It was a '67 Mustang hardtop, with the 289 2 barrel. Bought in 1970. Paid for by catching crabs.

What, you didn't know you could get paid for catching crabs?

speaking of 'hot sleepers' my buddy got to drive his dad's wagon now & then:

1958 Chev, 283/overdrive/positrack/4.11 rear end.....put a lot of the hot rod boys at the back of the pack.

What he usually drove, was a perfect original 1941 Buick business coupe, straight 8/3 speed. Shiny black. Dash was impeccable stainless steel-engine turned (the little 3/8" overlapping swirls) masterpiece. With a knob above the center windscreen to turn the radio aerial upright.

quote:

Originally posted by rbert0005:
57 VW Beetle. Learned how to drive a standard on the eay home.

Bob

Mine was a '61, with the sliding ragtop, plus all of 40hp, for the first time ever. Woo Hoo!

1969 Mustang. It had been in a fender bender and I paid $600 for it (in 1975) although my dad gave me $300 of it. I also bought and installed the new fender. It was light blue and was powered by a 302 V-8 C-4 Auto trans.

Lock N Load

Michael
USMC Ret

A yellow Pinto...2.3L with a 4 speed

1964 Chrysler Newport. Bought it from my Aunt for $500 after my Uncle died in 1969.

Lots of cool cars in this thread. I'm glad a few of you still have those cars. I turned 16 in 1968, so I just love 60's and early 70's cars.

I enjoy going to car shows/cruise-ins to look at them and talk to the owners. I also like watching the Mecum and Barrett-Jackson auctions on TV. Sometimes what appear to be nice cars go for a lot less than I would expect.

Graduated in 85. My senior year I had a 1974 Mercury Montigo 4 door. I could sleep eight people comfortably in that thing. Loaded eight cases of beer and room for myself and four other friends.

'35 Ford Deluxe Coupe, bought in 1951 for $100, low mileage and great shape , it had been barned during WWII.

Regrettably I have no idea what happened to it while I was in the Army, my brother had the title while I was in and had started 4 years in the Air Force when I was discharged and started college.

1962 Chevy II 4 door 6 cyl plain jane model, am radio with no push buttons. I was in class of 1969.

You guys were all rich. I'm with Vtwin using shoes, a bicycle and only rarely a bus. None of those went the direction I needed. Finally when I was a senior, my mother was kind of concerned that I wasn't dating. I asked her if I should take one for a walk. Then my father's view changed a bit and I got to use his car a few times. He was cheap, but not too mean.

Yes, I dreamed of any car. Fun to hear others complain about 3 on the tree, etc. In all fairness, they did help me after I graduated. But it was kind of painful to see other kids with better cars than my parents had. Only later did I realize my dad was just cheap, we really weren't that poor. He lived the depression. Even decades later.

1980 BMW 320i

Graduated in 2001, so, not that cool of a BMW...

But I loved it

Didn't get "my" first car until the summer after I graduated high school in 1979. It was a 1972 Chevy Nova that cost me $1,275. It had a 350 small block, auto tranny, 5 spoke Cragar wheels with 60 series B.F. Goodrich Radial T/A's that were a little TOO wide for my rear fenders even though it was "Jacked Up" with air shocks! It was bronze with a black vinyl top.
But my favorite feature because of the automatic transmission was the bench seat up front. I had 3 "serious" girlfriends while I had that car and that bench seat saw lots of action at the local drive-in movies and other "make out" spots!
The third and last of those girlfriends is sitting six feet from me now as I type this. This coming Saturday we will be our 34th wedding anniversary. I kept that Nova for the first couple of years of our marriage then sold it. I wish I had it back. It was my first, and last Chevy. Got nothing against Chevrolet, I live in a big time Chevy town (home of the Corvette, America's Sports Car!) I just married into a Ford family. My father-in-law (a Ford retiree after 40 years) still has his 1965 Mustang that my wife drove through HS and College. We even drove it to Gatlinburg for our honeymoon. My wife's sister works at Ford as well as my son and nephew. I've had 3 Mustangs of my own over the years. Now my ride of choice is a 2013 F-150 Lariat 4x4 Off Road. Tastes and needs of vehicles change over the years, but I will always have fond memories of that '72 Nova!

quote:

Originally posted by newtoSig765:

quote:

Originally posted by SeaCliff:
First car 59 Chevy in 1969 for $300 buck to get me off base in Cali and sold it for $600...

My brother did Basic in the Air Force in Texas about 1970 and knew a guy there who had just the opposite problem. Seems he had just bought a brand-new Triumph Stag for about $3,500 or $4,000, then got transferred overseas. My brother called and asked if I wanted it for $1,200 but I didn't have the money. Too bad, since it was a pretty luxurious car, even if it had Lucas electricals.

I like Triumphs. That Stag would be sweet to have now.
The other car a shipmate had that I enjoyed riding in was a 1959 Bugeye Sprite.

quote:

Originally posted by SeaCliff:
...The other car a shipmate had that I enjoyed riding in was a 1959 Bugeye Sprite.

If you consider speed to be a relative concept, one of the fastest cars I ever rode in was an early post-bugeye Sprite with a two-barrel Weber conversion kit. We were doing almost 85mph within a block from a standing start, I think, faster than either a Volvo 164E or a BMW 2002 that we had on the car lot (I was selling Volvos to finance the last year of college).

It was a trade-in that we took, and may have had more work than I knew about. It's a shame that I didn't buy it, but it was so much smaller than the MGB I eventually bought that I just couldn't warm up to it.

A trip down Memory Lane (Wikipedia search) reminded me of all the problems the Stag had, all poor-design related, such as a bad water pump design that would dump coolant when the motor got hot, so when it cooled down you didn't have enough coolant left. Maybe I was smarter back then than I thought.

'72 Olds Omega hatch. A Nova for the geriatric generation...or my Mom.

It was hers originally, passed down to me while I was in high school. Painted in a seminal 70s Harvest Gold appliance hue, with a not-quite-black-but-rather-dark-bloody-poop brown vinyl top and dorky matching pinstriping that screamed schlocky 70s General Motors. It took a few months but I ultimately decided that it wasn't me so I sold it. Besides, my buddy Brian who lived a few houses down from us got himself a NEW Cutlass Supreme; I certainly couldn't be seen driving around in a refrigerator, or at least in a car that's painted like one. Needless to say Mom was upset and disappointed with me after that bit of 'ungratefulness' I apparently exhibited. But she got over it...eventually.

That was the first but not the only car I had during high school. It got a lot more convoluted after the Olds, but that's a lengthy, drawn-out tale for another day.

Lots of really nice first cars in this thread...


Mine was a 72 Dodge Colt, yellow with rust with 90K on the odometer I purchased from dad for $200 in 1982.


My second car was a 74 Plymouth Duster with a 318 and a 3 speed on the floor. Wish I still had that car.

I never saved money for a car while I was in high school.

Bought my first car on a bank loan from a dealer in 1973 at eighteen years old, it was a 1969 Ford Thunderbird with a 429 Cobra Jet. He must have seen me coming a mile away, but I learned a valuable life lesson...never trust a used car salesman.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by newtoSig765:
[QUOTE]If you consider speed to be a relative concept, one of the fastest cars I ever rode in was an early post-bugeye Sprite with a two-barrel Weber conversion kit/QUOTE]

If I remember I think the worst thing was his SU carbs. Always tuning them. They were a pain.
He did have wide slicks in the rear and fiberglass flares wells to clear.

First car in 1988: 1967 Pontiac Firebird, 400 cubic inch big-block engine. Candy-Apple red with a black vinyl top.

MAN, I really wish I kept that car.