First cars are like first loves. Many are good. A few are bad. Most just happen, and their meaning fades over time. Some connect with your soul and never leave. Often, they’re how we measure our subsequent experiences. Let’s do a little deep exploration into our own psyches and decide if we’d buy our first cars back.
I wish my first car was the Studebaker Avanti I’m posing next to above, but I can’t currently locate a photo of the creamy beige diesel 1978 Mercedes 300D sedan I actually owned.
The MB was owned by a woman who would swim with my German grandmother at the local pool. There was a small amount of rust under the car but, aesthetically, it was in pretty decent shape and had that delightful orange MB Tex interior. It looked a little something like this one from Mercedes Motoring:
I loved automobiles at 16 so it wasn’t lost on me that this was actually quite the cool first car. It was slow, of course, but I question the logic of giving a 16-year-old a fast car anyway. I delighted in cruising around in it through my boring suburban town and I wish I’d learned to work on it before we ended up selling it to a Lufthansa mechanic who had three W123s.
Would I have it back? Of course! Not only are these cars actually worth money, it’s only aged better in the years since I graduated from high school. What about you? Would you have your first car back? Why? Why not?
[Editor’s Note: I just want to say my first car was a 1968 VW Beetle the color of Wrigley’s gum, with those JC Whitney Navajo-pattern seat covers. I bought it with my own money saved from my job selling Apple IIs at the Byte Shop when I was 15, before I could drive. No one in my family could drive stick, so I got the guy my parents were accused of trying to murder later to drive to our house. That’s true, by the way. I learned how to drive stick on my way to work, and it was harrowing. A few months later some dummy didn’t yield for a turn at a light and crashed into me, and I pulled the engine and used it in the ’71 Super Beetle I got next. I’d buy it back, no question! – JT]
A few ground rules to this question:
- We’ll assume the car is basically in running shape and in a condition that is indicative of how you owned it (i.e., if it was wrecked you can still buy the non-wrecked version of your car).
- If you still own your first car or have purchased it back please tell us why.
- “first” means the first car that was your car and not the family car.
Fire away.
I briefly covered this before, but realized I left out some key details. In junior high, the playground area overlooked the parking lot for high school students, teachers, and visiting parents alike. Over time you could determine who drove what, and talk to them about their rides if so inclined. I was taken with the blue 69 Charger SE driven by an 11th grader that was in fantastic shape interior/exterior, and when it stopped showing up, I asked him why. He told me the engine had seized, and he wasn’t sure of his next move with it. I told him I was very much interested in it, and let me know if he was ready to part ways with it. I only had about $250 saved at the time from after school jobs, but my dad had a standing deal with his offspring that he would match whatever we could save up for our first car. I was 15, and both my dad and I expected to have more saved up, and the purchase to happen later, but when the PO told me he would take $400 as is, IT WAS GO TIME, and left enough to cover flatbed ride to home. I freed up the engine after a week of soaking all cylinders, and back flushed the cooling system(he told me it overheated), new thermostat, some hoses, cranked with plugs out, And She Turned! Gapped new plugs, wires, and she’s purring at idle. I’m elated, can’t believe my good fortune, then the Death Knock makes its presence known when shuttling around property. My eldest brother had long ago filled up the garage and most of the driveway with his British collection, so I really didn’t have the option to rebuild, but could do a transplant, and we had a hoist. I bought another 69 charger for $200 that looked like crap, but was roadworthy. The price was right, but the 318 was already burning oil, and decided the effort of the transplant wasn’t worth ending up with that. My parents put up with me having 2 unused cars and my 71 Karmann- Ghia convertible I was driving for a couple of years before demanding they go. My plan was to find a 440 on the cheap to put in the clean beauty with an all black interior(and a Motorola Verbasonic that sounded awesome!)and take good spare parts off of ugly, then scrap. So I ran out of parental patience, and sold them together for what I had in them. I still kick myself 44 years later, that I let that kick-ass car go, and was distracted by that lovely Ghia I enjoyed driving immensely.
