What was your favorite car that you owned as a teenager?

[michel88]

Way back in 1961 when I was 17, I owned a '54 Mercury Convertible. It was equipped with an overdrive transmission which was somewhat rare in a convertible. I worked at a gas station for $1.00 an hour nights and Saturdays. I managed to save $90.00 to have it painted in the original color of Parklane green which was a very pretty light green. The paint job was a very good one, and I then saved up for a new white naugahyde top. I also worked part time for a welder and he helped me make up a set of dual exhausts with glasspacks using '55 Ford manifolds. The one on the driver side had to be modified to clear the shift linkage. After welding it he put it in a bucket of asbestos so it would cool slowly and not crack. That car sure sounded sweet going through the gears. I kept it until I was 20 and sold it to get a '64 Ford. I wish I had this car back!

Woody Michel

[The Old Guy]

In 1949 ( my junior year in high school) I bought a 1937 Buick Century with side mounts. I installed the 41 compound carbs, and ran two Smithy mufflers. It was a great car, but I passed my Dad at 105MPH (and didn't even realize it ) .That car was sold, and my Dad picked out my next car. It was a 1939 Pontiac 6cylinder that would not run 80MPH It probably kept me alive, but it was not as much fun.

Joe Taubitz

[Twitch]

At the same age I had a 1957 Olds 98 in 1965. I bought it from my family mechanic for $250. It was a 4dr. HT jade green. It was originally owned by the local Olds dealer who ordered it with every option except the tri-power J2 carbs.

It had the 371CI 277HP engine that did move it. It could take a Mustang if I got a good start. On rolling starts or top end races as we called them, it could bury the speedo at 120MPH.

It had the Wonderbar radio and a foot switch to operate the channel changer. Girls were amazed and we told them it automatically changed when a song came on it didn't like.

I too wish I still had it.

[Matt Harwood]

My first car was a '76 Eldorado convertible that needed restoration. Here's something I wrote a few months ago about all the cars I've owned:

To All the Cars I've Known Before

[Shop Rat]

My first car was a used 1967 VW. I loved that car. Had it painted electric blue from the dull white that it was when I got it.

My favorite car that my dad owned when I was a teenager was a 1965 Dodge Dart GT. Bright red, black vinyl Crown Victoria top and LOTS of chrome. I would love to find one in really good shape to be my "show car".

[DizzyDale]

Dear Twitch,GREAT comment about the girls and the radio,YOU weren't hangin around with the sharpest tools in the shed were you?diz

[Guest imported_jmarsicano]

I still have my first car. The 71 Pontiac. Its still getting me in trouble!

[Guest my3buicks]

I still have my first car also, I purchase my 67 Buick Special Deluxe Sport Coupe from my grandfather when I was 18, and it's still with me at 44. Pic attached

[Guest imported_MrEarl]

Wow Keith,thats a long time to have ownd a car. That's cool. I never realized that. Judging from the picture, the "car" appears to have aged nicely.

(This might be a good subject for a new thread.)

To follow suit with Matt I'll expand on the subject a little. My first car was a 57 Chevy, 327 bored and balanced, 4spd, posi. Next came a 67 Chevelle SS 396, the Black Stallion. Next a Jeep, Marine Corp type, 1 each. Next a 1966 VW bus... wow colors man...After returning from California, I acquired the greatest automobile of my life, a one owner 1954 Buick Special. Then the Triumph GT-6+. Next a Fiat 124.Followed by a Honda Accord, Isuzu Trooper,2-3 Ford F-100's,, and currently a Volvo X Country and a Chevy PU. Can you tell at what point I married...

But back to the original question. The 57 Chevy no question. I must tell though that while it still had the automatic in it, I got beat by a friends parents 1954 Buick Century.

[rgshafto]

I got my 36 Pontiac coupe as a high school senior in 1965 - $75 for a 68K original with the owner's manual still in the glove box. Forty years later, I'm still driving it!

[Guest Roadmaster]

My favorite was my 1969 GTO convertible 4 spd. Boy would that sucker run. Had 3:55 gears and it could really go top end. I was 17 and lucky I survivewd that car. Wish I never sold her though. Ah the memories!!!

[Guest Dave Mills]

My first car was given to me by my Grandfather in 1965, when I was 16. A 1951 Plymouth Cambridge Club Coupe. I have never been able to part with it and I still have it. It was last restored in 1975 and it is getting a little rough now but I still drive it and enjoy the car

[Bob Kinker]

I had a 64 Plymouth Sport Fury that I miss. It was my first "Muscle Car", bucket seats, auto with floor shift, 383 that was quite healthy. I am looking for another now, but prices are really sky rocketing on them. After that I had a 69 Camaro SS convertable. 350 and a 4 speed! That was a very fast & good looking car! Wisk I still had both!

