(welcome our new Sunday COALer) In the summer of 1985, I was 15 and a rising high school sophomore. I had a pretty good work ethic for a kid. I mowed lawns for our home and a few neighbors. I also rode my bike to a nearby shopping center where I was a stockboy for a gift store a few hours a week. Most of the employees were elderly ladies, and the storage room was in the basement of the center. I carried the very heavy boxes of stock back and forth as the seasons and holidays came and went.
But by far, my favorite “job” was the car cleaning business I had built up. Between my parents, their friends at work, my grandparents, and their elderly friends, I detailed 2-3 cars a week. At the time, I charged $50 or so which was really good money. I purchased all the supplies, which wasn’t cheap, but there was still a lot of profit.
The cars were always interesting to me….some were a complete bear, like a 1972 or so Cadillac Fleetwood that my grandparents’ friends bought new. Some were weathered, and therefore a challenge (about any 4-5 year old metallic anything from that era falls in this group). Many of my parents’ friends’ cars were newer and pretty easy to get looking showroom clean. I recall a new Volvo 240, a couple of new Buicks, a 200SX and a 280ZX, and of course my grandmother’s 1984 Bonneville.
But the car that caught my eye the most, as far as me wanting it for myself, was a 1982 320i. It was owned by a lady who worked with my dad. I don’t recall her name, but she was younger, single, and “cool”. I detailed the 320i a couple of times for her. It was metallic Baltic Blue with blue cloth, and pretty much a “stripper” but that’s the way 3 Series BMW’s were at the time. Crank windows, manual locks, crank sunroof, no power steering, and certainly no cruise control. I don’t think most of the missing power accessories were optional at all on the 320i.
It did have power mirrors, which seemed odd to me, but I guess BMW considered that to be a driver safety item. Power brakes, fog lights, air conditioning, and one of the first LED readout factory cassette stereos I had seen were all present.
The air conditioning for the 320i was clearly, to my untrained eye, an afterthought. It occupied the space under the center heat controls were the stereo would usually be. It was not integrated, meaning it had a separate on/off switch and blower knob. It meant that the stereo was then upturned vertically, in front of the whole condenser housing. And the sides of the whole housing were covered in padded black vinyl which looked cheap and out of place. All the cooled air was discharged not from the dash vents, but from two vents in the center, on top of the dash. To add insult to injury, they were not adjustable at all. It was all very odd, and I had never seen anything like it.
Since it was owned by a single lady, it was never very dirty to begin with. I washed and waxed it, lightly sprayed the wheel wells with flat black paint, and worked on the vaned wheels with a toothbrush. But I don’t recall having to shampoo the carpet at all.
In early 1986, my dad came home from work one day an announced the co-worker was looking to sell the BMW. I don’t recall a lot of detailed discussions about it, but he bought it and my recollection was it would be mine when I turned 16 that July, or, he would drive it and I would get his older but very nice 1979 Mercedes 280CE coupe.
My dad drove the 320i but decided it was a little too “stripper” for his taste. The 280CE was older and to some eyes not as “hip”, but it had power everything, automatic climate control, wood trim, and was finished to a much higher level overall. He kept driving it and I took the 320i that July.
I don’t recall exactly how many miles the BMW had on it when I was 16, but it was not six figures. I recall it had a stalling problem that the dealer could never resolve….I got used to it stalling, every morning, at the first stop sign in my neighborhood, without fail. You would restart it and it would be fine the rest of the day. It also had a weak synchro on 2nd gear. You needed to shift slowly into 2nd especially on a cold morning or you would feel and hear the “crunch”
It was no speed demon, but for a 16 year old, that’s a good thing! Without looking up the stats, I’m pretty sure the 1.8 liter fuel injected four had 101 horsepower and about the same amount of torque. Given the lack of equipment (no ABS, no airbags, no power accessories) it was pretty light and had plenty of power for the task at hand if the AC was off. The AC made a marked difference. Compared to my mom’s 240D and my friends’ Corollas and diesel Rabbits and the like, it was dangerously powerful! One of my best friends at the time had a 1972 BMW 2002tii. It was quite fast…..and he totaled it while were still in high school as a result.
