Jump to content

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


mrspeedyt

Recommended Posts

yes, my dad bought me my first high school car in 1972, $100.00 for a 1962 chevy impala sport sedan (4 door hard top), 235 and powerglide, i drove it 10,000 miles in six months time, and the head gasket blew. dad sold it to a mechanic for $10.00, i bought my second car, and still have it today, 1953 pontiac chieftain custom catalina coupe, straight eight, dual range hydra-matic, power steering, spotlight, fender skirts, and continnetial kit. price in 1973, $150.00 i'm the second owner. charles coker, 1953 pontiac tech advisor, poci.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

mine was a 1964 rambler american 440 2dr hard top. paid 250.00 for it really nice car no rust interior nice that was in 1971 when i was 16. drove it for year and half and bought a 1964 mustang 289 hipo winter blue with white interior would like to have either one right now. i really liked the rambler thou

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest CaptainGTX

I guess my answer would have to be in the affirmative. My first car bought in 1964 was a 1953 Dodge Coronet Red Ram sedan, just your basic well-worn transportation that was capable of 120 mph. Last fall I found my second 53 Dodge, a Coronet convertible, also with Red Ram V8. This one is a semi-survivor that I want to drive around a year or so before tearing down for restoration. Never having seen a 53 Dodge convertible before, I couldn't resist buying this one, which was a one-family car.

I also have a version of my first new car, a 69 Plymouth Sport Satellite special ordered 2 dr 383 auto w/AC bought in college (thanks partially to a student loan). About eleven years ago I bought a 69 Plymouth GTX 440 4spd that I've since restored. I have no intention of ever parting with either car.

I've thought more than once that I may be trying to recapture my youth - and I probably am. But so what? It wasn't so bad the first time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I still have my first car. As a matter of fact the car won a First Junior at our meet in Canandaigua, and it did it with the paint job that was done before I even had my license. I also have what I wanted for my first car, that is in the shop and is very close to seeing finished paint. I also still have my first new brand new car that will be eligible to be shown in two more years.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Larry, I'm terrible at posting pictures but they are the following:

1. 1976 Ford Mustang II Ghia - 1st Junior winner.

2. 1978 Ford Bronco XLT Ranger - purchased in 2005 while at the AGNM in Northglenn. This truck is in primer and hopefully will be ready to roll next spring. I always wanted the Bronco, but back in the day I had to settle with the Mustang. Today I have both.

3. 1987 Ford Mustang GT w/T-Top - my first new car, has 13,000 miles on it with no winters. Hopefully in 2012 she'll be out going for a First Junior.

post-30988-143138317698_thumb.jpg

post-30988-143138317716_thumb.jpg

post-30988-143138317733_thumb.jpg

Edited by ex98thdrill (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 9 years later...

I finally found pictures of my HS car(s).   The blue 49 Plymouth was my real HS car that my dad bought for me with 9k original miles when I was about 12.   Learned to drive a stick in my parents 100 foot long driveway.

 

The Liberty Blue GTO convertible was my reaction to the 49 Plymouth.   Many many hours working in the grocery store at 2.75/hour.   Didn't actually get it running until after I graduated.   It was a 400/auto that I converted to a four speed.

 

The 68 GTO in the background came out of a junk yard for 400 bucks.  I had to borrow the money from my girlfriend.  What a horrible idea that was. It had its original 400 with a dual gate.   I manged to get my 400 bucks back out of it.  It got flipped again to a different friend and when they were pulling it on to the rollback the frame broke in half.

GTO-2.jpg

GTO-4.jpg

GTO-3.jpg

Edited by alsancle (see edit history)
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Your first car is always one to remember.

My green wood grained 1954 Ford wagon had body filler1/3 the way up the rear quarters and 4 inches up the doors and lower front fenders.

The interesting thing was the body filler on both sides of the engine block.

The interior had the fresh smell of rotting wood and carpet.

It was an excellent running $5.00 car in 1969.

What would that be in today's  Dollars ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My first car I purchased with money from lawn work and snow shoveling was an unrestored (very) 1920 Dodge Brothers Touring Car. I was just shy of turning 15 at the time. That one took me 6 years get restored correctly winning it’s AACA Senior award the year after completion. There was no Grand Nat’l award back then. My first daily driver car was a 1966 Chev. Bel air 2-Dr post coupe that I bought at a Bell Telephone equipment auction for $212.50. It had a 250-6 cylinder w/auto and I kept it for a year until I lucked into a ‘66 Pontiac GP 421/4-speed that was a great car. It’s one of a very few cars that really regret selling and would love to have back. The DB was sold a year or so later and replaced with a 1911 Hudson Mod. 33 Touring, another great car. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Would I like to have my first car........ you betcha!!!!!!    1955 Pontiac 2dr. HT green and white. Bought it in 63 for $90 and loved it. Traded it for a 58 Pontiac Star Chief in 65 (another one I wish I kept). When I came back from Viet Nam in 67 I bought a new Dodge Coronet 440 with a 383, 4bbl and 4 speed and posi. Once again I kick myself. Hind site being 20/20 it makes me sad. I commend all that kept their first car.

Ron

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow this is a 10 year old thread coming back to haunt us. Still have mine.  1956 Olds 2 door 88 hardtop with manual transmission. 

Shop cass project was putting the custom grille in it,  I took out of a 67 Cougar at our local dump.  It's actually the tail light bezels mounted to band iron strap so it flexes sightly to form a V and totally reversible as I mounted them in the existing holes. 

I was offered very fair money for it about 4 years ago.  Probably should have sold it and put the money to another project higher up the food chain.  I haven't driven it in probably 7 years but Dad exercises twice a year up home.   When I finally get my floor poured, it will finally end up down here. 

IMG_2509.JPG

IMG_6000.JPG

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, auburnseeker said:

Wow this is a 10 year old thread coming back to haunt us. Still have mine.  1956 Olds 2 door 88 hardtop with manual transmission. 

Shop cass project was putting the custom grille in it,  I took out of a 67 Cougar at our local dump.  It's actually the tail light bezels mounted to band iron strap so it flexes sightly to form a V and totally reversible as I mounted them in the existing holes. 

I was offered very fair money for it about 4 years ago.  Probably should have sold it and put the money to another project higher up the food chain.  I haven't driven it in probably 7 years but Dad exercises twice a year up home.   When I finally get my floor poured, it will finally end up down here.

 

I needed a reason to post my GTO pictures and starting a brand new "HS cars thread" seemed gauche.

 

You were way ahead of me with the 88 over my 49 Special Deluxe.   It was love/hate for me.  I Loved that my dad bought me my own car that was ridiculously clean but I despised that my friends nicknamed it "the pumpkin".

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was helping a friend buy a car last weekend that was very close to my 2nd car, a 1956 Meteor Niagara. My 1st car was a 1957 Meteor Rideau. Traded the 57 for the 56 as it had a running engine the 57 was missing. Sometimes I get nostalgic and want another, but then something goes wrong or breaks and I'm cured, for a little while.

meteor 001.jpg

meteor 004.jpg

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow! No desire to ever own my first car again - 1984 Nissan 2wd extended cab truck. I would buy my third car again if I found a cherry one - 1989 Buick Regal, black, moon roof, maroon interior. Pretty quick with that all aluminum V6 - 3.8L? The digital speedo was a little hokey though :)

Edited by Ken_P (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice revival of an ancient thread AJ!  I mentioned 2 HS pals in 2010 that still have their cars, and still do 10 years later.  My pal Rick restored his 39 Chevy between '78 and around '82.  One summer the two of us took the body off the frame with floorjacks, planks and sawhorses.  It slipped and fell nearly killing us both!  Dent repair in lower front cowl is the only bodywork that was needed on that CA car.  Still looks repectable today.

 

Attached is a current pic of my friend Richard's 68 Mustang GTA which he has owned since age 14 and held onto since graduating a year behind me in 82.  In the process of a full pro restoration.  I hope to be invited to drive it again even if just around the block! 

received_623698218274642.jpeg

Edited by Steve_Mack_CT (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Steve_Mack_CT said:

Nice revival of an ancient thread AJ!  I mentioned 2 HS pals in 2010 that still have their cars, and still do 10 years later.  My pal Rick restored his 39 Chevy between '78 and around '82.  One summer the two of us took the body off the frame with floorjacks, planks and sawhorses.  It slipped and fell nearly killing us both!  Dent repair in lower front cowl is the only bodywork that was needed on that CA car.  Still looks repectable today.

 

Attached is a current pic of my friend Richard's 68 Mustang GTA which he has owned since age 14 and held onto since graduating a year behind me in 82.  In the process of a full pro restoration.  I hope to be invited to drive it again even if just around the block! 

 

 

Will be interesting to see what that costs.   Pretty cool car for HS, even if it was an automatic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not HS but I had this one in my 20s, and I would want it back.  Not an antique in the late 80s but very active clubs forming at that time.  We put a lot of New England wide miles on this little TR and it was quite reliable.  Here it is in front our first house maybe 1988.

 

Michelin dealer actually had redlines in stock!  

20200811_082054.jpg

20200811_082018.jpg

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, 8E45E said:

Nope! Not that one! Its a 3-spd O/D.

 

But my '63 G.T. Hawk is!

63VC2403bldsht1 001.jpg

63VC2403bldsht2 001.jpg

 

Nice.  I can't help but notice the twin traction too.   You will see R2 cars and you will see stick cars but you rarely see the both together.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Steve_Mack_CT said:

Not HS but I had this one in my 20s, and I would want it back.  Not an antique in the late 80s but very active clubs forming at that time.  We put a lot of New England wide miles on this little TR and it was quite reliable.  Here it is in front our first house maybe 1988.

 

Michelin dealer actually had redlines in stock!  

20200811_082054.jpg

20200811_082018.jpg

 

 

Steve, tell that wasn't rusted to crap when it was 5 years old?   The thing I remember about the TR6 is that every one of them seemed to sit with the rear tires castered (or is it cantered?)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This one was pretty solid however it had a hole in the battery tray that let battery acid into passenger footwell.  Ruined at least one pair of Mary's sneakers.  The fellow who bought it spent a small fortune on it, it was a pretty good car, he wanted perfect.  He did an engine rebuild, interior and paint.  He actually brought it by when he was done, and he may still own it.  IRS rear in later TR4 through TR6 did like to squat..  

 

Amazingly, we broke even on this car even after giving it to a specialty shop for about a month to go over a list of needs.  I enjoyed it for 5, 6 seasons after that with only basic maintenance so I think it was worth the up front pain... 

Edited by Steve_Mack_CT (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 minutes ago, alsancle said:

 

Nice.  I can't help but notice the twin traction too.   You will see R2 cars and you will see stick cars but you rarely see the both together.

I believe the combination of R2 engines mated to 4-speeds is about 50/50.  The rest will have the Powershift automatic.  The majority of them will have Twin Traction, though. 

 

In a Lark or a Hawk, if it was a "package car" performance option group, Twin Traction was part of the package.  (known as SuperLark or SuperHawk).  And most Avantis with R2 engines will have Twin Traction.

 

Craig

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, 8E45E said:

I believe the combination of R2 engines mated to 4-speeds is about 50/50.  The rest will have the Powershift automatic.  The majority of them will have Twin Traction, though. 

 

In a Lark or a Hawk, if it was a "package car" performance option group, Twin Traction was part of the package.  (known as SuperLark or SuperHawk).  And most Avantis with R2 engines will have Twin Traction.

