How did you decide on your first car?

I'm looking for my first project. It seems like every week, I change my mind on what to get. I was wondering how did you all decide on what your first hot rod or custom was going to be?

 

I had $65.00 and my uncle had a 51 Chevy. Of course this was in 1962. I drove it for two months and traded it along with $35.00 for a 54 Ford. Drove it for five months and traded it and $125.00 for a 56 Ford. Drove it for three months and traded it even for a 57 Rambler. LOL,,,fucked up bad on the last trade.

 

I was working at a gas station,.. and saving 25 of the 30 dollars a week I made,... I herd a rumor of a channled Deuce Roadster for $275.00,.... tracked it down,... gave the guy the $167.00 I had saved up, and payed him $27.00 a week until it was paid for. So I guess it was pretty simple for me.

(BTW I did all this without Mom & Dad's approval,... I got like a 3 hour lecture out of that one,... but kept the car)

 

Mine was a 1971 Cuda 340 my father's dealership had in the service department. A young lady in town couldn't afford to pay for her service bill, so she gave my dad the title to the car.

It sat in the shop for a few days, I was a sophmore in high school at the time. I stopped by the dealership one day after school and asked Dad what he was going to do with the car. He told me I could have it, he would just deduct $10 a week from my paycheck until the bill was payed off ($300!).

Dad and I spent the next year and a half doing a complete resto on that car....Boy do I miss it!

 

15 years old in 1958, had a $100 saved. Choices were a '53 Olds 2 door sedan, straight stick or a '46 Ford coupe. Pop said, buy the olds. Bought the coupe. It was a pain in the ass, the wiring was shot and it was always something. Kept it about a year and moved on to the shoe leather express until after graduation.

Charlie

 

1st car was a 50 merc. pop said it was cheap & needed a little work. after we dug it out & discovered the bottom 8" gone, we started looking again. found a decent 51 merc that ran. that was 17 yrs ago. 1sr can on my own was a 60 chev. i've alwas had a soft spot for 59/60's. it was cheap and ran decent.

 

I had been looking hard for a Model A and and kept coming up short on any that I found. Then my father passed and he was 54 years old, so when going about my search the number 54 stuck out. Hence the 1954 Chevy 210 post. He always like these cars and that is why I am dedicating it to him. I am seeing a common thread here though. A lot of time it comes back to our fathers huh?

 

My neighbor's coworker had a 64 Malibu for sale for 125$, so....

 

My best friend in high school [1963]had a merc flathead powered black 50 ford tudor. We spent many hours cruising it around central Oregon. I was 15 at the time and I wanted a 50 like his. My dad found this 50 crestliner [I didn't even know what a crestliner was!] in our local paper for $50..."Has cracked block" it said...
Great! I didn't have to settle for a ford motor. We drove 16 miles to the next town and drove it around the block...it puked out the radiator and we bought it...towed it home behind the family 55 Olds super 88 on a chain.
I bought 3 engine blocks before I came up with one that wasn't cracked...a complete 53 Merc motor for $15. I put another $36 in rings, bearings and gaskets and plopped it in the car....bought a $15 Offy 4 barrel intake with a 55 buick WCFB carter carb and chrome aircleaner...got some tube headers and chrome head bolt covers..
Oh yeah!
Today, I'd recommend buying a 4 cylinder front driver for transportation and then go buy the basis for a hotrod. This is exactly the advise I gave my son when he turned 16...he took it and has had many daily drivers but still has the first car he bought as a hotrod....a 50 ford. Still isn't done but he's steadily plinking away on it....
Here's my first car and my son's first car...

 

Great advice ...
A cheap econ box will have one riding instead of walking and wanting to ride with a older car. Parts and mechanical experience can really be a deterent to riding every day with a older car.

My first car was a " hand me down " 59 Chevrolet MorDor. My Dad bought Mother a new 62 Chevy Impala hardtop. I kept the 59 about a month and sold it ... and bought a 55 Chevy 150 2 door post. My Mother could not understand selling a perfectly good 59 for a older 55 ... but my Dad " Got it " and understood ...

 

My first car was a '56 Chevy mordor in 1961. Bought it for $15.00, which was about all I could afford - I was only 15. It was all in black primer (really, it was!), the tires were shot and needed all new brake lines. I went to the local junk yard and bought four used tires for $5.00 each and my brother & I towed it home and went through the brakes. It had a 3-speed floor shift and a 235 6 cyl that ran like a top. I drove it for a couple of years and sold it for $40.00 ! I think it was the only damn car I ever made money on !

I was kind of ashamed of the primered black paint job and never took a picture of it. Sure wish I had..........