The stereo readout quit not long after I started driving it, thus introducing me to the world of the Crutchfield catalog. I replaced the stereo a couple of times, first with a cassette unit, and later with a CD unit. I added an equalizer as well, and eventually replaced all the speakers. Stereo theft was a real problem back in the 1980’s, at least in my town. I purposely chose “low key” looking head units and kept the factory speaker sizes and grilles. I hid the equalizer in the glove box.
I had my first and so far, only accident in the car that fall, if you can believe that…..there was a 90 degree curve in my neighborhood. To this day, I insist I wasn’t going very fast, but it was raining and the leaves were down. So, it was slick as ice. I spun all the way around and the front of the car took out a number of bushes and a split rail fence in a friend’s yard. A telephone pole stopped my car, right in the passenger door. It was pretty badly pushed in, but still opened and closed just fine.
I was sick. My parents were pretty easy on me, because they knew how I felt about my car and no further punishment was really necessary. I paid to replace the bushes in the friend’s yard (she had the aforementioned diesel Rabbit) and I paid them back to fix my car. We took it to a body shop that pulled it out and bondo’ed it. The color matched fine but the bodywork was pretty shoddy/wavy. I hated that door from then on. I was super embarrassed about crashing into my friend’s yard…but not long afterwards she backed her Rabbit out of their garage with the hatch up. You can imagine the carnage that resulted to the house and the Rabbit. So everyone at school soon forgot about my screwup.
The car took me to school, to work, to two proms, and went with me to college. I had a number of other “firsts” in the BMW, which do not need to be addressed here. It was really one of the more reliable and uneventful periods of car ownership I’ve ever had, as I look back. It always stalled once in the morning and had the crunchy 2nd gear, but those issues at least never got worse. I recall the AC leaking down and needing a charge or two every summer, as time wore on.
The paint always stayed shiny and deep, but I waxed it a LOT. I recall my dad telling me I was going “rub the paint off that car”. I replaced the BMW emblems on the hood, trunk, and wheels as the blue and white paint gradually all flaked off. The dash developed a crack or two. The cloth seats faded rapidly and began to rip in places . About 1990 or so I had them reupholstered in a navy blue fabric that was darker than the factory greyish blue, but looked better to my eye and matched the navy blue vinyl sides, back and door cards.
By 1991, I know it had well over 100,000 miles. I want to say about 130,000 comes to mind. I was 21 and my sister was turning 16. She needed a car, but I think my parents felt the BMW needed replacing sooner rather than later. I was spending a semester abroad, so the car was at home. My dad called and asked me if I had a choice of colors for a new car, what would my first and second choice be? Red, dark blue, and white were the choices as I recall.
I didn’t know what they were looking at and I didn’t want to know. I preferred it to be a surprise when I got home. My dad had a new 1991 Accord SE we were all very happy with, silver with black leather. So I suspected they were looking at something Honda…..
What’s your “first car” memories?
My first car, a ’95 Firebird, had its T-Tops ripped off (by, I believe, a convict neighbor of mine). I drove the car around for six months without a roof in Los Angeles. I remember one time on the 110 freeway when it started raining pretty hard – there was nothing I could do except just take it. I had a hell of a time replacing that glass. When I finally did, and sold the car, the whole interior reeked of mildew. Mechanically, the car was a real lemon too. Boy was I relieved to be done with it when the time finally came.
My first car was a ’68 Galaxie 500 – COAL Here: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/cars-of-a-lifetime/coal-1968-ford-galaxie-500-fastback-the-legend-lives-on/ – which was just an awesome first car. It was loud, it got horrendous gas mileage, it broke a lot, and in the sweltering Midwest summers it was almost unbearable.
But man, that car, it was loud fast tire burning freedom.
It also helped repair my relationship with my Dad. At the time I was a pissed off teenager, and he was a 40-something who had no idea how to deal with a teenage. Being 40 myself now, and having a 16 year old daughter – I get it.
