I had a 82 Jeep CJ-7 given to me. I liked it.
A bit dangerous as I nearly rolled(on two wheels) twice sliding on gravel road and ice.
A bit dangerous as I nearly rolled(on two wheels) twice sliding on gravel road and ice.
How did you really feel about your first car?
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Mine was a 1970 Chevy Nova SS with the 396 / 375 H.P. V-8 and a 4-Speed. Power disc brakes, but no power steering. About 8 MPG, but Premium was 35 cents a gallon, so who cared. A real handful to parallel park though. I sold it to a co workers brother in 1977 with 78,000 miles on it, and he proceeded to wrap it around a tree.
My first vehicle was my 2000 Yukon Denali. Still have it. 240k on it and still going strong. Never left me stranded and great in the winter with the rear locking diff. She dosent get driven as much anymore but anytime it is snowing shes on the road.
Learned to drive in and was allowed to use my parents 2004 Dodge Grand Caravan.. I put gas in it and did oil changes, I could take it pretty much anywhere I wanted. I hated it at first, because minivan, but then realized I could cram 6 other people into it. Got decent enough fuel economy, replaced the factory stereo with an aftermarket head unit and the factory speakers weren't half bad. That thing survived my parents using it like a pick up truck (hauling lots of heavy loads) and 3 teenage drivers.
First car I actually bought was a 2011 Kia Forte Koup SX. I loved it at first, grew to dislike it... It "handled" great, but rode awful. Stiff was an understatement... only kept it a year.
First car I actually bought was a 2011 Kia Forte Koup SX. I loved it at first, grew to dislike it... It "handled" great, but rode awful. Stiff was an understatement... only kept it a year.
I just drove it and didn't really care about it. I did maintain it.
'Twas a 1970 Toyota Corona wagon with the 8RC engine sold to me by a friend in 1978.
'Twas a 1970 Toyota Corona wagon with the 8RC engine sold to me by a friend in 1978.
I got my license in 1974 and my first car was a red 1969 Fiat 850 Spider convertible hand me down. It was a little rear engined, 2 seat, 4 speed that leaked terribly any time it rained. I literally kept a coffee can in the car so I could bale out the foot well after a rain storm! By the time I sold it to a buddy, the floor was so rotted out, he had to put some strategically placed 1x4's under the seat rails to keep it from falling onto the pavement. Being rear engined and with the design of the front end, if you got it up to about 75-80, you could feel a loss of steering control as the front end got a little "light". At the time I thought that car was a POS, but looking back, I have a fondness for it and those times. I miss them both!
Great stories.
My first car was my Mom's 65 Triumph TR-4. I had wanted it since I first saw it!
Coincidentally my Dad sold it to me for the few hundred bucks I had from mowing lawns all summer. It was a terribly unreliable car that broke often, but girls loved it!
My first car was my Mom's 65 Triumph TR-4. I had wanted it since I first saw it!
Coincidentally my Dad sold it to me for the few hundred bucks I had from mowing lawns all summer. It was a terribly unreliable car that broke often, but girls loved it!
Mine was basically the basis for the first Mustang=a '64 Falcon. It was a 3-on-the tree and a 170 cu.in.6 cyl with too few main bearings with about zero options-not even a radio. It had 29k miles when I bought it for $400. I drove the heck out of it for a year and even got a speeding ticket on I80 in western Neb. It was a decent car, but I didn't really love it and sold when I found a '65 Pont GP 421. That was a car I loved until my wife totaled it later on as she slid on ice and into a phone pole.
I loved my first car, but it was something I wanted and bought myself. My parents told me if I wanted a car at 16 I had to save up for it, so I worked during the summer on a farm and mowed lawns and bought my first car which was a 1990 Jeep Cherokee Limited in 2006 with 89k miles. Leather interior, a 4.0L straight six, and 4WD was everything I had wanted.
My 1st car was a 69 beetle like Anduril. This was back in 1978. Not near as nice. Mine had bad paint and the engine came in several boxes. I think my dad paid $250. Resembled and a bad paint job and it was a very good ride. Except in the winter. Not much heat out of that little engine. By the time I got my 2nd car I could have that engine out of the bug and on the bench in less than 30min. I was kind of hard on vehicles and enjoyed fixing things.
