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Stories Of Folks 1st Cars
Welcome From Mac's Pack Car Club We thought Neat To Ask Folks To Tell Us About Thier Very 1st Car.
http;//autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/macsclubhouse
Subject: My First Car (and first children's book about cars)


Author:
Frank
[Edit]
Date Posted: 21:33:47 11/10/06 Fri
My first car was a brown 77 camaro with leaky T-Tops and 90k miles. I bought it when I was 16 for $1800 and was so, darn proud! Got a ticket immediately. I remember having to clean the spark plugs every 1000 miles. Honestly, I don't miss it :-)

I became a car guy, tho.

My first children's book about cars was just published. It's interactive, you can add your own car to the book. Please check it out:
http://www.mypicturebook.com

Frank

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Subject: 1947 Chevrolet 2 door sedan


Author:
John McCann
[Edit]
Date Posted: 13:24:17 11/10/06 Fri
My first car was a 1947 Chevrolet 2 door sedan that my dad bought for transportation while his Nash Ambassador was in the shop for some major repairs. After he got his car back he gave the 47 to me and I bought an air compressor and spray gun and put it in our garage to paint it Black. when I was almost finished and had just painted the trunk, the garage door opened and there was dad checking up on the paint job amidst a swirl of Cottonwood seeds that covered the freshly painted car, a little thinner and a rag got me back to square one and after all that, the paint job looked pretty good for a first attempt.

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Subject: Anglia 105E from Ford of England


Author:
WHV
[Edit]
Date Posted: 07:41:16 04/19/05 Tue
Back in high school, a friend of mine had a 1961 Anglia from England, 997cc 4-banger, 4-speed manual and a 4.11 rear end stock. It also weighed in at 1600 lbs, a real "flyweight flyer." I bought it from him in 1971, rebuilt it and painted it up a bit, and commuted to high school in it my senion year 1972. I graduated in May-72 and in June I started racing it at the old Green Valley Raceway in Ft. Worth Texas. That year I won 5 trophies beating VW's and other foreign cars. Later in college, I cut out the floor, firewall and front end, cut-off the front body work and put in a rectangular tube frame in preparation for installing a Small Block Chevy. That's where the project ended with no funds to complete it. In 1974 after joining the U.S. Coast Guard, my dad got rid of the little "eyesore" and I never saw it again. In fact, I have only seen one other 105E Anglia since then. If I had the opportunity to get another one, I'd sell my present race car and finish the original project with the SBC. Very unique vehicle indeed!
WHV

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Subject: My first car


Author:
Joy
[Edit]
Date Posted: 14:32:43 07/28/06 Fri
This could be embarassing.. My first car was a 1969 Datsun B210.. When I bought it, it didn't run and the whole 3 weeks that I owned it.. it never ran...but I sold it for a running car.. A 1970 Pinto Wagon.. OK, no joke.. I guess the neat thing about it was, it was a Pinto Woodie.. Well, it had the fake wood grain inserts down the side.. It was one of the most dependable cars I ever owned.
How about a little family history.. My parents never owned a car until 1965.. and the first family car was a 1959 Mercury Commuter station wagon... followed a few years later by a 1961 Ford Country Squire Station Wagon - Woodie.

Soon I got the station wagon bug out of my blood... after that I owned a: Ford Granada, Toyota Celica, Ford Courier, Ford Bronco II, Ford T-bird, Datsun 280Z, Corvette, and maybe a few others sprinkled in here and there...
My current line up is considerably more exciting.. but THAT is another story...

