What was your first car?

[I'm Still Bison]

 A Norton Dominator was what I craved way back in high school when I learned Keith Emerson rode one.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Too slow?  The Valkyrie has an 1800cc six cylinder engine....  If that's too slow then I'm really worried about your safety!  :grin:

Def

[ringzero]

It's kinda funny I know, but I've always had a fascination with the Pacer, Gremlin and Eagle!  Funny that the same company that brought us the Pacer:

(Image removed from quote.)

also brought us this:

(Image removed from quote.)

Not much in the way of similarities, is there?

Def

Well, the rear bodies of both vehicles have a similar downslope styling...

Let's have a little repect for Pacer and Gremlin:  two shining examples of American automotive know-how.

Seriously, I never owned either Pacer or Gremlin, but it so happens two of my friends at university did.  I spent many hours in both cars while on caving and rockclimbing trips.

The Gremlin was cheap on gas.  It was high-mileage and not terribly reliable, but it never suffered a breakdown so catastrophic that we couldn't patch it up well enough to limp home.

The Pacer actually had much to recommend it.  Nothing really outstanding about it, but it was fairly economical to drive and maintain.  It handled well on ice and snow and would haul four people plus gear in reasonable comfort.  The girl that owned that Pacer bought it with 50K+ miles on it.  She kept it till it was well over 100K miles without any major problems.

.

[665ae]

Well... I think I found my next bike



and I'm going to wear this helmet when I ride it...

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

A Norton Dominator was what I craved way back in high school when I learned Keith Emerson rode one.

They are a thing of beauty, and what with the featherbed frame, they'd leave anything for dust down a twisty country road

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Too slow?  The Valkyrie has an 1800cc six cylinder engine....  If that's too slow then I'm really worried about your safety!  :grin:

Def

Yeah but It'll onlt do around 130- 140 mph, and about 25 mpg

An R1 will do nearly 50 mpg and is RESTRICTED to 186 mph ;D

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Well... I think I found my next bike

(Image removed from quote.)

and I'm going to wear this helmet when I ride it...

(Image removed from quote.)

Bullet's are a hell of a laugh to ride ;D there even prettty good off road too, and as a huge plus these day's they do about 80mpg!

I'm off to see if I can find a Pickelhaube cycling helmet!

[Sparkey]

this one?

That one's pretty similar, the tank was a little different, and it was gold, but you gotta remember, its been 25-26 years since I've seen it, so my recollection is fuzzy... ;D

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

this one?

That one's pretty similar, the tank was a little different, and it was gold, but you gotta remember, its been 25-26 years since I've seen it, so my recollection is fuzzy... ;D

Age is a terrible thing ;D

[CQC-7]

I kind of like that OD Green paint.  Gives it that "combat" look.

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

I kind of like that OD Green paint.  Gives it that "combat" look.

We'll that'll because it's used by the Indian army

[CQC-7]

I disturbs me why the Indian army would not use "Indian" motorcycles.  They are all the rage to some folks over here.

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

I disturbs me why the Indian army would not use "Indian" motorcycles.  They are all the rage to some folks over here.

They are Indian, they've been building Royal enfields in india for 50 odd years now...

http://www.royalenfield.com/app/IN/company/History.asp

The newer enfiels with the lean burn engine are cracking good bike's, the older once are a little rough around the edge's and are a little bit mechanically suspect

[665ae]

I've been reading a ton of stuff about Enfields lately... I'm seriously considering getting one.  Sounds like a heck of a lot of fun!

I also REALLY like the Triumph Speedmaster.  That's a seriously nice looking ride.

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

I've been reading a ton of stuff about Enfields lately... I'm seriously considering getting one.  Sounds like a heck of a lot of fun!

I also REALLY like the Triumph Speedmaster.  That's a seriously nice looking ride.

Our motorcycling press are really hard on bike's, and they've been saying pretty good thing's about the speedmaster

And beside's you yank's should have a go on a proper twin ;D none of that 45 V twin malarky ;D

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

I've been reading a ton of stuff about Enfields lately... I'm seriously considering getting one.  Sounds like a heck of a lot of fun!

I also REALLY like the Triumph Speedmaster.  That's a seriously nice looking ride.

Check out this site for some honest review's of the enfields...

http://www.realclassic.co.uk/

and

http://www.realclassic.co.uk/profiles.html

There are some damn fine bike's on there

[Tom Munch]

I don't know if I should claim my folks' cars as well, since I got to drive those first. 

One was a '74 Honda Civic.  
Ours was light blue.  I learned to do donuts in reverse with the front wheel drive.

One was a '66 Ford Bronco. 

It would have been fun if it didn't have heavy duty springs & a little 6 in it.  Ours was yellow with a white roof.

When I finally got my own car it was my sister's hand-me-down Mercury Capri.

That's not me in the photo -  it's a Google.  That car got wrecked in a tornado within a month after I got it.  It was a lemon, so I was not upset at all.

The car I finally had all my own for any length of time was a Chevy Luv.

Mine was a yellow with a white topper & long bed.  It was the perfect musician's ride.

The first car I really was proud of was my '84 GTI.

I raced it SCCA some.  That was a cool car in its day.

Tom

[Grant Lamontagne]

It's a bit late for the 12th Anniversary Thread Necro but I thought I'd bring this one back up anyway since we've had a few new members since 2007!

My first car hasn't changed, but looking back I was absolutely right- my next car was a Jeep and then a VW.  And then another Jeep!

Def

[Yadda]

My first car was a 1973 Chevy Nova. Two door.  It was bright yellow, no A/C.  My father bought it for me at a bank auction for the princely sum of $278. It had the weak 307 V8 motor with a slight knock. Filled with oil it always measured a half quart short.

My second car was a 1973 Audi Fox with a sun roof. It was brown.

My third car was a brand new 1986 1/2 Chevy Corsica 4 door.  Two tone, silver over charcoal.

[gustophersmob]

Mine was a well used 1985 Plymouth Horizon. Kind of a clunker, but it git me around.

That's me on the roof of it. Probably in the fall of  my senior year in high school, so late 1996.

[gerleatherberman]

My first car: 1989 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme 2-door. V6. The digital dashboard would turn off and on from bumps in the road.
Wrecked the Oldsmobile 6 months after I got it.
My first car I liked was a 1995 Ford Explorer. In high school and college, I did car audio work and built speaker boxes for people. My car was nicknamed the "Boom Wagon". Full high-end Memphis competition audio gear. I grew out of the bass stuff after college. Traded the Explorer in on a 1996 Mercedes C280 in 2008(along with a 1985 Honda Accord hatchback [carburetor version 1.8] a friend gave me). Had a wreck(2009) in the Mercedes and used the insurance money to buy the 2002 Ford Escape I still own and drive. No really exciting cars or anything. I'm basically poor(I waste a lot of my limited income..haha), so I have not had a car I loved yet.

[Chako]

My first car was a 1995 white Chrysler Neon. It was a great little car that had enough room to carry me without banging my head on things. It was ultimately let down by the crappy paint job that was designed to be biodegradable or something, as you could literally grab the paint job and peel it off the frame like wallpaper. That and my constantly getting stuck in my driveway in the winter time. No photos sorry.

As for my first motorbike, a Triumph America which lasted me a whole year before someone decided to take me out in a 4 lane roadway due to an ambulance coming the opposite way.



The Triumph was great except I always felt cramped on it due to the seating and floor board positioning.

[ezdog]

This wa a pretty amazing coincidence to me to say the least but......

In May I was in Maine on a job when I drove by this car for sale.



Same Year,Color,Model and almost same trim level as my 1st car!!!!
I was more than a little surprised and pulled over to get pics and check it out.
This one has just 55k original miles they say and is overall a lot nicer than mine was when I owned it.

1970 Oldsmobile 98 Luxury Sedan

They sure do not make them like this anymore.......thankfully probably.
Mine actually had a Bar in the back seat with Crystal Glasses and lights so that you could mix drinks in there if needed?
I have always wondered just what they were thinking with that feature?

Also gas is not under .20 cents as it was when I started driving and mine had a 454 V8 motor.
Ahhh,the good old days!

A lot of firsts for me in that car,Wink,Wink.

[Mechanickal]

My first car was a Mitsubishi Colt from 1988.
Closely looking like this one:


My parents bought it for me and my sister for €250.
I Sold it to a collector 8 years later for €200.
Should've registered it as an old-timer and kept using it... but didn't have the room for it at the time.

[Kev D]

My first car was a Rover Metro 1.3 HLE in blue. It was like the one in the picture but more battered and rusty.  My dad test drove it and gave it the ok.  First time I went to drive it was the day after I passed my driving test in 1991 and I couldn't get my knees under the steering wheel.  I had to put a small racing wheel in it as a result.    My dad is only 5'3 and I'm 6'1 

[Smashie]

And following on from Kev this was my first car, 1973 Mini Clubman with a monumental 1100cc engine. Yes it had the extra light as well 

[Kev D]

Minis have always been cool though. Metro's were an old man's car

[Smashie]

Minis have always been cool though. Metro's were an old man's car

My sister had one and she's always been an old woman

What about the awesome Metro 6R4?

[Nix]

Not mine, but it could have been......


Actually, mine never looked that good. One had to set the choke just right or it wouldn't start. And in the winter it needed a shot of ether in the air intake before it would fire up. But that was one reliable car.

Top speed was around 59mph, but I could draft behind a semi and keep a steady 60-61mph.

[MMR]

First car: 1994 Ford Mustang 3.8L V6 Conv.

I don’t have any before pictures on my phone, But I bought the car super cheap because it was Riced out and had a gearbox issue and electronics were all over the place.

Gearbox issue was made worse by the guy who were supposed to fix it, so a whole new gearbox had to be ordered.

Electronics issue turned out to be related to a crappy DVD / Sat. nav. Unit that was installed, and cheap (none OEM) ignition and o2 sensors that were installed.

The 3.8L was about as sporty and rev happy as a 1980s station wagon, and in my opinion should never had found its way in to a car as iconic as a Ford Mustang. But with that said, it was a surprisingly reliable unit, easy to fix and cheap in parts.

Car was a great cruiser and everyday car, as it wasn’t too heavy on fuel, was not a performance car in any way though.




SN95 Mustangs (1994-1998, and facelifted and called “new edge” from 1999-2004), was by no means the best mustangs ever made, but they make great first cars and are great platforms for learning to work on cars yourself, as they are pretty simple cars to work on and are inexpensive in parts too, plus there’s pretty much unlimited amount of online resources and forms for these cars, and all feasible modifications and common problems have been covered on literally every single one of the forms and other online resources, plus every workshop manual publisher out there (e.g. Haynes) covers them as well.

So not a bad choice for a first car.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk