Car Of Your Youth

[Golfspy_CG2]

This was a fun convesation we had this morning.  I'll be curious to hear but more importantly see the pictures of the car from your youth.  Meaning your first car ever or your car in highschool..etc.  

Mine was a 1970 Ford Torino.  Man that thing was cool, got to even park in the "cool cars" lot of the lot at high school.   You didn't dare show up there with your fathers buick...ha

[xOldBenKenobiX]

We did not have a car when I was in high school but back on our small town in Brazil on the 80s and 90s, bicycles where kings of transportation, mine got stolen after my brother borrowed it, and after he got home, he left it by the curb, and someone took it, to this day he owes me a bike.

I had one of those but in black as a hand me down from my uncle.

There were a lot 80s and 90s cars in Brazil that I really like, I loved and still would love to have the Brazilian Chevy Opala Diplomata 4.1L

The Opala had been build with the base and chassis of an Opel Rekord, but had the power unit and final styling of the American Impala, resulting on an awesome hear turning machine, specially for teenagers who where overflowing with hormones.

Before my dad passed on the middle 80s, he had one of these, late 70s fiat 147, he actually bought two cheap wrecked ones, cut them in half and put it together was one.

One of the many professions my dad had, he was a painter and body shop worker on one of the two shops our town had back then, the shop also had a junk yard.

[funkyjudge]

My first car was a 1959 Pontiac Bonneville 2-Door Coupe with "Tri Power" (three 2-barrel carburetors); it looked like this:

(Truth be told, mine was not as pretty as this one - it was not a two-tone car with a white top, but instead was a monotone blue-gray color)

Maybe this picture will stay here; the last one disappeared.

Edited October 13, 2022 by funkyjudge
added info

[Golfspy_CG2]

5 minutes ago, EasyPutter said:

Will update the photo when I come across one of my 1971 Mercury Comet, was this color exactly but couldn't leave well enough alone, friends called it the KIT car after the on in the TV show Knightrider.  It was 2014 when I finally owned a factory assembled vehicle (I could afford) to be well enough equipped that I haven't done anything to change it.  Add to this stock Comet, hood scoop and sport mirrors off a GT, Lexan lens fog lights, fiberglass front air dam spoiler with brake ducts, stainless door visors, wire basket wheel covers with spinners, fiberoptics off a Cadillac for front fender turn indicators and taillight minder over rear window, full instrumentation in overhead above visors and lower dash, built-in CompuCruise computer and CB radio in dash with twin trunk lid antenna, 100W power booster hidden inside dash and 20oz magnet rear deck speakers, and probably forgetting something.  When the energy crisis of the early 1980s made fuel prices much higher locally than across the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie, Ontario Canada, we fitted a 18gal boat tank into the trunk and siphoned down the gas tank to a gallon to get over for a fill-up of both tanks, same with my parent's Dodge van with extra cap main tank and 30gal side tank - using siphons and gas cans we made weekly trips for more than a year to fuel our 5 vehicle fleet until US prices made the practice no longer economically advantageous.

That's sweet Derek,   I was gong to mention the CB thing as well.  I had one installed during the big craze.  I served me well when I drove from Ohio to California for college and coming on the just released Smokey and The Bandit, I went with the original handle of  The Blue Bandit....ha

[GolfSpy TCB]

Fun topic   

I started driving my Dad's "commute" car - a '77 Subaru.  But shortly after getting my license, I bought a 1979 Camaro Rally Sport in two tone blue (as pictured below).    

[funkyjudge]

On 10/13/2022 at 10:43 AM, Golfspy_TCB said:

Fun topic   

I started driving my Dad's "commute" car - a '77 Subaru.  But shortly after getting my license, I bought a 1979 Camaro Rally Sport in two tone blue (as pictured below).    

Are you sure that you’re not my son?  His first car, used for driving back and forth to high school and his first year of community college was a ‘74 Subaru (ugly and slow, but very dependable). When he wanted to get a car “that better suited his image” (he was a two-sport NCAA athlete after transferring from the community college to Coastal Carolina University), his mother co-signed for him to buy a Camaro Z-28. We were divorced, and I was 100% opposed to that purchase and would not co-sign for it, even though he was living with me and not with his mom. This caused one of many big fights that I had with my then 19 or 20 year-old son. He is now 52 years old and the General Manager and part owner of a group of 5 car dealerships, a used car wholesaler, plus a MAACO paint and body shop with a total of more than 200 employees. On the side, he buys, upgrades/restores high performance cars and SUVs (Range Rovers, Porsches, Audi RS models, etc., plus a few race cars), and he can own and drive pretty much any vehicle he wants.