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Subject: My first Val


Author:
Alison
[Edit]
Date Posted: 16:32:57 02/20/06 Mon
My first car was a 1970 Plymouth Valiant Duster, pea green with an indestructible /6. I really wanted my brother’s ’73 Dodge Polara but he refused to sell it to me saying it was unreliable. What 16 year old dreaming of their first car thinks about reliable?? I had been driving his Polara for the last year while he traveled around the country on his motorcycle and just loved it. I could put 4 people in the front seat and 4 more in the back. It had A/C and an 8 track!
So anyway I ended up buying my sister’s Duster, which was also her first car. She bought it off the Chrysler employee lease lot in Detroit and drove it literally all over the world. She was in the Air Force and took the car with her to Greece, Yugoslavia, and all over the US. By the time I got it, it had over 100,000 miles but she had taken great care of it. I never got further from home than Canada and Ohio but it never once even came close to letting me down.
Being a dopey kid I sold it after about a year to one of my teachers. He drove it for years after that. I tried a bunch of other cars but ended up settling back to A bodies (Darts and Valiants) and drove them until I couldn’t find them anymore.
That is until I moved out of the rust belt….now I have another Valiant.

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Subject: 74 Charger SE


Author:
Mark
[Edit]
Date Posted: 12:13:28 12/02/05 Fri
My first car was a 1974 Dodge Charger SE, that I bought from a friend of the family for $300. It had a cracked block when I bought it, but a month earlier, my Grandmother had rolled her 68 Dart. So we put that engine (318) into the Charger. Had the car for two years until I hit a parked firetruck, just before I joined the Military.

Mark

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Subject: My First car 1961 Pontiac Star Chief 4dr Sedan (Moby Dick)


Author:
Carrie Rahm
[Edit]
Date Posted: 16:49:45 09/02/05 Fri
The very first car that was truly 100% mine was a 1961 Pontiac Catalina 4dr Sedan Star Chief. After taking Mike's (my current husband of 34 years) friend for a ride in it (Jim drove a brand new 68 SS 396Camaro, all set of for racin), riding in the back seat he complained "I think I am getting sea sick". I have the perfect name for this car, since it is white with red interior, I feel like I have been swallowed up by a whale. That is how my 61 Earned it's nick name. Moby Dick the great white whale.

I bought this car in October of 1968 Thru that first winter I would go out and start the car every morning, it was so darn cold that the doors wouldn't shut but once I got it started and warmed up the doors would finally shut and off to work I went. Needless to say I was a bit worried about the abilities with it's slow cranking in the cold and unclosable doors, but once it warmed it and I got in to set off for work, the car warmed my heart every morning.

When Spring finally came, I took this car out to the drag races with Jim and his Camero and Mike's new 69 SS 396 Chevelle set up just like Jim's Camaro. Since I had to work on Saturdays, they got out to the drag stip long before I got off work, so one night a couple of weeks into the spring racing season, I decided to run powder puff in Moby. Took it out on the stip and watched Mike and Jim doubling over with laughter at my 15 and 17 second races. Every time I put a time bracket on Moby's windshield for powder puff, Moby would win the race, but break out of the time I had posted on the windshield!!!! WHAT A CAR!!!!

Later that Spring trajedy sruck, I had to make an emergency stop when a car pulled out from a parking place on a busy street right in front of me, and the guy following me in a two ton Pepsi truck claimed the sun was in his eyes and didn't see me stop, ran into the back of Moby doing 30 mph. After I seattled with Pepsi. I now had the money to buy my dream car.

Moby gave its life so that I could buy my 1968 SS 396 Chevelle. Since Mike had dubbed his El Camino El Kabong, we decided to name my Chevelle Bobalouie. Moby was one FINE car, I will never forget my first car, all the fun and worry that old car gave me in the short time I owned it. Moby will ALWAYS have a special place in my heart.

Carrie

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Subject: My first car a 1951 Ford


Author:
Jeff Brookings
[Edit]
Date Posted: 08:26:50 05/31/05 Tue
I grew up in a gas company camp that had 35 families and a bunch of baby boomer kids. My best friend and I pestered one of my dad's friends until he sold us his 1951 Ford 2 door sedan for $10.00. We didn't have the required funds, so we proceeded to mow yards and wash cars until we both saved $5.00 Everyone in camp helped us with old tires, mechanical expertise and old parts until we got it running. We tore low and reverse out trying to spin the tires and the hood came loose at about 80 mph and was discarded on a dirt road in the oil fields. In six weeks, our friendship was on the rocks and everyone in camp was ready to see that car gone. We sold it for $40.00 to one of the men that worked there for a parts car. We salvaged the friendship and both of us became the "car nuts" we still are today. Second car was a 1949 Ford, but that's another story for another day.

