 #2332
'01 Black GL1800A Goldwing #0930
"Remember in the darkness what you have learned in the light." - Joe Bayly
Actually, I learned to drive on a tractor -- with steel wheels and no tires -- in IA. For an actual car, I learned in a 1936 Oldsmobile that had been my grandfather's and then, after his death, my father's.
My first car was -- would you believe -- a 1926 Chevrolet. It had wooden wheels (33 inches in diameter and 3 inches wide) with contracting brakes (a belt contracted around a drum) and OUTSIDE push rods. I loved it as if it was made of gold. I bought it for $35 and sold it a few years later for the same price.
Perhaps my favorite car (like Scotty) was a Model A Ford coupe -- mop top and rumble seat that I used for ........ I have wanted to own another "A" all of my long life.
A 1968 Renault R-10.
6 weeks into ownership I rolled it over, totaled it and was fortunate enough to walk away.
I credit the then optional shoulder harness for saving my life.
I learned to drive with this car. A 5 speed, I think.
There was something really odd about the shift pattern but I can't now remember what.
It had an optional hand crank start. I used it once and nearly wrenched my shoulder out of the socket.
Bought it with money I had earned working in a bakery before & after school.
My first car I bought and first car I ever had was a 21 year old 29 Model A sedan with love/swing away shift. In high gear, your girl friend, depending on seat type, slide over next to you, then in top gear, pick the shift handle up and under the dash. If you did the shifting "right" you could play with yours girls knees or not. Had it about 9 months and laid it on it side with I think12 or kids inside. (How many can you fit in your car. ) (Low Speed, no injuries). Local law "suggested I get a different vehicle". It ran fine, but the top was about 6" to one side in places.
Never had a new car till I was out of service in 83.
Oldmanzues
What Was Your First Car?
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by flamingobabe
Very Happy Spyder Owner 
2016 F3T Magnesium Metalic : Smooth Spyder Dual Backrest, Lamonster LED Head lights and Fog lights