 

Craig

 

 

I would have assumed that the posi would have been basically standard with the high performance engines, but I almost bought a buddies R2/stick Avanti and it didn't have the twin traction.  I thought was weird,  but the hog troughs kept me from worrying about that issue for long.   It was a black car too with a lot of paperwork too,  such a shame.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 minutes ago, Steve_Mack_CT said:

This one was pretty solid however it had a hole in the battery tray that let battery acid into passenger footwell.  Ruined at least one pair of Mary's sneakers.  The fellow who bought it spent a small fortune on it, it was a pretty good car, he wanted perfect.  He did an engine rebuild, interior and paint.  He actually brought it by when he was done, and he may still own it.  IRS rear in later TR4 through TR6 did like to squat..  

 

Amazingly, we broke even on this car even after giving it to a specialty shop for about a month to go over a list of needs.  I enjoyed it for 5, 6 seasons after that with only basic maintenance so I think it was worth the up front pain... 

 


That is funny Steve.   Last car I broke even on was also about 30 years ago.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

No thank you. Had a '59 XK-150s (white/red) but not old enough for a real license in HS. Was 4 years old and $1500 for a really nice one. Fortunately I had made pocket change installing garden lights. 4 speed and OD. Made a lot of runs from south Florida to NC and LI but mostly avoided cold places (Lucas heater). Back then I thought nothing of 1,000 miles overnight (prefer daylight now). Lucas PL headlamps, Cibie halogen (friend sent from Europe, NA in US) driving lights. (Have always been big on really good headlights), air horns. Took the cure in 70's but still have trouble keeping eyes off of the oil pressure gauge and no longer carry a big wrench to hit the (Lucas) fuel pumps (Jag had 2)

 

By 67 (year not age), something had to be really cheap or interesting or a race car to acquire anything without AC (lots of HD things, bigger radiator and alternator, better heater and would clear mist quickly)..

Edited by padgett (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

First car was 1956 Vet purchased in 1965 for $1500. Would I still want it? Absolutely. The motor was a new 327 340 hp with a 3 speed tranny. Very fast, and took many long tours in it. Unfortunately I T-boned a station wagon at 40mph and never had a chance to touch the brake. A total loss, but I graduated to big block Chevelles after the accident. I still loved the solid axel Vettes however, and purchased a '62 in 1985 that I still have today.

IMG_2021.jpg

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have been told I'm different in many ways...

My first High School car is this 1958 Buick Limited given to me by my Dad when I turned 16.

510735291_1958BuickLimited-January11971-brokenujoint-pic1-copy-Copy.thumb.jpg.71e2f04b4fdedd7c73324dc963da3d61.jpg

 

I drove it for a year before this came along.

646441958_58Special-Dayofpurchase@KenMcKenzies1972.thumb.jpg.3753ee9f741642838bef1a626ea8af21.jpg

 

As far as getting another one, I still have the Special convert today!

IMG_5666.thumb.JPG.da15b02ee49518088a41f32bc943e989.JPG

 

The Limited sadly was rusted beyond the effort to restore but... Found her twin sister many years before stripping the parts car. 

1255140063_1958BuickLimited-November1980-pic2-Copy-Copy(2).thumb.jpg.d981ade6129408491da34a89bba1071b.jpg

 

I still have it and currently working on getting it in running order.

IMG_7279.thumb.JPG.4d066bd3573a044f603485554c6f3d15.JPG 

Did I say I'm different?

Oh Ya, cause if I could, I'd have another one (if I could afford it...) but happy with the two I had in High School.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My first car was a red 1966 Dodge Charger with a 361 2bbl and 4 speed manual.  It was a tank.  It had a bad exhaust valve.  It leaked water.  The left front tire blew out while  I was in the middle of passing a line of cars on 2 lane US-23 north of Standish Michigan and almost killed me, wound up on the left shoulder an an oncoming car driven by someone who fortunately stayed cool under pressure passed between me and the line of traffic I was trying to pass while I was facing the wrong way coasting down from 80mph without touching the brakes trying to stay on the shoulder, my only hope of surviving.  Had I lost control of that car then I wouldn't be writing this.  Do I want that car back?  NO- I hope it found a nice junkyard crusher.

