What was your first car?

[Psycho_X]

This thread is cumulatively averaging about 6 miles to the gallon.

The good ole days, I miss being able to open a hood and just rip something out and replace it with no hassle.

 

[-X-]

The good ole days, I miss being able to open a hood and just rip something out and replace it with no hassle.

Damn right. Wet distributor cap, a coil, even an alternator - all took just a few minutes.
Now you need a degree in computer engineering.

 

[IowaRam]

Damn right. Wet distributor cap, a coil, even an alternator - all took just a few minutes.
Now you need a degree in computer engineering.

plus : you actually need to have a computer to figure out whats wrong with it

 

[Rmfnlt]

So many great cars... great thread!!

Some of my favorites:

I drove a Vista Wagon around for a little in high school. Thing made this terrible clunking noise whenever I turned left. I kept waiting for the wheel to fall off (never did).
Maybe this was the first mass produced car with a sunroof?

But, of all of them thus far, this is my favorite... a Nash!!
Beautiful!!!

 

[LesBaker]

The good ole days, I miss being able to open a hood and just rip something out and replace it with no hassle.

Damn right. Wet distributor cap, a coil, even an alternator - all took just a few minutes.
Now you need a degree in computer engineering.

And a bazillion dollars worth of specialty tools.....

Remember when starters would go bad? They never do anymore of course...........but used to be easy to change.

 

[-X-]

Remember when starters would go bad? They never do anymore of course...........but used to be easy to change.

Shit, for about a month I used to start my car by bumping the starter with a hammer.
Didn't replace it until that stopped working.

 

[RhodyRams]

Ha..I remember jumping the starter solenoid on my 85 f 150 by touching both posts with a big pair of tin snips. Had to do that for a week until I got paid

 

[Psycho_X]

crap, for about a month I used to start my car by bumping the starter with a hammer.
Didn't replace it until that stopped working.

Yep, did that on my thunderbird for a few months. Damn thing was towards the middle under the passenger side. So had to lay on the ground and stretch to hit the damn thing while someone else turned the key. But it worked.

Ha..I remember jumping the starter solenoid on my 85 f 150 by touching both posts with a big pair of tin snips. Had to do that for a week until I got paid

Ha, yep. Had to do that on my 83 Olds for a while with a screwdriver.

 

[T-REX]

Great thread!

The first car I owned was a 1973 Plymouth Duster. Loved this car, had it for a few years but blew the engine on the way home from down the shore, bummer.
This is the closest picture I could find.

View attachment 236861987 Pontiac Fiero GT. Love this car and still have it. I refuse to get rid of it. Its now a project car, along with other cars I plan on obtaining and work on.

That’s awesome,
The first car I purchased new was a 1987 Pontiac Fiero GT. When I got married I sold it to a 17 year old girl who begged her father to buy it for her first car. Good times. Again this is the closest picture I could find.

 

[LesBaker]

crap, for about a month I used to start my car by bumping the starter with a hammer.
Didn't replace it until that stopped working.

Which means there wasn't a tooth left on the starter HAHAHA. The other trick was to flip the key on and off quickly in the ignition to get it to move around to a "favorable" spot.

A friend of mine had a van, really old thing, he used to park it on inclined spots so he could let the brake go, get up a little momentum and pop it in gear to get the motor going.


I'm certain that some of the younger members are googling the shit we are talking about hehehe..........

 

[LesBaker]

Ha..I remember jumping the starter solenoid on my 85 f 150 by touching both posts with a big pair of tin snips. Had to do that for a week until I got paid

Kids under 45..........this takes more stones than you think.

 

[-X-]

Which means there wasn't a tooth left on the starter HAHAHA. The other trick was to flip the key on and off quickly in the ignition to get it to move around to a "favorable" spot.

A friend of mine had a van, really old thing, he used to park it on inclined spots so he could let the brake go, get up a little momentum and pop it in gear to get the motor going.


I'm certain that some of the younger members are googling the crap we are talking about hehehe..........

Yeah, my buddy had a vw bug, and I was the unlucky one who had to push it up to a speed good enough for him to pop the clutch. I did that once for him.

Once.

 

[…..]

My first car was a 1975 Ford Ranchero like this one, but without the rag top. I threw a rod in the 351 on the way to work one day. I was a Denny's dishwasher and just 17. Smokin a skunk joint, Whitesnake blaring on my 40 watt Kraco speakers. I thought I was pretty cool up until the next day when I was riding a bike to work.
y

 

[…..]

1975 Ford Fiesta. My 2nd car. There seemed to be a terrible lack of parking in Germany. I thought I was supposed to buy the shortest car I could find so that I could find parking spots downtown.

1980 Talbot Solara. Paid 2000 Deutch Marks, mainly for the rad Bose sound system. Reverse gear promply went out. I had to have friends push me out of every parking spot so I could drive forward. I eventually left the car on Danziger Strasse in Wiesbaden Germany. It sat there in the same spot for two years until I finally got out of the army and came back to the sates. As far as I know, its still there.

 

[dieterbrock]

crap, for about a month I used to start my car by bumping the starter with a hammer.
Didn't replace it until that stopped working.

Maybe that was my problem.
When it got cold, “the pig” wouldn’t turn over. (She’s on previous post)
So I’d have to grab the gas can out of the shed, remove the air filter and pour a little gas in the carburetor. She’d fire right up. Of course I’d do with my bare hands and would be cold as nuts.
Glad I only had to do that once or twice.
A week.
For about 2-3 months

 

[Ramhusker]

1967 Pontiac Firebird.

And I still have it! Needs restoring though.

 

[Zaphod]

This was my hand me down throw away, give away, nobody wants it anymore, fuck it it's your problem now car. Think baby shit green ... think canned pea green, then put dents all the way around that I polished like a muthafucka and made those dents shine with the same pride that every teenage boy took with his first car!

Yeah, it had the typical Maverick front end issues. It took me 6 months to save up for the parts alone. The radiator was leaking, and I had to replace the upper and lower ball joints on both sides, of course the drums were fucked as well as consequence. But that straight six wouldn't die, oh gods no, everything else about that beloved POS would die, but not that 250.

It's not the car I wanted. I coveted the old brown Pinto with it's recently rebuilt manual gear box, ever as a kid, I helped push that car to pop-start it. Love love loved the Pinto. But there was a 2X4 frame holding the driver seat in place, and as such deemed unsafe. So it goes with a unibody frame that was unwisely used to pull a pop up trailer.

 

[RhodyRams]

Man, I haven't seen any Dodge Dusters (or Darts) posted... thought everyone owned one

 

[Rmfnlt]

Man, I haven't seen any Dodge Dusters (or Darts) posted... thought everyone owned one

Had a '66 Dodge Dart while I was in college... great car! Sold it to my brother-in-law after I got married... I think he gave up the ghost with over 200k miles on it. Couldn't beat those slant 6's!

 

[RhodyRams]

Had a '66 Dodge Dart while I was in college... great car! Sold it to my brother-in-law after I got married... I think he gave up the ghost with over 200k miles on it. Couldn't beat those slant 6's!

I bought a crasher in the mid 80's to fix up..never got around to it tho