Conservative Political Forum

General Category => The Living Room => Topic started by: Cryptic Bert on July 31, 2011, 07:54:36 PM

Title: What was your first car?
Post by: Cryptic Bert on July 31, 2011, 07:54:36 PM
Mine was a 1983 Cutlass Supreme. I paid $1700. it was loaded. A week after I bought it we drove it to Florida where along the way I found the electric moonroof leaked...


It is still my favorite car...
Title: Re: What was your first car?
Post by: walkstall on July 31, 2011, 08:18:39 PM
Quote from: Neener Neener Neener.... on July 31, 2011, 07:54:36 PM
Mine was a 1983 Cutlass Supreme. I paid $1700. it was loaded. A week after I bought it we drove it to Florida where along the way I found the electric moonroof leaked...


It is still my favorite car...

1942 Studebaker Champion.         :D
Title: Re: What was your first car?
Post by: Shanghai Dan on July 31, 2011, 10:30:49 PM
A 1962 Ford Fairlane 500 with a blown Ford-O-Matic tranny and blown head gasket (inline 170 cubic inch 6 cylinder).  Otherwise it was in pristine shape - perfect interior, exterior.  A long weekend worth of work, $300 for the original car (it had sat in a garage for 3 years), $150 in replacement parts and it got me through 3 years of college, and I sold it for $3500 - down payment on my second car ever...
Title: Re: What was your first car?
Post by: Solar on August 01, 2011, 06:00:18 AM
Quote from: Neener Neener Neener.... on July 31, 2011, 07:54:36 PM
Mine was a 1983 Cutlass Supreme. I paid $1700. it was loaded. A week after I bought it we drove it to Florida where along the way I found the electric moonroof leaked...


It is still my favorite car...

Nice cruiser you had there. 8)

Mine was a 1963 Austin Healey Sprite, if it wasn't leaking oil, it was out.
I really have to thank my dad on this one, what better way to learn about mechanics, than to have a car that needs constant attention?
I swear, that damned thing very seldom repeated the same problem, it was always something different.
He told me that the English didn't drive that many miles a year so tinkering on a car on weekends was just another past time.
Me, I spent more time working on it than I did driving it, and I think that was his plan for helping me find it.
But the late 60s was not a time to have a car that could drive under a big rig, it was muscle car era, and I didn't stand a chance in a drag race.
But I could fill the tank for two bucks and drive all week long. :D
Title: Re: What was your first car?
Post by: The mighty wu on August 01, 2011, 06:21:25 AM
67 chevy pickup. Wish I still had that dam truck! Best truck I've ever owned.
Title: Re: What was your first car?
Post by: Solar on August 01, 2011, 06:33:18 AM
Quote from: The mighty wu on August 01, 2011, 06:21:25 AM
67 chevy pickup. Wish I still had that dam truck! Best truck I've ever owned.
They were actually made of metal.
I still have my 70 El Camino I bought new in 1970, just don't want to restore it a third time, the parts are harder to find and expensive.
Title: Re: What was your first car?
Post by: The mighty wu on August 01, 2011, 09:09:12 AM
I just realized that I've never own anything but trucks, and I've never owned an import.
Title: Re: What was your first car?
Post by: Shooterman on August 01, 2011, 04:02:15 PM
1938 Ford 2Door Sedan. Sure would love to have that baby back

