Well, another topic presented by our dear, illustrious (that means eye-popping gorgeous) leader concerning driverless cars led me to this one. I was looking for something when a picture popped up that led me to here.
I've heard it said that you never forget your first car or your first girl. In my case, it is a 1958 Chevrolet Impala. The cars of the '50's - '60's were individual and unique. You could tell a Chevy from a Ford from a Pontiac from an Olds. Now its just so many boxes moving down the road. I am consistently astounded by how many cars look like so many other cars. I remember years ago that Ford was advertising their new model as "you can't tell it from a Mercedes." Well, I thought that was weird. Why would you want to make a car that looked like someone else's? I like unique, individual identity. I haven't really researched it, but my belief was that retooling every year got overly expensive. So they concentrated on safety and convenience over new retooling every year.
So, this was my first car. I loved it. It was a 283 CID (Cubic Inch Displacement) bored out to 301 CID with a 4-barrel Holley carb., automatic converted to a floor-shift stick. It was a hot-rod, for sure. I'm sure it developed a gas-line leak out on the freeway one night. Back then, the radiator cooling fan was run via a fan belt driven by the engine. So as long as the engine speed was up, the fan would blow air back over the engine. but once I slowed down, that blowing wind decreased, allowing the leaking gas to spray up over the hot engine. That, of course, caused an explosion and fire. I was 20 miles out in the country at 9 P.M. Best I could do was sit and wait for a ride into Romeo, then call out the FD. Glen, the fire truck driver, told me later that he burned his hand on the door handle. He recognized the car, so tried to open the door to see if I was inside.
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A clunker will sell for $12,000.
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Continental Kit and Fender Skirts. I didn't care for either. In those days, the spare tire laid flat on the floor in the trunk. Some cars had a 'tire well' to hold your spare standing up on one side. Both were to save room in the back. Finally they came out with the center tire well, which saved even more room. The fender skirts were simply aesthetics.
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Pretty cool cars. I want a clip of the car being driven taken from the inside, but a good one is hard to find. A search brings up cars for sale, and someone buying one of these doesn't want someone else driving it all over the place, lol. But, yep. Cool way to flow 'in the good old days.'
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So what was our favorite? Was it your first? Show us some pictures.
My Favorite Car
Oddly enough, when I think back, I DO have a fondness for my first car, even though almost every car I have had after it has been a superior vehicle.
My first car was an 7-ish year old 1980 AMC Concord Wagon that I bought from my mom when I got my first job in a new state. I don't have any photos of my own, but I found one that's pretty close to what I remember. Mine was grey all the way down, without the wood paint.
4-cylinder engine
4-speed floor-shift manual transmission with a shifting distance more like a truck than a car (a sports car it wasn't)
No power assist on the steering
Hydraulic-only brakes
The shifter pretty much felt like this, without the performance engine, suspension, or tires. Although, since this is a sports car, I bet the pattern is pretty tight. Anyway, mine was a giant stickshift with what seemed like two or 2.5 inches of throw across the H for 3 and 4, and maybe another two or three inches over and down for reverse.
My first car was an 7-ish year old 1980 AMC Concord Wagon that I bought from my mom when I got my first job in a new state. I don't have any photos of my own, but I found one that's pretty close to what I remember. Mine was grey all the way down, without the wood paint.
4-cylinder engine
4-speed floor-shift manual transmission with a shifting distance more like a truck than a car (a sports car it wasn't)
No power assist on the steering
Hydraulic-only brakes
The shifter pretty much felt like this, without the performance engine, suspension, or tires. Although, since this is a sports car, I bet the pattern is pretty tight. Anyway, mine was a giant stickshift with what seemed like two or 2.5 inches of throw across the H for 3 and 4, and maybe another two or three inches over and down for reverse.
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I had a friend with a '55 Chevy that was on it's last legs. It got something like 30 miles per quart of oil, lol. His shifter went from the floor, up q slight s-curve and up to about 5" or 6" from the roof. A speed shifter it wasn't, lol.
When I got my '58 I was stationed at Walker AFB, New Mexico. When I wanted to go home for the weekend, (200 miles) there were always 2 or 3 guys who wanted to go to Juarez. So they'd ride down with me, then I'd pick them up for the trip back. I just charged for gas,
So there was a California guy who liked to go along. This clown decided to take his shoes off on one trip. My GOD his feet stank. We made him put his feet out the window for the rest of the trip, even with his shoes on.![laughingmyassoff :rofl:](./images/smilies/rofl2.gif)
When I got my '58 I was stationed at Walker AFB, New Mexico. When I wanted to go home for the weekend, (200 miles) there were always 2 or 3 guys who wanted to go to Juarez. So they'd ride down with me, then I'd pick them up for the trip back. I just charged for gas,
So there was a California guy who liked to go along. This clown decided to take his shoes off on one trip. My GOD his feet stank. We made him put his feet out the window for the rest of the trip, even with his shoes on.
![laughingmyassoff :rofl:](./images/smilies/rofl2.gif)
I can resist everything except temptation.
My first car was a 1976 Mercury Monarch. It looked like the one below. I wanted a 73 Cougar but my dad thought it was too fast. So we settled on this one. Little did he know it had a 302 8 cylinder that would blow the doors off most cars. I would destroy Camaros and Mustangs off the line. It would lay patches for 45-60 feet. And I drove it like a race car all the time.
...and she said " Let's go for it, the rooms already paid for!"
I may have had a lead foot. It was tough to tell because I also had a lead car, being pulled by a 4-cylinder engine. I didn't have that car for long, because it started developing problems I was not skilled enough to fix and I didn't have a good mechanic that I liked yet. So, I gave the car to my sister and bought a Jeep Cherokee. Her then-boyfriend and eventual husband was very good with cars, so it was a good donation to make. They needed a winter beater.
I had been driving my Jeep for a week or two before they came to pick up the Concord, which was enough time to learn how to use power-assisted brakes without putting myself through the windshield. So, on a slightly rainy night I decided to go fill the Concord with gas before my sister arrived to pick it up the next day. It is definitely an unsettling feeling when practically standing on the brake pedal isn't slowing the car down as much as you want it to as you approach the back end of the car in front of you. Fortunately I keep a good distance from the cars in front of me, so I had the room. But, it was still a bad feeling.