Kellen was not a keeper
I frequently read about cars and personal stories that make me reconsider my entire approach to vehicle ownership, and this happened again yesterday with CCer TBM3FAN’s five-decade COAL writeup on his 1968 Mercury Cougar. In honor of his excellent reminiscences and admirable devotion to his car, I’d like to expand on it and ask a question of the CC community: What would your 50-year keeper be? I propose we follow TBM3FAN’s circumstances in establishing some criteria for answering this question.
Criteria 1: The car should have been accessible to you as a 16 year old. For me, that means I had to afford the payment, upkeep, and fuel using my pizza restaurant high school “salary”. Your own circumstances may vary.
Criteria 2: Limit the influence of hindsight in your choice. By this I mean, do not allow the current market value of survivors on Hemmings or Bring a Trailer to be the overriding consideration. We’re not talking the Apple stock you wish you could have purchased, we are talking vehicles you want in your life. Also consider your changing tastes as you aged. As a new teenage driver, what would have caught your attention back then and still been kind of fun to have around now?
Criteria 3: Given the low probability of keeping a car running after 50 years of daily driving, feel free to assume that the car was used as your daily from age 16 until natural circumstances would have reassigned it to second or third car status. Say, your first real job, the start of your family or a move to a region where the vehicle just isn’t suitable for daily use. From there it can sit in a garage and be brought out, pampered, and cruised across town on a summer evening. Or filled with firewood and the carcass of the elk you just bagged. As above, your circumstances may vary.
I’ll start. Remembering my interest set and financial ability back in 1998, this is would likely be my 50 year choice: The 1995 Toyota Pickup, 22RE 4-cylinder engine, 4WD, 5 speed manual transmission, short cab. An odd, perhaps droll choice, yes. It doesn’t “wow” in 2018 the way a 1968 Cougar does. But I’m from a different generation–the wow factor of the late 80s/early 90s is only kept from rock bottom by the Malaise Era that preceded it. So no 1960s glory for me.
I would have liked a stoplight demon at 16 years old, but this little truck is where my interests truly were at the time. I live in the Intermountain West where public lands and dirt roads intersect. I spent time out there exploring in my little car or with friends, two of whom owned Toyota trucks similar to this. Jealous is an understatement. These trucks were the ticket to getting beyond that first modest washout and into the backcountry. I lifted the pictures from a highly representative Bring-a-Trailer listing. It is specified just the way I would have wanted it, with the extravagances of a tachometer, air conditioning, and a clock.
To the teenage Petrichor, these trucks represented a state of freedom, possibility, and personal invincibility and optimism that still persists as an imprint on my psyche today. I love ’em. They looked cool then with their tall stance and mighty ground clearance. They still do. They looked good when shiny and clean. They looked good when coated with dirt and dust, and that got you respect in the high school parking lot the next Monday. And when you pulled out of that lot at the end of the day, even the weak 4 cylinder announced your departure with a guttural cooling fan roar.
Sure, they were slow. Damned slow. Four cylinder or six, didn’t matter. My friend’s ’92 with slightly oversize tires was nearly impossible to keep near 65mph on grades. You’d still lose pace in third gear. She marveled at my ability to return 26mpg on one trip, though. The truck, I told her, liked me. My other friend’s 1996 Tacoma was light years ahead with the newer 2.7L 4-cylinder (I can still get one of those in a base 2018 Tacoma if I’m feeling nostalgic). These trucks are also uncomfortable–poor seats, flat seating position, lots of road and engine noise, iffy directional stability–but that stuff wasn’t even on my radar back then.
As for practical matters, these were affordable (if barely), were OK on gas, and seem to be essentially indestructible and cheap to keep on the road. I’d have happily driven this through high school, college, and until we purchased our home in 2009. It would be 14 years old and have an estimated ~170K miles on it by then. That is the year I would be looking at purchasing my VW Sportwagen. I suspect I’d still purchase that VW, so the truck would have become a third vehicle used only on mulch runs and camping trips for the two of us. Our twins arrived a few years after that, at which point this truck would have been utterly useless for even weekend outings. I’d like to think that I still would not have sold it, but rather would have recognized its role in my life up to that point and given it a nice relaxed retirement here at home.
It would be used very sparingly during this retirement, and probably would not have crested 190K miles as of today. I would now have proper appreciation of the pseudo-cult/iconic status of the rig and would consider some cosmetic and mechanical restoration to at least keep it shiny and fully functional. Could it last another 30 years? I think so. The only question there is rust; we aren’t in the salt belt but do use some and I have to wonder if my teenage/early-20s self would have kept it clean enough during those important daily driver years. One thing I am certain of is that I would smile every time I got behind the wheel of it for the occasional Sunday drive, remembering the years and memories experienced in a simple, purpose built truck.
An adventure, courtesy of a 1996 Tacoma, circa 2000
So I pass the question off to you, Curbside readers. What would your 50-year vehicle be?
Easy one. I started driving at 17 in 1981. My first car was a 67 LeMans sport coupe with a transplanted 72 Pontiac 350 as the factory 326 failed due a cracked block. Would still have it if it wasn’t for the extreme amount of rust repair it required (damn factory vinyl roof!)
My favorite car from my late teens early 20’s that I would like to have kept is my 1978 Chevy Caprice Classic which I drove everywhere and for the time that I owned it was my muscle car, pickup, off road SUV, beach car, date car, and formal limo. That car did it all with very little maintenance. It was still running strong when I gave it to a friend of mine who needed it more than I did.
Another car from later in my life that could easily have been a 50 year keeper is my 1995 Buick Roadmaster Wagon with LT1 V8, towing package, and posi traction. That car also did everything…and had the most comfortable red leather seats…I still remember the smell of that leather. That car also did it all but demanded much more maintenance than my 78 Caprice which I could not afford due to my limited finances and long commute.
If I’d bought a decent 1962 TR4 instead of a crappy one I’d be on year 32 of ownership!
As it stands I’ve had my 1963 VW for 12 years now. My plan is to keep it until the current fashion of lowered and fake patinated VWs is over, which may take 50 years.
I turned 16 in 1972, and between my interests and “needs” at the time, I can’t imagine any car I owned or wanted to own, and could afford then that I’d have wanted to keep for 50 years, except for hindsight.
Of course that’s a massive exception. A Datsun 510 would probably top the list, or even my actual first car, a Volvo 122S. But in anything close the real world, I can’t imagine wanting to keep those through my early post-college years, where they just would have been old cars; or through the first ten or so years with kids, where safety concerns and insurance, registration and storage hassles would be showstoppers.
But if I were 25 years younger, a 22RE 4wd Toyota would be on the list for sure. Or, putting aside affordability for a 16 year old, my own, long gone, FZJ80 Land Cruiser with factory lockers or our even longer gone ‘85 VW Westfalia.
Mine, hands down: a 1967-1976 Plymouth Valiant or Dodge Dart. I’d prefer a 318/Torquelite. Second pick, and to some a surprising one: 1976-1979 Plymouth Volare/Dodge Aspen. Once build quality issues were sorted out, they were solid. Between myself and two cousins, there were three in the family.
I had a 1976 Aspen until 1998. It was almost-new when I got it with the bugs and new-car depreciation apparently shaken out, and it was totally reliable from then on. I had it until I was offered some really silly money for it at a car show, and by then it had a rear main seal leak…not all that bad but I probably would have re-bearinged it at that point. 318, Torquelite, the midlevel Custom trim line, air conditioning, the AM-FM stereo radio from a Chrysler LeBaron…and upgraded police suspension with firm-feel steering box.
The Aspen/Volare is a good choice. I wrote up my COAL on our family’s 1977 Aspen wagon with the slant-6. We had it for 34 years and 360K miles, between my parents and myself.
+1 on the ’67-76 Dart. I wish I had kept my ’74 Dart Sport, it was still very serviceable when I had to divest it due to my growing family and lack of storage space.
+1 on Dodge Aspen Wagon. /6 engine converted to TBI would be the only mod I would make to it.
My other “shoulda kept it” was my 77 Grand Prix. Purchased in 83 for $1750. Cleaned up nice with only minimal rust in the fenders. Very reliable, comfortable, stylish and good on gas (20 mpg highway with it’s 301-2 bbl)
There is someone I know who I have been pestering to right a COAL on his 1970 Datsun 521 that he is the original owner. If you know those trucks they would even rust out driving around the San Francisco Bay Area.
I will admit there was this one moment in time with the Cougar. My father had a friend who owned a Datsun dealership and he offered me a brand new first year 240Z and I could skip the waiting list. I declined the offer but then think of how many original condition and in pristine condition 240Zs are around. Hardly any that have not been touched so to speak.
By the way I did get the Mustang I originally wanted by buying a well worn 68 hardtop from the original female owner in 1982. Spent 6 years tearing it apart top to bottom and front to back in the garage. Rebuilt everything, replaced fenders, bumpers, chrome and valances with Ford NOS. Did the interior, the body work and the painting. Now I was really happy having the cousins around.
I started driving in 1968 and my first car was a 1961 Ford. To today’s readers that doesn’t sound so bad, having a car only seven years old as your first vehicle. Unfortunately back in that era cars didn’t last as nearly as long as they do today, my seven year old Ford was on its last legs. When I bought the car it needed an engine/ transmission swap just to be mobile (I had the engine and transmission from another Ford I had wrecked), not to mention the rust. Both rear fenders had huge rust holes and there were smaller rust spots in other locations as well. The fenders were “repaired” with massive amounts of Bondo, which worked about as well as you might think. I drove the Ford during my senior year in high school and I was ecstatic to see the last of it. I’m sure that the Ford has long since been retired from service.
Now the car that I really, really wanted in high school was a first generation Mustang or Camaro, and obviously I couldn’t afford one of those. While it is tempting to think I may have kept a 1966 Mustang for 50 years the reality is that wouldn’t have happened. If nothing else I probably would have wrecked the car within a year or two, or would have blown up the engine or would have gotten bored with it and moved on to something else.
Oh, lets see…from all the vehicles I’ve had (somewhere over 50 now) I think my ’68 Barracuda 340S was top of the list. It was just a damn well sorted car that was immensely fun to drive, reliable and rare enough to be unique. Here it was from the mid to late ’80’s at some Mopar car show from back then. Fun times!
I’d take another orange ’76 Rabbit. It would likely disappoint a bit today, but at the time it was a (Quantum) leap from the domestic monsters the family had.
I like your idea of the Tacoma. However I found the Rangers of that era to be reliable in their own right, less prone to rust, and much nicer to live with. Mine would be a 1993 Ranger 4×4 Supercab STX with the 4.0 and 5 speed. Peak Ranger IMO.
On second thought, to keep something that long, it would need to be a bit less practical, a bit more fun, and easy to find parts for. Perhaps a Wrangler instead.
I turned driving age in 1992. Once car that I always lusted after (and have yet to own), I think could have been a 50-year car for me. A 1987-1988 Monte Carlo SS. It would have just been a 5 year old car at the time. If I had access to a little bit more money when it came time to buy my first car… that might have been the one.
However, I do now have my forever car. I purchased it when I was 37… so I’ll be 87 when I hit the 50 year mark. She’s still a daily driver, and currently bumping up against 187K miles. Thankfully the only parts that will become unobtainium are the front and rear bumpers and trim.
Too many choices to pick one. But I must comment on the Toyota. Back in ’93 or 94 I was dating a woman with a ’92 4 Runner 4WD, 22R-E 5 speed. And of course slightly oversize tires. You think these standard cab pick-ups were slow? This machine made those look like a Cobra. And I totally agree with everything you said about the ergonomics; it applies to the 4 Runner of this generation as well. Coolest feature? it had a switch on the dash to bypass the clutch pedal switch so you could drive it with the starter motor when rock crawling in Moab. Just what every soccer mom needed. I still cringe to this day when I see a Toyota truck of this generation.
I stated driving at 16 in 1976, and my first car (the family 1973 LTD) was handed down to me as I went off to work after high school in 1978. While I loved that car, like most Malaise Era cars, it was tired by the time I needed a new ride, and my Dad helped me buy my first new car (a ’79 Futura), by buying the LTD back for what the dealer was going to give me in a trade, and then giving it to my sister when she was ready to go off to work herself…. But enough of what really happened…
At the time, I had a love for lots of different cars. Had I not gotten the LTD, I would’ve been interested in a Mustang (like my friend’s ’66, although I preferred the ’67, ’68, or ’69 ‘stangs), or the beautiful emerald green Cougar of similar vintage to TBM3FAN’s that another friend owned, or perhaps a used 1968 Impala convertible… light blue with a white top and white interior, please…
Back then, all those choices would’ve been affordable, but alas, I did not have a garage (and still don’t), nor could I afford to keep a car when I was done with it as a DD, having to use a car as a resource with which to purchase the next car (trade-in).
I did not arrive at the position in life to be able to keep my old car when I bought a new one until 2016, when I bought my Civic, but kept my former DD, the 2007 Mustang as a pleasure car.
While I would LOVE to say I’ll still have it in 2057 (when I’m 97 years old), who knows if I’ll still be driving (or even alive) by then. And did I mention I don’t have a garage?
It still looks good in the driveway though along with its replacement. I guess it’ll be ok if I keep it clean and away from salt and such.
I did what you did a couple of times. In 1975 I bought a new Mustang II and kept my previous family car ’67 Mustang for a second car and toy. I drove the new one to work for a couple of weeks and then decided I preferred the ’67 . I kept the ’67 for another 18 years when it gradually was replaced as second car by a succession of pickup trucks. I finally sold it to finance a street rod project. I bought my ’79 Malibu new ( it replaced the traded in Mustang II) and replaced it with a new ’86 Mustang, but didn’t trade it in. It became a toy and vacation family car. I still have it and in February I will celebrate 40 years with it. I still drive it occasionally and could go out and start it and go for a drive right now, but I keep the toys in the garage during the winter. I did drive the ’66 Mustang in our town’s Christmas Parade a couple of weeks ago, but that’s it.
I still wish I had my 1984 CRX 1.5 5-speed, even if I would have to deal with plastic body panels cracking with age and chasing down leaks in the spaghetti of rubber vacuum lines under the hood.
My present “back-up” car is a 1971 Volkswagen Super Beetle Convertible which I bought new in April, 1971. It’s in the garage, nice and clean and ready to go. I’ve had it for 47 years and 8 months. Two more years and 4 months and I’ve got the 50 year thing in the bag.
Easy. I got my driver’s license in 2001; my 1992 Jeep Cherokee (XJ) was 9 years old then, totally achievable for a high school kid. With a rock-solid drivetrain (inline 6, 5-speed manual gearbox, traditional part-time 4×4 transfer case, solid axles), reasonable fuel economy (20mpg) and wide availability of replacement parts, I plan on keeping it into its fifth decade.
I started driving in 1980, which is a horrible year for this thought exercise. Cars from the 60’s were mostly worn out, and cars of the 70’s were mostly too malaise-y.
If I was born rich, I would have bought a Volvo 245 or a Mercedes 300TD. Tin worm aside, those are both cars I could see myself driving for 50 years.
I was kind of stumped at first but then realized this was an easy question to answer. A 1966 Plymouth Valiant V-200 sedan. My aunts V-200 sedan.
She had bought the car new and had it 12 years. During that time my family were all building businesses so the go to reliable car was the little red Valiant. My cousins and I remembered that car at every important event in our lives. So when she announced her intention to deal war broke out between us boys as we all wanted it. The end result was she secretly dealt it on a secondhand Toyota which turned out to be an absolute disaster of a car scrapped two years later. We all felt bad as she had done this to prevent hurt feelings if one of us got the car over the other and she ended up being the one hurt.
Nonetheless, if I had got that car I guarantee it would be still chugging around today in my retirement years as much as it did in my growing up years.
In an alternate universe, one where my life took different twists and turns and routes and roads, I’d’ve kept the ’62 Dodge Lancer that entered my life when I was 14 (i.e., I pestered my dad to replace his dead ’84 Caprice with it until he acquiesced) and left my life last Spring when I sold it to an Australian.
Ive got 2 COALs coming up that you might like. My first car 1977 Grand Prix that Ive had since 1989 and has been in my family since 1983, and the 1996 Ram that I bought new.
Well, I still drive a ’79 Monte Carlo, just like my first car in 1986. Actually, two nearly identical ’79 Monte Carlos over the years, but it might as well be the same car.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/cars-of-a-lifetime/coal-1979-chevrolet-monte-carlo-time-is-on-my-side/
If I had to do it over again, it would be a ’79 Cadillac Sedan De Ville, in that same pale yellow as my Chevy. Just because of the extra doors, for family and other practicalities. That’s a car one can grow into over the course of 50 years.
I still have my first car, a 1985 Citroën 2CV6, that I purchased in early 1994.
It’s a (restored) hobby car now, but for the first twelve years I used it as a daily driver.
Good on ya. In what sort of environment did you rack up those 12 years?
I live in a maritime climate with mild wet summers and mild wet winters (with lots of salt on the roads). Keeping the car running in these conditions (and parked outside) for twelve years required frequent bodywork, as 2CV’s are notorious rusters. The engine however never let me down.
Back in ’83 I had my eye on an MG Midget until clearer thinking won out, but with hindsight that would’ve been the one. Probably would’ve crumbled to dust long before our time limit, but still nice to think about.
