What was your first car?

[DanielJones]

A 1964 Volkswagon Bug. Hated that thing. It was Murphy's Law on wheels. Wanted to set it on fire and push it off a cliff before it did the same to me. Sold it instead and the poor fellow that bought it promptly wrapped it around a utility pole a week later. He was fine but the bug was a gonner.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[scottyrocks]

I learned to drive a stick in my dad's '71 Beetle. Even back then, driving a Beetle was different tan driving just about anything else.

 

[99benzman]

1964 2 door Dodge Comet.

 

[Big Man]

Like I said in the opening post of this thread, my first car was a 1962 Plymouth. This was in 1971. The car was 9 years old at that time, but it seemed like it was an "old car." It was in great shape mechanically and the paint and body were great, but it still looked and felt "old". Today, my primary vehicle is a 1999 Chevy Tahoe. It's 13 years old, but doesn't seem like (or really look like) an "old" car,but yet it's four years older than the '62 Plymouth was when I started driving it in 1971.

Has my perception of an "old car" changed over the years, or has the lack of major changes in body style of today's cars contributed to the feeling of what is an "old car"?

 

[jamespowers]

Has my perception of an "old car" changed over the years, or has the lack of major changes in body style of today's cars contributed to the feeling of what is an "old car"?

I think that is it more than anything else. Every three years at GM the body style would change and new engines were introduced etc. Now they barely change anything so you can keep the vehicle for a decade and not see much change.[huh]

 

[scottyrocks]

That's a great question. Part of the answer could be due to retrospect. For the past dozen years, give or take, cars have taken on a different feel than they had prior to that, and the further back you go, the greater that difference feels.

Over the last 10 years, I have driven and/or owned cars going back to about 1973. The '73 Mustang Mach 1 I had, purchased in the early-to-mid-2000s, was a boat, a pig, what have you. Would it have seemed that way in the 70s? I'm not sure, but I do know that it was all we knew back then, those of us who didn't have megabucks for a Ferrari or sime such. The Mustang was seen as a performance car. The last generation before the II was huge. Almost any car of today of similar size and weight would eat it for lunch, at least as far as handling goes. Therefore, the vintage Stang feels 'old.'

Cars back then loosened up quickly due to design and manufacture. Body-on-frame is nowhere near as solid as unibody, especially as it ages.

I learned how to drive a stick in my dad's '71 Beetle when it was 6 years old and it felt 'old' mainly because the car's technology was 30 years old when it was built.

Cars generally seemed to age quickly in the 60s. I remember a couple of my dad's cars when I was a kid. He had a '61 Bonneville that rotted away in front of our eyes. His '68 Cougar was old by the time it clocked 65k miles, and he took impeccable care of his cars. Many of today's cars still feel virtually new at 65k.

 

[jamespowers]

That's a great question. Part of the answer could be due to retrospect. For the past dozen years, give or take, cars have taken on a different feel than they had prior to that, and the further back you go, the greater that difference feels.

Over the last 10 years, I have driven and/or owned cars going back to about 1973. The '73 Mustang Mach 1 I had, purchased in the early-to-mid-2000s, was a boat, a pig, what have you. Would it have seemed that way in the 70s? I'm not sure, but I do know that it was all we knew back then, those of us who didn't have megabucks for a Ferrari or sime such. The Mustang was seen as a performance car. The last generation before the II was huge. Almost any car of today of similar size and weight would eat it for lunch, at least as far as handling goes. Therefore, the vintage Stang feels 'old.'

I am not so sure about that:
[video=youtube_share;OYCjjlOO5Dg]http://youtu.be/OYCjjlOO5Dg[/video]

 

[AtomicEraTom]

My dad has a 2000 Silverado, it's his baby, 34,000 miles on it, never goes out in bad weather. The reality is the truck is fairly old now and it's still new tech. I feel the same way about my 96 Silverado, I consider it to be modern.

I think you're right that the tech doesn't change much anymore. My mother, father, and I all have Chevy Silverados. Mine's a 96, Dad's a 2000, and Mom's a 92. Mine and my mothers are identical in looks except for the dash. Both have identical drivetrains, 350 TBI. Dad's has a little more modern multi-port injection system, and the engine is a 327, but they're still all old-school Chevy small-blocks. His has a little bit of a facelift, but they still don't look all that different.

Like I said in the opening post of this thread, my first car was a 1962 Plymouth. This was in 1971. The car was 9 years old at that time, but it seemed like it was an "old car." It was in great shape mechanically and the paint and body were great, but it still looked and felt "old". Today, my primary vehicle is a 1999 Chevy Tahoe. It's 13 years old, but doesn't seem like (or really look like) an "old" car,but yet it's four years older than the '62 Plymouth was when I started driving it in 1971.

Has my perception of an "old car" changed over the years, or has the lack of major changes in body style of today's cars contributed to the feeling of what is an "old car"?

