Pics are representative examples from the web
Growing up, I was part of a “no-car” family. My parents were older and had both experienced the Great Depression, and as a result, if public transportation was available, then a car was an unnecessary expense. If the bus couldn’t get us to where we needed to go, then we had several relatives we could rely on. My Mother’s favorite partner was her older sister; my Aunt Winnie. Winnie was a divorced, single, working woman, at a time when that wasn’t typical. Perhaps the best description of her, and I say this in no way demeaning and with great affection, was a “tough ‘ole broad.” She was a realtor, and contrary to the stereotype, didn’t drive an older Cadillac or Lincoln to chauffeur her clients. There must have been a company car for that – Winnie drove beaters.
The first car I can remember her driving was an old ‘53 or ‘54 Chevy. It was also the car in which I experienced my first accident. Winnie wasn’t the best driver, likely contributing to my Mother’s life-long fear when getting into a car. In this case, she was making a left-turn and thought she could beat the oncoming traffic…she didn’t. While I was maybe four or five, I can still remember the “clang” (I’d call it a moderate fender-bender) and Winnie grabbing her forearm (it was broken), and all the panic that ensued – and not understanding most of it.
The Chevy was replaced with a ‘60 Lark 2-door. Couple of things I remember about that car; 1) it always smelled like smoke (she was a life-long smoker), 2) the 259 V8 was strong and Winnie’s lead foot shoved me back in the seat on more than one occasion, and 3) the interior had what I would later call a “kit-car” feel. After having had the opportunity to sit in several Sixties Studebakers later in life, those all had that same kit-car interior feeling.
All of our other relatives drove used cars also – so when the opportunity came for me to ride in a showroom-new car, it made quite the impression – one I remember to this day. Winnie had a yearly one-month temporary job at the Ohio State Fair, in their administration office. Jack Schmidt Olds, one of the city’s largest and oldest Olds dealers, provided courtesy cars for the fair – and the admin office had several – brand-spanking new 1965 Olds Starfire convertibles, white with a red interior.
Every other car I had rode in up to that time coughed, rattled, and clanked. The Olds amazed me with its silence. What I assumed was the 425 “Super Rocket” V8 moved the Starfire like an electric locomotive; forceful and silent. If the weather was too hot even with the top down, put it up and turn on the air conditioning – wow. And that beautiful red interior, with no lumpy seats, and new car smell. What an epiphany…
Those memories still reside over sixty years later – what are some of yours?
First new car I remember arriving at our house was Mom’s ’61 Chevy wagon, but I can’t say it was an indelible impression. A year later, Dad took delivery of a ’62 Impala. black with red interior. By then I cared enough to recite: “Two-door 1962 Chevrolet Impala Hardtop Convertible.”
“Convertible” made no sense to me, as the top was fixed. Engine? Learned later it was a 283 in both cars, but at 5-6 years old I didn’t care. And yes, it smelled like a new car!
When I was 5, my parents special ordered a 1975 Suburban. I remember everything about it when it was new. I remember going down to the dealership with my Dad when it was closed (must have been a Sunday) and finding it in the back lot, having just arrived there. I don’t remember actually being a part of the ride home from the dealership, but I remember riding in it when it still smelled new. I think I remember more about the Suburban than my Dad does now. It was charcoal metallic with a blue plaid vinyl interior, rubber floor covering, three on the tree, AM radio, but power door locks and rear A/C. We kept it to 1980 or so, then a family in the neighborhood bought it. Their son, who was my age, then drove it all through high school and college into the early 90’s. It looked rough the last time I saw it but still ran fine.
My older brother bought a last year 1977 Dodge Royal Monaco sedan. Triple green, with the 400 V8. My first extended ride in it, was a five hour drive to Toronto in July 1978. It remains one of the quietest, most isolated backseat rides, I’ve ever taken. Given he was a Highway Engineer, made sense he’d want a comfortable car. I do remember quite a few gas station fill ups that trip. He replaced it with a Buick Electra sedan around 1980.
As a kid Dad sold off his Porsche 356C and bought a brand new orange 1975 Honda CVCC. My brother and I were outgrowing the rear seats in the 356. Even as a youngster it was apparent that the Honda was not nearly as cool but the front drive and sideways motor was interesting. It survived a good 10 years before a botched head gasket job and rust did it in. The second was Dad again purchasing a new Toyota pickup in the early 80s. Diesel. This thing was a total penalty box pile of crap. Kick panels falling off on the way home from the dealer. Horribly underpowered. Terrible ventilation, it had one vent in the center that by design could not be closed. In cold wx that really was unpleasant. The 5 speed didn’t have enough beef to survive behind the anemic diesel. Torque wasn’t the issue, it seems that the diesel power impulses were harsher than the gas version and voila, another transmission rebuild. The engine did go a lot of miles but a cracked piston combined with obscenely high priced engine parts finished that one off. I would rather drive a Chevette or Yugo than that thing.