I learnt to drive in a mini, and they were a fairly standard daily driver back then. I’m back in a mini now, and it’s doing a lot of daily driver work. It’s very easy to imagine a circumstance where I had kept a mini under a tarp and subsequently restored it. Didn’t work out that way, but although I’ll struggle to make 50 years in this one, I’m planning to keep it a good long while.
Age 16 = 1969, so lots of fun choices (though any late-50s car would even then have been pretty well “used”). I can’t see past my FoMoCo thing, so would either go for ’64-65 Falcon Sprint or a right-sized ’65 Fairlane wagon. Ah–here’s a longterm owner selling just a few years back: https://bringatrailer.com/2014/06/26/owned-44-years-1965-ford-fairlane-500-wagon/
Cars accessible to me at age 16 were my parents’ cars (both of which I drove at the time):
1972 Lincoln Continental 4-door (former dealer demonstrator): Powerful, quiet, ran on regular gas, way too big (felt like sitting in a high-walled bathtub, even with power seat raised). The high-backed black leather rear seat was great and I’d want one today, just not the rest of the car. Sometime in the mid-’70s the driver’s armrest, including all the built-in switches, fell off; I don’t know what else would have fallen off over the years.
1967 Pontiac GTO (purchased new): Rusted quickly (as many of that generation did), requiring full stripping and repainting by dealer around 1971; however, the black vinyl top remained and was not a rust problem. Very powerful in a straight line; lousy brakes and maneuverability, although there were worse cars at the time. (No radials, unlike the Lincoln.) Factory air worked well, as did the column-mounted THM transmission and positraction. Overall a rather crude car, with a rather small and flat windshield by 1967 standards, and more exposed painted interior surfaces than you would expect.
Our house has no garage or even a carport; our previous house (a rental) didn’t even have a driveway. So preserving a car that old is utterly impractical for us. But even with a large enough garage, I wouldn’t have wanted to keep either of those cars for decades.
I’d love to have my first car, a 1973 Corolla S-5. While relatively obscure today, it included a stylist coupe roofline, the TC-2 1600 hemi motor, a 5 speed overdrive transmission, and minor wheel and suspension upgrades. In the span of all things Toyota, this car evolved into the AE86, the last and greatest RWD Corolla.
While it’s cabin would be a tight fit today, my little Corolla was a light, tossable car which if I still had it, would nicely complement my wife’s MX-5. The fact that these Corolla Coupes have become something of a collector car is a bonus, but that really just validates what I knew at the time- This car is a keeper!
Realistically, I don’t think I could have maintained it for fifty years- I sold it because the miles had crept up and demanded something more reliable, and I did not have the resources to support a second car. Rust had also reared it’s ugly head, so at some point it would have required some restoration work. But your first one is always a special memory!
I would’ve liked to hang on to what would’ve been my second car. My first car was an ’87 Buick Somerset – on the positive side it was a stick, on the negative side it was completely rusted out after 9 years of Michigan road salt.
My second car should’ve been an ’82 Lesabre Limitied with the 4.1 V6 and 200 4R. I saw it at a small local car lot and had the cash to buy it, but I made the mistake of asking my dad first. He wanted to look at it first, so we came back a day or two later, by which time it had sold. I ended up getting an ’83 Lesabre Custom with the 307 and TH350 instead, which was slow, got poor gas mileage, and wasn’t nearly as well equipped. I actually strongly considered backing out of the deal the morning of, and only kept it for 3 years.
Recently I started looking for B-bodies again, and found a nice ’84 Lesabre Limited for a very good price a couple months ago. It’s equipped similarly to the ’82, but with the ’84 styling refresh and a 307 instead of the 4.1. I don’t know about 50 years, but I hope it stays around for a good long while!
The first car that would have been both serviceable and affordable as a 50 year keeper would have been my family’s ’70 Karmann Ghia. Paid for, serviceable as all VWs of that era are, relatively free of rust and fun to look at and drive. I would still have it expect for the day it caught fire.
Well, I suppose my ’66 F100 is a good candidate. I’ve had it for almost 32 years now, so I can see it making it 18 more as Iong as I do too.
I’ll let you know in about 40 years if it lasts, but I’m gonna go with my 1988 BMW 735i. I got it at 14, and drove it for four years until I got my Z. Skip ahead 6 years, and I’ve pressed it back into daily service, including highway trips. I did the maintenance on it in high school, and I do it now. I’ve repaired it when necessary, and I intend to fix it if it breaks down. It’s pretty reliable, so I’m not worried.
Until the beginning of the nineties, when I was a child we had an Opel Rekord E Caravan. It was a first series one buildt between 1978 and 1982, I don´t remeber the exact year ours was made. Caravan means, as most here at CC will know, that it was a station wagon. Which was very useful, because we were a family of five. We all loved this car very much. It was white with red interior, a very pretty combination for cars in my opinion, an had a 2,0 litre 4 cyl. with 101 hp. Sadly this car was gone before i was able to drive, but I like the imagination I could have keep it as my first car and my 50 year keeper.
Now I own a ´94 Chrysler Saratoga, I don´t think that I can keep it 50 years due to the ongoing changes in mobility, but I try to keep it as long as possible.
31 years so far, another 19 to go on my ’75 Monte Carlo.
Woooow.
16 in 1969. First car was a ’67 VW. During most of the last 49 years we had at least one air cooled VW. They are still cheaply repairable and any part is readily available.
I will offer two–the first one was my first car, the second I have had now for 17 years
My first car was a ’63 Valiant V100 2dr sedan with /six and non-syncro-first 3-on-the-tree. Had that car from 16 years old (1986) to 23 years old (1993). This was truly a cockroach and could easily have been kept running on a shoestring until today and beyond.
In 2001 I found a 1965 Ford Galaxie 500 2dr hardtop–a car that was always attracted to. I have had it for 17 years now, with 14 of those in regular daily or weekend use. My project over the holiday is to replace the steering box with a new quicker ratio one, make some brake upgrades and replace a bent pushrod that was unjured when I over-revved it having fun…. Unlikely to ever sell this one—hope that we can both make it to 50 years!
Hmmm…I’d go with another ’56 Chevy 2-door sedan, like the one I DID own when I was 17. Small-block V8. 4-speed. American Torque-Thrust 5-spoke wheels.
My candidate, a 1973 914 2.0, bought in 1979, for a 39 year term of very enjoyable ownership, miles of smiles, with only 11 years to go to reach the half century mark.
Looks like you’re from the land down under.
Thanks to the magic of computer science, simply by double clicking on the inverted 914 image, you will be transported from the “land down under” to being upright to the Northern Hemisphere, even Oregon, if you can believe that. Simply amazing, don’t you agree? Bugga! Good Day, mate, no worries!
My fourth cars as a teen was a mildly modified 61 3B Humber 80, it was a tough old thing withstanding all kinds of abuse and hard driving coupled with neglect, the 59 3A Minx I have now is basically the same car and Ive had another 7 similar cars in the intervening 40 0dd years including van, wagon and upscale Singer versions, so while not really a long term keeper Ive come back to it several times, the current one runs and drives the best of the lot though.
As Ryan Addams said —
At 16, it was my ‘Summer of ’69.’
An Austin-Healey Sprite with a girl in the passenger seat was all I wanted.
Like Paul, I’m at 32 years on my old Ford. However, I’m done with it and by Year 33 I hope it has found a happy new home. Only problem is I haven’t yet been able to prepare it for sale.
If we go by what was available new at age 16, I’d go with a 1989 Ford F-150 regular cab, 2wd with a 351 and an automatic. Useful every day and Ford pickups are as tough as an anvil.
If we go by what was available used at age 16 (and more realistic for most of us), I’d be tempted with a personal luxury coupe of some sort – a Cordoba, a Grand Prix, Regal, or a Cutlass Supreme. It’d likely have been an early to mid-80s model.
Come to think of it. I did get a new car in the spring of 1968, 50yrs. ago I was 7 and Mattel Hot Wheels made their debut. Still have some of the original 16.marked made in USA, Hollywood CA.
Easy, my first car. It was a ’69 510 4 door. Had a Nissan rally cam and twin SU’s. Also a nice set of OEM alloy wheels. No suspension work since I drove it a lot on logging roads.
Periodically, I think “I coulda kept my ’71 Chevelle…” It would still be a cool car. The 350 would still be a reliable and viable powerplant. A 454 would not tempt me. Still… I’ve always liked trucks. The older I got, the more I appreciated the utility. An El Camino or a Ranchero would work. I’ve had one of each, an ’81 and a ’79 GT, respectively. Maybe a Ranchero GT with a 351. A bit of utility and muscle car looks and tire frying ability.
Maybe a ’67-’79 F-100?…
OK, I’ll quit.
