Your First Car

[IowaRam]

Yeah, I was in love with mine before I even bought it. The neighbor used to let me sit in it when I was 15 because I said I was gonna buy it from him when I got my license. I was fascinated with how huge it was, how roomy it was, and how tough the engine sounded when he'd let me start it up. It used to have an 8-track player as well, and I started collecting 8-tracks from all over the neighborhood in anticipation of owning it. I remember I had a Loverboy 8-track that I would pump every day on the way to and from school after I bought it. In fact, the first thing I did when I bought it was add one of those $40 equalizer/boosters to the radio and ran house speakers to the back, which I laid across the back window-area. It was so awesome, because it was something I did on my own with no knowledge of how to do it in advance.

Something like this thing.

And I know what you mean about piling people into it. Mine was the known as the party wagon because I could pile 8 people into rather easily for weekend high school parties. Thinking back on it, I can't believe I didn't kill myself or anybody else. That car was so beastly and fast. Donuts all over the city, laying tire marks in every parking lot I pulled out of, racing other kids on the main streets (cops were few and far between in our small town), and just flooring it at every light. It felt so awesome.

Yeah, that's it. I'm looking for another 1972 Pontiac Catalina and I'm buying it. I crap you not.

Thanks for starting this topic, dude. Good stuff.


Also: LOL (I'm getting this off of eBay)

Speaking of that Loverboy 8-track

The very first time I ever listened to a Sony Walkman was to this Loverboy cassette

My first car , I just had the under the dash mounted 8-track player , the two things I remember the most , were the tapes would hardly ever play right in the winter when it got really cold out , we'd have the sit them on top of the defroster vent for a little while to try and get them warmed up enough to play , and we still usually had to wedge a match book under one side of the tape to keep it from dragging and the other thing was that my wife always bitched because she would keep smacking her knees on the 8-track player

 

[-X-]

and we still usually had to wedge a match book under one side of the tape to keep it from dragging

Wowwwwww. I remember having to do that too now. I'd just fold a piece of paper to get the right amount of thickness. lol.

Mind officially blown.

 

[RamFan503]

Hmmm wonder how many guys here have owned a Dodge Dart or Duster

Friend of my brother's was a mechanic. He had a '66 Dart sleeper. The thing looked like a major beater with bias ply tires, primer and dusty green but it would smoke almost anything on the street back then. He used to brag about never having to lock it in LA because no one would steal it. Well - he was wrong. Probably took the pink slip from the wrong guy.

 

[RhodyRams]

Defroster vent?

Used to put cans of Sterno on the dashboard!

 

[RamFan503]

Speaking of that Loverboy 8-track

The very first time I ever listened to a Sony Walkman was to this Loverboy cassette

My first car , I just had the under the dash mounted 8-track player , the two things I remember the most , were the tapes would hardly ever play right in the winter when it got really cold out , we'd have the sit them on top of the defroster vent for a little while to try and get them warmed up enough to play , and we still usually had to wedge a match book under one side of the tape to keep it from dragging and the other thing was that my wife always bitched because she would keep smacking her knees on the 8-track player

Don't think that had anything to do with the cold. I was always putting matchbooks or folded pieces of paper or whatever would work to get the "good" sound out of my 8 track. The other trick? When the tape would get loose or jam in the machine, you could grab one side of the loop and give it a really quick tug and it would wind back up into the case.

 

[Stranger]

Great thread!

1981 Honda Civic 1300FE

Bought it new for cash. I left the dealership with like $34 in my pocket

Car got over 60 miles/gal highway, and I drove it to every corner of the USA on more than one occasion. It was the ultimate car to have at University. Cost almost nothing to maintain and drive.

 

[LesBaker]

@RamFan503 they jammed winter, summer, spring or fall.

@IowaRam We just stuck the roachclip (hemostats back then) into the top or bottom or left or right side until the effing thing played.

Fancy cars had the in dash 8 tracks, that was rare.

 

[Prime Time]

My first car , I just had the under the dash mounted 8-track player

It's interesting what triggers these long forgotten memories.

One of my first jobs was working on the pie assembly line at a Marie Callenders. My new boss picked me up for work and he drove some type of a convertible, don't recall the make. That was the first time I ever saw an 8-track player in a car. The first song he cranked was this one...