Aside from the freedom and the memories with my friends, I remember the days spent hiking around the junkyard with Dad trying to find spare parts. Working on whatever broke next (generally broken by yours truly, but..) and overall it being the peace accord between two old grumps.
That said, man did my friends and I do some crazy crap in that car.
’62 Beetle. Could jump-start it with a paperclip. Thank god it was so undesirable at the time, you could steal it with that paperclip because the trunk wasn’t locked and the ignition was behind a cardboard cover there.
I once filled it with 10 people. I also once got it up to 74 MPH, downhill, and the smell of the clutch….
First car? 1937 Buick Special, 2-door sedan, luggage back (not the hump trunk) and an absolute stripper. The heater was an aftermarket gasoline unit that fed off the carburetor. Bought for me in the summer of 1968 as a graduation present. And marked a peaceful interlude in what was a 30 year generation gap war with my father, once he realized that I wasn’t nuts to want to get into the antique car hobby.
At the time, I’d gotten VERY involved in the newly formed Flood City Region AACA chapter, and that Buick made ever antique car show between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg for the next decade, on the summers when I came home.
Didn’t have a real daily driver car (although the Buick was used just shy of that during the summer on dry days) until 1973 when I got my Vega GT as a college graduation gift.
First car was a ’72 Toyota Corroded. It was promised to me, and my older brother, when I was 14. It’s red paint had faded to pink so a fresh brushed on coat of Tremclad red made it presentable. It had plywood over the holes in the floor for the back seat passenger area. It was a 2spd Toyoglide or as the owner`s manual stated “semi automatic“ while explaining what the dot on the spedo at 15mph was for. That`s the recommended speed where you push the PReNDLe stick from L to D. It was a real dog after my brother, who was the smarter one, tuned it for more power. It would stall at every stop sign or traffic light unless the prendle stick was put in N. Very difficult to restart too.
I took my road test in that car after turning up the idle speed so that it wouldn`t stall in D. I found out earlier that driving examiners frowned upon manually shifting an automatic so starting out in “dog“ had to do. I aced the test and the examiner never clued in to what a crap-can death trap it was that she just rode in.
I mowed lawns for gas money and drove the crap out of that car as much as possible. I learned how to carry momentum to maintain speed and some friends learned about the plywood covers on the garbage chutes. All manor of things went down the chute. A box full of yardsale ping pong balls was the funniest.
The car eventually developed a shudder in the steering wheel that changed to a shudder in the front end when the wheel was held steady. The strut towers were pulling away from their intended position. We sold it on to the minister next door for $50, he insisted and promised to fix it. After a fake safety inspection it was back on the road again as the same Toyota Corroded Death Trap Crap Can and the minister next door was forever after referred to as the Wrong Reverand. There were other reasons for the nickname though. He was weird in a creepy sort of way.
I always liked the look of those `80s BMWs. Even with the battering ram bumpers they looked more sporty than their competition however I would not trade my first car experience for anything else. As I told my nephews. Driving a car that can, and sometimes did, leave you stranded an anytime, anywhere or at any hour just builds character.
First car was my dad’s cast – off ’77 Jeep Wagoneer. He bought a new Olds Ciera in ’82 and left the Jeep to me. It had spotty assembly quality and was starting to rust, but had all options including the ultra – rare (for ’77) 401 V8. It was amazing, pretty fast, very capable and versatile. Apart from a bit of rust and poor fuel economy it could do, haul and tow almost anything, in any weather.
Two years later, under pressure from my dad to get something “more economical”, I traded it for an ’84 Jeep XJ. I thought I was making a mistake at the time, and that was confirmed. I traded a useful, solid classic Jeep for one that (fuel economy aside) was worse in every way, especially its’ disastrous reliability.
My older brother bought a new 1980 320I with a manual sunroof and a five speed. That was the first year that it was available. As you reported, these cars did not have any of the power accessories that were expected in an American car of this price range. By this time BMW was well established as a prestige marque, and the 320I was the model for the up and coming yuppie. I picked up the car from the dealer, after it was detailed for customer delivery. It was a metallic cinnamon color with a light saddle colored vinyl upholstery. I sure felt like a hot shot driving a brand new BMW back from the dealer. I stopped at the local Porsche dealer to check out a used 924 that was on the lot. Boy were those salespeople attentive!
I had considered buying a BMW 3.0 sedan that I had seen at the Datsun dealer earlier, but when I finally drove it found that it had some issues. I also considered a Porsche 914. After a lot of thought I returned to my true love and bought a three year old ’77 Coupe de Ville, the first year of the down sized model.
I was amazed at how stark the 320I was compared to the De Ville but over time I began to appreciate it’s virtues. It was fun to drive. There was plenty of room for four with a decent sized trunk. Good performance and fuel economy. The build quality was very impressive, I began to appreciate the quality of the carpet, vinyl and plastics, they were plain, but better than those in my Cadillac. That was impressive. My CDV was just “fancier.”
The same with the styling, it was plain but well proportioned. The size was perfect for driving in traffic and parking. My brother kept it for ten years and put over 250,000 miles on it! The only problem was that the oxygen sensors had to be replaced quite often and that was expensive at the dealer. The final few years my brother found a good Indie shop to service it.
These cars were so popular and common in the Bay Area for years. Then they all disappeared. I guess yuppies needed something new to display their wealth, can’t do that with an “old” Bimmer. Nobody seemed interested in rebuilding these cars as they aged. I remember that there was an ad in the back of Car and Driver advertising rebuild kits for 70s and 80s BMWs, it ran for years.
I had a “pre cog” CC effect. I saw a clean 320I in traffic yesterday!
First car was a ten year old ’65 Mustang convertible inherited from my older brother. It was a six with three-on-floor manual, maroon with a white top and tan “Pony” interior. It was also fairly scruffy and well-used. However, the car served me well for four years, including a trip-of-a-lifetime excursion with my brother which included a drive to southern Mexico and back.
I was living in San Francisco when the 320i came out, and a friend of a friend bought one of the earliest ones in town (he actually lived in Fresno, but he’d come to The City at least a couple times a month; I became sweet on his younger sister, who often accompanied him, so I always looked forward to them making the trip…).
San Francisco in the mid-late 70s was a car-watcher’s dream town; Porsches (LOTS of 356s & 911s), BMWs (mostly 02s, but lots of Big-6 coupes too), the occasional Italian exotic (and hum-drum Alfas, usually parked in the same spot__not frequently being moved), and there were TONS of British roadsters, MGB & GTs and TRs/GT6s, etc. (maybe I JUST NOTICED the Brit-Cars more, as I drove MGBs and a Healey__STILL HAVE THE HEALEY!).
So when the 320i started showing up on the street, it was instantly recognizable as a New Model, and I certainly took notice of them. First one I saw on the street, and I got “the impression” it was a salesman (pass seat) and a Young UPwardly mobile late 20s male driver, I and we both took off from a light up a pretty steep street. Driving an MGB, I was used to wringing out the engine getting around town and could tell he was attempting to do the same, but failing miserably to keep pace with my mostly clapped out ’67 MGB. The disappointment showed on his face, and the passenger (the salesman?) also looking concerned.
Not long after that, I met Byron (from Fresno) and learned he had a new 320i as well. Over the course of about a year, culminating with 28,000 miles, the car was self-destructing. It was forever being towed back to the dealership, typically for a week at a time, covering diagnosis, parts procurement and repair. I don’t recall it having any recurring problems, but lots of new ones, affecting the drivability and appearance of this new car.
He traded it in for a new RX7.
I don’t know if there were build quality issues in general, if it was just that entry-level model, or if he just got a lemon of an example. But whenever the subject of a 320i is brought up, those are the memories I have.
I have long since “pardoned” BMW as a whole though, and beginning with the 21st Century, my wife and I have owned BMWs almost exclusively, the sole exception being the 1957 Austin-Healey 100/6 2-seater I bought in 1978 San Francisco. Currently in the stable is her 3rd X5 (’02 & ’05 4.4s preceding her 2011 35iS version) and I never quite kicked the sportscar habit, with 1999 & 2001 M Rdstrs, plus a ’99 M Coupe (with a twinscrew supercharger).
I was very fortunate to have a father who owned his own lumber/construction business.
When I graduated college in 1988, my present from him was $15,000. I decided that a nice vehicle would befit my newly graduated status in life, so I pissed most of it away on a car.
We lived in Kenosha, WI, so I ventured up to Milwaukee-area dealerships hoping to find a “gently used” nice car. After spending an entire day going from dealership to dealership, I saw, from across the street, what I knew was my dream car of 1984, a 1984 Lincoln Continental Valentino Edition.
I knew it was 4 years old, judging y the designer trim color, and figured it would have more miles than I was looking to buy. To my surprise, the odo reading was only 24,000. 24,000 miles on a four-year-old car?!?! Naturally, I had a talk with the sales guy.
The tag said $14,995. After my all-cash negotiations, I walked out with a price of $12,600. Nicely equipped, too. Moonroof, dual power recliners, power trunk lid pull-down, “Premium Sound” stereo, all digital dash and digital HVAC.
I wish I could find a clean, low miles version of this car again. Just to let it sit in the garage.
The 1984 Lincoln Continental Valentino Edition:
My buddy had a 77 320i in a brown colour. His mom let him drive it on occasion and it seemed like a rocket ship compared to my Subaru. It could hold the corners very well. We took it out one night for a cruise without permission and left a bob Marley tape in the deck and got busted. A few years later she bought a Saturn wagon and he got to buy it. I always liked the shark nose front end of this model the next gen always seemed a bit feminized.
I agree it had enough power to be fun as a new driver but not enough to get you in too much trouble. He had it for years until he left it for a winter in a farmers field and the mice set up shop.
My first car I paid for myself was a 1974 VW van. It taught me a lot about being patient and how to work on cars. I think by the end of that vans life I could drop the engine and replace the clutch in an afternoon. I learned how to adjust valves and check the points and timing, something my more modern cars don’t require.
Thanks for the write up.
Very nicely written story, and a very nice first car!
My first car was a 1970 MG Midget, British Racing Green trimmed in Iowa rust. Bought cheap from a friend in high school, it needed a lot of work. My dad followed me home when I picked up the car, and after I got out of it after pulling in the driveway, his first words were that we were going to do some work on it before I ever drove it again (one quick detail out of many: we took the front wheel bearings out in a lot of small broken bits and pieces, revealing deeply damaged spindle stub axles). A lot of work, but a lot of great and priceless memories working on that car with my dad.
It turns out that I learned a lot about a lot of things with that MG before trading it for my second car, a much safer and more useful for college ’72 Ford Torino.
My first car was a BMW 2002, purchased new in 1975, about a year after completing my engineering degree. I had been saving some money for a while, and stripper 2002s were not so expensive back then. Of course, I could have purchased a lot more American iron for the same money.
At the time I had the option or purchasing my dad’s 1968 Chrysler Newport Custom for a song, but it was frankly too big for my taste, and I was not keen on dealing with a seven-year old car. Although it had been very well maintained, it was still plagued with chronic carburetor icing problems.
I remember my test drive of the 2002. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the BMW salesman was prepared to hand over the keys to his 2002 demo and let a 22-year old go for an extended test drive without a chaperone.
The 2002 was a fun car to drive, had good handling, excellent visibility, and at the time, 2002s were not that common in my neck of woods. It was not perfect, needing a full transmission rebuild barely one month from new, and an engine rebuild within 2 years. The heater and defroster were inadequate for Canadian winters, and this car also taught me all about the benefits of gas line antifreeze. Another weak point was the mess of vacuum hoses around the engine, which were made of biodegradable mystery rubber. Luckily, I was dealing with a BMW that provided exemplary service.
Two years after purchasing the 2002, I traded it for a new 1977 320i. All of a sudden, the 2002 looked very old. But the good news was that the trade in value of the 2002 was very high.
