My First Car.......

[aeronca65t]

I can sorta bring this back to old English Fords....

My first car was this Austin A-40. Bought it in '66 for about $20. It was never registered legally, but I drove it all the time in the NJ pine barrens behind my parent's house. There were well over 150 miles of decent dirt roads so we could put on 50 miles a day easily. Many of my pals had these "woods cars" too (including the Police Chief's son).

Anyway, one of my friend's had a 100E Anglia (a mid-fifties "rounded" Anglia with a flathead). We would set up road racing circuits in the woods and have races. The Anglia was a bit quicker, so we would "ballast" it with 4 or 5 teenage boys.....at which point the two cars were pretty even.

One day the Austin was low on oil (as ususal) and the only thing I could find was some oil-based paint. I figured it was close enough. It expired soon after. I still have the bent con-rod on my desk as a momento.

More of my early cars (and other snaps of the A-40) ~here~ .

 

[ecurie_ecosse]

1959 Standard 10 Companion. Super little estate car!! Did 60 downhill,and 20 up.
Can't find a picture,though.

Stuart.

 

[elrey]

1964 1/2 Mustang, dark blue, bench seat w/fold down armrest. --elrey

 

[Guest]

1964 Chevy II Super Sport, palomar red with black interior!!!

"First car, age 7, 8, or 9. VW bug cut down baja styled used for hunting. I put a '50 Willys Jeep grill over the half a stop sign that was the front of the car. Motor was stored inside the car for years when I got it. I managed to hang it off the back w/ old bicycle axles ( use what you know) and got it to spin over and kinda fire. Valves were stuck open but made nice pooping sounds and flames. I learned how to put out fires w/ that thing. I beat on that thing for a good two or three years durring the summer at my grandmother's. I learned a lot from the POS.
(mainly not waste time on P's OS.)

First bought, '65 Chevy II at 14. Never ran but I made the sweetest brushed aluminum interior and had the nicest rattle can metal dash paint job you could have. Seriously, it was really nice. My buddy still talks about it. Color sand about 10 coats of that crap and buff it out w/ Liquid Ebony and it'll look stunning. Grant GT steering wheel and custom console w/ gauges. Woulda been 750 HP if I had the money to build it. Looking back I had the right plan but needed a bit more gear and converter. I woulda got me from the front seat into a coffin by the front pew in less than 10 seconds.

First ran and drove: '77 Celica GT, Rock solid and couldn't blow it up no matter how long you kept it floored in 1st while running through the woods.

Yes, it was my daily driver.

 

[startech47]

54 Ford Fairlane. My dad and I looked it over and decided that $25.00 was a good price. Bob had told us the brakes needed work. My dad told Bob we would come back with a tow bar. Bob asked why we just didn't drive it home, at which point we made the statement "It runs?" Bob took us back outside and started it up for us. We came back with my Uncle who drove my dad's car followed by my dad and I in my new (used) car. The deal was that my dad would hit the back of his car if he couldn't stop in time with the hand brake. It was an interesting trip driving from around the spot that JFK stadium would be built through DC and Georgetown to McLean, Va. We made it with all bumpers intact. Neat car for a 15 year old. Bob even threw in a new seat of seat covers.

 

[vagt6]

'55 Plymouth Belvedere! Back seat big enough for at least four good sized folks. Had a small-block V/8 and a TWO speed automatic with a little, gearshift lever sticking out of the dash.

The metal dash had a goofy, rubber bladed fan that some DPO has installed. My "air condidioning".

Great car, great memories.

 

[NutmegCT]

And all this time I thought the thread was about Anglias!

My first car:

Yep, it's a 1955 Mark VII 3.5 liter saloon. No, that's not our house in the background.

After HS graduation, I was accepted into Dartmouth, class of 1970. Parents told me I could have any make of car I wanted. Being young and naive I chose Jaguar.

