So AuburnChicks birthday post got me thinking…what was your first car and was it bought for you or did you buy it?
My first car was given to me (at 18) by an elderly neighbor when her husband died and she didn’t need 2 cars. They were like grandparents to me. She gave me the old K car that was lovely - baby blue, white, and wood veneer outside, with baby blue vinyl interior, 2 door and no “bells & whistles.” Three best things about that car - lost weight driving it b/c I parked 3miles from my desitination to make sure nobody knew it was mine, dog vomit was easily washed out, anyone at college could drive it and I didn’t worry if anything happened to it : )
That said, she (Suzie Podunk as my family named her) was an icon that I will never forget and you bet I said Thank you and smiled for all the pictures…sadly she was sold to the junk yard for $50 just 2 yrs later when her front end rusted out and would not pass inspection.
What was your first car?
Mine was a 1991 Dodge Spirit, silver, it had been my dad’s company car from 1991-1994 at which point he bought it from the company for $400, and let it sit in the driveway until I turned 16 in 1998. The first time I started the car, I blew a squirrel’s nest out of the muffler. I drove that car for about 2 years before I was involved in a very nasty 5 car pile up that totalled it.
Oh, boy…I’ll show my age with this answer. My first car was a Nash Rambler and I paid for it myself.
I think I’ll go color my hair now. 
Oh, I love this thread!!! I feel for you on the K car!
I was 16, and my first car was a '72 Pinto. It had been in an unfortunate head on collision with a phone pole, so the front end was in awful shape. Other than that, it was in great condition. My dad helped me and with a couple of new parts and some junkyard finds, I, myself, replaced the front fenders, hood and grill. It was a real beauty! A red car with various primer grey parts! But, I loved it anyway! His name was Redford (red Ford), and my friends who didn’t have cars of their own didn’t mind his patwork paint job, either! Oh yeah, I never replaced the windshield, so it was cracked pretty bad. I think my Dad actually bought the car, but I paid for the parts. I remember how proud I was when I upgraded to (of all things) a Chevy Vega! 
Hey, at least it was all one color!
Mine was a silver 1982 Plymouth Reliant. I paid for it myself, out of my savings. (that was when I had a savings.)
LOL! Mine was a white, 1963 VW Bug! Loved that car… thanks for bringing back these memories!!! 
:mrgreen:
My first car was a used 1986 two door Jeep Cherokee. My grandparents paid for it, but I had to work to help pay for the insurance. It was light silver on the exterior, which was good in Houston, but the interior was a hideous dark maroon vinyl. I will never forget the feeling of my skin sticking to the seat on a humid, 100 degree, summer day in Houston.
OMG, isn’t it the truth? My Plymouth had vinyl seats, too. Horrible to have in TX.
My parents bought me a 1981 Ford Escort that gave me a ton of trouble and I only drove it for a couple of weeks (the engine died twice.) Then they got me a 1984 Ford Ranger that I drove until I graduated from high school.
An '88 Mazda 323 (purchased when I was 16 1/2 in 1997). I bought it myself for $100 (I can’t believe parents buy cars for their kids, seriously! Mine helped me with insurance during the school year so I could concentrate on school work and extracurriculars without having to work more than 20 hours a week…but I was on my own otherwise).
I loved that stupid little car :mrgreen:. I could only fill the gas tank halfway for the first month or two until I replaced it (big hole near the top). I had to replace the alternator a few months in also (parts always paid for by me, but my dad did the labor for free so long as a suffered through a tutorial from him).
The three of us were also not permitted to get our licenses until we could prove to my dad that we could change a tire and drive a manual transmission. It could stall and lurch a million times, so long as we could actually get the car to go around the block, stop and start on a hill, and bring it back to the driveway.
It was a good solid car, got great gas mileage and carried my friends, my junk and me til the end of high school. I painted racing stripes on it for Senior Day :teehee: When I left for college I sold it for $1 to another kid who’d just gotten his license.
