What was your first car/favorite car?

[James614]

My first was an '87 Jetta. I thought it was total awesomeness at the time.... it was a GLI, with the sport suspension but not the 16V engine. I thought I was such hot shit with my 107hp I drove it like I stole it every day for 2 years in high school, and I even convinced myself that cranking the handbrake in corners was drifting.

I didn't know that tire-smoking starts were also the slowest..... I thought it was "good in the snow", but I guess everyone thinks that when 1 wheel drive is all they know.... I thought octane booster a) actually boosted octane and b) made your car run better..... I thought plugging the breather was a good idea because of the oil in the intake.....

Holy crap I was stupid.


My 2nd and was my 1983 Chrysler 5th Avenue. It was the last of Chrysler's RWD beasts before the new 300/Charger. It had a 5.2L (318) V8 with an amazing 130hp @ 3800rpm.

It got 10mpg. It had some sort of electronically controlled carburator & ignition system that was better at completely failing in the middle of intersections than providing fuel & spark (eventually replaced it with a traditional carburator and electronic ignition). It had 3 catalytic converters, 2 of which were clogged. The oil filter was expertly block by the exhaust manifold. 2-quart leaks @ startup from the oil sender are a "common problem".

I think it embodied the true spirit of detriot iron perfectly

[Manarius]

The first car I ever drove on a regular basis was my 1991 Legacy. It was a great car. Extremely reliable, reasonably fast, great traction, was like a tank.

Now I have a 1995 SVX. It's a ton faster than the legacy, unbelievable traction, but something is always broken on it. Nothing major, just little nagging things that always pop up. As is the story with most SVX's though.

[SubiePrice88]

My First was a 86 Dodge D50 4x4 (four wheel drive only spun 1 tire) got it for free than sold it a year later for $700.

My favorite is probably my newest addition, 92 SS

[brand]

If you've ever seen Dazed and Confused, some kids are ripping a bong in the back of one at the park.

They're not rocking the parade boot though.

[fishbone79]

First: 1963 Ford Fairlane (with a 427, but not a thunderbolt before anyone jumps on me). I ripped allot of bingers in the back of that car

Favorite: 1992 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. I crashed her into a ravine at 226,000 miles, rest in pieces. That car got 28 mpg, rode like a dream on the highway, never had a single major problem, and the 6 cyl had balls.

Biggest POS: 1996 Saab 9xx turbo... Bought it for $250 with 70k on it and a blown tranny. Replaced that, and the rest of the car basically self destructed over the course of the following week.

[gijonas]

Not my first but one of my favs,and my current DD.

[cj91legss]

Unfortunately...... 1982 Jaguar XJ6.... I payed 571 for it on ebay, drove down to Portland OR to get it and drove it home with only having to replace the rear brake pads... They were in the middle of the axle. i hated that as well.

THEN traded that for my Legacy and 500 bucks cash.... then did the conversions, etc...

[evolutionmovement]

Friggin' Jaguar inboard brakes. Had one side of the whole rear sub assembly from an XKE fall on me from about 3 feet. Eurotrash. Though I'd live with the stupid engineering for an XKSS or D-Type replica built to original plans.

[shtbxr22]

My first car........1970 4-door chevelle. still have it, and it's for sale.

[kimokalihi]

Not my first but one of my favs,and my current DD.

That's totally the shit right there! Badass

[Subtle]

My first car carries my most mortifying experience. The story will take this thread back a generation.

I finished high school in 1954, and with a summer job had saved up enough to buy a 1931 Ford Model A coupe--for $40.

It had tall skinny wheels and tires, perhaps 22X3.5 wheels, which did not look cool. Put on 16-inch steel rims off a later Ford with bigger tires. The five-hole pattern seemed to fit.

Now that looked good, so we went to the next small town cruising for girls--there was a baseball tournament at a diamond with bleachers packed with people. A gravel road ran around the outer perimeter of the field so we parked there. After awhile and disappointed that the girls were not coming over to talk with us, I decided to move on.

In order to attract some attention I dropped the clutch and accelerated as fast as I could. It was on washboard gravel and the rear axle was pounding up and down, when all of a sudden the left rear wheel came off--and passed us. This was the side facing the crowd.

My buddy broke up and could barely say that we had a problem. I put the brakes on and the left rear skidded down on the brake drum and the crowd went wild--what an ovation!

Not the kind of attention we were hoping for, but that was just the start. The spare was mounted on the back above the bumper and I didn't have enough money to buy the fifth solid wheel and thought the original skinny wire wheel too uncool to mount.

No spare.

But, there was a service station a few blocks away that had a Model A parked there. Walking back rolling a borrowed skinny wheel and tire provoked even more of a response.

I don't think they called the game, but we drove away with very little dignity and the left rear corner riding higher than the rest of the car.

The bolt pattern did not quite fit and cracks were radiating out from each bolt hole and one had failed.