Becoming licensed in the fall of ’85 and thinking about this all day I think I’d have to go for the ’86 GTI I actually ended up with seven years later. That one died too early courtesy of an out of control Town Car after I’d had it only two years and doubled the mileage to 120,000 (from 60k) but I still look at them when I see them and would still love to tool around in one on occasion. It’d be 33 now so about two-thirds of the way there, parts are easily obtainable and they are still simple to fix. Was it obtainable? Not exactly in reality for me at the time but theoretically so, yes (certainly more than the Audi Quattro I really lusted after, that would in no way happen).
If it had to be a used car that WAS in fact attainable at age 16 for the low low price of a couple of thousand dollars or so with the parents perhaps kicking in a little more, I suppose I’d have to go for what my brother actually did get, which was a first year Jetta Mk1 2-door. If anything, it’s even rarer now than the GTI and almost as much fun and maybe even better styled.
I got my ramcharger when I was 17 20 years ago. Still have it so that’s mine. In my dream it would be a club cab Cummins pickup instead but it’ll do.
In 2000 I bought a 87 Toyota pickup, honestly I think that’s the vehicle I would most want to have back. But keeping rust off them is tricky.
I already have my car of a lifetime. It’s a 1995 LeSabre that I bought used with about 190k on her. As long as it isn’t stolen or destroyed beyond repair somehow, I’m keeping her for the rest of my life.
If I had decided to keep my ‘69 F-100, I’d be getting really close to 50 years with it today.
My first car in 1989 was a dog slow 1982 Mustang GL hatch. If I’d have kept it I’d like to think it would have gotten a V8 along the way. I still like the shape. I wonder how many paint jobs those warpy plastic bumpers would have gotten by now. I learned to drive by watching 80s TV action shows, and the Mustang could always do a good powerslide around a corner. While braking, not accelerating… Tough little chassis on that one. Engine, not so much.
I picked up a new airfilter for my C5 this morning at my local Citroen agency some cars were being shuffled in a side workshop of course nosy me went for a look a guy in his forties stepped out of this 67 Holden Premier, told me he built it up when he was 17 its mint so is the 57 Chev two door its parked behind, its a keeper for sure.
I was 90% there. I bought my 67 Galaxie 500 convertible in early 1977. By the summer of 1978 I paid dearly for high quality metal repair and paint and relegated the car to “garage queen status” through most of my first year of college. Had my finances been fatter (and with reliable storage) I could have kept the car, as it had only 72k on the odo at the time. Alas I was unable to care for it. I have often wondered if it is still with us, as I had gotten it past the prime death-years of an old convertible.
16 years old is the end of 1975. At the time mom was still driving her ’65 Dodge Dart sedan with 225 /6 Torqueflyte. A dependable rock of a car until my brother did it in in 1979. Aaron65’s COAL series on his “Dirty Dart” station wagon makes me wish we still had it. Dad was still driving his 1968 Cutlass Supreme which I don’t really miss; however the next car he had was the 1978 Datsun 810 sedan with a straight 6 and 4 sp. manual he got in late 1977. I had a hand in extending the life of that car and dad finally gave it away after 24 years of ownership, which I had the last 2.5 years when I didn’t have a car during that nadir in my life. I’d have some feelings about keeping the car, but dad’s poor attention to maintenance could potentially make it a money pit. It had no rust, and I still consider it the best highway car I ever had. I’ve never seen one since.
Accessible car at 16? I lusted for a 1969 Dodge Charger. Those dumbass Dukes on TV quelled that later in my life.
My first car was a 1973 VW Type III squareback when I was 22. Even then no one seemed to know how to fix it right and reliably. The bearing burned out after two years. My second vehicle was my 1982 Toyota truck, which rusted out from under me in 1998. I cried the day I gave it away after 14 years but it was in no condition to drive 1000 miles from NY to GA. Right now I still have my 2001 Nissan truck after 18 years. Once I retire in about 10 years I don’t know what I’ll do with it.
In homage to TBM3fan, my dad’s older brother had that generation of Cougar. I thought Uncle Bill had a neat car. Love the sequential tail light blinkers.
No question for me, it’d would be and likely will be my ’72 Torino. It’s been with us (Dad and I) for 47 years so far. While I have officially owned the car for about 16 years now, prior to that it was with my Dad from day one. So while I didn’t own it from new it has been heavily involved thought my whole life. I spent my childhood in that car, it was one of the cars I learned to drive on, I learned to change oil and tires on it and even my teenage and young adult life I used it regularly before I took ownership. We are coming up to 50 years of ownership between Dad and I, and I plan to recreate one of the photos he took when it was new. This is one car that I will never sell, and hope to pass it down to one of my children, although not anytime soon.