 

My second car just before I graduated HS was a brand new 1969 Pontiac GTO Ram Air IV automatic car ordered in Verdoro Green, black vinyl top, black bucket seat/console interior,  PMD floor shifter, power steering and brakes, crank up windows,  retractable headlights, Delco AM/FM stereo, heater only, and 3.90 Safe-T-Track posi rear end.  There were like 70 thousand 69 GTO's built in 69, less than a thousand with RA IV engines and less than 300 with RA IV and an automatic.   My biggest starting complaint was the chintzy PMD shifter that replaced the nice Hurst Dual Gate from the 1968 cars and I gave the PMD shifter and a hundred bucks to a high school buddy who had a 68 car that I rode in and loved to get the Hurst out of his car and install it in my car.  Would I want that car back?  Due to what happened at Mecum and Barrett Jackson with the prices of the RA IV cars- absolutely, but....

 

That 1969 GTO came from Rinke Pontiac in Warren, MI, was special ordered, and my mother had to co-sign the loan because I was 18 and worked part time in the local Sunoco station.  The day we went to pick it up the dealer gave me the keys and I took it for a ride up Van Dyke and knew something was wrong with it.  As soon as you took your foot off the accelerator the car slowed to a complete stop in a very short distance.  The Rinke service manager tried to tell me the car was just new and tight and took me out for a second ride where the car repeated the quick stop behavior.  Finally the service manager decided he better replace the brake booster and next thing I know he's over the fender of my brand new car in the service bay with a tie clasp grinding into the paint.  I told him if he couldn't find a fender cover to protect my paint I knew where the exit door was at the dealership.  We finally got out of there and drove the car home. 

 

The next encounter with the dealer was to repair a dent from inside the hood where something was left under the hood and it was slammed down onto it before I ever saw the car.  They fixed the dent and spot painted the hood.  The paint was an awful match and it fish-eyed.  Rinke wan't going to repair it again until I threatened to call Pontiac.  They finally fixed it. 

 

About a year later I started the car in the garage and it backfired as I was pulling it out of the garage and it stalled.  Then there was a huge under-hood fire.  The Rochester Q-jet's nitrophyl float lost it's sealing coat and became fuel logged and sank allowing the carburetor to flood over onto the manifold and it got to a leaky plug wire.  The neighbor across the street came running to the rescue with a chemical fire extinguisher which did a wonderful job of putting out the fire but made a horrible mess of what had been a pristine engine compartment.  The car was towed to Red Holman Pontiac in Westland, MI and they replaced the carburetor and fixed the burned engine wiring.  State Farm paid for some of the damage but refused to pay for the carburetor stating they would not pay for the cause.  I argued to no avail that the cause was a 10 dollar float but I got charged 400 bucks for the replacement carburetor. 

 

Another few months went by and the car suddenly developed an engine oil leak.  A hoist inspection revealed a stress crack on the front of the oil pan.  I took the car back to Red Holman, still barely under warranty, they claimed I hit something and broke the oil pan and refused to cover the repair.  I made them get a Pontiac field rep out to look at the car, there was no impact to the oil pan, the paint and even the undercoating was still intact on the oil pan.  The field rep told Holman- "Better put a pan on the kid's car, I've got 3 more oil pans with cracks in the same area in my office!"  Two days later I went to Holman's to pick up the car which was still on the hoist and dripping anti-freeze.  The mechanic explained it was a good thing I had them replace the oil pan, they found half the nylon teeth from the camshaft timing gear laying in the bottom of the oil pan.  They replaced the gears and chain with a good Cloyes steel gear set and roller chain. 

