What was your first car?

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I pale in comparison with your guys' machines. I rode my bike 15 miles to buy my first car, a '69 Opel Kadett for $600. I got there, found it was a stick shift. Bought it anyways, took me three blocks to figure and grind out the stickshift pattern. Turned out to be a fun reliable car. Looked exactly like this one...

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First car or first Mopar? Here's the answer to both:
First car was a '64 Olds F85 bought in '66 for $1600 when I graduated from high school. 330cid V8 and 2-speed auto. Thought is was cool 'cause it was different from all my friends bowties. Couldn't do much to it 'cause of college so changes were limited to baby moons and beauty rings (remember those?), a 4-track Muntz (God, I'm getting old!) in the glove compartment, tricked out the stock AM radio with rear speakers and a 'revurb' (I know that's gonna get questions).
First Mopar was a '69 340 Swinger purchased used in November '69 for $2500 from a kid going into the Navy. Been married a whole 4 months and my (at the time) wife had just been in an accident with the Olds on her way to work and we decided we needed a second car. Played on the SoCal streets with that car for a bit then started the typical mods: headers, intake, Holley, cam, gears. It ended up running a fairly radical cam, Edelbrock Tarantula intake, 850 Holley DP, Ray Alley (Engine Masters) built reverse-pattern manual shift 727, 4.89 gears (bought from Gale Banks at his original little shop in San Gabriel). Did my share of street racing (don't tell anybody) on Whittier Blvd., got nabbed by the cops once (interesting story). Also raced brackets at OCIR and Irwindale (good ol' days).
Sure wish I still had that car. But the memory of it is why I'm currently in 'build-mode' on my 'new' '69 Dart. Can't escape from the Mopar bug once it bites!
:burnout:
 
I was 13. Using $400.00 from my paper route money. My Dad said I could get a car that he and I could work on till I was 16. My whole family loved old cars. My dad did the same thing with my older brother and a '68 Ford Torino GT fastback. Anyway, I was looking in the Buy and Sell and found a ' 69 Buick Skylark[gts]or what ever. 350/4speed. Gold ext. Black int. MINT!!! It needed a new water pump. $400.00. We went and looked at it. Even though a GM product was literly NOT COOL in my family. But this was such a nice car. But then again it would have took us an hour or so to fix it. So as we were standing there deciding to get it. I looked in the buy and sell and saw a ' 65 commando Plymouth Barracuda. " New transmission" $250.00. It was an hour North of us. I alway's loved the "Hemi under glass" because my dad had an unopened Johnny Lightning '66. So we decided to go up there to get it. At least we went prepared. We got up there and I knew right away this was my new car. My Dad liked it a lot too. It had all of the original parts but was dismantled. Perfect. The transmission was all brand new as well. Came with a bunch of parts. But needed new front fenders and a front valence. But we knew where there was one real close to our house. So we got it. Got home and went over to where the other car was. I still had $150.00 left. I offered the guy $100.00 for the car sitting on the side of his house. It turned out that it was a ' 65 commando car as well. But it had been hit REAL HARD on the drivers side rear quarter. It was TOTALED!!! Bent frame and all. But It had a perfect front clip and all of the drive train and all of the commando goodies as well. It was Gold on Gold. 273 commando 4speed. 7 1/4 323 sure grip. And the original exhaust too. With resonator. So that was my first car project. Needless to say, back in the 80's these cars were everywhere. And not really worth all that much. I ended up selling my first car. And really getting into the 2nd generation barracuda's. But that is a whole different story. Thanks for reading.
 
First car I bought at 16 was a 1970 mustang fastback. Family car so I bought it from my dad. Drove it till it fell apart. I have since owned:
70 mustang grande coupe fmx auto 351C
70 mustang fastback boss body fmx auto 351C
70's volvo 240d 4-speed...fun car
70's chevy pup 4-speed
72 beetle top speed 60mph downhill with a breeze
73 capri 4-speed replaced engines every 6 months
74 duster auto
76 cutlass auto
80 thunderbird -piece of crap from the factory
81 volvo 240 wagon 4-speed with od
83 RX-7 very fun little car
83 pulsar turbo very zippy 5-speed
92 seville sts * 4.9l
93 grand caravan le 3.3l
99 express van * 4.6l
00 voyager * 3.3l
00 sebring *
63 dart 170 4 door * /225
* still own
 
Mine was a 1959 Olds 88 two door bubble top. What a "land yacht!" lol Great highway cruiser though.
 
Mine was a '61 Chevy Impala, 2 door coupe w/ a 283 4 bbl and an automatic transmission w/ a grade retarder .. P R N D Gr .. It was lower than low 1 in a three speed AT, and chirped 2nd gear .. I paid $125 for it in 1972 when I was 15, drove it for about a year once I got my license, tranny went and my Dad junked it on me .. I was pretty pissed when I came home from school that day and guilted him soon after into lending me $$$ to buy my first Mopar, a '71 Duster 340-4 speed... in-violet metallic with a white stripe.. Wish I still had that one ...
 