My first car in 1996 when I turned 16 was a 1941 Plymouth sedan. I drove that car to and from school and also to my job on the weekends for the first year. And after that it was driven on weekends for the next 5 yrs. I still have it but after marriage and after the kids started coming I didn’t have time for it any more and didn’t feel safe caring kids with out seat belts for the car seats. But I plan on keeping it till I die.
Depends on whether a portion of that 50 years includes sitting “stored” for very long periods of time. I still have my first car, a ’79 Malibu, 22 years in now from getting my driver’s license in 1996. However it hasn’t run since 2001. I do still plan to rectify that, but life keeps getting in the way. Again and again and again. But I digress.
If that counts, then there you have it. Unless something drastic happens that car will still be in my life 28 years from now, assuming I make it to the ripe old age of 66. (I wonder some days.) Extra credit for the fact that I’ve “known” the car since my early childhood as my grandfather was the original owner and my Mom drove it from ’85 to ’96.
As a “what if” exercise? If the Malibu hadn’t already been preordained, my choices would have been constrained by the fact that it would have been hard to scrape together more than $1500 or so, and I didn’t work enough to afford a car payment of any size. Thinking what I could have gotten into in ’96 for that price, and excusing the somewhat unlikely circumstance of finding a good one, I’d like to think I might have ended up with a Dodge Mirada. Preferably an ’80 with the 360 and alloys. Always had a soft spot for those cars and, had I found a good one, the already-rare nature by the late 90’s probably would have turned it into a long-term keeper.
I would pick a 78 ford Ltd landau coupe. Best car ever. With a few mods economical and fast, safe and durable and comfortable and simple.
Next month will be 28 years for the ’86 Jetta, if I last another 22 the car should also.
If I’d have hung on to the ’70 C10 (’76-06), would be going on 43 years next month.
63-67 Galaxie 500, with a V8. Though I have no intention of ever parting with my 1989 E30 Cabrio, which I’ve now owned for 20 years.
Fifty years is a long time, if I bought my first car at 16, it would be 48 years now. My first car bought after H.S. graduation, was a ’66 Mustang coupe, 289 V8, four speed. No power steering, brakes or A/C. A simple car that would be easy to repair and keep running over the years.There sure are a lot of car lovers out there that have done this. I found this car lacking in several areas and moved on after a year or so.
I found a ’64 Cadillac that checked a lot of boxes. A very impressive gold hued convertible. Gas was still pretty cheap in 1975 and the car was not yet considered to be a huge, oversized monster. This car was built during Cadillac’s heyday. Build quality and the quality of the materials used for the components was good. This was still a pretty simple and basic design, easily maintained. Easily able to last the fifty years, even in regular service.
Motorcycles were always the main focus of my youth but I only bought one, brand new, bike, a ’77 Harley XLCR Cafe Racer. Impressive to look at, only so-so as a performance machine. It fell short of the Kawasaki Mach Three and Honda CB750s I had owned previously. It was better than the older chopped Sportster that I had built and ridden before. I modified the XLCR and held onto it for over twenty years. My bike riding buddy was single and went through a series of brand new HDs. That old XLCR just felt older and more outmoded every year. I rode it continually and kept it well maintained. I even rebuilt the engine once. Finally I just got tired of it and sold it.
Could I have held onto any of these things for fifty years? If I would have a place to store them once I had grown tired of them, perhaps. Then the years could have passed while I ignored them and maybe nostalgia would have taken hold. It’s not like they were worth anything at the time I sold them. Would I ever buy another example of these vehicles now? I don’t think so. I bought a ’70 Mustang several years ago and again I found that I was disappointed with the car after a couple of years. Maybe it’s not them, it’s me!
I do love having older cars, I’ve got five “hobby” cars now, along with two more late model cars purchased new. Maybe I am fickle. I think that it’s because I do not want to hold onto a specific car because of a sentimental connection. I just don’t form that kind of a connection with any object. My Wife is definitely skeptical when I tell her about my current “dream Car”. She knows me too well. It doesn’t matter what it is, it isn’t going to be kept around forever! I tell my Wife, “One Wife many cars!” Apparently, even she prefers that scenario