Your First Car

[Old Croc]

My first wheels was a hand-me-down from the parents. A 1954 classic FJ Holden (two tone grey).

It ended life in a demolition derby at Claremont speedway after I rendered it unroadworthy by parking it on it's roof on a Friday night.

The Friday nights continue unabated, but most time i don't drive home.

Tell us about your first car even if it was just an Austin A40.

[gpt]

My first car was an old Ford Thames van similar to the one in the photo. It cost me the princely sum of £17. 10s. (£17.50) The original engine had been replaced with a 1500 Lotus Cortina somehow shoehorned in and mated to the original 3 speed box, the brakes were not touched - it would go but had trouble stopping! I kept it for about 9 months before selling it for about £40

[billd766]

My first car was an old Ford Thames van similar to the one in the photo. It cost me the princely sum of £17. 10s. (£17.50) The original engine had been replaced with a 1500 Lotus Cortina somehow shoehorned in and mated to the original 3 speed box, the brakes were not touched - it would go but had trouble stopping! I kept it for about 9 months before selling it for about £40

There is one similar to that on Sukhumvit 81 or 83.

My first car was a 1939 Standard 8 that I paid £7.50 for. MOTs had not been invented, I was too young to have a licence and to stupid to have insurance.

I caught the rear wing on a Jaguar Mk 5 and ripped it off my car, the jaguar was unmarked.

3 days later I parked around by the council offices to pick up my girlfriend and a nice man in a blue suit spoke to me about the licence and insurance that I hadn't got. It cost me £15 and a years ban in 1963. See I said I was stupid.

[Skyline]

My first car was a Triumph Spitfire back in 1991.It was red with a cream soft top and gave me lots of headaches!Good fun though.We named it the Spliffwagon!

[Neeranam]

1983 Ford Cortina 2litre - great car!

[britmaveric]

82 Ford Mustang

[jdinasia]

1964 'Cuda!

[suegha]

Mine was a 1977 Citroen GS. I bought it in 1982. I loved it but it was the most unreliable beast I have ever driven.

[bino]

1971 Datsun 510. It was a great car- always started / reliable. Never walked away from it.

Bought it for $300 CAD, applied a lot of bondo and paycheques. Looked like this before I wrote it off crashing into a tree.

[Buckwheat]

A 1966 Chevy Nova

Thats when I was small enough to use the back seat!

[sbk]

1975 BMW 2002, british racing green with a sunroof. I was 20 and loved that little car.

Kinda like this car but a little bit darker

[endure]

My first car was an old Audi 80 which I paid £900 for. My Mum offered to pay for some minor bodywork stuff as a Xmas present. When I took it to the paintshop they pointed out that one side of it was a different shade of green than the other

[thaigerd]

My first one was a VW Beetle for about 350.-DM that time(180.-Euro) back in 1974.

Lasted only 2 months, crashed it into the woods after a night in a disco and some beers.

Had my driving license only 3 months, car gone and the driving license gone for one year

Gerd

[sbk]

My first one was a VW Beetle for about 350.-DM that time(180.-Euro) back in 1974.

Lasted only 2 months, crashed it into the woods after a night in a disco and some beers.

Had my driving license only 3 months, car gone and the driving license gone for one year

Gerd

Yes, but the big question is, how long did your second car last?

[khunlungphudhu]

1938 Jowet 8, two cylinder horizontally opposed cylinders and an enormous flywheel.

Had an aluminium body, full leather trim and a (5th gear) overdrive that would just about keep it rolling at a steady 50!

[thaigerd]

My first one was a VW Beetle for about 350.-DM that time(180.-Euro) back in 1974.

Lasted only 2 months, crashed it into the woods after a night in a disco and some beers.

Had my driving license only 3 months, car gone and the driving license gone for one year

Gerd

Yes, but the big question is, how long did your second car last?

It was another Beetle, lasted nearly 2 years, ended up with a Porsche engine in the back.

Gerd

[jas007]

My first car was a 1964 Sunbeam Alpine convertible.

I had a lot of trouble with it, though, and finally sold it.