Mechanical brakes

Air driven windshield wipers

No radio

Not much of a heater

Mom made me some burlap seat covers for it

Flathead V-8 60 hp engine.
Title: Re: What was your first car?
Post by: tbone0106 on August 02, 2011, 06:35:35 PM
1966 Chevy Corvair Monza 2-door hardtop with the 110-hp engine and the Saginaw 4-speed tranny. Three dollars' worth of 30-cent premium filled the tank and I ran around all week on it. With studded snow tires on the back, that car would damn near climb trees in the winter. But I always had to keep a spare belt (there was only the one) and a 1/2"-drive breaker bar with a 9/16" socket in the trunk. When that belt let go, you had about 60 seconds to park and shut that air-cooled puppy down.
Title: Re: What was your first car?
Post by: Solar on August 02, 2011, 08:34:43 PM
Quote from: tbone0106 on August 02, 2011, 06:35:35 PM
1966 Chevy Corvair Monza 2-door hardtop with the 110-hp engine and the Saginaw 4-speed tranny. Three dollars' worth of 30-cent premium filled the tank and I ran around all week on it. With studded snow tires on the back, that car would damn near climb trees in the winter. But I always had to keep a spare belt (there was only the one) and a 1/2"-drive breaker bar with a 9/16" socket in the trunk. When that belt let go, you had about 60 seconds to park and shut that air-cooled puppy down.
Ahh yes, Nader,s call to fame, destroying a fine car.
Title: Re: What was your first car?
Post by: MAC Man on August 03, 2011, 03:08:17 AM
A '57 Chevy 2 door Bel-Air with a 283c.i./2 barrel. Powerglide tranny.

I've always considered that G.M.'s 283 and Ford's 289 were two of the best small block engines ever made in the '50's/'60's era.
Title: Re: What was your first car?
Post by: Solars Toy on August 04, 2011, 07:15:37 PM
1966 Chevy Nova   It was owned by a little old lady who couldn't drive anymore.  My mom help me get it for $400.  Two door, red leather interior, 4 on the column....  I had to have a pillow behind me so I could get the clutch to the floor. 
While learning to drive it with my Mom I back into a corn field. :o   Those were the days... 8) 8)
Title: Re: What was your first car?
Post by: WashingtonLives on August 05, 2011, 05:25:59 AM
1973 Plymouth Satellite, $300. Purchased it in 1985 and had it for five years. My high school "beater". Had a ton of fun in that car!!! Could pass everything but the gas station!!!
 
Title: Re: What was your first car?
Post by: Eyesabide on August 05, 2011, 07:52:50 AM
1965 Ford Country Squire station wagon.
Title: Re: What was your first car?
Post by: tbone0106 on August 07, 2011, 08:31:27 AM
Quote from: MAC Man on August 03, 2011, 03:08:17 AM
A '57 Chevy 2 door Bel-Air with a 283c.i./2 barrel. Powerglide tranny.

I've always considered that G.M.'s 283 and Ford's 289 were two of the best small block engines ever made in the '50's/'60's era.

Oh, yeah. My third car was a '57 Chevy, but mine was rough on the outside and the interior. I bought it because of the work done under the hood -- 327 small block rebuilt with 12:1 Jahns pistons, "3/4 race" cam, Holley 600 dual-line four-barrel sitting on an aluminum Edelbrock semi-highrise intake manifold, Hedman "hedders," Accel ignition, double-hump heads, a floor-shifted Saginaw 4-speed in place of the original three-on-the-tree, etc. Shit, that thing was fast.

And you're right about the small block Chevies and Fords -- best automotive engines ever produced, and still in production today, largely unchanged. My current Chevy pickup uses a 5.3L version of the same basic 265 engine Chevy introduced in 1955.
Title: Re: What was your first car?
Post by: Solar on August 07, 2011, 09:10:45 AM
Quote from: tbone0106 on August 07, 2011, 08:31:27 AM
Oh, yeah. My third car was a '57 Chevy, but mine was rough on the outside and the interior. I bought it because of the work done under the hood -- 327 small block rebuilt with 12:1 Jahns pistons, "3/4 race" cam, Holley 600 dual-line four-barrel sitting on an aluminum Edelbrock semi-highrise intake manifold, Hedman "hedders," Accel ignition, double-hump heads, a floor-shifted Saginaw 4-speed in place of the original three-on-the-tree, etc. Shit, that thing was fast.

And you're right about the small block Chevies and Fords -- best automotive engines ever produced, and still in production today, largely unchanged. My current Chevy pickup uses a 5.3L version of the same basic 265 engine Chevy introduced in 1955.
I too bought a car that looked like Hell, but screamed, which led me to sell it a month later, that is, after 10 speeding tickets.
So I bought a brand new Honda 750 which netted me an additional 21 tickets the following year.
Though I still do have my 1970 ElCamino I bought new in 1970.
Restored it three times, it now just sits dead, needs an engine and tranny.