Edited January 26, 2023 by funkyjudge

[GolfSpy TCB]

7 minutes ago, funkyjudge said:

Are you sure that you’re not my son?  His first car, used for driving back and forth to high school and his first year of community college was a ‘74 Subaru (ugly and slow, but very dependable). When he wanted to get a car “that better suited his image” (he was a two-sport NCAA athlete after transferring from the community college to Coastal Carolina University), his mother co-signed for him to buy a Camaro Z-28. We were divorced, and I was 100% opposed to that purchase and would not co-sign for it, even though he was living with me and not with his mom. This caused one of many big fights that I had with my then 19 or 20 year-old son. He is now 52 years old and the General Manager and part owner of a group of 5 car dealerships, a used car wholesaler, plus a MAACO paint and body shop with a total of more than 200 employees. On the side, he buys, upgrades/restores high performance cars and SUVs (Range Rovers, Porsches, Audi RS models, etc. — plus a few race cars — and he can own and drive pretty much any vehicle he wants.

Well, you just may be funkyjudge!  My Dad was not impressed with me when I drove it home the first night.    I'm 53, my parents are now divorced, but I was 17, and I work in business   Sounds like your son fueled his career with that Z-28!  

[Golfspy_CG2]

34 minutes ago, funkyjudge said:

Are you sure that you’re not my son?  His first car, used for driving back and forth to high school and his first year of community college was a ‘74 Subaru (ugly and slow, but very dependable). When he wanted to get a car “that better suited his image” (he was a two-sport NCAA athlete after transferring from the community college to Coastal Carolina University), his mother co-signed for him to buy a Camaro Z-28. We were divorced, and I was 100% opposed to that purchase and would not co-sign for it, even though he was living with me and not with his mom. This caused one of many big fights that I had with my then 19 or 20 year-old son. He is now 52 years old and the General Manager and part owner of a group of 5 car dealerships, a used car wholesaler, plus a MAACO paint and body shop with a total of more than 200 employees. On the side, he buys, upgrades/restores high performance cars and SUVs (Range Rovers, Porsches, Audi RS models, etc. — plus a few race cars — and he can own and drive pretty much any vehicle he wants.

While I loved my Torino, when it came time that it had to be retired, I wanted a Camaro so bad but instead somehow ended up with a Chevy Monza Spyder...but a girl I was dating got a brand new 82 camaro when it changed styles from the old stayle to this style

I 

I made her drive everywhee we went and even borrowed it myself a few times, until she wrecked it.  I think I was more upset than she was about it 

 

[funkyjudge]

7 minutes ago, Golfspy_TCB said:

Well, you just may be funkyjudge!  My Dad was not impressed with me when I drove it home the first night.    I'm 53, my parents are now divorced, but I was 17, and I work in business   Sounds like your son fueled his career with that Z-28!  

He’s done better than all right after dropping out of college, playing and coaching some basketball, working for Nike and running their basketball academies in the 1990s.

He got involved in the automotive industry (sales and business management) through some of his basketball contacts… ever hear of Billy Donovan? … working for dealerships in Tampa plus Nashville, Knoxville and Clarksville, TN. He even co-authored a book and a series of videos/DVDs about how not to buy a car or truck and exposing all of the tricks and dubious sales tactics used by car salesmen and “business managers”, and swore that he would never get involved in that business again.

However, a few years later he was recruited to be Sales Manager at a single small-town Chrysler-Dodge-Ram-Jeep dealership in upstate New York and it has just snowballed from there. He has always insisted that he would only work for dealerships and organizations that were ethical and above board/transparent in dealing with their customers, and he found that FCA (Fiat- Chrysler America, now Stellantis) actually valued and promoted this. He’s worked for them for more than 10 years now, and has moved around to three different FCA/Stellantis dealership groups since 2012, turning around underperforming dealerships and training sales forces and managers. He won two Regional and one National corporate Sales Manager of the Year awards before being named the Stellantis Dealership Executive of the Year in 2021.

Am I more than a little proud of him?  Damn right, I am!

[rkj427]

The first car that I owned on my own was this 1969 Road Runner. Purchased it from a friend of my Dad in 1972 for $3000.00.

Today this car in similar condition is well over 6 figures. 

This is an actual picture of it taken in 1972 at a tool shop that a friend of the family owned. I used to go there and perform all the needed maintenance or repairs on any of the vehicles that were owned by his employees on the weekends to make some extra money.