I’m now on my 4th car (98 Saturn, woo! Finally a car born AFTER I got my license!) and it’s the only car I’ve ever had to take out a loan for. But the loan is paid off and I’m driving this baby to the ground!
mine was a 1991 Geo Storm, new, I was age 20 1/2, and I bought it with my then fiancee.
my stepson is about a year away from his learner’s permit, but we have no plans right now to get him a car.
I was 26 and married with two children when I bought my very first car. It was a battle ship green Pontiac Parisienne four door. I learned to drive on a standard but this was an automatic transmission. It was a huge old clunker that cost me $200. I drove it until it literally would not drive one more inch. All the idiot lights came on the dashboard and I had to push it down the street and into the driveway. I loved that car because I paid for it myself and it was totally mine and paid for when I drove it into the driveway. I have pictures of my second child sitting on the hood of that car when she was two. It paid for itself many times over in the years I owned it.
My first car was a shared car with my parents, a huge '74 Olds cutlass surpreme when I got my license. First thing my father taught me when I got my license was 1) how to change a flat and 2) how to change the oil.
Then when my kid brother got a car they got an 88 corrolla for us to share. As for my very own car it was a manual transmission’ 99 Acura Integra, called “Silver Bullet” by DH, that I paid for, even the insurance and gas. He still stills in my garage this day. We may have to trade him in soon … as it’s only a coupe. Hard to get two toddlers in and out that car. That’s why we have Pathfinder now. Told DH, there is no way I am driving a minivan when we found out we were expecting our first child
It is so fun to hear about everyone’s stories!!
HamaLee - my Dad made me prove I could change a tire, too! I remember I couldn’t turn the lug wrench, so he got me this long iron pipe, so I could slip it over the end of the wrench, then stand on it to break them loose! I carried that pipe everywhere! I also had to do my own oil changes. I loved it, too!
My husband would say now days I don’t know where to put gas in the car, let alone oil or changing tires!
What a fun thread!
My first car was a brand new 1977 Chevrolet Camaro. Boy, was I ever proud of that car. I went to work when I was 14 years old and started saving for it. I wasn’t allowed to buy a car until I was 17, so I had a few years to save for it.
My mother didn’t actually buy the car for me, she loaned me the rest of the money needed to purchase it and I had to pay her back each week. She kept my balance in a little book and I thought I was just “something else” by paying this car off. LOL!
CBH
My first car was a white 1984 Pontiac Sunbird that I bought off of my Dad’s mechanic friend. So it was in Great condition, it only had 50,00 miles because it was his winter car (he had a corvette). I paid $1600 for it. I paid for the insurance. I shared it with my twin who didn’t get her license till 6 months later. I bought in in 1994. Once my twin started driving it as well I had her help me with the insurance and gas.
I had gotten my license at 16 1/2. I was allowed borrow my father’s car (he drove a company car) to drive my little brother to his practices and to drive myself for the 6 months between having my license and buying my car.
My FIRST car, purchased for $350.00 in 1970 was a 1964 Ford Galaxy 500 convertible, maroon with a black rag top.
I loved that car:heart:
Oh the stories I COULD (but won’t) tell about that car.
This is a fun thread. I am going to have to take you back before most of y’all were born. My first husband & I bought a 1947 Plymouth in 1957 when we got married. It is the car I used to learn to drive. It had a huge steering wheel and of course standard shift. There was a place on the dash near the steering wheel to put a key and turn it. But that did not start the engine. There was a button next to the key slot that had to be pushed to start the engine. The two back doors opened from front to back. Very convient to get little ones into the back seat but you had to make sure the doors were closed tightly because if one came open while you were driving you would lose the door and the kids too. lol I don’t remember what we paid for it but it could not have been more that $100.00.
I inherited my Mom’s 1985 burnt orange Cavalier when I was 16. Okay, I actually begged for that car. I loved it! Mom went out and bought herself a new one. I guess that’s a pretty fair deal. I drove that car through my first couple years of college, except for one summer when I drove my brother’s '68 Mustang before he turned 16. It was our Pepaw’s mustang. Ah. Good memories!!!
A silver 1980 Chevy Camero. It was a hand-me-down from my mother.