VW Beetle, with a plastic daisy taped to the antenna. Bought used in 1964. I took the road rest for my driver's license in that car and the examiner laughed; he said he had never been in one before. I did not own this car. My father bought it to be shared by the kids in our family.
I did not own a car myself until I was well into my twenties. I had no car in college and when I started working in a city I took public transportation. Sometime in the early to mid-1970s I bought a used dark green Chevy Nova station wagon. It burned so much oil that I carried a case of motor oil in the trunk so I could keep refilling it.
1973 Chevy Suburban purchased from then girlfriend's parents for $200 in 1981. Rusted out but served me well. Drive cross county 4 times in it. Didn't pass inspection in Virginia in 1985.
1960 Dodge Seneca, three speed manual on the column. I could have driven it through a building because it was a tank. My father bought it for $100 and fixed it up. We looked at a red MGA and I was that close but he said he would get in doodoo with mom because it was more dangerous. Replaced it with a green and white Karman Ghia. The ugliest car you ever saw. Dianne and I spray painted it orange for a lark but it was still ugly.
My first car was a 1969 Dodge Polaris..it was a 4 door land yacht in the parking lot where all the other lieutenants and captians and majors cars were sports cars and mostly MGs.. My second car was a 1968 Toyota Publica ( I was stationed in Okinawa) and it had 38K klicks on it and it started up in the rain and made it up the steep hill, an absolute requirement..third car was the Sexy little European car...1974 Capri by Mercuery. followed by another Toyota GT, then my 1985 Toyota SupraL and now my Toyota Scienna...oh and I still have my husband's Chevy TrailBlazer...Love em all but miss my Supra the most.
So far I have the oldest - a 1928 Buick touring car (convertible). It was in the barn of the house my father bought in Maine in 1946. I was 15 at the time. When he saw the car (he didn't know it was there when he bought the house) he turned to me and said "it's yours if you can make it go". It had only 7000 miles and was in excellent condition. I used it all through college and into medical school, until the emergency brake let go while it was parked and it ran into a tree. Years later I found it again as "best in show" at the local antique car show.
Marsh, so good to see your post and you have the best story about a first car yet! It sure beats out my Land Yacht in the parking lot with a collection of MGs owned by other Lieutenants and other company and junior field grade officers...
1973 Fiat Spyder convertible. Graduation present (wasn't allowed to own ANY car before I graduated from college). Great looking little car but had HORRIBLE electrical problems. Once on the highway it just knocked out while going 70 mph in heavy rush hour traffic. After it dumped me in several rural towns at all hours of day/night sold it for a Mazda.
1948 Dodge 4-door. My Dad dropped a cigarette in the seat and it caught fire and burned the seats and cloth headliner. Dad went to the junk yard, bought seats and I drove that car all thru high school and business school.
LFL, my 1963 Corvair took the prize for HORRIBLE electrical problems. It would stall at the drop of a hat and I can't count the times it left me, a 4 year old and an infant along the side of the road. After awhile, it would start again and run fine until the next time. I hated that car with a passion!!!
My dream car was always and still is a 1965 Mustang. I couldn't afford it then, or now. So, my first car (back in 1985) was a 1977 yellow Mustang. LOVED that old car :)
When I got my license in 1964, I used the one family car we had - a 1957 pink Chevrolet with the fins. Yes, the one that is now a classic. Back then, it was just an old used car. Oh my, to have it now!
When Sid and I married in 1970, he bought a 1960's (not sure of the exact year) Barracuda, and gave me the car he had been driving - a 1968 Pontiac Catalina convertible ( with AIR CONDITIONING - a rarity in those days). It was so wide and so long, we called it the "boat". To this day, I don't know how 5' me was able to drive that car.
redbud*, great hearing from you! Sounds like we had the same electrical problems, but I didn't have a 4 yo and an infant with me. You must have been fearless! God it was very, very scary.
Frank had a 1947 Ford when we got married. Growing up we didn't have a car my widowed mom never learned to drive. The '47 had back windows that wouldn't completely close so he had a blanket in the car to keep warm during really cold when we were dating. What a guy -- !! After we were married about a year we bought a 1952 Ford a lot easier to start. the '47 had a strange way after the key was put in there was a lever that had to be moved before the thing would start. Never having driven much (learned in drivers-ed in high school) I dreaded trying to get the thing started. He grew up on a farm and had raised cattle so the car came from the sale of calves if I remember correctly I think he paid $900. for that car. I think the '52 was around $2000.
When I turned 16, started taking driving lessons along with my mother. My dad bought us a green VW beetle. More often than not I jumped through intersections not quite getting the gear shifting business.
First car after finishing nursing education - blue Honda Civic. Lived on my own up a mountain, on a lake, 25 miles from the hospital where I worked. I often got stuck during the winter. One day after plowing yet again into a snow bank drove the civic to town and traded it in for a blue 4x4 Toyota Land Cruiser. Had so much fun exploring back roads with that vehicle and it carried my canoe around for when I found yet another beautiful lake in the interior of British Columbia.