John

[macduff]

my first car was a mk 1 ford escort 1300E. mettallic purple,wood dash and all the works. i paid 650 for it. how much would it be worth now i wonder?

[suegha]

1975 BMW 2002, british racing green with a sunroof. I was 20 and loved that little car.

Kinda like this car but a little bit darker

Nice one sbk, now considered to be a proper classic! (At least in the UK!)

[davethailand]

A 1974 VW Beetle and we still have it in the UK, Its been in the family for 20 years now.

[GuestHouse]

I bought my first car when I was 19 years old, a Morris Minor Traveler (Half Timbered), I bought it from a guy at work for 350 quid.

Then came the twist.

I asked my uncle, who owned a car repair shop to give it the once over, he dutifully knocked the price down fifty quid and we agreed I’d collect on the weekend.

Two days after buying the car I span off the road and wound up facing the wrong way out of ditch. I had to get my uncle to tow me home.

His first comment was ‘Your tires are completely bald’ – The guy (John) I bought from had changed them out before I collected.

My old man asked my uncle if he was sure – he was, he’d checked the car and argued all the details for me (like a good uncle).

My old man told me to tell ‘John’ he wanted to see around our house next evening .

I passed the message, and John went as white as a sheet – but turned up the next day.

At this point you need to know my old man was a New Yorker (rare in Lincolnshire) – Known locally as ‘The Yank’ and as hard as <deleted>.

I let John in to the house – My old man stood up, and said ‘That’s my lad, we raised him and you nearly f@cking killed him.’ He then beat the <deleted> out of him.

Gave him my car keys and told him he wanted it back around the house the next day with a new set of tires.

[totlanh]

Fiat Panda

[Insight]

Mini Cooper S - 1997 model chassis. Sold it to a girl in NZ two years ago.

[fxm88]

1973 Lincoln Continental, bought in 1987 for US$ 800, like this one except mine was powder blue. (Had I been buying such a car in Thailand I suppose it would have cost 10x as much.)

[Wash]

1928 Buick Sedan. Bought from my Dad for $8 when I was 12 years old. It was for sale because all the windows were broken, soft top leaked and the doors would not latch.

None of this was problem for me though since I wired the doors shut and didn't pay any attention to the wet seats and moldy smell.

Biggest problems were tires (synthetic during WWII) and gas rationing. These were only temporary problems though because it was no big deal to remove wheels, tires and patch them on the spot. Gas was a bit more challenging since not only was it hard to buy rationing tickts but it cost 20 cents a gallon. So my normal use would allow me to earn enough money to buy a gallon of gas then drive the car until it ran out of gas. I would just leave it there until I could earn enough money to buy another gallon of gas. I don't ever remember buying more than 1 gallon at a time.

It was always exciting when Mom wanted me to drive her to the grocery store and watch her crawl in the window and sit on the usually wet seat while we went to buy groceries.

It lasted a couple years and finally became too much of a tire problem so it rotted in back of the house until we finally got a junk dealer to come haul it off for free.

Sorry no photo available.

[daleyboy]

Mine was a 1982 ford sierra like this

The only difference was mine was bottle green, and it was named captain Scarlett, as it was indestructible. It went in more hedges and ditches than i had hot dinners. Ohh the joys of driving round country lanes like a lunatic at 3am trying to learn how to do handbrake turns

[dutch]

Renault dauphine ,bought in 1964 and it was 9th hand (at least)

[Old Croc]

Mine was a 1982 ford sierra like this

The only difference was mine was bottle green, and it was named captain Scarlett, as it was indestructible. It went in more hedges and ditches than i had hot dinners. Ohh the joys of driving round country lanes like a lunatic at 3am trying to learn how to do handbrake turns

????

Did it have the sun roof too for your head to stick out?

[Old Croc]

Renault dauphine ,bought in 1964 and it was 9th hand (at least)

I had a mate who loved these. He would buy them, tart them up, hot them up, then roll them at high speed. He went through 3 of them!

[Old Croc]

A 1954 classic FJ Holden (two tone grey).

Holden has a concept car based on the old FJ. I'd love one!

Effigy