My first was a 1956 Plymouth Plaza two door sedan. My dad did the engineering and much of the swap of a 331 hemi punched out to 354. The year was 1962.
1986-69 Chevy Caprice Factory 427(390 Horse)all black-Keystone Mags-factory height. 1987-Installed Hydraulics-True Spoke wire wheels-High school car. 1995-Painted it black-Wide white walls-57 Caddy hubcaps-Had it pinstripped. 2009-Met a guy who owned it from 78 to 82-it was lowered to the ground-chorme reverse wheels with baby moons-black laquer-lots of pinstripes--I guess it was meant to be a 60~s styled Lowrider----Came off the assembly line in Los Angeles-ended up in Iowa. Never sell your first car-if it`s a GOOD one.
The first car I drove was my dads 60's Chevy pickup. My first boughten car was my 40 Frod coupe. 44 years later I still have it and just finishing up a frame off restoration.
Not a car at all. lol 1953 GMC 1/2 ton with corner windows and a 1968 FORD 302/3spd with a later model high geared posi rear. Dad wouldn't ride with me for the first 6 months. First time he rode with me, he said "when are you going to shift?" I said "shift?" and ran it up to 55 in first, then hit second....after that he believed me that it was tall geared. ....wish I never traded it off
Bought this from a school teacher in 1949 for 500 bucks, put '41 Buick skirts on,-----came the Korean war---No more '41 Chev.----Nice car,---But never did like the "assisted" vacuum shift!!!!!!----Went to FORDS!.------Don
1954 International Metro Milk Truck...It was a rolling party wagon, and could fit about 20 of my closest friends comfortably... EW...
1940 Pontiac coupe in 1961 or maybe it was 1962. It suffered from a seized block so my friends and I yanked the 'dead player' 6 from it and replaced it with a 303" Oldsmobile engine we secured from the local bone yard. Really miss that car. Next was a '56 BelAir hadrtop with too many doors. Hated that rusty smoky thing. Bought a fuelie '57 BelAir after that. Things got much better from that point up to present.
My great grandmother's 1978 Ford Granada 4 door was mine at 13 or 14. Never got it legal to drive on the road, but I kept it for 15+ years. I think I'm still emotionally scarred. My 1st street legal car was a '71 Rivi w/ a 455- tire frying tourque at the mash of the go pedal. Eating those silly little 5.0 GTs in the early '90s was soooo much fun. Funny thing is- the seat in my Studebaker is the split bench out of the Granada. And the Rivi's 455 is in my storeroom.
67 camero, bought it for 400$, it was beat to hell by 2 previous high school kids, had no brakes and ran like shit. I found 4 sparkplug wires were in the wrong place and a master cyl kit fixed the brakes, I was 15 years old it was 1975, no pics we painted it flat black with pinstripe flames. the 327 ran like a scalded dog.
My first car was a 58 Ford Courior 3dr 6 with 3 on the tree. Had it for about 6 mos, put some engine flush in it ran it alittle to long and wiped out the bearings. bought a wreak with a292 auto. got the v-8 out, that was it never put in. i was 16
I actually built my first vehicle with the help of a great Dad in 1979. I was 17 when we started and it was the second hot rod we built together. Anyway, here's a couple picsof it in it's glory days, and yes I still have it.
That was my 3rd car, I bought it new. I have been looking for another one for several years. Mine was black, white insert in the chrome, and tan interior. I want another one really bad. Jack
47 Ford four door paid $75.00 for it in 1968. I took out the original flat head six and put in a 394 olds never finished it. Young and dumb, but I still have it.
mine was a 66 mustang convertible , red with red interior and a white top ...had a 6 cyl. I replaced with a 289 out of a wrecked 66 fairlane I got for free, I had 4 to 5 lug wheel adapters so I could run some slotted mags & N-50's on the rear........pete
Well no surviving pictures of mine (thank you Katrina)... But I had one of these It looked like a huge pissed GTO. It was a rare Canadian model too. Had a 421 HO and a Turbo 425 transmission with oversized brakes. Hard to get parts for, but was an awesome car...
1954 Chevy 3100. I got it when I was 15, and never got to drive it till I was 19. So it was my first truck, but I drove a Ranger in the meantime. Started out with a slighty warmed over 250 and 3sp, then swapped in a 305 with the HO goodies from an 80's SS MonteCarlo, now it has a hot little 355 with TBI, TH400, Competition Engineering ladderbars, a 4:10 12 bolt Posi, and a list of moving violations as long as my arm!
I got my first car when I was 15 and worked on it until I got my license a year later. Bought it of Ron Tonkin's carlot in Beaverton for $104. My dad and grandfather went to the car dealer and Dad negotiated from $188 down to $104. He then drove the Chevy home with me in passanger seat and my Grandfather following along behind to pick up anything that fell off. I can remember it kept popping out of third gear and my Dad had to drive with his hand on the column shifter keeping in it third. The Chevy already had a 235, nosed and decked and was pretty nice. My neighbor behind us was a mechanic at on Fields Chevrolet and had aquired a 55 235 Corvette motor with tripower.............I was able to buy it from him along with the worn out 235 for $150. That little 235 was pretty sweet and I can remember giving the guys in their 55/56 Chevy's (with 265's) a real run for their money. Loved that car!
Look at my name and youl see my first car (Yeah, im 14, so what? Never too late to learn about traditional hotrodding.)
The Jalopy Journal
