Pay tribute to your first car

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Demo24

Demo24

Diamond Member
Aug 5, 2004
8,356
9
81
Got this idea from TCL.

Subaru_Legacy_Wagon.jpg



1995 Subaru Legacy L. It had the 2.2l engine unfortunately paired with the 4eat(which apparently was sorta uncommon). It was slow and usually got around 22mpg, but because of awd and the torque converter it would blast to 10mph. :awe: Had great visibility, pretty big inside(especially the back), and fantastic radio reception. It actually handled reasonably well and was pretty reliable.


My dad gave it to me at 16, by then it had done 120k+ of reasonably hard miles and the body was looking pretty bad. I sold it about a year later and bought my WRX. I sorta miss it in a weird way, but I definitely don't regret getting the WRX as it's replacement. :D
 
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CurseTheSky

Diamond Member
Oct 21, 2006
5,401
2
0
1999 Chevy Malibu 3.1L V6

i56353A_1.jpg


Same color as the one in the picture ("Bronzemist" Metallic). 155 HP or so, 4 speed auto, decent gas mileage, given to me by my parents at 17. It was a great car to start with and I was very greatful for it.

The body was in excellent shape (not a spot of visible rust, and underneath didn't look bad either considering the snow, ice, and salt around here), interior was like new aside from a resistor blowing out and losing the first three fan speeds on the blower motor (relatively easy fix). The biggest problem was the infamous intake manifold leak that we patched, and the transmission that started acting up around 100-110k miles. We eventually traded it in for $1800 (lol).
 
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Bartman39

Bartman39

Elite Member | For Sale/Trade
Jul 4, 2000
8,867
51
91
1966 Chevy C10 w/292 6 cylinder & 2 spd Powerglide LWB... Almost this exact truck except it got wrecked in my senior year... Bought it from my grandfather in 1974 for $500 he had bought it new in 1966...

 
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CraigRT

Lifer
Jun 16, 2000
31,440
5
0
I have no pics, but only fond memories of my 1988 LeBaron GTS hatchback.

She never let me down, even though I beat the bag off it every time I drove it.. It was slow and reliable, just like every kid's first car should be.

It was comfortable, and IMHO a great looking car for standards at the time.

Eventually traded in on a 2001 Neon R/T, got $300 for it. had like 150k miles. I still miss it to this day, and I last saw it like 10 years ago!
 
mmntech

mmntech

Lifer
Sep 20, 2007
17,501
12
0
No pics either but I must pay tribute to my "legendary" 1989 Mazda 626 LX 5-door sport hatchback. That's back when hatchbacks looked like regular cars. Midnight blue in colour, had a 2.0L engine, automatic transmission, power windows, robbin's egg blue cloth interior.

I got the car for free from my grandma after she gave up driving. It wasn't in good shape. Had a metal sunroof that was rusted through. A poor DIY bondo job later and it still leaked when it rained, dumping water on my head if I turned too sharp. This left its trademark pink scab on the roof.

Distributor and brake lines were gone, tires nearly bald, injectors gummed up. I think I spent nearly $1000 fixing the thing. Radio was stuck on a single station per band. You had a choice between either the AM or FM one. Tape deck worked though. AC was toast too.

Had it for two years before excessive road salt finally took its toll and rusted out the undercarriage. Too much to fix. Loved that car though. Would take all my RC stuff like a hooker.
 
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Bignate603

Bignate603

Lifer
Sep 5, 2000
13,897
1
0
No pictures...

My first car was a 1981 Cadillac Fleetwood that my grandfather wanted off his lawn. It ran well but was a dog. It was moved by a 4.1 V6 which was barely up to the task. This was compounded by a rear diff that pucked out its fluid and then seized. It was cheaper to get a whole junkyard rear axle but we could only find one for the V8s so the gearing was WAAAAY off. From that point on my speedo only read about 2/3 what I was actually going and the car's acceleration went from bad to terrible. On the other hand, my gas mileage started to break into the 20s on the freeway. ;)

The shocks were shot, the vinyl roof peeled off, and the starter sometimes wouldn't engage right so the car would shriek when you tried to get it going. Every once and a while the car would diesel when I turned it off for a few seconds. That seemed to go away when I cleaned out the carb, put in new plugs and changed out the air filter but I'm not sure which one fixed it.

