The first car I ever owned was a very used and old 1969 Ford Fairlane. I bought it for $700 the same year I read The Moviegoer by Walker Percy. I liked the vivid scenes of the protagonist driving in picturesque New Orleans (at least that's how I remember it). Of course every young man wants to drive his own dream machine. Sometimes your finances make you downsize your dream as was the case for me.
My '69 Fairlane had a 250-cubic inch, six banger engine. Not exactly a muscle car but it did get pretty decent gas mileage. Again, my lean wallet came into play. Mostly I wanted it to get to and from college with miminal breakdowns. The Fairlane's gears froze up once and that ran me a hefty bill to get fixed.
I'd also read On the Road by Jack Kerouac and criss-crossing the nation sounded cool to me. However, no way did I trust the Fairlane to take me all those miles, and I never did get on the road. The Fairlane only stuck around a couple of years. I don't have a memory of what became of it. I probably traded it in toward the cost of a newer, more reliable ride. Was it love? A little. Was it hate? A little more, perhaps.
My '69 Fairlane had a 250-cubic inch, six banger engine. Not exactly a muscle car but it did get pretty decent gas mileage. Again, my lean wallet came into play. Mostly I wanted it to get to and from college with miminal breakdowns. The Fairlane's gears froze up once and that ran me a hefty bill to get fixed.
I'd also read On the Road by Jack Kerouac and criss-crossing the nation sounded cool to me. However, no way did I trust the Fairlane to take me all those miles, and I never did get on the road. The Fairlane only stuck around a couple of years. I don't have a memory of what became of it. I probably traded it in toward the cost of a newer, more reliable ride. Was it love? A little. Was it hate? A little more, perhaps.
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Randy
(last edited Jul 27, 2012 12:24pm)
(new)
Jul 27, 2012 12:23pm
The first car I ever owned was my "Beach Boys" Impala. You know, four speed, dual quad, positraction 409. I loved that until the day I was flying down the road(oh, the arrogance of youth) and it threw a rod through the oil pan.
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Randy wrote: "The first car I ever owned was my "Beach Boys" Impala. You know, four speed, dual quad, positraction 409. I loved that until the day I was flying down the road(oh, the arrogance of youth) and it th..."I like(d) the Impala's sleek designs. Sounds like a genuine muscle car, all right. Now I only see them offered for sale on PAWN STARS (History channel).
Michele wrote: "first car I ever owned was a refurbished ex cop car."That car probably had some stories to tell. Mine was from a gov't car pool because the paint job covered the writing on the driver door.
My first car--or the first car that was 98% exclusivley mine to drive, was an 1974 Monte Carlo. I can remember when dad bought it new. It cost over $7,000. I could not believe it. This was not a Cadillac. It was just a regular car. Regular cars did not cost $7,000. Chevrolet must have thought it was something special and so did I. -oh for those days-
Pamela wrote: "My first car--or the first car that was 98% exclusivley mine to drive, was an 1974 Monte Carlo. I can remember when dad bought it new. It cost over $7,000. I could not believe it. This was not a Ca..."The Monte Carlos looked sleek. I was a Chevy fan even when I drove a Ford. Nowadays I'm happy with whatever gets me around and doesn't cost a fortune to fill up. Thanks for the comments.
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