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Subject: 1st New Car - 1957 Ford Custon Tudor


Author:
C.A.McMillin
[Edit]
Date Posted: 11:43:15 04/27/05 Wed
I guess next to that very first car you get,the next best thing is the first new car.

I got mine on the last day of 1957 sales year,the 1958's were due in the showroom that next morning.

The sales man took me into the garage area and there it sat
bright white in color.

It had a 6 cylinder,I thought it's beeter than walking.

It was really a base model,I added a radio and antenna,fender skirts,and outside rear view mirrors.

I later added a glaspack muffler,4 bar spinner hubcaps and lake pipes.

I dated my wife in it and went on our honeymoon in it.

I would love to have it back.

Strange I never really like the 57 Chevy,I liked the 57 Ford,I got my car.

What I really like about the 57 Ford was how the hood opened.

Mac

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Subject: First car


Author:
Tony Schumpert
[Edit]
Date Posted: 11:59:23 04/26/05 Tue
My first car was a 1977 Honda Civic. About as plain as you can get. AM radio, 4 speed, no A/C. I replaced the 12" Civic wheels with 13" Accord wheels and added a roof rack. That made it look a little bigger than the other Civics around. Then I replaced the stock muffler with a custom one maed from a dual motorcycle muffler. That actually gave it a great sound, and if I downshifted from 4th to 3rd gear quickly, my friends said that it shot fire a couple of feet out of the pipe. It was a fun car, and I sorta wish that I still had it.

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Subject: My first car


Author:
Jim Nulf, Sr.
[Edit]
Date Posted: 07:29:10 04/22/05 Fri
My first car was a 1952 Plymouth station wagon purchased for $10.00 at the age of 13. It didn't run at the time I bought it but that didn't matter to me. I convinced myself I could fix it, after all I knew a lot about bicycles, how hard could it be to fix a flathead 6 cylinder?
As it turned out, not so bad but that was only because I had help. If there hadn't been a couple of guys who knew all about cars in my life I would have been up the creek without a paddle. No tools to speak of, no experience, no clue. So with the help of a few books pilfered and leased out of a couple of libraries, a few borrowed tools and a huge desire to show my dad and mom I could do this (my mom had confidence in my ability while my dad was sure I would fall flat on my face), I set about my business.
I made a deal with my father that if I were sucessful, he would take me down to DMV in Jacksonville, Florida and allow me to get what was called a "Hardship DL". This license was primarily used for those who lived and worked on farms. It allowed a person of 13 to drive a vehicle to and from school and in connection with the family business. Since my parents owned and operated a small furniture store at the time, we qualified because I was needed in the family business. My father thought it was a safe bet and agreed thinking I would never get it running again. He continually offered to call the local junk yard and have them haul it off and perhaps recoupe some of my foolishly spent funds.
Well, he was wrong. I did it. It took me six months of concentrated effort but I did get it going and drove the car for several years.
I called the car "Thumper" and had a tarp cover made out of canvas that covered the entire rear of the car from the drivers seat back fastened with snaps just under the windows with a huge Disney rabbit painted on it. The artist was my sister who was really good at that sort of thing. I sure had fun with that car and still wish I had never sold it even if I did replace it with a really neat Shoebox after seeing the movie Thunder Road.
Jim Nulf, Sr.
Member of The Carolina Cruisers

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Subject: 1933 Plymouth coupe


