Australians love their V8's!! They make pretty good police interceptors too.

My first car was a 1972 Ford Pinto...... last Ford I owned for ~30 years

Wasn't it the 1976 model that had the dangerous fuel tank?

Reminds me of this great cinematic moment from "Top Secret",

1977 Toyota Corolla wagon, rusted all over with holes in the floorboards. I could see the street beneath my feet... O_O




Imagine that car, but in iron-oxide speckled grey, with a roof rack.

No, it was ALL of them. Every one ever made same fuel tank design.

Somewhat hyped though, as other small cars of the period also had similar issues it just wasn't played up in the press so much.

1986 Toyota pick up truck, used the insurance money from my motorcycle accident to get off motorcycles.

Once my lawsuit money came in I jumped up to a 1987 Toyota 4x4, paid cash. Was a lovely feeling to not have a car payment at 18 but a brand new vehicle... :-)

The year was 1971 and the car was 1962 Morris Mini Cooper 997 ( not the S type )

1979 Monte Carlo in 1985

My first car was a wreck of a 1959 1500cc MGA fixed head coupé, but as I was 14 at the time I rebuilt it and sold it for about 10x what I bought it for which I put towards getting my first car at 17 that I could actually drive on the road, which was an 850cc Mini van ( No, my American cousins, not a 7 seat people carrier)...

It was kind of like this:


It had a modified engine with the cylinder block machined so that the valves from the gas-flowed Cooper S cylinder head (12G940) would not touch, half race cam and twin Stromberg 1-3/4" carburettors, wider wheels with the wings (fenders) modified to allow them under. Top speed was measured at 112MPH
Great little car and I drove it all over the UK, and once managed to get 17 people in it and drove them from Thurso to Castletown after a country dance.

Once coming back from Glasgow I caught up with a friend who was driving a Triumph 2.5PI on a section of road that was really twisty, we had a little race for about 25 miles, he could not shake me off the back but I just didn't have the power to pass him. A few weeks later I met up with him again at an Auto Test car handling competition, he had entered a mini van rather than his mini saloon race car. When we spoke he said he could not believe how those little vans handled so well, he managed to win his section, I was not competing I was there as a spectator.

People were a lot thinner back then.

So was I!
It was scary driving the van the 5 miles to Castletown, the road was fairly straight … well it was really one long straight with a corner at either end and a big steep hill down and up in the middle, the car would not track straight at all.

I liked mine. It was really trouble free for a muscle car. Mine was like this except it didn’t have the black vinyl roof.


https://www.powerful-cars.com/images/plymouth/1971-roadrunner-32-002.jpg

my first car was a 1964 volvo. it was ugly green so I got it painted, deep red, I couldn't get away with anything, it was the only one in town.

1979 $hit brown Sunbird. It looked like a turd on wheels. It would have made Steve McQueen look uncool.

1970 Pontiac Lemans 2 door, which was quickly cloned into a GTO.

Ooops , my brother had the 69,total change of body styles. He also first had 68 Charger with a 383 magnum, Wow, he could not keep tires on it. Burn them all the time.

1985...I was 17 and about to finish high school, working as a cashier at a grocery store...

1978 Mustang II hatchback (really a Ford Pinto with horsey badges).
- Red on red
- Carbureted 4-banger
- 4-speed stick
- Complete beater (half a beer can replacing power steering cap, old rag for fuel cap, no A/C *or* working heater).
- $850.00 (purchased from neighbor down the street). $350.00 down, borrowed $500.00 from parents, paid them back before wedding less than 3 years later.
- Sat in front yard for 3 or 4 months until I could afford minimal insurance (although I snuck it out a few times in the middle of the night, but never leaving my neighborhood).
- Re-carpeted and repainted, inside and out (also adding King Cobra console and other goodies from junkyards). Added Medallion 500 tires from K-Mart and spoke hubcaps, lol. And halfway decent sound. Also added a new power steering and fuel cap, along with other much needed accessories.

Although I had to borrow money for the car (that I paid back), I paid for my own insurance and maintenance which I was quite proud of (knowing some other kids my age that had cars handed to them). I actually bought it while still in HS but I couldn't drive it until after I finished school (it was tough taking the bus the last month or so being a car owner...I still consider it an after-school purchase).

That car (when it was running, which was most of the time) meant that I no longer had to rely on my girlfriend [future wife] picking me up and bringing me home on a date (although I often drove her car between pickups). I had real freedom with having my own wheels, which was a blessing and a curse (almost cost me that girlfriend when I wanted to spend more time gallivanting around with friends). Still, there was nothing like picking up your girl in your own set of wheels.

We had many 'firsts' in that car. One late evening after "workin' on mysteries without any clues" in a secluded ballpark parking lot, we decided it would be a good time to teach her to drive a stick (not a pun...really ). Until the cops show up, lights a flashing, wanting to know what all the commotion was about (she drove it terrible that first time, but caught on fast). They were cool with the idea, just told us to be careful.

Traded up that POS two years later for my first *brand new* car, a 1987 Dodge Colt E (Plymouth Colt/Mitsubishi Mirage). I finally I had my own *dependable* wheels that I could drive to the beach (many one-day trips to Biloxi).

++++++++++

Wife found out recently that she works with the person that I bought the 'Mustang' II from. I'm sure we'll get together and reminisce about it one day.

About 49 years ago. 1962 Plymouth Belvedere, white, slant six, 3 speed on the column. It was given to me by the owner of the Dojo where I studied Judo.

When I worked for the state (1986-88) I often drove an old van to transport mainframe backup tapes to offsite storage locations.

3-speed column shifter, IIRC. I remember reverse was pulling the stick to you and up, 1st was to you and down, 2nd was up and away and 3rd was down and away. I think.

1958 Ford Fairlane.
First "car" I drove, '48 Dodge pickup.
I win for oldest so far...