Truth be told, I did drag race this car, and eventually sold it when I got married to my now ex-wife. 

Living and growing up in "The Motor City" in the 60's and 70's with the muscle cars so popular was a pretty cool thing to experience from an automotive perspective.

 

[GolfSpy TCB]

2 minutes ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

While I loved my Torino, when it came time that it had to be retired, I wanted a Camaro so bad but instead somehow ended up with a Chevy Monza Spyder...but a girl I was dating got a brand new 82 camaro when it changed styles from the old stayle to this style

I 

I made her drive everywhee we went and even borrowed it myself a few times, until she wrecked it.  I think I was more upset than she was about it 

 

My next car after the Camaro was an off the lot 1991 Firebird Trans Am - 

Then I became a Husband and a Father... sports car days ended.  

[funkyjudge]

5 minutes ago, rkj427 said:

The first car that I owned on my own was this 1969 Road Runner. Purchased it from a friend of my Dad in 1972 for $3000.00.

Today this car in similar condition is well over 6 figures. 

This is an actual picture of it taken in 1972 at a tool shop that a friend of the family owned. I used to go there and perform all the needed maintenance or repairs on any of the vehicles that were owned by his employees on the weekends to make some extra money.

Truth be told, I did drag race this car, and eventually sold it when I got married to my now ex-wife. 

Living and growing up in "The Motor City" in the 60's and 70's with the muscle cars so popular was a pretty cool thing to experience from an automotive perspective.

 

LOVE IT!!!

I am a long-time “Mopar freak” and the first car I bought after getting out of the Marine Corps in 1969 was a Plymouth Barracuda with a 340 V8 and a “ six pack”.

Side note - as a Detroit native, did you grow up a Detroit Tigers fan? I have been one for 65+ years!

[rkj427]

4 minutes ago, funkyjudge said:

LOVE IT!!!

I am a long-time “Mopar freak” and the first car I bought after getting out of the Marine Corps in 1969 was a Plymouth Barracuda with a 340 V8 and a “ six pack”.

Side note - as a Detroit native, did you grow up a Detroit Tigers fan? I have been one for 65+ years!

Yes, Tigers fan since at least the 60's.................... went to All Star Game here in the early 70's when Reggie Jackson cleared the roof for the first time.

Went to a '68 World Series game with my Dad, and (2) brothers................ 84 and 87 Playoff Games too

Really hope that the Tigers get untracked and back on the road to relevancy sooner than later.

Detroit is a great sports city, even if the teams may not always be so good themselves.

My Dad, Uncle, and Aunt all worked for Chrysler in the past, while they were alive, so I have been a Mopar fanatic too, still daily drive a Charger Scat Pack, and have my Corvette as a "toy car" for shows or some trips.

[Reesedw]

Ok I'll bite.. Beat this one.. 1974 Mustang 2 v6, Literally bought off a little old lady. she was hit in the rt front fender and it was totaled... My dad managed a Body shop and was a 50's era hot rod guy so we rebuilt it and I drove it all through High school. My next car was a 1975 mustang with a 302, it had like 150 hp.. I drove it 3 weeks, when it tossed a timing chain , So i did what every 80's kid that was into cars did, I built a 375hp 302 and shoved it in it.. turned it into a serious sleeper.. would do 14.1's in the quarter mile.. back than that was pretty damn quick.. this is not my car, but looks close, mine was corvette yellow with mag wheels and Black striping.. 

[MattF]

My first car was a 1976 TX Gemini like below, but an Aqua blue. I promptly wrapped it around a telephone pole a week after I got it, got it repaired and drove it for another year.



I sold that and bought my second most favourite car I owned. A 1971 VW Squareback, like this one. Did a lot of work to make it a sleeper that scared quite a few people.

[Golfspy_CG2]

6 minutes ago, MattF said:

My first car was a 1976 TX Gemini like below, but an Aqua blue. I promptly wrapped it around a telephone pole a week after I got it, got it repaired and drove it for another year.



I sold that and bought my second most favourite car I owned. A 1971 VW Squareback, like this one. Did a lot of work to make it a sleeper that scared quite a few people.

That Gemini looks absoltuely ideal for The Hat

 

[funkyjudge]

15 minutes ago, rkj427 said:

Yes, Tigers fan since at least the 60's.................... went to All Star Game here in the early 70's when Reggie Jackson cleared the roof for the first time.

Went to a '68 World Series game with my Dad, and (2) brothers................ 84 and 87 Playoff Games too

Really hope that the Tigers get untracked and back on the road to relevancy sooner than later.

