How About Your FIRST Car - when cost was an object

[Fishy]

1995 Dodge Neon Sport.

I was shopping for my first new car out of college and a commercial for the "new Dodge Neon" was shown during the 1994 Super Bowl. (The "Hi" commercial.) The tag line at the end of the commercial was something along the lines of "$10,995, nicely equipped."

It was so much cheaper than anything else that I was looking at that I went to a Dodge dealer the next day and ordered one sight unseen. The salesman hadn't even heard of the car at that point, but once a manager told him it existed, we made a deal for a slightly upgraded Sport model that had nicer seats and some added amenities over the $11,000 model. I paid $12,550.

143 horsepower, lots of room for a small car, was like a mountain goat in the snow and the A/C turned the interior into a meat locker - it was a raging bargain.

Five months later, I had one of the first models produced. I put a 155,000 miles on it and then gave it to my brother who put another 50,000 on it. He sold it to a hippie who drove it until we lost track of it. (Car below is a '96 - the '95 didn't have the hood bulge.)

 

[Beemer]

A little OT but my parents had a 1961 Ford Thunderbird convertible. Man, what a car. Unfortunately they sold it about 10-12 years later when it needed a new roof. Damn thing must be worth a fortune today.

 

[VAMike23]

View attachment 14702 View attachment 14703 Wanna' see some REAL style???

Check out the 1959 Dodge Custom Royal Lancer D500. One of THE nicest cars of ALL time.

WOW !!



That car looks amazing

 

[Intpseeker]

First car. Parents footed the bill in the summer of '68

My first buy, new in '71 ( but red)

 

[Q.]

First car - 1978 Ford Fiesta that had been my uncle's.

He started a fire under the hood trying to tune it up, then poured sand all over it to put the fire out. Not good considering the air cleaner was off at the time. My father and I cleaned it up and got it running by pouring a 2-cycle fuel/oil mix into the carb. Drove it daily after that until I left for college, my father hit some debris with it shortly thereafter that tore up the front end and pretty much totaled it.

My first NEW car, bought right after college graduation for about $13K, was a 1991 Nissan Sentra SE-R. Nice little 2-door sedan, plenty of power, drove it for 6 years and about 130,000 miles with plenty of autocross and race track mileage in that number.

By the way, I find it awfully hard to believe the claim on the first page of 20 MPG from a Country Squire with a 390 in it. Maybe at a steady 40MPH downhill with a tailwind...

 

[Sonny44]

This would be my wish list equivalent. I loved this car.

This was my second car, exactly!

 

[Sonny44]

I used to think that someday we would run out of interesting OTs. Guess I should know better!

 

[cbraarj]

1964 Chevy Malibu for $ 500.00 in 1981. Candy apple red and the engine was painted and chromed out.I put new tires on it and my friends and I went to Riverside Park that Saturday. We got back to Bristol and were going to hang out at Cedar Lake. As we got to the top of the mountain the car switched to neutral. Transmission went and I said that is why it was so cheap. The 4 of us pushed it for a thousand feet and jumped in and coasted 3 quarters the way down the mountain into my parents driveway.$200.00 later ran like a dream until that house jumped in the way the following year !

 

[geneticrex]

WOW !!



That car looks amazing

You should see one in the flesh.

Stunning.

 

[CL82]

First car - 1978 Ford Fiesta that had been my uncle's.

By the way, I find it awfully hard to believe the claim on the first page of 20 MPG from a Country Squire with a 390 in it. Maybe at a steady 40MPH downhill with a tailwind...

And yet that's what it got highway, with a little help from drafting.

 

[Rixxx]

Lots of titles changed hands in this thread for $100 or less. But in those days, maybe 1958-1960, $100 went way farther than it does today. IIRC, a new Ford Galaxy could be had for $2,200, gas was $.19 a gallon, a new split level rancher in southeaster PA went for $22,000. Of course Dad was bringing home $8,000 from the local factory. "Those were the days."

 

[BoatShow]

1995 Dodge Neon Sport.

I was shopping for my first new car out of college and a commercial for the "new Dodge Neon" was shown during the 1994 Super Bowl. (The "Hi" commercial.) The tag line at the end of the commercial was something along the lines of "$10,995, nicely equipped."

