Page 6

I keep stumbling acroos this page for some reason. Well it looks like in England we have a slightly different outlook on driving - you lot tend to go for crap handling and good straight line performance with HUGE engines. Then again you dont have to worry about fuel bills. My first car was a Vauxhall Nova SR (GM to you). I rolled the bastard into a ditch 36 hours after my test. That's the way the cookie crumbles
Ste J <fester@hotbot.com>
Lancaster, Lancashire England - Sunday, October 08, 2000 at 17:21:43 (EDT)

My very first car was a 1987 Pontiac Trans Am GTA limited. There were only 3500 of these cars made.A former police officer had owned the car and did a few ajustments. I bought the car when I turned 16 for $9,000.It had about 375 hp which was plenty enough for me since it was my first car. All my freinds liked it and it was a huge chick magnet. Then I discovered the gas pedal and it was all bad news from there I had gotten to speeding tickets and the big one that made me lose my car and license I was being stupid and racing a mustang cobra going 152 in a 65 was enough to lose everything until I turned 18. But I did smoke the mustang cobra. But now I drive a 1986 Monte Carlo SS with a v8 355 pushing about 405 hp so we will see where this goes.
Jeff <i-ontheweb@Jeff2369.com>
Amelia, Ohio usa - Wednesday, October 04, 2000 at 12:11:03 (EDT)

When I was 15 years old, I bought a 1955 Pontiac Chieftain Catalina 2 dr. HT. Over the past 2 years, I have had a lot of fu8n in the car. Recently, I have rebuilt the entire front suspension in me high school auto shop. I have also rebuilt the generator, carburator, and distributor. The car has the original 87,000 miles on it and I plan to drive her until she takes a huge dump somewhere along the road. Right now, I'm taking an auto body class at the local junior college where I have repaired the front and rear fender damage. I will tackle the rust later, after I learn a little more. The color is the sequoia green and mist white, which is a very rare color, as most were aqua and white or red and white. Unfortunately, the right color for my car should be firegold bronze and mist white. I am leaving it green because the interior is greena and white. The way I found the car is kind of strange. I was riding my bike home from a friend's house one night. That particular night, I decided to find a short cut home. Instead of finding a short cut, I found my dream car. The next day after school, I rode my bike to the house where the car was. An older man came out and said that it was his son's car and that it had been sitting for five years. He said that his son had planned on selling it to a girlfriend of his when she came back fro Hawaii. Instead of giving up, I kept going back. The car seemed very clean besides the minor cancer on the trunk.(due to the salty beach air) The man only wanted $5,500 for the car, and at the time it was worth about $6,500. I had a funny feeling that my dad would say no, so I talked the man into letting me make payments and then I would just bring it home one day. Instead, I took my dad to see it one day and he surprisingl approved. The man knew tha I wanted the car reaaly bad, and his son had no interest in it, so he let me take her home for $4,000. From that day on, I have taken her to local cruises and car shows where I have picked up 7 project and kool kruiser awards. She is now off the road because she needs a new front end and new leaf springs. Soon, I will have the engine rebuilt, (once it finally blows) and I will learn how to paint her. Then the chrome. The car has been really good to me and I have had a good time with her as well as meeting two of my girlfrineds at cars shows, which I probably wouldn't have gone to without her.
Robert <starchief55@aol.com>
Temecula, CA USA - Sunday, October 01, 2000 at 14:02:45 (EDT)

My first Car was a 70 Chevy Short wide Bed Pick-up Its Blue with blue leather inter it has 350 that been polished and blue printed with lot of goodies I had this truck ever sence I was 3 years old. My dad gave it to me and I have had it sences then and I'am 17 years old now It's had a ground up job on it darning the summer . I love this truck
Cody Aderson
O'Donnell, TX , USA USA - Friday, September 29, 2000 at 09:31:44 (EDT)

My first car IS a '66 Chevy Caprice SS. It has a 396. It is bright red with white leather interior.
Caleb Swearingen <dr_c_@yahoo.com>
Webbers Falls, OK USA - Wednesday, September 27, 2000 at 23:30:49 (EDT)

My first car was a 54 chevy,it was a x-East LA gangbanging car ,I primered it grey and put hydraulics on the front and lowered the back,it had a straight 6 and a 3 speed hurst shifter on the floor that always got stuck between gears,I also put some 14" mickey white walls and 58 Impala hubcaps,I wish I still had that piece of crap ,since then I have had about 35 cars ranging from Kustom,Lowrider and Hot Rod .Check out my site http://www.geocities.com/chopped50
Junior <chopped50@yahoo.com>
Carson, Ca USA - Saturday, September 23, 2000 at 20:04:55 (EDT)

My first car was and still is a 1969 Dodge Dart GT. It has the 225 slant six, but that has never been a complaint. I got the car when i was 9. it was my grandmothers and she passed it on to me in her will. Of course my father kept the car running for me until I was old enough to drive. that didnt stop me though. by the age of 11 i was taking it out for trips around the nieghborhood with dead tags. ran it in corn fields and things like that. by the time i turned 16 i was ready to learn auto mechanics 101 on her. I saterted by taking the car apart and then putting it back together. that didnt teach me much. The day i had her registered on the road is when the fun started. i was 50 miles out side of DC when the water pump went on me. i had to call someone to bring me a new one. when i got her home, i had people from the niegborhood inspect her and tell me what needed to be replaced. that was 2 years ago. i am now 20 and going to school. i have sunk around $5000 into my Dart. She runs like a champ! she has 78,000 moles on her slant six and will make another 400,000 before a rebuild. The car is in pristine original condition now. has some slight custom work done, like a set of 68' dodge dog dish hubcapps and she has lost her vinyl top. I have to give it to dodge. they made a car that will run forever and easy enough to work on. i am now selling her to pay off some bills. my next work of art will be this 65 mustang down the street. it has a 200 cid six cylinder in her. Bright orange paint. it will be fun.
Shawn Hooper <Dart.Gt@Juno.com>
Herndon, VA USA - Monday, September 11, 2000 at 13:50:52 (EDT)

I got my first car in 1961. It was a 1948 Ford tudor sedan that had been used by a local welding shop to break in their stock car engines. They would install a new race motor in the car and push their welding truck with it up the road to seat the rings. The car had homemade front motor mounts for a small block chevy and the aluminum adapter from Chevrolet to a '39 Ford transmission on the front seat. It cost me $50 for everything delivered. I bought a 1957 283" small block from a local salvage yard and rebuilt it in a shed behind my father's grocery store with many trips to the welding shop to ask what to do next. Back then there was a Chevrolet garage in Albany, NY that was open 24/7 so you could go there and buy hipo parts at any hour of the day or night. You weren't cool without a Duntov solid lifter cam in your smallblock and they were readily available and reasonably priced. I put 1958 Chrysler Imperial wheels on the back because they were wide and had cool holes drilled around the edge. 8.20-15 whitewalls on the back with stock Ford 6.70-15 on the front gave the car a rake and I installed dual exhausts with chrome scavenger pipes under the rear axle. Scavenger pipes came from Honest Charley whose catalog I read faithfully in seven period study hall. I swapped a guy a banjo I got from an aunt for a 1958 Corvette dual quad setup. My first cruise through the small town I lived in was a disaster! Hood off to show the motor/carbs I was on top of the world until one of the mufflers and scavenger pipes fell off and I drove over it right in front of Schermmerhorns Drug Store where every one, especially the girls, hung out. There I was, stopping traffic while I picked up this warm(!) exhaust assembly and stuffed it into the trunk. But it was a damn hot rod and I was proud of it!!!
John Linville <bellytk@nh.ultranet.com>
Exeter, NH USA - Saturday, September 09, 2000 at 21:30:22 (EDT)

It was early October '99 when I had the priveliage to buy my first car, a 1987 Toyota MR-2. I bought the car from a dealer for $3000.00 CDN (CERT & EMISSIONS), but I had no idea what was wrong with it. I waited four long weeks to get the car from the dealer because the dealer had to replace several major parts. From this deal I got a JAP engine imported specially for my car, new performance exausts (headers back), some bodywork, and a new catilitic converter. Thats not it the car already came with a butchered stereo, rims, and was lowered to a cigarette pack off the ground. The car still needs some rustwork but for a 1.6L engine it sure can outrun most V6 cars. I have bottomed the needle at 240 KM/H so I am pretty happy with the cars performance, and look forward to driving it forever.
Matt Warner <matt_warner@hotmail.com>
CANADA - Monday, September 04, 2000 at 19:46:53 (EDT)

I purchased my "second" (real) car in September 1997. It was a 1971 Ford Torino 500, light brown with yellow accents. It had a 302 and Mark IV air. It was completely original. The car came from California and and had 66K original miles on it, or so I thought. It sat behind my house until May of next year, when I got my liscense. It ended up costing me about $1000 to get the car inspected, including getting the C-4 rebuilt. Oops. The first year I ran the car hard and it smoked like a S.O.B. but I had lots of fun doing donuts, cruising, and racing my buddies in thier '79 Pontiac Pheonix and '79 F150, all of our cars were junkers. The car hesitated terribly and had a dead cylinder so I was afraid to drive it far, on on the highway. I drove it through the winter and it was terrible in the snow, I couln't get it out of the driveway half the time. The GT hood I put on it let water leak over the dist. cap and it wouldn't run half the time. In the spring the car's timing chain jumped loose and it broke at the junkyard. I got a motor from a '77 LTD dropped in, a 351W and the car could really peel some tire! It was another car. I put mag wheels on it and dual exhaust and had the car repainted Canary yellow. I put in a big stereo and lots of fun. A month ago the car sheared a roll pin in the distributor, after replacing the pin the oil pump siezed and its sitting in my grandparents barn. I put lost of money in the car, and need to sell it for school. It it just about restored now, just needs that oil pump, a dist. and a seatcover to be car show material. Email if interested.
Eric <torinos_rule@hotmail.com>
Pittsburgh, PA USA - Wednesday, August 30, 2000 at 12:54:51 (EDT)

I bought my first car for $650, from a little old lady who only drove it to the store and back. It was a beautiful blue '79 Cadillac Sedan DeVille. It ran like a dream, and many great memories where created in that car. Riding down the highway pretty much on a couch, was the greatest feeling. All my friends dug it, and we drove it everywhere. That was until three of my friends ran to go get pizza, and ran into a telephone pole. That was the end of the Cadi. It was sold for $35 for parts. God Bless the Cadi.
Matt Swedlund <sweds01@hotmail.com>
Plymouth, MN usa - Tuesday, August 22, 2000 at 00:16:12 (EDT)

my first car is a 1981 malibu classic.now it is brown but it is going quesur blue .now it has a V6 but it is going to have a 350 4-barrel 4 bolt main.i bought it for $500 but now it is apprasied at $10,000as of now.I have bucket seats hurst rachet shifter and 4:10 posi slaper tanny.it has mickey tompson slicks.It is in pro stock class in drag racing but it is also street legal.it will do 146.37 in 8.5 in 1/4 mile. sincerly shane bridges
shane <bizkit_182_2001@yahoo.com>
tyne valley, pei canada - Monday, August 21, 2000 at 14:24:36 (EDT)

