Your first car

I'll play...

'78 Saab 99 , inherited from my dad after he put ~300k on it. Here it is after Earl Scheib re-sprayed it. It looked really bad up close because I did lousy prep work. I sold it with ~340k; it went another 1.5 yrs before it was retired.

I've owned just five cars in 20 years: four Saabs & a Volvo...

73 Ford courier - Had Mazda written all over it. drove the snot out of that truck in HS. Learned that it is possible to overrev an engine and ended up seizing that engine at a stop light. Went from the stock 1600 to an 84 mazda B1800 engine that was a perfect fit and ran that out of oil. Replaced the engine with a B2000 and sold it a year later.

If I found one today, I would most likely shove a 351W with a T5 in it for fun.

Graduated to a 84 T-bird with a 302

Graduated to a 87 Nissan PU and put 100K on it.

Then I got my first new Car - 96 Nissan PU and put 150K on it

Now driving an 06 Titan, 03 Mazda 3 and a 73 pinto with a 302 looking to rebuild a 351.

First car was a free 1986 Chevy Monte Carlo. Drove that in high school until the 305 swallowed a 150 shot of Nitorus a few too many times.

Current projects are:

1989 2WD Jeep Comanche with a stroked 4.7L inline 6

1969 Camaro that I got for $800. Its slowly getting new everything.

1991 Turbo Miata Challange car

2007 WRX

Hey pseudo, that Camaro looks a bit rough but 800 bucks?? Well bought for a '69. Keep us updated.

1971 Capri 1600. Was a great flying car over the RR tracks of Kansas always landed on all 4. Drifted fab on gravel roads. Died in a lake after failure to make turn w/Octopuses Garden Playing on the 8-track (never mount your tack infront of the speedo.

Current is 1989 944 turbo w/some go fast adds.

Favoite is 1971 Challenger conv. Mom bought it in 71. I traded a 73 Civic for it in 79/80. Still have it in the garage.

My first car was a '66 Belaire 4-door sedan when I was 14. I had it for 10 years before finally deciding to sell it. It would go 105 mph with the 250 cid straight six. It had Clifford Performance split manifold exhaust headers, an aluminum intake manifold and a 390 cfm Holley 4-barrel carb.

Hm. First car was a Datsun 610 wagon I got for the summer between my junior and senior years in high school. It was the family car and was sold as soon as fall came around.

Biked for a while, then got an '83 Tercel 5-door, then an '84 Accord hatch. Went through numerous commuter cars (including a '91 Miata), now have my '07 MX-5 (pictured left).

Largest was a Passat, smallest was the '91. I like small, nimble, red cars.

procainestart wrote: I've owned just five cars in 20 years: four Saabs & a Volvo...

Must be a Swedish car thing. I started out with a '74 Volvo 164E. In 20 years, Ive had just 6 cars, all Volvos. Three of them are still in the garage; An '83 240 (my racer), '93 940 (wifemobile) and an '89 740 Turbo wagon (my DD.)

Learned to drive in a silver E-Type w/black convertible top and the beautiful sound of a V12.

First car bought when I was 15 was a silver 1980 Datsun 280ZX. Fantastic car and ran great, drove great (after it got 5-way Illumina's, ST sway bars and Eibach springs) and was plenty fast until a friend put it into a tree.

Replaced with a burgundy 1982 280ZX that I drove all through college.

Graduated and got caught in the SUV "craze" and went through a 1990 Explorer, 1993 Explorer, 1996 Explorer, 1998 Chevy Tahoe, 1999 Durango.

Gas prices went up, we had kids and my wife got a new Subaru Outback so I inherited her 1999 Honda Civic as my "commuter" car and drove it until last week when I was rear-ended by a new Infiniti G37 at about 40mph while I was completely stopped.

Got back into Z cars in 2003 and bought a silver 240Z and installed an RB26DETT, then a white 280ZXT currently being restored, then another white 240Z getting turned into an ITS race car, another orange 240Z getting a MSnS ITB powered L29, a 280ZX parts car turned 24hrs of LeMons victim, another 280ZXT acting as a drive line donor and another "Lime" green 240Z that is on the schedule to be turned into a veggie powered turbo diesel.

Now that Farmers Insurance is buying me a new "commuter", the new 370Z is looking pretty attractive...

I still have the burgundy 1982 280ZX, the 1999 Durango, what's left of the 1999 Civic, the wife's Outback and the SIX other Z cars.

i started out with a 1993 geo metro 5 door bright green!! sweet ride miss it a lot, now my daily driver is a 2001 saab 9-3 viggen and the race car is a 1994 mx3 gs v6

My first was a '73 Alfa Romeo Berlina with about 200K miles on it. I could jack up a front wheel about 15 inches off the ground without lifting another wheel - but of course none of the doors would open! That car was worn out. It only tried to kill me twice: once by locking the steering column on the highway at speed, and once by killing its electrical system on a moonless night in the middle of nowhere.