My parents bought a brand new 1972 Chevrolet Nova, in 1971.
They had that car for about 10 years.
We went on family trips in that car. I learned to drive and took my driver’s test in that car.
Lots of memories.
Mom and Dad traded it in for a brand new 1981 Chevrolet Citation, in 1981.
That was the second brand new, off-the-showroom-floor car I can remember riding around in.
My best friend thru the 60s-80s was OBSESSED with early 2-door Novas and Chevy II models. My 1978-1981 GF drove a 4-door 1964 Chevy ll, when I first met her, but when she split up with the guy before me, she bought a new orange MG sports car! She was a GORGEOUS blue-eyed blonde whom I thought was WAY outta my league! To my surprise she sold the car soon after we hooked up! We wound up sharing a big 1969 Ford Galaxie conv.
My only experience with a NEW car was riding in my dad’s courtesy cars, which were brand new 1970-71 Fords. My FAV was the 1971 T-Bird 2-door Broughm which was LOADED with a sunroof, A/C, power everything! It was chocolate brown with matching wheel covers! Brown was never a fav colour of mine but this car was extraordinary, inside and out! By this time I was 18 yrs old, so ‘hot’ cars were a priority in my life! (they attracted girls).
My brother had a ’66 Chevy II with a 327 and Powerglide (Mom and Dad’s Nova also had a Powerslide).
White with a blue interior, they owned it in the early 1970’s.
I thought it was cool when I was a kid and always jumped at a chance to ride in it.
My father was a municipal officer, unlike most of his brothers who had their own business. We never owned a new car, and I looked with envy when uncles arrived in their new cars.
Later, I decided new cars were a no-go area for me as well, the rapid depreciation of a new car just did not make sense to me (and still does not). This changed when I got a new job at an IT company 25 years ago and I had to choose a new company (lease) car.
I did not much like the process of choosing a new car. I had a maximum lease price but was free to choose the make I wanted. Looking at brochures, options that looked nice but proved too expensive. Comparing different cars was difficult, one had options the other would not have. Dealer visits were not much fun either. Getting attention from a salesman was difficult sometimes, twice I left the dealership because I could not get to speak a sales person soon enough.
In the end when I was invited to pick up my new car, I noticed it came with a different brand of tires compared to the standard Michelin. I asked why, and they said my lease company insisted on this, it made for a cheaper car. Amazing! The things they do to get a cheaper price for a new lease car. (Half a year later, when I had the car serviced at a dealer, they noticed this as well and said the cheaper tire brand was the cause for the rumbling I heard when driving the car)
Two months ago I got a new private lease car to be used by my daughter. She started a new job somewhere where it was not possible to travel by public transport, so she needed a car. The lease is a one year fixed price (per month) which automatically extends after the year. After the first year the lease can be ended each month if wanted. A main reason for me getting the lease car is that I could get a cheap second parking permit for the area (she lives in the same area, in a new apartment building where no parking permits are given).
She did choose the lease car, a Fiat 500. Picking the car up at the dealer was nice and much better compared to my experience 25 years earlier. We had coffee, tart, a bottle of wine and a bag of goodies. The car stood in the middle of the showroom under a big cover. My daughter had the pleasure to uncover it, after that the sales man explained the various functions in the car to her and then drove the car out of the showroom.
1974 AMC Ambassador Brougham. Right off the showroom floor. The old man had the 69 Amby in for service. The 74 was right smack in view going from the service to waiting areas. Green with matching vinyl top, spoke rims like the Javelins, and nice sounding stereo with an 8-track tape player. That Amby hood ornament closed the deal.
The 69 was an SST and was plugged full off STP. Buh bye 69.
Probably 1960 when my parents bought their first new car, a Rambler. I wasn’t impressed.
The first time I drove a new car was 1974 when I tried out a VW Thing and 411. I wasn’t impressed. The last time was 1983 when I tried out an AMC/Renault Alliance. I wasn’t impressed.
In the winter of 1980, I was 7 years old and my father was looking to replace his 1975 VW Scirocco. He became interested in the newly-introduced Subarus, but wanted to test out the 4wd system to see how well it functioned. So one evening in a snowstorm, our family drove down to Wilkie Buick/Subaru in Philadelphia for a test drive.
