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My name is Kevin Pentz. My first car was a '67 Chevy Corvair. My dad bought it for me in 1996 and we paid $200 for it. It needed a complete restoration. It needed alot of body work (the whole right front section had to be reformed out of fiberglass). It still had the old, trusty 110hp flat 6 in it. It ran great, but we just didn't like the hp, it just ain't our style. It also needed brakes, a floor, a carb rebuild and some odds and ends. Well, we got most of that done, except the brakes, (we're putting CAMARO disks on it) but we still didn't like that itty , bitty 110hp 6. So .... we found an old Cadillac 501ci V8! We got 10.50:1 compression, forged aluminum pistons, VT series #15 s/s/c cam, s/s/c springs, valves and we got some older 76cc heads from an old 472ci. Well, we think we're making about 500+ hp now. (and it's all connected up to a '68 f/w/d tranny with a shift kit). Now we are in the process of making the frame and cutting out the cowling in the back so that we can fit the big hefty, 501ci caddy. The suspension is basically stock with Monroe loadlevelers with coils around them. It's still using the stock short driveshaft. Oh yea, the caddy engine also has an Edelbrock intake and a 750cfm too. The car is almost done, but it's still got a little work left. And in March we're getting some 15x10 rear wheels, 13x6 fronts (chrome, of course). I figure it will run in the 10's at Moroso. I hope we can send you a picture when it's finished. from Kevin Pentz, age 15.

My name is Terry and I'm from upstate New York. I purchased my first car at age 16 from my older brother, Walt. It was a 1967 Chevelle SS with a 283 with 4-spd. It was Burgandy in color and the body was a little rough. It had a set of chrome reverse wheels on it. I enjoyed driving the car,even though it needed work. I was the envy of my junior class as not many kids had cars then, especially muscle cars. When I became a senior I got a full-time job working nights at a local factory making good money at the time. The car got the full treatment. First out came the 283 and in went a 427 with Crane cam, headers and a rebuild with a 800 Holley spreadbore carb. Then came the body,it received a full treatment of body work and fresh Emron Burgandy paint. It came out looking great. Next came a new set of wheels and tires. Crager SS rims, 14x8 in rear and 14x6 in front with L-60 tires. The car then was the envy of everyone in the area and every place I went, and boy did it run. I had more fun with this car than any to present. I'll always remember it, felt bad after I sold it. Now I have a Prostreet '69 Nova with a blown 468 but the fun I have still doesn't match the fun I had with the Chevelle. A quick note to everyone out there, if you have a nice car you will always regret when you get rid of it. Thanks for the oportunity to share my first car story.

My first car was a '62 Buick Special which I bought as an 18 year old in 1973. Not a real cool car, but the price was right, $250. That was still a lot of money for someone just out of high school, working 2 part-time jobs - (paper route and furniture delivery plus full-time at the local community college). The car wasn't all bad, it had an aluminum 215 engine with a 4-barrel. That little car could really fly. One small problem with the engine, it had a broken motor mount. My dad was a mechanic and could have easily helped me fix it but he figured it would keep me driving slow for fear of tearing up the motor. WRONG! It sure impressed my friends when I revved up the motor and it raised up 3 inches off the mount on one side! But alas the Buick met it's untimely demise when I tried to make a left turn in front of an old Ford pickup. Didn't quite make it before being broadsided on the right side and then pushed around into the front end of an Olds 98, taking out the other side of my car plus doing major damage to the front of the Olds. The worst part of all this carnage wasn't the fact that I had just lost my only car. Or that I didn't have a nickel of insurance coverage on the car. Nope, the worst part was when I got out of the wreck to talk to the very unhappy participants in this mess and find out that the fellow in the borrowed pickup who hit me was an off-duty cop. And the lady in the Olds 98 was the wife of a State Police detective. True story, I swear!

Hi, I'm Mike. My first CAR was a 1962 Falcon. I bought it when I was 16 in 1998. The car sat for 5 years without being touched. I got the car for 350 bucks. I hauled it home and put on a new fuel pump and rebuilt the carb. She fired up with no real other big work. Since then I have put in a whole new floor and trunk floor. She is now needing a new front suspension. I also got a 85 Blazer 4x4 that I have been spending my money on. My Falcon should be finished this summer when I get a job..

It all started when I traded my '91 Chevy stepside for a 1966 Mustang. Everything was cool, I had a 1966 Mustang. I had it for 5 days and the steering was horrible. I took it in to have the front end realigned and put two new front tires on it. That night a very big deer jumped out in front of me and, BANG, my cool car was crap. Very disappointed, I drove home. Then 6 days later the original 289 the car had in it blew up in almost the exact spot I hit the deer. Took me about a week to find a new 302 engine, and a month to rebuild the engine and put it into the car. Now the car runs fine and I'm fixing to dual out the exhaust, put in a 9-inch posi track rearend, a new Edelbrock intake/carb combo. I have done all this work and my parents are wanting me to get rid of it. Yeah Right!

