My first car

[trof]

1952 Morris Minor convertible.
I got it in 1960 for about $300.

4 on the floor, man!
Semaphore turn signals.
A heater (sorta) but no radio.
Max speed of close to 60 MPH...downhill.
It made the trip to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl (New Years Day) a couple of times.

Had a starter crank that I actually used when I had a dead battery once.
It worked!
We had a rare hard freeze in Tuscaloosa (college, Roll Tide!) and the auto stores and filling stations ran out of antifreeze. I poured a half a fifth of Scotch into the radiator and got through it just fine.
Smelled good too.


What was you first car?

[tymorial]

1. I am quite younger than you

1987 Plymouth Sundance Turbo. It was a 5 speed that had been in a wreck. It had only 50k miles on it when I bought it in 1995 My dad bought it for me when I graduated from high school and was going to commute to school. I went to college full time and worked 25 hours a week to afford the insurance and additional money for tuition. I loved that car. We eventually sold it because it started to get expensive but I still miss it. I could drive that car too and back home from college when I transferred out of state on 5 bucks of gas. God I miss that car.

[lambchopp59]

2. 1968 Volkswagen Beetle

Air cooled rear engine, weight on the rear drive wheels that could burble along through hazardous winter conditions, through the slickest ice and snow without losing traction.
Disadvantage of the Air cooled engine was a tendency to vaporlock the carburetor in summer heat, lose speed then quit, testing patience of passengers when pulled over roadside hopefully finding a shady spot to sit with the engine hood open waiting for it to cool down enough to swallow gasoline again. I kept a spray bottle to spritz the engine little at a time, shortening the waiting period considerably to get going again.
Yet the very best feature that little car had was a roll-open sunroof. That was great fun for throwing water balloons. Our little crew got a bit notorious for that one summer.

[CountAllVotes]

3. wow same car!

No kidding!

What a coincidence!

Loved that car, just loved the sunroof!

[mitch96]

25. "loved the sunroof! "

Did you get that funny "wump wump" pressure change with the windows closed and the sunroof open? Only happened at 40 mph.. I would not tell friends about it and then smoke a joint. I'd get up to 40 and open the roof with the windows closed. They would be freaking out and I would tell them they were crazy and nothing was happening!!! What fun...!!
m

[mitch96]

19. I had a '68 also.. Green with a sunroof!! snazzy ..........

First car was a '57 Plymouth two door. 318 cu in hemi with a torque flite tranny. I could not kill that thing and lordy I tried!! Cost me a whole $25 from a friends father.. We called it the blue and white whale.. Same car used in the movie Christine.. uff what a tank
m

[CountAllVotes]

27. bwa ha!

Mine was aka "The Blue Wonder".

I swear that car had a mind of its own!

Towards the end, I had AAA sending me threatening letters about it!

I loved that car and my Dad convinced me to get rid of it! I did not care to to that! ha!!

[mitch96]

35. The VW or the Plymouth?? nt

[CountAllVotes]

38. Both actually!

[mitch96]

39. The joke with my Plymoth was

When I went to the service station and asked them to check the gass and fill it up with oil!
The engine was strong but leaked.. I was glad when mine went by by.. Got an early VWbug with mismatched engine and tranny. I think it was a '59 with a '56 tranny and a '61 engine.. The '68 came after that... What a HOo!!!!
m

[CountAllVotes]

40. I briefly owned a Westfalia camper like that

The clutch did not match the year of that van!

What a nightmare that was!

And oh yeah, the guy that sold it to me acted like he had no idea why people rip people off when selling cars.

to say the least!

Those were days alright weren't they?

[safeinOhio]

4. Rosie the Bondo Bomb.

58 chevy paid $25 for in 68.

[Rebl2]

5. The

dangerous Pinto. No air conditioning, so pretty miserable during summer in Missouri.

[brush]

6. '52 Ford two door hardtop, flathead V8. Kool car. Wish I still had it.

[Gumboot]

7. A Moggy Thou convertible...

... down in Dixie! Wow, I bet that was a great conversation starter!

Mine was a 1980 Talbot Sunbeam 1.6GL in red. It allegedly had about 70bhp, but there was no power steering, airbags, anti-lock brakes, or any creature comforts. 4 on the floor again, and a gnarly old cable clutch that needed a seriously heavy shove to operate.

Amazing what can be found on YouTube, eh?

I kept a carboard box on the back seat to collect the many bits of trim that had fallen off, with the intention of one day, fixing them back on. Unsurprisingly, that never happened.

But it was great fun to thrash the red rascal around the deserted twisty lanes of North Yorkshire. The Mk2 Ford Escort was the car for young blokes to have way back then, but I loved my Sunbeam for being different and so much fun.

And I swear I was much better attired than the guy in the TV clip... honest.

[dweller]

8. can't post a pic, so found a link to pic

66 Corvair Monza 3 speed, fun car... same color as pic
leaked oil like a sieve 😑
https://www.google.com/search?q=corvair+monza+3+speed+blue&prmd=sivn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwim9uW-ocfjAhVJhOAKHSnCAeEQ_AUoAnoECA4QAg&biw=568&bih=276#imgrc=Pvyos5vj51br-M&imgdii=hJ4_6o2eJ9EQOM

[dhol82]

9. 1964 VW Beetle

Brand new, $1700 off the lot.
When I went to pick it up the dealer asked me if I knew how to drive a stick. I said no, teach me.
Drove it home.
It was a great car that I drove all over the states.

Currently drive a 2003 Subaru WRX. Never got over that stick shift love.

[SCantiGOP]

10. First car I drove was a baby blue

1967 Mustang (thanks to my Dad). I remember it cost $2,700 new.
First car I bought was a 1966 Ford Falcon with 105,000 miles on it. I put another 45,000 miles on it until it wouldn’t go any further and sold it to a junk yard for $50.
That works out to about 1.5 cents a mile for 45,000 miles.