It was so much cheaper than anything else that I was looking at that I went to a Dodge dealer the next day and ordered one sight unseen. The salesman hadn't even heard of the car at that point, but once a manager told him it existed, we made a deal for a slightly upgraded Sport model that had nicer seats and some added amenities over the $11,000 model. I paid $12,550.

143 horsepower, lots of room for a small car, was like a mountain goat in the snow and the A/C turned the interior into a meat locker - it was a raging bargain.

Five months later, I had one of the first models produced. I put a 155,000 miles on it and then gave it to my brother who put another 50,000 on it. He sold it to a hippie who drove it until we lost track of it. (Car below is a '96 - the '95 didn't have the hood bulge.)

I never would have guessed we had the same first car.

 

[UcMiami]

First car I drove was the family 1998 Chevy Impala station wagon, first stick shift was a Fiat 124. First purchase was my Aunt's Dodge Dart with the slant six (with help from my parents) and the second purchase was a Fiat 650 sport spider convertible with a tiny 650 cc motorcycle engine behind the driver, and a six gallon gas tank. (It was fun as long as there were no hills!!!) And yes I could see the road through the rusted out sections of the floor.

 

[Yorkeez4]

1963 Sunbeam Alpine but with a more powerful engine then the original (but not as poweful as the Tiger). Lots of fun to drive.

 

[Ukonnfan]

Doubting that seating for 10 are you? Well feast your eyes my friends:

Actually you could probably get 12 in there pretty comfortably.

 

[willtalk]

My first car was a red 1965 Triumph spitfire. I damn near killed myself many times in it. I once drove it under the trailer of a truck- it was pretty low to the ground. When I ETS'ed out of the service in Texas during the end of 69 I drove it back to California via the long way all the way up to visit a friend in Conn. Had to do my explore the USA thing. Had a lot of interesting experiences. Got stopped multiple times because as trip wore on I began to look very hippish.

While I never did drugs, a service buddy who lived in Conn. left a pipe filled with green herbs ( lol ) residue which I wanted to return to him but forgot to do once I got there. I got rousted out of a pay toilet in Dallas by the police just because of my appearance. They just opened the door with me sitting there. I always thought that a pay toilet was like a sanctuary. The took me back to my car and searched it but for some strange reason didn't find the pipe which was in plain site in the space that served as the glove compartment in those English cars. I didn't even realize it was there until I got back to El Paso. The penalty for drug possession in Texas then was draconian. I would still be serving time.

On opportunity I missed was when my friend wanted me to stay an extra week because he and some of his friends were going to some Music Festival- Wood-Stick -- or something or other. I decided against it since because I wanted to do more interesting things. It probable didn't turn out to be a very memorable event anyway. lol.

I ended up selling it to some friend of mine for a $100 bucks. It needed needed a head gasket but other wise was in good shape. I just got tired of it. Was really cold in the winter. He really got a deal and I always regretted it. He put in an electric fuel pump which caught fire and burned the care to a cinder. What a maroon.

 

[NVUConnFan]

1965 GTO 2dr HT 4-speed 1x4 carb, no Ram Air. It was 1 year old when I bought it in 1966 from a "little old lady from Pasadena [CA]". She bought it new in 1965 but realized it was too much car for her to drive, so she advertisted it in the LA Times classified. Price was $2,400. If you could find one in similar condition today, it would be about 25X that. I financed it with a special First Classman (Senior) loan available for USAFA cadets. But since I would soon be a "rich" 2nd Lt in the USAF, paying off the loan was not a problem. I later turned it into a NHRA drag car and then sold it to help pay for my new business startup in 1974. It looked like this one (exterior and interior colors the same as mine).

 

[Wink96]

Okay, VAMike23 is revealing our coolest cars, and there are some gems in that thread, but who is willing to fess up and reveal their first ever car - the one you had to actually pay for yourself? (no hand-me-downs)

Mine was a late 1950s Ford, an English Ford that is. An English Ford Anglia Deluxe to be exact. Chartreuse in color, and a strikingly ugly shade of chartreuse it was.

View attachment 14640​

The price? It was right in my wheelhouse ...$100. Miles? if memory serves, it had around 100k miles on it - the equivalent of a million miles compared to today's models.