My first car was given to me by my father. A 2 door 1955 Ford Ranch Wagon, six cyl, 3 speed on the tree. The car was in one equipment shed (We lived on a farm), the engine and transmission disassembled in the shop. He told me by the time I got it back together I'd be old enough. THREE days later it was running. Not real well, but it ran. I wish someone would have told me about the necessity of using new piston rings, and new gaskets. I was 14 years old.
Van <vancottom@aol.com>
Terre Haute, IN USA - Sunday, August 13, 2000 at 21:35:43 (EDT)

My first CAR WAS A 1980 Nissan Datsun 510. This car had a 2.0 2000c.c.'s wich was a big 4 banger engine. It was flat blue with some dull rims. This damn car used to take me every where from my next door neighbors house all to the race track. I was a big muscle car enthusiest and still am so I took the car to the shop to put Flowmaster exhaust. I still remember the day i did a fat burnout right after school in front of the school entrance and was in a slow speed chase by my schools campus security on his little scooter, i felt sorry for that guys little scooter because the guy probably weighd about 450 lbs. Well i sure am going to miss that car.
Gilberto Lopez <Super69 Rs@hotmail.com>
Daly City, Ca. - Sunday, August 13, 2000 at 01:38:08 (EDT)

Dear Reader, The first car I had was a 1953 Chevy Bel Air. Me and my brother built it. I still have it today. It's red, and all stock, how it used to be made. Except for the crome wheels. It runs like a little kitty. Also I drive it every now and then.
Matt Cater <mattcat234@yahoo.ca>
Grand Falls, NFLD Canada - Friday, August 11, 2000 at 22:31:31 (EDT)

hey... my first car was a 1986 monte carlo ss, all black, with an '84 corvette engine. a week after i got it, the tranny went, so i replaced it with a b&m 700r4. That tranny is awesome. whoever wants to get a car, get a G body. They're the best cars ever built.
Sean <breaker021@hotmail.com>
Jackson Heights, NY USA - Friday, August 11, 2000 at 13:27:14 (EDT)

I remember when i saw my first car, it was a muggy day in the spring i was at a storage auction. She sat in a line up parked next to a chain link fence although i had my eye on a 65 comet, there was just something about her. Thats when i decided i had to have her a 1976 2 door mercury monarch, a big black boat with a 302 and in imaculate condition which supprised me that some one would abandon it there. For three hundred dollars i aquired the beast and brought her home to meet the folks, and after a few choice words from pops i got a parking spot on the street. He told me if it isn't a truck it isn't in the driveway. I loved the way it just seemed to glide on the road, floating around the corners and with its large center consol cencealing a pack of J.D.'s down home punch i was set. i drove it for a year before three kids one morning steped into the road infront of me on my way to work. to avoid hitting them i swerved towords the center lane thens when i remembered that mt tires were becoming bald the car proceeded to do a 360 to the left i over compensated and did another 180 to the right slamming the front right tire/ rim into a storm drain cover int eh gutter. finaly stoped i took a minute then began to drive unfortinaly i had totaled the "A" frame and only got about fifty feet before the tire was sideways beneath the engine. I tried like hell to fix it but she never drove right again i had caused to much damage. at the end of fall i figured it was time to put her out of her misery. I drove what was left of her to the fire dept where i worked and one morning we set her on fire for training purposes. She was a great car and i'll miss her. I affectionitly called her my "baracuda bitch". after the first song i heard on the radio and all the bruises she inflicted while try to work on her.
chris <freshride@hotmail>
anchorage, alaska usa - Saturday, August 05, 2000 at 07:10:44 (EDT)

My first car was a 78 Trans Am my dad bought for me just before i turned 16. I loved that car. I washed it almost every day, and i waxed it almost every time i washed it. It had the 6.6 liter 400 in it so it was pretty fast to. We got a good deal on it because it had a rod knock. Other than that this car was in perfect shape. We took it down to the shop to have a new motor put in it and the knocking motor blew up on the way there. By the time the car was ready for me with a new motor i already had my licence, so my dad handed me the keys and away i went. I drove that car every chance i could get. After i had my licence for about a month i turned in front of another car and iwas was broad sided. Unfortunatly my car was totaled. After that we sold the car to a friend of mine for $700 dallors. He wanted the motor for his firebird. Then I took the $700 dallors and ended up with a 79 Datsun p/u. What a disapointment after have a super nice 78 Trans Am.
Joe <budda231@yahoo.com>
everett, Wash USA - Friday, August 04, 2000 at 16:10:33 (EDT)

