“My first car was an old beater that cost me $40,” said one silver-haired dinner party guest to another, seated directly across from him at the table. “The guy who sold it to me was just happy to offload that piece of junk, but I loved that car to death. Spent every waking moment of my free time either tuning it up or driving it with the top down.

“It may not have been much, but it was mine,” he beamed.

A fellow two seats down overheard and began to tell his own first car story. And at that point, the conversation just took off. It seems that everyone has a story about their first car, and everyone likes to recount that stories for others. Want to rescue a stuffy dinner party or get-together? Ask them about their first car.

The best “my first car” stories aren’t the ones where the wealthy parents lead teenage you, blindfolded, to a beribboned Camaro. Nope. The stories we like to hear are about the ones about first cars with cigarette burns in their crumbling but real leather (!) upholstery, and the ones that emitted puffy clouds of gray smoke for the first three minutes of every ride.

My First Car Stories

Here are some of my favorite first car stories gleaned from legions of them, found ripe for the picking on the internet:*

1948 Chevy

MY first car was a $100, 1948 Chevy as my college transportation for 3 years. It was reliable and had a powerful heater; one of my girlfriends called it “the heater with the car attached.”

It had 88,000 miles on it when I bought it, but had been owned by a military serviceman.

It took $3 to fill the tank then; same price as a good bottle of whiskey.
It also had a block heater, no doubt a useful gadget on a remote military base.

1950 Ford

Mine was a 1950 Ford. I paid $40 for it—it had a flathead V8 with 3 on the tree and overdrive. I don’t know what the minimum was or if there was one as I don’t know when it started, but the going wage in my area was 50 cents an hour; gas was 17 to 25 cents a gallon; cigarettes were 20 to 25 cents a pack; a Coca Cola was 5 to 7 cents a bottle. I could go on and on about the prices but I will stop there. You get the idea.

1982 Pontiac Grand Prix

My first car was a hand me down 1982 Pontiac Grand Prix with a 3.8 (I guess) V6. My mom drove it, my sister then drove it, and then I got it. By the time I got it, the engine had been rebuilt once, the transmission twice. It would stall at stops; the cruise control would randomly set; and if you took a hard right, the horn would blow. Damn car was a mess.

I disconnected the horn and I’d put it in neutral and give it gas if I had to stop. The headliner sagged, so I had it recovered, but it sagged again. So I just took it out.

Ultimately, the neutral drops proved to be the death (again) of the transmission and it left me stranded one Saturday night in a downpour. Dad had the transmission rebuilt yet again and sold it. A few weeks later I saw it on the side of the interstate with an oil slick trailing behind it. I assume the transmission had puked its contents again, but didn’t care enough to investigate.

I’ve never owned another Pontiac and that car is probably why. To be fair to Pontiac, the car was pretty well worn out by the time I got it and the early 80s were probably a low point for autos in general. I can’t think of an early 8’s anything that I’d really consider desirable off the top of my head. Except maybe a woman. One born in the early 80s, not one in her early 80s.

1950 Chrysler New Yorker Highlander

My first car was a 1950 Chrysler New Yorker Highlander 4-door sedan that I bought for $75.00 in 1968. It had an inline 8 cylinder flathead engine and a 4-speed semi-automatic transmission. The Highlander trim consisted of mohair upholstery in a Highlander plaid pattern with maroon leather bolsters. The 323 cubic inch engine was smooth as silk but woefully underpowered. Folks who drove these big luxury cars valued comfort over speed.

1960 Morris Minor

Just after high school graduation in 1966, I bought a very used up, 1960 Morris Minor. It was advertised for $175 but the dealer cut the price down to $150. Then when I went to pay for it, they said to make the check for $125. I should have read the tea leaves. It needed everything but I concentrated on form instead of function and painted it, tires, interior etc. Looked nice but still needed engine, transmission and brake work.

I had given myself an upper limit of $250 to put into it and sold it when I hit that mark. Needed my money for school. The next summer, after my freshman year at college, I bought my ‘59 VW Bug with the sun roof and that was a far more satisfying car until a kid T-boned me, then my ‘59 Pontiac tank.

‘53 Buick Special

My first car wasn’t until I was between my junior and senior year of college. My brother knew a guy who’d gave me a ‘53 Buick Special free if I gave him $40 for the 4 recap tires he had just bought. It was a heavy smoker, big cloud of blue oil smoke all the time, but it ran pretty well.

I tried to drive it west to Colorado from New England and got to Springfield, Ohio before it went ka-boof! at a traffic light and really started running weird. A guy in a gas station tested it and told me there was zero compression in #1 and #2, in a straight 8. I found a backyard to work in, rented a box of tools and learned by doing—took off the oil pan and the head and replaced the two-holed pistons with junkyard stuff, back together with all the old gaskets, started it and drove it to Colorado. Sold it at the end of the summer.

1947 Pontiac Streamliner

My first car was a 1947 Pontiac 6-cylinder Streamliner fastback. I bought the car for $75 in 1962, when I graduated from college and needed transportation. The car didn’t come equipped with turn signals. I bought a turning signal kit from Montgomery Ward and spent an afternoon installing them.

1963 Rambler American

Mine was a 1963 Rambler American with a flathead 6 and an E-Stick transmission, a three-on-the-tree with a vacuum-operated clutch. You took your foot off the gas to disengage the clutch. Mom and dad paid $300 for it the summer before I started college since I wouldn’t be able to walk to school any more. I totaled it the following January, driving on ice for the first time.

1957 Karmann Ghia

1957 Karmann Ghia I bought for $50. Battery not charging. Bought a new regulator for $6 and fixed it.

The original 36 HP engine had been replaced with a 40 HP so it was a real speed demon! Had a petcock with reserve rather than a fuel gauge but it did have a nice big clock. It would get 35 mpg, not bad for the time. Sold it several years later for $400.

1964 Morgan 4-4

My first on-the-road car was a 1964 Morgan 4-4. We bought it in not-running condition. It was offered to my father for $250. The owner was getting divorced and had to get it out within a week. After towing it home, it took my father less than an hour to get it running. It is a pretty simple design, hand built in England and ALWAYS in need of attention. And a blast to drive, it was like driving a big go-kart. Fifty years later, after sitting idle for about 45 of those years, I am doing a frame-off restoration.

‘66 Rambler Classic 2-door

My first car was a high school graduation gift—a ‘66 Rambler Classic 2-door in sea foam green. I painted “Cruisin’ Classic” in script across the back. It had a little Mopar 232 engine, and who knows where the rest of the parts came from.

I worked at a Montgomery Ward catalog store with an auto department, and it spent a lot of time in the shop. I referred to the mechanics as my pit crew. The gas gauge didn’t work, so I’d have to write my mileage down when I filled the tank, then I’d fill it every 100 miles.

Finally, the transmission went out and I took it to a tranny shop for repair. They had it for weeks and must have taken it apart and couldn’t put it back together again. It was messed up so bad it revved and slipped every time it shifted. I finally had it hauled away for junk. But I sure learned a lot about cars, repairs, and maintenance by owning a car that was so unreliable.

Junk Car Memories

Most of us have fond memories of our first cars. And why not? Tinkering with those junk cars taught us a lot about a lot of things, and we’re not just talking cars. We remember like yesterday what it felt like to rev up and peel some rubber, all from behind the wheel of a car that actually belonged to you.

*All photos for illustrative purposes, only. May not be accurate as to make and model.