The first car I bought was a 78 VW Scirocco which was fun to drive but rusty. I’d prefer the second car, an 81 Scirocco with a 16V swap
First car (family hand-me-down):
1967 Corvair Monza Coupe, black on black, 110hp with 2 speed Powerglide and rare A/C. Yes I would buy it back.
First car I purchased: 1974 Renault 12TL. Yes I would buy it back.
1969 Bronco. 3 on the tree, no power steering or brakes. Drums all the way around. Broke both thumbs when I hit a curb and the steering wheel spun. Slow, uncomfortable, noisy, drifts around like a kite in a storm. I would buy it back in a heartbeat. My dad and I restored it in 85. Sold it in 88 for $5,000. Saw it 10 years ago and the guy who bought it treated it like shit. The new owner complained how he had to replace the front bushings. That guy is a total dick.
That same all-manual setup was still going strong in the 80s; I had that on an F-150. Having grown up in farm country, I knew well enough to drive “thumbs up” as off-road drivers are still taught today. On the farm, hitting a hole with a tractor can break your thumbs, wrist, or arm if the wheel spins and you’re gripping it hard! The longer the steering ratio (to make turning heavy manual steering easier at low speed) the faster it’ll spin if something grabs or knocks a front wheel!
My first car was a 91 Subaru Legacy. It was my first car in 2004. Drove it until 2007 when my parents took it back and bought me a replacement due to some electrical issues. They kept it as a spare car until 2016 or so and sold it for like $400?
It was mechanically fine, but looked like shit by then. If I could get it around that price, absolutely.
My first car full stop was a 1975 El Camino with a built 396 swapped in and a stripe down the side that I can only assume was painted during Chevy’s “Heartbeat of America” era. Unfortunately, the chassis was… well, think Project Cactus. So I was never allowed to drive it. Absolutely I’d get another though.
My first car that I was allowed to drive was a 1972 Oldsmobile Delta 88 convertible with a factory 455. Acceleration is hamstrung by the 2.73 open differential. Steering is slow and overboosted. The brakes encourage the two second following distance no actually does after driver’s ed. Even if you could throw it into a corner vinyl bench seats and lap only seat belts mean you’re not. Objectively, terrible car.
Subjectively, it’s the best. V-8 open air motoring, cushy suspension, fantastic cruiser. Still have it 21 years later.
Bonus, I can also say the first car I ever rode in (my parents’ 1983 Monte Carlo SS) also sits in my garage.
I was ready to announce that I would rekindle my romance with the 1994 Mercury Villager until you unfairly banned family hand-me-downs. I grew up with a lot of hand-me-downs from my older brother, and hand-me-downs build character goddamnit! Kids who groan and roll their eyes when they find out their first vehicle is the same one that picked them up from middle school are going to grow up to become assholes. As a parent, it is your duty to find out if you’ve raised an entitled asshole before the rest of us have to deal with them.
A nostalgia trip with my 2004 Mazda3 sounds pretty great. I don’t know where it is today, or if it has any sheet metal left, but I can see myself driving to campus with a center console full of CDs and a Garmin in my lap because it fell off the windshield again. I drove it to my first date with my future spouse, my first through fourth jobs, parked it in the garage of my first house, took it to adopt my first dog, and brought my baby home from the hospital in it. I’d love a chance to drive it one last time.
19yo son drives our ’04 Odyssey and is happy to have it. Pats self on back judged by your criteria.
Think mine was scrapped almost 30 years ago so…probably not feasible, but sure, I’ve actually thought doing a Leaf swap into an 80s Chevy Celebrity would probably work fairly well, plenty of room for batteries, and the Leaf motor has as much if not more power than the carbureted 2.8L I had. It was a nice sized car, roomy inside, not too big outside, big trunk.
I bought back my first car, the ’78 Cougar in the profile pic. Early in college I came into a modest amount of inheritance money and was convinced I should use it to buy a ‘more reliable’ car, so I got my ’92 Accord coupe. I hadn’t planned on selling the Cougar, but my high school buddy loved it too, was in need of wheels, and begged me to sell it to him, which I did for the same price I bought it for.
