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List your first few cars. I bet mine were lamer than yours!

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I identify as "non-Bidenary".
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My parents had divorced when i was about 15. So right before getting my license, my parents both made it clear that I'd NOT be given a car. Back in 1977 or 1978, at 9-10 years old, I had accompanied my dad on a 30min drive to a car dealership, in his old project car, an MG Midget. It was raining, and as usual, it's convertible rag top was leaking. We get to the AMC dealership, where my dad trades the MG in on a brand new, flashy Pacer, in sporty metallic copper! It had a 6cyl with a ridiculously long column shifter for its 3 speed manual trans.

Fast forward to 1984, and my father had just bought a new Mitsubishi Starion turbo, but unfortunately without trading in the Pacer! Lol. He decided to sell it to me on a payment plan, and just a day or 2 later, I secured a full time summer job at a machine shop to pay for it(plus insurance, gas etc). We produced high stall torque converters for drag racers and street cars.

But it wasn't more than a few days later, that the column shifter lost all interface with the transmission, and it was put in the shop. It took at least 2 weeks to get it back, but it failed again within a day or 2. Back to the shop for 1-2 more weeks, then I get it back. One day a friend, his older cousin and I go to a local creek, to a swimming hole with a high rope swing. We finish swimming, start to drive away, and it fails again, and it looks like we are stuck out in the middle of nowhere! Fortunately, the older guy with us has learned the basic mechanical knowledge that we, at 16, had not learned yet. He discovers a broken weld on the shifter linkage on the firewall. This meant the linkage would fail, and the 20" long column shifter would flap around, but not direct the transmission into any gears! But he was able to pop it back into the slot so that it was driveable until it popped out again, and He showed me how to quickly but temporarily get the car driving again. IMG_20181121_163146483.jpg

I had spent most of my 1st summer with a driver's license, without a friggin car! I knew it meant the car was going back to the shop run by incompetent morons. So I saved up $400 over the next few weeks, and bought car #2, a 1974 Mustang II hatchback, with a 4cyl and auto. I returned the Pacer to my dad, ending the payment plan. Now I had a car that actually worked! It had aluminum slot mag wheels, fat tires and the back end was jacked up a bit, so it looked cool, although, it's 2 front fenders had rusted at the bottom brackets that connected them to the subframe. This meant that neither fender was connected at the bottom, so whenever I went over a bump, the fenders would flap up and down like wings! It looked like this car, but white instead of gray, and no hood scoop. _IMG_000000_000000.jpg

But then I turned it around. In early spring of 1985, I traded in the 1974 Mustang II on a used 1978 Mustang II Cobra II, with a 302 V8 and a 4-speed manual. It was all white with big blue stripes going over the hood and roof, and down the sides. It had low mileage and was in fantastic condition. I had a lot of fun with It. Even though cars from 1974-1994 had vastly reduced horsepower as compared with 1960-1973 cars, it was still a light car with a v8 and 4 speed! That's always a great combo...It looked exactly like this:

_IMG_000000_000000.jpg
 

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Auto trivia; the Pacer passenger door was 4-6” longer than the driver’s door; easier back seat entry...




.....a Gremlin on steroids.
 
Auto trivia; the Pacer passenger door was 4-6” longer than the driver’s door; easier back seat entry...




.....a Gremlin on steroids.

I didn't know one door was longer than the other. As far as the Pacer being a Gremlin on steroids, they must've been a type of steroids that works in the opposite way that normal steroids work. These Pacer steroids made it weaker and uglier than the Gremlin! I used to see people using Gremlins as hot rods and weekend bracket drag racers. It makes sense, because it's a small & light car. Its like AMC's Vega or Maverick. But I honestly can't say that I've ever seen a Pacer in person that's been modified in either of those ways.
 
I have only had

82 Dodge Aires (got from family)

82 BMW 528e (Spent $3000 on it in 97)

90 Ford Thunderbird (Spent $3000 on it in 2001)

2005 Mazda 3 (bought new)

2009 Nissan 370Z (traded Mazda in for it) Chicane Yellow, bought in 2010 and still have it

2015 Ford F150 Crew cab bought in dec 2015

And three motorcycles, last one in 2002

Wife has a 2017 Honda Accord
 
I didn't know one door was longer than the other. As far as the Pacer being a Gremlin on steroids, they must've been a type of steroids that works in the opposite way that normal steroids work. These Pacer steroids made it weaker and uglier than the Gremlin! I used to see people using Gremlins as hot rods and weekend bracket drag racers. It makes sense, because it's a small & light car. Its like AMC's Vega or Maverick. But I honestly can't say that I've ever seen a Pacer in person that's been modified in either of those ways.

