What was your first ride?

Discussion in 'Other Vehicles' started by TGS91, Sep 11, 2009.

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  1. TGS91

    TGS91 New Member

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    #1 TGS91, Sep 11, 2009
    Last edited: Sep 11, 2009
    Swapped a couple emails on this topic with some members of the club here in St. Louis as a response to a new 16yr old member whose first car is a 06' JCW GP.......

    Anyway heres the challenge. Share your first ride, story behind it, etc

    I'll go first

    Being the third child I inherited a 72' turd brown Dodge Polara wagon from my sister. 396 (i think) 4bbl. Too much weight in the old barge to really move out.
    Sis' filled it with gas and little else so it threw a rod about 6 mo after I got on it.

    Fond memories-

    Installing my first and hopefully last exhaust. Three days of utter hell punctuated with every swear word I know (even made up a couple)

    Installing my first car stereo. Similar selection of 4 letter expletives

    Hauling down a Wisconsin back road on my first road trip with the aforementioned stereo half ass installed and distorting the hell out of some Led Zeppelin or Rush.

    At my first summer job with a oz of fine dope under the seat waiting for me to get off (literally and figuratively)

    Finally died late in the summer throwing a rod. Ahhhhh a fine piece of crap chrysler if there ever was!

    Imagine turd brown...
    [​IMG]
     
  2. Nathan

    Nathan Founder

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    First car you drove most of the time or first one bought with own money that was well and truly your own?
     
  3. BlimeyCabrio

    BlimeyCabrio Oscar Goldman of MINIs
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    #3 BlimeyCabrio, Sep 11, 2009
    Last edited: Sep 11, 2009
    Bought my dad's '68 Ford Galaxie 500 sedan for $500 I think. Like this one:
    [​IMG]

    Drove it for about a year. Then bought my brother's 1977 TR-7 for about $1500 - which was an old faded out BRG - I had it repainted Fiat Red and redid interior and much of the suspension (which was shot) - this was 1983.

    Almost exactly like this:
    [​IMG]


    Drove it until about 1986 when I rear ended someone (grumble grumble) - I was sick of dealing with all its issues (it sat as much as it ran the last year) and couldn't bring myself to put any more money into it for repair - so I sold it with the bonnet bashed it and a broken headlight. Occassionally wish I still had it... but not since I got the MINI, which is a bazillion times better.

    When my brother drove my MINI, he said "this feels pretty much like the TR did".

    Idiot.
     
  4. TGS91

    TGS91 New Member

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    Your call. Mine was a hand me down, Paul paid $500. Yours?
     
  5. goaljnky

    goaljnky New Member

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  6. Sideways

    Sideways New Member

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    1991 Nissan Stanza
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    Paid - $2500 for it in 2001
    Drove it for 3 years until the Transmission went...they wanted $2500 for a referb...so I sad good-bye to it...

    I did my drivers test in it...but the speedo sometimes didn't work...It was all I could do to pray that it worked during the whole duration of the Exit test...It was a good car to me and I was kinda teary eyed to see it go...Kinda like your first love...you think you will be together forever...i wonder where it is now
     
  7. goaljnky

    goaljnky New Member

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    Just like the first love, it is probably getting abused by someone who wasn't around to see the glory days. :D
     
  8. Sideways

    Sideways New Member

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    :( my Poor poor Allison
     
  9. TGS91

    TGS91 New Member

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    Nice :cornut:
     
  10. BlimeyCabrio

    BlimeyCabrio Oscar Goldman of MINIs
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    Wow... I thought jnky would have gone for a comment regarding something sticky in the folds of the upholstery.... just like your first love...
     
  11. TGS91

    TGS91 New Member

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    Thanks Paul....I have this VERY disturbing visual picture of this :idea:
     
  12. BlimeyCabrio

    BlimeyCabrio Oscar Goldman of MINIs
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    I was only channeling jnky. It's his fault.
     