However, it was an awesome car. I remember once I fit a carpet from a decent sized room including the carpet pad into the trunk without removing the two tires that were in there or any of the random tools and things. I couldn't quite latch it so I had a friend hold the trunk lid down as I climbed up onto it and jumped on it until it latched. The sheet metal barely flexed. It was built like an absolute tank.

I left for college and gave it to my little brother. He drove it until the head gasket went and it started drinking water like crazy. The fire department bought it off us to use in the local fair's demolition derby where it won it's heat :)
 
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Instan00dles

Golden Member
Jun 15, 2001
1,174
1
81
1996 VW 1.9L turbo diesel.

Its way too long of a story but I can work on any part of a car because it was always breaking down.
 
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speedy2

Golden Member
Nov 30, 2008
1,294
0
71
1965 Mustang Coupe

With a 289 C.I.D V8 and a C4 automatic. Boy do I regret not keeping it...

959059405.jpg
 
punjabiplaya

punjabiplaya

Diamond Member
Nov 12, 2006
3,495
1
71
1993 Sentra 2dr Limited Edition in Black. I think I've had more fun in that thing than in my MS3. I love that car. Only two failures in 210,000+ miles - water pump and ignition coils.

couldn't find pictures of a non-SE-R, but it's damn close enough

92-sentra-se-r-02_450.jpg
 
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CurseTheSky

Diamond Member
Oct 21, 2006
5,401
2
0
speedy2 said:
1965 Mustang Coupe

With a 289 C.I.D V8 and a C4 automatic. Boy do I regret not keeping it...

959059405.jpg
Click to expand...

Buy another one with the metal work all done and get a cheap paint job. ;) Engine and trans should be dirt cheap if you look around.
 
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x-alki

Golden Member
Jun 2, 2007
1,353
1
81
No picks but it was a 1970 GMC Van Dura with a short wheelbase. Bought it in '78 and "pimped it out" with a bed. :D
 
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AmphibSailor

Golden Member
Feb 15, 2002
1,399
5
81
Bought it from a junk yard in 1979. I had the fenders flared, Cragar Mags with 50's on back and 60's up front. Muncie 4 speed, 3 1 barrel carbs w/Offenhauser intake and Clifford exhaust on small straight six engine. Very low budget rebuild on 16 year old's budget (called in a lot of favors for the paint-Corvette beige, interior re-upholstery, engine rebuild etc).

For a first car...it was awesome!
 
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skulkingghost

skulkingghost

Golden Member
Jan 4, 2006
1,660
1
76
88-90_Ford_Escort_LX_5-door.jpg


A 1990 Ford Escort LX same color as the one in the photo. It had these amazing automatic seatbelts that made a lot of people panic when they first got in the car late at night. Watching someone freak out as it moved back was always hilarious.
 
Bignate603

Bignate603

Lifer
Sep 5, 2000
13,897
1
0
AmphibSailor said:
Bought it from a junk yard in 1979. I had the fenders flared, Cragar Mags with 50's on back and 60's up front. Muncie 4 speed, 3 1 barrel carbs w/Offenhauser intake and Clifford exhaust on small straight six engine. Very low budget rebuild on 16 year old's budget (called in a lot of favors for the paint-Corvette beige, interior re-upholstery, engine rebuild etc).

For a first car...it was awesome!
Click to expand...

Sounds great, but what was it? You didn't mention the kind of car it was.

Edit: I see the title on his post now.
 
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Kirby

Kirby

Lifer
Apr 10, 2006
12,028
2
0
2000 Jetta 1.8T. Parents bought it for me in 2005 for getting a scholarship. It had 34k miles on it.

Still have it with +140k miles, with no major problems surprisingly. Still runs as well as the day I got it.
 
DominionSeraph

DominionSeraph

Diamond Member
Jul 22, 2009
8,386
32
91
fbird.jpg


1992 Firebird V6. Looked good and the T-tops were nice, but god it was slow (had trouble reaching the 112MPH limiter) with tons of body roll, chassis flex, and horrific understeer.
 
Toastedlightly

Toastedlightly

Diamond Member
Aug 7, 2004
7,214
6
81
Beautiful 1974 Dodge D100 stepside half-ton. The truck was a joy to drive with 4.something rear gears (somebody had swapped an 8 3/4 rear into it) and a first gear granny. The limited slip made driving in winter just that much more effortless. How I miss you my non-rusty friend.

Like this, only spray-bombed in black primer (and not nearly as straight as this example).

21129004014_large.jpg
 
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