[flotsam]

11. Got a '63 Beetle and a set of metric wrenches for my 15th birthday

The guy my father bought it from assured him the engine was blown. Took me damn near a week to get it running-Do you have ANY idea how deep the ruts in a dirt driveway can be worn in 11 months by a 15 year old waiting for his license???

[SeattleVet]

12. 1957 Studebaker Silver Hawk

Bought it for $100 when I was stationed in Denver for Tech School in 1972-1973. Engine was pretty noisy, gearbox had a cracked 3rd gear and leaked oil. I could drive for about an hour before I'd have to pull over to let things cool down so I could shift.

Got a fix-it ticket for air pollution and pissed off the cop somehow - when he pulled me over and asked if I knew my car was smoking, I replied, "Well, isn't it old enough to smoke?". A few weeks later the engine finally went totally to crap when I was off base coming back from a shopping trip. I pulled into a gas station and called a friend to come out. He brought 2 other guys, and when I started it up it sounded like a washing machine full of tools. While one guy was yelling for me to shut it off I said, "And if you give it some gas, it really ..." and floored it. One loud bang and it started to run quieter than it ever had! After we saw the spreading pool of oil caused by a rod coming out through the oil pan we pushed it into an empty lot across the street. It was there 2 weeks later when I flew out of Stapleton to my next assignment.

A few months later I got a letter from Colorado asking about the ticket, and whether I had fixed it. I told them where the car was and never heard anything else.

[AJT]

13. 1966 forest green mustang. It was a car shared between my brother and myself.

[GeorgeGist]

15. 1960 Studebaker Lark ...

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

16. '59 VW Beetle. Convertible.

No gas gauge. I learned to note what the mileage was and get it filled again when I'd driven about 200 miles. It had the spare tank thing, where you flipped a switch to open up the spare when you started sputtering. But if you didn't flip the switch back before getting gas, it was locked open. I only made that mistake once.

It also had a manual choke which I just loved.

I owned it in 1968/69.

I paid $100 for it, and a year or so later sold it for $150. Then did without a car for the next seven years, and bought a '69 Beetle.

My current car is a 2017 Honda Fit. Manual transmission, which is all I willingly drive. One reason I hate renting cars is that I'm forced to drive some crappy automatic.

[sinkingfeeling]

17. 1956 Nash Metropolitan. My dad bought it for me in 1964 for $250.

[gibraltar72]

18. 1953 Mercury hardtop with a 56 T abird engine.

[murielm99]

20. A 1960 Chrysler push button automatic.

Aunt Billie gave it to me because they would not let her drive any more.

It had fins and it was ginormous.

[customerserviceguy]

21. I just handled something today from my first car

It was the thing you put the registration in that goes around the steering wheel column. It is red, like my 1963 Pontiac Catalina was.

I had that car a month, and only got to drive it for about a week. A total POS, but it was my first, and for a short while there in high school, I was proud.

[lamp_shade]

22. 1969 Chevy Nova.

[lillypaddle]

23. 1965 gold Corvair

Four-on-the-floor, bucket seats. My husband at the time wrecked it.

[rownesheck]

24. Ugh.

1986 Pontiac 6000.

It would get stuck in 2nd gear. I would hold the accelerator down until it finally would switch gears, then it would jolt right into 3rd. It was real fun if I didn't give myself enough room when pulling out into traffic. I'm sure I pissed a lot of people off.

In my senior year of high school, my first period class was Art. That teacher HATED tardiness. If you were late to her class, she acted as though you had punched her grandmother. Anyway, one morning while about to leave for school, I open my car door and it completely falls off! Luckily my mother was home and I was able to drive her aircraft carrier sized 1991 Chevy caprice classic to school after dropping her off at work.

Well, I was late to class that day. I walk in and my lovely teacher angrily asks why I was late. I tell her that my car door fell off, to which she replied, "oh don't give me that crap! Sit down!"

Ah, high school memories...

[ret5hd]

26. Single malt?

[trof]

32. NO! Johnny Walker red, I think.

[Timewas]

28. My first one

A 1936 ford 4 door sedan for which I paid 35 dollars, suicide doors and mechanical brakes...85 horse power flat head V8bought it in 1955 at the ripe age of 14..

[Lulu KC]

29. 63 Rambler Classic

My mom's car, passed down. Mint green.
Only seven cars since then. Now I'm shopping for an EV.

[redstateblues]

30. 66 Rambler - the seats would go all the way back!

[trof]

34. Makeoutmobile

[Yonnie3]

31. 1961 Volvo 122S

Found growing in a farmer's field. His son had brought it back after being stationed in Europe and abandoned it there. New battery, used tires and it was good to go. 50 bucks in 1972.

[Runningdawg]

33. 1972 Ford Custom - CA highway patrol car

I bought it at auction for $500 in 1976. The only thing they did to it was spray paint over the signs on the doors and take the cherry off the top. No handles in the back seat to roll down windows or open the doors. Metal grill between front and back seat. Aftermarket tac, CB and shotgun rack still welded to the floor between the 2 front seats. No AC or radio. Music was from a cassette player I kept in the glove compartment LOL
Four barrel carb - the speedometer registered 200. The ONLY speeding ticket in my life came when he clocked me at 119. I drove it 7 years. The transmission fell out on I-35 just outside of OKC.

[bearfan454]

36. 72 Dodge Polara

I had to use the ether spray in the carburetor in the winter.

[GentryDixon]

37. 1953 Blue & White Chevrolet.

Our cousin bought it for me & my twin in 1966. I worked after school & she would take the car out & run all the oil & gas out of it. I spent more on oil than I did gas.