[manicrabbit]

My first car was a Toyota Corolla, a hand-me-down from my father. It was a good car, until my brother wrecked it into some lamp post...

[Dynamic Entry]

Subtle - good story! I mean, sorry that you had to endure the embarrassment, but thanks for sharing. It's amazing to me to realize what you have seen and done before I was born.


Manic - welcome to the board! What year Corolla? AE-86?

[fishbone79]

Subtle - that's a great story!

[N1446]

1987 GPZ305 - very clean & belt driven - sold age 16
1988 ZX600R favorite light-weight bike sold 17
1992 ZXR750 favorite superbike - traded 23
1990 audi 90 Quattro 20v - Wrecked 21 - favorite SS - subject to change*
1990 Toyota celica gt 5mt to work and back' 24
1983 pontiac firebird se 5.0 T-roof summer car 25
1991 subaru legacy ss 5mt - work in progress *

[monty's legacy]

1985 Monte Carlo Sport Coupe, V8, white with maroon interior. Awesome care one day I will have another G-Body

[evolutionmovement]

There's an '85 Monte Carlo SS with an LS1 in my 2nd-4th books.

[206er]

A bunch of Rabbits and GTIs. Still always have my eye out for a clean swallowtail.

my rabbit was probably the car i regret selling the most. now i really want to put a 1.6td in a german rabbit. maybe a caddy too.

[Legacy777]

There's an '85 Monte Carlo SS with an LS1 in my 2nd-4th books.

Speaking of your other books, any update on when they may be out?

[evolutionmovement]

Finishing the rewrite on 2 to match 3 & 4 and fix some retarded parts that weren't working today (more or less). Who knows what that means about it coming out. I'm doing an independent publishing expo in NYC in Nov. that my editor friend thinks will be huge with the big publishers scouting, so I'm hoping it may get bought out by one of them. I'm bringing a Book 2 manuscript for the hell of it. Looking forward to the opportunity to sell out!

"Sure you can make Dante gay and set the whole thing at Woodstock, and take out the killing and make it all about drugs and how awesome the Boomers are. And I can write a story about Diana as an independently wealthy witty and sassy single woman in NY, touring martini bars at night while filling her days with an obsession for pointlessly consuming shoes and handbags and having meaningless encounters with man-whores and douchebags. Just fund my Tigershark build."

[Suigintou]

Lesse, I've been driving for a few years. I'm pretty poor so I get to deal in trash. Technically, my first car was a 94 Dodge Caravan that I found behind my friends Bike shop for 500$. I bought it and learned how to drive in enough to take my drivers test.

Shortly after that dad's Christ-it-broke-again-ler Lebaron finally coughed up the ghost. So I gave him my van and went out headhunting for a car once more. Found a 1993 Buick Regal in rough shape for 500$. That car I drove for over 2 years before I came across my Subie. I am still fond of the Buick, for 180K miles it still ran and shifted perfect.

Funny story about that Buick though, while I was looking for stuff at Autozone for the Subie I just bought, an old friend of mine said "hey". So we started talking about cars naturally cuz last time he'd seen me I only had my permit and no car at all. As he talked, he mentioned to me "You know, one of the best cars I ever owned was a Buick." I was like "yeah? Me too. Buick Regal." He starts telling me about the stuff he's done to his car and how he gave it to his mom afterward. That mom part tipped me off so just out of a hunch I'm like "Hey, what color's yur car?". He says "Blue" then I ask a couple other questions and before you know it, we're laughing our asses off. I had bought his Buick Regal that his mom had traded in. "She's been around the block".

I still have the Buick if anyones interested........500$

[Redlined]

First car was a 74 Mazda Spourts Coupe. Mind has blanked on the model name. Dad bought it for me for my 16th Birthday. Jerked the motor and trans. Stripped the interior. Dissembled the motor. and told me if I could get it all back together it was mine.

It was probably the single most important thing my father did for me.

Favorite car is kinda a toss up. In my 20s I had a 1968 Plymouth Baracuda. Bought it stripped from a friend of mine who was trying to shoe-horn a 440 into it and gave up. I dropped in a modified small black. The car was brutal. think the Monty Carlo from Tokyo Drift. Everything it did was drama, Straight line acceleration was loud and accompanied by tons of wheel spin. Cornering was accompanied by tons of tire squeel Understeer at turn in and oversteer leaving the corner. hard breaking always met with the rear tires locking up. To quote Jeremy Clarkston "as wounderfull stupid and as wounderfull as a pet elephant". In my 30s I had a 85 MR2 in primo condition. quick, fast, insanely agile, and the insurance was more than the car payments. And now I have my Angel wich I am thuroughly in love with. total Antithesis to my old Barracuda, no drama what so ever. step on the gas, she accelerates. step on the breaks, she stops, turn the wheel, and unless your doing something totally stupid she turns. no muss, no fuss. and while she looks good. she doesn't draw..... negative attention.