Terminalcoffee discussion

What was your first car?

I had a 1980 two-tone (tan and white) Impala. None of the doors locked and after an electric company truck took out the driver's door I got one that just had primer on it and then the car was three-tone. I often had to "warm up" the engine, even in high-summer, and I had to time merging just right because the engine was all "I think I can I think I can". But I loved that car. 1500 bucks and it got me through the last year of college.

You?

A 1967 Ford Galaxie 500 - near mint - with enough horsepower to change the weather, passed down from the old man.

I put an under-the-dash 8-track player in it and, well, use your imagination as long as it involves "towns full of losers" and "pullin' out of here to win."

i don't own a car yet, but i'm an excellent driver.

I don't know, Janine. You were having some problems walkin' on ice lately:)

My first car was a 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera, 2-door fuel injected. It didn't look like much, but its' ability to be driven at over 110 MPH without falling apart was quite unnerving.

I miss that car, actually.

My first car was a 1974 Chevy Nova - bleh.

My second car however was a 1979 Pontiac Firebird with T top roof. I loved that car.

similar to this only with removable roof

Was it that color, Jim? That's some color.

Mine was a 1987 Subaru GL wagon. I didn't know how to drive stick when I bought it, but I had been looking for a car all summer, and I knew it was the car I was going to buy the second I saw it parked in a field with a For Sale sign on it.

Jim wrote: "My first car was a 1974 Chevy Nova - bleh.

My second car however was a 1979 Pontiac Firebird with T top roof. I loved that car.

similar to this only with removable roof "

First off, a disclaimer. This is by no means a slam on any ethnic group nor a blatant attempt at stereotyping, but is simply presented as a fact. Honest.

I grew up in Dearborn, MI, which borders Detroit just to the west, the east side of the city home to the largest Arabic population in the United States. Firebirds and Trans Am's were very popular over on that side of town.

Arabs love Pontiac Firebirds?

Well, there's the answer to our Middle East problems: just airlift an assload of antique Pontiac Firebirds throughout the Middle East, and peace will come.

And I'll win the Nobel Peace Prize for dreaming this up.

Gus wrote: "Arabs love Pontiac Firebirds?

Well, there's the answer to our Middle East problems: just airlift an assload of antique Pontiac Firebirds throughout the Middle East, and peace will come.

And I'll..."

If not the Nobel Prize, then at least a little ire that's usually directed my way.

Yes, it was that color Sarah.

RandomAnthony wrote: "I don't know, Janine. You were having some problems walkin' on ice lately:)"

that's why i don't drive when it's snowing of freezing.

1970 cutlass. gray with a black top. got it from my dad. air shocks jacked up in the back to facilitate smokey burn-outs. 350 engine, automatic, power nothing. pioneer supertuner radio with a cassette player driving jensen triaxle 6x0 speakers mounted on a piece of plywood in the back window. i dried the back of my feathered hair in the mornings on the way to school with the music of Aldo Nova blasting the back of my head.

I had an AMC Matador, either a 1973 or 1974. I can't remember which year at the moment but I bet my mom would if I asked her about it. It was a goldish color. Unfortunately my Matador was a sedan and not a coupe. All of my friends called it The FBI Car. It was big, and I guess resembled something the FBI guys drove in old movies.

A green 1976 Volvo 142E. Loved that car, even tho it was a real lemon. A stick, and like Sarah I had never learned to drive one until then. Driving it home was pretty sticky.

I saw one of those just 3 days ago, I couldn't believe it, I don't think the Rabbits were manufactured for more than a couple of years.

My 2nd car was a VW Super Beetle, given to us by R's parents. It was the strangest thing, had a stick but just for show really, I mean you could shift and all but there was no clutch. WTF?

I'm not great at remembering makes and models of cars, but my first was a Dodge duster (mid 70's I think). I just called it the big blue boat which died at a stop sign one day after I had it only a few weeks. Then my dad tries to make up for the lemon he bought, and gave me a Horizon (year???) this was a little better, but shook so bad that my dad was afraid it would shake the rusty floorboards loose as I traveled so he put it out of it's misery. First good car was one I bought with my first job-- a early 90's Geo metro.

1995 Maroon Volvo. My brother and I shared the car and all of our friends called it the Swedish Murder Machine

Welcome to TC Kallie, thanks for jumping in.

L wrote: "I'm not great at remembering makes and models of cars, but my first was a Dodge duster (mid 70's I think). I just called it the big blue boat which died at a stop sign one day after I had it only a..."

You're right. Your memory does fail you. The Duster was made by Plymouth. :)

A silver 1965 MGB roadster. First gear was shot -- and the body was so out of alignment that I couldn't keep tires on it. It also had real wire wheels with knock-off hubs. It had a straight-thru muffler that really barked. I had to put a quart of oil in about once a week.

Girls liked it.

I thought I'd already posted in this thread. Huh. My first car was a 1973 sky blue Volkswagen Superbeetle. I nicknamed him Fred because he reminded me of Fred Sanford... always faking a heart attack ("buhh dhh dhh dhh dhh BANG! buhh dhh dhh dhh dhh BANG! buhh dhh dhh dhh dhh BANG!"), and he seemed like he'd feel at home in the junkyard.

It had no defrost, no air conditioning, no heat... It had no radio, the passenger seat would fly off its track and into the front window, the rear seat, and then settle back onto the dashboard when I didn't hold it down for stops... and the contents of my purse (like a parking card for school, driver's license, money...) would fall out the floorboard underneath each of the tracks.

When it would rain, the water would settle into the resevoir/lining around the sunroof... and pour down into my lap if I didn't remember to cover it with a garbage bag/makeshift tarp. I got clever and shimmied my way to the side just out of the line of waterfall while backing out of the steep driveway.

AND, when the brakes went out (the day my car was returned to me after the alternator was replaced), and I wrecked, the front end was all crunched in enough that it had to be held down with a bungee cord, like it was a giant rubberband.

I really miss that car, though. I had sooo much fun in it. I loved the sound the motor made and its compact size and that it could fit into about any spot... and I'd have to entertain myself with trying to get through an entire song by memory since I didn't have a radio.

Yes, Bun, I know what that's like. My first MGB (I've since owned 3 more) was still new enough not to have rusted through on the bottom.

One that I bought years later had succumbed to road salt in a big way, though. My intention was to patch it up with new panels -- as a sort of foolish recapturing youth project -- but I never finished it. I bought another one that had been patched up already -- but the engine was shot on that one.

I never did recapture my youth, by the way. :) And I learned to stay clear of British imports.

Oh excellent. Boy howdy that's right on the money! That made me laugh heartily, oh mighty and wonderful BunWat.

Cute, TawNub!!! :)

True.

My first car was a Mazda Protege. In a deep red color - almost burgundy. Funny, I've had two more cars in that same color.

And, like Heidi, I'm having deja vu - haven't we had this thread before? Doesn't make it any less entertaining, I'm just asking.