Your First Set of Wheels

[Seatacus]

Remember your first set of wheels? Mine was a 1959 Olds Super 88. I paid $50 for it. It got 12 mpg and 100 miles on a quart of oil.

 

[xUT]

53 beetle.
Damn I wish I kept it..

 

[KCFlyer]

1973 Plymouth Roadrunner. This isn't my car, but it is the same color as my first one

 

[La Li Lu Le Lo]

My first car was a 1985 Dodge Daytona.

Nothing special, not compared to some of the cars you guys had.

This was not my car and mine did not look this good (mine was 11 years old when I got it) but it was the same paint scheme.

I had this color of interior.

The first car I ever owned I cared anything about was a 93 Rx-7

Not my car but mine was exactly like this except for the interior.

I had this interior instead.

 

[KCFlyer]

My first car was a 1985 Dodge Daytona.

Nothing special, not compared to some of the cars you guys had.

I had an 84 Daytona. The car was a blast to drive for the first 12,000 miles. But the Daytona/Chrysler Laser had a whole bunch of common problems. I knew 3 others who had one or the other and we all had a tachometer or speedometer (or both) quit working...the clutch cable breaking, usually just after the 12,000 mile warranty ended, and while the car had a 5/50,000 "drivetrain" warranty, the clutch cable wasn't considered part of the drivetrain - even though the cars had to be towed in...the "turbo" idiot light came on and stayed on. The electrontics would reset on about a monthly basis. Lee Iacocca was a helluva salesman though. Back then he'd look at the camera and say "if you can find a better car - buy it". I should have listened.

 

[delldude]

I had one of these:

In this color:

1964 Rambler American

Fold down front seats.

$400

 

[La Li Lu Le Lo]

I had an 84 Daytona. The car was a blast to drive for the first 12,000 miles. But the Daytona/Chrysler Laser had a whole bunch of common problems. I knew 3 others who had one or the other and we all had a tachometer or speedometer (or both) quit working...the clutch cable breaking, usually just after the 12,000 mile warranty ended, and while the car had a 5/50,000 "drivetrain" warranty, the clutch cable wasn't considered part of the drivetrain - even though the cars had to be towed in...the "turbo" idiot light came on and stayed on. The electrontics would reset on about a monthly basis. Lee Iacocca was a helluva salesman though. Back then he'd look at the camera and say "if you can find a better car - buy it". I should have listened.

I had trouble keeping an alternator in my car. Other than that no issues.

 

[La Li Lu Le Lo]

I know the topic is our first set of wheels but....... anybody else like these new Dodge Challengers?

I want one.

 

[Seatacus]

I had one of these:


Fold down front seats.

$400

my dad had a 56 Nash with fold down seats. Great drive-in movie car.

 

[Glenn Quagmire]

1972 Datsun pickup. I loved that thing.

 

[Kev3188]

'74 Chevelle Malibu for me. Not my car, but mine was the same color. I could barely see over the steering wheel, but it sure was fun to drive!

 

[jimntx]

I didn't have a car until I was married, and technically it was my wife's car. Her boss had loaned her the down payment money because her job involved driving all over greater Houston (and the public transportation in Houston was and always has been poor to nonexistent).

She bought a 1970 VW Fastback brand-new on the basis of the fun she and her college roommate had driving the roommates VW beetle. Two entirely different cars. The fastback was a maintenance POS. It was in the shop for warranty work 8 times the first year she owned it. One of the times, we went to pick it up from the Service department and it quit running before we got it off the dealer's lot.

Typical experience: Driving Houston to Austin one night, the car would just quit running. Not cough, cough, sputter, sputter, quit. Just quit. Instant silence. We would pull over to the side of the road, and after about 30 minutes. It would start up like nothing was wrong. Then 50 or so miles down the road we have a repeat of the instant silence. Took us all night long to get to Austin which was less than 200 miles.

Finally gave up and traded it for another car that I can not remember to save my life. Evidently it was neither exciting to drive nor a maintenance problem. Dealer took pity on newlyweds and we broke even on the trade-in and we still owed a bunch of money on it (for our then income); so, dealer be praised. The car was not worth what he allowed us on the trade.

 

[jimntx]

Remember your first set of wheels? Mine was a 1959 Olds Super 88. I paid $50 for it. It got 12 mpg and 100 miles on a quart of oil.

View attachment 11412

Reminds me of a story that my father used to tell. He was good friends with the Chrysler dealer in Birmingham. The dealer told him this story.

The 1956 Chrysler Imperial had the largest stock V-8 engine that had ever been put in an American automobile up to that point in time. (I can't verify that. It's just what I was told.) The gas mileage was crap, but gas was only 25 cents/gal; so nobody really cared. Except one day a man came in the Service Department looking like he was about to have a stroke. He started yelling at the Service Manager that he "only got 12 GD miles to the gallon, and what was the Service Manager going to do about it." The Service Manager asked, "Will you sign a statement to that effect?" The man replied, "You're GD right, I'll sign a statement to that effect." Service Manager replied, "Good. I want to show it to the guys who are only getting 10 miles/gal."

 

[La Li Lu Le Lo]

1972 Datsun pickup. I loved that thing.


View attachment 11414

I like it to. It looks simple and serviceable.

 

[Seatacus]

Reminds me of a story that my father used to tell. He was good friends with the Chrysler dealer in Birmingham. The dealer told him this story.

The 1956 Chrysler Imperial had the largest stock V-8 engine that had ever been put in an American automobile up to that point in time. (I can't verify that. It's just what I was told.) The gas mileage was crap, but gas was only 25 cents/gal; so nobody really cared. Except one day a man came in the Service Department looking like he was about to have a stroke. He started yelling at the Service Manager that he "only got 12 GD miles to the gallon, and what was the Service Manager going to do about it." The Service Manager asked, "Will you sign a statement to that effect?" The man replied, "You're GD right, I'll sign a statement to that effect." Service Manager replied, "Good. I want to show it to the guys who are only getting 10 miles/gal."

Funny story. You are correct. $0.25 a gallon. Not bad but I was making $1.15 an hour in 1968. I worked in a gas station. Second best job ever. Got to work on my old junker car and meet girls from my high school. The good looking ones got extra green stamps.