my high school car... do I want another one?

[mrspeedyt]

I'm 60. I hear people say they want to find the car (or another like it) that they had in high school. Not me. If one were offered to me really cheap...maybe I'd reconsider it....but I prefer the cars I didn't have.... especially the OLD ones. (1900-1950s) My first (and second) high school cars were imports...fiat600 and mg1100 sedans. Just about everybody else at my school drove american iron from the '60s and a few vw's. My folks had a '64 malibu 2DHT and then a '68 442 after I graduated in 1968. They were fun cars but I like the cars that were really OLD when I was a teen. Meaning so OLD that nobody drove one but on special ocasion. Like a model 't' or even an 'a' . I honestly don't recall seeing pre-war cars much at all in the late '60s... and that was in southern california.

[JFranklin]

Still have it.

[Guest]

I still have mine too! A 65 Type 111 Standard Beetle (11th grade) and a 69 Pontiac LeMans Ht Coupe 350 H-0 ( 12th grade ) special ordered and delivered & picked up 12/11/68.

Don

[Restorer32]

My high school car was a faded out blue '60 Corvair 4 door automatic with Pep Boys nylon seat covers. I NEVER want another one!

[DAVE A]

I had a 65 Corvair Monza, 3 speed on the floor. Had a split in the flywheel, slipped out of 3rd gear if you left off the accelerator, and a gigantic hole in the passenger side floor which was convenient for trash disposal (just lift the mat and drop it out). Someone had taken off the fuel lines and replaced them with rubber hoses so fires were a constant companion. And of course the infamous lack of heat in the winter. Used to fill the passenger compartment with smoke all the time so you had to leave the windows open all the time. The clutch cable left me one time when I was with a bunch of guys in Dewey Beach Del and I had to make (at that time) all 13 lights from Indian River back to my parents place without a clutch. Repaired the cable with parts from the garage door!!! Still there are fond memories of senior prom and road trips........Nah!!!I'd never buy another one!!!

[Restorer32]

Mine eventually burned up.

[Guest Hinckley]

Perhaps. However, if I were to again own a 1964 Rambler American s/w with flat head six and three on the tree it might be nice to have one that didn't use more oil than gas, had an interior that was more than cotton tuffs and sharp springs, and a transmission that didn't pop out of third gear. The strangest thing about this car was an electrical glitch that allowed the radio to play, with the key off and removed, if your foot was on the brake pedal!

[Shop Rat]

I didn't have a car of my own in high school. But what Idid have was my very own set of keys to my mom and dad's new Ford Country Sedan Station Wagon. That is not the car I want. I want the car they had before that. A splendid, red with a black vinyl roof (only half of the roof was vinyl) and spinner hubcaps, 1965 Dodge Dart GT. :cool: That is the car I learned to drive in and I still want one.

My first car was a white 1967 VW Beetle. I wouldn't mind having one of those too.

[DAVE A]

Mine eventually burned up.

Mine "burned" several times but I always got the fire out in time. Actually got quite good at it. Got to where I could recognize the sound of it catching fire!!! When I went away to college, it sat in my parents front yard until one day the local ice cream delivery man (we had one of those along with a milk man and a bread man) asked my mom about buying it. Needless to say it found an eager seller!!!

[keiser31]

Mmm...still have my high school car and another like it. I'll take as many as I can get!!

[stock_steve]

Interesting topic!

My first car, acquired in 1976, in between my high school junior and senior year, with some financial help from my father, was a 1971 VW Super Beetle Convertible, in a pleasant mellow orange color called "Clementine" (VW color code L20D).

Unfortunately the car is long-since gone, having "returned to the earth" (allowed to sit outside and rot for many years after I sold it to my father; I had moved on to a brand-new 1978 Mazda GLC; my dad had visions of restoring the VW, but ended up never doing anything with it, unfortunately), as neglected old VWs often do.