Being a car-crazy kid, I was extremely excited, because I’d never been in a brand new car before. The dealership had only one 4wd model to test drive, and it was a black GL coupe (incidentally, I still think those coupes were a great-looking design). My first impression was that exquisite new-car smell.
We all piled in, and Dad drove it around North Philadelphia in the snow. I recall coming to one intersection with a bunch of stuck cars, and Dad just drove right on by. It was then he decided he’d buy one.
Pretty soon afterwards, he bought a white GL wagon. Unfortunately, it was a turd of a car – lots of problems through the six years my folks owned it. But I’ll never forget that snowy test drive.
My first car had that new car smell. It was my 1966 Dodge Coronet two-door sedan. I loved driving it. I had moved from New York City to suburban Maryland. A car was essential. While living in the area, I spent my free time touring historic areas including driving to The Luray Caverns.
In March of 1963 I went with my father to City Olds in Baltimore to pick up his brand new Olds Dynamic 88 4dr hardtop. Nicely equipped but no A/C, which was an expensive and rare option those days. All vinyl interior, which together with the new paint gave off an incredible new car smell. Took him a bit to get used to the touchy power brakes of the era, as well as the 425 lbs. of torque in the Rocket V-8, leading to a few squealing tire starts. Was a reliable car for the six years he had it.
1968 Chevrolet Bel Air wagon. I was 8, this car replaced the 63 Bel Air wagon that I don’t remember them bringing home. The 68 was white, 307 Powerglide, your basic family car of the time. Had a radio & clock in addition to the automatic transmission & V8 engine & power steering, those might’ve been the only options. Pretty sure it was an in-stock car, maybe even a demo. Very soon after they bought it, at the invitation of Mom’s uncle and aunt, we went on a road trip to vacation at Pehrson’s Lodge on Lake Vermillion, in northern Minnesota. It was a long trip & in those days much of it was two lane. I remember we drove at night & stopped along the way so Dad could nap. At that point, I can remember the loud ‘tickticktick…’ and periodic ‘CLUNK’ from the clock. I remember the three-slider heat control ‘Off-Cold-Off’, even though it didn’t have AC so ‘cold’ was only relative to ‘hot’. It was impressive to me for the styling & also for the modern side marker lights and the four-way flashers that older cars didn’t have. And that it had six seat belts and two shoulder harnesses (which never were used). The padded dash impressed Mom.
That brought back a memory of fixing those old car clocks. In this era, the car clocks were actually regular spring clocks with electric winding. The electric winding would be the “clunk” you heard. When the clocks got a few years old, they would often stop working.
Our used car manager felt that being able to point out a working clock in a used car helped sell the idea a used car had been well taken care of by the previous owner. “See, even the clock still works.” was a frequent part of his sales pitch. So we mechanics had to become adept at fixing clocks on trade-ins.
Clocks had a set of points that would corrode at stop functioning. The points would contact each other and actuate a the winding mechanism that would run down after about a minute. The process would keep repeating as long as the points worked. Usually all that was necessary was to take the clock out and clean the with a file. Occasionally a particularly balky clock would require some contact cleaner sprayed in the winding mechanism. Never saw a clock that had actually failed. The problem was always the winding mechanism.
My skill at fixing these has been long made obsolete by true electric clocks. Now you know the source of those long ago sounds 😉
Yes! At the time as a kid, I wasn’t sure what to make of the ‘clunk’. What I had no idea of until looking it up lately, these clocks would self-adjust their speeds if you turned them ahead or behind to reset them. Mom & Dad & just about everyone over the age of 14 had a watch in those days (Timex watches were good & inexpensive), so the car clock didn’t get a lot of attention in our car. Yes, I recall it stopped running after 2-3 years.
I can remember driving out of Jerry Biggers Chevrolet in Elgin Illinois with my Dad in his new ‘66 Impala (4 door, dark blue, 327 Powerglide).
I’ve always felt lucky growing up because om my neighborhood, we had 4 new-car dealers living within a few blocks of one another. Close family friends growing up sold Chevies
(still do!). I recall when the wife got a silver-blue metallic `64 Malibu SS hardtop for her demo. It was all my young eyes could take in! With matching vinyl buckets/console, and even pwr windows!! And that new-car smell? when it was hot that summer, Their daughter and I would just sit in the car with the windows down. The heat amplified the aroma of new vinyl and carpet!! LOL I found myself surrounded with many new cars as a kid, and treasure the memories!
The first new car to make an impression on me was also an Oldsmobile. When I was five years old my parents loaded up all five of us kids into the car for a drive across the mighty Mississippi River to Iberville Motors in Plaquemine, Louisiana where us kids oohed and aahed over the new Chevrolets, Oldsmobiles, and Cadillacs, while my parents picked out a 1970 Ninety-Eight Luxury Sedan.