When the Accord’s miserable heat-sensitive ignitor module failed for the nth time and stranded me, I decided I wanted my car back. My buddy ended up not using it much in the meanwhile, since it was harder on gas than he was ready for, and he ended up with a nice hand-me-down Sentra that fit his lifestyle better. I bought the car back for the same price, again, and vowed never to get rid of it again. 20 years later it is still in the garage.
I think a huge addendum is required, as to how much you’d be willing to pay to buy your first car back. My first car was a ’95 Intrepid. I’m not dying to own another one, but if I found an Intrepid ES or Vision TSi in great shape for like $2000, I might consider it for a bit.
I bought my first car in 1970, when you could buy a brand new Volkswagen Beetle or a brand new Pinto (optional radio and heater extra) for $2000 which I had accumulated mowing lawns and driving tractors on my family’s farm. But what I got was a 1960 Maserati Vignale 3500 spyder because it was also $2000. It had two heaters because it was originally sold in Switzerland and the owner wanted to drive with the top down in the winter.
Basically a car for people who think Aston Martens are too slow, and Ferraris aren’t luxurious enough although the one I got was sort of a beater.
Went to collage and my mom sold it on for $2000
I’d love to have it back, I don’t have the $800,000 – $1,000,000 to buy it though
Old sports cars were cheap back then. I passed on a perfectly looking Mercedes-Benz 300 SL roadster because it needed new valve guides and smoked a lot also for $2000 and a Ferrari GTO was maybe $4000.
I should probably mention that my first choice for first car with a 1932 Rolls-Royce hearse that was for sale for about $700 in San Francisco but for some reason my parents thought that was a bad idea and kind of liked the idea of a Maserati.
I think you won the most spectacular first car award ! Truly a magical time to buy. I was 9 years later and had to settle for a 69 charger as a first, though today’s values are beyond reason. Always loved those early Maserati from afar. Those 300SL roadsters took a long time to appreciate and saw one for $10,000 around 1999 that was in decent shape, thought that was cheap, but didn’t have it to throw. The Gullwings took off immediately.
My parents still have my first car. It’s a ‘69 Beetle with auto-stick. It was originally beige with aftermarket brown seat upholstery. The previous owners towed it behind an RV, and even had “The Love Bug” painted on the hood (which I could hide with a bra).
After it threw a couple pushrods on a road trip, we had the local Aircooled VW mechanic drop in a fresh motor (we actually sent out the original cooling tins to get chrome plated). I stripped out the interior and removed any rust I could find and coated the pans, then we sent it out for paint — 1999 Prowler Yellow. I installed a new Scat interior, added a stereo, and we gave it a set of “genuine Michelle” two-piece aluminum wheels. That’s basically the condition it sits in to this day. Would I take it back? Sure! But I have a ‘73 Squareback project taking up my available space.
The first car that was actually mine was a ‘96 Cherokee Sport in Jade Green Metallic and it had the 10-hole aluminum wheels. I’d buy that back in a heartbeat and drive it until it died. In college, I mistakenly traded that in for a ‘92 SC300 that ultimately destroyed my credit, because I decided to use all those credit cards I got while waiting in line for food in the student union and add a bunch of dumb things to the SC300 that definitely didn’t make it a better car. Gotta live to learn though, eh!?
I loved my ’89 Camry unconditionally because it was my first car, but… no. It was an ’89 Camry.
’73 K10 shortbed I bought when I was 15 in the early 90’s for the princely sum of $900. I proceeded to add a 4″ lift, 35″ tires, rebuilt 350, and lots of sweat equity. HELL YES I’d buy that thing back, especially for what I sold it for in ’00.
No sir, no way.
Unfortunately, I had a pretty dull first car, a ’91 Buick Regal Custom. Custom what? I’m not really sure.
I had a lot of fun in/with that car, because I was 16 and I was free! I was too chicken shit to do anything truly dumb, and I’m not sure if that’s good or bad. I tried to get two Cerwin-Vega 12″ HE subwoofers installed, but my old man put the kibosh on that when the shipment arrived while I was at school. My first record for “most people in the car” came at a track meet where I was practically the only one to drive to the host school that was an hour+ North of our city. Some of the team wanted lunch, so we ended up having 8 people in that car: three up front on the bench, 4 seated in back, and one across laps in the back. I drove by a cop going the other way and was certain I’d get a ticket!
