Your First car.

[daddz]

My first car was a used 1983 Datsun 280ZX 2+2. I bought it from the original owner in Jan. 1990 for $5100 with only 62k miles on the clock. It had been garage kept and it was in pretty good condition. I remember the car being able to chirp the tires from 2nd to 3rd which is not bad for a big heavy pig. I traded the 280ZX a year later for what I thought was the pinnacle of a sports/gt car at the time an '87 Toyota Supra.

I really wanted a '77 or '78 280Z and I had stalked a few local '78 280Z's thanks to my pizza delivery job and one of them actually traded her '78 280Z in at a local dealership where my stepfather worked. Once I saw it on the lot I made several trips to look at it but they took it in for $2,000 and were trying to resell it at $3995. It was a maroon Z with front air dam and three piece rear spoiler and had the rear window louvers and factory four spoke alloys and it was very well kept. I have tried (unsuccessfully) to locate that car over the years to see what became of it.

The first car(s) I had access to were a string of "new" Mustang GT's when visiting my uncle's house (sometimes he would toss the keys and say 'see you in about 15 minutes" which is all you need to scare yourself with an '85-'87 GT w/ a 5 speed). He also tossed the keys to a '74 MGB one day and I was allowed to go for about 45 minutes. Fell in love with that car; he had traded a guy an '81 Mustang I-6 for the MGB and he kept it one season and sold it. I actually got to drive my mother's '86 Nissan 200SX XE coupe w/ 5spd. as my own for about two years ('88-'90) and an old '80 Ford LTD. The LTD was a plain jane model that looked like an unmarked police car and I got away with more s*** in that car than I should have.

[Cruez]

My first was a 1964 Dodge Dart convertible.. my friends called it the batmobile

I didn't like it.... but it was transportation. In high school, before I got my license, I saw a guy that had a ratted out 240 Z that looks like it needed to be put out of its misery. I fell in love with the way that it sounded... and 6 months or so after driving the Dart, I found my first Z, a '78 280. Some idiot hit me head on and it was totalled..but the engine that was in it is sitting in my present Z. The heart of it still lives on..after 15 years, Its still there

[rxsleeper]

As a newb I thought I would chirp in here. 1st car was a '64 Rambler American 4T. Not a very sexy car. For my second it was a '65 GTO seen below and the 3rd was a '71 240z

[Fun_in_my_z]

Looks like a good sales place!

[First Gen Z]

Great stories. Your first car stickes in your memory just like your first "you know". My first was a 53 Hudson Hornet. I had to give it to my best friend in high school because I wrecked his 51 Studebaker. We still laugh about climbing out of the windows. I turned the car over. A very large feed truck came along shortly and with a chain wraped around the Stude pulled it back onto its wheels and we drove it away. My first keeper was a 49 Merc coupe. BOY...I wish I still had that one!! And a few others. Way too many to remember. My current car is a 81ZX. It's a beater but it runs like it knows if it breaks it's going to the crusher. I also have a 78 Z that's won 1st place three years running at our annual Z Fest here in Orlando. Ahh.. the memories.

[jharmon]

...this thread brings back memories.

My first car was a 1962 Ford Falcon which had been totalled and crudely repaired. My father paid $25.00 for it and gave it to me for my 16th birthday in 1969. It was a piece of crap, but it was mine and it ran well.

About a year later, I traded up to a 1962 Mercury Comet for $50.00....

[Fun_in_my_z]

I spent 50 bucks for 2 Zs. A 71 and a 75. Sold the 75 for 250.

[bluezcowboy]

My first car was 65 pontiac catalina convertible fire engine red. Bought it from my dad for $600 beat the hell out it for a year and the traded it in on my first new car, a 71 pinto. Talk about being 17 and stupid!!!! It was even that ugly baby crap yellow color.

[Fun_in_my_z]

A pinto? Why the hell would somebody do that?

[bluezcowboy]

My dad would not let me buy a used car. (something about buying someone else's problem) and it was the only new car I could afford.

[sblake01]

Hey, don't knock it. I once owned a Pinto. In fact, at one time, there were five of them in my family. My dad, my uncle, my brother, my sister, and I (briefly) had them. I don't recall if we all had them at the same time. They were cheap and they ran. (most of the time) You couldn't give me one now, however.

[Arne]

I missed out on the Pinto, had a Vega instead. In fact, I bought a second Vega after I got out of high school. Being a bit of a gear head even at the age of 18, the second one was a Cosworth Twin Cam Vega, #0853 of about 3500. I wonder where it is now?

For those of you who may not have heard of these critters, the Cossie had an aluminum 16 valve twin cam head designed and built by Cosworth in England on top of a de-stroked 2 liter version of the Vega's aluminum block. (Cosworth had come up with the idea to use the Chevy block as a basis for a light, bullet-proof and affordable Formula engine.) So clear back in 1975 Chevy was selling cars with twin cams, 4 valves per cylinder, electronic port injection, stainles tube headers and pumpless air injection for emissions control.

Of course, they couldn't make money on it, so it died after 2 years.

http://www.cosworthvega.com/

http://www.cosworthvega.com/unique_features.html