MY FIRST CAR MY TWO DOOR BEAUTY. I GOT IT IN '81 WHEN I WAS 18. BOUGHT IT FROM A CAR LOT FOR $1500, MY AUNT ANN GAVE ME THE MONEY FOR GRADUATION. IT WAS ORANGE WITH A DOUBLE WHITE STRIP ALONG THE SIDES AND OVER THE BACK PART OF THE TRUNK. SHINED THE HELL OUT OF IT EVERY CHANCE I'D GET, EVEN PUT A CHROME EXTENDER ON THE TAIL PIPE JUST TO MAKE IT LOOK COOLER. IT HAD A 308 OR 309 ENGINE, I DON'T REMEMBER EXCACTLY. WHAT A SHAME. ANY WAY, THE 8 TRACK STEREO WAS GREAT. OF COURSE I HAD TO GET NEW SPEAKERS RIGHT AWAY. I WENT OUT AND GOT THEM AT SOME OUTLET CAR STEREO MEGA WHAREHOUSE SALE SOMEWHERE. NUGENT WAS THE FIRST 8 TRACK I HEARD BLEARIN' OUT OF THOSE SPEAKERS, YEEAAAHHH! THE SEATS WERE WIDE BUCKET STYLE AND WHEN RECLINED WENT ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE BACKSEAT. THAT WAS GREAT FOR AFTER HOUR PARTIES OUT IN THE STICKS, INSTANT CAMPER. IT WAS ALSO GOOD FOR DRIVE-INS OR OTHER LYING DOWN ACTIVITIES. TILT STEERING WHEEL, A PLUS, FOR WHEN IT WAS TIME FOR WHATEVER! A PARTY CAR IT WAS. I REMEMBER 6 OF US IN THERE AND SOME PONY BOTTLES OF MILLER, THREE CASES I BELIEVE, HEADED DOWN TO THE CIVIC ARENA TO SEE NEIL YOUNG. MAN WHAT A BLAST! OTHER SUCH INSTINCES LIKE THAT OCCURED QUIT OFTEN I MUST SAY. SHE WAS A PARTY CAR. A BUNCH OF SHIT WAS SPILLED IN THAT ONE THATS FOR SURE. NICE BIG TRUNK HELD EVERYTHING. SPARE TIRE, JACK, CASES, COOLERS, A GRILL, READY FOR ANY SITUATION. AAAHHH, JUST THINKING ABOUT ALL THE GOOD TIMES I HAD WITH THAT CAR I GET ALL CHOKED UP. IT WAS THE FIRST CAR I EVER TRIED DOING BODY WORK ON. USING BEER CANS FOR PATCH WORK AND FLOOR BOARDS. A GOOD PORTION OF THE TRUNK WAS MADE UP OF CANS AND TIGERHAIR AFTER AWHILE. THE STEEL CANS WORKED THE BEST FOR THE BIG HOLES. THEN STARTED COMING MAJOR REPAIRS AND NEW TIRES AND BRAKES AND EXUAST AND....... NOT TO MENTION THE INSUARANCE AND STATE INSPECTIONS, PA. AND LICENCES. OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS IT WAS STARTING TO RUN INTO THE MONEY, EVEN MORE SO THEN THE LADIES. BUT IT STILL WAS WORTH IT TO HAVE THAT FREEDOM OF MOBILITY ANYTIME YA WANTED IT, THAT WAS A NICE FEELING BACK THEN. IT STILL IS TODAY. UNFORTUNATLY ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END. ONE DAY ON A RAIN SLICKED ROAD AND A NOT SO SHARP CURVE, AND NOT THE BEST OF TIRES, I STEERED LEFT BUT THE CAR WENT STRAIGHT. THE TELEPHONE POLE WASN'T DAMAGED THAT BAD BUT THE RIGHT FENDER, LIGHTS, BRAKE AND OTHER EXTREMITIES OF THE POOR THING WERE. I MANAGED TO LIMP IT THE LAST 2 BLOCKS HOME WHERE IT SAT FOR A WEEK OR SO WHILE I PONDERD IT'S FATE. ENDED UP SELLING IT FOR $150 TO SOME "KID". THE LAST I HEARD, ABOUT A YEAR LATER, THE TRANIE FEEL OUT OF IT IN THE MIDDLE OF DOWNTOWN PITTSBURGH. NOT A VERY DIGNIFIED WAY TO GO BUT THEN AGAIN WHAT WAY IS FOR 2000 LBS OF METAL, RUBBER AND GLASS. THAT WAS MY FIRST CAR, A '74 MATADOR. I SEE ONE RIDING AROUND TOWN WITH CLASSIC PLATES NOW AND THEN AND I WONDER, "IS THAT GUY HAVING AS MUCH FUN WITH HIS AS I DID WITH MINE?"
GEORGE W. STRAKA <gstraka@shuttlelift.com>
U.S.A. - Friday, August 04, 2000 at 13:43:55 (EDT)

MY FIRST CAR WAS A 1985 HONDA CRX AND I BOUGHT IT FOR $1200 THIS THING WAS A PIECE OF SHIT THE TRANSMISSION WENT OUT ABOUT THE YEAR THAT I HAD IT SO THAT PISSED ME OFF THEN THE PASSENGER SIDE DOOR WOULDNT OPEN FROM THE IN SIDE THE CABLE THAT OPEN THE DOOR BROKE OR SOME SHIT SO I SOLD THE PIECE OF SHIT FOR $300.
greg
new york , new york us - Tuesday, August 01, 2000 at 01:58:27 (EDT)

my story goes a little something like this.back in 1999 when i turned 16;i bought a 94ford explorer and then proceded to strip it down to the metal to the cheap "so called"I V6 threw it in my scrap pile in the back of the back of the shop and dropped a nice 302Boss out of a 90 ford mustang ,riped the stering colem out and added a 4 speed danya transmition on the floor took out the seats and dropped in 4, 5pointharnes bucket racing and hand made a console that ran from under the ashtray and staight to the back were they meet 4:15"sirwinvegas and 4:1000wts of ass kicking power.back to the out side i repainted the out side dark emerald green and added 67heavychevy racing stripes.to top it off i even added nitrus tank.the supensoin was tricky tho ; 4inch drop on the front and 3and1/2in the rear and a set of 4 boyd switct blades to give itn that egresion . a week after that i went to test and tune at memphis motor sports park i ran low nines the first then i pulled of the rear tires and threw on a set of slicks ;the burn was so awsome it looked like i made john forceses burns look weeke. AND THATS MY FIRST CAR
Andrew"THE WOLF"Ackerman <spacewolves_live@yahoo.com>
memphis, tenneessee usa - Monday, July 31, 2000 at 12:59:03 (EDT)

My first vehicle was a 1977 Bronco. My dad brought it home and said he got it givin to him and said its all mine. Well that was a mistake you could stand on the passenger side on the ground and be in it as well can you say the flintstones. Well all it needed was a fuel pump for the 302 but I was 14 and hated it. So on a sunday I drug it out to the road and put 500 obo. Believe it or not sold an hour later for 400.00. My dad was mad but I took the money and bought my 1986 Escort. Now 16 it was spray painted black had a gt wing and wheels so what better to do white racing stripes and part after part. 18 now ive owned 14 vehicles and am happy with my yellow 90 5.0 with a lot of goodys. And I still visit the scort in the junkyard.
Vann Austin <LOriding77@aol.com>
Janesville, WIsconsin USA - Monday, July 31, 2000 at 08:14:08 (EDT)

I am 16 now, but barely. I own a 1998 Chevy S10 regular cab short bed. It has a V6, 4.3L High Output engine. My father bought this car when he I was 15, and gave it to me on my birthday. My S10 is all but stock. I had the interior redone, it now has woodgrain panels with white gauges that turn lime green in the dark. I have the usual engine upgrades, forged pistons, K&N high flow air filter, upgraded computer chip, and new headers. I have a Borla exhaust, and also a carbon crankshaft (very light, and very strong!). On the outside I have a Xenon body kit, and an awesome spoiler by (I'm not really sure, it was a clearanced blowout item). My S10 is a high gloss purple which ran me (my dad) about 1500$. I never intended to use my bed for anything, so I had the whole stock bed removed, and had a fiberglass molding mounted to a carbon frame (ran my dad about 6000$). I have no backlights, just the brake light thats built into the spoiler, and the turn signals are built into the brakelight (ran my dad about 400$ for the light alone). I just have the stock sound system because I am not worried about music as much as others. I don't have any pics because I don't want a scanner, I would rather put the money into my truck. I would like to do more with my engine in the future, but for now 299 horses suit me fine.
Andrew Taylor <Shady151@bellatlantic.net>
Washington, Pa USA - Monday, July 24, 2000 at 02:28:14 (EDT)

Whem i was in the Butler Intermediate High School i was helping my buddy Rob with his 1988 Chevy truck we were puting the whole bottom end in it. every day after school i would come home and work on it until he got to my house. He also had a 1984 Oldsmobile Delta 88 it was in pretty descent shape. A few minor rust spots but the interior and the engine was perfect. I kept telling him since i was helping hime with the truck he could give the car to me i was just joking around. He said after he got the truck running he was selling the car for $500.00 i was like i will buy it. wel we got his truck running and he called me off to the side and he said u want this car and i said yeah how much he said $100.00 i said sold.Now i am always working on it to build up the engine. my dad keeps bitching at me because i keep running it through the yard and tearing up the yard. he keeps taking spark plugs ang everything out but i keep fixing it.
DJ <yamaha@davesmail.com>
butler, pa usa - Tuesday, June 13, 2000 at 15:47:01 (EDT)

When I was a Junior in High School I fell in love with the visual creativity of Low Riders, in my mind that was the ultimate automotive expression. My first ride was an 83 Buick Regal. I had a hard time getting work to pay for it so I joined the Navy. "They'll hire me!" I spent a year and a half stationed at NAF Atsugi Japan and saved up enough money to 'trick it out'. Just 3 days before I was to return home from over seas, someone had stolen it, right in front of my house in broad day light!!! It was recovered and damages were covered by insurance. Some time later I got it lookin the way I wanted with little wire wheels and hydraulics and all the typical things associated with Low Riders. By this time it had become an obsession, having more priority than even God. He didn't like that and allowed for it to be taken from me again. This time it was much more dramatic, it's what He had to do to get my attention. When it was recovered (again!), enough damage had been done to the car to deflate my desire for it and so it sat in my garage for several years. After much time had passed (and other lessons learned in association to the automotive world!), I started driving it again and getting it back in shape. This time with the intention of selling it (Now it was in even better shape than before!). And sell it I did with much prayer!! I had to trust God for that too. He taught me alot with the cars I have had in my past, some fun, some not so fun. The main thing He wanted me to know is that HE is Lord and will have no other Gods before Him (even if it's chrome plated or packed with horse power!). I now drive a humble old truck and have never been happier. In the future I think I would like to have a simple, black suade Hot Rod but when the time is right. Theres a right time and place for every thing, a lesson hard learned. Steve Sandahl
Steve Sandahl <sandahl@gateway.net>
Las Vegas, NV - Sunday, June 11, 2000 at 19:53:41 (EDT)

My first and current car is a 1978 Oldsmobile Delta 88 2 door sedan. Olds 350 engine, TH350 trans, 7.5" 10 bolt with a one-legger 2.41 gear. Infamous GM silver exterior with a vinyl top and a carmine (bright red) interior. 61k miles, one owner. $2000 was a little steep, but I believed that it was worth it due to the low mileage (purchase date, 7/1/95). Drove it through my senior year of high school, when college came around I decided to throw an Edelbrock performer intake on the 350 Rocket (11/96). Inbetween then and 1998 I had put a 3/4" rear sway bar from a Caprice cop car (front was .91" at the time) and put some General V rated 235/70s on the 15x7 steel wheels. Around 3/98 I re-did the exhaust to a 2.5" mandrel-bent single system with a no-name muffler (true dual exhaust is out of the question due to California emissions laws). About that time I started looking at hop-up parts for the '94-'96 Impala SS (shares the same chassis) and started looking into bigger swaybars and stiffer springs. Currently (5/00) the car has a pair of Herb Adams VSE sway bars (1.31" front with tie-rod end links and 1.5" rear), tokico shocks, Caprice 9C1 rear springs (front springs will be replaced with Caprice 9C1 parts) and 245/60R15 tires on a set of junkyard Olds Super Stock II wheels. It handles decently but it'll handle a lot better with the new front springs. The car is daily driven and now has 125k on it. I'm itching to replace the 350R with either a 403 or 455, the 403 would be easiest to build and would get past an emissions test easier.
Mike Jones <sspazzer@hotmail.com>
Livermore, CA US - Saturday, May 27, 2000 at 08:32:34 (EDT)

