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First car/s
Posted: August 10, 2005, 4:56 pm
by Chidoro
Everyone enjoys talking about their early cars, especially the older you get. The stories I read about kids getting to choose from new vehicles once they receive their license or graduate from high school just boggle my mind. It's usually the story about needing the latest on safety features because they're much more likely to be in an accident. It almost makes me wonder how any of us survived

, I mean I grew up w/out a baby seat, seat belts were a disaster, and crumple zones meant something entirely different.
First car was an '81 Mercury Lynx. Hunk of shit barely lasted me through my senior year in high school ('88 grad). Red exterior, red vinyl(plastic anyone?) seats, no A/C, only AM radio where you pull out and push in for your memory of stations, and just a disaster overall. I think it was classified as a "Power Nothing" vehicle. The thing couldn't have a regular oil cap over the engine, it needed a little spout to let out pressure else the engine was sieze up. So the car used to spew bits of engine oil all underneath the hood on occasion.
Lastly, the stick shift was the anti-short-throw. The shifter was one of those school bus styled shifters where it's base was, technically, on the floor of the car. The damn thing could travel for miles laterally. On top of it all, you had to push the shifter into the floor in order to move it far enough right to put it into reverse (4 speed!).
Ohh well, it was $600 and gives me my, uphill-in the snow-both ways story, I guess.
Second car was a datsun 210 wagon, orange. four years of college abuse and not nary a problem.
Posted: August 10, 2005, 5:45 pm
by Pherr the Dorf
1956 thunderbird, powder blue, how I wish there was ebay back in the 80's to get parts... had it for 2 years
Posted: August 10, 2005, 6:19 pm
by Funkmasterr
Mine was a 1991 ford anal probe. Man was that thing a pile.
Posted: August 10, 2005, 9:32 pm
by Fairweather Pure
I don't even remember the year (I want to say 1974), but it was a Chevy Vega. It was 2-tone, dark brown on the bottom, light brown on top, with brown, "Brady Bunch Plaid" interior. The floor and hatchback area were rusted through so had partical board inserted instead. All the chrome was pitted and rusted. It was given to me on my 16th birthday and it broke down before I got 2 blocks away from the surprise party to drive it home. I had that car about 6-8 months. It lasted that long mainly because I lived in the country. You see, it would stall whenever I came to a full stop, so driving it in the city was impossible unless it was after midnight and all the stoplights changed to blinking yellow. I had one horrible afternoon where I chanced taking it into town and I had to keep taking right hand turns and driving around the block in order to miss the red lights. I'm not exaggerating. It was fucking horrible.
The car cost my parents $300. A week later they bought a $1500 vacume cleaner (BUT IT'S A RAINBOW!) and a $3000 riding lawn mower. I still bring it up to this day and have never forgiven them. Ungrateful my ass. That car was a punishment. I would rather have had nothing.
Posted: August 10, 2005, 9:34 pm
by Fairweather Pure
http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/bv/vega.htm
Out of sheer, morbid curiosity I looked up a bit of info on the Vega. Looks like it was a fucking steaming pile of shit from the concept.
After reading the history, I cannot help but laugh at what a horrible car that was

You can't make this shit up!
One of my favorite lines:
When the first prototype Vega arrived at Chevrolet from the central staff, DeLorean had division engineers test it at GM's Milford, Mich., proving grounds. The results were devastating. "After eight miles, the front of the Vega broke off. The front end of the car separated from the rest of the vehicle," said DeLorean. "It must have set a record for the shortest time taken for a new car to fall apart."
Posted: August 10, 2005, 9:42 pm
by Tenuvil
First car was in 1978...a 1972 Impala with a 396 big block. I could put 8 people in that car and it'd still go 110 down Research Parkway. It lasted thru my senior year, then one too many offroad adventures killed it.
My second car was supposed to be a 1971 Chevy Malibu 2-door...my dream car. My dad lined it up for me, it was a done deal, then the day he was supposed to come home with it he rolls up in a yellow Dodge Dart. After I regained consciousness and stopped yelling at him he showed me the car, and it was awfully clean inside and out. I was still pissed off though. That car became the concert and beach mobile until 2 years later the engine threw a rod during a trip to Misquamicut Beach..that killed it.
Posted: August 10, 2005, 9:43 pm
by Aabidano
First two vehicles were motorcycles, good times. Much booze, many stitches and a trip to the plastic surgeon later I got a car (I still ride)
First one with doors was a $600, '76 Cutlass Supreme in 1981. Drove it for 3 years, bounced it off many immobile objects and sold it for $400.
Posted: August 10, 2005, 9:46 pm
by Tenuvil
Fair, one of my friends' friends built up a Vega...big block v8, all new suspension, redone interior, flip-flop pearl paint...and it was still a piece of shit. This guy thought he was the shit, but him and his car were so lame...girls laughed at him openly.
Posted: August 10, 2005, 10:34 pm
by Winnow
'67 Candy Apple Red Mustang Convertible my Jr year in HS. Drove it for a year but then moved to Switzerland where the driving age was 18 so I couldn't drive but I could drink!
Posted: August 11, 2005, 10:32 am
by Phugg_Innay
73 Ford Pinto painted Dodge Challenger red... slightly modified
Had dropped rear suspension , 1inch sway bar front and rear, cougar front springs (cut down) Cosworth 1.6litre block and head with dual sidedraft Mikuni's. Oh and the safety cage with 4point harness'.
Yes I drove an Autocross car for my daily driver.
I remember getting a ticket one day for No muffler , no insurance , no seatbelts (cage was in though) No liscence on me, and doing 40 in a 30 zone. I was heading to the muffler shop to get the new exhaust put on