Detroit is a great sports city, even if the teams may not always be so good themselves.

My Dad, Uncle, and Aunt all worked for Chrysler in the past, while they were alive, so I have been a Mopar fanatic too, still daily drive a Charger Scat Pack, and have my Corvette as a "toy car" for shows or some trips.

I missed the ‘68 World Series because I was in the USMC, but I have it (and the ‘84 WS) on video tape.  My wife and I were in Baltimore to see the Tigers play the Orioles in 1984 as they were clinching the AL title (what a great year that was)!  Standing outside the stadium in Baltimore waiting for the gates to open for the Sunday game (we had already been there for 3 other games in the series, including a Saturday double-header), the Tigers broadcast crew was walking toward us. Being a huge Al Kaline fan since I was about 6 or 7 years old, I walked over to him (we had met a few times before, and I already had an autographed baseball and a pin that they gave to fans at Cooperstown the day he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, plus one of his flannel jerseys from about 1956-58 … the ones with the block “DETROIT” across the front, and no Olde English D). He was very approachable (always was) and I said “hi”.  He may or may not have remembered me from our earlier encounters, although I doubt that he did considering the number of people that he had met, but he acted as if we were old friends.  The only thing that I had for him to sign was the ticket stubs and folder from the Saturday doubleheader, and he very graciously autographed the ticket folder for me.  I NEVER wore that flannel jersey with his name inside the back and the big number 6 on the back, but I wish that I had it with me that day to get his autograph on it, but I can’t complain.  I had met my all-time baseball idol (again) and I have a total of three of his autographs.

[Golfspy_CG2]

Loving these pics and the stories about them!

 

 

[funkyjudge]

28 minutes ago, rkj427 said:

Yes, Tigers fan since at least the 60's.................... went to All Star Game here in the early 70's when Reggie Jackson cleared the roof for the first time.

Went to a '68 World Series game with my Dad, and (2) brothers................ 84 and 87 Playoff Games too

Really hope that the Tigers get untracked and back on the road to relevancy sooner than later.

Detroit is a great sports city, even if the teams may not always be so good themselves.

My Dad, Uncle, and Aunt all worked for Chrysler in the past, while they were alive, so I have been a Mopar fanatic too, still daily drive a Charger Scat Pack, and have my Corvette as a "toy car" for shows or some trips.

BTW, my dad grew up in the shadow of Briggs (later Tiger) Stadium.

 

3 hours ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

This was a fun convesation we had this morning.  I'll be curious to hear but more importantly see the pictures of the car from your youth.  Meaning your first car ever or your car in highschool..etc.  

Mine was a 1970 Ford Torino.  Man that thing was cool, got to even park in the "cool cars" lot of the lot at high school.   You didn't dare show up there with your fathers buick...ha

GREAT CAR!

[cksurfdude]

3 hours ago, xOldBenKenobiX said:

I had one of those but in black as a hand me down from my uncle.

Not car related but just had to comment on that ring frame stiffener .. really brilliant design!!

[hohjoe]

My first car, which I bought with tip money from working at a grocery store, was a '58 Chevy Delray.

[GolfSpy_APH]

So my first car was a 1996 Pontiac Grand Am. I still remember how it drove and how excited I was to get it home. When I moved across the country I gifted it to my sister who then gifted it to her inlaws later on in life. The car lasted forever and was quite the car given how many people it wen through. Oh and it was purple!


However what I am more excited to share was our family car and the car I learned to drive on. Hindsight I really wish I had taken this as my car, but it really wasn't in that good of shape by the time I came around to be able to have my own vehicle and it had near 500 thousand km on it. 

[cksurfdude]

4 minutes ago, hohjoe said:

My first car, which I bought with tip money from working at a grocery store, was a '58 Chevy Delray.

OMG I love those early- to late-50s Chevy coupes!!

[cksurfdude]

My Dad had a few fun cars when I was young, starting with (pictures from Google searches) ...

Triumph TR3 circa 1951 baby blue similar to this one

My mother told me she made him get rid of it after they got stranded in a snowstorm. (..why they were driving a tiny 2 seater convertible in a snowstorm is whole nutha question!)

 

1962 Ford Thunderbird hardtop coupe shiny black

Not sure why it was sold/traded. Very cool styling!

 

The infamous rear-engine 1965 Chevy Corvair (see Ralph Nader's "Unsafe At Any Speed"). 

This one's fate... He was driving on the highway, had to come to a quick stop .. got rear-ended by a bigger car and the back of his car crumpled, pushing the engine into the back half of the passenger compartment!

