Your First Car !

HiDesertHal

HiDesertHal

Senior Member
Location
Southern California's High Mojave Desert
Hello,

What was your first automobile and how much did you pay for it?

Mine was an old, used 1934 Plymouth Sedan, for which I paid $35 in 1952. It was the only car older than me! (Born in 1936)

It didn't have a muffler, so I had to drive it home slowly to minimize the noise.

Our neighborhood mechanic/blacksmith sold me a used muffler and welded it on, all for one dollar.

I then had $36 invested in my ride!

As of today, I've owned 27 cars, from the 1930's, 1940's, 1950's, 1960's, 1970's, 1980's, 1990's, and 2000's.

Of the eight new cars I bought, I paid cash for seven of them. When I was discharged from the Army in 1962, I wanted to establish credit, so I bought a new Chevy Impala Hardtop on a 24-month contract. (Which I paid off early.)

So I had a taste of car payments, never liked 'em, and never had another car payment since!

HiDesertHal
 

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The first car I drove was a '52 chevy. It was 20 yrs old. I only drove it around the farm. One of the gears didn't work so it was a challenge to get it to any speed. Then another gear went out. Or maybe it was the clutch.
The first car I owned was a '67 Chevelle/Malibu. I didn't really want it, but my parents insisted that it was a good car at a good price. It was 10 yrs old.
I've lost track of how many cars I've owned - went through quite a few when I was in the Air Force and then a few more when I was recovering from divorce. I've had 13 motorcycles - I've still got 5 of them.
 
A Green 1952 Dodge Wayfarer.

I don't have any pictures of it, but I found this one of a 1950 on the net and it's looks a lot like I remember it.

092016-Barn-Finds-1950-Dodge-Wayfarer-2.jpg

I bought it in late 1963 from a little old lady in a trailer park. It cost me $65.

It had a straight six and with three on the column plus fluid drive so you could stop without putting in the clutch.

It only had 70 some thousand miles on it, but it burned oil like crazy. The rings were shot. But those old sixes would would keep running. I always kept a couple of quarts of the cheapest oil I could find in the trunk. When I stopped to fill up with gas I wouldn't even bother to check the oil at first. I'd just go ahead and put in a quart because I knew it would take that. Then after I finished gassing up I'd check the oil to see if it needed a second quart, which it did most of the time. But it was built like a tank. I could stand on the roof with my whole 190 lbs and it was like standing on solid ground. I wouldn't try that with any of today's cars. Another time I was driving down a road through the woods and kind of spun out and slammed into a pine tree. It made a little shallow dent about the size of a small salad plate. It probably would have almost totaled one of today's cars.

Right after I got it I took it out on the highway to "open it up" and see what it would do. It took a while but it finally topped out at about 83 or 84. Then my friend that was with me said "Look out the back!" I had been keeping my eyes on the road ahead, but when I looked in the rear view mirror all I could see was black smoke. It was the biggest black cloud I have ever seen in my life. I took my foot off the gas and never tried that again. I had it for about a year and a half and then sold it for 100 bucks. It was the only car I ever made money on.
 

My first car was a blue Ford Anglia exactly like the one in the Harry Potter film which I bought when I was seventeen for ÂŁ50 off a friends brother.
But my favourite car was a Vauxhall f series which was imported for me from my Uncle in Belgium. Bench seats, column change, left hand drive, three speed gearbox and lots of chrome to polish
This is a photo of one but mine was cream colour all over.
6883541_kindlephoto-190065001.jpg
 
I was living in NYC. One day in '75-'76, my parents called and wanted to give me my brother's 72 (?) Dodge Rambler. This was not something they usually did. I didn't understand why they didn't sell it. There was something going on with my brother and my parents, but what??? Besides having a car in NYC is a pain. What you pay for your home mortgage is what you pay for a garage space in NYC. There's alternate side of the parking rules. You've got to move your car every other day. You can rack up parking fines of thousands real easy. Well, that was my first car. My brother never did explain the bullet holes.
 
Hey Pappy,

You got your Straight Eight before I did, but yours had the famous Buick "Valve-in-Head" engine!

The 1937 "Special" had the 248 cu.in. 100 HP engine.

The 1937 "Century","Roadmaster", and "Limited" had the 320 cu.in. engine, developing a strong 130 HP, but the 1941 Century offered the optional dual-carburetor "Fireball" engine, which developed 165 HP and gave the Century an honest 100 MPH, which was even faster than the Cadillac and Lincoln of the day.

My only Straight Eight was a 1946 Pontiac, with a flat head engine of 107 HP.

HiDesertHal
 
A 1953
139063_Front_3-4_Web.jpg
Chevrolet that I paid with $800 of poker winnings in Tampa, Florida. I then drove the car to San Francisco 1957.
 
HiDesertHal said:
Hey Pappy,

You got your Straight Eight before I did, but yours had the famous Buick "Valve-in-Head" engine!

The 1937 "Special" had the 248 cu.in. 100 HP engine.

The 1937 "Century","Roadmaster", and "Limited" had the 320 cu.in. engine, developing a strong 130 HP, but the 1941 Century offered the optional dual-carburetor "Fireball" engine, which developed 165 HP and gave the Century an honest 100 MPH, which was even faster than the Cadillac and Lincoln of the day.

My only Straight Eight was a 1946 Pontiac, with a flat head engine of 107 HP.

HiDesertHal
Click to expand...

What the photo doesn't show is the old tin coffee pot and a gallon can of 30 weight oil in the trunk. One trip into town, about two miles and back, was good for at least one quart of oil, yet, it didn't smoke that bad.:sentimental:
 
My first car was a '57 Ford wagon. I bought it for 25 dollars from a neighbor. This was purely a field car.
My first road legal car was a '64 Chevy Biscayne ,followed by a '66 Hurst Olds.
 
My first new car, just like the picture below, with chrome skirts. '62 Ford Galaxy convertible... don't remember purchase price..

But I do remember that I had the car exactly 4 MONTHS before I was hit head-on by a drunk man, and the car totaled out!


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Trade said:
Wow!

You are lucky to be alive!

Were you hurt badly?
Click to expand...

No I wasn't Trade. ...
What happened was that he took out my driver door and forced me across the car seat. I had a lot of bruising on my leg and arm, but at the hospital I just needed calming more than anything.
Convertibles get totaled out when the frame is bent ... the frame was sorta in U shape.
 
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