Coincidentally, I saw a beautifully preserved '72 Super Beetle Convertible just this past Sunday (9/5/2010), at a big antique auto show in Westbrook, CT, and had a great time chatting with the owner (who appreciates what a *gem* of a car he has), and also thinking back on the many memories of my old '71. This fellow's '72 was not Clementine (was no longer offered in '72), but a slightly brighter orange--I will guess it's L20B "Brilliant Orange."

Let me see if I can upload a photo of that nice '72 from this past Sunday...

Edited September 8, 2010 by stock_steve (see edit history)

[padgett]

My first car was a 1959 Jaguar XK-150s roadster. Wanted a TR3 but this was cheaper. Then I found out why. Did teach me how to double-clutch but still have an oil pressure mania.

Exorcised Lucas products and have been almost all GM since 1967 though must admit to an unnatural liking for FIAT roadsters. Have gotten over desire for a Facel-Vega. Am discovering a liking for turbo diesels.

Edited September 8, 2010 by padgett (see edit history)

[Guest]

I should have put these two pictures of my high school cars in my original post #3. They look the same today as they did in 1968. That's all original chrome on both cars and the vinyl roof on the LeMans is original. the LeMans has 58,000 miles and the VW has 178,000 Kilometers still on it's original matching numbers engine.

Don

<HR SIZE=1>

Edited September 9, 2010 by helfen (see edit history)

[alsancle]

I think it all depends on what your first car was. My first car was a 49 Plymouth Special Deluxe 2 door. My second car, on the other hand was a 69 GTO Conv which I wouldn't mind getting a copy of (mine was a crap box).

[OldsDoug]

I'm 60. I hear people say they want to find the car (or another like it) that they had in high school. (snip) My first (and second) high school cars were imports...fiat600 and mg1100 sedans. (snip)

Wow, that's really weird... I'm in the same age bracket and a buddy of mine had the same two cars at about the same time...

[Steve_Mack_CT]

My HS car was a '71 Camaro, blue with a blue interior, and a mighty 307 PG automatic! Would maybe want another one, but would probably not fit my current collecting plans or interests. My first car ever, at age 14, was a 1941 Plymouth 2 door sedan, it would be cool to have another one but there are others higher on the want list.

Still, I enjoy both models when I come across them at shows.

I have two friends who still own their first cars, a 68 Mustang GT and a fully restored 1939 Chevy.

[LINC400]

I have zero desire to own a copy of my first high school car. Since my parents were divorced, I had to go with my uncle to buy a car. He bought a 1975 Buick Regal new, and thought it was the best car ever made (even though he had traded it in several years prior). He would not take me to look at anything I wanted to look at. Instead he took me to look at a 1974 and 1975 Buick Century (basically the same as a Regal, but not as nice. He couldn't have me owning a car that was as nice as his.) The '74 ran like crap, was rusted, and reeked of b.o. The 1975 had peeling paint and rust on the roof, and looked like it had Leprosy. I chose the '75 as it was the lesser of 2 evils. My uncle congratulated me on my great choice.

I tried to make the best of it, and fix it up with junkyard parts. Then in winter, it slid on the ice and damaged the front end. I was going to fix it up, but then realized, hey I have a car, and don't have to ask anybody to take me to buy one. I traded it in on my second high school car, a 1979 Mercury Cougar XR7. I loved that car, but it was the biggest lemon I ever owned. I have no desire to get another one of those either.

Nobody I know ever owned Lincolns, and I have now had 3 of them. I would also like to get a Packard and an Imperial. Nobody I know ever had one of those either. So no high school memories with any of the cars I want to own now.

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Linc, off topic but the coolest car in my neighborhood growing up was my friend's dad's brandy new Mark IV. He was a collector also, following that up with a Continental Mark II.

Come to think of it, my friend's Bob's HS car was a '64 or '65 LC sedan. Not the usual late 70s HS car. To new to be really collectible then, I think it was like a $500 car.

