What I wouldn't give to have my FIRST car...

[CoffeeCat]

When I was in my early 20's, I purchased my first car.

Please don't laugh...I purchased a Turbo Sprint. It was small,
adorable and it really had some kick. It had a 3-cylinder engine.

I'd give anything to have that car back, because it got 53 mpg. Mainly
because a good portion of the car was plastic, so it was lightweight. I remember
pulling open the gas door in the winter, and it cracked in half--from the cold!

Man, I'm really aching for that car.

The current SUV I drive--"the shamemobile" gets 11--if we're lucky. We have
never filled it up, because we feel disgusted. We've gone to about $80, and that
gets us 3/4 of a tank.

I'm sure the resell value is scary-bad.

Aren't people supposed to get wiser as they age? When it comes to car purchases, looking
back on it--I was a lot smarter in my early 20's!

[Warpy]

1. I've never owned anything with more than 4 cylinders

since 1969. I drove my dad's 6 cylinder sedan for a few weeks around the time of his death and was appalled by how much gas that thing sucked up--and prices were low two years ago.

Extra muscle just seemed wasteful to me, even in 1969 when you could still find gas for $0.33/gallon. Why should I spend extra gas to get where I'm going? It's not like I had an ego that needed to roar past everything else on the road.

I don't consider myself smarter than the Saudi's Ultimate Vengeance owner. I just consider myself cheaper.

[Kitty Herder]

13. Me, too. Same thing, not smarter, just more of a penny pincher.

Plus, I've never understood why a person would need a muscle car what with speed limits and all. What's the use of having a car that will go really fast if all the highways have speed limits? Where you gonna drive it? On a race track?

[6th Borough]

24. Mine has 5 cylinders...Swedes make for some quirky engineers

...I guess. Yes, it's a Volvo, '04 (would you expect anythingless from an Obama supporter)? :sarcasm:

While not the most economical option gas-mileage wise, it is quite efficient for its size; tecnically a midsize car but bordering on being a full sizer.

It sure beats the mileage I got on my previous car, a showroom floor quality 1971 Ford Torino 500 which was of a comparable size. THAT thing, I estimate, got between 7-12 mpg...on the days when raw gas wasn't dripping out my modified exaust pipes.

[Samurai_Writer]

2. I'm wishing I had my first car back too

A 1984 Ford Fiesta. It had the same 3-cylinder engine as the Sprint did. Also got about 50 mpg.

I'm seriously looking into buying an old Geo Metro, which gets about 40mpg. The only thing is, if I 'garage' my 1984 Ford Bronco II as a 'winter/mountain only' vehicle, it will soon fall apart from not being driven. It gets about 25 mpg, which isn't bad.

[puerco-bellies]

3. When I was 16 I started driving a 69 VW Beetle. Last month I bought a '69 bug

It only gets 25mpg, but I can work on it.

[yellowdogintexas]

5. I miss my 65 Bug, even though my Sebring does OK in the mileage dept

I can drive from Fort Worth to Little Rock on 1 tank. My last car would only get to Texarkana. Same size tank, by the way

[sinkingfeeling]

4. Mine was a 1957 Metropolitan (from Nash).

They were tiny.




The guys on the football team once 'hid' it under the school's fire escape. They just picked it up since it weighed only 1800 pounds and moved it from its parking spot.

Mine was a two-tone and had a standard transmission.

[Tesha]

6. Mr. Tesha has repeatedly mourned for his 1477 cc VW Scirocco.

It was a 1978 VW Scirocco with the tarted-up trim and
the 1477 cc motor, power nothing except brakes.

He refers to it as a "cafe racer" (you know: it goes
*REALLY FAST* when you're talking about it later on
in the cafe) but he could routinely get 40 MPG out
of it and once, on a dare, did a trip from NJ to
Boston at 50+ MPG.

All of our current cars routinely do in the neighborhood
of 25 MPG and top out at about 30.

Tesha

[LiberalEsto]

7. My 66 Dodge Dart

It was a great car. Bought it from my psych professor for $300 in 1969.

[uppityperson]

9. I had one of those also for 1st car, lime green with a black roof. Great car.

[lutefisk]

8. 1600 pounds and a 1 star crash test rating...driving that car would be an act of bravery

...or something.

But then I once owned a Fiat 850 Spyder (rear engine, 850cc). That was an immensely unsafe car.

[4_TN_TITANS]

10. Same here...

When I started driving, the market was flooded with compacts that were the result of the 70's fuel crisis. My little VW Rabbit diesel would get 48-50 miles easy and was a good handling little car.

[catnhatnh]

11. I'd like an early one of mine back....

a chopped 63' VW chassis with a dune buggy body...Never bothered to find out what milage I was getting, but fantastic fun to drive. I lent it to my brother one afternoon and he took off to cruise with two buddies...he pulled back in just before sundown (say 8'ish) he told me he'd filled the tank-turned out he'd only taken $1.23 and was so embarassed he tipped the attendant 77 cents...gas was around 50 cents back then...