My first rodster was a 76 maverick.Under the hood was a 289 with a three 3/4 racing cam ,hedders,dualpump holley,dualpoints plentey of chrome. Now i am working on a 82 camaro with a 305 pushing 400 hp.It is in 1st stages of restoration.Thanks for your time until next time so long.
Ruben Wall <wallruben@hotmail.con>
CLAYTON, ga rabun - Sunday, May 21, 2000 at 01:00:26 (EDT)

My first car was a 70 Chevy Nova. Quick story, everyday driver w/ a 144 B&M Blower. Helicoil backed outta the manifold, spit gas, well the rest is history. Bottom line, have fire insurance! Over 12K invested and lost all because of a stupid mistake. New project in the works is a 66 Nova pro-street. 350 w/ 871. Should be fun, now fully insured!
Matt <soulflyin@yahoo.com>
CA - Wednesday, May 17, 2000 at 17:59:16 (EDT)

My first car was an 87' Buick Park Aveanue. As long as I can remember I wanted an old lead sled. but when it came time to get my dream car( a cadillac) it just wasnt in my pocket book. so my grandpa convinced me to buy the buick. It was in good shape with power every thing and even a climate conrol. That i later found didnt work. But what could I say? For $750 it wasnt bad. Problem was i couldn't soop it up because it was fuel inject.(JOy.....)2nd it was front wwheel drive and that canceled out any fun of peeling out. 3rd, the wheels i put on it stuck out a country mile! last but not least I felt like I mined as well been driving a bug because it's size was to my disatisfaction. At least its 3.9ltr. got up pretty decent. All together its perfect leather interior gotme in goood with the ladies. I did get a 12" cherry bomb muffler onit and every one at school heard me coming. Exactly 1,000 miles later I ran it into a telephone pole. What did I have to say for myself after words----"Damn front wheel drives...."
Daniel Rodriguez <juiced@mail.com>
louisville, Ky. U.S.A. - Wednesday, May 17, 2000 at 14:00:46 (EDT)

My first car is a 1968 Ford Thunderbird. I am 23 years old and my car is a heck of a lot older than me. It was not the first car that I drove. The thing is that I payed for this one and have put in a lot of time and money on it. There is nothing spectacular under the hood. It still has the origional 429ci. but I put in an Edelbrock performer package. I have done most of the work myself with some guidance from some friends. A friend James, helped me pick the car. It cost me $950 and is in very good shape. I had the exhaust redone with 3 inch pipes and a couple of Thrush mufflers. Not exactly top of the line but within my budget. The stereo is all Kenwood and I installed it all myself. This is my first project car and I have grown very attached. There will be other cars in my life but nonr of them will ever kick my T-Bird out of the garage.
Chris Harkins <c.harkins@usa.net>
spring valley , california usa - Monday, May 01, 2000 at 21:00:03 (EDT)

My first car, was a truck. When I was almost 16 I bought a 1968 chevy C10 white in color. I found it at a farm yard I went to to check out an '82 trans am (that turned out to be TOTALLY wrecked), anyway this guy had this white '68 there, that he had just parked, for $800, I haggled him down to $650, because I HAD to have a vehcle (my parents tried to talk me out of it but I would'nt listen. Turn out the body wasn't good (not bad for a '68 in Canada though) and the saftey on this truck expired a month earlier, so It cost about $1000 to saftey (new tires, brakes, and other stuff), It turns out that this truck was a straight 6 with a tree-on-the-tree, but had been converted (badly) to a gutless 350 with a turbo 350 tranny, I had to take the clutch pedal out, and put in an automatic steering coulumn. So now we're up to about $1700. I drive it like this for about 4 months, then dropped the exhuast valve in the number 4 cylinder, I also got a ticket and got my licence taken away for a month. I located an engine at a neighbor house, that he had in a 1977 nova (with quite a reputation) that he drove in high school, it had been sitting for two years, but he went out and it started first try!!! I bought it for $300 dollars, It's bored .30 over, has an RV cam, 9:1 compression, and high flow heads, and lots of power. 300 miles and a set of tires later, the transmission wouldn't hold drive, so I took it to a friend with a transmission shop (along with another turbo 350 from another friend) and had them rebuild it, they beefed it up and I have never had a problem, althought it did cost $350. So now I'm up to about $2,400. I was going through (used, 235/75R15)tires like mad, it has 8 inch wide rims so I bougth new 31X10.50 truck tires($300), they are'nt too aggressive, but they sure make it hook up on the take off. The taller than stock tires, took a little bit of acceleration (3.73:1 gears, but now they act like 3.55:1) but I get more top end, and no spinning. Cherry bomb mufflers, and the tunes are kenwood, and that's anthor $500, and another story too. The grand total is $3000, for a street machine with only one loss, against a 97 dodge, with a crazy bastard, and a 360,(standard), and 14+ wins, If you have any questions just email me.
William Workman <williamworkman@hotmail.com>

Solsgirth, MB Canada - Monday, May 01, 2000 at 15:28:49 (EDT)