[stock_steve]

I should have put my my two high school cars pictures in. They look the same today as they did in 1968. That's all original chrome and the vinyl roof on the LeMans is original. the lemans has 58,000 miles and the VW has 178,000 Kilometers still on it's original matching numbers engine.

Don

Don,

Please tell us a little more about your very nice looking VW with KPH speedo!

My '56 Ghia (which is in the background of the '72 Super Beetle Convertible picture that I posted above) was an original Switzerland car, and has KPH speedo, bulb headlights, etc.. The guy I bought it from in CT back in the mid-'80s, said it was his mom's car in Switzerland (she was the original owner), and eventually when she got too old to drive, he had it shipped to the US. His college-age kids had no interest in driving it, and so he put it in the newspaper for sale--which is where I found it & quickly snapped it up--have had zero regrets...

Very slick LeMans too, by the way!

Edited September 8, 2010 by stock_steve (see edit history)

[Guest]

Don,

Please tell us a little more about your very nice looking VW with KPH speedo!

My '56 Ghia (which is in the background of the '72 Super Beetle Convertible picture that I posted above) was an original Switzerland car, and has KPH speedo, bulb headlights, etc.. The guy I bought it from in CT back in the mid-'80s, said it was his mom's car in Switzerland (she was the original owner), and eventually when she got too old to drive, he had it shipped to the US. His college-age kids had no interest in driving it, and so he put it in the newspaper for sale--which is where I found it & quickly snapped it up--have had zero regrets...

Very slick LeMans too, by the way!

Thanks Steve,

The VW is a Standard Type 111 that was ordered here in Ca. and picked up in Germany by a guy who drove it through Europe for a month and brought it back. The car was built almost like a Canadian Standard sans amber rear turn signal lamps, kilometer speedo, and road draft tube. Canadian standards have the deluxe bumpers and side molding and headlamps. It was built this way to be able to get into the states easier as we have different bumper height and lamp specifications. It is powered by the old original type engine w/ fixed generator stand with fuel pump located to the left of the distributor just like the original design by Franz Reimspiess in 1936. It's a 1200 36 hp with fresh air heat exchangers like all U.S. deluxe type 113's 40 hp type. If you would like a rundown on all the differences P/M me as the list is a mile long. This car dosen't even have seat tracks, they are bolted to the pan. I bought it in Aug. of 68 ( 11TH grade) and is a great car that gets 39mpg ( used to be 42 until we got mandatory 10% ETHANOL).

Don

[Guest jmarsicano]

Mine.... A 1971 Pontiac GT-37... still have it.

[dship]

I bought my first car in 1966, age 17, 11th grade. It was a 56 Mercury 2dr with a V8 292ci 3 on the column. Learned how to drive standard shift with that car. Paid $35 for it and sold it a year later for $50. Couldn't afford tires so I had two snow tires on the rear, one regular tire on the driver's front, and one snow tire on the passenger's front....all used from a junk yard. I figured that while I was fighting the cluching/shifting I'd probably loose sight of the road, hit a rightside curb, and the snow tire would take punishment better than a regular tire!

[Restorer32]

First car I ever bought with my own money was a '59 Austin Healey Bug Eyed Sprite (Frog Eyed for you proper Brits). 3 months after I finished painting it in the drivewy and doing a high class Naugahyde reupholster it was demolished in a hit and run accident that cost me both my kneecaps, a month in hospital and 6 months on crutches. When I could walk again I bought a 1955 XK 140 Jag Drophead for $237.50 (it needed work) with my insurance proceeds. I still have the Jag.

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Don't suppose you want to double your money on that Jag Restorer?

(can't blame a guy for trying!!!)

[Restorer32]

Before finding the somewhat rusty 140 I passed up a pair of nice 120 Roadsters for $1500 a piece. They were way beyond my means. This was in 1969.