My name is Kurt Wagner, aka prostreet1954, and my first car was a '72 VW. I bought the car new, but it wasn't long before I realized that it didn't have the power to pull a hat off your head. A good friend of mine had been involved with VW's for quite awhile and helped me spend my money on a few performance items. Here is just a small list: Holley carb, dual point dist., header, new third gear in the trans, solid motor mounts, cam and springs, Hurst shifter, wheels and tires, well you get the picture. Anything to get the little bug down the road a little faster. The local track classed the car in I/Gas whether you were running for trophies or money, brackets hadn't become popular then. So, if another car was in your class you ended up running them. I can't even remember what the index was at that time, but it made for quite an interesting time. The little car ran low 15's and was barely streetable, but it would pull the front wheels about 12", which was fun for a street car. Jumped many a Coke bottle for money with that little car. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to relive my moments concerning my first car.

My name is Chuck Kline and I live in northern Virginia. After reading the other first car stories posted I feel kinda old. You see I got my first car back in 1964. I was a junior in high school and I wanted a car so bad I could taste it. I was going to school and working evenings for $1.25 an hour. There was no way my parents could afford to buy me a car, but my dad had this 1953 Chevy Bel Air that he said I could have if I wanted to fix it up.

The old car had a powerglide transmission which only worked in reverse and the engine ran, but it smoked so badly that I knew it would use as much oil as it did gas. I started out by pulling the head and the oil pan with the engine still in the car. When I pulled the pistons and rods out, the rings literally fell off the pistons. I had removed the carbon ring prior to pulling the pistons so I knew they weren't broken during removal. The cylinder walls weren't scored and I had no way of checking roundness or taper so when a friend of my dad's heard about what I was up to he gave me a good set of pistons with new rings that he had lying around his shop. I bought a set of connecting rod bearings and the gaskets for the head intake and oil pan. (That was a major purchase for me).

The valve job was next. I cleaned the head with a putty knife and a wire brush after unhooking the valves & springs. All the springs and retainers were kept in order. The valves were placed in a wooden stick with holes drilled in it to keep them in order. I set about the task of hand-lapping all the valves with a hand-held valve grinder that used a suction cup to hold the valve. Once this was done (my dad would inspect my work but he wouldn't do any of it for me) I reassembled the engine, added oil & water, and once I had the valves adjusted properly she ran like a top.

The tranny was next. Through some horse trading with friends I managed to get a transmission, clutch, flywheel, throwout bearing, bellhousing, clutch pedal and linkage. I also aquired a Hurst Mystery shifter with no linkage rods. Once I had all these parts in my possession and the old powerglide out of the car, I called on good ole Dad for help. I told him I didn't have a clue as to where to start putting this stuff back together. He looked everything over and said it looked like I had all the parts I needed. I said, "Good, where do I start?" He said, "Just look 'em over, it will come to ya." And with that he went back to the house and left me on my own.

Well, I did get it all together. I had to make a crossmember out of a piece of 1/4 X 3" X 3" angle to support the transmission and since I didn't have any linkage rods for the shifter, I had to cut down a set of stock ones and use the original tranny shifter arms which made the shifter pattern backwards. When I finally had all that together and fired her up and tried to put her in gear, all it would do was grind. I thought sure I had something in backwards or something missing and I was totally discouraged. Dad came out to check my progress about then and mumbled something about the clutch needed adjusting and proceeded to get under the car with two wrenches. In about two minutes he said "Now try her." It worked!!!!!!

I drove that old car for two years until I graduated. The only trouble I ever had with it was every now and then she would just up and quit on me for lack of fuel. I carried a 2 foot piece of 5/16" fuel line in the trunk and I would disconnect the fuel line just ahead of the fuel pump and blow back into the tank to dislodge the rust and dirt that would occasionally stop up the fuel line.

I finally traded her in on a '57 2-door sedan (Chevy of course) 210 series with a 265 2 barrel carb straight stick but that's another story. At times I thought my Dad could have been more help to me but now I know what he taught me was priceless. I learned to appreciate what I had, to be innovative and independant when it came to problem solving. I love old cars to this day and I have my own shop to play in and am currently building a 1940 Chevy business coupe which is set up for a small block Chevy with a 400 turbo, tilt wheel, Mustang II front end and a 1970 Nova 12 bolt rear and a bunch of other stuff, but that's another story.....

My name is Chris Geisen. I bought my first car two days before my 16th birthday. It was 1950 Plymouth four door deluxe. I bought it for $500, it needed alot of work. I never got to drive the car on the road before I traded it for a 1940 Plymouth 2-dr business coupe. I still have the coupe, and still dumping my small little pay check into it. I'm not done with it yet but, with alot of help from my dad, we have the body sitting on a finished frame. For the time being I am currently driving my dad's 1970 GMC pickup. I come from a family that rebuilds cars. My father has a 1952 Ford pickup and a '31 Ford Model A. My brother has a completely rebuilt 70 Ford Fairlane. I love the current car I have now, and can't wait to get it done to start driving it.

My first car was an '81 Camaro I bought in '97 for $400. I was 15 at the time. I piddled with the little things on it. I sold the car because my dad didn't think that I needed a 406 with a big cam. So my first real car that I could drive is the one I have now, a '67 Cougar with a hi-po 289 with a Comp. cam. It's a great car, we totally restored it the summer of '98 a couple of months after I bought it. My dad and I compromised a little on the performance of the car.