My first, and now current project/car, was a 1974 Chevy Nova SS Custom Deluxe. Knowing nothing about cars besides that I wanted a muscle car more than to breathe at the time (at the tender...wholly immature age of 16...) I forced my father to buy it for $1300 from the guy who owned it at his garage knowing it had no rear bumper, no weatherstripping, and a hole in the rear quarter panel the size of a softball, although the engine and tranny were "fresh" from GM with only 30,000 on them compared to the car's 75,000 or so. I drove it for 6 months (after registering it in December so I could drive it all winter...yah!! This was how I learned to really drive) The cancer of rot that was of course present on the beast finally took over, and the gas tank fell off the car at work one day after school - and when it came home that night it sat in my garage: Until this past Easter!! 19 now and in college with the time and knowledge after working in parts for a bit (as well as great debates with my father over selling the "stupid piece of crap" in the last year) The engine, a 350 bored .030 over with 9.5:1 pistons, edelbrock performer intake manifold and 600 cfm manual card is in pieces for cleaning/painting. My parts from Summit racing just recently arrived: A pair of hookers headers, Flowmaster Force II 2.5 inch exhaust (to replace the hackneyed 2 inch straight pipes the guy put on with autozone mufflers...), MSD HEI super ignition kit w/8.5mm super conductor wires, cap, rotor, etc., a new aluminum 18" blue flex fan, etc... A bumper from CA will also shortly be on its way, a complete weatherstripping kit from J&W Nova, and a new Jensen 400 watt stereo. It's time to rock and roll for the summer boys!!!
Cory Michael <arabot7@aol.com>

Springfield, MA USA - Saturday, April 29, 2000 at 16:36:50 (EDT)

I bought my firt ride when I was 16 Years old. It is a 1966 ford mustang that I picked up for $1200 bucks. When I drove it home the for first time the rear brakes locked up, the blinkers didnt work, and the 3 speed tranny ground in every gear. It had a stock 289 and 2bbl carb, but it had duels and a set a glasspacks so I thought it was all that and a bag of chips. I drove it around for a while after working the small bugs out of it and was as happy as a 16 year old could be until I tried racing a Honda and my little stallion didnt perform like I wish would have. A couple of years and thousands of dollars later, the little mustang still sports the little 289 it came with, just a little worked over and about 375HP. It has duel exhaust with 3 inch Flowmasters, it really bugs the crap out of the neighbors. After a few dissapointing trips to the drag strip(for mecanical reasons)I got the bugs worked out and it now runs in the high 13s. I still have my old stallion and enjoy making passes on the strip and just cruising. Im glad that I have held on to my first ride.
Bryan Pickle <pickle@correoweb.com>

Taylorsville, Utah USA - Monday, April 24, 2000 at 12:23:09 (EDT)

My first is a 1981 Dodge Mirada CMX,340 Six pack, auto on floor, 1970 Charger seats, A&A snorkel scoop, Moroso hood pins,Weld Racing wheels, 1984 Firebird rear trunk wing, Pioneer in the dash, two 15in. Rockfords in a custom box, no damn room for back seats because of Rockfords, also custom made, Plum Crazy paint, Lakewood traction bars, and new white ragtop. I guess you can say that a Dodge Mirada is a rare choice. [My advice is,look at one]
Cliffy
- Saturday, April 22, 2000 at 00:56:58 (EDT)

My first car would probably have been my '84 Chevy Conversion van. My family bought it new and by the time I got ahold of it, there was a new paint job and everything else just as it came. I put new shrouds in and fixed up the interior and it was as good as new. It wasn't quick enough for me so I got an '86 Cutlass for a little more kick. I wish I kept that van.
Ted Hess <Protozoan4@yahoo.com>

Ft.Mitchell, KY USA - Friday, March 24, 2000 at 16:13:16 (EST)

i got my first car when i turned 13. it was a 1978 ford fairmont wagon
howard messerly jr
pennsylvanin u.s.a. - Friday, March 24, 2000 at 11:51:32 (EST)

Christmas of 98 is when i got my first car. It is 1979 Chevy Nova. im am 15 now. my parents bought it for $200. it had 105K miles on the 305. a 2 bbl carb. everything stock. now i have replaced the carb with a carted 625 4 bbl. put an aluminum z-28 manifold on. replaced everything in the ignition system. Summit distributer, accel spark plug wires, and OEM spark plugs. the body isnt in the best shape and i didnt help much by trying to "repair" the spots that need work. My future plans include a pair of dynomax headers, flowmasters, a 400 block, stereo system, redo interior, new centerline rims, a b&m transpak for the TH-350, a posi unit, new cam and lifters, a body/paint job, and TLC. I have 2 jobs and im saving all my money for this stuff. i doesnt look like much now, but when im finished im gunna be satisfied. email me with any suggestions. Dan Juan
Dan Juan <metal91249@aol.com>

Wilmington, DE USA - Saturday, March 18, 2000 at 00:48:34 (EST)

I was a young man of 19 years when I went looking for my first car in the summer of 1970. I was newly assigned to March Air Force Base in Riverside, California and right in the middle of the ultimate car culture in those days. While walking to work one morning I saw this 1955 Chevy with a “For Sale” sign in the window. I really liked the looks of it and had never seen one like it before so I put a note in the windshield wiper with my name and number and asked the owner to give me a call. About a month went by without hearing from him and not seeing the car again. I was just about to by another car when I saw this one again. It was then painted an ugly yellow by Earl Scheib and the owner was sitting in the driver’s seat getting ready to leave! I ran up and asked if the car was still for sale. He said yes but he had someone else thinking of paying him the $500.00 he was asking. Before I knew what I was doing I blurted out that I would give him $600.00 for it! With a perplexed look on his face he said that sounded good and the deal was struck. I didn’t find out what Nomads were until I took it over to a friend’s house and showed him the car. I knew something was up when he walked out of his front door and his jaw dropped. I quickly learned the history and rarity of Nomads. Over the next five years I tried my best to bring the Nomad up to the standards that it deserved but, alas, I had too little money, too few tools and equipment, and no garage to work in. In October 1975 I finally sold it to Dave Oster of Troy, New York. The minute I saw it going down the street I knew I made a big mistake! I saw the Nomad again in 1981 when Dave brought it by my house to show off the new condition. It was then that he and I made a gentlemen’s agreement that if he ever wanted to sell it that I would like first shot at it. We kept in touch over the years despite my moving to Phoenix and then to Colorado Springs. Fast forward to the evening of July 20, 1999. I got a call from Dave and he was selling the car! After all these years he had remembered our agreement. After about a half-second of thinking I said yes and the details were finalized. I took delivery on September 8, 1999. The condition it is in now is pretty much the way it was 12 years ago when Dave parked it and never drove it again. It was like seeing an old friend after so many years. It still had the 283, T-10 4 speed, Hurst Competition Plus, and American Torq-Thrusts. It’s getting Vintage-Air, Ididit tilt wheel, 4 wheel power discs, PST sway bars, 605 power steering and lots of TLC. This time I have the money, the tools and equipment, and the garage to make the Nomad what I wanted back then. Our family will be bringing it up to the standards that it deserves.
Eric Larson <ELNomad55@aol.com>

