Where did it start? What was your first Vehicle?

[Jernik]

Great! I agree, what was your dad thinking? Trading a tractor for a race car??? HE got a employee and good for you, you survived the Trans am.... My sister-in-law was given a BRAND NEW 83 Z28 which she totaled, 4 mo. after she got it! She injured herself, luckily not seriously.

My dads Buick Park Avenue was probably the best make-out ride---power, diamond tuffed seats etc!!!

I'll admit to several very close calls that could have ended quite badly, but I was VERY lucky and never hit anything.

In college I pulled the 305 and put in a mild built 350 out of a 79 Z28. No idea what hp was, never tested it, but it was a LOT quicker.

Man, I had a lot of fun in that car...

 

[poleclimber63]

Got my mother's hand-me-down '78 Mazda GLC in 1984 & modified the hell out of it.
Then bought a new Chrysler Conquest (same as the Mits. Starion) and LOVED that car. Pretty much ran it into the ground. Late 80's I got a '65 Mustang fastback with the I6 (still have it waiting to be "restored"). Then got a '75 Buick Century as a beater - best $650 I ever spent! Took me everywhere I wanted to go! Replaced that in '94 with an '84 Ford Crown Victoria with 144,000 - took that to 214,000. Ordered a '99 M3 (and still have it). Pathfinder to replace the Crown Vic (horrible dog) and the 4Runner in 2008 to replace that. HUGE difference!

When my kids were young I bought a 89 Mazda 323--- totally gutless but great. We drove it everywhere and my Wife learned to drive in it! I sold it for $300 with 378K km on it, pretty much everything needed doing on it, but it just kept on going!
When my Wife took the Mazda, I needed cheap transport--- I bought an 82 Olds Cutlass for $675. I rebuilt the carb, replaced all vacuum switches and lines, battery and tires and drove it daily for 5 years-- trouble-free! My Wife hated it, and yes it had the ride of my waterbed, but it was one of the last classic rear drive North American land yachts!

 

[poleclimber63]

I'll admit to several very close calls that could have ended quite badly, but I was VERY lucky and never hit anything.

In college I pulled the 305 and put in a mild built 350 out of a 79 Z28. No idea what hp was, never tested it, but it was a LOT quicker.

Man, I had a lot of fun in that car...

Awesome ride! until I bought my 4R, the car that stands out for me, was my Honda Prelude, That was a fun car to drive!!

The last car I had that wasnt purchased with the kids in mind, until my 4R!

 

[VT4RunnerSR5]

1978 K5 Blazer

title speaks for itself. 78 K5 full size Blazer. Found it on the side of the road in PA with 50k miles on it in 1996. Body was pretty rotted out, but we fixed that. Only thing I had to replace mechanically was the alternator and all of the universals.....it was full time 4wd, so it went through universals pretty quickly. I miss that truck. My dad was a Chevy guy and I grew up with Blazers all my life. Great first car that took a beating.

 

[DeclansDaddy]

1985 Toy. Got it when I was 15. Bed was rusted out and motor had an inch layer of oil covering it. Paid a whopping $125 for it. Yep that's a hydraulic setup in the back hahaha. Boy how things have changed.

 

[grayghost3]

My 1st vehicle was a 1974 Bronco Sport unfortunately I no longer have any pics .I had it for a little over a year until I hit a tree while being a typical dumb 17yr old ,bought all the parts to repair it but got a offer from someone to buy and let go for what I had paid for it when I got it ,Its the only car I ever regretted selling.

 

[sleevefullofaces]

1980 Chevy Chevette.

 

[Tx9812valve]

The one that started it all for me was a 1995 toyota T-100 sr5 4x4. In my opinion the T-100 was one of the ugliest trucks ever created but I loved this one. With 36x14.5r15s on it, it was arguably the slowest thing on the road but it never left me stranded no matter what situation I would get myself into. It also started my quest for more HP which has left me with a nicely built 98 Cummins 12v and my 04 SC'd v8 t4r. Only regret I have, just like most of you, is selling the T-100 which unfortunately was beat to crap by a high school kid. The t4r reminds me of my ol truck in all the ways I loved it and has all the things the T was missing so I guess things turned out alright.

 

[swapmeet]

I've had quite a few cars, but my first was a 86 Mazda B2000 Longbed.

I cranked down the torsions, blocks in back. You could barely slide a pack of cigarettes under it and it was static dropped.

Also owned the following:

Before we had kids, the wife and I owned all of these. Yes that's a hearse sticking out of the garage.

Hope I didn't derail the thread too much. I kept finding pictures of cars... there are a couple that I don't have pics of. 91 CRX SI and a 94 Toyota P/U.


My 4runner is my first lifted vehicle.

 

[ran]

67 VW I got mine with 68 seats from my brother. One of the heads blew and it was rebuilt as a 1620-1660 cc with cam. Still a good 33 MPG on the freeway. Wish I still had it.

 

[poleclimber63]

1980 Chevy Chevette.

A real "Flinstones" car! The only car that required your full body weight on the brake, to stop! I never had one, but I drove many!

 

[poleclimber63]

The one that started it all for me was a 1995 toyota T-100 sr5 4x4. In my opinion the T-100 was one of the ugliest trucks ever created but I loved this one. With 36x14.5r15s on it, it was arguably the slowest thing on the road but it never left me stranded no matter what situation I would get myself into. It also started my quest for more HP which has left me with a nicely built 98 Cummins 12v and my 04 SC'd v8 t4r. Only regret I have, just like most of you, is selling the T-100 which unfortunately was beat to crap by a high school kid. The t4r reminds me of my ol truck in all the ways I loved it and has all the things the T was missing so I guess things turned out alright.

