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I've asked readers, via Facebook, to send me their "first car" stories. This was how I posed it: Do you remember your first car? Mine was what is now referred to as a "previously owned" 1969 Dodge Dart, with safety features that included a steering wheel that occasionally fell off at inopportune moments (such as when I was driving). I was 18 years old and loved every ugly brown inch of it, and was terribly proud when I put my purple "Kenyon College" sticker on its bumper. The car never made it as far as Ohio, but it lives on in my memory.
tflynn: My first car was a 1963 VW Squareback (that was the "station wagon" version). I was born in 1960! The original red color had been painted over to school bus yellow, and the headlight rims had to be wired further back into the body of the car due to rust. Thus, the lights were never really aligned. My boyfriend (now my husband!) used to call the car "The Squirrel Hunter" because when we drove over bumps in the road, the lights would bounce and then shine up into the trees! Also learned to drive standard-shift on that car. Many more stick shifts to follow, right up to my Ford van that I had until 2001! Gosh, how I hate driving an automatic!
A. Wyle, Bedford, NY: I can tell you what I WON'T buy for my kids when they're of age to drive: a new car. Too many people spoil their kids by buying them brand new cars. My first was a 1974 Ford Country Squire. Blue, with fake wood trim. It was more of a boat than a car.
Ivy: My first car was a secondhand Saturn. It was my parents' promise to me after I graduated from high school.
Carl Bolton: Mine was a high school graduation gift from my dad -- a Cadillac (a black one).
benntlY: I can still remember my first car it was my dad's before and he gave it to me before I went to college. It was a beat up Cadillac but I do have a lot of memories in that car.
Maeve, Stamford, Conn: A VW Rabbit "gunmetal gray." Diesel. Five speeds and 50 miles per gallon. It had glow bulbs, I think they were called. And you couldn't turn over the engine until the bulbs turned off. Loved that car; got me through college.
Gabe, Larchmont, NY: A brown Ford Mustang, which was so rusted that you could see the road beneath the car if you looked under the gas pedal. Also, it had a great safety feature: when you hit the brake, the front (bucket) seat slid forward. They sure don't make 'em like they used to.
Stipl28, Norwalk: A Plymouth Valiant. It was the ugliest, best car I ever had.
Please keep your stories and photos coming. You can email them to me at jcurtis@mainstreetconnect.us.
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