Like a lot of you guys, I grew up on hot rods. My first car was a 66 Barracuda, that I modded with a 340 and a Hurst shifter kit. At the time, I was more about getting something newer and faster (that even describes my first wife) than paying attention to keeping what I had for the long term. So I traded my Barracuda away and life and career took over. Now I wish I could track down my car, even to know if it got scrapped out and recycled. Of course I hope it got preserved and someone still has it under a car cover somewhere. So I have been searching for it, off and on, for a few years now. Looking at want ads, ebay, etc, trying to spot it. My biggest problem is I have absolutely no information on the car as to VIN, license plate, anything at all that would help identify it that way. I believe I could identify it in person because of some particular things only I would know about, beyond having a 340 and Hurst. So who out there is also trying to find their first car? Had any luck?
Lots of luck! It is in my garage and my Avatar. Makes it alot easier after 35 yrs if you held on to it in the first place like I did tho!
I know where mine is... I sold it to a buddy of mine way back in '78 and no, he's not giving it up! I still go over his house once in a while and shoot the shit with him about it. Each time I sit in the drivers seat, I have flashbacks of my old high school dayz...
Know exactly where mine is 55 T-BIRD bought it for $800 dollars sold it for $2500 to a college and its still sitting in a museum with a 56 Corvette,If I had it today would be worth $30,000. but back then,who gave a shit about keeping stuff when you could make that kinda profit,young and stupid.
.............. I almost forgot!... DOH! I was at a car show in Melvindale Mi. today and I snapped a pic of this ol' 'Cuda... it's powered by a 273 Hi-Po w/ a 4-speed and has a Hurst shifter...
Mine is sitting in my dads showroom, I told myself 20 years ago (wow times flies) I was 15 and heard a lot of people say they wish they had their 1st car back. Made the decision then I would never have to say that statement. Its still in good shape (I did a full restoration 20 years ago). I drive it when I go visit pending decent weather, he gets it out a couple times a year. 63 nova hardtop. Of course my mom's first car is in her garage also (55 ford customline). Dad still has his truck he bought in 70, we have my grandma's car she bought in 67, yea we don't sell many.
My first one was hit while I was sitting at a stop sign and totaled. I know it was crushed back around 1979 or so. The engine and tranny went into my second car. It later got traded for a newer/bigger engine and tranny then dissappeared. You know we like pictures, how about posting some.....of that first wife! SPark
the first car that was given to me was a truck that my grandfather owned and stopped driving when i was 10 he told me that it was mine when i got my licence and wouldnt move from his garage until then. well lets just say due to worthless relatives i never got my hands on it but i do know where it is. now the first car that was actualy legaly mine i drove for a month and it got totaled and crushed. but the car after that i bought and kept for 4 years. i still have its vin # and every so often i run it thru the dmv to see where its at. i had the chance to buy it back once and should have but hell im still young and stupid so umm ya lol.
I tracked down a car I bought in 86. I would say my first cool car. It was actually for my wife. We used in during our wedding. I had it for 7 years or so. A clean 64 Acadian wagon v8 car. I always wondered where it went and wished I had kept it. I had a lead years ago of a general area it might be. I would ask people it they ever saw it in any shows, nobody ever saw it. At a show last week I saw a truck from that area and I asked buddy and he told me a name of a guy with a rusted out wagon sitting in the grass that matched the description. Well I found the car and after talking to buddy realized he owned it for the last 16 or 17 years. The first guy that bought drove it in the winter and the present owner has had it parked for years in the grass. Says he wouldn't sell it but I might pursue it more. I would like to drop it on a G body.
My dad talks about his first car. I think it was a '49 Cadillac ragtop given to him by his uncle. Every time he talks about that car it is no wonder why he's held onto his 2nd car for over 40 years and his third for over 30- He regrets kicking the Cad to the curb when it "wasn't cool" to have one of those anymore... My first car is fortunately in my driveway and I plan on keeping it until the end of time. I've had it almost ten years now. I've been through hell just to be able to avoid selling it. It's hard but well worth the sacrifices. I wouldn't be myself without it, as stupid as that sounds. My mom... She had a '70 Roadrunner. She wouldn't mind getting it back. It was rear-ended on an overpass in PA. She got it fixed-up all nice and what happened? It was rear-ended again, at the same place as the first time. She got rid of it after that. She's not a 'car person', but she'd like to have that car back "for the memories". It's too bad you dont have any solid information to find your old car. Never give up hope or trying though. You never know...
My first car was a 41 Willys sedan, bought her in February 1966 and swapped her in about 68 for a shoebox Ford. I recently tracked her down, still on the road! Here's a couple of pics... 1966 (stock) and in 2007 I believe... Cheers, Glen. I also recently 'found' my original hot rod project, a 1928-30 Essex coupe body channelled over 34 Ford rails, which I sold in 1969. It's sat pretty much untouched for over 40 years, and a Sydney rodder is just starting on a build! (No pics, sorry)
I had a 68 428 mustang and I went to my insurance company and they keep the VIN numbers. They gave me a copy of my policy with the VIN number on it and then I tacked it down through the license branch.
A few years ago I too decided to pursue my childhood first car, 1957 Bel Air 2dr htp, but unlike you I had pictures and a copy of the title(a weird habit of mine) and found out I was too late as it had been cut up as a parts car for a convertible restoration project. Damit! Always a day late and a dollar short! But, there are reasons for all of it and a few years later, last December, I picked up my childhood buddies first car and the one that led me to this hobby at the age of 11. Our friend died when we were High School age so this car has more sentimemtal memories then mine did! I am very happy with the turnout. Good luck with your search and to those who kept there first car, great decision! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/album.php?albumid=13548 http://www.streetkingsokla.com/Aaronspage_1.html
My first car was a 1934 Ford --- still have it today (35 years later). There are probably two major reasons I still have it and am in the process of building it. 1) I had a place to store it during the 25 years I was busy with life, career, etc.. 2) Joe Reath of Reath Automotive in Long Beach sat me down when I was 16, just before I was going to drive my 34 for the first time. He had helped/mentored me in many 'flathead' and hotrod ways - and did all my machine work. I'll never forget his words: "Dale, you're just about to drive your first hotrod. No matter what you do, don't ever sell it. We all sold our first hotrods and wish we had them back and once they're gone, they're gone. There will be a time when you're in college, or maybe soon after wards when there will be all sorts of reasons to sell the car - because you need the money, or a girlfriend doesn't like it, or you're getting married, etc.. Just never sell it . . . not matter what the reasons . . . you'll be very glad someday that you didn.t." I've heard Joe in my mind many times -- and I listened that day. Good advice from somebody you trust and look up to can go a long way
I learnt my lesson as my dad and everyone else I know always was upset about selling their first car. I still have mine and have had it for about 4 years now and doubt I will ever sell it. I would say what it is but it is a bit O/T.
My first car was almost a 70' nova. My cousin bought it out from under me. Then it was almost a mustang II. Once again he bought it out from under me. So i ended up with a junk '85 mercury capri bubble window. It was always broke down and i had to disconnect the battery when i parked it or it would be dead in 20 minutes. I scraped it 1 year later after i pulled the engine to put in another car i bought. I do miss it though for some reason.
Hahahaha had the same problem with my first car a P.O.S. '91 Camaro I had to disconnect the battery everytime I stopped.
My first car was a 77 Datsun 280Z. Ended up selling it because it had electrical issues (left turn signal killed engine). Saw it about a year later gutted at the local junk yard.
Still have my first car, a OT 1980 AMX. I never did drive it during high school though. I sold it once cheap to a guy that told me he was going to fix it up. Come to find out later that he was going to "fix" it up by entering it in a demo derby. Not only was I mad that the guy lied about his intentions (since he had told me for months how he wanted the car to fix it up) but I was upset about seeing the car my Dad had purchased for me wadded up into a little ball. My Dad and I spent all summer going to a couple U-pull it yards picking parts for it. Anyway, after figuring out the buyer's real plans for the car I offered to buy it back. Guy could tell I was pretty shook up about hearing of the plans for the car and sold it back for what I would have had to pay for trailer rentals (guy ran a trailer sales type business). I am still mad to this day though that anyone would lead someone on for months and lie to them just so they could get a cheap demo car. I have a feeling in a few years AMCs will have the same sort of weird odd-ball appeal to folks that Studebaker and other orhpan makes have now. That is the car last year pulling my plow home from my parent's place. Currently it is resting next to the Willys. I want to get to fixing it this winter.
My first car was a '36 Chevrolet I bought in 1972. I didn't have a license so it didn't matter that it didn't run. After working on it a bit I decided I really didn't want to deal with the wood body structure so I sold it for ten times what I had paid for it. A few years ago someone posted somewhere a link to a e-ay offering of a '36 Chevy car. I read the description and it just felt like my old car. The name of the seller looked like what someone I knew in the community where I grew up would use. Turns out it was the same car, he had bought it from the guy I sold it to. A year later it hadn't sold and I was able to get a picture of me standing next to it. I had just delivered a car for a friend and had an empty trailer parked out front. After looking it over I decided I made the right decision when I was a kid, this wasn't a car I wanted to invest my time in. He was firm at $2,000. At anything less than $1,000 I might have bought it just to say I have my first car. But I don't regret walking away from it.
I bought a '64 GTO in college (1986) but had to sell ran out of money to play with it. Wish I still had the vin, I heard it's in Oak Park IL, it was factory red and had a later SBC 327 cid in there.
Mine was supposedly scrapped after the guy pulled the engine and put it in a wrecker. 1976 Ford Gran Torino 4dr. Nothing of value was lost.
strangely enough, my 74 stingray's new owner contacted me about a year ago because he had lost the title and he needed me to sign some documentation and get a new title for him. we went back and forth for months before he finally figured out he could do a title search and get a new title for it. he's been working on restoring it, but i didn't have the heart to ask him much about it. i miss the hell out of that car.
still got my first car. my second car .. a 69 GTO Judge got sold around 1982 for $900.00. I saw it a few years back at the Turlock swap in about the same shape though not running for an asking price of $12,000. dude said he had a firm offer of $8,000.
I stopped in a used car lot last year and there was a ratty '64 GTO sitting in their showroom. The Owner had bought it brand new and sold it many years ago. He and his wife decided they wanted to restore one just like it and found the car in a junkyard. He didn't know it was his car until he registered it. Pretty cool! As for my first car (truck) well it's still with me 16 years and counting.
Wouldn't want my first car it was a '59 Riley. I liked it but not enough to keep it. If I could find any car that I once owned it would be our '55 Ford. But I don't want it enough to go looking for it. I do know where it was last seen and I don't doubt that it is still in the area rusting away.
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