Those are awesome pictures!! Looks like that truck was really well used for the purpose it was intended! Great!

 

[poleclimber63]

I've had quite a few cars, but my first was a 86 Mazda B2000 Longbed.

I cranked down the torsions, blocks in back. You could barely slide a pack of cigarettes under it and it was static dropped.

Also owned the following:

Before we had kids, the wife and I owned all of these. Yes that's a hearse sticking out of the garage.

Hope I didn't derail the thread too much. I kept finding pictures of cars... there are a couple that I don't have pics of. 91 CRX SI and a 94 Toyota P/U.


My 4runner is my first lifted vehicle.

Wow! Considering you have an affinity for lowered vehicles, its good to see your 4R has prompted you to rise to the occasion!!!! That hearse is crazy!

 

[poleclimber63]

My second car...

After I sold my Acadian, I bought a 1976 VW Rabbit, as I couldn't afford the gas, for College! I liked how the Rabbit was engineered, aside for the engine and electrical.... those early 1.6L engines with aluminum Heads had valve guide and seal issues. Within 2 yrs a cloud of blue followed me everywhere so I did an engine swap, shafts clutch etc.
I did some mods the Summer after College, I swapped the carb with a Hitachi Carb from a Datsun 510 ($10!) and machined a manifold transition plate from a block of aluminum. I wired a solenoid to the secondaries with a switch on the gear shift knob to activate....it was pretty wild to drive!
That Bosch electrical system was stupid.... the last 6mo. I drove it, I carried a bottle of Electrosol (contact cleaner), as the connectors on the fuse panel weren't plated well and corroded up and caused opens on a regular basis ie headlights would go off at night, wipers wouldnt work in the rain etc etc.... it never left me stranded however, and it was fun to drive!

Too bad I can't find any pictures...

 

[poleclimber63]

This is the truck that started it...

I bought a 1999 Suburban in 2007 when I moved from from the Vancouver area. I took it off road and had a great time of it--- sort of awakened my desire to enjoy the back roads. However, this truck made me extremely aware of why you want a reliable vehicle went you go off road! This truck nickel and dimed me to the point I will never buy a GMC ever again. Enter Toyota! LOVE it!

Over the time I owned it I:
Plug failure, 3 door handles, 2 power windows, 1 door lock, heater hose, rear end (on vacation, I might add!) ebrake, exhaust down pipe off of manifold broke off and pipe to cat cracked and before I sold it-- the Transmission started to shift radically when cold. One of the worst vehicles (AND expensive!) I've ever owned.... it got to the point my Wife wouldn't drive farther than the grocery store in it as she didn't trust it to NOT breakdown! The alt and battery died on her on 2 occasions... I forgot--- the factory security also failed intermittently, until they finally found the problem this problem left me stranded more than once! Good thing I have AAA--- I got a lifetime of use out of that membership! Live and learn!

 

[UnderFire]

It all started in my Dad's 89 Toyota, 3.0 5-Speed, Lifted and on 36" Swampers, I rode everywhere in it with him when I was a kid, and learned to drive in it.

After Driving it for a couple years we came across a good deal on CL, a 2003 Dodge Dakota 4-Door, that was really "my first car", I drove that for a year or so, hated every minute of it, automatics are boring and the thing just had no soul. I was happy when it blew up, and we got our money back out of it even blown up.

Searched around for cars for about a week, on a whim just typed 4x4 into CL and my 4Runner popped up, 2WD with most of the parts to do the 4WD swap, just kind of fell into my lap.

 

[thardy]

My first rig was a '77 Jeep CJ5. I don't have any pics from when I owned it, but I sold it to my uncle and he has modded it a little (a LOT)

 

[RogueYota]

My first car was a '63 Chevy Nova 4 door with a 235ci straight 6 and a 3 on the tree. unsynchronized first gear with a sticky linkage. I had to carry a hammer and a can of WD40 with me. That thing burned oil at the rate of a quart per tank of gas. I bought it for 200 bucks and drove it for about a year. My mom ended up selling it while I was in the Marines for 400 bucks.

I've owned quite a few nicer vehicles in the 20 yrs since the old Nova, but we had some good times together.

 

[jsha22lr]

My first vehicle was a 2000 Toyota Landcruiser, which I aptly named the green beast, later on renamed the Tank. It was my dads, then became mine my sophomore year. Many miles and lots of trips were put on that truck, had a lot of first memories in that truck. I loved the truck, hated the gas mileage, but the trade off was worth it. I felt like I could survive Red Dawn or anything that was thrown at me as long as I had that truck and a few other essentials. Sadly, I was more into guns than I was trucks, so nothing was done to it performance wise. Which makes me wonder what all I could have done with had I invested in it. Any ways, that truck, as much as I beat it and ran it into the ground, would keep on going. Sadly, I got distracted while driving and ran into Ford Explorer a month ago, and clipped their passenger side rear bumper. The other party was thankfully safe, with no injuries. Luckily, the Tank did was it was supposed to do, and I came out safe. Upset, but safe none the less. Now, the Tank totaled, hopefully sold to somebody who has the skills to bring back life into her and give her a new home. Now I have my 4Runner, which has become my project truck, still trying to decide on a name for it.

Picture of the Tank, getting ready for a kayaking trip.

And post wreck.

 

[Yaker]

Fiat 500

0.5 Liter, 15 HP, max 56 mph with wind from behind, ~1960

This is a similar like mine, mine was blue, it's for ralleys because of the black stripe