 

1. It was cool: '58 Corvette
2. It was convenient: Brother selling
3. It was affordable: well sort of

 

my 1st car was a64 chevy wagon 283 4barrel with a posi.got it from my grandfather the car was on its last leg but i pushed the hell out of it got pulled over on rt.80 doing 90 mph by a trooper but not for speeding the car was smoking so bad he though it was an fire.

 

well my first car, was a 1980 Olds cutlass, not h.a.m.b. friendly but my dad had worked on it for the people who owned since '83 the day after the warranty ran out. It has 65,000 miles and counting, and is an all around nice car. I plan on keeping it. Before that i had a '60 F100 dad saw at this farm we were at, and said man that's a neat old truck lets get it. Turns out it was cool as hell but was extremely rusty, the engine is still in the garage though someday it's going to find it's way in '30 Tudor Sedan, which i got from a scrap yard for $50, and a '29 for $50, and a $31 for $200, it has a frame and grill and wheels. What ever me and dad agree on that is cool, and when i figure out some way to pay him for it, we get it. I also have a '38 John Deere Unstyled 'L' my grandma gave me. The list goes on too, just keep your eyes open for what you really like, find things with meaning to you.

 

bought a 36' plymouth in 1976 for $500 and still have it today. bought it because i walked my girlfriend home by it everyday and thought it was "cool as hell" soon found out the nightmare of owning a old mopar with 6v pos. ground and a fucked up charging system that the dude that sold it to me failed to disclose. mmm! wonder if he was just as pissed when he found out the motorcycle that was part trade had a stripped spark plug hole and plug was JB welded in place! bet that was what all those messages were about.

 

I was looking for anything old and I heard that a 1962 Thunderbird was going to be at an auction. So I went there and got the highest bid. Then I wanted something pre 1948 also, then I bought by 1947 ford.

 

For your first project, pick something that has parts available for it, fits into the sytle your obsessing about, and seems to fall into place. Remember, its just one of many to come.

 

Thanks for the advice. Right now I'm leaning toward a 1963 or 1964 Ford Galaxie. I love the early 60's kustoms.

 

I know of a place if your interested you can get a 64-5 Riviera for 1,250 from what i remember it was a nice lookin' car. It's in missouri though. It'd make a pretty kick ass 60's custom

 

dad bought an old truck a friend had for sale because friend needed cash to pay the rent.

Guess who got the old truck..and still has it 30 years later...

 

my first project back in 1965 my dad said I could drive and get my Lisc if I got the old discarded Studebaker Running. My great Uncle was a Studebaker dealer ( In fact the last Studebaker dealer ever ).
Free car and reasonable & free parts = the fastest car in the Aea.

And as they say I've never looked back or had any money since.

 

Simple for me...
Cost and availability.
Not much to choose from for the amount of money I had.
Beggars can't be choosers, right?
Gotta start somewhere and then never stop.
Good luck. And don't get too twisted up on getting the exact and perfect first project. Get one, have fun, learn and then look for the next one.

 

Luck and opportunity I guess.

 

My dad paid the $50 tow bill and storage for a 56 Chevy 4 door on November 23, 1974. I still have the car. It still has the 235 and 3 speed o.d.

 

found a 57 chevy conv. for 250. in 1963 it was a old race car i work in a body shop in newark (steamline auto body)and buitl a custom out of ot wish i still had it

 

That guy musta moved around alot. I swear I got mine the same way. He got me for $325 more than that though.

Seroiusly, I think it comes down to how much $ you got when opportunity knocks.

 

Great choice....These Fords can be bought for reasonable money with a little shopping, are simple to work on, have good aftermarket support and make sweet looking Bellflower style Customs.

Jan

 

well the first car was a '71 superbeetle, always loved them and it was a good price at $700. first hot rod is still in the works, '41 diaomnd t model 406. it was junk at a construction site i was working a little over 3 years ago and they were going to haul it off and scrap it. i told them i'd take it away for free. "you really want that old thing??!" hell yeah! i've just been slowly collecting parts for it. now that i've acquired one of my dream engines for it and started working at a shop i have the space, tools, time and funds for it so hopefully come summer i'll be tooling around in the beast.

 

I was 16 in 1972 . I bought a rock solid '56 Ford Country Sedan wagon for $175.00 - today, you couldn't buy a good grill for it for that amount. I sold both of my minibikes to buy it. I've always loved wagons, and currently have a 60 Falcon 2 dr. wagon.

Bernie

 

My first car was a 1934 Plymouth Coupe

We had a bowling shirt company and my Dad traded two shirts for it

THAT was a long time ago