A 1950 Crosley that my dad and I rebuilt the engine. I loved that vehicle. I was 14 or 15 at the time. Ed
My dad gave me a '76 Nova when I was moving to TX after college...it was rusty and had suspension issues (weird "heavy duty" rear leaf springs that kept breaking), but ran well enough in warm weather. It was hard to start and ran poorly in even Dallas' "cold" weather, so I have a hard time seeing how dad dealt with it in Chicago winters. He actually gave me my choice of any of his three cars...the other two were Comet/Mavericks and the Nova seemed pretty nice compared to them. Maybe the other two ran better in the cold and he didn't use the Nova in the winter? Dad bought himself a used Marquis after I moved away and thought that car was the cat's meow for the rest of his life.
I really appreciated the gift as I figured I was going to have to spend maybe $500 on a junker to get me by until I saved some real coin up, but I guess I was really embarrassed by it when it came right down to it. A friend of mine at work bought a "really cool" Prelude and would constantly bust my chops about the Nova, and I'm sure chicks weren't impressed by it. My Nova had the 250 inline 6, I had a buddy with a 350 V8 version and he tried to really lord it over me one night when he insisted on driving me to dinner in it...but, it ran so poorly with constant shudders and lurches that I'm sure I could have crushed him off the line. Don't know if he ever got that thing running right...I can still picture him trying to race off at a green light and the thing nearly stalling and moaning while he swore a blue streak!
I really appreciated the gift as I figured I was going to have to spend maybe $500 on a junker to get me by until I saved some real coin up, but I guess I was really embarrassed by it when it came right down to it. A friend of mine at work bought a "really cool" Prelude and would constantly bust my chops about the Nova, and I'm sure chicks weren't impressed by it. My Nova had the 250 inline 6, I had a buddy with a 350 V8 version and he tried to really lord it over me one night when he insisted on driving me to dinner in it...but, it ran so poorly with constant shudders and lurches that I'm sure I could have crushed him off the line. Don't know if he ever got that thing running right...I can still picture him trying to race off at a green light and the thing nearly stalling and moaning while he swore a blue streak!
My first car was a 55 Chevy Belair two door post. It was in excellent condition cosmetically, but the motor was blown. Paid $100 for it and towed it home. Junk yard 283 and I was in business. 2nd was a 409 4 speed 62 impala, black with red interior. number 3 was my first new one a 1967 Chevelle SS 396. Number 4 was a 1968 Camaro with with the L78 396, 375 horse engine, a handful of fun. Then I got drafted, had to sell the Camaro. after the army I bought a used 1970 Z28 Camaro. I cant afford any of these cars today, but I do look for them when I go to car shows. Glad I got to live through those times, they sure were a lot of fun!
Originally Posted by jacobsond
My 1st car was a 69 beetle like Anduril. This was back in 1978. Not near as nice. Mine had bad paint and the engine came in several boxes. I think my dad paid $250. Resembled and a bad paint job and it was a very good ride. Except in the winter. Not much heat out of that little engine. By the time I got my 2nd car I could have that engine out of the bug and on the bench in less than 30min. I was kind of hard on vehicles and enjoyed fixing things.
Similar situation to my first car. in 1966 my dad bought a 1963 VW bug that had been wrecked. A few weekends with some tools and some bondo, she was road capable. An Earl Schieb type paint job did it no favors. Looked like crap but actually ran pretty decent considering what had happened to it. I got me through high school before the transmission gave up the ghost. As ugly as it was, it was still a chick magnet.
My 1st car was a 69 beetle like Anduril. This was back in 1978. Not near as nice. Mine had bad paint and the engine came in several boxes. I think my dad paid $250. Resembled and a bad paint job and it was a very good ride. Except in the winter. Not much heat out of that little engine. By the time I got my 2nd car I could have that engine out of the bug and on the bench in less than 30min. I was kind of hard on vehicles and enjoyed fixing things.
Similar situation to my first car. in 1966 my dad bought a 1963 VW bug that had been wrecked. A few weekends with some tools and some bondo, she was road capable. An Earl Schieb type paint job did it no favors. Looked like crap but actually ran pretty decent considering what had happened to it. I got me through high school before the transmission gave up the ghost. As ugly as it was, it was still a chick magnet.
Originally Posted by Nick1994
Originally Posted by rhandle
The problem with kids these days is that they don't give a [censored] about ANYTHING. They don't fall in love with cars as we did. Honestly, if I found a 77 Regal in Excellent condition, I would buy it
That is not true at all.
They might be a little less interested, but plenty of people in my generation enjoy cars.