Author:
Chuck
[Edit]
Date Posted: 16:04:02 04/21/05 Thu
After high school classes in 1950 I worked in a junk yard in Central Jersey. $18.00 was withdrawn from my salary to pay for the coupe. I think it was 50 cents per hour back then.
It ran very good, smoked a lot even at idle. It had free wheeling. Big knob stuck in middle of the dash.Coasted down hills very well. Probablem was the brakes were hydraulic and cylinders leaked. The master cylinder was under the drivers side floor board. My buddy that road with me would at intervals pour condensed milk in it when brakes would not pump up.
No muffler, just a straigt pipe. I did that before I even bought the car. It was a nice shiny black. Had no headlights. Nice big chrome grille. Radiator leaked until we filled it up with tobacco from about a half a pack of Lucky Strikes.
Had coil springs but one side sagged a bit. I put about 8 bricks on the good side and it looked neat. A word we used a lot in them days. Today it is cool or rad, not sure which.
It had a very short windshield. Has a lot of gas ration stickers covering the cracks on passenger side.
I traded it for a '33 Chev 2 dr sedan with no trunk. It had headlights so I could drive at night. Carried more girls too. Girls did not drive much. They were good for buying gas and other things.
I have never been able to find another 33 Chev 2 dr like that. Best old car I ever owned. Really took a beating.
Chuck http://cmbtow.com

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Subject: Great Rememberances...


Author:
Jim Johnson
[Edit]
Date Posted: 07:33:26 04/20/05 Wed
In 1966 I bought the first car I ever had as sole owner. Previously I'd "shared" two cars with college chums and owned a long line of motorcycles.

I was in the Air Force and stationed in England. One night while walking from the local pub back to the base, around the corner came a low slung looking thing with wing fenders, huge wire wheels, and a skinny little windshield. With nothing on but running lights (Do the Brits still drive that way?), it was the coolest looking and neatest sounding car I'd ever seen. It stopped about a block down the high street where I was able to ask the driver about it. MG-TC. 1940's. I resolved right then and there to own one.

About a week later, a Brit friend announced that his brother had one for sale. I broke my arm getting to my wallet and forked out 300 Sterling Pounds for it as it was in pretty good condition and running reliably. It was a 1946 MG-TC, reg. KPP123, and I loved it. I drove it all over Europe. In 1968 I sold it in the heat of passion and used the money to buy a wedding ring for my first wife. Man, what an idiot I was!!

Last year I bought a 1968 MG Midget just to try to bring back some of the memories of that wonderful old car and because I can't afford the $25K to $35K that a decent TC brings these days. Soon I retire. When I do, I'll be ready to sell the Midget and a few of my antique motorcycles, throw in a little cash, and buy another TC. I may never even drive it. I'll just park it in the middle of the shop, start it up from time to time, polish it, and sit for hours just looking at it.

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Subject: First car


Author:
Bill Krieger
[Edit]
Date Posted: 07:02:00 04/20/05 Wed
My first car was a 1929 Model A that I bought in 1956 (I was just 16 years old). My buddy Jim rescued it from a farmer's field in Frankfort, Illinois and got it running. Since the wood and cloth in the roof had disappeared, he covered it in galvanized steel. You would open the trunk with your finger (the handle had long ago disappeared) and you saw the road - the pan had rusted out. Also despite the fact it was a five window coupe, both doors and the right rear quarter windows were gone.

Anyway, Jim wanted $55.00 for the car and I had the cash from car hopping at a local drive-in so I asked my Dad if I could buy the "A". He said a flat "NO!" My grades weren't too good, I had no money for insurance and he wasn't going to give a 16 year old a car until he understood the responsibility of having a car. I listened to him closely and then went out and bought the darned car! Amazingly - I didn't get thrown out of the house but Dad was awfully silent for a long time.

I had a lot of fun with that car and learned a ton about the inner workings of the automobile because I was always tinkering with it. I have a bunch of stories about that Model "A" but I've taken up too much bandwidth now.