My first car, 1974 Plymouth Satellite Sebring Plus with a 340 engine, bought it when I was 16, still have it! :bootysha:

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72 Ford Gran Torino with 351 4bbl. Kind of a pukie mustard yellow with black vinyl roof and interior. I paid $2400 for it in 74 when it was only two years old and I was a high school senior. Wish I still had that car...
Jerry
 
My first car was a 1970 Dart Custom 4 door Slant Six Auto P/S A/C. I was living in Las Vegas at the time,and I was 13. My mom worked for an old doctor,and in the mid 80's his 90 year old mother stopped driving.He flew out to Florida,and drove the car home to vegas and it sat there in his garage untill my mom bought it in 2000 with 14,000 orignal miles on it.This thing was a time capsule! Original tires,hoses,belts...etc... you name it and most likely it was still as it came from the factory in 1970.I saw it and fell in love.She originally bought the car for my older brother who just was about to start driving,but when I saw it I had to have it.I had been washing/detailing cars since the age of 10,and saved just about every dime I had made.I handed over 1,000 cash to my mom,and the dart was mine.I started tearing into it right away,replacing everything and learning as I went.I never had a father or anybody to teach me about cars,so it was just me,my haynes manual,slantsix.org,and my 70 Dart learning as I went.I now know how to rebuild carbs,engines,transmissions as well as solder,rewire and trouble shoot just about any problem. That car gave me the confidence to fix anything that went wrong(not much did on the Dart,but I have fixed many friends cars!) We lived in a community in Vegas that was basically built around a little park,so it was a giant circle,for the next two years,I would drive that circle over and over,untill the sun went down.I let my brother use it as his car untill I was 16.

I drove the car around for about six months after getting my license when the performance bug bit me.I was no longer interested in my boring (but dead reliable) 4 door dart,I wanted a two door mopar! I sold it for 800 bux and never saw it again.I have owned lots of mopars in the short time since getting my license,but none of them hold a place in my heart like that 70 4 door dart,untill I saw my 67 GT. I knew it was my chance to redeem myself for selling the Dart,and I will be driving the 67 into my grave!!!!!!!!

I wish I still had that car though.
 
My first car was the same make & model as the car that drove my pregnant mother to the hospital to spit me out into the world.

1979 Ford Mustang Coupe. I bought it from a family member when I was 14 for $2000, which I had been saving since I was 8. I got my first Mopar a year later, a 1979 Chrysler Lebaron with a 318.
 
I did alot of driving and working on my Dads falcons, comets, and every other ford or merc you can think of. The first one that was all mine was a 65 Barracuda comando 273/auto 8 3/4 SG cream yellow with kragers. I paid $500 down and $50 a month for 12 months so $1100 for the car when it was 5 years old. I think it only had 45k on it when I bought it! That car was a mustang eating machine!
 
My first car was a 1956 Plymouth Savoy, 4 door sedan, push button automatic, two tone blue.

Thanks for the memory.
 
My Dart pictured is the first car I purchased some.........................21 years ago.
Typical story, owned by a little old lady, ad in local paper and the rest is history.
Car did not look like this when I bought it though.

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'69 Charger. My dad bought it for me for Christmas when I was 6. I'm now 16 and I still own it.
 
My first car was a 58 Ford convertible. My ex brother-in-law gave it to me when I was 13. It was a custom done by the Alexander Brothers from Detroit. It had a 57 Desoto front bumper, twin sunken ant., shaved door handles, lake pipes and a roll and pleated interior. The tail lights look almost like T-bird lights. The engine was a 390 with 3 deuces. Unfortunately he sold the engine before I got it. I ended up with a 352. It was called Perfidia. I wonder where it is today. It was real nice when I got done with it. New paint and every thing else. But at 16 it only lasted me 2 years. It was in pretty bad shape when I junked it. Stupid me.

Fred B
 
It was a Dodge Monaco 383 2 door a loohahaoong time ago 6? model with a big vacuum gage on the console to let you know when your gas milage was best for your foot.
 
68 VW Baja... I got it when I was in 5th grade. I got it for 125-200.00. I had it for about a year and learned to drive (on private property) with it.
 
1964 Chevy Impala SS .... I didnt know what I had back then.
Sold It so I could buy the Yellow with Black stripes, hood scooped, 73 Dart Sport down the road, That was a fun car, went through the 360 and a 318 and finally sold it with a 340 in bad shape, I ran the heck outta that car....... I didnt know what I had there either. guess thats why I was drawn to the Demon first time I saw it.
Good memories.:clock:
 
A 1969 four door Chevy Bel Air with a 2 barrel 327. I drove it for about two years in high school, then pulled the motor to put in a Nova. I wound up selling the motor and the Nova to buy my Coronet that I still have.
 
1969 Roadrunner 383-4spd.-Y2 yellow-Black interior with a bench seat. I purchased this new from a dealer as a senior in high school with my father co-signing for me. Funny thing-My father didn't want me buying a 4 spd. car-I wonder why- so he tried to talk me into buying another car. The other car was an automatic '69 Roadrunner but it had a HEMI in it. I was stubborn and had to have my 4 spd. so I passed up on the Hemi. Ah the mistakes of youth!
 
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