View attachment 67244713
Not performance just the basic design..


View attachment 67244714

Found this one while looking for the other two....

Vega was a GM offering and I think it was no accident that a low pressure oil switch that controlled coil voltage was not used. Low oil only resulted in a red warning lamp on the dash. Resulted in manny destroyed engines...
 
Highschool: red 69 Camaro
Army: black 85 Mustang GT convertible

After that cars got more practical.
 
1960 “Bug-Eye” Sprite
1956 TR-3
Ate up with TR-3’s for a time, bought all that I ran across, had running units and cannibal units
1980 Camaro
1967 GM van, could add oil from inside while enroute
1971 Cutlass, 6cyl, 4 speed, all show, no go (best car)
1963 Chevy II convertible
1970 Mercedes 300 SEL passed down from pops
1990 2wd Toyota P/U
1992 4WD “. P/U
1995 4Runner
2000 Silverado
2004 Silverado
2013 Dodge RAM (current vehicle)
 
My first car was a 1937 Plymouth coupe. Second car a 1959 Simca. Third a 1954 Jaguar SK120 roadster afterthought 1949 Mercury fastback. Fourth 1952 Cadillac 2dr hdt. Fifth 1948 Studebaker Commander convertible. Sixth 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 4 dr hdt no post. Seventh 1956 Studebaker Silver Hawk. Eighth 1957 Studebaker Golden Hawk. Ninth 1964 Buick Riviera. End of list @ 1968. Best car 1965 Dart GT convertible slant six 3spd that got 28 mpg. Best exhaust sound 1965 Barracuda 270s. Quickest 1968 Camaro built 327 four speed. Fast 1967 Dodge R/T. 1964 GTO. 69 GTX. 68 Chevelle SS396. 55 Chev 2 dr sedan. 64 Tempest 4 cyl 4 barrel. 60 Ford 2dr sedan. Road Runners, Corvairs, Javelins, Renaults, Toyotas, Hondas, Hyundais, Many Cadillacs, Lincolns, Mercurys, Vega, Fiat, Austin America, and the list could go on. Best overall by far-Japanese. Toyotas and Hondas.
/
 
Highschool: 81 Citation X11, 83 Dodge Daytona Turbo Z, 77 Dodge Ram 4x4 stepside with the warlock package, 86 Toyota ext cab Pickup, 86 nissan 300zx turbo

That order. Went to college in the 300zx, friend hit a post with it, bought me a Irish setter instead of fixing it and I traded it for a Mazda Mx-6 Gt about a month later.
 
Lame first cars? Haha, I have you all beat. Feast your eyes on my 1997 Nissan Quest:

imagick-29967-380-188-1.jpg

Lesson to you newer parents out there: If you want to make sure your son doesn't get any girls teen pregnant, get them an old soccer mom minivan for their first ride. They'll stay a virgin, guaranteed or your money back. :mrgreen:
 
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I had a 1970 Ford Maverick.

Doesn't get any lamer than that.

I guess that makes me the winner.



OH! I almost forgot.

I also had a '76 Kamback Chevy Vega.

You know. The one with the aluminum block.

Worst car built since the Edsel.

Yeah. I'm the idiot that bought it.

So I guess I win twice. :3oops:
 
My parents had divorced when i was about 15. So right before getting my license, my parents both made it clear that I'd NOT be given a car. Back in 1977 or 1978, at 9-10 years old, I had accompanied my dad on a 30min drive to a car dealership, in his old project car, an MG Midget. It was raining, and as usual, it's convertible rag top was leaking. We get to the AMC dealership, where my dad trades the MG in on a brand new, flashy Pacer, in sporty metallic copper! It had a 6cyl with a ridiculously long column shifter for its 3 speed manual trans.