[Jim Bollman]

My first car is out in my barn. Had it since 1963 so I guess I'll keep it a while longer. Does need some work to get it back on the road, one of those projects I don't get to.

My big decision is should I make it look nice or roughly how it looked when I was in High School. If I make it look nice it will be just another 49 Crosley. If I make it like I drove in HS it will look pretty ratty but....

[Mark Huston]

My high school car was a plain Jane 1964 Plymouth 4 door with a slant 6 and 3 speed on the column. I paid $50.00 for the car in 1975. When I bought the car I had to tow it to the gas station that I worked at and install a new battery and put 4 new tires on before it was drivable. The car had over 200,000 miles when I bought it, two shades of primer intermixed with original paint, the column shifter frequently got stuck between 2 nd and 3 rd gears, the drivers seat was a worn out hole that I filled with old towels to make the seat level, and the engine used almost as much oil as it did gas. I never had to give the car an oil change because the oil leaked out before it could get dirty.

The attached picture was taken after the car was wrecked the summer I graduated from high school. I was 18 and burning the candles at both ends as most teenagers will do. I lived in a rural area and worked in a small town that was 20 miles of country roads from home. I fell asleep at the wheel driving home one summer day flipping and rolling the Plymouth. I was not wearing a seat belt and the car came to a stop upside down in the middle of a cow pasture. I somehow managed to crawl out of the car through an open door window and a passing driver picked me up and dropped me off at the first farmhouse about a mile down the road. Two teenage sisters were the only ones at home and they immediately started playing nurse and treating my injuries. After about an hour their father came home and was surprised to find his daughters all over an injured teenage boy in his living room. The father also happened to be a member of the volunteer fire department and had just returned from the call out on my car accident. When he found out I was the driver of the car that was upside down he asked what I was doing in his house when everyone was down the road looking for me at the accident scene. I was quickly taken back to the accident scene where I had to deal with an irate farmer who was upset over his torn up fence and the highway patrol officer who was tired from beating the brush looking for me.

I sold the car to a wrecking yard for $100.00.

[MCHinson]

My first car was a 1961 Cadillac Hearse in 1976. It was loads of fun from age 16 to 18 or 19. I can still tell many inappropriate stories and jokes. I sold it because it was not too appropriate for a Rescue Squad volunteer to drive up to the scene in a Hearse. Now, I am almost 50. I don't think I am going to own another Hearse, but it was a great first car. Yes, I know I have a little bit of a weird sense of humor.

[junkyardjeff]

My first car was a 65 galaxie 2 door hard top and I located one in the same color out in California but since it did not run would have been a pain to get to Ohio so I passed on it,I do want to get another and take better care of it this time.

[1937hd45]

My first car was a 1926 Model T I bought in 1966, drove the restored chassis but sold it before starting the body work. First registered car was a 1954 Chevrolet Four Door. Wouldn't mind a 26-27 T Touring and a 1954 Chevy Two Door, but I don't think it will ever happen.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

YES. 1940 Chevrolet Delux Fordor Sedan. Paid for it with proceeds from a papre route.

It had a Souyhwind heater, vacuum assisted shift and radio.

Ben

[stock_steve]

Thanks Steve,

The VW is a Standard Type 111 that was ordered here in Ca. and picked up in Germany by a guy who drove it through Europe for a month and brought it back. The car was built almost like a Canadian Standard sans amber rear turn signal lamps, kilometer speedo, and road draft tube. Canadian standards have the deluxe bumpers and side molding and headlamps. It was built this way to be able to get into the states easier as we have different bumper height and lamp specifications. It is powered by the old original type engine w/ fixed generator stand with fuel pump located to the left of the distributor just like the original design by Franz Reimspiess in 1936. It's a 1200 36 hp with fresh air heat exchangers like all U.S. deluxe type 113's 40 hp type. If you would like a rundown on all the differences P/M me as the list is a mile long. This car dosen't even have seat tracks, they are bolted to the pan. I bought it in Aug. of 68 ( 11TH grade) and is a great car that gets 39mpg ( used to be 42 until we got mandatory 10% ETHANOL).

