If you found your first car now, would you buy it again?

[TripleTransAm]

First car officially to my name? I probably would buy it again... but I don't have to. 'Cause I still own it.

From way back when....



to a pic taken last Fall:



I came close to letting go of it back in the 90s when I got my first house... all the while, I kept telling myself I'd become that guy in the classic car magazine article some decades later that would lament the one that got away. So I tightened the belt for the first couple of years and managed to keep it, and here we are in 2012.

[DougReed]

Nice old Pontiac!

[chittychittybangbang]

BAH, no screaming chicken

[amstel78]

1962 Ford Fairlane 500... and no, wouldn't buy one again unless it was dirt cheap and had all the original parts on it.

[TripleTransAm]

Originally Posted by DougReed

Nice old Pontiac!

Thanks... yeah, sadly all Pontiacs are now pretty much old Pontiacs. ;-) No big deal, though, they were pretty boring near the end, without the Firebirds (dead since 2002). Pretty hard to get excited about G3s, G5s, G6s, G8s, G13s, G66-and-three-quarters, etc.

Originally Posted by chittychittybangbang

BAH, no screaming chicken

I have my fill of screaming chickens, thank you very much.



The rather spartan high mileage example in the foreground (dirty from an earlier rain) was purchased in 2000, completing a childhood dream to own a '77 or '78 T/A. The other '78 to the right was found in mid 2010, with only 50000 miles on the clock and loaded with pretty much every option... bought from the original owner (65 year old lady who could no longer reach the clutch pedal!).

One of the big selling points for the 80s GTA model I showed earlier was its lack of decal/graphics. A very porsche-like metal emblem on the nose, some metal GTA-Trans am emblems on the front fenders, metal bird emblems on the C pillars, and that was it. Not even the common-for-80s-Trans Ams contrasting colour band on the skirts, it was rather a monochromatic theme. And of course the gold lace wheels no doubt inspired by the BBS-style wheels of the 70s/80s that were so common on euro sports coupes. A stark contrast to the wild decals and graphics of the 70s cars I posted here now.

I'll never claim them to be the best cars around, but they certainly are very fun to drive and handle great (and in the case of my '98, have a crazy amount of power while being very very fuel efficient). Sadly, it is way too easy to find examples that have had the snot beaten out of them.

[boettj-tdi]

The first car I drove was a 1980 Over the Hill Green Diesel Rabbit. Shortly after that I bought a VW Fox 2 door with a 4 speed. What a zippy little car. I loved it, and put over 240k miles before finally letting it go.


Jason
2006 VW Jetta TDI

[Barnswallow]

Gosh yes..... actually I'm looking for it. If anybody in NJ knows where it is.
It's probably a basket case by now but it needs to come home where it belongs.
58 Triumph TR3A

[UTbuckeye]

1972 Dodge Dart Swinger, eggshell white with baby blue interior. Bought it from the original owner who had the entire service history written on athletic tape on the sun visor. There was probably an inch and a half of tape just in oil changes. And no, I probably wouldn't buy it back, I need something with power breaks and an FM radio! Good car though, and great memories!

[Wolfsbur]

Bought my first car in 1983--a 1975 Audi Fox. Sold it to buy a 79 round headlight Rabbit diesel. Would buy the Fox back, same with the Rabbit.

Geoff

[chadsci]

In a heart beat. 1966 VW beetle with a Baja kit and a 1776 motor. Sold it to someone in Thunder bay... Never got to see it again.