And in keeping with today's trend of full and honest transparency, I must reveal that my $100. gem didn't actually come in the condition of the one pictured in the above photograph. Condition wise it was closer to this one.

View attachment 14641​

But it was mine! My first set of liberating wheels. It served me well ...in many ways.

How about yours?

I don't have a picture but it was a 1942 DeSoto with folding head lights.

 

[ABachelor6CR]

Okay, VAMike23 is revealing our coolest cars, and there are some gems in that thread, but who is willing to fess up and reveal their first ever car - the one you had to actually pay for yourself? (no hand-me-downs)

Mine was a late 1950s Ford, an English Ford that is. An English Ford Anglia Deluxe to be exact. Chartreuse in color, and a strikingly ugly shade of chartreuse it was.

View attachment 14640​

The price? It was right in my wheelhouse ...$100. Miles? if memory serves, it had around 100k miles on it - the equivalent of a million miles compared to today's models.

And in keeping with today's trend of full and honest transparency, I must reveal that my $100. gem didn't actually come in the condition of the one pictured in the above photograph. Condition wise it was closer to this one.

View attachment 14641​

But it was mine! My first set of liberating wheels. It served me well ...in many ways.

How about yours?

Mine was a 1978 Chevy Nova 4 door sedan, light blue. It had a 305 V-8 engine. Bought it off my dad for $3k. Hit 115 mph on I-287
coming back from a Yankee game at 1am.

1994 Dodge Shadow ES

 

[jimazee]

View attachment 14648 View attachment 14649 My 1st was an original 70' T/A Challenger, 340 Six Pak, 4 speed. My biggest mistake was selling it.

I had a white/black '70 Plymouth 'Cuda AAR ... similar car. My brother's was yellow/black. Surprisingly neither color is seen in the following collection. 70 Plymouth AAR Cuda

Among many cars I owned back then (circa the late 60s), that are "classics" today (and like many old guys if we only kept them ) I recall two Z-28 Camaros, 426 Plymouth, Buick Gran Sport, Pontiac Gran Prix, Datsun 240-Z, and many more. I doubt I even have pictures of most of them, since pictures weren't common, didn't last, and "videos" weren't invented yet.

Oh, and my first car was a '50 Pontiac coupe I bought for $50 and spray painted with about 6 cans of flat black primer. It lasted a few months.

Don't ask how old I am

 

[geneticrex]

I had a white/black '70 Plymouth 'Cuda AAR ... similar car. My brother's was yellow/black. Surprisingly neither color is seen in the following collection. 70 Plymouth AAR Cuda

Among many cars I owned back then (circa the late 60s), that are "classics" today (and like many old guys if we only kept them ) I recall two Z-28 Camaros, 426 Plymouth, Buick Gran Sport, Pontiac Gran Prix, Datsun 240-Z, and many more. I doubt I even have pictures of most of them, since pictures weren't common, didn't last, and "videos" weren't invented yet.

Oh, and my first car was a '50 Pontiac coupe I bought for $50 and spray painted with about 6 cans of flat black primer. It lasted a few months.

Don't ask how old I am

That is SOME list of beauties. I actually like the AAR better than the T/A, but at the time the T/A was too good to pass up.

I currently have a HEMICUDA' and small block Dart, but those are basically racecars I drive on the street. If we had only kept our fleets of stockers. Thats where the money is.lol

 

[CL82]

I don't have a picture but it was a 1942 DeSoto with folding head lights.

 

[tjhusky]

1970 Volvo 140 that I bought in 1976 for $500 (and I took out a $400 bank loan to buy it. )

Bad cv joints. One wheel had one reverse thread lug. Ball joint just separated one day (fortunately I was going 5 mph and only 2 miles from home). No windshield washer. So I carried a jug of water to throw on the window at stop lights in the winter.
Bought a Chiltons manual and kept it running for a few years. Drove it from West Haven to Montreal and to Cape Cod as well as numerous ski trips before selling it to my brother (for $500 ).

 

[4evercard]

This car except in turquois color. I bought the 3 year old '57 Chevy with about 40,000 miles in my high school sophomore year of 1960 for around $1,000. It sold new for over $2,000. Paid for it with my paper route. Oh, do I wish I had that car back. Pristine could sell for up to $50,000.