  13. goaljnky

    goaljnky New Member

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    I was trying to figure out how to work in there a dragging tail pipe and a comparison of bondo to make up , but thought better of it.
     
  14. quikmni

    quikmni Moderator

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    The first car I called my own was a 1972 VW Bug. It was a hand me down from my Dad when he got a new car. I got it in 1977 and drove it throughout college until 1983 when I purchased my first new car a 1983 VW GTI.

    The bug got very modified over the years and I auto-crossed it frequently. It was lowered, had flared fenders, wide tires, sway-bars, 1850cc engine with dual 44 Webers, Cobra seats and a roll bar. It usually won it's class at Auto-Xs. After I purcahsed the GTI the bug sat around so I finally sold it in 1988 for $400 to a brother of a friend who was going to turn it into a Baja Bug. I do not believe it ever made the transformation into a Baja Bug.

    The 1983 GTI was a great car. I drove it from 1983 until 1995 for about 160,000 miles. I sold it to a friend around the corner and his daughter drove it for a couple more years until it was crashed. The GTI was also Auto-Xed frequently until kids started taking up weekend time. I was looking through some old Auto-X results that I had kept and saw that I missed an Auto-X one month during the season. I chuckled when I realized the Auto-X I missed was when my daughter was born. I guess that is a great reason to miss an Auto-X. I still won the class championship that season.

    To replace the GTI, in 1995 I purchased a new Chevy Camaro Z28 with a 6 speed. When I purchased my first Mini in 2003, I gave the Camaro to my son, starting the cycle all over again. The Camaro has been highly modified just like I modified my VW Bug.

    Interestingly (maybe only to a few) is that I good friend liked my 1983 GTI so much that he purchased a new 1984 GTI. However, he never sold his GTI because he figured one of his sons would eventually drive it. About 4 years ago his son's were of driving age but did not like driving the GTI. After a few more years of the GTI sitting around, my son talked my friend into selling him the GTI for $400. So we now have a GTI back in the family. It is sitting in my driveway right now with a broken water pump.

    Anyway my friend who brought the GTI after I brought my GTI, just brought a Mini because he liked my Mini so much. It must be that old GTI guys are also new Mini guys.
     
  15. Nathan

    Nathan Founder

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    Golly quikmni, this is going to read similar.

    After driving a succession of cast off's from my father, mostly Chevy Citations I bought my first car that was mine, a 73 VW Superbeetle for the then princely sum of $500. I guess it would pass for a dark BRG under all the oxidation. I can't tell you how many hours I spend with Dupont #7 to coax back the paint.

    Extensivly modded with Webbers, Stinger exhaust, larger jugs, wheels (Ronal 5Spoke Ferrari 308 style) with massive tires and fenders that were rolled with a baseball bat and relieved with tin snips. Oh yeah, there were all the MASSIVE Hella rally lights. Drove the hell of out that VW. There is a lot be said about a car that has low limits in the hands of a 18 year old driver.

    A few years later this VW tuned into an 84 GTI. What a blast that car was. A buddy had a 83 and we used to tear up some roads. That GTI got a ton of mods that were all right for the day. Kamai Airdam, Hood Splitters and Rear Wing. The entire Autotech catalog of the day under the hood, swaybars, Bilstiens, MSW Wheels with the brand new BFG Comp T/A's, Recaros and a roll cage. Audio was handled by a thumping Alpine system. Radar evasion tasks we handled buy customized front and rear Escorts that had been disassemble with the controls built into the dash.

    Was forced to sell the GTI in return for being bailed out. It was sold to a used car dealer in Balitmore, Honest John's Used Car, We Fiance. He had no idea what he bought, called it a Rabbit and paid used Rabbit money for it. Got a call about a week later from the Baltimore County Police, they found the shell of my car. I later saw a lot of my old parts on other GTI's Auto-Xing in the area.
     
  16. Commander Dan

    Commander Dan New Member

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    My first car was a new '70 Malibu - (307 cu. in.) hard top. I liked it, but it was a little too slow!! :cool: Then, when I got out of the Navy, I moved up to a Chevy Vega GT!!!
     