The car wouldnt do but 90mph , but I could stick a 90degree corner at 60+ everytime.
Posted: August 11, 2005, 10:51 am
by Canoe
First Car was in 94 - a 1985 Mustang. And if any of you remember the mid 80's mustangs they were buttt uuuggglly. And don't go thinking "oh it was a mustang" - it was a 4 cyclinder, no power piece of crap
Was dark green with a brown roof, shit brown interior.
Bought it for $100 and the exhaust was literally laying in the backseat when I bought it.
A lot of work into it to get it running... and lasted into my 2nd year of college. Sold it for $1,000.
Posted: August 11, 2005, 3:17 pm
by nobody
84 toyota tercel
Posted: August 11, 2005, 3:45 pm
by Animalor
Mine was a 1992 Geo Metro.
It had belonged to my great uncle(whom I barely knew really) and after he had a stroke and couldn't drive, my great-aunt sold it to me since she didn't drive. The thing 6 years old when I got it and there was only about 6.5k miles on the thing. I think that corrosion has started to set in seriously by the time I got the car and by 2002, the undercarriage was rusted through at a few spots under and the 2 front wheels were angled back at about 5-7 degrees in a Y pattern.
Posted: August 11, 2005, 4:32 pm
by Pherr the Dorf
Animalor wrote:Mine was a 1992 Geo Metro.
It had belonged to my great uncle(whom I barely knew really) and after he had a stroke and couldn't drive, my great-aunt sold it to me since she didn't drive. The thing 6 years old when I got it and there was only about 6.5k miles on the thing. I think that corrosion has started to set in seriously by the time I got the car and by 2002, the undercarriage was rusted through at a few spots under and the 2 front wheels were angled back at about 5-7 degrees in a Y pattern.
That's a toyota, that why it ran forever
Posted: August 11, 2005, 11:03 pm
by Xouqoa
Mine (and Kaelina's, strangely enough) was a 1987 Mazda 323. The stereo I put into the car was worth more than the car itself.

Posted: August 12, 2005, 12:22 am
by Nilaman
1992 Chevy Corsica. My father bought it for me as a surprise... with my money.
When it rained outside, my car would flood inside. When it was freezing outside, the inside of my windshield would frost over with a nice thick layer. The heater/AC panel was missing a knob. The AC came out hotter then my heater did. Actually, the heater didn't really work at all either. The fans blowing the hot air were pathetic, heat would just kinda leak out. It was not uncommon for my car to take 40 minutes to partially defrost.
It did get me from point A to point B without too much trouble. For a little while. About two years into getting it I hit the 92k mile marker and it all fell apart. The muffler turned to swiss cheeze, it started stalling every time I stopped and/or slowed down, my speedometer would not leave 0 even if I was doing 90 on the highway, and eventually I just bought something newer and better.
Posted: August 12, 2005, 12:46 am
by Aslanna
Nilaman wrote:...and eventually I just bought something newer and better.
A 1993 Chevy Corsica?
Posted: August 12, 2005, 10:14 am
by Kelshara
1986 Ford Sierra Cosworth. Fast car and how I survived having it at 18 is amazing. Cost me a good chunk of money as well (bank loan + tons of overtime at crappy job heh). Then it was stolen from inside my garage, used as a getaway car for a jewelry store robbery and found burned out the next day.. burned so strongly two of the rims melted.
Posted: August 12, 2005, 11:06 am
by Burke
'82 Nissan Stanza, got it in '89. Great car for a year or two. Then it started doing this thing where it would slow down. By that I mean I would be driving along the highway and the car would slow down to about 30 mph, the gas pedal would have no effect. I would then pull over somewhere, turn the car off, wait for about 5 minutes, then start back up and be back up to normal speed.
The most inconvenient time this happened was driving back from college across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge at night with an 18 wheeler riding up my tailpipe. It is a 5 mile bridge, with no place to stop, no shoulder. So that was fun.
It had a sun/moonroof, with a leak in the seal somewhere, so if I was driving around in the rain and made a right turn, the ceiling would dribble all over me.
And the fan in the engine stopped responding to the thermostat. The first few times that happend were exciting. Sitting at a traffic light, watching the engine temperature indicator shoot way the fuck up, praying for a green light. So my girlfriend's brother put in a manual switch on the dash so I could turn it on when I drove.
Second car was an '85 Mazda 626, which due to a series of exhaust and motor related issues became known as the Smokewagon, or the LEPoC (Low End Piece of Crap).
Posted: August 12, 2005, 1:08 pm
by Tenuvil
Burke wrote:'82 Nissan Stanza
Weren't they Datsuns back then?
Posted: August 12, 2005, 1:35 pm
by miir
Kelshara wrote:1986 Ford Sierra Cosworth. Fast car and how I survived having it at 18 is amazing. Cost me a good chunk of money as well (bank loan + tons of overtime at crappy job heh). Then it was stolen from inside my garage, used as a getaway car for a jewelry store robbery and found burned out the next day.. burned so strongly two of the rims melted.
Funny you should mention that car... I saw one on the road a few days ago.
They were sold in North America as the 'Merkur XR4Ti'... worst car name ever.
Posted: August 12, 2005, 1:43 pm
by Aslanna
Tenuvil wrote:Burke wrote:'82 Nissan Stanza
Weren't they Datsuns back then?
I think it all depends on the model. By 1983 they were all Nissan but I think the 82 Stanza was a Nissan with the 81 being a Datsun.
Posted: August 12, 2005, 4:18 pm
by Kelshara
miir wrote:Kelshara wrote:1986 Ford Sierra Cosworth. Fast car and how I survived having it at 18 is amazing. Cost me a good chunk of money as well (bank loan + tons of overtime at crappy job heh). Then it was stolen from inside my garage, used as a getaway car for a jewelry store robbery and found burned out the next day.. burned so strongly two of the rims melted.
Funny you should mention that car... I saw one on the road a few days ago.
They were sold in North America as the 'Merkur XR4Ti'... worst car name ever.
Not the same car. The XR4 was a lower-end one with 150 HPs 2.6L V6 if I recall. The Coswort was.. quite.. a bit faster.
Posted: August 12, 2005, 5:49 pm
by miir
Yeah well... same body style anyway.

Posted: August 12, 2005, 7:25 pm
by masteen
1985 Plymouth Horizon with the fully rusted roof and hood, as well as a hole in the power steering that required more fluid than the car did gas.
Ass gotten in that wreck: 0.0
Posted: August 12, 2005, 7:31 pm
by Kelshara
miir wrote:Yeah well... same body style anyway.

Yeah same body style, cosmetic differences. Different wing, different hood, different body kit.. But not too different. I actually really liked the looks of it back then (not to mention the performance.. wow!) but now I consider it ugly as sin heh.
Posted: August 12, 2005, 8:33 pm
by Tenuvil
miir wrote:Kelshara wrote:1986 Ford Sierra Cosworth. Fast car and how I survived having it at 18 is amazing. Cost me a good chunk of money as well (bank loan + tons of overtime at crappy job heh). Then it was stolen from inside my garage, used as a getaway car for a jewelry store robbery and found burned out the next day.. burned so strongly two of the rims melted.
Funny you should mention that car... I saw one on the road a few days ago.
They were sold in North America as the 'Merkur XR4Ti'... worst car name ever.
I knew a stripper that had one of those cars...laughed my ass off when she insisted it was a Russian car!!!
Posted: August 15, 2005, 1:41 am
by Sueven
'87 Ford Taurus. I got it in 2001. It broke every month or so.
I got a '90 Ford Probe directly after and loved it. It was an awesome car except for some occasional stalling problems. Sadly it was totalled in a snowy highway collision.
Posted: August 15, 2005, 1:58 am
by Kelshara
Tenuvil wrote:miir wrote:Kelshara wrote:1986 Ford Sierra Cosworth. Fast car and how I survived having it at 18 is amazing. Cost me a good chunk of money as well (bank loan + tons of overtime at crappy job heh). Then it was stolen from inside my garage, used as a getaway car for a jewelry store robbery and found burned out the next day.. burned so strongly two of the rims melted.
Funny you should mention that car... I saw one on the road a few days ago.
They were sold in North America as the 'Merkur XR4Ti'... worst car name ever.
I knew a stripper that had one of those cars...laughed my ass off when she insisted it was a Russian car!!!
Close!