My first was a 1968 Firebird that I purchased from Carey's Used Cars in 1975 in Pawhuska, OK. They had been trying to get it to run right and gave up. Me and my Dad bought it for a whopping $250. This is for a Firebird 400, 4-speed, with no rust whatsoever. We got it home and tinkered with it and came to the conclusion we had a hotrod, just for giggles, took off the timing cover and there looking at us was an incredibly big cam. Oh, by the way, it was a SBC convert(some things just ain't right),with double hump heads and a high-rise aluminum intake and headers. Later when we had to rebuild it, found out it had 12.5 to 1 pistons in it, .060 over, if I remember right. The rebuild was successful and scary, it was my first and it was fast, close to flat elevens in the 1/4 and with time and experience and fine tuning got into the 10’s. Since that day my love for Firebirds has not dwindled, I have owned more than my fair share of Firebirds, got desperate and bought a Camaro one time, but came to my senses. I now own a 1969 Firebird 400, 400 auto, a/c, power steering, drums all around. It is my second '69 and although they are a pain in the butt to find parts for, I think that is where the challenge lies. It is totally redone from front to back Am in the process of replacing all the bolts right now, anal aren't I, ... but in the end it will be a new car again. Thanks for this page and the memories that people get to share with others on their first car/hotrod!!!!!!

Well here it goes. I bought a 73 Camaro when I was 16(17 now), me and my dad both drooled over it because we had a 73 LT with a 350.... my mother GAVE it away to some random in a flat bed because it was "just sitting in the back yard rotting away "SO WHAT??? Anyway, we drooled then bought. 350 ci w/350 powerglide turbo trany and a B&M mega shifter, $800! great deal we thought, until my mechanic wouldn't pass it for inspection because of a rotted frame. The front sub frame was rotted away from the body...$900 for a new (reconditioned) sub-frame. I didn't have that much so 9 months later my dad's friend gives me for free, an 80 Camaro (V6 auto,non-posi). It was sitting in one spot for at least 4 years. bee hives in it , I could see the ground through the trunk(still can), and 3 cats lived in it. Everything else was good I thought, so I took it home. 2 Camaros sitting in my front lawn. (my parents are divorced now so it is a real bachlor pad) one Camaro with a kick-a** power plant, but horrible everything else, and one Camaro with a horrible power plant and good everything else. So I had the 350 put into the 80, $1030 for that, more than a frame. I didn't know what I was doing, but I ripped apart the V6 before the engine exchange, while it was still in the 80, and in the process, ripped out my heater, and dash board(I was putting the Autometer gauges from the 73 in the 80). So I have this 80 Camaro with a great engine and all. So my dad drives it home and on the way the brakes go out. We didn't hit anything but we got home o.k., we put a new break line in and it was good for a while until the exhaust burned through the line. That happened 2 more times. And to make a very long story short, I ended up getting a new exhaust system, 2 new shocks in the back because I would bottom out all over the place, a new choke, headlights, $60-70 of car primer, and 10 miles to the gallon. I still drive the car every day, and plan to for a long time. It is December now and me without a heater or front defroster. The car is half primer and half original color, and I do one-wheeled burnouts all over the place. Only been pulled over once in it, but 4 times in my mom's Saturn. No tickets. I can only see my speedometer in the day, and no other gauges work. It's been the best learning experience I have ever had, but it cost my parents a total of $3350.(oh yeah, I have to pay them every cent) Wanna help me out with my troubles? I have an Edelbrock intake and 4bbl carb I'm trying to sell, I have never used them and they are in great condition. I'm asking $250 for them both. I'm also selling the 73 Camaro as a parts car, the body is in great shape and you know about the frame. I'm asking $400 for that. I also have a 5hp dune buggy that I out grew a million years ago. Fiberglass body, full roll cage, 5 point harness, big wheels in the back and small in the front, great for a k-4 grader. It runs & looks great but needs a brake cable, no big deal. I'm asking $550. I live 40 minutes away from N.Y. city and can be reached at lloydmac@aol.com

Hi, this is Robert ebola@comwerx.net, now I want you all to just settle down when you hear the power of the first car I had. It was a 1963 VW with a 23hp engine, top speed 60 mph (unless you were going up a hill). Had to push start it, and it had no second gear, and the heater was stuck on all the time (lived in south Texas at the time), it was a hand me down from my sister who totaled it (yes it looked lopsided). My second was a 1971 El Camino Lemon, it had every thing go wrong with it, and it's top speed was 70mph, it finally caught fire, and went to dust. The first really good rod was the 70 GT Torino (300hp), but I was not used to the power, and nearly killed myself.

I'm Bill(aka hotrod47ford) and my first car at 15 was a '69 Impala 327 with powerglide. I knew I was into hotrodding when the first thing I did was paint flames on the front of it...it was cool back then..still is now. I sold it to buy a Nova but the Impala was special because it was the first. I got many speeding tickets in it..wish I had pics to show.

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