I recall the new car smell, the upholstery that resembled the sofa in our museum-like living room (we were relegated to the family room), and most of all, the power windows that we were quickly told not to “play with” under ANY circumstances. Which meant we were scolded for opening the windows for any and all possible reasons.
The highlight of the trip was returning to Baton Rouge via the old Plaquemine ferry instead of the new I-10 bridge. That was probably to allow my Dad to get out of the car and onto the deck for a smoke, and to brag to strangers about his shiny new Olds. Dad was always a bit – no, make that extremely – boastful about his successes and possessions.
Fall 1959, brand new white 1960 Country Sedan for my Ford-engineer father and a family of seven. My mother hadn’t liked the upholstery in the (just -about-to-be-discontinued) 1960 Edsel wagon (tan).
Oddly enough, the very last Edsel off the line turned out to be a tan wagon, so I’ll always wonder if that’s the car my parents turned down…..
https://classiccars.com/listings/view/1030247/1960-ford-country-sedan-for-sale-in-sioux-falls-south-dakota-57108
In either 1964 or possibly late 1963, I went with my parents to test drive a new Pontiac Tempest Custom. That car was new, may have been a demo. First new car I can remember riding in. Then my parents ordered a new Tempest Custom, and I still remember riding in it the day my dad brought it home. I was 5 years old at that time.
When we were at the Pontiac dealer for the test drive, I observed a new Grand Prix being prepped. It was either black or dark blue with the 8-lug brake drum/wheel assemblies. I thought it was just about the best looking car I had ever seen, and I still feel that way today.
That was probably the day I became a Pontiac fan.
I was four years old and it was 1955. I remember new car shopping with my parents at an Oldsmobile dealership. The dealership had their stock of new cars in a parking garage and remember the walk through when I spotted a turquoise & white Starfire convertible parked next to a matching turquoise & white Holiday two door ’98’. Still remember seeing the side view of the Starfire for the first time. Dad bought both, the hardtop was his and the convertible was Moms. Dad always bought new cars and never test drove until the deal was done (I still do the same). I rode home from the dealership with Mom and the top was down. That started my love of convertibles and I still drive one today. First car I drove was that Starfire while sitting on my fathers lap.
My first memory of such a thing was a car not belonging to my parents – although they had purchased two or three new cars in my lifetime prior to this.
Their ’73 Ford Torino (no Gran) came about when I was a few months old; the ’77 Plymouth Volare just sort of appeared; the ’81 Dodge Omni was one I was there for the purchase but it did not make any impression.
What did was a 1981 or 1982 Olds Delta 88 – with the 350 diesel. My grandfather’s older brother, Lyle, and his wife Jessie had purchased it. She brought it by the house one night, knowing my appreciation for new cars. After their ’73 Ford Galaxie, this Olds was amazing with power everything. I had never been in such a nice car.
Despite the diesel, that car lasted a long time. It was one of the better diesel powered ones although it required a new water pump every 20,000 miles from what I can remember.
My parents only owned four new cars (their only cars) in nearly 60 years, the first purchased before I was born and the second acquired when I was three. I remember that one, but not as a new car. Our only nearby relatives always had an old beater, and our closest neighbors had a ‘53 or ‘54 Chevy that was clean but not new, and a similar vintage Buick. So the first new-looking and feeling car I remember riding in made a very strong impression. It was my 2nd/3rd grade teacher’s 1963 Pontiac. It was red, it was huge, it had then-novel vertical headlights, I’m pretty sure it was a hardtop. Inside, it was smooth and silent and full of shiny chrome bits. So different from our drab green Volvo 544. And best of all, I got to ride in front with my teacher whom I had a huge crush on. Still a fan of the ‘63 Pontiac to this day.
Born in 51. The first car I remember clearly was the new 56 Ford (non Crown)Victoria hardtop. But my first new car smell event I recall was the 59 Bonneville my father brought home in late 58. even the paint smelled new. The smell under the hood of paint burning off the engine and accessories. the cacophany of interior odors which make up a new car smell, I still appreciate, even if they are mostly chemical. Frankly, I still take in the smell of new paint if passing by a body shop.
Pops didn’t buy new cars that I can recall but maybe the 195? IHC Travelall was new .
In 1988 my then bride decided she needed a new car and bought a new HONDA Accord four door .
It was a nice car but not my style so I never drove it unless she asked me to .
She’d bitch about going to the store in my 1928 ForDor Ford ‘A’ Model or my ‘1946 Chevy 3100 series pickup, she was all about “front” and showing off, I couldn’t care less .
In the mid 1980’s I bought a 1982 VW Bug in Mexico, I loved the car but it didn’t end well due to me making serious mistakes when I got California tags for it .
-Nate
That only happened once in my life. It was mentioned here in regards to my 68 Cougar. My father always had company cars which meant he drove what he was given and always a four door full size car. Then, for the first time, he was in between jobs with no car. He had to buy one.
I went with him being 14 at the time and in hind sight it shows me what he would have done IF he could pick a company car. We looked at the Volvo 1800s, the Mercedes 220, the Mustang GT-CS, the Porsche 912, and the Cougar. The Cougar was on the showroom floor and why it was the winner I know not. All I know was that I sat in the car, on the floor, while he negotiated the purchase.
Interestingly at his new job only a few months later, after a 72 Torino 429 company car he negotiated a car allowance with the company. Now he could get what he wanted for the first time. No more four door full size cars. Nope, the first was a 73 Porsche 911E for two years and 75 Mercedes 450SL for two years. Pissed off the President but he was in his rights since the cars were covered by the allowance.
Oops, wrong car as that belongs to someone else I know but you can’t get to read the great COAL on it. This is that Cougar
’53 Olds 98
What a great read and seeing what others list.
For me it was a little different because my uncle Al had a used car lot about 4 miles up the highway from our farm. My parents always purchased nice used cars from Al when I was younger, so my first “new car smell and ride” was in uncle Al’s special ordered 1982 Buick Park Ave. with every option but leather. It even had the memory seats! What a joy to ride in and get that new car smell. He would usually order a new car for them and drive for a year and sell on his lot. So he had many new cars and later went to the new Chryslers.
For my parents? It was the first new car they had ever purchased. It was a new 1985 Buick Park Ave they purchased in 1986. Ahhhhh. Those seats were some of the best ever and plush. That new car smell is like a drug.
A 1964 Olds Cutlass hardtop. This would have been in probably early August of 1964, so it was late in the model year, and I would have been age 6. My parents loaded my sister and me into our 61 F-85 wagon and we drove to Rice Oldsmobile, on the south side of Fort Wayne.
It was a dark green (inside and out) car with vinyl bucket seats, a console, and the optional wheel covers (that were usually seen on Ninety-Eights). It was the coolest car I had ever seen, and I remember that our first stop was to show it to my mother’s Aunt Alma, who lived nearby. Mom later told me that they had to make the choice on the dealer lot between one car with air and another with the buckets and console, and decided to go with the second one. It turned out to be one of the best cars we ever had in the family, and I have many fond memories of it during the 8 years it was in our garage.
Wow, Jim, that ride in the Starfire had to be exciting!
I was 11 when my dad got our first new car, a 1957 Ford Ranch Wagon. It was a base, no option, black 2 door. After dinner on hot summer nights, he took mom and I out for a cooling ride. I got to ride in the wayback with the tailgate window open. I can still smell the exhaust fumes!
The first one: a 1978 Ford Fiesta 1100 S, back seat (me being 12 years old). Totalled a year later and replaced by a new 1979 Ford Fiesta 1300 S.
The most recent, brand new set of wheels (company car): a 2023 Toyota Yaris 1.5 Hybrid, driver’s seat (old enough for having a driver’s license).
‘Nothing special, just for transportation’ (quote Columbo)
My parents had used cars when they were first married. My Dad had a ’55 Chevy which was only a few years old. I don’t remember it because I was born at the end of 1954. Back then my Dad didn’t know much about cars, and had experienced a serious breakdown when my folks were on a long trip with my older brother who was an infant. I was told years later, that car was an old flathead Ford. He bought a brand new ’59 Impala two door hardtop to replace the ’55. It was black with a red interior. Very cool and it smelled great! I was four going on five and remember this car well. Then he traded that away for a ’63 Corvair passenger van when he started a television repair business. A new ’64 Pontiac Tempest wagon replaced the Corvair. White with a red interior. My dad liked cars with a base V8 and an automatic trans, he hated sixes with three speeds. Once he was familiar with automotive mechanics he had a string of later model used cars, almost always station wagons. He now had confidence that he could keep an eye on their condition and fix them when necessary. His last new vehicle was a ’75 Chevy step side truck, black with a red interior.
There is something about having a brand new car, besides the smell, it also gives you the freedom and confidence to drive anywhere at the drop of a hat. Nowadays, cars are so well built that a 3-5 year old car is just as good as a new one.