Don

Wow, that's super-cool, Don--what an interesting car! One question I have (and sorry if I missed it somewhere) is what is your Beetle's model year?

I should've picked up the 36hp engine configuration from your picture--but perhaps the fresh air tubes coming down from the fan shroud threw me off--wow!

Again, amazing details--what a cool car!

I have never tried to calculate gasoline mileage with any of my 36hp cars (besides the '56 Ghia, I also have a '60 Sunroof Bug)--but that's phenomenal mpg's you're getting too! I've gotten an honest 30 mpg with my former '68 Bug (1500 single port), when it was all tuned up and I was doing mostly steady highway commuting with it--but 39 is tremendous. I'll have to try figuring out what I am getting with the Ghia, since it's running quite well right now, and I'm driving it a fair amount lately. It'll be a bit more complicated, though, since I'll have to convert KMs to miles, etc...

Anyway, thanks for the additional details about your most interesting old VW, and I wish you many more happy miles with it.

Steve from Stony Creek, CT

[Guest c.johnson]

My High School car was a 1968 Merc Cougar. Fitting since the mascot of the school was the Cougar. I put a lot of work into it, and finally got running well, the headlights and chasing tail lights working, and got it to pass emmissions and inspections and left the country for a while. While I was gone, my sister drove it and had an accident that took out the front end. She bought a doner car, and the first thing I did when I got home was to replace the front grill, fenders, headlights and so on.

Got married sometime later, and three months later my wife totaled it - well not really my wife I guess, but the other driver T-boned it while she was driving. When she called me at work to tell me she was in an accident, my first words were "How's the car?" - I figured if she was calling, that she wasn't that bad...right? But I will never live that down...

About 2 years after we were married, I had the chance to buy another Cougar, but this time a '67 XR7. I went to see the car almost daily for a week to think about buying it. Finally, I walked home one evening, and my young wife asked "So have you decided on the car, or have they already sold it?" and my sad reply was "No, I've decided not to buy it....I'm not 16 anymore..."

I still have a special appreciation for Cougars...but I'm even older now....

[Guest my3buicks]

My first car was actually bought the summer I started college. My Grandad bought it new in 67 and I bought it from him in 1979. I still have have it to this day!!!

[LINC400]

Linc, off topic but the coolest car in my neighborhood growing up was my friend's dad's brandy new Mark IV. He was a collector also, following that up with a Continental Mark II.

Come to think of it, my friend's Bob's HS car was a '64 or '65 LC sedan. Not the usual late 70s HS car. To new to be really collectible then, I think it was like a $500 car.

My mom had a 1974 Ford Elite. She always pointed out Mark IV's as the car she would like to have gotten instead. When the Mark V came out, I thought the razor edge styling and gills on the fenders made it much cooler than the Mark IV. So not exactly a connection there but I suppose that inspired my liking Lincolns.

Oddly enough, I'm really not interested in the 1960's Lincolns. I guess they were quite a departure at the time with their conservative use of chrome and slab sides. But conservative (or uninspired now) flat sides are all you can get in a new car now. So I'd rather have a flashier and more extravagant Imperial or Cadillac from the 1960's. Flashy and extravagant you can't get anymore (not counting bolt on tacky bling).

[John_Maine]

I'm 60 as well. I didn't have a car until college, then it was a '64 Corvair 700 4 door, 3 speed manual. I really liked it but it was mechanical nightmare. I kept it about 9 months then traded for a more conventional '64 Falcon Futura which got me through the next 3 years. I've always wanted another Corvair - for the life of me, I don't know why - and certainly wouldn't turn down a nice '64 Futura.

My parents had a '59 Impala and then a '66 Impala when I was in high school. I hated both of them at the time but would love to have one now. So, if I found a cameo coral/satin beige '59 or mist blue '66, it'd be tough to pass up.