 

After I got the car back I noticed it had a knock occasionally.  We hoisted the car at the Sunoco station and couldn't identify the source.  Holman checked the car out and said there was nothing wrong with it.  Late that fall I drove the car up I-75 to Gaylord, MI, then across M-32 to East Jordan, MI to visit a great aunt and uncle for a few days.  When I got off I-75 the car stumbled and I looked in the rear view mirror and observed black exhaust clouds.  I managed to keep the car running by holding the throttle half open while slowing and got where I was going,  barely.  The next morning I found myself in a dirt floor garage in zero degree weather with the Rochester carburetor in pieces to retrieve another fuel logged float.  I borrowed my great uncle's 63 Buick special with a V6 and 3 on the tree and drove to the GM dealer in Charlevoix and bought a float, put the carburetor back together and installed it and all was good for the moment.  

 

Then the mysterious knock came home to roost.  After a couple of days at my aunt and uncle's in East Jordan I started back home on a snowy crappy weather day and got down close to Grand Blanc where I was about to pass some slower traffic.  I happened to look in the rear view mirror to make sure the left lane was clear and observed clouds of white smoke.  I glanced at the oil pressure gauge and it was bouncing off Zero, instinctively reached up and shut the ignition off and coasted up the Grand Blanc exit and turned it to gas station at the top of the ramp.  When I opened the hood oil was dripping from everywhere.  The gas station owner called Superior Pontiac/Cadillac in Grand Blanc and they towed the car to the dealership and put it on the hoist just before the service department closed.  The mechanic looked at the front of the engine for a minute, produced a pocket knife and cut the belts off the crank shaft pulley, reached up and just rattled the crankshaft damper back and forth.  It turned out the knock was caused by the fact Holman Pontiac never tightened the crankshaft damper bolt which allowed the damper wheel to slip back and forth on the crank taking up the clearance to the drive key.  Eventually the key way wore to a ramp shape in the damper and the damper cracked right under the timing cover oil seal.  The car spent a week in Grand Blanc waiting for parts and repairs.  The oil pan was full of debris, some of which made it's way into the oil pump jamming the pressure relief valve.  The dealer wanted to replace the oil pump but it was unique to the RA IV engine and he just couldn't get one so he did his best to clean up the original and re-used it, not knowing the relief valve was stuck closed.  The car would start cold and bury the oil pressure gauge.  I was worried it would blow an oil filter off.  By that time I was working at Ford and decided to trade the GTO in for a Ford car.  

 

Again you ask- Would I want that Pontiac GTO back?  Like I said- they go for BIG BUCKS at auction these days.  Throw that out and the answer would be....

 

NO

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Our family car when I was in high school was a 1990 Ford Aerostar. I loved that van...my favorite vehicle my family has ever had. Unfortunately rust ate it and it was not very reliable. Even though we only had it from 1997-2003 I have more positive memories of that vehicle than all the others. Even the crazy stuff like when we hit a pothole on the Taconic and the headlight bounced out I look back on fondly. I visited Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New Jersey for the first time in that van, and also Lime Rock Park.

 

I also have some not-so-pleasant memories as well, like when the brakes failed, or the time we got caught in the snow and barely missed sliding into the back of a red 80s F150, or the time I accidentally closed the sliding side door on my finger. 

 

It's also the oldest vehicle I've driven. I can't see well enough to drive now but back then I could. It's the largest I've driven as well, since it was the extended version. I still managed to hit my head on it a couple times. 

 

If I could get one of them today, rust free and properly sorted, I would in a heartbeat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was lucky that my step-dad gave me my first ride. Not so lucky that it was a 55 chevy pickup that he had used in the oillfields until he could not depend on it any longer I kept it patched and running for a while then traded it in on a 60 Renault because I had  a paper route and needed something easy on gas. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...