Your First Love... car that is.

My first car was a 1955 Chevrolet 4 door sedan with a 265 CID V8 and Powerglide transmission. This was 1968 , so the
car had seen better days, but I was 16 , took off the front bumper, put dual glass pack mufflers on it, and I was King of the Road ( at least in my mind). It was a Bel-Aire , so it had electric wipers vs the standard vacuum wipers, and last, but certainly not least, it had a Wonderbar radio installed , an option that let you touch this bar and it would automatically
scan to the next station. I had to get the engine rebuilt once, the transmission twice , while I owned it. I worked at a gas station, gas up and down from .30 cents a gallon, nobody worried about gas mileage back then. Heck , I am showing my age, no wonder my Prius seems so cool !!

 

My first car is... a 2011 Prius, which I have nicknamed "HybRED".
Not too many memorable moments with HybRED yet but I'm still in the first few months of (I'm hoping) a long relationship!

 

My first car was a 1965 VW Convertible Beatle (bug). I wish I had kept her.

 

My first love was a 1965 Corvair Corsa convertible with the turbo.

 

1986 mercury grand Marquis. It was my under used pimp mobile. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/1983-1987_Mercury_Grand_Marquis_--_09-27-2010_1.jpg

 

While not my first love of a car, the first car I owned the title to was a Datsun B210GX...drove it until the floor rusted out and it was lime green with racing stripes - it was my grandmother's car before I inherited her. She was after the Aspen from Hell.

The dream car was a 1974 white Stingray Corvette with a T-roof, black leather interior and a 5 speed. Again, I was only 9 at the time I wished for that car someday.

Gotta say since my Prius is the first new car I ever purchased on my own, with all the features I wanted and great gas mileage, I am smitten.

Where's the Kool Aid?

 

Suggest you avoid the 74-82 Vettes - those were some of the least desirable. 69-73, though, were very nice 3rd generation Corvettes. I had an 81 - looked good but very slow.

 

Love the car in that photo! Oh my!!

Remember, I was only 9 when the 1974 Vette was my dream car. At least I am much older now to do research and have a brother who knows cars inside and out that I can take along should I ever decide I need a Corvette to add to the stable...

He currently has a beautiful 1968 red Camaro Super Sport that is fun to ride in if you don't think about the fuel she consumes....

My sister's dream car was always a Beetle (her first car purchase was a Beetle with lots of engine problems but she loved the car) and she found a 1971 convertible that is always a fun ride on a summer day - and that engine has its own unique noise.

 

First car: 1966 VW Microbus bought used 1971

• 1.5L, air cooled engine
• 6V electrical
• added headers to improve cooling and power
• added centrifugal advance ignition to improve power
• carried tool box, spare parts and valve cover gaskets
• 28 MPG highway unless it needed valve backlash adjustment, plug clean and gap, or tires inflated
• rebuilt engine in 1973 upon returning from Okinawa (shop rag blew into cooling air inlet)
• after rebuild . . . cursed Permatex and never had to do an oil change
• steering became too wobbly

First Love: 2003, NHW11 Prius

• 1.5L, water cooled engine
• 12 V, 1 kW electrical
• added 1 kW, modified sine-wave inverter, emergency power
• tested engine coolant temperature spoof
• numerous engineering studies and OBD scanner tests
• added backup camera and bluetooth mirror
• added 2" tow receiver
• upgraded traction battery to NHW20 modules
• transaxle oil studies
• replaced passenger seat with 'nap board' for trip to Kansas
• four-wheel alignment both toe and camber
• 52 MPG annual mileage, commuting and highway
• 150,000 miles and counting, 100,000 miles are mine
• subscribe to "AutoWeek" and other automotive technical sources
• estimated ~15,000 Prius associated posts: GreenHybrid.com, PriusChat.com, Ecomodder.com, "Prius Technical Stuff" and "toyota-prius"
• studied and commented on Prius versus pedestrian accident rates

Bob Wilson

 

My first car was a 1974 Dodge Colt 2dr (red with a white top), maybe my first lust since she was my first car in 1976. Have had a number of new cars since then; but the car I loved was my 1999 VW New Beetle.

In the end it turned out to be a love/hate relationship. Loved her looks and handling. Hated the piss poor quality of VW's.

Forward to almost a year with the Prius. Am I in love again? Not really... Maybe I have grown up. Love the mpg's that I get with my new ride. It fits my needs for hauling people and gear.

 

Not much of that has changed.

 

My first new car was a 1976 Fiat 128. I would suggest it to anyone who wants to learn how to work on cars.

As an aside, I took (and passed!) my road test in our family car - a 1967 Ford Country Squire station wagon. If you can successfully parallel park that beast, you can do it in any other car on the road, then and now.

 

I had a 68 Plymouth station wagon. Great for pulling a 26ft sailboat.

What's with the Indian Head test pattern? Are you involved with TV?

 

My first car was a '48 Buick Super four door, a real tank. It was so rusted from sitting out at the beach that the only place where you could tell what color it was originally was on one of the lower rear doors. But it ran like a top! That was in 1961, and by late '62 I had made three more deals and had one of my all time favorites, a '55 Chevy Bel Air convertible. I wish to this day that I had kept that one.

 

nineteen-seventy-something orange VW bug. I named it "The Millennium S--tbox". Eventually it literally blew up.

I mentioned this in the "Worst car I ever owned" thread, because it was.

 

No, just old enough to remember it.

 

My first car was a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro 302 with Black Bucket Seats a hand me down that was 10 years old. Loved the car.