So they found me a 10+ year old Jaguar, which was being sold by an old guy who was tired of it. Got it for $800. Red leather interior, two fuel tanks switchable on the dash, 4 speed with electric overdrive, carbs for racing, street, and touring.

Unfortunately my dad lost his job before I could leave for college, so we couldn't afford Dartmouth. Had to stay at home and go to the local college (Texas Christian University - great school). But I kept the Jaguar and sold it four years later when I got my first job in south Texas.

And yes, I sure wish I still owned it!

That Mark VII was probably a good move after all. If I had been hit by a Greyhound bus, the bus would have been totaled and I would have just walked away. That Mark VII is a *solid* car.

Tom

 

[Brooklands]

I had a gray 1952 Buick Special 4-door with straight eight, three on the tree, and the greatest AM radio in the chrome dashboard. When I was going to junk it near the end of college due to the second transmission failing, the brothers at my Frat wanted to keep it as an extension of the party room due to interior size. Shortly after I got it, I had it repainted.

After HS graduation, I was accepted into Dartmouth, class of 1970.

Tom

Tom, for a few years Dartmouth was my first choice, but I never did the application when I got to that point, or I may have been in class of '72.

 

[Silverghost]

O.K., then.

Half interest in a 1940 Chevrolet Farm Use Pickup. $35 from a field.

And the story goes something like THIS:

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[AweMan]

A 1947 Lincoln Zephyr. I was 15, got the car in lieu of payment for yard work.
It had a broken axle otherwise complete but in need of paint. Got an axle at the salvage yard for 5 bucks but we had to pull it. {those were the days}
That car had enough steel in it to build at least two possibly three modern day cars!
v12 flat head, among many other neat features including many back seat creature comforts .
cruising the dirt back roads {no drivers license} with some of my buddies was needless to say a hoot!

 

[AngliaGT]

Mine was a '64 Ford Galaxie 500,60k miles,for $400.
I had $600 into it when I sold it (for $600).
Then I bought a '72-1/2 Toyota pickup from a neighbor-
6 months old,for $2500.I had one of the first "fixed up" mini-
trucks in our area.

- Doug

 

[Twosheds]

O.K., then.

Half interest in a 1940 Chevrolet Farm Use Pickup. $35 from a field.

And the story goes something like THIS:

Pretty nearly, Peter. Only there warn't no classified, just a truck in a field.

Did burn oil. Did it ever!

 

[drooartz]

First car was a 1990 Ford Escort station wagon. My mom's old car, given to me when I graduated from college. Hey, at least it was a 5-speed manual.

Not much of a start, but I did get better. My whole vehicular history

 

[PATR8]

I was sitting outside my home from my junior year in college with my best friend when the yong couple accross the street started fighting as they usually did every week end when he screamed you will get nothing of mine and jumped into his 73 Nove SS. He pulled up to the top of the driveway looked at me and said for $800 this is yours. I told him to give me a ride to the ATM and that night the car was mine. I even got the original ralley rims to go with the IROC rims he had on it. I needed money later that year (yes for a girl) and sold the IROC rims for $1000 to somedude with a mallet making a posser IROC. I needed something a little more pratical so I bought a Beretta GT and sold the car to a guy who with in the month spun a bering and then thru a rod thru the block and drove it home that way.

He dropped a super charged 396 into it, a candy apple red paint job, full roll cage and drived it around town regularly

 

[big6]

At thirteen my uncle came to visit driving an MGB. I went for a top down ride with him and I was hooked from that point. Not many British cars in southern West Virginia at that time but I wanted a small “foreign” convertible.

At fifteen my first car purchase was a 1960 Renault Caravelle. I paid $50.00 and my older brother and I towed it home. We used a tow chain attached to a 1959 Ford wagon. My brother drove the Ford and I was in the Renault using the brake preventing bumping into the back of the Ford wagon during to tow. Since the engine was damaged I purchased a 1959 Renault Dauphine for $25.00 delivered that had been rolled. The two Renaults became one.

This started learning and skills developed that I continue to use today…