1967 Chevrolet Caprice coupe in Marina Blue. It was my grandfather’s car. Lots of goodies in it, three speed automatic, 396, AC, tilt, 8-track. Traded a 1962 Buick LeSabre sedan for it.
My avatar is a photo of the owner’s manual from that car.
Pretty.
Very nice.
Very nice indeed .
-Nate
I was born in 1980. My parents were early adopters (somewhat uncharacteristic of them) of the minivan, and bought a brand new Voyager in 1984. It replaced my mom’s old Vega. They got the base 2.2L engine (because they were still cheap) but the automatic transmission (because mom couldn’t drive a manual). And I remember dad complaining about how slow it was, and that he wished he’d sprung for the bigger engine.
But what I remember about riding in it as a 4 year old was that I didn’t *like* riding in it. For whatever reason the “new car smell” made me feel sick. Apparently the fumes from the plastic were too much for my young lungs.
Our family lived near the subway, so anywhere that needed to be gotten to was done onm the TTC.
I do remember us getting a new car once, and I went with my Dad to pick it up at Halnan Motors in Long Branch, west of Toronto. I loved watching him row the gears on the 3 on the tree in that ’66 Valiant Signet.
The first car I drove brand new, right out of the dealer lot, was my ’74 Dart Sport. It was in my parents’ name, but I was the only licensed driver in the household.
Dad took me along when he traded in the ’55 Pontiac for a new ’59 Chevy Brookwood wagon at Hessell Chevrolet in El Segundo, CA. I was too young to remember the first ride in the Pontiac, his first new car.
My parents bought a new 1948 (Canadian) Pontiac, and according to my mother it had many problems, so they switched to buying used for a number of years, although I suspect financial pressures were also in play. It was probably the car that brought me home from the hospital in 1950. Their next new car was a 1961 Olds Dynamic 88. I actually don’t remember it arriving, which surprises me., as I was already very interested in cars.
What I do remember is after I got my licence in 1966 that was offered a chance to be a driver for the Canadian Open (golf). I took driving lessons from a particular school that got you a discount on insurance. The Canadian Open, for some reason, thought it would be a good idea to get a group of newly licensed teenagers to drive the golfers around. ford supplied a varied fleet of new cars and we drove all these important people from the hotel to the golf course. The one name I remember from my passengers was Chi-Chi Rodriguez. Fortunately there were no accidents and I got to drive a number of new Fords. Lots of fun for a 16 year old.
The first new car I remember was my parents’ 1974 Volvo 164E bought in late 74 after the used 66 Mercedes threw a rod. The one that really sticks was their third new car and the second in my lifetime, a 1977 Honda Accord. This one sticks partly because I was older but also because we had to wait for it since the early Accord was a hot car at the time. So it was very exciting to have them pick me up at summer camp in the new gold Honda, even if it didn’t have air conditioning.
My first brand new car was a 1993 Ford Ranger that we bought just before our wedding and drove to the Sonic Drive In on Route 66 as the most American thing we could do with a new pickup. New cars are few and far between for us, we didn’t get another new vehicle until the spring of 2017.
When I was 5 my dad ordered a new 1976 Mercury Marquis, a couple weeks later the dealer called and said they had found one almost identical at another dealer so he took it. I remember going with him to pick it up on a rainy day, it was dark blue with a white vinyl top and blue interior with vinyl seats. I spent a lot of time in that car and have a lot of good memories. It was number 3 of the 7 Marquis/ Grand Marquis that he owned from the late 60s to the mid 90s and I always liked it the best even though it wasn’t as loaded as some of the newer ones that he would have later.
I can’t quite remember. Our ’62 Fairlane, although “new” had actually been a demonstrator, so it wasn’t quite “off the showroom”. Possibly our ’65 Coronet wagon.
The first one I can remember, I was 4, was when we got our 1960 Chrysler New Yorker. It would be mom’s car. We picked it up on the way out of town. We were going to Chicago, as we did almost every year, at least once. Sometimes, we went 2 or 3 times, always by car until about 1968, when we began taking the train. My dad always drove, he hated train travel, especially the length of the Chicago trip from Toledo, as it took at least 6 hours, versus 4 by car, less when he drove it, because he thought the 70 MPH speed limit on the Ohio and Indiana Pikes were a joke. That’s probably why we started riding the train, mom got stressed out by dad’s highway speeding. We picked up the NY at the dealership, which I think was in Wauseon, OH, and my dad traded his dreaded ’58 Olds in on it. The Olds had a bad habit of not wanting to start in cold weather and my dad was unimpressed with it’s power anyway. It was me, my sister, mom and dad, and my mom’s friend “Lou”, who would disappear from our lives soon, but at the time, was at our house all the time. Our not so nice Dachshund, Gus came too, and he managed to make it the whole trip without having an accident, which was a miracle! And he didn’t bite anybody or even try to. That was unheard of, he was pretty much a snappy guy.