I finally gave up on bikes a few years back after hitting my third deer on my Harley resulting in memory loss for more than a year. ???
Title: Re: What was your first car?
Post by: taxed on August 07, 2011, 12:01:01 PM
'88 Thunderbird turbo...
Title: Re: What was your first car?
Post by: walkstall on August 07, 2011, 12:08:06 PM
Quote from: taxed on August 07, 2011, 12:01:01 PM
'88 Thunderbird turbo...

:o  I have nicktie older than that.   ;D   
Title: Re: What was your first car?
Post by: taxed on August 07, 2011, 12:08:57 PM
Quote from: walkstall on August 07, 2011, 12:08:06 PM

:o  I have nicktie older than that.   ;D   

hahahahaha
Title: Re: What was your first car?
Post by: walkstall on August 07, 2011, 12:34:35 PM
Quote from: taxed on August 07, 2011, 12:08:57 PM
hahahahaha

About 5 years ago I gave my son my Canary Yellow 1965 Chevy Impala convertible with a 348HP V-8 with 4:11 Positraction rear end.  For 20 years people would follow me home and ask if I would sell it. LOL 
Title: Re: What was your first car?
Post by: elmerfudd on August 09, 2011, 01:51:32 PM
My first car was a 1959 Ford Anglia.  Like Solar, I found English cars to be somewhat temperamental.   If ANYTHING was wrong with it, it just shut down.  But it did get good gas mileage, for that day and time.  But bigger and better cars get better mileage nowadays.

I know a lot of old guys like to reminisce about when they "really built good cars."  But does anybody really believe that a just off the showroom floor 57 chevy was a better car than a just off the showroom floor 2011 (name your mode)?  I don't.  In fact, I have a 98 Buick Regal with close to 200,000 miles on it that is still, in my opinion, as good a car as the showroom new 57 chevy.  It's true they don't build 'em like they used to, and I, for one, am thankful.  They're a lot better.
Title: Re: What was your first car?
Post by: Solar on August 09, 2011, 02:04:52 PM
Quote from: elmerfudd on August 09, 2011, 01:51:32 PM
My first car was a 1959 Ford Anglia.  Like Solar, I found English cars to be somewhat temperamental.   If ANYTHING was wrong with it, it just shut down.  But it did get good gas mileage, for that day and time.  But bigger and better cars get better mileage nowadays.

I know a lot of old guys like to reminisce about when they "really built good cars."  But does anybody really believe that a just off the showroom floor 57 chevy was a better car than a just off the showroom floor 2011 (name your mode)?  I don't.  In fact, I have a 98 Buick Regal with close to 200,000 miles on it that is still, in my opinion, as good a car as the showroom new 57 chevy.  It's true they don't build 'em like they used to, and I, for one, am thankful.  They're a lot better.
I'd say in many aspects cars are better, but the downside is you really can't work on them anymore, it takes a specialized computer.
Also I miss all the heavy gauge metal that they used to be built with; just look at some of the cars in parking lots, actual dents from other peoples doors hitting them, unlike the old ones that merely got a chip in the paint.

But cars off the lot today have triple the mileage distance than one from the 60s, they usually needed a an overhaul after 150 thousand miles, today you get 300 thousand plus before you shit can it.
Which is another issue, people no longer restore these POS' like they used to, I doubt people will look back at cars from the 80s 0r 90s and lovingly refer to them as classics. :D
Title: Re: What was your first car?
Post by: elmerfudd on August 09, 2011, 02:19:36 PM
Quote from: Solar on August 09, 2011, 02:04:52 PM
I'd say in many aspects cars are better, but the downside is you really can't work on them anymore, it takes a specialized computer.
Also I miss all the heavy gauge metal that they used to be built with; just look at some of the cars in parking lots, actual dents from other peoples doors hitting them, unlike the old ones that merely got a chip in the paint.

But cars off the lot today have triple the mileage distance than one from the 60s, they usually needed a an overhaul after 150 thousand miles, today you get 300 thousand plus before you shit can it.
Which is another issue, people no longer restore these POS' like they used to, I doubt people will look back at cars from the 80s 0r 90s and lovingly refer to them as classics. :D

100% agreement.  Cars were more fun and easier to work on back in the day.  But they're a lot more reliable now.  My experience with cars in the 50's and 60's was you RARELY broke 100,000 miles with a car that still ran well and had everything else in working order.  Now tires last that long.  And sparkplugs longer. 

I think the absolute pit was the early to mid 70's for American cars.  Nothing but junk.  My 73 Dart, which I bought new, was the SORRIEST car, from day one, I ever owned.
Title: Re: What was your first car?
Post by: walkstall on August 09, 2011, 07:13:02 PM
On my 1965 Chevy I put 150.000 on it and then rebuilt the motor. Then put on 100.000 mile then rebuilt it just before giving it to my son.  He now has 5.000 miles on it LOL  He will only dirve it when it not raining.  He live in Seattle so it don't get out much.  LOL    He was in love with that car at age 14.  He took his mother for a 3 hr ride around town two weeks ago when we were in Seattle for the weeked.   Now that put a smile on her face all day lone.  I think he liks his mom.   :))
Title: Re: What was your first car?
Post by: elmerfudd on August 09, 2011, 08:21:24 PM
Quote from: walkstall on August 09, 2011, 07:13:02 PM
On my 1965 Chevy I put 150.000 on it and then rebuilt the motor. Then put on 100.000 mile then rebuilt it just before giving it to my son.  He now has 5.000 miles on it LOL  He will only dirve it when it not raining.  He live in Seattle so it don't get out much.  LOL    He was in love with that car at age 14.  He took his mother for a 3 hr ride around town two weeks ago when we were in Seattle for the weeked.   Now that put a smile on her face all day lone.  I think he liks his mom.   :))

Sounds like a good kid and a great car.  Unusual for the car, at least for a 60's car.  I remember 65 Chevies fondly, though.  I think 64 was my favorite year, at least for the 60's.  66's were pretty good, too, and I had a 68 that wasn't so bad.  Biscayne, in line 6, three on the tree, no air, no power.  But 69 they really started downhill, and by 72, they were garbage mostly. 
Title: Re: What was your first car?
Post by: Shanghai Dan on August 09, 2011, 08:24:02 PM
Quote from: taxed on August 07, 2011, 12:01:01 PM
'88 Thunderbird turbo...
WOW!  That was the first "real car" I bought when I graduated from college - a new 1988 Thunderbird Turbocoupe that had been on the lot for 9 months (bought in April 1989) - had 383 miles on it.

A waste gate dump valve, 5th fuel injector drilled into the intake manifold, 0.020" head gasket, aluminum head with ported and polished valves and ports, Accel ignition system, and smoothed-and-flowed intercooler and it was FAST.  Lighter pistons and rods, a Centerforce Dual Friction II clutch, and I could seriously smoke a lot of folks.

Dyno'd out at 388 HP at the rear wheel, and a peak of 410 lb-ft of torque at 5000 RPM.  Racing was fun - just as you finished staging, floor it, let it bang off the rev limiter and pop the clutch.  The Centerforce could take it, the engine would bog down to 3000 RPM, the car would squat and leap out - typical 60' times were 1.5 to 1.6 seconds (VERY quick).  about that time the RPMs were up 4000 and the turbo kicked in and there you had it - low 12s with a 2.3 liter turbocharged engine.

Surprised a LOT of guys at Seattle International Raceway and around town...  Many had built 5.0s and 5.7s in the Mustangs and Camaros and could take me if they knew what they were doing (lots of even lower 12s and high 11s around), but they'd see me leap out of the gate like a demon with NO wheelspin (only 270 lb-ft of torque at 3000 RPM - not enough to break loose the the 275 wide Comp T/A radials) or smoke, just a "hunkerdown and charge" that they'd get too anxious on the gas and go up in smoke and lose precious time.

I never had to worry about wheelspin - the engine didn't have enough grunt down low to really break the sticky, wide rears loose other than a single, little "chirp".  No smoke, just squat and charge!