German.
Posted: August 15, 2005, 1:34 pm
by Ogbar
Aslanna wrote:Tenuvil wrote:Burke wrote:'82 Nissan Stanza
Weren't they Datsuns back then?
I think it all depends on the model. By 1983 they were all Nissan but I think the 82 Stanza was a Nissan with the 81 being a Datsun.
I remember there being a transitional period while they were changing the name. The adverts refered to the car as "Datsun's Nissan Stanza", as if "Nissan Stanza" was the full model name.
BTW, my first car was a '72 AMC Hornet. The straight six engine in that thing was fantastic ... it's just too bad the rest of the body rotted out from under me. I eventually sold it to someone who wanted it for a demolition derby entry.
Posted: August 15, 2005, 1:47 pm
by Sabek
My first car was a 76 Ford Maverick that was a hand me down from my older brother when he got a new toyota.
The best thing about it was that he been jumping railroad tracks, errr hit a pothole, and detatched the rear shock towers from the frame. So in the back I just had lever springs. I would hit a bump and that thing would bounce for a good 5 miles before it would settle down.
Posted: August 15, 2005, 2:41 pm
by Dexail
1986 white cutlass supreme with the chrome rims and deep deep tinted windows. Got it new when I was 17.
I was gangsta before gangsta was cool.

Posted: August 15, 2005, 3:51 pm
by miir
Dexail wrote:1986 white cutlass supreme with the chrome rims and deep deep tinted windows. Got it new when I was 17.
I was gangsta before gangsta was cool.

Haha, you were gangsta when gangsta was grandpa.
Edit: doh, I first read '76. The 86 if I recall correctly was a bit like the Monte Carlo SS (with the 305 or 350s in 'em). As long as you didn't get the grandpa spoked rims and the padded vinyl roof.
Posted: August 15, 2005, 4:45 pm
by Dexail
yep, it was similar to the Monte Carlo SS and had the 305 w/ 4 bbl carbuerator.
was a lot like this, except for chrome rims instead of painted, and this is an '87.
Ahh, the memories

Posted: August 16, 2005, 12:30 am
by Soreali
http://images.autobytel.com/cyber/196385/iH3119_1.jpg
Worked my ass off to save up for this.. Finally picked it up Friday and I love it.. My only goal since I started working (about 3 years ago) was to buy my own car.. Wasn't going to let anyone buy a car for me like 90% of my graduating class.. And I'm proud to say my hard work enabled me to achieve my goal.
Posted: August 16, 2005, 9:49 am
by Chidoro
That's pretty awesome, especially for your first car. Enjoy it, as you certainly earned it. It's a whole lot easier saving up to purchase a $600 clunker than a new Tiburon to be sure

Posted: August 16, 2005, 2:18 pm
by Pherr the Dorf
the 4 or 6?
Posted: August 16, 2005, 2:53 pm
by Siji
Black early 80's Datsun (not Nissan!) Pickup
First real car, 73 Chevy Camero.

Ended up playing the role of mayonaise in a 3 car sammich.

Posted: August 16, 2005, 9:50 pm
by Zaelath
1969 Toyota Corona, still the car I had the most fun in.. it's body roll was only exceeded by the play in the steering (a full half turn). The cheese-cutter tyres gave it the most tenuous of attachment to the road, so powerslides were easy. Ahh, memories..
Posted: August 16, 2005, 11:46 pm
by Soreali
Pherr the Dorf wrote:the 4 or 6?
It's a 4.. It didn't matter to me because I'm not a speed demon so it doesn't matter to me.. I wasn't gonna buy some 600 buck hunk of shit that'll last me six months and i'd dump another grand into it.. But thanks Chid I love it

Posted: August 27, 2005, 9:00 pm
by Jarori Bloodletter
Mine was a 1966 Ford Fairlane 500
Slap stick, 289 red in color
I had jacked up the rear end <shackels> and put N60 tires on it..lol I was retarded back then.. ('75)