All things considered, however, it wasn’t a car I’d otherwise look back on fondly if it wasn’t my first, and I can’t imagine giving up modern conveniences to go back to that Malaise Era car.
My first car was a 1971 Ford Torino Sedan with a 302 Cleveland. It was $125 and we may have overpaid. Trunk rust went straight through to the wheel wells, ran on 6.5 cylinders on it’s best day. Was red originally, and by my time it was a dull orangeish color.
This was 1987. It should have been killed with fire before I owned it, and I certainly wouldn’t want it back again, except to maybe crush it into a cube to use as a coffee table.
I’d LOVE to have my first car back. 1978 Fairmont! 200 cid straight six with a 3-speed manual. That lovely Ford 2-tone, a silver-grey with a black band down the sides and up over the roof. It was “my” car, but Dad owned it. Sold it when I went to college, but I wasn’t too upset at the time (car held memories of the girl who dumped me!).
I still have the first car I bought and paid for. A 1983 Thunderbird. It’s been wrecked and rebuilt twice. Currently sitting in the barn as I gather “fun bits” to make it into a weekend racer/cruiser.
Fox-platform Fords are definitely winners for simple, fun cars.
Nope. I have fond memories of some of the shennanigans my friends got into in my ’86 Chevy Celebrity in high school, but there’s not much I miss about that 90 HP pile of Iron Dookie. To this day it’s the only engine I’ve completely seized.
To address Torch’s comment, I taught myself how to drive stick by driving teachers’ cars in high school auto shop class. The teacher asked for volunteers to pick up the car from the parking lot and drive it into the shop and I said sure. Never told him I had never driven stick before, but I figured it out pretty damn quickly. Only almost wrecked a teacher’s Datsun pickup once!
1983 Accord Hatch. Would I want one? Sure. That one? Hell no, it was rusted to hell, and I beat the ever-living tar out of it. It had to be dragged to the boneyard with my Dad’s tractor.
Most definitely! 85 Ranger V6 4×4 5spd. Black with a red, bucket seat interior with console. It was a hunk of shit by the time I got it in 98. My dad handed me the keys and said enjoy it while it lasts, but it won’t last long! He was right, 6months later I had oil blowover and the engine wasn’t long for the road. Then I bought my 86 dark purple Trans Am TMPI 350 with a shift kit, kept that one for 8 years through several winter beaters. I wish I had them both back.
My first was a hand me down 94 Accord Coupe, automatic, not very exciting. Sold it and replaced it with a 95 Chevy S10 with the SS package. Loved that truck. Absolutely would buy it back and LS swap it. I’ve seen a couple pop up over the years and I always think about it.
74 Spitfire. I can get it back with all the wreckage fixed!?!? Oh hell yeah!!!
Quick PSA: Supermarine Spitfires can be rolled without any damage. Triumph Spitfires cannot.
I commented on a recent Shitbox Showdown that my first car (purchased 1988) was a used 1983 Mercury LN7, white with I believe a blue interior, but it could have been black.
No, I don’t want it back.
I would absolutly, if i hadn’t seen the guy crash it. it was a 95 miata that my dad and i rebuilt the engine on when I was 12. we sold it (when miatas were still cheap) for 3 grand and i loved the car, just didnt need or have space for a 12 year old to have a car
Yes! Mk1 Jetta in charcoal, top trim, and yes it was well and truly totaled..
The level of quality represented in this car at the time was well above their asking price. I think I paid around 6000 1986 dollars? Inflation calculator tells me that’s about 16K today? Well worth it. I put a ton of miles on that car, I was a service rep for a computer repair company, and would regularly go from Boston to Providence, sometimes as far as Keen, New Hampshire. Maybe I miss is because it was totaled? maybe just because it was my first? Maybe it was just that good? Either way.