Great cornering car, too...  Bilsteins, urethane bushings, sticky tires at all 4 corners...

Also used it as a demo vehicle for car stereos, even won my share of local and regional events.  Some custom rebuilt Focal TC90s in the dash (my own blend of ferrofluid injected in the gap), some rebuilt Focal 6K218s in rebuilt doors (rebuilt the skins with fiberglass, balsa wood, and canvas then wrapped in factory-looking vinyl), a pair of Morel MW224s I rebuilt with softer suspensions and heavier cones in the rear 6x8 openings, a trio of KLW Broadway XA-50 amps for power, and a custom designed active EQ and crossover network (I am an electrical engineer after all).  A Nakamichi head deck buried in the center console behind a fake factory stereo front, and it was stealth and sounded good enough to win "best sound of show" 9 times.

Ahh, when I was young, dumped cash on toys, and could bend into weird shapes for hours working on a car... ;D

Being fat, old, and wise now, I choose different "toys" to play with and enjoy!
Title: Re: What was your first car?
Post by: elmerfudd on August 10, 2011, 06:54:48 AM
Quote from: Shanghai Dan on August 09, 2011, 08:24:02 PM
WOW!  That was the first "real car" I bought when I graduated from college - a new 1988 Thunderbird Turbocoupe that had been on the lot for 9 months (bought in April 1989) - had 383 miles on it.

A waste gate dump valve, 5th fuel injector drilled into the intake manifold, 0.020" head gasket, aluminum head with ported and polished valves and ports, Accel ignition system, and smoothed-and-flowed intercooler and it was FAST.  Lighter pistons and rods, a Centerforce Dual Friction II clutch, and I could seriously smoke a lot of folks.

Dyno'd out at 388 HP at the rear wheel, and a peak of 410 lb-ft of torque at 5000 RPM.  Racing was fun - just as you finished staging, floor it, let it bang off the rev limiter and pop the clutch.  The Centerforce could take it, the engine would bog down to 3000 RPM, the car would squat and leap out - typical 60' times were 1.5 to 1.6 seconds (VERY quick).  about that time the RPMs were up 4000 and the turbo kicked in and there you had it - low 12s with a 2.3 liter turbocharged engine.

Surprised a LOT of guys at Seattle International Raceway and around town...  Many had built 5.0s and 5.7s in the Mustangs and Camaros and could take me if they knew what they were doing (lots of even lower 12s and high 11s around), but they'd see me leap out of the gate like a demon with NO wheelspin (only 270 lb-ft of torque at 3000 RPM - not enough to break loose the the 275 wide Comp T/A radials) or smoke, just a "hunkerdown and charge" that they'd get too anxious on the gas and go up in smoke and lose precious time.

I never had to worry about wheelspin - the engine didn't have enough grunt down low to really break the sticky, wide rears loose other than a single, little "chirp".  No smoke, just squat and charge!

Great cornering car, too...  Bilsteins, urethane bushings, sticky tires at all 4 corners...

Also used it as a demo vehicle for car stereos, even won my share of local and regional events.  Some custom rebuilt Focal TC90s in the dash (my own blend of ferrofluid injected in the gap), some rebuilt Focal 6K218s in rebuilt doors (rebuilt the skins with fiberglass, balsa wood, and canvas then wrapped in factory-looking vinyl), a pair of Morel MW224s I rebuilt with softer suspensions and heavier cones in the rear 6x8 openings, a trio of KLW Broadway XA-50 amps for power, and a custom designed active EQ and crossover network (I am an electrical engineer after all).  A Nakamichi head deck buried in the center console behind a fake factory stereo front, and it was stealth and sounded good enough to win "best sound of show" 9 times.

Ahh, when I was young, dumped cash on toys, and could bend into weird shapes for hours working on a car... ;D

Being fat, old, and wise now, I choose different "toys" to play with and enjoy!

Unless you were a late bloomer, anybody who finished college in 1988 does not qualify for "old."  60 is the new 40, which means 45 (about your age, I am guessing) must be around the new 30.  Fat you can fix at any age.
Title: Re: What was your first car?
Post by: elmerfudd on August 10, 2011, 08:24:18 AM
Quote from: Solar on August 07, 2011, 09:10:45 AM
I too bought a car that looked like Hell, but screamed, which led me to sell it a month later, that is, after 10 speeding tickets.
So I bought a brand new Honda 750 which netted me an additional 21 tickets the following year.
Though I still do have my 1970 ElCamino I bought new in 1970.
Restored it three times, it now just sits dead, needs an engine and tranny.

I finally gave up on bikes a few years back after hitting my third deer on my Harley resulting in memory loss for more than a year. ???

I am certainly glad you seem to have recovered from the bike wreck.  Losing one's memory for a year sounds like a pretty serious, even life threatening, lick on the noggin.  Not that it's any of my business, but were you wearing a helmet at the time?
Title: Re: What was your first car?
Post by: Solar on August 10, 2011, 04:52:56 PM
Quote from: elmerfudd on August 10, 2011, 08:24:18 AM
I am certainly glad you seem to have recovered from the bike wreck.  Losing one's memory for a year sounds like a pretty serious, even life threatening, lick on the noggin.  Not that it's any of my business, but were you wearing a helmet at the time?
Oh yeah, it was a Bell full face, but I was going down a grade when the damn thing jumped off the cliff in front of me, I flew to the bottom of the down hill side of the road, only to stop on the upside part, like hitting a wall.

Losing ones memory isn't all that bad, you don't know what you forgot if you can't remember ??? .
Though I do know one thing I lost completely, was a complete collection of jokes I used to tell at parties, more than a hundred according to my friends, they said they miss that part.

But what was most frustrating was losing the concept of time, a year passed, seemed like a day and vice versa...
But I'm kind of back to normal, whatever in the Hell that means. :D
Title: Re: What was your first car?
Post by: Shanghai Dan on August 10, 2011, 06:52:53 PM
Quote from: elmerfudd on August 10, 2011, 06:54:48 AM
Unless you were a late bloomer, anybody who finished college in 1988 does not qualify for "old."  60 is the new 40, which means 45 (about your age, I am guessing) must be around the new 30.  Fat you can fix at any age.
Yeah, 45...  And all these young punks keep calling me old!  I'll just tell them to shuffle over to your lawn if they want to see a real cantankerous old fart... :)) :))
Title: Re: What was your first car?
Post by: Shanghai Dan on August 10, 2011, 06:54:03 PM
Quote from: Solar on August 10, 2011, 04:52:56 PMLosing ones memory isn't all that bad, you don't know what you forgot if you can't remember ??? .
You know, with some creative grant-writing, I bet you can twist that "accident" into a medical procedure for those who want to forget the last 2.5 years of politics! ;D
Title: Re: What was your first car?
Post by: Solars Toy on August 10, 2011, 06:56:51 PM
Quote from: Solar on August 10, 2011, 04:52:56 PM
Oh yeah, it was a Bell full face, but I was going down a grade when the damn thing jumped off the cliff in front of me, I flew to the bottom of the down hill side of the road, only to stop on the upside part, like hitting a wall.

Losing ones memory isn't all that bad, you don't know what you forgot if you can't remember ??? .
Though I do know one thing I lost completely, was a complete collection of jokes I used to tell at parties, more than a hundred according to my friends, they said they miss that part.

But what was most frustrating was losing the concept of time, a year passed, seemed like a day and vice versa...
But I'm kind of back to normal, whatever in the Hell that means. :D

So this is normal?    :-* :-* :-*
Title: Re: What was your first car?
Post by: elmerfudd on August 10, 2011, 07:56:53 PM
Quote from: Solars Toy on August 10, 2011, 06:56:51 PM
So this is normal?    :-* :-* :-*

Normal is overrated. And boring.
Title: Re: What was your first car?
Post by: walkstall on August 10, 2011, 08:31:25 PM
Quote from: Solars Toy on August 10, 2011, 06:56:51 PM
So this is normal?    :-* :-* :-*

As I remember, normal is no fun.   ;D