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Subject: 1951 Ford


Author:
Ken Leonard
[Edit]
Date Posted: 13:22:47 04/19/05 Tue
My first car was a 1951 Ford I bought for something like $200 back in 1958 or so. Believe it was green. Flat head V8. Those were the days when you could get an Early Sheibe (SP?) paintjob for $19.95. A friend(?) of mine said he could paint it for the same price. I let him do ikt and a week later the car was orange peel city! Arghhh! Anyway, I wrecked the car and boght a 1949 Ford. I liked the dash in the '51 much better so put the '51 dash in the '49. Since the wiring was all hard wired in those days it took a lot of work and thought for this (then) 17 year old kid.

BTW, I am putting a link to this site on my new Classic Car Resource Guide. Check it out at:

http://porg.4t.com/cc01.html

Ken Leonard
Belmont Shore, SoCal
http://porg.4t.com/cc01.html

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Subject: My First rige


Author:
Bobby Royal
[Edit]
Date Posted: 12:55:40 04/19/05 Tue
My First carwas a 47 Ford Biz coupe. The man before me only had a left arm, on the old fords you could change the gear shift to the left side.
I went and looked at the car (it was $25.00.....yes $25.00)
I found out how to change it back and said "OK" and took the car and started home thinking I'll fix that when I get home. Well I stoped and picked up a girl and she was setting real nice and close, I looked at her and looked at the gear shift and IT NEVER DID GET CHANGED.
Did not have to take my arm down to shift...lol

this is all true I almost never lie...lol
Bobby Royal

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Subject: My first car.


Author:
R.T.Hunt
[Edit]
Date Posted: 11:11:28 04/18/05 Mon
My first car was a 1960 buick la saber 4 door, I got it from my dad when I was 13 and it needed a front seal in the tranny but we all know that those car's had torque tube drivelines so being 13 I had no idea how to fix it so when I was about ready to turn 16 I traded it for a 1971 Ford Pinto that needed a cluch fork, I was able to work on that little car by my self so after about 2 hours worth of work I had it changed and I was on my way to my new life of being behind the wheel, Im 34 now and I just resently gave the pinto to a close friend cause he was in need of a good car and I have my 1987 Tranz Am to play with now i dident need the Pinto anymore so it's making somebody else happy now and still going strong and it's only on it's fifth engine and fourth tranny,..........lol,at least I still get to drive it when ever I want too.

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Subject: My first car...


Author:
Martyn Muller
[Edit]
Date Posted: 05:23:19 04/18/05 Mon
As a foreign student I did my internship to do my final assignment for polytechnic ME at a company in Costa Mesa, CA in 1997. Totally new in the USA, far far far away from home. I was with two other student from the Netherlands and we shared an apartment. The first two weeks we were looking for a car and quickly found out about the Auto Trader. Meanwhile we did our shopping by foot, regretting to answer 'paper', hauling big paper bags with groceries along the sidewalk and through dirt where the sidewalks ended (how weird was that to us). As we were not used to those big ol' American cars in Europe, we decided to go for a big old American car. We saw plenty as we travelled by bus to meeting points after phone calls we made from a public phone. I guess our budget made us see a lot of dents, rust, smoke, oil, broken glass and worn out tires. We finally met with a very nice person who sold his 77 Cadillc Sedan DeVille. He drove up from, I believe, Dana Point and we made the deal at a 7/11. Only $1100. We got ourselves a lot of car for that money. Though, we also found out that this Cadillac was more of an 'Old Men's car' so we came across a bit cheesy in it. So I ordered Custom License plates saying CHEASY. As we came from #1 cheese country Holland, the car was light tan kinda cheese colored and we had to drive it easy on down the road. I waxed and polished it and cleaned it out. It used a lot of oil and it wouldn't go faster than 75 mph. It didn't even make it to receive it's license plates, as it was totalled two weeks after we bought it. We were standing in line for traffic light when a lady in a Dodge Caravan blacked out and drove into the back of our Cadillac with 40 mph. And even damaging two cars in front of us. With the rear all bent down to the ground it looked like a big banana. The insurance gave us $1800 for the car and I found exactly the same Cadillac within two weeks. Same year, same color. From an old guy in Huntington Beach. This light tan colored 77 Sedan DeVille did get the license plates CHEASY... and it took us from LA to San Diego, San Francisco, Palm Springs, Big Bear and Las Vegas during our half year stay. I was planning to ship this car to Holland, but my budget did not allow it back then. We lent it out to a french student who forgot to put oil in it, ending up along the freeway. She sold it somewhere in Orange County, but we never received the money. I kept one license plate, but the other one is was still on the car. Anyone seen it?