[funkyjudge]

I posted a picture of that ‘59 Pontiac Bonneville that I owned, but it has now disappeared.

In reality, I did co-own one car before that, but it was at least 4 years before I had a driver’s license. A couple of friends and I bought a 1953 Plymouth sedan, knocked out all glass, taped the headlights so they wouldn’t get broken, and put in a makeshift roll cage. We also built a dirt track in the field between our house and that of one of the co-owners and built on some mounds and “jumps”, and used the Plymouth as a “field car”. This is how I first learned to drive.

About the same time, I bought an 85cc Yamaha dirt bike (rode that one in the field too), and later a 250cc street bike. This was about 1963-1965, and you didn’t need a driver’s license to ride a motorcycle at the time (NY State changed that law really quickly).

Before we converted it to a field car, the Plymouth looked almost exactly like this, but with a few “starter dents” in its body:

Edited October 18, 2022 by funkyjudge

[GolfSpy TCB]

24 minutes ago, hohjoe said:

My first car, which I bought with tip money from working at a grocery store, was a '58 Chevy Delray.

Always wanted a 56 or 57 Bel Air  (with or without the fins... either is good  ).  That Delray is a looker!!!

[funkyjudge]

52 minutes ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

Loving these pics and the stories about them!

 

 

 

9 minutes ago, cksurfdude said:

My Dad had a few fun cars when I was young, starting with (pictures from Google searches) ...

Triumph TR3 circa 1951 baby blue similar to this one

My mother told me she made him get rid of it after they got stranded in a snowstorm. (..why they were driving a tiny 2 seater convertible in a snowstorm is whole nutha question!)

 

1962 Ford Thunderbird hardtop coupe shiny black

Not sure why it was sold/traded. Very cool styling!

 

The infamous rear-engine 1965 Chevy Corvair (see Ralph Nader's "Unsafe At Any Speed"). 

This one's fate... He was driving on the highway, had to come to a quick stop .. got rear-ended by a bigger car and the back of his car crumpled, pushing the engine into the back half of the passenger compartment!

I love that Corvair! By 1966, they had become a much better car than the first-generation Corvairs (I totaled a ‘63 Corvair by running it off the road and wrapping it around a tree — horrible handling on that car!)

[GolfSpy TCB]

26 minutes ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

So my first car was a 1996 Pontiac Grand Am. I still remember how it drove and how excited I was to get it home. When I moved across the country I gifted it to my sister who then gifted it to her inlaws later on in life. The car lasted forever and was quite the car given how many people it wen through. Oh and it was purple!


However what I am more excited to share was our family car and the car I learned to drive on. Hindsight I really wish I had taken this as my car, but it really wasn't in that good of shape by the time I came around to be able to have my own vehicle and it had near 500 thousand km on it. 

I always thought the Grand Am was a sporty looking car.  And purple just takes the cake!!

[cksurfdude]

So first car that was all mine was a sporty little Triumph TR6 that looked somewhat like this .. but of course *not* as well detailed and shiny

Sure was fun to drive but was also a bit of a PITA - pretty much every time you wanted to take it out, you had to raise the hood and fiddle with the needle valve adjuster on the carb (oh those finicky English carbs) and give it a few drops of oil, too! Ran much smoother then.

It had independent rear wheel suspension and one time a few friends and I were out and they pranked me - they went outside before me and lifted up the rear end of the car enough so that the two rear wheels were pigeon-toed in .. I looked at it and thought someone had run into from the side, but they're there cracking up so I figured it out quickly enough.

[Golfspy_CG2]

48 minutes ago, cksurfdude said:

My Dad had a few fun cars when I was young, starting with (pictures from Google searches) ...

Triumph TR3 circa 1951 baby blue similar to this one

My mother told me she made him get rid of it after they got stranded in a snowstorm. (..why they were driving a tiny 2 seater convertible in a snowstorm is whole nutha question!)

 

1962 Ford Thunderbird hardtop couple shiny black

Not sure why it was sold/traded. Very cool styling!

 

The infamous rear-engine 1965 Chevy Corvair (see Ralph Nader's "Unsafe At Any Speed"). 

This one's fate... He was driving on the highway, had to come to a quick stop .. got rear-ended by a bigger car and the back of his car crumpled, pushing the engine into the back half of the passenger compartment!

Oh my gosh the corvair.   My dad had one that he was always working on and restoring.  I called it the Beep Beep,  and I couldn't wait for him to come home everynight so he could take me for a ride in the Beep Beep.  Just for claification, I was 5 not 55 at the time