12wonderY
I see that Dodge is coming out with a Hornet.
Hey! I had a Hornet back in the 70s!
It was an AMC hatchback, royal blue with a white racing stripe that turned up at the back. It looked like a high top sneaker, I thought.
Was that the one that my husband changed the rear differential … on a remote and empty beach on Cape Canaveral … on a Sunday … in 1981?
He dropped the bearings into the sand!!
Somehow he managed to clean them and put it all back together and we were able to drive back to town. Oh, and did I mention we had our newborn with us?
This is actually my second vehicle. But it’s the one that has the memories gushing today.
Hey! I had a Hornet back in the 70s!
It was an AMC hatchback, royal blue with a white racing stripe that turned up at the back. It looked like a high top sneaker, I thought.
Was that the one that my husband changed the rear differential … on a remote and empty beach on Cape Canaveral … on a Sunday … in 1981?
He dropped the bearings into the sand!!
Somehow he managed to clean them and put it all back together and we were able to drive back to town. Oh, and did I mention we had our newborn with us?
This is actually my second vehicle. But it’s the one that has the memories gushing today.
2Deleted
1968 Ford Mustang. With an 8 track tape deck.
3John5918
Would "tin Lizzie" be the US term for an old car? I think we grew up in UK referring to it as an "old banger" or maybe a "jalopy", or in east London just a "motor". Mine was a 1963 Ford Anglia. I bought it in 1972 for eighty quid and sold it a few years later for 55, if I recall correctly. The underside needed a lot of welding, and the starter motor had a habit of coming loose, which meant I often found myself crawling under the car with a spanner in the rain and sleet in out of the way locations in order to get it started.
The car I learned to drive on was also a Ford, my dad's 1958 Consul Mark II. A lovely old car, big by British standards, with a bench front seat and a three-speed gearbox with the gear lever mounted on the steering column. His next car was another Ford, an Escort Mark I, which I managed to wrap around a lamp post, although it wasn't a write off and was subsequently repaired.
I now drive Land Rovers. I have a 24-year old Defender and a 40-year old Series III. In sympathy with >1 2wonderY: we had to change the front diff on the Defender a couple of weeks ago.
The car I learned to drive on was also a Ford, my dad's 1958 Consul Mark II. A lovely old car, big by British standards, with a bench front seat and a three-speed gearbox with the gear lever mounted on the steering column. His next car was another Ford, an Escort Mark I, which I managed to wrap around a lamp post, although it wasn't a write off and was subsequently repaired.
I now drive Land Rovers. I have a 24-year old Defender and a 40-year old Series III. In sympathy with >1 2wonderY: we had to change the front diff on the Defender a couple of weeks ago.
4Hope_H
The first one I drove: a 1967 (?) Olds Vista Cruiser, with the raised glass window panels.
The first one I bought (not a hand-me-down from my parents or my brother): a gold 1982 Plymouth Champ. I had to learn to drive a stick shift!
The first one I bought (not a hand-me-down from my parents or my brother): a gold 1982 Plymouth Champ. I had to learn to drive a stick shift!
5Crypto-Willobie
A 1964 (Ford) Mercury Comet station wagon. Loved that car.
6TempleCat
My first car was a 1949 Plymouth which I bought for $150 in 1963. There was a hole in the floorboards on the passenger side so driving with someone else was always quite cozy! The brakes were really iffy. I always drove with a case of brake fluid in the trunk and I had to replenish it quite often. Oh, and the ignition was wonky, so I had a big thick screwdriver in the glove compartment. If I used it to bridge a couple of bolts on the generator (at least I *think* it was the generator; maybe it was the ignition motor. Is that the thing that goes rrrRRRrrrRRr rRr r rr ... when the battery is dying?) Anyway, there would be a frightening zap as I shorted it out and the car would start!
I swapped that lizzie for a 1952 Chevy after I rolled through a red light in Chicago with no brakes and traffic crossing in front of me. In 1968 I finally was able to buy a brand new car. It was a lovely white 8 cylinder Chevy Camaro with white interior as well. Of course, all of those cars were stick shifts.
I swapped that lizzie for a 1952 Chevy after I rolled through a red light in Chicago with no brakes and traffic crossing in front of me. In 1968 I finally was able to buy a brand new car. It was a lovely white 8 cylinder Chevy Camaro with white interior as well. Of course, all of those cars were stick shifts.
7guido47
Austin A50.
I had saved up enough money , in my first proper job, to buy my first proper CAR. All of 12 weeks of savings. 1966.
A solid British TUB
It saved my life. My friend (who I didn't know, didn't known how to drive) asked to drive it, in the country. Sure I said...
Roll, roll, roll... every panel, including hood, roof and doors squashed - even the boot lid! :-)
Tough car, I drove it home (50 miles) with no drivers door or windshield. It felt like something out of a WWII film :-)
Both my friends in that car died only a few years later (mid '60s) yet here I still am ?
Guido
I had saved up enough money , in my first proper job, to buy my first proper CAR. All of 12 weeks of savings. 1966.
A solid British TUB
It saved my life. My friend (who I didn't know, didn't known how to drive) asked to drive it, in the country. Sure I said...
Roll, roll, roll... every panel, including hood, roof and doors squashed - even the boot lid! :-)
Tough car, I drove it home (50 miles) with no drivers door or windshield. It felt like something out of a WWII film :-)
Both my friends in that car died only a few years later (mid '60s) yet here I still am ?
Guido
8sarahemmm
Mine was the same age as me - 18! A Peugeot 403 estate (like the ones that used to win the Dakar rallies back in the day). I loved it dearly, and it certainly taught me to drive. So underpowered that you tried never to use the brakes, and you had to learn to corner well to keep the momentum. It finally succumbed to rust when my dad drove through a puddle and the floor blew up!
9haydninvienna
I feel positively juvenile (automotively speaking) among you lot, although I'm no younger than many of you.
My absolutely first car was a 1968 model Australian Ford Falcon which got written off after an unfortunate encounter with a rock on a mountain road. My next was a Mazda, about the time that Mazda started to go seriously upmarket. It was a rotary engined Mazda, an RX-4. Nice car both to look at and to drive, although it had a bit of a thirst and had a ferocious appetite for spark plugs.
After that I settled down a bit and bought a Holden Commodore (an Australian re-engineering of what the European market knew as the Vauxhall Carlton or Opel Rekord--slightly bigger than the European body and with an Australian 6-cylinder engine). Again a nice car, even though it once stranded me and my wife in a very small country town on a Saturday with a new baby on board. Holden's quality control at the time left a tiny bit to be desired, and the drive cog for the camshaft had stripped--the cog was made of some sort of plastic in the interests, allegedly, of quietness. The local Holden dealer replaced the plastic one with an alloy version, which was apparently the standard service change, and we didn't notice the slightest difference in noise level.
My absolutely first car was a 1968 model Australian Ford Falcon which got written off after an unfortunate encounter with a rock on a mountain road. My next was a Mazda, about the time that Mazda started to go seriously upmarket. It was a rotary engined Mazda, an RX-4. Nice car both to look at and to drive, although it had a bit of a thirst and had a ferocious appetite for spark plugs.
After that I settled down a bit and bought a Holden Commodore (an Australian re-engineering of what the European market knew as the Vauxhall Carlton or Opel Rekord--slightly bigger than the European body and with an Australian 6-cylinder engine). Again a nice car, even though it once stranded me and my wife in a very small country town on a Saturday with a new baby on board. Holden's quality control at the time left a tiny bit to be desired, and the drive cog for the camshaft had stripped--the cog was made of some sort of plastic in the interests, allegedly, of quietness. The local Holden dealer replaced the plastic one with an alloy version, which was apparently the standard service change, and we didn't notice the slightest difference in noise level.
11hailelib
An old Chevy Bel Aire which my Dad gave me in 1968 when I started graduate school. I drove various family cars occasionally before that.
12Deleted
>11 hailelib: Our family car was a 1955 Bel Aire. Dad built a platform in the back seat that we could sleep on when they went to the drive in. And then there was "Mr Moto" by the Belairs. I told my kid I'd give him $15 when he could play this complete with wammy board embellishment Paid that off a while ago.
For those who are wondering what I'm on about: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PCdTuSXwZTI
For those who are wondering what I'm on about: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PCdTuSXwZTI
14alco261
1911 Hupmobile when I was about 12 years old. It belonged to a friend of my Dad - it was the first real old car I rode in. The owner even let me steer it down a VERY wide street for a short distance so it was also the first car I ever "drove".
On that same line, the first car I ever rode in where we almost got a ticket for speeding was a 1906 Stanley Steamer - same owner friend - different day.
>3 John5918: the Model T Ford was often referred to as a Tin Lizzie. This same owner had a 1913 Model T Ford so he owned a Tin Lizzie as well.
On that same line, the first car I ever rode in where we almost got a ticket for speeding was a 1906 Stanley Steamer - same owner friend - different day.
>3 John5918: the Model T Ford was often referred to as a Tin Lizzie. This same owner had a 1913 Model T Ford so he owned a Tin Lizzie as well.