[Guest Andynator]

It wasn't my favorite car at the time, but I wish I had it today. I bought from my (then) future father-in-law a Vega wagon with a factory V-8. It was NOT one of the Cosworth Vegas, and I didn't know what it was at the time. The liftgate badge said 4.3 liter which is what, a 289 or close to that.

That car was wicked fast. Scary fast. Way too much weight over the front end. I traded it back to him after a few months for a '73 4-door Olds Delta 88 with 60,000 miles and still the original tires on it.

Just a few years later I passed on the chance to buy a solid, intact '48 Chrysler Town and Country 4-door for $1500. Ouch. Hopefully wiser with age now.

[Jim Bollman]

I bought my first car in 1963 when I was 14 years old. A 1949 Crosley Station Wagon. Rebuilt it mechanically from the bare frame up. My Dad needed to help with just enough parts that he controled progress and I didn't have it ready for the body to go back on till I was almost 17. As soon as I got the body on I did a quick patch and spray can restoration to the body and put it on the road.

I redid the mechanics again in the late 70s and did the same thing to the body (Western Auto still had the same paint colors). It is now sitting in the shop for the 3rd mechanical restoration and I can't decide if I should do the body right and not be the car I have owned all these years or do another quickie on the body and have a driver that is like it was when I was in High School.

Any recommendations?

[Tom M]

1976 Gran Prix and a 1970 GTO which had the 455 option.

[Guest Skyking]

My first car was a brand new 1964 Chevelle 2 door post. The only options it had was whitewall tires. It was a stick six. After owning it for a year I couldn't take the six any longer, especially when my friends had GTO's. I dropped a low milliage 327 in it. Wow! what a difference. My parents thought I was crazy for doing this to a new car. I paid $2100.00 for this car and drove it untill 1972. Boy, how I wish I still had that car.........

[Dave@Moon]

I had a '69 Ambassador for 3 months when I was 19 (until I had to give it up to preserve my college financial aid/scholarship). I was 21 before I owned my next car (a 1971 Datsun 510 that my grandfather gave me). Neither was a gem.

I found a a 1960 Falcon (in 1980) that lasted me through grad school. I only bought it because it was the only $600 car I found that I knew would last 4 years (it had 18K miles when I bought it). I restored it in 1989/90, but sold it shortly thereafter.

I was 28 and married before I owned a car that I'd picked and wanted.

[palbuick]

My favorite car was my second car. It was a 1951 Olds 98 convt. What a boat, weighed in around 5K, Leather interior, power windows and seat. After putting duals with smittys it was so loud, unable to sneak out of the house at night. Had more tickets in my wallett. With a 4 bbl carb it one fast tank.

My 54 Buick Special with 3 speed trans comes in second.

Jim Schilf

palbuick

[ronbarn]

This is an easy one for me since you limited it to the teenage years. My first car was a 1939 Chrysler New Yorker sedan that I bought in 1955. A friend inherited the car from his grandmother. He already had a mildly modified '51 Plymouth so he sold the New Yorker to me for $75. Seat covers had been installed by the dealer and when I removed them, the interior was like new. It was one of the best running cars I have ever owned. I think I would still have it if my father had not refused to let me take it to college. He ended up selling it to a man who removed the engine to power an irrigation pump.

Car two was a '31 Model A Ford that I bought for $55. Drove it for a couple of years before it went to the junk yard. It ran, it was fun to have while in college, but no comparison to the Chrysler.

[Charles2]

Mine was a 1940 Chevrolet coupe. Bought it in 1954 for $35.00, drove it through 1956 and sold it for $50.00. It had a good body but the engine was pretty well worn when I got it and even worse when I sold it. It never ran real well, but it always ran. I wish I still had it.

[Twitch]

Hey Diz, them slow ones was more loose!

[Guest BillP]

Graduated from high school summer '66. Bought '47 Ford Super Deluxe Convertible out of a barn for $60. That was after passing on a '34 Packard V12 coupe with a bad connecting rod for $1000.

Drove the Ford that summer, joined the Navy that fall, Ford went into storage; when I got out 4 years later I sold it for $85.

[Guest rbl2]

In 1970 just a few weeks before I turned 20 (so I was still a teen) I got lost one day coming home from work. We passed a 46 Plymouth business coupe that was for sale.

$50 later I drove it away. I drove it right up til the summer of 2003 when I went to Iraq. The car disappeared in my absence.

