First car memories

Grampa Don

Grampa Don

Yep, that's me
Location
Orange county, Calif.
When I graduated from high school in the spring of 1957, I bought my first car, a 1948 Plymouth coupe. It cost me 200 dollars. I had saved up 100 dollars from my part time job and my folks gave me another 100 as a graduation present. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was transportation for dates, work, and college for four years.

The engine was a flat head six, and there was room enough under the hood that you could crawl in with it. It was a simple machine. The choke was a manual knob to pull. The wipers worked on engine vacuum. The air filter was oil filled, messy, but no cartridge to change. It had an AM radio that buzzed when you turned it on. The buzzing was a mechanical vibrator that was part of the power supply. It converted the six volt battery up to voltages needed for the vacuum tubes. No clock.

When I bought it the engine had a ticking sound. My older cousin said it was just a noisy tappet. He was wrong. After I drove it for 3 years a mechanic found that one of the pistons was cracked. By then, I was working part time at a service station and got it fixed cheap. It died on me once when my future wife and I were driving on Palos Verdes peninsula in the middle of nowhere. We hiked to a phone and she called her brother-in-law for help. He drove out, removed the glass dome off the fuel pump and emptied out some crud, put it back, and it ran again. What a great guy.

It was a good car for dates. The bench seat meant Janie could cuddle up right next to me as we drove. I put a brodie knob on the steering wheel so I could steer with one hand. She made fuzzy dice for the rear view mirror. I bought some fake white side walls that fit between the rim and tires. I didn't want to risk rubbing a curb and tearing them, so I also added curb feelers. With these things, you knew when you were near the curb.

It had terrible brakes. I could stand on them and still not lock the wheels. That made for some scary moments and taught me to look ahead in traffic. Of course there were no seat belts. So, I have mixed emotions about it. I certainly wouldn't want to drive it again, but I do think of it with some affection. Here is a photo of it after I had it re-painted.

Plymouth share.jpg

What was your first car like?

Don
 

My dad bought me a '55 Dodge station wagon to drive in 1965, my senior year in high school. My mom had gone back to working full time so someone had to drive the younger sibs around after school to all their lessons, etc. I had one hour between the time my school got out and the first kid had to be picked up, so that was one hour of freedom and driving around like an idiot. It had a "police interceptor" engine in it (whatever that was) and the boys were crazy about looking under the hood. When you stomped on the gas pedal, you could see the gas gauge go down, but it took off like a bat out of hell and gas was only 25 cents a gallon. I could pack a whole bunch of my friends in there and go cruising or to the drive in movies on Friday and Saturday nights. Fun, fun, fun.
 
When I came out of the military the first car I bought was a Dodge ragtop.

I should add that, at the time I lived in Detroit. When winter came, I realized what a foolish choice I made.
I kept it for about a year and traded it in for a more sensible little Chevy 2 door sedan and kept it for 5 years.

Foolish youth ! :rolleyes:
 
Falcon said:
When I came out of the military the first car I bought was a Dodge ragtop.

I should add that, at the time I lived in Detroit. When winter came, I realized what a foolish choice I made.
I kept it for about a year and traded it in for a more sensible little Chevy 2 door sedan and kept it for 5 years.

Foolish youth ! :rolleyes:
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Ah, yes, the Detroit winter. I spent two of my Detroit years with a car that had no working heater or windshield defroster. I drove with a muffler wrapped around my lower face so that I didn't steam/frost up the windshield and a scraper in my left hand because I never failed to steam up the windshield. Breathe, breathe, scrape, scrape.

foolish impoverished youth :eyesweretoofrozentoroll
 
Grampa Don said:
Steve -- You must have had a better job than I had. Those are sweet cars.

Don
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Hi Don, at the time I was an apprentice electrician and both vehicles were "pre owned" as they like to say today.
My dad, didn't give me any money, but did finance both cars at a better rate, so that helped a lot.

By 1972 I was married and had a son and the GTO was history. :dispirited:
 
I left home at a young age and as soon as I could I joined the Army and then after returning from 16 months in Vietnam and getting discharged I returned within a month and worked overseas for a few years so the very first car I ever purchased (at age 25) was in the spring of 1975 and it was a used, 1972, red, four door Datsun PL-510 when I returned stateside.

At the time I wasn't married and I knew it wouldn't be very long till I was approached about another position overseas so I wanted to stay cheap but yet reliable just in case I had to hurriedly get rid of it......I drove the heck out of that little Datsun for about a year and then headed back across the pond for a few more years.
 
My first car was the same year I was born. A 37 Buick. It was a car given to my dad, and he gave it to me on my 17th birthday. It was a mess when I got it, but spent all winter getting it cleaned up an painted white side walls on the tires.
 

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My 1st car was a 1958 Lincoln convertible my mother's friend sold me for $50. White with a red leather interior and it actually ran! Since I was in a BOCES auto body class in high school, I was able to do some work and made it nice. It even had an electric glass window in the rear of the convertible top!!! (pic not mine, but the same)
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first car I bought was upon separation from the navy for the first time. 1966 pontiac bonnevile. I bought it with my sep pay and drove it from w.vir. to wa.
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My first car was a 1953 Black/White Chevrolet Bel Air that I bought in 1956 in Tampa Florida for $800 Cash. I had won over $1,000 in a GI Poker Game during the four years of my military enlistment. I was discharged in 1957 and drove the car from Tampa, Fla. to San Francisco, Ca.
 
Lon -- My wife's first car was also a '53 Chevy Bel Air. Here's a photo of it in front of her folks' house.

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Her Dad bought it for her, and she loved it. But, after three fender benders that weren't really her fault, he decided it was a jinx and traded it for a '58 Chevy that she never cared for.

Don
 
my first... but by no means my last was my 55 chevy high school transportation. It was perfect (for me anyway) glass tilt nose, glass doors, plexiglass side windows, early ford straight axle with buggy spring, 331 cu. in. engine setback almost under the dash, 57 olds rear with long ladder bars. I held onto it until 2002 when unexpected medical bills forced me to sell.
 

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My first car was a '59 Ford Galaxy, red with a white top. I don't know anything about its innards, but I did LOVE that car. I told my dad I wanted a car and he said the immortal words "Wanna car? Getta job." So I got an after school job in an office. He actually bought the car for me, but handed me the payment book and said if I missed a payment it was going back. I never did.
 
The pictures of these classic cars are wonderful! My first car was also a Chevy Bel Air. It was a 1954. Green and white and I paid $25 for it. My second car was a blue 61 Ford Falcon. My third, and favorite car, was a brand spanking new burgundy 1966 Ford Mustang. Loved that car. Trading that car in is on my regrets list. :(
 
Mine was a 64 Ford Falcon convertible. My aunt let me have it for $175, after her husband/my uncle died. That was in 1970, just before I graduated high school. It was in really good condition, but it had brake failure about a year later. I replaced the discs, bled the brakes a couple of times, and had to check the brake fluid every time I drove it. After my first son was born, I sold it for $500 and bought a ...um, pretty sure that's when I got the 61 Impala. That was a great family car.
 

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