Your first vehicle that you owned!

[F and E Damp]

My first powered vehicle was a new 1958 Vespa 150. I sold it and switched to cars, my first being a 1938 Austin Seven. That had a 750 cc L-head four cylinder engine that put out about 22 horsepower on a good day. The cable-operated brakes would accomplish a panic stop from 50 mph in about a quarter mile!

Back to motorcycles for a while after that (a 1962 Ariel Leader, then a 1955 BSA A7). When we had our first child, we got a Heinkel bubble car. The entry door was all the front of the car and it had a 200 cc single cylinder engine and a four-speed transmission. My commuter vehicle was a Norton 650SS, which belonged to Norton, by whom I was then employed.

After we came to the US in 1968, our first car was a '65 Ford Falcon wagon and I got a commuter car (which I often wish I'd kept). It was a 1958 DKW, which manufacturer is now known as Audi. It had a 3-cylinder 2-stroke engine and was front wheel drive. It was interesting asking for 5 gallons of gas (not $5 worth) and then asking the station guy to wait while I poured a pint of oil into the tank. It was also unusual in having a four-speed column shifter and no clutch pedal. It had a system called "Automatic Stick Shift" later copied by VW. I paid $50 for the car and balked at having to buy four new tires and shocks after two years of use. I replaced it with an MG-1100 sedan, a front-wheel drive car based on the original Mini. The Austin America was the same body shape.

After getting laid off from Boeing, I got a job with a contractor at Nasa-Langley. I sold the MG to a workmate and traded the Falcon on a big 429 Mercury Colony Park, in which we moved across country. After returning to Seattle, we got rid of the Merc for a Chevy Impala wagon and a Chevette.

The Chevette became the daughters' car and we bought a new Toyota Camry. Our son got that later and the Impala went in trade for a Honda Accord, then the Accord for an Odyssey. We currently run an '03 Kia Sedona and don't have a second car (we're both retired).

[billy bob]

Boy do I wish that I had a photo of my 1st a 1939 Ford Coupe it was 10 years old cost $150.00. I was 14 and a Freshman in High School that was more years ago than I like to think about. Had a lot of fun with that old car. I must be the old man on the block

[capucine]

bend302: when I saw your picture of your studebaker it reminded me that I had a similar car in my collection of plastic models that I have been building since my early years. This model was made by AMT and it was built in the US>

[FreedomTracker]

1st car was a '71 Chevy Camaro... called it the "Green Machine". Added 8-Track and T-handle shifter. At age 16, drove 40 miles to work at Disney World (summer & weekends with lots of overtime) for a year to save and paid cash...

[miatared]

My first car was 1966 Rover 2000TC.

I can still hear my dad yelling at me that I was nuts to put oil in the carbs (the old SU carbs had a damper needing oil.)

It was a Jag for the poor in those days

[dretired]

67 Ford galaxie 500.... 289 C.I. ..bought from my Dad $400..drove it 2 1/2 years then bought my first "new"car a 73 Gran Torino..351 C.I

[carsonizik3]

1986 Nissan Sentra 5 speed. Handed down from my mother. She bought her a new Toyota.

[Bob6870]

1937 chevy 2 door coach. Bought in 1960 for $60.00.
Back then the licence plates came with the car!!

[MilCop4523]

1960 Austin A40 MK1 drove it in the woods and field next to our house where I grew up.
I stored it in a barn in 1975 and went back in 2009 to see if it was still there and what shape it would be in.
To my suprise the tires held air for a week before going flat again. The engine turns over (by hand)

It was my fathers which he purchased in 1960 in BC Canada. I hope to start restoration on it next summer if all goes well.

[PapaSmurf]

Mine was a 73 Vega, dark green. Best I remember it had a black vinyl interior that made your rear sizzle when you got in during the summer. No A/C, that was still a luxury option in the 70's. Then my next purchase was a 78 Chevette, cloth interior, but still no A/C. When we got married, my wife had a 74 Mercury Comet, her first car.

[Idle_Idylist]

1976 Oldsmobile Delta 88 it had a 455/turbo 400 trams and only 3x,xxx miles! I paid $20 for it from a neighbor doing a favor for a kid and you know what I did? Smoked the tires till it threw a rod! Not one of my best decisions but everything happens for a reason.

[hatstomper]

1967 Ford XL 500, 390ci, 650 Holley double pumper. Got along pretty good for a boat. The buck seats were big enough for 2 people in each and the steering wheel was HUGE.

[Oliver]

1956 Ford Fairlane 2-door hardtop, 1954 6-cylinder with a 3-speed column shift with overdrive and about a 4.10 rearend. Not fancy, but it rode really smooth and got 30 mpg over the road. Wish I still had it!

[tracer2011]

My first car was a 1966 Chevy Chevelle SS. I bought it in 1981 for 700.00! I only wish I still had it, it would have been worth a small fortune today.

[jar3316]

My first Car was a 1978 Chevy El Camino pale Cadillac yellow with brown interior.
kind of like these

[F and E Damp]

Miata Red:

I also had a Rover 2000TC, a 1968 model. A very well over-engineered car. I had universal joint problems. Each half-shaft on the deDion rear end had two, and the propshaft had two more. Each of them were upwards of $60. They transmitted maybe 125 horsepower. My 1970 Mercury Colony Park had a 300HP 429 and its UJs cost $19!

I also had a water-into-the comustion chamber problem. A 25-cent O-ring in the head gasket failed and resulted in me spending several hours changing the head gasket.

I started having valve clearance issues (tappet clatter). When I read the procedure to adjust them I sold the car!

[jd-ford-hd]

1940 Mercury Coupe. $25. I was 15 could not legally drive yet, but spent many hours dreaming in that car and which kept me out of trouble. Been a Ford man ever since...!!

[TRAVLINOHIO]

1989 Nissan Pulsar with t-tops!!

[mhartzel]

My first car (1994) was a 1966 Chevy Corvair Corsa 4-speed. (not mine but looked just like it). I loved this car. Even beat a 5.0L Mustang GT one night coming home from work.

The first car I owned with my own money, insurance... was a 1989 GMC Suburban 4x4 that my employer was liquidating. Great times bashing through the Michigan winters.

[sfrye5853]

1971 Ford XL, it was my Grand-ma's car and I really wanted it. This is an image off the internet, but it looked just like this.