We got to the dealership and the owner showed us all the features and I remember the engine, a 413, and it pulled very well. Dad managed to keep the speed down to break it in on the way, but coming back, he got on it pretty hard. I liked the dash layout, lots of chrome. Sadly, the NY had a fairly short time with us, it had endless electrical issues that made AAA membership a really great thing to have, and dad soon got tired of dealing with it, so barely 18 months later, it was gone, replaced by a ’62 Caddy Coupe De Ville. I spent many many hours in that car, a lot of it left alone at the store, as parents did back then without even a comment about “danger”, by nosy people, let alone the police. But the NY has a place in my memories as the first new car I remember. The biggest thrill in getting a new car had to be when we picked up our one of the very first ones in the Toledo area, a ’66 Olds Toranado, in the blah as hell “Laurel Mist” color. I got a model Toronado, in the same color. My dad and his 2 brothers all bought Toros the same day, the other ones were in “Trumpet Gold”. My dad never got a good color, except the black NY, I liked it.
This really made me think.
The best memory for me was my dad was driving a 1976 Sedan de Ville. It was a rolling pile. He had nothing but problems. My mom never drove and I was a few months from getting my license. He came into my room one to ask me what kind of car he should get. The choice was a new 1978 Caprice, Bonneville, Electra or a diesel Delta 88! I don’t know how or why but I knew those were going to have issues, so I took that off the list!!
It came down to the Buick or the Caprice.. It was the only time he ever asked me to make the call. I asked him for a brochure for the Buick and the Chevy. The first one he brought home was the Buick. In the 1978 brochure the center shows a black Park Avenue , so I told him that was the one.
4 weeks later he asked me to go to work with him on a Saturday which was regular protocol. This time I turned him down, which I would regret later and for the rest of my life. He drove up in a brand new Electra 225, black over red. While not loaded, it was very nice. It had the options I had talked about with him.
In 1979, he lost everything he had worked for. He was a builder and homes were not selling. Well the Electra had to go back. I saw my dad cry twice in his life: once while standing in front of his brothers coffin, the other was him telling me about losing the car. I asked him why he was so upset. He said because the lease depreciation would have brought the car down to a buy out of $2500 and he wanted to give it to me when I graduated in 1981.
Yes I regret that. But not all was bad. A friend found me a 1980 Buick Park Avenue, it needed paint. My mom asked what color it was and what color would I paint it. I told her red over red. She asked me to paint it black. I did and my wife and I drove that car until it simply wouldn’t run anymore. I believe 180,000 miles.
My Mom and Dad brought home a new ‘65 Catalina Sedan in that metallic jade green so popular at the time. I remember the first time I saw the ‘65 parked in front of our house and my Mom explaining to 4-year-old me that I could no longer stand in between them on the front seat like I did in the ‘56 Desoto they had just traded in. (It wasn’t because of any child safety reason—this was still the ‘60’s, way before the nanny state and baby on board window stickers– but because they didn’t want any dirt on the new seats.)
My Dad purchased his first new car, a 1955 Ford Town Sedan off the showroom floor, but I was only a toddler then. In late ’71 or early ’72, he purchased a fully loaded Chrysler New Yorker Brougham. The sweetest part though was the fact that he brought it home on the same day that our snooty neighbor (whose kids always liked to brag) bought a Caprice which was not nearly as nicely loaded as the NY! Also, I got his old car, a 62 Dodge Dart 440! to drive as my own! 🙂
My grandmother’s 1996 Volvo 960, when I was in preschool. She loved that car (and I did too) and kept it until late 2010, when she traded it in for a brand-new 2011 S60 T6 AWD, which was probably one of the first 1,000 units of the second-generation S60 sold in the US. That ended up being her last car. I still drive it today.
My folks weren’t new car buyers, but our next door neighbor and the father of a friend was the service manager at the local IH implement & truck dealer. He got a new Travelall as a demonstrator every year. I had rides in several of them.
Being demonstrators, the service manager was required to keep them clean and full of gas. His Travelalls were always fairly utilitarian models with rubber floor mats. Even so, I remember him putting an old Army blanket over the back seat when hauling kids. If there were too many of us for the seating, he’d fold the seat and have us pack into the cargo area. We NEVER got to sit on the new upholstery.
