First Car/Truck

[TWINKLE_TOES]

I just read thru the Yuppie Tractor thread and saw a post by RobertN on his first rig being a $100 truck. Thought it might be fun to hear from others on their first car/truck.

Mine was a 47 Plymouth, four door (suicide rear doors) with a flathead six. On a long level road, it would do about 85MPH. Cost me $90 and I was working for $0.85 an hour. I thought I had the world by the tail.

 

[markcg2000]

1969 Ford Galaxie, 390(?) CI, automatic, 4bbl. $300 in 1982. Bought it in Ft. Gordon, Georgia and drove it Sarasota, FL. to visit Mom, then up to Central NY to visit my [future wife] friend, and then on to Paso Robles, CA /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.

Front end finally broke, and I gave it to my roommate when I moved back to NY.

mark

p.s. Just remembered; on those long, straight highways somewhere out west I buried the speedometer./w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif
Dumb (well, dumber than I am now), eh? <P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by markcg2000 on 03/08/01 09:16 PM (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[TraderMark]

My first car was a 74 Pontiac Astre (Pontiac version of a Vega)
Had a 4 cyl, 4 speed but it was yellow with a black stripe, hatchback and it was KEWL. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

My dad bought it for me in 77 for working afterschool and during the summer for the previous 2 years pulling weeds, driving the tractor and whatever else there was to do around the farm.

 

[ERNIEB]

My first one was a 47 Dodge pickup. Flat head 6 with a 4 speed. It had a granny gear that could pull over a house, but I must have changed engines three times while I had it. Those old goat flat head 6's had a soft crankshaft. A previous owner had rigged up a second gas tank. Dual tanks, canvas covered seat, one of those AM radios that looked like a silver box under the dash. It was loaded.

Ernie
"I shall never surrender or retreat" William Barret Travis

 

[Bird]

My first car was a green '46 Chev., 2 door, 10 years old and just under 100k miles when I got it for $75. It was fully loaded; i.e., AM radio and heater./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Bird

 

[shade2u2]

68 AMC Rambler American 4 door 6 cyl that used alot of oil. I last saw this car a few years after selling it sitting along the interstate broke down. That broke my heart

 

[Roy]

A '72 Chevy Nova with an exasperated straight 6 and automatic trans. My dad bought it used in '75. He had so many problems with it, that he sold it to me in '76 (nice dad /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif). I wasn't aware of all the problems because I was away living at college at the time. After fixing the rear end and replacing a flywheel, I discovered that the chassis was slightly twisted…. The drive train components just wouldn't line up correctly.

Unloaded that lemon and bought my first new car. It was a '78 Nova with the 305 cui. Had it special-ordered in order to have a 4-speed manual. (Official offering at the time was that for the 4-speed manual, you had to have the 350 engine; the 305 only had a 3-speed manual tranny. The dealer worked it out with the factory. They said it could be easily done, they just figured that if you were the 4-speed type, than you would also want the larger block 8). Loved that car. Kept it on the road for 12 years, I was the only mechanic it ever saw. Then I sold it to my ex-brother-in-law, whom promptly totaled it /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif.

 

[MJB]

First car: 1947 Willys CJ2A. Bought it when I was in high school in 1986 for $200 without an engine. Later bought about 5 other jeeps to get enough parts to make one runable unit. Did an amateur restoration on it in 1987 and I still have it sitting in the garage now, although it is for sale in order to finance and make room for my new JD4300. It did not come with all the fancy options you other guys had: No radio, no roof, no doors, no glove box, no heater, and no floors before I restored it. A good cruising speed for a CJ2A with 5.38 axle ratios is about 45 mph so "burying the speedometer" is out of the question but it sure is fun to drive around on the logging roads with. I am going to miss that Jeep.

 

[RSeymour]

1959 Jeep CJ3B. The 3B was a 2A with an overhead 4 engine. Identical to the 2A except for a higher hood so the engine would fit. Had a lot of fun in the dunes at home and in Northern Michigan with it and my (later on) CJ5 with a V6 in the 60s and 70s.

 

[Von]

First car was a 59' Austin healey (see attached photo) which I still own. Paid $700 for it in 75' when I was 15. Didn't run and needed a new tranny. Drove it thru high school and then did a restoration and total drive train rebuild when I was in collage. Now 20 years later its time to be rehabed again. Need to do it right this time, and fix what I did wrong the first time!