Customs What were your grandparents driving when you were a kid?

My other Grandfather's car was this LaSalle with my Grandmother sitting in it....

 

My mother's mother drove a black 61 Falcon forever--I think she bought it new....6/stick, I learned to drive in it in the mid 60s. Dad's parents always kept a car(for church) and a truck(for Pappy's carpenter job) Pap always drove 60-66 Chevy pickups, 6/stick...I rode in the bed. His driving habit was to run up to about 20 in 1st, double clutch, and shift into 3rd and lug along at about 30 mph. The first car I remember them having was a white/red int. 61 Impala 2dr hardtop, 283/auto. I loved it, and Pappy did too. Dad's little brother cleaned out a ditch with it drag racing outside of town...total loss. Pap replaced it with a 64 Buick Special, then a year or so later bought a 66 T-Bird. I'm lucky to have grown up in the 60s and seen so many cool cars.

 

One gramps was a Chrysler 300 guy...66 is the one I remember most.
The other was an Olds man...54 and 62 98s.

 

Do not remember Grand parents, but DAD had a 1939 Packard, then a Crosley, then a 48 Desoto suburban. The rest were just cars.

 

I don't have any pictures but it was a 1967 Galaxie 500.
Kind of a gold color , with gold interior.
Pops bought it for like $500. In 1978-79 ?
And sold it for like $600.

 

My maternal Grandfather worked in Chrysler Corp's engineering dept in Detroit his entire life so it was always Mopars. Late in his career (in the late 60's), he would drive (home) demonstrators. I distinctly recall as a 8 yr old in the Spring of 1969 one memorable car. It was a pre production black on black '70 Cuda 440 with flat black sidepipes. No stripes, but on the hood sides it had huge "440 cu in" lettering in white. Their house had a 2 car garage in the backyard and I recall him tooling down the driveway along side the house, arriving home from work one Friday afternoon (my Parents would occasionally drop me there after school on Fridays and I'd stay for the weekend). Huge rumble, windows rattling and my Grandmother saying" oh God, he kept that car another week". Went for a few rides that weekend. The car was extremely loud and fast. Scary fast! Some years back I was sharing this with a Mopar guy and I learned about "pilot cars", that were used in pre production assembly line trials, but this one was apparently an earlier demonstrator. My Grandfather called it the "engineering dept's Hot Rod" and said the guys at work were having a lot of fun with it. He told me that they used to have Richard Petty's cars in for wind tunnel testing. Jeez, the fun those guys had at work! Possibly the hood lettering and sidepipes were production considerations (?) that got the axe?
My Uncle who was in his late 20's at the time worked as an engineer at GM, drove a 1968 427 Vette. I asked him recently if he remembered the Cuda and even at 75 remembered it well. He said he "took it out a few times" and said it was every bit crazy fast.
I've wondered what ever became of that car. Was it non VIN and got scrapped? Detuned and sent out as a 'stock' dealer demonstrator? Or maybe sitting in a garage somewhere? Wish someone in the family had taken a photo of it. But then, it was just "next year's model". Can only imagine what that car would be worth.
Earlier in life, I know he had a black 32 Roadster that was their wedding car.

My Grandmother had a white 60 Dodge Dart that sat in the garage covered with old blankets. Seldom driven but I do have some fond memories of riding to the market or nursery with her.

My Paternal Grandmother never drove. Don't recall what Grandpa drove though my Dad said he had a 41 Buick Conv at one time as well as a Crosley and early 50's Nash.

 

Nothing.... I'm 58 and live near Liverpool in the UK. Very few working class people of my grandparents generation could afford to run a car. Few of the men had driving licences unless they drove for a living, almost none of the women could drive. In 1964 my Dad had the first car on our street, it was low light Morris Minor.

 

Granma: Ford Escort GT MkI,
Grandad: Ford Consul
Other grandad: Tunturi moped and a horse.

 

My grandfather, born in 1867, drove a team of mules till he finally bought his first and only car; a 1929 Model A. Dad had a 35 Ford coupe that had the pickup box in the trunk, a popular add on for farmers and others in the blue collar world. Aussies were smart enough to do it at the factory and call it a Ute.

 

My first memories of them involves cars. Mom's dad drove and sold Desotos and my dad's father had the prettiest black '60 Impala with red interior. That one left a big impression in my brain. I still remember him telling the story of my grandmother "helping" him on a winter morning. While he dressed for work in the mill, she cleaned the snow off of the top of his Whippet, with a coal shovel! Yep , she put it right through that top! They still stayed married……….

 

66 GTO ragtop. 389 Powerglide 4 bbl Yellow. Dustiest thing to ride in at the farm. Grandpa passed in 83. The goat is still in the barn, never for sale.
I learned to drive in his 64 Cutlass the bought at the local auction for 100 bucks.
They always owned a Lincoln or two, also.

 

One grandpa had a 1936 Packard sedan. And the other had a 1953 4 dr sedan Packard. That was the last cars that they drove.