Did you live in a salt region? In Wisconsin, the cars still rot away lickety split, because of all the salt. While modern cars got nothing on the classics with looks and user friendly mechanics, they are incredibly reliable. If your car had 75,000 miles on it in the fifties, it was a high-mileage car. 10 years was a long time to get out of a vehicle. Now, my Silverado has 145,000 miles and is 15 years old. I know I'll have it many more years. A friend of mine has the same truck, and he's got over 500,000 miles on the original engine. They just keep going if you treat them right.

I'm an old-schooler and always stuck with vintage cars or 'dinosaur' drivetrains. My dad always told me to get a newer car. I told him that I didn't want one because I can't work on it. He told me that with a new one, you seldom have to. He's right. I wrench way less now than I did when I was driving 50's and 60's rides daily.

That's a great question. Part of the answer could be due to retrospect. For the past dozen years, give or take, cars have taken on a different feel than they had prior to that, and the further back you go, the greater that difference feels.

Over the last 10 years, I have driven and/or owned cars going back to about 1973. The '73 Mustang Mach 1 I had, purchased in the early-to-mid-2000s, was a boat, a pig, what have you. Would it have seemed that way in the 70s? I'm not sure, but I do know that it was all we knew back then, those of us who didn't have megabucks for a Ferrari or sime such. The Mustang was seen as a performance car. The last generation before the II was huge. Almost any car of today of similar size and weight would eat it for lunch, at least as far as handling goes. Therefore, the vintage Stang feels 'old.'

Cars back then loosened up quickly due to design and manufacture. Body-on-frame is nowhere near as solid as unibody, especially as it ages.

I learned how to drive a stick in my dad's '71 Beetle when it was 6 years old and it felt 'old' mainly because the car's technology was 30 years old when it was built.

Cars generally seemed to age quickly in the 60s. I remember a couple of my dad's cars when I was a kid. He had a '61 Bonneville that rotted away in front of our eyes. His '68 Cougar was old by the time it clocked 65k miles, and he took impeccable care of his cars. Many of today's cars still feel virtually new at 65k.

 

[Big Man]

The more I think of it I guess it was the difference in the look (body style) of the '62 Plymouth vs the new cars in 1971. The '62 looked "old" then.

Part of it could also be how I remember things. After all, it has been over 40 years ago (gasp)!

Perception is a funny thing. The '65 Ford I've been driving regularly since 1983 doesn't really seem "old" to me, but everyone always remarks about my "old" or "classic" car.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I learned to drive a stick in my dad's '71 Beetle. Even back then, driving a Beetle was different tan driving just about anything else.

They all had their individual quirks. Mine had a starter switch that didn't work, so there was a push-button installed under the dashboard -- turn the ignition key, and push the button to turn over the engine. Before I had that installed, I did a lot of parking on hills and hoping for the best.

Mine also had a mysterious leak -- I could never find where the water got in, but whenever I drove in the rain, the driver's side floor pan would fill up. I finally had to punch a hole in the floorboard with a cold chisel to make a drain for it.

Right before I junked it, the turn signals died, and I had to use arm signals. A true vintage motoring experience, made more harrowing by the fact that most people at the time didn't know what arm signals mean.

 

[Big Man]

... most people at the time didn't know what arm signals mean.

When driving my '48 Plymouth I often see the driver behind me looking up when I give a hand signal for a right turn. It's like they are thinking "what's he pointing to up there."

 

[jamespowers]

When driving my '48 Plymouth I often see the driver behind me looking up when I give a hand signal for a right turn. It's like they are thinking "what's he pointing to up there."

Maybe they think it is a new flip off sign. They probably would out here.

 

[Big Man]

Maybe they think it is a new flip off sign. They probably would out here.

If I flip someone off, they know it.

 

[jamespowers]

If I flip someone off, they know it.

:rofl:

 

[AntTxSon]

My first car was a 1986 Ford Bronco Eddie Bauer Edition, which was a big mistake on my parents part, because I could fit A LOT of kids in that car and I did :eeek:

Haha!

Embarrassingly... a 1977 Ford Pinto Wagon. White with "that" blue interior. Took it off a cliff (backwards) and that was that... fortunately. lol

 

[jamespowers]

Haha!

Embarrassingly... a 1977 Ford Pinto Wagon. White with "that" blue interior. Took it off a cliff (backwards) and that was that... fortunately. lol

Are you sure it went off the cliff by accident?

 

[AntTxSon]

Are you sure it went off the cliff by accident?

Ha! It was awful!... but I don't recollect any feelings of premeditation.

The '66 Mustang that followed, was much more to my liking.

 

[jamespowers]

Ha! It was awful!... but I don't recollect any feelings of premeditation.

The '66 Mustang that followed, was much more to my liking.

Ok, I believe you.

I am sure. My friend had one of those. Imagine a 57 Chevy racing a 66 mustang.

 

[ShadedDude]

Ford tempo.

It got stolen and the darn cops found the perps and got it back for me

It was insured...it they only hadn't looked........

 

[jamespowers]

Ford tempo.

It got stolen and the darn cops found the perps and got it back for me

It was insured...it they only hadn't looked........

:rofl: