ASM826 tagged me with the first car Meme, so here goes…
What was your first car? Model, year, color, condition
1963 Corvair Monza Spyder (150hp Turbo), it was black with red interior, four speed and leaked oil like a sieve… These pics are from the net, but reverse the colors and that is what I had… Mine wasn’t quite this pristine, I think it had around 10 or 12K on the clock…
What adventures did you have in it, good or bad?
Well, I was ‘banished’ from the driveway since it leaked oil so bad (even after my Grandfather and I rebuilt it twice, and it always had a weird little turbo ‘bobble’ at the top end that I could never get to smooth out, but after we got through playing with weight distribution, it handled pretty well. First car I ever drove on a ‘real’ first date, didn’t even get a kiss (hell I was only 15, didn’t really know what to do/expect). Did better on later dates though 🙂
Worst experience, driving down Hwy 71 to Shreveport right after a rain; jumped out to pass a truck and couldn’t get out of the ‘tracks’ in that old concrete highway to get back in my lane due to the front end floating/hydroplaning at about 90mph AND there was a semi coming the other way… Finally stomped the brakes, jerked right at the same time, and got enough bite to get back over, then had to stomp it to keep from being a hood ornament on the truck that I’d just passed…
Other ‘bad’ was I ran from and got away from the Sheriff’s Department one night, only to get home and find the Sheriff himself sitting on the front porch talking to my Mother (Lost the car/grounded for 2 months for that one)… sigh…
What happened to it, what’s the end of the story?
I sold it to a guy on the Texas side, he wrapped it around a telephone pole about a month later (even with the weight jacking, it STILL floated the front end at 90mph); I replaced it with a 66 GTO 389 tri-power, 4 spd, no power/air and BLACK interior (can we say roasted butt???)!
Lemme see… I’ll tag Bayou Renaissance Man, Julie from Jigsaw Thoughts, and Daddy Bear… And… Snigs 🙂
Enjoyed reading about your first car. Mine was a 67 Rambler~ Named him Elvis 🙂
Mine’s up at:
http://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2011/10/ooh-meme.html
And me? I’ll get it up in the morning…it’s been a day. I will say this- my first car featured a 455. 😀
Finally!
Someone with a 1st car older than 1980.
Mine was also a ’63, but a Buick Special v-6.
Instead of cartoon farming, I wrote up the post.
I hadn’t thought of a lot of that stuff in ages…
And I hope to hell my son doesn’t take up my driving habits. Or, if he does, God watches over him as He apparently watched over me. 🙂
http://snigs1spot.wordpress.com/2011/10/14/1st-car-meme/
Dude! Didn’t anyone tell you that car was “unsafe at any speed”?
😉
And GTO. Sigh.
My Mom had one of those, and that was the car I learned to drive in.
Went like stink, did NOT leak any oil, although it went through fan belts like Sherman went through Georgia.
We kept it until my sister got rear-ended by a semi ( ! ), and it was never the same after it came back out of the shop.
Thanks for tagging me Jim – it showed me just how little I actually think about cars 🙂
Anyway I’ve got my post up at http://jigsawsthoughts.blogspot.com/2011/10/my-first-car-meme.html
Grandpa’s ’74 AMC Hornet. I’m embarrassed to say I loved that car!
SS- Thanks
Peter- Love it!
Snigs- k 🙂
DT- Well, I AM older than you…LOL
BP- Grandpa and I DID rebalance it, I think it was 100lbs of lead between the front tires…
drjim- Yours had to be the ONLY one I’ve ever heard of that DIDN’T leak oil! Are you sure it ‘had’ oil? 🙂
Julie- Yep, slightly different perspective, which is why I asked y’all 🙂
Suz- THAT is funny!!! 🙂
That’s a pretty little car. I don’t think I’ve actually ever seen one close up.
My first was a VW bug. I put Purple Horny Headers on it, so it may have been just a beetle but it was the LOUDEST damn beetle in the city.
Brigid- At least your Beetle kept the front wheels on the ground ALL the time… And I remember those headers 🙂 LOUD is right!!!
OMG, a Corvair… My dad drove one back in the early 60’s, he gave it to my older sister. I remember it well, canary yellow! No turbo though, slow as hell. Had a little lever for the gear selection on the dash. LOL!!!
I almost forgot about the Chevy Corvair, thanks for the memory!
Danny- You’re welcome 🙂
Beautiful car!! I can’t imagine the look on your face when you drove up and the Sheriff was on your porch!!
’67 Mustang. Lots of rust held together by a few pieces of metal–does the City of Detroit still use salt on the roads in winter? Had it for the summer, I needed it to get to work at Dodge Main during summer break.
Replaces the water pump and fan, it vibrated so bad the bolt holes for the fan were slots about 2 inches long.
Sold it in fall. Took it backpacking before going back to school, my gear kept falling out through the holes in the trunk.
International Harvester Scout 4×4 pickup.
I loved that thing and to this day I miss it. It was uglier than Nancy Pelosi getting kicked out of a brothel’s unmade bed, but danged if that thing would climb a telephone pole with the torque and power it had.
‘Course, it wouldn’t hardly exceed 70mph, but it’d do seventy in mud up to its windows, snow up to the hood or dry pavement. Nothing got in its way.
No power steering, but it DID have power brakes–only way you could stop the beast. Four speed with one of those big long “Kenworth” type of gear shifts that stuck up almost parallel to the dash.
That made it great for dates because back then, no seat belt law and your date snuggled up right next to you.
I could always get a little boobie with my elbow shifting into second and fourth gears.
–AOA
Drang- Good one, and yeah Detroit WAS and IS known for their salt on the roads…
AOA- I saw one of those last week, it had been totally rebuilt and looked great (and brought back a bunch of memories)… I learned on a 53 Dodge Power Wagon with about the same characteristics, except it wouldn’t get over 45 🙂
Ohhh… that’s vintage! But I think black would have been a better color for it. Anyway, good thing you’ve sold it already. That thing is quite hard to maintain. 😀
That looks interesting! If that car were maintained, it would be cool to drive on the road. Vintage cars are all the rage right now, and they rival modern cars in terms of popularity. 🙂
I love this car! This is the same car I rode on my first road trip with my friends. This can be a cool car if restored properly. Just make sure you check all the parts before driving, since some may have deteriorated through wear and tear. 🙂
I love this car! This is the same car I rode on my first road trip with my friends. This can be a cool car if restored properly. Just make sure you check all the parts before driving, since some may have deteriorated through wear and tear. 🙂
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Vintage! Chic’s never going to get old. You have made unforgettable memories with that car, dude, and I hope it gets repaired ASAP. It must be really cool to drive it around. Too bad you experienced problems with it. Well, if you think it will cost you even more to have it repaired, you can sell it. You have kept good memories with it, and it would be a kind gesture to let somebody else experience the joy of having that car.
Ivo Beutler
I love this car! This is the same car I rode on my first road trip with my friends. This can be a cool car if restored properly. Just make sure you check all the parts before driving, since some may have deteriorated through wear and tear. 🙂