I lost my heart to Cadillac ever since and I owned 4 more Cadillacs after that. Two I lost. I bought them 1 1/2 after the accident, when the law suit finally settled for a lousy amount. I bought a dark green 70 Eldorado and an apple red 64 Coupe DeVille. A friend of mine was suppost to drive 'em to the shipping company, but never did. They got towed away and sold after being wrongly parked for too long, without me knowing. When I came to AZ for flight academy I bought another 70 Eldorado in Stockton, CA and drove it all the way down to Tucson, AZ. That one I shipped to Holland after my half year stay and I still have it.

Martyn Muller
The Netherlands

Ease on down the road...

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Subject: Mom's Monte Carlo


Author:
Robert Plumer
[Edit]
Date Posted: 17:18:18 04/17/05 Sun
After I got out of the army in 1987 my mother had bought a new car and let me have her old 78 Chevy Monte Carlo. She had bought it brand new and I had driven it before I went into the service. At that time though it was hard to keep tuned and had seen better day's and I eventually got another car six months later. I still love those car's today and wished I still had that one(or another like it). It was a nice cruiser.

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Subject: My first car - wish I still owned it


Author:
Tim Bryant
[Edit]
Date Posted: 20:03:28 04/14/05 Thu
I bought my first car in August of 1955 - I had just turned 15. I found a nice little1937 Ford 4 Door Sedan in the newspaper and after much haggling, I paid the princely sum of $85.00 for the car. It ran great and the body was in pretty good shape, it just needed some work in the interior. I was not able to get a license until for another 6 months, so with the help of a kindly neighbor, Mrs. Tucker, we re-upholstered the old Ford in red and white striped canvas...not my first choice, but it really looked pretty good. I drove the '37 all through high school and my freshman year at Texas A&M. I still have a soft spot in my heart for the old Fords.
Tim Bryant
1970 Ford Torino GT

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Subject: My First (Real) Car


Author:
Bob Batson
[Edit]
Date Posted: 13:54:55 04/14/05 Thu
I graduated from college in December of 1970, and was teaching school in a small town. At the time, I was driving a '55 Ford that my father used for his "jeep" at the deer lease. It could go places a jeep couldn't go! One morning, about a block from school, the front right wheel fell off (another story - I forgot to tighten up the lug nuts). Needless to say, every one of the students saw it sitting there blocking traffic (Wrecker came, jacked it up, put the wheel back on and it was just fine! Try that today!)

That was the final straw! I began the serious search for my first new car (and the last one until 1994). I decided on a white 1971 Dodge Charger with a light brown vinyl roof($3700). They were fine looking cars, and it lasted me well over 100,000 miles. In about '80 the engine gave out and I sold it to a wrecking company for $50.

When I decided to finally get me a classic car last summer, guess what I chose? Nope, not a Dodge Charger! I now own a '55 Ford! All I need now is a deer lease!

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Subject: 1961 Comet was my first car


Author:
Len
[Edit]
Date Posted: 12:01:56 04/14/05 Thu
I was just about 16 in 1973 and just started driving. You actually started before you were 15 in those days with your permit. My first car was a 1961 Comet (not officially a Mercury then). I bought this car from my Uncle Louie for $100 dollars. He was a pipe fitter and actually used the car to lug stuff around. He had taken the back seat out but luckily had saved it. I drove the car for about 2 years. Got in a little fender bender and dented the bumper. Car was totaled and insurance company gave me $65 for it and let me keep the car! I drove it for a little while longer until I let my brother borrow it one night and he totaled it! This time for real. Plowed into the back end of a brand new mustang! I sold the car to the junk yard for $50. So the car actually cost me nothing to drive except insurance and gas.