  17. ScottinBend

    ScottinBend Space Cowboy
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    My first car was a '78 VW Scirocco. Bought it off of the showroom floor new in Jan. of '78. I had access to the family car pool until then.....lol. Same as Nathan, it went thru a lot of mods. About everything Nuespeed had and more. Was stock with the 1.5L with the then brand new CIS fuel injection. What a pain in the ass to tune it was. Had great fun autoXing it for years. Many trophies and even a year end champion once. I ended up selling it to a local kid who told me he absolutely loved the Mk1 Scirocco's. Came by with his dad to take it out for a test drive......45 loooooong mins later came back and offered me $500 for it. Took about 10 sec's to think about and handed over the keys. Found out later the kid had rattle can'd the car flat black, broke out the rear window, decided to try out the off-road capabilities, and then proceeded to blow up the engine and then leaving it on the side of the road.

    I decided to sell the car to get my MINI in Nov. '03. So yes, I had it for 25 yrs. Put 175K on it and it was in very nice condition. I loved that damn car and it was real hard not to go and find the punk and teach him a lesson in car appreciation.

    Wish I still had it.......
     
  18. moreorless

    moreorless New Member

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    My first car.......that I owned......

    was a 1955 Pontiac. Had the 287ci V8 with the 3-speed on the tree. First gear was a rabbit off the line. I blew so many 2nd gear syncros I'd buy the trannies from the junk yards for about 6 or 7 dollars and replace the tranny in about a half hour. I always had a couple spares in the garage. Corvair bucket seats......it was hot.

    Anyways, mine looked just like this even with the "chrome reverse" wheels except mine was all black, with a dark blue interior. I can't remember if we cut a half or a full coil off the springs to lower it. There was so much chrome on this car, it was quite spectacular. My future wife could tell when I was coming by the interference on the TV from my un-shielded copper plug wires.

    [​IMG]
     
  19. Steve

    Steve Administrator
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    1968 Opel Kadett wagon!

    Can't find any good pics so this old ad will have to do.....picture it in puke green though.....sorta like that luggage there.....
    wi1803.jpg

    I learned to drive on gravel roads in an old Ford pickup.....the young-uns think they invented drifting.....NOT!

    The pickup was my Dad's though and when it was time to go to College I needed my own wheels; Dad said I could have the Opel if I could fix it. My Mom was driving it one day and figured the little light with an oil can was just a sign that something should be checked sooner or later.....the car made that trip home on a flatbed. Two years later it was still sitting in the same spot, grass and weeds grown up all around nearly blocking it from view and I'd forgotten it was there when Dad made the offer.

    I soon learned the easiest way to fix it was to go find an engine in the local junkyard and replace the broken lump. Decided to replace the tranny at the same time. I'd been in love with cars since I was little but didn't know much of anything about the under-hood bits before starting on the Opel. I managed it though, and it was so much fun I was hooked.

    I finished the night before I had to leave for school. The next day I was driving to College and on the top of the world. It was sweltering hot outside and I noticed the vents on the dash were taped over. I never did find out why my folks taped the vents. Anyway, I'm driving along at highway speeds peeling the tape off. That's when I found out that while it was parked for two years some mice had made nests in the ventilation system and it all came flying out.....dried grass, mouse hair, dust, mouse droppings.....I was covered with sweat and all that loose crap stuck.....didn't enjoy the rest of that first ride much.

    Anyway, it was a great car for the SD and MN winters.....not much to look at and crap in the summer but a great winter car. Lasted, coincidentally, until the engine gave out on the drive home four years later on the day after graduation. So it was literally my College car.....lasted from exactly my first to my last day!
     
  20. docv

    docv Well-Known Member
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    First car huh. always been a fan of different, mine was a teal green 1970 AMC Gremlin, slant six, bucket seats, actually had a great time with that car, would like to have one now just for the oddity of them.
     

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