Colorado Springs, CO USA - Wednesday, March 15, 2000 at 16:18:53 (EST)

I enjoyed Ron Mucci story about his Vette and growing up in Detroit. I also was raised in the Southwestern part of Detroit (Wyandotte), and here's my first car story: From the time I was little I was really into cars, and to this day I can usually tell at a glance the year make and model of anything built in the fifties. I couldn't wait to get my license....When I was about 14 my next door neighbor was JUNKING a '52 Mercury, but my parents wouldn't let me buy it (Mr. Rogers was asking $6.00, what the junk yard was giving him--and by the way, it was still running!) because my folks thought I'd never do a lick of homework again once I started working on it. So, in 1968, when I was 18, I took a job out of high school at the McLouth Steel Corp. in Trenton MI, and strarted saving my nickles and dimes. In August, I finally got it: a 1963 MG Midget roadster for $450.00. It had plastic windows that rattled like marachas, it had a pneumatic little pump in the dashboard for the windshield washer, first gear had an alarming whining sound that never did go away, it had bubbled paint on the hood where there had evidently been an engine fire at some point in its' life, it burned oil to the point where people thought a fog was rolling in when I passed by, it had completly bald tires and the top wouldn't stay fixed to the windshield past about 35 miles an hour. It had come with the original English owners manual, and for the longest time I kept thinking: "I've got to get a pair of these 'spanners' whatever they are. I've been using a wrench instead." The brakes never did work right, despite much money and effort (Downshifting was not! an ideal solution, either, since it had a non synchro gearbox), and the insurance was almost what I paid for the car ($437.00), but I was stoked about it anyway. When I started college in the fall I drove it the 25 miles or so to Monroe county and at one particular s curve, no matter what I did, I spun out almost every day! What a blast that car was! And what a piece of unmitigated crap! Eventually it started fouling plugs so bad that I got these little chambers that screwed over the end of the plugs. The heat generated in the chamber would, theoretically, evaporate the oil and unfoul the plug. This got it running enough to sell it for $300., and never Have I had a greater sense of being unburdened than when I watched my old MG rolling down Maple Street and out of my life. I still drive a roadster, but now it's a Honda Del Sol. Just a leeeeeeetle bit more reliable than my MG.
Dr. Joey <dr_joey_@hotmail.com>

Solana Beach, CA US - Wednesday, March 08, 2000 at 16:54:49 (EST)

< In the Spring of 1962 my step-dad decided I needed a car so he drug me miles from home to see what he had found. There it was, a 1951 Merc in the middle of a field. The doors were open, sheep had been running through it and there was a hole behind the drivers side door big enough to stick your head through. Oh yes, it was stuck in the mud and no tires! I don't remember how it ever got home or what all I did to it the next year but it was a beauty thanks to my stepdad's and my hard work. What I do remember is that Christmas I had taken it to my 40 miles away to Grandma's to show all my old school buddies what a great ride I had put together. Christmas eve with 6 inches of snow on the ground I was hit in the side by a drunk driver and the car had to be junked.
Mike Darbyshire <michael_darbyshire@mail.amsinc.com>

Gaitersburg, MD USA - Monday, March 06, 2000 at 14:14:21 (EST)

This sounds goofy but I found my first ride when I was only 5 or 6 years old. My parents had some friends who had a neighbor who had this real old truck sitting in their barn. Every time we would go to their house I would go over to that barn and play in that old truck. I would shift the gears and play with the levers and pretend I was driving. I did it for hours my mother told me. It wouldn't run and hadn't for years. When I was about 11 my dad bought that old truck. We got it home and a guy my dad worked with came to the house and got this thing to run. It was a 1930 Model A Ford pickup 100% origional and in bad shape, but it ran. My dad was not mechanically inclined at all and this old thing always had problems. My dads friend would come over and work on it and get it going til it quit again. I watched and asked questions. I ordered a repair manual out of JC Whitney and my dad bought me a Husky tool kit for Christmas in 1959. We had no garage, just a gravel driveway. I taug! ht myself how to make that darned old relic run using that manual from JC Whitney and bothering that guy who was my dads friend. I bought an exhaust system and other little parts always from JC Whitney.I learned how to drive it in the driveway when my parents were at work. I sanded it with a drill motor and 5 inch sanding discs from the hardware store and painted it with a brush. I patched the roof with tar and replaced the plywood floor panels. I sheared the teeth off the timing gears and sheared the keys off the rear axels and drums all the time. My dad would take parts off it to keep me from driving it but I took that as a test and could always make it run again. He would get so mad when I did that! He sold it when I was almost 15 and bought a 49 Merc 4 door with a broken motor but that's another story. I loved that old truck and learned many lessons both good and bad from it. It was truely my first ride...... Joe McCoy
Joe McCoy <realmccoyjoseph.mccoy@worldnet.att.net>

- March 04, 2000 at 20:49:26 (EST)

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