Agreed, and I'm one of them. Just a couple years older than you. I've always had a passion for cars. Which led me to spending far too much money and time on a clapped out '99 Grand Am, which was my first car. Grandma gave it to me the day I graduated HS. To me, it was the Taj Mahal. I was constantly doing work on it, not that it needed the work (but it almost always had something that needed fixed) but I wanted to improve it. After a few more years in the Ohio salt and slush, it had just become unsafe and needed massive rust repair. Sent to the scrapper. Hard day.
Originally Posted by rhandle
The problem with kids these days is that they don't give a [censored] about ANYTHING. They don't fall in love with cars as we did. Honestly, if I found a 77 Regal in Excellent condition, I would buy it
That is not true at all.
They might be a little less interested, but plenty of people in my generation enjoy cars.
Agreed, and I'm one of them. Just a couple years older than you. I've always had a passion for cars. Which led me to spending far too much money and time on a clapped out '99 Grand Am, which was my first car. Grandma gave it to me the day I graduated HS. To me, it was the Taj Mahal. I was constantly doing work on it, not that it needed the work (but it almost always had something that needed fixed) but I wanted to improve it. After a few more years in the Ohio salt and slush, it had just become unsafe and needed massive rust repair. Sent to the scrapper. Hard day.
I had a 1996 Peugeot 406 Dturbo Wagon. I passed my test in 2010 so it was 14 years old and had 107k on the clock.
My first proper road trip (~300 miles) I had a CV joint partially seize up and was left stranded on the side of the A42 with next to no steering. The CV boot had split and emptied itself of all it's grease. The joint had turned blue it got so hot. It took me 12 hours to be recovered home and I suffered with horrific anxiety on road trips for months afterwards.
The engine was a 1900cc 4 cylinder IDI diesel. Standard it ran 14psi of boost and made 90bhp. I tuned it up a little to 21psi and tuned the Bosch VP44 a little bit for more fuel. I ran it on straight waste veg oil with some 2-EHN and used engine oil in the tank during the summer. And during winter I would collect misfuel from garages and run it ~30% with the veg oil to stop it gelling in cold weather along with a little waste oil and 2-EHN. I used to pick up the waste veg oil from my Uncle who ran a takeaway and the misfuel would be given away by local garages. As a student it was basically free motoring!
I ended up putting 20k on it in 6 months before I got given my Mothers 2003 MK1 Ford Focus.
Not my car but very much the same as my 406...
![[Linked Image from parkers-images.bauersecure.com]](https://parkers-images.bauersecure.com/gallery-image/pagefiles/203457/static-exterior/1752x1168/406frontestate-.jpg "[Linked Image from parkers-images.bauersecure.com]")
My first proper road trip (~300 miles) I had a CV joint partially seize up and was left stranded on the side of the A42 with next to no steering. The CV boot had split and emptied itself of all it's grease. The joint had turned blue it got so hot. It took me 12 hours to be recovered home and I suffered with horrific anxiety on road trips for months afterwards.
The engine was a 1900cc 4 cylinder IDI diesel. Standard it ran 14psi of boost and made 90bhp. I tuned it up a little to 21psi and tuned the Bosch VP44 a little bit for more fuel. I ran it on straight waste veg oil with some 2-EHN and used engine oil in the tank during the summer. And during winter I would collect misfuel from garages and run it ~30% with the veg oil to stop it gelling in cold weather along with a little waste oil and 2-EHN. I used to pick up the waste veg oil from my Uncle who ran a takeaway and the misfuel would be given away by local garages. As a student it was basically free motoring!
I ended up putting 20k on it in 6 months before I got given my Mothers 2003 MK1 Ford Focus.
Not my car but very much the same as my 406...
1958 Chevy Bel air. Let's just say it was a learning experience.
2004 Ford Focus, ZTS. It was the sedan model, and I believe was a transition year with the 2.3 Duratec engine. The thing would hit 62mph in second gear. I loved that car. With a good set of tires it handled well, returned decent fuel economy, and let me haul around my mountain bike and anything else I wanted. Also had the upgraded "audiophile" sound system with a factory sub in the trunk.
My first modification was removing the giant 100k mile foam airfilter box, and throwing a cone filter on the end of the intake pipe. Boom instant cold air intake.
My first modification was removing the giant 100k mile foam airfilter box, and throwing a cone filter on the end of the intake pipe. Boom instant cold air intake.
An inherent design flaw of the cowl area allowed water intrusion into the cabin once the vehicle was up in years. .
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