As a side note. I recently purchased another 61 Comet 30+ years later! It is in great shape but I am trying to restore it to new. Check out my progress and read loads of info about the 61 Comets on my website. http://www.61thriftpower.com

Thanks
Len

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Subject: My First Car


Author:
Fran Curran
[Edit]
Date Posted: 14:19:58 03/14/05 Mon
When I was 21, I ordered a brand new Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. When it finally arrived at the dealership, I couldn’t drive it home as I hadn’t learned how to drive yet. I was so excited about getting the car, but my dad had to pick it up with me on the passenger side. :( After learning by trial and error - and a few dents & scratches, I started driving my new car to work after getting my license. It was a cool 2-door sedan with cranberry exterior and interior. It had an automatic transmission on the floor with bucket seats. I remember saving for the down payment and my father paid the rest. He kept a book, and I made a payment with each pay check until I paid him back in full!

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Subject: "My First Car"


Author:
retired2001
[Edit]
Date Posted: 22:39:40 02/21/05 Mon
My first car was 1957 Fairlane 2dr H/T (Green & White). I bought it in 1963 when I was a Jr. in High School. I needed a job for a car and a car for a job (sound familiar?). My Dad wouldn't go with me to the bank, but he had talked to them about the loan. Seems that he had spent too much repairing the Powerglide in his 1957 Chevy that I had been driving, to loan me the money himself. I don't know how he put up with me, but I guess that is just the way "Dads" are!

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Subject: My 1st car -- '59 Plymouth


Author:
Mark Nelson
[Edit]
Date Posted: 10:03:56 02/18/05 Fri
I got my first summer job in 1965 and needed a car. My dad and I went to the Dodge dealer where he'd bought all his cars to pick one out. While I was attracted to a '56 Pontiac coupe, a pale blue '59 Plymouth Savoy 2-door was a bit cheaper (I think $295). It was a "mill car" -- the previous owner worked at one of the local steel mills and used it for commuting. The finish was all pockmarked from the acid rain of grit around the mills, but I don't think the passenger (or rear) seat had ever been used. The engine was the ancient 230 cu in flathead six, and shifter was "3 on the tree." No radio. Plenty of rust.

It was a beater. I ran out of gas and blew a tire the first week I owned it, and it needed new brakes and rear seals within a month. All four fenders became see-through by the end of the summer. However, it was MINE, and I enjoyed the freedom it afforded.

We put it into a friend's garage when I went back to school in the fall. The next spring, while backing it out of that garage, I sheared off the passenger-side door handle. That last damage made the whole thing look COMPLETELY pathetic, and we sold it to the garage-owner for about $150.

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Subject: My First Car


Author:
Dennis
[Edit]
Date Posted: 10:29:02 02/16/05 Wed
With $12.50 of my own and a $15.00 loan from my Dad, at the age of 15, I purchased my first car - a 1949 Ford.

Shortly afterwards, my girlfriend (and wife of 37 years) and I painted it with a paintbrush. I also soon discovered that it liked to eat throwout bearings regularly. My wife and I performed this task a number of times during the time I owned it.

It was decked out with steering wheel knob, fake whitewalls painted on with white paint and a chrome exhaust pipe tip.

Interior upgrades consisted of a new set of Western Auto seat covers. Unfortunately, while fishing one day, I left the windows down and a horse happened by and couldn't resist taking a few bites out of my new seat covers. Another $5 gone to waste.

This old car served me well and I managed to sell it for a profit (selling price $50) after two years.

Ah, the good ole days!