When he’d pick us up from baseball practice, he’d make us remove our spikes and ride in our socks. Made sense in retrospect, but at the time we thought it was hilarious. The practice led to endless complaints and comparisons about each other’s smelly feet.
As boys of a certain age, it wasn’t uncommon for such arguments to end up in a wrestling match in the back of the Travelall. More than a few socks ended up being tossed out the back window.
My memories of the Travelalls aren’t as strong as the memories of horsing around, but those Tavelalls were the 1st “showroom new” vehicles I got to ride in.
A 1982 Chevrolet Citation. Very hopeful until I backed out of the parking place and drove it a mile. It had six miles on it, overinflated tires, and by 300 miles, no more chrome paint since it all flaked off during the first car wash.
I always drove new cars in my auditing jobs. I’d show up in an airport, walk up to the counter and since I was the auditor from Chicago showing up unannounced, the local manager would ensure that I got a brand new Lincoln or something else nice that arrived and had not yet been rented. In Hawaii, it would often be a Corvette, or a Mazda RX, in LA it would often be a Mercedes. In the rest of the States, it would be a Lincoln. In the British West Indies, they gave me my favorite car – a worn out Suzuki Samari without a roof and with replaced front seats. The only car that made me feel like I wasn’t a damn tourist. Once a year, I’d phone ahead to ensure that they had that worn out Samari that they used themselves for errands. They kept asking me if I wanted one of the new little cars – but the old Samari had all the bugs worked out of it and I would get drenched every day driving it as the showers passed over the mountains. Loved it.
Late to the party as usual, but my Dad always bought new cars, so this was nothing unusual when I was growing up.
However, if we take Saturday’s QOTD literally as in “Off-the Showroom-floor”, the car was a triple-red 1977 Chevrolet Concours Coupe (Nova) that was sitting on Luby Chevrolet’s showroom, in a place of pride right inside the main doors. Dad purchased the car right then and there. It was the first time Dad had purchase a car right off the showroom floor. This car was mainly for my Mom to use, but I did get to take it to my senior prom.
This car was gorgeous, and you hardly ever see a survivor of these ‘Little Caprices’ as I liked to call them back then, especially the 2 door.
Triple-Red may be a bit of an incorrect term, as it had no vinyl top. The car was Firethorn Red (like his old ’66 Impala) and had a matching red crushed velour interior. 305-V8 under the hood, and many niceties, a mini-brougham if you will. I loved that car.
My Dad always bought used for value(which I too subscribe to), but the one time I remember we didn’t was when we got a brand new first year Toyota Sienna for my grandpa, for some reason I was tagging along with my Dad that day and got to experience the whole car buying process
The first brand new car that my Mom bought was a 1979 Pontiac Phoenix in January or February of 1979. I remember going with her to the dealership in the middle of a snow storm in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. I was 8 years old. She traded in her old 1969 or 1970 Pontiac Ventura in on it. This Phoenix was her first brand new car in her line of more brand new Pontiacs over the years. I was not with her when she made the purchase only for the delivery. What i remember most was her telling me not to track too much snow into the car and her complaining to everyone about the purchase process and the rude salesman who kept asking her if she needed to come back with her husband or check with him before making the purchase. The wrong thing to say to my Mom. The Phoenix was a 2 door brown with brown velour style cloth interior, 8 track tape player, dual sport mirrors with the V6 engine.
1963 Dodge 440 wagon, 1963 Dodge Dart, 1968 Rover TC 2000, 1969 Dodge Monaco.
My earliest clear memory was as a 10 year old in 1984, when my Grandparents traded their Volvo 264 GL on an XE-series Ford Fairmont Ghia 4.1 EFi sedan. To a 10-year old in what was a very repressed time in New Zealand’s economy, the Fairmont was amazing – big ‘Snowflake’ alloys with chunky ER70H tyres, wall-to-wall velour inside, power everything (rare in NZ then) and even air-conditioning (also rare in NZ then). I idolised that car as it was so different to my parents’ Ford Cortina wagon. It was quite unreliable sadly so was only in the family for a couple of years. But nearly 40 years later, it’s the one that remains strong in my memory!
I was around 30 when my folks bought their first new car. It was a 1992 Honda Accord EX 4-door in teal green (from Northwest Honda in Bellingham, Wash.).
Since the cars we had before that were a ’61 Rambler Classic and a 1950 Buick Super, the Honda felt like a spaceship by comparison. Such a cool car with so much of that “greenhouse” visibility. A good clunk when you closed the door. Loved it then and love it now.
FWIW, somewhere in CC I read that, in its time, this generation of the Accord was one of the “best cars ever made.” One point of view, but I would agree. I’m still driving it today!