Fast forward to 1984, and my father had just bought a new Mitsubishi Starion turbo, but unfortunately without trading in the Pacer! Lol. He decided to sell it to me on a payment plan, and just a day or 2 later, I secured a full time summer job at a machine shop to pay for it(plus insurance, gas etc). We produced high stall torque converters for drag racers and street cars.

But it wasn't more than a few days later, that the column shifter lost all interface with the transmission, and it was put in the shop. It took at least 2 weeks to get it back, but it failed again within a day or 2. Back to the shop for 1-2 more weeks, then I get it back. One day a friend, his older cousin and I go to a local creek, to a swimming hole with a high rope swing. We finish swimming, start to drive away, and it fails again, and it looks like we are stuck out in the middle of nowhere! Fortunately, the older guy with us has learned the basic mechanical knowledge that we, at 16, had not learned yet. He discovers a broken weld on the shifter linkage on the firewall. This meant the linkage would fail, and the 20" long column shifter would flap around, but not direct the transmission into any gears! But he was able to pop it back into the slot so that it was driveable until it popped out again, and He showed me how to quickly but temporarily get the car driving again. View attachment 67244710

I had spent most of my 1st summer with a driver's license, without a friggin car! I knew it meant the car was going back to the shop run by incompetent morons. So I saved up $400 over the next few weeks, and bought car #2, a 1974 Mustang II hatchback, with a 4cyl and auto. I returned the Pacer to my dad, ending the payment plan. Now I had a car that actually worked! It had aluminum slot mag wheels, fat tires and the back end was jacked up a bit, so it looked cool, although, it's 2 front fenders had rusted at the bottom brackets that connected them to the subframe. This meant that neither fender was connected at the bottom, so whenever I went over a bump, the fenders would flap up and down like wings! It looked like this car, but white instead of gray, and no hood scoop. View attachment 67244707

But then I turned it around. In early spring of 1985, I traded in the 1974 Mustang II on a used 1978 Mustang II Cobra II, with a 302 V8 and a 4-speed manual. It was all white with big blue stripes going over the hood and roof, and down the sides. It had low mileage and was in fantastic condition. I had a lot of fun with It. Even though cars from 1974-1994 had vastly reduced horsepower as compared with 1960-1973 cars, it was still a light car with a v8 and 4 speed! That's always a great combo...It looked exactly like this:

View attachment 67244703
1950 Studebaker (cost $50), 1951 Chevy ($750, 1959 Rambler.
 
First car: 1971 Firebird Formula 455

Like this one...

pa0716-260103_12.jpg

Second car: 1971 Vega Panel Wagon

Like this one...

1971-Chevrolet-Vega-Panel-Express-Station-Wagon.jpg

Everything since then has been between those two extremes.
 
I can't remember the precise year, but the first car I had was a white Plymouth Acclaim with a red interior, acquired in some way I can't recall from an older man who was a friend of my parents
After I crashed that, a light blue (almost gray) 1994 Toyota Camry, bought used from some older lady that was a friend of my parents.
After the brake lines rusted out on that, I now have a white 2012 Kia Forte, purchased used from the dealership.
I've put about 75k miles on it since.
 
My first three vehicles that I owned were:

1962 Chevy II
1973 vega station wagon
1974 Mustang 2

Only actually drove the vega and mustang. But not very much before I sold them (and the nova).

SO I consider my 1964 GMC stepside as my first real vehicle (since non of the above were ever actually legally on the road). Gave the GMC to my daughter when she turned 18.

Next two:

1974 El Camino
1980 Firebird

Couldn't keep tires on the El Camino very long, then figured out the frame was kneed back on the passenger side. The guy I bought from died then the family wanted to buy it back, thank you! Used the money to buy the firebird.

After that various vehicles some good some trash.

Now I drive a 1960 Chevy apache 1 ton stake bed. Wife drives a 1993 GMC Suburban 4x4. I still own some of those various other vehicles, I pretend that I will fix them up someday. Most likely I will part them out of just sale them. Though I might fix the firebird back up.
 
My first three vehicles that I owned were:

1962 Chevy II
1973 vega station wagon
1974 Mustang 2

Only actually drove the vega and mustang. But not very much before I sold them (and the nova).

SO I consider my 1964 GMC stepside as my first real vehicle (since non of the above were ever actually legally on the road). Gave the GMC to my daughter when she turned 18.