 

Maternal grandfather loved his '48 Packard. I guess there's no love like Packard love as he never got over their demise. After the Packard he had a '55 Dodge Coronet tudor sedan, 6 stick. That eventually became mine, pretty reliable car. That was followed by a '61 Lancer, once again 6 stick. I have fond memories of him over revving the engine as his hearing started to fail. He would fly to Detroit from Boston.to buy his cars, assuring us all that the best prices were to be had there. His son worked for American Airlines, consequently the flight cost was minimal. In fact his son (my "car guy" uncle) also flew to Detroit to buy his cars. I remember the '54 Chrysler New Yorker he drove home from the motor city, what a gorgeous car. Good memories.

 

One grandpa drove a 68 olds cutlass. The other had I think a 65 impala. He traded the impala in for some 80's car that I always thought was ugly. First grandpa ended up giving the olds to my cousin who quickly thrashed it. I still remember driving around with Grandpa in his 61 Studebaker pickup which I now have. I plan on restoring it some day.

 

My grand pa's Chrysler & grand ma's Studebaker.And my first car.

 

My mother's father ,who died before I was born, was a scrap dealer in Springfield Ohio. My mother said he sold all the scrap when WW2 started, bought the last new Packard in the area and drove off into the sunset .....
My father's dad didn't drive...He sat in the back seat like a king letting grandma drive...The car I remember her driving was my dad's 53 Ford after my dad gave it to them...It seems grandpa never bought a car despite dressing like a gangster ....

 

My maternal grandparents always drove the '40 Ford Deluxe Fordor that they had purchased in July of 41... I've owned it since 1970. It's now mostly out of the paint shop and I've started the re-assembly process. Hope to have it on the road next year, though with a Cadillac for power this time.

 

My mother's father had a 57 Chevrolet 4 door sedan in that rose color, and he traded it in for a 64 Chevy 2 4 door with a 4 cylinder.

 

1966 Corvair hardtop

 

My maternal grandmother always drove Cadillacs. Always a Sedan Deville. Always some awful pastel color. Always got zero options on it. Kept plastic seat covers on them. Got a new one every year or two.

 

My Grandfather (Moms dad) had a few 1960s Impalas but before I was born in 77 but the one I remember the most was my Grandmothers (Dads mom) OT 67 2 door hardtop Chevy II Nova 283 Powerglide metallic blue with white roof optional Arbys trashbag hanging on the radio knob bought the car new. Had the window sticker if I remember correctly a little over $2700 new anyway she drove it till mid 1996 till she was unable to drive anymore car had 32K miles on the clock garage kept original paint with just one touch up on one of the doors where she hit something with it. The family made my dad sell it he was pissed cause it was supposed to be his after she passed....................God what I wouldnt give to have that car now.

 

Considering I was born in 77, I can only remember my mom's dad had an 85 Olds Cutlass, and my dad's mom had an 87 Tbird. All but my dad's mom died when I was pretty young. My pops told me his dad always bought base model leftovers, which he said were all miserable shitboxes. Pops was a hot rodder, and his dad hated it.

 

My grand dad liked Buicks He had a 56 Special 2door sedan with 3 speed with a 4 barrel Special's weren't supposed to have 4 barrel motors.

 

My grandparents had a light pea green 1948 Chevy Fleetline. When my grandpa quit driving, he and my dad asked if I wanted it. It would have been my first car. I said no way. To me it was as ugly as it gets. Didn't tell them that. I still feel the same way.

 

My Mom's father bought her a black 31 model A coupe for her first car to drive to school which she loved. She was in the class of 53. At some point in high school, he sold her model A coupe and bought her a 46 Ford sedan that he "dolled up" with ball caps on the headlights and all the other gaudy things he could. (He was a truck driver) My Mom hated that sedan and always wanted her model A back. In 2002 she passed away but the last car she drove was also a black 31 model A coupe.

 

Father's father was an orange farmer, and also ran a service garage in town in the 50's. I still have many of his old manuals and some of the tools from that. Stopped the garage around 1960 and the just concentrated on the farm. In late 60's is earliest I can recall as a little kid, but they had a 67 Impala 2 dr hardtop. I know before that they had a 57 Chevy (I think was a 2 dr), but my father's sister took it to college and it got stolen around 1962. Grandpa always had trucks for the farm, I know at least one was a 55-57 GMC pickup, and then several big box trucks to haul the oranges.

Mother's father was a sign painter and had an AD Chevy truck for the business, wish I could have that to remember him by now. The earliest car i know for sure was a 67 Chevelle 4 door 6 cyl PG. That car was gutless as anything, my grandmother drove that up until around 87 when she got too ill to drive.

 

My grandfather on the maternal side had a 1950 F-1 as his work truck but the first car I remember my grandma having was a '61 Continental convertible. Then a string of Cadillacs, I remember the metallic blue Seville he drove home from the lot. He did buy my uncle a custom '54 Ford in High School and then a brand new '62 BelAir 409 with a 4 speed. My mom got a '57 convertible bug. My folks had a 1965 Wildcat, mom's car (loved that thing). Dad had a string of cars/trucks. '56 F-100, Triumph TR4 convertible that my brother and I rode tucked in behind the seats..... glad that Triumph never was rear ended or my brother and I would have both lost our heads....