1939 Chevy master deluxe when I was 15. A neighbor bought as a project when he retired. He discovered his bad back wouldn't allow him to work on it. It was clean and ran well. I paid $75 bucks and he said take it home for a week, look it over, drive it, and if you change your mind I'll give you your money back! I drove it for 2 years and sold it to buy a clean '55 chevy 2dr sedan. I like to have them both back.
My first was a Plymouth Valiant 1966, bought it in 1983, and a friend of mine found it in a barn again last year.
1960 Austin Healey 3000 with a 327/350 horsepower Chevrolet. Surprised I did not meet my end with this car, poorly built and I did not have the money to do much with it. Wish that I had kept it, a little money and some found knowledge it could have been nice.
1972 Chevelle in 1987. I washed a lot of dishes to save up the $1,200 and thrashed that poor thing to death. Twice.
I had 2 first cars. A '63 Valiant Signet 200 that my Dad bought new and a '62 Austin Mini 850 that I bought with my own money ($250). A couple of times the whole family went somewhere in the Mini. No joke, all 7 of us, Dad at 6'7", Mom at 5'10" me at 6'4" and my 4 siblings. Even though the new Minis are larger, there was more room on the inside of the original ones. Before getting the Mini, Dad took me to look at a 1955 Pontiac 2dr for $250 but Mom didn't want me to have a car yet. But when she saw the Mini, She said "That's cute". I am where I'm at now because of that first Mini. Sold it after a year to buy a ring for my girlfriend, now wife of over 52 years. After about 5 years of marriage I found another Mini. Ended up with owning 6 more in the next couple of years. Did a lot of Autocrossing and learning about Minis. After 8 years of marriage, I came home one day and told her I was joining the Air Force so we could go to England (where the Mini is from). Sold all my Minis and inlisted. First tour in England was 1980-86. Brought back 2 Minis; a van that I built from ground up, (every nut and bolt) and a famous full race Mini. Sold the van and took the race mini back for my 2nd tour in England, 1990-94. I put the Race Mini back on the circuit in '93 and '94, running almost every British Track and once on the Belgian Grand Prix Circuit. It had last raced on a track in 1973. Retired in 1994, came back and went to work at a place selling Mini and MGB parts mail order. That's why we live where we do now. Still have the Race Mini sitting in the back of my garage, haven't fired it up in 20 years. More into HAMB friendly cars now. Sorry about long and kinda OT post, but I don't know where I'd be today if I hadn't bought that first car. I am sure I would still be messing with Hot Rods though. Always read the magazines and built models when I was a kid. Ron
The first one at 15 was a ‘54 Ford sedan I bought for $50 from the small yard of the body shop/ garage/ Veedol oil distributor business where my step dad worked. It had front end damage and would need a front clip and windshield. The engine was very clean and we thought it was prolly a good runner. Long story short never could make it a dependable ride,as there were times it would not restart.Changed the timing chain to no avail and the hoodlums down the street even stopped by when they saw the hood up to try to help me out. I guess they respected my enthusiasm . Ended up sending it off to the junkyard and getting a 60 Chevy for my senior year, and the beat went on......
Being Mom never developed film tell all the roll was used up,this actully taken in early 1954,first pic on roll. So who,also did that ?
My first car was a 68 Mustang Fastback and it was love at first site. It was sitting at a friends house and didn't run so it was also my first project car. I was 14 when I bought it.
It was a 49 Ford four door, it was the summer of 2000 I had just graduated, and I traded some work (oil changes, a grease jobs, and a couple of tire rotations) with a 49-51 Ford collector for it. Having attended 2nd the Rockabilly Rumble about a week before I got it I had big plans! A V8, floor shift, lowered front and rear with a slight rake, white walls all the period correct good stuff! However, I quickly realized how much it needed, how many parts, I had no place to work on it and no money to put in it I ended up selling it for a (small) profit.
Not actually a car, but my first vehicle was a 1963 Dodge truck. Slant 6 with a 4 speed. Over sized rear mud tires that gave it a raked look. Growing up on a farm says it all. Age 13 at the time. Hauled hay on the side to pay for it.
first car 1964 impala ss red on red 327/4 speed car.14 yrs old and never got it running, 2nd car was a running and driving 62 impala 2 dr hardtop 283 p/g. drove all thru high school....wish i had both back!!!!!
1951 Merc convertible when I graduated and received $150 from family.It took all that to buy it.That was in 1962.
1968 Chrysler Town & Country / 440 / 4-barrel Carter / dual exhausts. Bought it from my father for a dollar when I graduated from college.
I bought my first car (1948 f1 ford) at the age of 14 in 1980, working in a gravel driveway I managed to put a 300hp 327 in it with a glide and a 9 inch out back. I had the rams horns with about a foot of pipe on the engine, loud and shooting flames, man I'd terrorize the neighborhood doing laps around the block like a proud Peacock !
1961 Bel-Air, bought it in '86 for $100. 235 w/3spd. Totaled and scrapped less than a year later. 17 years old.. what did I know.
Got the 383 powered version, 4 barrel dual exhaust etc. Not quite legit here but still an interesting vehicle - got a great torque curve for loosing rubber off tyres
Mine was a 1962 Bel Air two door. Unfortunately I never had a picture of it. That was 1973 or so and I pounded it until the transmission and rear end both gave out!
My first car we bought, And the second car I built and "raced" . I still have the pedal car. Wish I had the homebult
62-63 Comet wagon, bought dads work car. customized it before vans happened, installed curtains & pinstriped the windows with 1/8" tape. back in those days they had a crayon made so you could color in your tires before white lettered tires. Man I am old !!
Technically this was my first car at 15 but it never made it on the road, that my parents knew. A 1959? Fiat Nuova 500 I crudely replaced the 2 Cyl air cooled engine with a VW engine and transaxle.
52 Plymouth Belvedere 2 dr. hardtop. Nosed, decked, lowered the old fashion way, heated front coils and blocks on the rear.
First car was a 1952 Chrysler Imperial 4 door. Bought it from my grandparents neighbor Dan, a WWII Vet who was a Bombardier in Europe. Cool dude, played his trumpet with the high school band during Friday night football games and was an engineer at the power plant being built outside of town. Only told me a bit about what he did during the war because most of it was “Top Secret”! Never got the Imperial to run, but did sit in it many a night listening to the amazing AM radio it had, that old tube radio would pick up stations from all over the country crystal clear! And, yes, my first car was a Hemi car! Wish I still at least had that 331!
In late 1957, the 51 Oldsmobile sedan was painted a Lime Green for the friend who was going to buy it for his first car. 1951 Oldsmobile Sedan Hello, I had my eye on this cool 1951 Oldsmobile two door sedan ever since my brother bought it at age 15.5. It was a Pale Yellow when he bought it and kept it that way for most of its life in our family. Knowing that I was the recipient of many "hand me downs" in all sorts of stuff, I had a big smile, knowing that a cool, yellow, lowered 1951 Oldsmobile Sedan was eventually going to become my first car, too. I had grown up with the yellow Oldsmobile sedan, as I was the maintenance guy, doing all of the stuff my brother told me to do on his car. That way, he would take me where ever I wanted to go, Jr. H.S. dances, down to the Pike with friends, to drive-in restaurants, and the beach, etc. It was payback for doing the jobs on the car. Then along came a discussion about building a fast Model A coupe to compete with his friend that owned the coolest 1934 Ford Coupe with a big Oldsmobile motor and floor shift in it. It was a frequent visitor to our Westside of Long Beach house. So, with the thought that my brother would take the Model A coupe when we were finished with it, my thoughts and also, my mother’s thoughts were to keep the 51 Oldsmobile as a family car with me being the driver when I turned 16. We got the Model A coupe running, driving all around and then one week, the 51 Oldsmobile and the Model A were gone. They got sold to his other friends for cash and now my brother bought a new 58 black Impala. So, my first car was an Oldsmobile sedan, almost. Then we actually purchased a Model A coupe. So, technically, I was half owner of the Model A Coupe. Jnaki At this rate, my eyes were now on the 58 Impala as we raced it every weekend we could get to Lion’s Dragstrip. So, I was the caretaker of the Impala and its future was in sight. Then along came a nice 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery with a big 348 motor sounding like the pits area of Lion’s Dragstrip. That was the hot rod that would fulfill all aspects of being a teenager in So Cal. Cruising around in a cool hot rod and trying to become the best surfer in the area, two good high school goals. Well, I became a good surfer and got the 40 sedan delivery without the 348 motor for thousands of miles of pure delight in high school. So, officially, this is/was my first Flathead powered hot rod, purchased with my hard earned savings.
The Jalopy Journal