My 320i was also a stripper (vinyl seats, no radio, no A/C, no power anything). I soon installed a Blaupunkt radio. Like the 2002, it was not overpowered, but is was still a lot of fun to drive. One neat feature was that the dash illumination used fiber optics to carry light from a central source to, for example, each of the heater control knobs.
One problem I encountered early were the Continental tires, which were quite impossible to balance properly. After repeated failed attempts, the dealer offered me a set of Michelins at a very attractive price – problem solved.
The only other major issue I remember was an engine misfire. I noticed the problem just days before needing my car for a business trip, so I show up at the dealer around 3:30 PM on a Friday afternoon, without warning. The head mechanic starts working on the car, and around 5:00 PM he finds a problem with the mechanical fuel injection pump. They don’t have the part in stock so the owner takes a brand new 320i of the lot, parks it next to mine and instructs the mechanic to take whatever he needs from the new car to get me on the road.
I was back on the road just before 7:00 PM – no charge. Now, that’s service!
Good story. By the time I really started paying attention to BMWs the 318i had replaced the 320. Today I prefer the 320.
My first car was a 10 year old 67 Galaxie 500 convertible. At that age (and with 60k miles) the husband of the middle age lady that drove it decided it was too old, but she hated to let go of it.
’77 Ford Fiesta L, silver/black w/ houndstooth cloth seats. Beat the crap outta that car all through high school but it never let me down. Smog-choked 1.6L “Kent” 4-banger put out modest ponies but revved like the dickens and the car was very light weight, so it was quick enough for a dumb 16 year old kid to get in trouble with. Eventually added a header and exhaust which opened it up quite a bit. Wanted to add a Weber carb but never had the bucks. Kinda miss that car. What I would’ve given for a 320i which was the latest Euro yuppie sensation at the time.
My first car was a 67 in 1987 when I was in 11th grade. Even though it was a Mustang and was in very clean condition inside and out, it was still just a 20 year old car, which in 1987 was very old for a car, not like now days when they’re just getting broken in. We paid $1800. The color was called Lime Gold and it had a two-tone green interior with lots of chrome and brushed aluminum, all in great shape. Even the carpet was a dark green. It had no A/C, the original AM radio with chrome push buttons and knobs. The center console which was mostly brushed aluminum reached from the dash to the back seat. Also had a 289 V/8 and I sometimes drove it too fast. It had a habit of blowing freeze plugs when I was driving too fast. This happened a couple times going to lunch with friends in my class and goofing off. Both times some boys from my class spent the next period fixing the freeze plug and the teachers always approved this.
Your Mustang is the same color combo as my 67 Galaxie and also my 3rd car, which was a 68 Mustang. Both of mine had black interior though. Wow but I hated that Lime Gold color then. I like it much better now.
‘…I got used to it stalling, every morning, at the first stop sign in my neighborhood, without fail. You would restart it and it would be fine the rest of the day.’
That’s exactly what my father experienced every cold morning in his 1984 318i. The BMW service centre replaced the gearbox under warranty, which seemed to resolved the issue.
Unfortunately, his 318i was probably built the first thing on Monday morning. So many quality issues. So many technical issues. So many things gone wrong with it.
1958 Austin A35 van – it cost me £25 in 1968.
Oddly similar to your experience my first car was a 1971 BMW 1600 which I bought in early 1976 when I was still 15. Of course it was registered in my father’s name and I was not allowed to drive it on public roads for a few months until I turned 16, but I paid for it myself from my odd job earnings. The car had only 33,000 miles when I bought it and was immaculate. We were in Texas so the Bimmer did have an under-dash AC unit (Frigiking IIRC) that, while capable of blowing very cold air, was not very versatile. It was kind of an all-or-nothing thing.
For those who don’t know a 1600 is a 2002 with a 1.6 liter four cylinder engine. I believe it was rated at 95 horsepower. The car had a 4-speed manual transmission, the aforementioned AC, an AM/FM radio (one speaker, not stereo), and a factory sunroof that was crank operated. No power steering, brakes, or windows as you might expect.
The handling and ride of the 1600 was so much above other cars in its price range (I paid roughly what I would have for a three year old American pony car or intermediate) that the 95 horsepower was plenty.