Next two:

1974 El Camino
1980 Firebird

Couldn't keep tires on the El Camino very long, then figured out the frame was kneed back on the passenger side. The guy I bought from died then the family wanted to buy it back, thank you! Used the money to buy the firebird.

After that various vehicles some good some trash.

Now I drive a 1960 Chevy apache 1 ton stake bed. Wife drives a 1993 GMC Suburban 4x4. I still own some of those various other vehicles, I pretend that I will fix them up someday. Most likely I will part them out of just sale them. Though I might fix the firebird back up.


One of my pat replies to the missus is, “I’ll get to that one of these days.” A few years back, she replied, “ you are running out of one of these days.”
 
Lame first cars? Haha, I have you all beat. Feast your eyes on my 1997 Nissan Quest:

View attachment 67244716

Lesson to you newer parents out there: If you want to make sure your son doesn't get any girls teen pregnant, get them an old soccer mom minivan for their first ride. They'll stay a virgin, guaranteed or your money back. :mrgreen:
It’s actually highly ideal because it has a lot of room in the back seat.
 
My first car:

1963 Chevy Bel Air

1963chevy-belair.jpg

My 2nd car:

1965 Alpha Romeo Guiia Super

1965alpha-romeo-guilia-super.jpg

My 3rd car:

1960 Volks Wagon Beetle

1960volkswagon-beetle.jpg
 
#2 Alfa-Romeo?
 
My first ride was a 1986 Chevy S-10 pickup, 4 speed manual. No power to speak of, but sporty looking enough in bright red.

My folks traded an old camper for it, and the truly icky part is that it became clear very quickly that the prior owner was either a prostitute or living in there. There was a really (really) gnarly foam mattress in the back (which had a topper I removed.) We found a massive bag of condoms and few loose rounds of ammo rolling around in there. I hope the camper was a nice upgrade for them!

Still loved that truck, and was lucky to survive long enough to leave home, the way I drove the roller coaster roads we have in the hills.

My folks traded it away to another high school kid when I left for college, but I miss it more than any other vehicle I've had since.
 
My first car was a 1937 Plymouth coupe. Second car a 1959 Simca. Third a 1954 Jaguar SK120 roadster afterthought 1949 Mercury fastback. Fourth 1952 Cadillac 2dr hdt. Fifth 1948 Studebaker Commander convertible. Sixth 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 4 dr hdt no post. Seventh 1956 Studebaker Silver Hawk. Eighth 1957 Studebaker Golden Hawk. Ninth 1964 Buick Riviera. End of list @ 1968. Best car 1965 Dart GT convertible slant six 3spd that got 28 mpg. Best exhaust sound 1965 Barracuda 270s. Quickest 1968 Camaro built 327 four speed. Fast 1967 Dodge R/T. 1964 GTO. 69 GTX. 68 Chevelle SS396. 55 Chev 2 dr sedan. 64 Tempest 4 cyl 4 barrel. 60 Ford 2dr sedan. Road Runners, Corvairs, Javelins, Renaults, Toyotas, Hondas, Hyundais, Many Cadillacs, Lincolns, Mercurys, Vega, Fiat, Austin America, and the list could go on. Best overall by far-Japanese. Toyotas and Hondas.
/

In 1979, before my dad and us were transferred from N.C. to Pa/De for the 2nd time, we lived in Kinston NC, where I had just reached the age where I was eligible to move up from Webelos to regular boy scouts. There I met a couple older kids whose family owned a LOT of Studebakers in all different conditions, from great to ok to wrecked donor cars. Supposedly they had a whole lot filled with like 30-50+ Studebakers. Everywhere they went, it was in a Studebaker. Now I NEVER see Studebakers on the road. I wasn't a big fan of their styling, mostly because, prior to the internet, it was difficult to find images of all Studebaker models and years. But since then, I've discovered several Studebaker cars I like, but even more Studebaker pickup trucks I like. Although I do own a work truck, I'm not particularly a pickup aficionado, however I like the curvy roofline styling of Studebaker pickups.
_IMG_000000_000000.jpg
50_studebaker_h3.jpg
ebay439405.jpg
1962-studebaker-diesel.jpg
26137_1954-studebaker-pickup-flickr-photo-sharing.jpg
 
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