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Subject: My First Car


Author:
Robert
[Edit]
Date Posted: 11:11:03 02/07/05 Mon
I generally say my first car was a '57 Chevy, but actually that was just the first car I had that ran.

When I was 9 years old (1958), in the third grade, my father presented me with a 1930 Ford Model A Tudor sedan. I was a flegling motorhead even then and loved that car.

It hadthrown a rod as it was being delivered to my dad and he parked it behind his warehouse. I spent many days just sitting in it and planning how I was going to restore it, and imagining all the trips I would take and the races I would win.

The car came from the gulf coast of Texas and you could read a newspaper through the rust holes in all four fenders.

I also spent hours pouring through J C Whitney catalogs making lists of parts to order to restore the car.

A buddy and I used Dad's tools to remove the head, and Dad acutally had the carburator rebuilt. But, fate was against me. Dad's business was failing and when I was about 13, just before I was old enough to have a job and get a driver's license (you could drive at 14 in Texas in the 60's) I was persueded to sell the Model A.

The $75 I got for it went with Dad's $50 two years later for my '57 Chevy (two door sedan). I learned to drive a standard when we bought the Chevy and I had to drive it home.

I'd still love to have a Model A, but I have no where to put one.

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Replies:
Subject: My 1st Car - 1947 Chevrolet Club Coupe


Author:
C.A,McMillin
[Edit]
Date Posted: 15:00:37 02/06/05 Sun
In 1956 I was a Senior in high school,I bought a 47 Chevrolet from my ag teacher,if I remember right I gave him about $500.00 for the car.

I was a "Hot-Rodder" (at least in my mind),so I went about fixing it up.

Went down to Western Auto and bought a steerig wheel knob and some chrome eye brows for the headlights and a chrome exhaust tip.

Found a pair of flipper wheel covers for the front wheels.

I was on the road.

It was a good car,but I tired of it and traded for a 50 Mercury convertible.

I'd like to have either of them back now.

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Subject: The Little Cat that Could....


Author:
Mike
[Edit]
Date Posted: 13:04:18 04/13/05 Wed
For the past 20 years I had a dream of being in The Great Race, but never had the
time or the right car that would draw attention. Finally I spotted a lonely 1949
Crosley convertible, thought about it for a while, and then contacted Larry and
Betty Taylor in Ohio who went to inspect it for me and take pictures. That was all
I needed to buy it and ship it to Texas. Once it got here I thought this was going
to be the time (2004), so I got ready to race. Alas, bad valves kept me from entering
that year. I worked on it all next year and still had other problems. Finally I
got in touch with Ed Lemke who was on his way here with a new engine, so I worked
out a deal and the next day it was up and running. I drove about 250 miles on it
and then it was Race Day. Thanks to many people who helped me buy parts and pieces:
Dave Edwards, Yankee Crosley parts, Gerald Church, Barry Seel, Chuck Koekler, and
last but not least, my good friend and Tech supporter, Neal Daglow, who kept me
running. On race day I was ready to run with the Big Boys. I ran against V8's, big
sixes and straight eights, and thousands of dollars of speedometer and timing toys,
while all I had was a 55 year old speedometer and a stop watch. The Little Car That
Could made heads turn at every leg of the race, and it not only kept up, it even
passed a few along the way. I smoked the clutch going up some of the hills and smoked
the brakes on the way down. I got on the highway and hit speeds of 59 mph several
times and I think that's when the exhaust manifold gasket blew. So I Finished in
65th place out of 76 cars. Sorry no trophy, but I did get into The Great Race history
book. The First Crosley to have ever entered the Great Race and pass though the
winner's finish line. Now that's one Tough Little Car!!!!! Who knows what's next?
The Great Race again or Le Mans? Or a trip to Europe to road race? Time will tell.
Maybe I can get some sponsor's support. Sincerely,
Mike Bruno/Driver.
Gail Barth/Navigator.
Barry and Audrey Mann/Support Team.

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