What was your first car

Pete McCluskey.

Lifetime Supporter
Keith's thread a step back in time reminded me of my first set of wheels.
A 1939 Ford sloper with a flathead V8 and leopard skin seat covers.
the thing was my pride and joy. I payed $50 for it, quite a bit back then.
It got about 12 miles to the gallon and that was the oil it used. I ended up getting sump oil from the local Garage for free and putting that in the thing.
The leopard skin seat laid back, by letting go a leather strap that held it in place. The seat squab having long since given up the ghost. Ace at the drive in.
I wrote it off in a collision with a dickhead in a Holden,(Chevy) I loved that car and wish I had it today.
Tell me about your first one....Car that is.
 
Hi Pete,
1st car was a Ford 105E built from 2 heaps to make one bright green, lowered, breathed upon flash machine. Spent best part of 18 months building it and when complete I was given a completely new registration complete with 3 years of no MOT! The authorities did not even carry out a single mechanical check on the car-those were the days!
It was a 1965 Anglia and was given a 1970 registration! XOU188J.
 

Brian Stewart
Supporter
1955 Austin A30 - and I made out in the back seat of it, which is not easy when you're 6'4".... Probably helped that my girlfriend at the time was only 4'11" (we did a lot of lying down). Burnt out the valves racing a mate in a similar vintage Morris Oxford, but had it back on the road a couple if days later. Wish modern cars were that easy to fix.
 

Ron Scarboro

GT40s Supporter
Supporter
1979 Mustang Indianapolis Pace Car. Sweet 302 with 140 hp and a good amount of torque. Hot car for it's day. My how times have changed.

Best,


Ron
 
850cc mini was my Granddads, first drive in it was from Stafford to Devon 220 miles down the M6 and M5. Air con (window open window closed) fully adjustable seats (forward or backward). Never let me down and probably like most people first cars I loved it.
 

JimmyMac

Lifetime Supporter
1961? Vauxhall Cresta PA - Blue with whitewall tyres.
Shared by four of us. We used it to get away for the weekend pubbing and clubbing. We were Mods and Northern Soul music was big then.
That back seat was a veritable sperm bank.
 
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Ian Anderson

Lifetime Supporter
First car was after I passed my car licence - rode bikes for 2 years before that. And in 1980 I got a 1950 Morris Minor! One of the earliest ones that should have had a side valve motor but that had been swapped for a 1000 OHV engine.

The car was designed to be xxx inches wide and they had it out on test and decided it needed to be 4 inches wider so in the early cars they cut the bumpers, bonnet and boot in half and added 4 inch plates! On mine you could see the cut marks!
It was also one with the small headkights - in near the radiator (not big ones on the wings), indicators by Semafore arms, split windscreen with flat glass, wiper with one speed - slow!, and the headlights were as poor as those on a GT40!

The engine had been "breathed" on 1/4 inch off the head, big valves, pocket pistons, balances etc and revved to 8000 which ment that I could top the ton! Did this a few times (loads actually) but it did not have the steering or brakes to match. Spin the wheels from the traffic lights in 1st 2nd and 3rd - but the tyres were bloody narrow! (About 4 inch)

This looks like my car - same colour, upholstery etc but I bet they were all green and tan!


Girls - they only came along after I sold that and bought a Truimph GT6 sports car

IAn
 
1970 Camaro which I bought in 1979 when I was a senior in high school. I think I paid 900.00 for it. It was similar to the one below, but with auto trans. Had a 350 in it and had great acceleration for a stock 2 barrel car. It was a lot of fun!
 

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An old Mk1 Mini Cooper from a scrap yard for the pricely sum of £50, no sills inner or outer!! Spent an age restoring it and then thrashed the life out of it, tweaked engines (numerous ones!!) ended up with a 1293 S lump in it, ported head, hi ratio rockers, cam, flywheel and straight cut box. It`s still sat in one of my sheds today although not used it for 10 years so could do with another restoration job on her, will never sell it!! 616MTT is the reg, a real fun car!!
 
my first car was back in 1981 when I was 18, bought the car before I had my license to repare the rusty stuff on it :laugh:
It was a lovely Fiat Bertone X1/9

the same as this one, also paint/striping/wheels etc (only it had all centercaps :laugh:) it was a 1974
1300cc

x192400cn2.jpg


lovely budget fun car.
 

Randy V

Moderator-Admin
Staff member
Admin
Lifetime Supporter
My first was a 1951 Ford Club Coupe with a 125HP Mercury Flat Head...

I put on the Edelbrock high compression heads, 3 Stromberg 97 2 bbl carbs, Ansen Speed-Shifter, Full dual exhausts with Smittys, Full Stewart Warner instrumentation and oh yes the required fuzzy dice...

the car was similar to this one - I only wish my first wife had not burned most all of my old pictures...


1951fordbusclubcpsr0809.jpg
 

Doug S.

The protoplasm may be 72, but the spirit is 32!
Lifetime Supporter
My first car was a 1961 Buick Special 4-door sedan I inherited when my dad died. It had an aluminum 215 CID V-8. I did a few things to improve the appearance, but nothing to the mechanics.

When that thing bit the dust, I got my first "purchased" car, a used 1965 Pontiac GTO. It was not a luxurious model, had no center console, no power steering or brakes, just a set of bucket seats, a 4-speed transmission, and that glorious Pontiac 335 horsepower 389 engine. After a few years of abuse the 389 gave up the ghost when I loaned it to my brother for the afternoon and it came home with a rod knock, so I bought a Pontiac 400 from a salvage GTO "Judge". It ran MUCH better than the 389.

Cheers from Doug!
 

Mike Pass

Supporter
Land Rover Defender Series 1 1948 vintage, It had done 183,000 miles when I got it in 1963 and it had been the property of the Forestry Commission. Just nicely run in and hardy used!
Cheers
Mike
 
1970 Barracuda Convertible
Lemon Twist Yellow with black interior and black top
318 v-8 727 torqueflight trans
 

Jim Craik

Lifetime Supporter
Nick,

Something else we have in common, my first car was a 1962 Austin Mini 850. What it was doing in Palo Alto, CA I have no idea.

I later got an MG sedan 1100 and switched the motors.
 
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