Thirtyfive years of memories went into that ol car. It took me over alot of the USA. It watched me raise three children. It watched me go from a pup to an old dog.

Definitely my favorite. I used to tell my kids if it could talk I would shoot it in the carborator.

I tried posting a picture but for some reason it wouldn't work.

[Guest imported_MrEarl]

rbl2 if you want to email me the picture I'll try and post it for you. additionally if you want to post a Stolen Auto post I can enter it there too.

victfarm@bellsouth.net

BTW thanks for taking care of business in Iraq for us.

[Snappydwp1]

I was crazy about my 58 Edsel Pacer. I bought it when I was a junior in high school,1972. It was a good learning tool for my future old car projects. I sold it in 1994.

[Guest AlK]

Hey Shop Rat

What are you waitin fur, theres plenty 65 Dart GT's around for inexpensive bucks. I have the Convertible version, but the only one for sale that I have is a 64 270 convertible. not as flashy as the 65. however there are plenty of the 65's around go get one.

[stock_steve]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">BTW thanks for taking care of business in Iraq for us. </div></div>

Definitely ditto that.

[Shop Rat]

Two things. The "extra" cash and garage space. Right now the lack of garage space is the biggest factor. We have a '63 1/2 Falcon Sprint on one side being worked on and a '39 Dodge Deluxe Four-Door on the other side in pieces.

If I found one at a really good price I might see if a car club friend of ours would let me store it at her house. I love that year and style of car. It is the one I learned to drive with. I really want one that is already restored or a really good orginal. We can't handle another "project".

[Michael_Dontigney]

Mine was a 1972 Buick Rivera GS. I was in HS working at a chicken restaurant called "Generals Chicken" in Kennesaw GA. My dad came by one night and said he found a car at the local auto auction and wondered if I wanted it. Not knowing much about the boattail rivs I said "Sure pop... if you think it's good, then get it". He was a BCA member and owned my great grandfathers 55' Century convertible so picking out a Buick for his son was a wise move.

That night after work he pulled up in the riv barking both of the rear tires as he drove up the hill. The smile on my face was ear to ear. The sound of that 455 and the power it held. He said to me through the driver window "You ain't driving this thing home!"

I loved that car.

I have since inherited the 55' Century.

[R W Burgess]

Not many highschoolers had their own cars in my time, the 60's. My Dad bought me a "half interest" (you know who paid for the other part) in a '64 Chevy Impala on graduation day. 250hp 327, powerglide! <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> After a year in college and a free trip to Fort Ord, Thanks Uncle Sam, I flew back home to Dulles Airport in northern Virginia where my new ride had been driven up by my family to pick me up. I had ordered the '68 375hp 396 Chevelle while in California and boy was pop fussing. He had to put a quart of oil in it in Dulles, plus a lot of gas to get us back home. "A real winner here, Son! Thing sopunds like a sewing machine." If he had only known. 3 years later, she's traded for my long line of family cars. <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Wayne

[Guest rbl2]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">BTW thanks for taking care of business in Iraq for us.

</div></div>

Thank you for the recognition.

[Guest rbl2]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">BTW thanks for taking care of business in Iraq for us. </div></div>

Definitely ditto that. </div></div>

Again, thank you also for the recognition.

[Michael_Dontigney]

I bought my first car. My dad just made the buy with my money. This was in the early 80's (I'm 38)and at that time not many HS kids had their own car in the small town where I lived (Acworth/Kennesaw GA).

[Guest rbl2]

Lemme try this pic thing again.

[Michael_Dontigney]

I'll do the pic for you.

Just a min...

[Michael_Dontigney]

[color:\\"red\\"]<span style="font-weight: bold">rbl2's oldpaint</span>

There ya go!

[Guest rbl2]

Heres my chevy roadster...if the pic works.

[Guest rbl2]

How come:

A: The Plymouth picture worked for you but not me

and

B: The roadster picture worked for me but the Plymouth one didn't?

Anyhow, that's a my missing Plymouth. It didn't look that good when I left for Iraq. I had started to re-restore it and had the front end off when I left.

The last time I saw it was Sept. '03. The last time I talked to the man who "stored" it for me was Nov. '04, a few weeks before I was hurt and sent home. He told me he had moved it and a few other cars to a better location where he felt they were safer.

My son talked to him about a week after I was wheels down. I immediately called him but no one there knew who or what I was talking about.

The man has not been seen or heard of since. That would have been the end of Dec. '04.

[Michael_Dontigney]

I changed the plymouth picture from a .bmp with index color to a .jpg with RGB color and then uploaded it to my server.

Your roadster picture was already a .jpg so it worked.