[Initech]

12. I wish I had my old Volvo.

That was a sweet car. It got about 37MPG on average (it was an early 90's 6 cylinder and was fully loaded) but it died a horrible death. My next vehicle after that was a Pontiac that got about 25MPG on average. Huge fucking difference. My current vehicle is a Nissan Altima that gets about 30MPG on average - somewhere in the middle.

[mentalsolstice]

14. 1st car...Toyota Corona

My parents bought it for my 16th b'day (1976), for $200. I probably filled it up once a month or less. However, I love my current car more than any I've had, '08 MINI Cooper S. I may get flamed for this, but sometimes I drive it around the block an extra time before parking it in my driveway, I love it that much.

[onethatcares]

15. I've been lookin for a small beater

to buy for my grandson. Something that needs body work, engine work, tires, wheels, a radio, but something small and neat. A geo metro, a ford escort, a pontiac t1000 for gauds sake, but they've been going to the scrap yard lately and those that don't are worth more than they were when they were new. I want to help him get his first car on the road so he has some sweat equity in it. Anybody got any ideas? Anybody got any geo metros?

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

16. My first car was a 1962 MGA - I wish I had it now

I bought it in 1967 for $600 in great running condition. That was the golden age of cars, as far as I'm concerned. And gas was about 28 cents a gallon.



But my taste in cars hasn't changed. I still only drive oldies: a 1969 Citroen DS 21, a 1973 Saab model 96, and a 1957 DKW F93. All of them get good gas mileage.

[CoffeeCat]

18. Wow, that's bizarre...

My father had the exact same car. Same year, color, wire wheels and everything! I remember
my father discussing the year often, and remarking that the 1959 and 1962 versions
were similar.

He purchased it sometime in the late '60's-early 70's.

That was such an awesome car. I remember riding in it when I was
four years old.

Wow, it's amazing to see that car again!

What a coincidence. That's not a car you see everyday.

Did you sell yours?

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

20. Yeah, I had to sell it

I think I was about 16 when I bought it and I sold it two years later when I went off to college for a year at the American College in Paris. The photo is not of my actual car, but one just like it (same color, wire wheels, etc.) I had a rock and roll band in Georgia when I had the car back in the 60s, and the drummer had one just like mine (another coincidence). It was funny to see him try to jam a full drum kit of Rogers drums into the passenger seat and small trunk. And the rhythm guitar player was so jealous he had to buy a used one, too, only his was red.

[Stinky The Clown]

17. My 59 Sprite got abut 40 mpg

Its tongue would hang out at 80 mph, but it was absolute BALL to drive fast on twisty roads.

I still have the car ...... in my garage ..... in boxes .... with no two pieces bolted together.

It looks like this:

[Poiuyt]

28. Hey, I had one of those!

What a fun car! It was like riding in a roller coaster. But I was afraid to drive it more than walking distance from my house.

[AlCzervik]

19. mine was a 1979 Cutlass supreme brougham in powder puff blue, really glad that

thing caught on fire, i could never afford to gas that thing up.

[Overseas]

21. Glad you say that because I thought I was crazy remembering 40 mpg when I was in college

Thanks for your story because I thought I remembered seeing friends being cool whose cars got over 40 mpg when I was in college in the 70's and would talk about it, along with Jimmy Carters damn cardigans in the White House. But I had come to think I must have had it wrong because surely, if friends were competing to see whose car got over 35 mpg, surely we wouldn't have gone on to cars that got less MPG...?

[Lugnut]

22. Me too.

My first car was a '58 VW Beetle.

[orleans]

23. yep. i wish i had your first car too. n/t

[Individualist]

25. '65 Corvair convertible

I loved that little car!

[lonestarnot]

26. Put your name on that little Diablo Smart Car wait list.

:P

[bullwinkle428]

27. That was the exact car my ex-wife drove when I met her...

nearly 20 years ago to this day! It was actually a fun little car to drive - very unrefined, and I shuddered to think what would have happened if it was hit by a semi. :scared:

She actually was hit by a guy in a mid-sized car making an illegal left turn and ended up suffering migraine headaches for years after that. I know some cars like this one and similar ones from that era are fetching some unreal prices on Ebay and places like that, but there are so many safety features that have become standardized since then, that it's really not a good option to go back to a car like that.

I actually drove an '82 Honda Accord hatchback at that same time, and now drive an '02 Accord Sedan! The newer one is much bigger, but the fuel economy is nearly as good as the old one due to all of the advances in electronic engine management, so I can't say I have any great desire to back to the old car if I could. Hybrid, diesel, or a combination of the above are an absolute requirement for my next car!

[geek_sabre]

29. The Geo Metro is about the same

I dreamed about that car as a kid, then when I told my family about it, they laughed.

Now they're going for $7K+ on eBay.