What was your first car.
- Thread starter Kenbushway
- Start date
Plus, when I imagine you driving it, I can hear "The Lineman" playing in my head.
Oddly enough, when we were cruising around, I would often play Henry Mancini's them to Peter Gunn, which was featured in Blues Brothers and one of my favorite 80s video games, Spyhunter. That song was a big musical inspiration for Spence.
I drive a bicycle as I never got a license, but the first car I remember the family having was my mom's infamous Dodge Dart. If anyone else here has a significant amount of Native American in them, they'll have heard of a rez car. The Dart was the epitome of a rez car. It didn't go in reverse so every morning our next door neighbor, who was a body builder, would push it out of our driveway for us. The driver's side window would always stick and I remember my mom hammering on it to get it down. It seemed to be held together with duct tape. One day, we were driving down the highway, and the car suddenly banged and rattled, as if we'd run something over. Then it happened again. Then again. Pieces of the car were actually falling off! There just happened to be a cop behind us, and when the transmission fell out he pulled us over. As he strolled up to our car he collected a few of the smaller pieces along the way, before finally stopping at my mom's window. She struggled to roll it down, but it kept sticking. She hammered on it a couple times and finally yelled frustratedly, "The window sticks!" as she opened the door.
Which fell off.
The cop jumped back as the door crashed to the pavement and then started laughing hysterically. My mom started crying hysterically. The car was towed, and I had my first ride in a police car. I put this story in my novel (one of a few bits of the book that were drawn from real life).
The first car I drove was my great grandmother's powder blue 1963 Ford Falcon. That is a sweet car, it's my dad's now.
Which fell off.
The cop jumped back as the door crashed to the pavement and then started laughing hysterically. My mom started crying hysterically. The car was towed, and I had my first ride in a police car. I put this story in my novel (one of a few bits of the book that were drawn from real life).
The first car I drove was my great grandmother's powder blue 1963 Ford Falcon. That is a sweet car, it's my dad's now.
A car that doesn't go in reverse...so how did you deal with parking lots?
^She didn't. It could've been worse: the stereotypical rez car only goes in reverse!
I didn't know what a rez car was, but thank you for broadening my horizons a tad. 
A 1971 Chevy Belair that I got from my Dad in 1979 when he finally fulfilled his dream of getting a Cadillac - in this case, a 1972 Coupe deVille. Despite being my first car, I don't remember much about the Chevy. I ended up with the Caddy less than a year later because of my Dad's untimely passing. Now the Caddy - that I remember: big white boat with a beautiful red leather interior. It was christened by my friends and acquaintances as "The Pimpmobile."
Unfortunately, MPG was atrocious and my first real job out of college involved daily travel of about 90 miles. This was around the time of the oil embargo when gasoline prices "skyrocketed" (nothing like they are now though!). I remember running out of gas once on the approach to a bridge to Canada. Gas in Canada was quite a bit cheaper than in the US at that time. The straw that broke the camel's back was that the car had some front end issues and I was running through tires like nobody's business.
After owning the Caddy for less than two years I had to trade it in and got a 1981 Pontiac LeMans - the worst car I've ever owned. I bought it brand new and it lasted less than four years. My luck with automobiles has been much better ever since that ill-fated purchase.
This thread made me wonder if I even have any pictures of my first two cars. I'll have to look!
Unfortunately, MPG was atrocious and my first real job out of college involved daily travel of about 90 miles. This was around the time of the oil embargo when gasoline prices "skyrocketed" (nothing like they are now though!). I remember running out of gas once on the approach to a bridge to Canada. Gas in Canada was quite a bit cheaper than in the US at that time. The straw that broke the camel's back was that the car had some front end issues and I was running through tires like nobody's business.
After owning the Caddy for less than two years I had to trade it in and got a 1981 Pontiac LeMans - the worst car I've ever owned. I bought it brand new and it lasted less than four years. My luck with automobiles has been much better ever since that ill-fated purchase.
This thread made me wonder if I even have any pictures of my first two cars. I'll have to look!
1972 Plymouth Duster. Red. 
Like this:
[/IMG]
ETA: Hmm, I wonder what I did there.
Like this:
ETA: Hmm, I wonder what I did there.
^Which show? And what did they drive?
^ I meant in a general sense, but I just thought Starsky & Hutch.
(They drove a Ford Torino, BTW. Not exactly the same thing, but close!)
(They drove a Ford Torino, BTW. Not exactly the same thing, but close!)
I didn't know what a rez car was, but thank you for broadening my horizons a tad.
I'd never googled the term before, but the results were pretty funny and accurate, including this poem:
And a video, which in itself wouldn't be that great, except that it's set to one of my favorite Indian songs, "John Wayne's Teeth":
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzjzfLNJ8sg[/yt]
^It's Indian slang for reservation. Not a stupid question at all!
My first car was a '76 Mercury Monarch. Bought it off the 'old man' right after I joined the Army, when he went to buy a new car for himself.
Not Native American myself, but familiar with rez cars.
^ I meant in a general sense, but I just thought Starsky & Hutch.
(They drove a Ford Torino, BTW. Not exactly the same thing, but close!)
Oh, okay. Of course S & H would've been a better show if they'd driven a Duster.
There's just something special about a rez car. We had another pair of them when I was a little older, two Pintos one brown and one orange!
Ah yes, I should have got that from your initial post. Thanks!
All this talk of 'rez cars' and their general condition, does sort of remind me of my previous car, a '97 Mazda Protege. It was okay up until the last few months of its life at which point it committed automotive suicide and would stubbornly refuse to start in the wintertime unless I tried for a minimum of 30 minutes to attempt to start it, usually accompanied by swearing. So I sold it back to the dealer for scrap.
My current car ('07 Honda CR-V), I plan to be a deceased old man before I ever give it up, it is the greatest car I have ever driven.
My current car ('07 Honda CR-V), I plan to be a deceased old man before I ever give it up, it is the greatest car I have ever driven.
Similar threads