[Guest]

Wow, that's super-cool, Don--what an interesting car! One question I have (and sorry if I missed it somewhere) is what is your Beetle's model year?

I should've picked up the 36hp engine configuration from your picture--but perhaps the fresh air tubes coming down from the fan shroud threw me off--wow!

Again, amazing details--what a cool car!

I have never tried to calculate gasoline mileage with any of my 36hp cars (besides the '56 Ghia, I also have a '60 Sunroof Bug)--but that's phenomenal mpg's you're getting too! I've gotten an honest 30 mpg with my former '68 Bug (1500 single port), when it was all tuned up and I was doing mostly steady highway commuting with it--but 39 is tremendous. I'll have to try figuring out what I am getting with the Ghia, since it's running quite well right now, and I'm driving it a fair amount lately. It'll be a bit more complicated, though, since I'll have to convert KMs to miles, etc...

Anyway, thanks for the additional details about your most interesting old VW, and I wish you many more happy miles with it.

Steve from Stony Creek, CT

Steve,

It's a 65, and 65 standards were the last year to use the old style engine. U.S. cars got the 40hp (new) engine in 61, and the 40hp became the engine for the standard in 1966 until the end of production in Germany in January 1978. The very last beetle produced in Germany was a 1200 40hp standard. Did you notice absence of chrome trim on the window rubber and running board?,and the vent wings are not bright anodized aluminum. they are painted the color of the car. Many more things too.

Don

Edited September 10, 2010 by helfen (see edit history)

[Big Beat]

I got another '79 Monte a few years ago after regretting getting rid of my first for 25 years. Same year, same color. Not as "vintage" as some of the others here, but time is on her side.

[stock_steve]

Steve,

It's a 65, and 65 standards were the last year to use the old style engine. U.S. cars got the 40hp (new) engine in 61, and the 40hp became the engine for the standard in 1966 until the end of production in Germany in January 1978. The very last beetle produced in Germany was a 1200 40hp standard. Did you notice absence of chrome trim on the window rubber and running board?,and the vent wings are not bright anodized aluminum. they are painted the color of the car. Many more things too.

Don

I did go back and look at your VW picture again, and did notice those details about the lack of chrome around the windows and running board edge. That's very interesting engine usage history also--thanks for providing the additional details about a very interesting specimen of old VW.

Steve from Stony Creek, CT

[Dave@Moon]

I didn't have a car until college....

I was beginning to think I was the only one.

I had a 2-tone 1969 AMC Ambassador wagon (blue w/ yellow fenders, not my doing) the summer before college (1976). It lasted 3 months until I tried to get it to pass PA inspection. Hopeless. I didn't then have a car until I was 21 (1979), and about to be a senior in college. (I had to give up my driver's license from age 18 to 21. I couldn't afford both college and [mandatory] car insurance. I never once even drove my parent's car in the summer.)

That car was a 2-tone 1971 Datsun 510 wagon (white with a yellow front clip, also not my doing), which I painted fluorescent yellow. (They gave me the wrong yellow paint, and I didn't care.) It lasted 7 months until I saved up $600 from a part-time job to actually buy a car! (The first 2 cars were gifts from my grandfather. He wanted the Datsun back afterward, painted it blue, and drove it for 6 weeks until the engine literally fell out in the street.).

The $800 car was a 18K mile 1960 Ford Falcon, that was the only car I could afford that I thought would last 3 years in Iowa. I drove it for 3 years in graduate school, kept for 3 more, restored in 1989 (w/ then 56K miles), and sold in 1991. The last I knew it was being used to show resort properties around Lake Michigan.

Even out of grad school I still was getting hand-me-down cars, this time a 1980 Datsun 210 from my dad.

I was 26 years old before I was able to buy a car of my own choosing.

Edited September 13, 2010 by Dave@Moon (see edit history)