These days I pedal a Miata to and from work, and drive a Mini S on the track and as a weekend driver.

My first car was a 1987 Audi 5000. Man, that thing was sweet - well, until it started falling apart on me at 150k miles. I wish I was better at wrenching on it, I would have kept it around.

I ended up going to college in a city where a car was more of a liability than an asset, so the Audi didn't come with me. After I graduated, I bought a 2000 Honda Prelude, and I've been driving that ever since.

1989 Mercury Cougar. Had a 3 liter or so 6 cylinder, Automatic, power everything including an analog clock in the dash, but a Digital speedo!!! It was a blast in the winter when it snowed and I worked until close at my job. Empty parking lot full of snow + $250 car = impressive winter drifting!!! It lasted a whole 2 years until the torque converter gave it up.

Then I bought a 90 cavalier for 1500, which lasted 4 years. But I sold it when I started chasing electric gremlins all over the place. Started when me and a buddy were investigating a weird hissing sound. Thought it was the heater fan. so we pulled the leads with the fan running. It didnt stop the sound, so I turned off the fan and he put the leads back on...reversed. Next time I started the fan, it fried most all the fuseable links and relays. That was the begining of the end.

5 years ago, I bought a 95 AE101 (thats Toyota Corolla to you laymen) for $2500. 90,000 mi or so later, its still my daily, and Im still pulling in 26-28 mi to the gallon. Not too bad at 223,000. Its a great car...I own it outright, and it starts right up everytime (knock on wood). I cant justify replacing her.

1954 Chevrolet Delray 2 door I bought for $50 when I was 13 years old. It ran 21 second ETs. At 17, I traded it for a 1950 Studebaker with a SBC. It eventually ran 12.ohs

My first was an 86 Monte SS. I got it in the summer of 92 with 60,000 on it and drove it like a rental until about 2000 when the abuse had taken it's toll. Now it's in my parent's driveway with a nice straight body and needing everything else.

First car? In 1969 , a 1961 Impala SS , Bubble top, 283 converted to three speed with a Hurst shifter ( under the dash) I added lake pipes to the dual exhaust.

Many, many cars later.. Now? 2002 Elantra GT ( her car mostly ) Mine? 1993 Toytoter 4 Runner daily driver

Damn, my rides are getting older ( but my car payments are $0 )

bigwrench wrote: So lets hear it. What was your first car and what are you driving now. It might be interesting to see how board folks got where they are with their rides.

1967 Pontiac LeMans convertible. Bought new for my mother when I was 2. I inherited it after a minor accident in 1982, when Dad and I fixed it, bondoed the rust, repainted, and refurbished it. I drove it daily until about 1990, and for fun after that.

25 years later it needs a good frame-off job, but I still own it. 270k on the clock. Gets about 100 miles a year.

Currently driving: 2003 BMW 325i, bought used in 2006.

1993 Saturn SL2m, daily driver, autocrosser, now resting in pieces in car heaven I still have the dashboard VIN plate and a few other things to remind me of it.

The day I bought it:

My father purchased an '80 El Camino just before I turned 16. 90 degree V6 and a "metric" transmission (synonymous with junk, apparently). It was purchased for my primary transportation and for the family to have a "pickup."

The transmission got changed out to a TH350 at some point. After my "second" car came along ('80 mustang 4 cylinder) we did our first father/son engine swap project. The El Camino got a small block with headers.

It was not fast (The dial in at the High School drags was the same as the year of the vehicle! edit: Oh wait, no, that was with the V6...I forget the V8 times...maybe a couple seconds faster) but it sounded great. If it had been a 2 door malibu instead of an el camino...I'd probably still be driving that thing ;).

Clem

Pumpkin orange '79 Impala. Then a '78 Cordoba Coupe. Then a '77 Impala Wagon. Definetly started out going the wrong direction.

Now I have a collection of Ferraris...or a Kia. I can't remember.

First car, 1986: 1979(?) Pontiac Sunfire (a/k/a Chevy Monza a/k/a Olds something-or-other). 4 cyl, 3-speed auto. Mom was providing part of the financing and nixed the '77 Celica that just had a new clutch installed in favor of this POS recommended by her shyster "mechanic". Lost 2nd gear about 2 months after I got it. Finally blew the motor about 6 months later, then had a 6 cyl auto drivetrain swapped in by the local junkyard. Go another 2 years out of it, hated every moment of owning that car...

Now: I'm really, really enjoying my loaded '06 750Li bought used 6 months ago.