For years I remembered the capabilities of the car as being fantastic but about 15 years ago I had the opportunity to drive a very well maintained early 1970’s 2002 and was shocked to realize it could be completely out-classed by a contemporary Honda Civic. Come to think, in 1976 I drove a classmates new Honda Civic hatchback and was amazed at how well it handled, shifted, etc. compared to other cars in the high school parking lot besides my BMW.
My first car was a 1957 Dodge Custom Lancer 2 dr Hardtop. V8 with a Carter 4 bbl and dual exhaust. It came from the back row of a Mercury dealship and was so dirty, it was hard to tell the color. No trunk key, but a lot attendent got it unlocked, and it still latched.
Among its mechanical problems was a carb which bogged, when quickly accelerating. I knew 2 German brothers who were mechanics who worked only on American cars. One threw a carb kit at me and said, rebuild it. It was a Carter AFB, and i did rebuild it. Suprisingly, the car started and I drove it to the shop for fine tuning.
The mechanic said the carb needed to be ajusted and told me to wait. He went to his house trailer at the edge of the salvage yard and changed into his “civies” which included a sweater with a deer jumping over the steam, plus a lot of Aqua Velva. He grabbed a wooden handled screw driver and said “slide over punk”, I’m driving.
It was dark and rainy and we drove quickly up a highway to the first bar. The mechanic tweaked the carb in the dark parking lot, with no flashlight. My job was to buy 2 Stroh’s Bohemian beer. I disliked Stroh’s, which was brewed in my hometown; and in many other places; but I didn’t want to rock to boat. We hit 3 or 4 bars and the Dodge was then running great.
My next car was a 1957 Chevrolet convertible which I purchased for $70; and it ran. Its ownership also involved the German Brothers.
My first car was a 1964 Pontiac GTO, 4 speed, dark blue paint with blue vinyl interior. I bought the car in June of 1971 for $550, drove it for less than a year and sold it for $575. Sure wish I’d hung on to that one!
My first car was a 1941 plymouth special deluxe sedan. I got it with the help of my dad it 1996. I still have it now. I drove it to school and work. And even used as my “‘limo” when I got married in 2010.
’67 VW Deluxe sunroof beetle in Savanna Beige. It was a grey market car I bought from a soldier that imported it from Germany. It had 6volt electrics, four bolt rims and front disc brakes. That car took me to high school, college, adventures up and down the West coast and eventually ended up in Maui and was finally sold on the big island of Hawaii in order to get a Jeep. It also taught me how to work on cars.
Well considering that my first car is sitting in the garage, a 1968 Cougar, I’ll go take a look and see what pops in my head. Oh, yes, my first speeding ticket is what pops into my head. I bought the car off my father on December 18, 1969 when I turned 16.
Two weeks later I am going to take the SAT on a Saturday morning. I leave the house and get no further than a 1/2 mile from the house when I get nailed on a out of the way street where we had never seen a patrol car parked before or ever again. I was 10 mph over the 25 limit not that it was posted at all since none of the streets were.
This meant I had to go down to court, with my mother, and meet with the Judge in his chambers. True. He asked me if this was going to be a problem that he needed to do something about or was I going to learn my lesson. I said it would not happen again and that was it. Fortunately, the officer was fast as I did make it in time for the test.
As for learning that went well for five years before a friend of mine in a 72 Mustang 351-4V 4 speed and me in the modified 302-4V Cougar decided to race up Mt. Soledad Road to where I lived at the time. Hit 75 mph in a pretty much straight up road at times. Posted limit of 35 mph. Neither of us saw the motorcycle cop until the end as we split up between the two entrances into the condo development.
Alex came in the typical way and I took the longer route. The motorcycle cop was right behind Alex as I saw him make the right turn in with the officer right behind and I went “CRAP.” Nothing I could do as I was now right behind the officer. We got a lecture about what we did but he only gave us a warning as our speed was more than 25 mph over and would cost us big time. The warning, now faded, is still in my glove box today.
Oh, and my mother had a beige 302i which I thought was a really nice car still to this day.