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEU5tVn7CKs


Here I am on the way to my first day at work making pies, riding in a convertible, listening to this tune while this dude screamed along with the song at the top of his lungs and out of tune. Oh, and I was fired the same day. Something about a pie fight. True story.

 

[dieterbrock]

Now my 2nd car, that's when the fun really started...
1987 Mustang 5.0. Mine was black, with blacked out windows. Thing was pretty fast

And since I was quite the punk, I had this bumper sticker

 

[IowaRam]

And since I was quite the punk, I had this bumper sticker

Not a problem I had , I only dated two chicks , and the second one I married , and she was skinny as a rail ,

 

[VegasRam]

1965 VW Bug, - Loved that car. Bought it when I went to college in '68. And yes, I had Porsche rims on it.

Edit. (This wasn't mine, but looked exactly like it).

 

[RamFan503]

1965 VW Bug, - Loved that car. Bought it when I went to college in '68. And yes, I had Porsche rims on it.

Edit. (This wasn't mine, but looked exactly like it).

I had a 64 1/2 bug. Apparently they changed the rear window design mid stream on the 64 model and offered the soon to be released 1300 engine. Mine was kind of a light tan color and I had bought it from my sister because she didn't want to replace the starter. And it had those great VW vacuum controlled windshield wipers and the flame thrower front floor heater.

I hit a deer on Morro Road in it and rolled it 5 times. I had my seat belt on so the only damage I sustained was a small gash on my forehead from the boom box I was using as the stereo in it. Tore the right front wheel off and three of the fenders and caved the roof in so bad it put a V in the passenger side low back seat. I was so glad I didn't have a passenger.

I couldn't believe the whole event. I had passed a guy that I thought might be drunk a couple miles back. Here I am upside down in the middle of Highway 41 - car still running - and the guy slides around the right side to avoid hitting me and then keeps going. What a douche.

I made the front page of the Atascadero news though.

 

[VegasRam]

Jesus! The guy was probably coming from the Rotta winery - or were you there then.
(I was in SLO from '68 to '73)
BTW - did the Atascadero newspaper have a back page?:rockon:

 

[RamFan503]

Jesus! The guy was probably coming from the Rotta winery - or were you there then.

BTW - did the Atascadero newspaper have a back page?:rockon:

Ha! Rotta. I think they were the first or second winery in the entire area. Pesenti was in there among the early ones. I think I could count the number of wineries back then on my fingers and still have a few digits left. Most of those wineries are either gone now or have been bought out and changed names. I hear Rotta sold not too long ago but it's still there. I think it was the year before Becky and I got married so that would put it in '86. And Atascadero was bigger than Paso Robles back then.

 

[Faceplant]

Great thread idea!!

Ugh....1982 Crossfire Z28 Mullet Mobile. Was a pig by todays standards, but I loved the functional louver gates.....my wifes current 4 door would put bus lengths on it today, haha.

Aaaaand current toy that almost never gets driven and takes up half the garage. 2003 Cobra with 700+ hp and nowhere to go....sorry for crappy pics. Tis all I have on my Google Drive.

 

[RamFan503]

@Faceplant I like the clean lines and lack of look at me extras your Cobra has. 800 HP doesn't need to scream Cobra. The emblem should be enough. That sounds like my brother's M5. He puts about 500 miles a year on it. Looks Purdy in his garage though.

 

[Ramhusker]

1967 Firebird, still have it.

 

[Faceplant]

@Faceplant I like the clean lines and lack of look at me extras your Cobra has. 800 HP doesn't need to scream Cobra. The emblem should be enough. That sounds like my brother's M5. He puts about 500 miles a year on it. Looks Purdy in his garage though.

Thanks man. Yeah, the only externally visible mods I have done are the wheels, the drop and tint. Oh, and some stainless heat extractor vents that look like they should have come with the car. Inside, it has Recaro Trend seats and some other performance goodies. Most of my attention was under the hood obviously. The car was last on the dyno 2 years ago and put 638 to the rear wheels. That is a little close to 750 crank converted, so I updated my original post, haha.

 

[Stranger]

Most fun car I ever had was during the Summer of 1982 in Santa Barbara, CA.


1974 super beetle convertible

 

[jrry32]

1967 Firebird, still have it.

I love it. This is one of the cars I'm considering selling my 2010 Camaro to buy:

A few others I'm looking at are:

I figure that I'm only going to be young and without a family for so long. Might as well buy and enjoy my dream car while I can.