** FIRST VEHICLES

[lbrown59]

What was the first car you ever owned?
What was the first car you and your spouse owned after you were married?


I bought a 1950 Chevy in 1958 when I was 17.
In 1962 I bought a 1960 Chevy Impala convertible.

My wife and I got married in 1964 .
At that time I had the 60 Chevy convertible but still owned the 50 Chevy so these were our first cars.

Both My first and second cars were the first cars of that decade I thought this was unusual and unique.
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MY FIRST CAR http://www.hubcapcafe.com/ocs/pages01/chev5003.htm
OUR FIRST CAR http://www.hubcapcafe.com/ocs/pages01/chev6003.htm
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[Gatorboy]

ZZZzzzzz ...

[Pat]

First car owned was 1962 1/2 VW bug in Beryl Green. I once had 8 people in it with all the windows up and doors closed (2 guys and six sorority girls in formals with copius quantities of petticoats to make the dresses stand out. (I drove and had two girls up front with me. The other guy was in the package compartment by the back glass behind the rear seat and the other four girls were in the back seat.) After 8 months I totalled it rolling over 6-8 full revs on the freeway due to some idiots GOOFING on people in traffic. I replaced it with a bright red 1959 MG-A 1500 roadster.

First car owned after marriage: I had gifted my 1959 MG-A 1500 roadster to my girlfriend for her to drive to college when I went into the USAF during that little fracas known as Viet Nam. Then I married her and due to community property laws got it back, well half anyway.

My appologies Gator Dud for having to ask you to repeat yourself. I had my B.S. filter turned on and none of your post came through.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[sneaky_pete]

1st vehicle: 1949 BSA motorcycle

1st car: 1961 VW Beetle

1st car at marriage: 1965 Sunbeam Alpine

[Pat]

Hey Pete, Small world... I had a '62 to your '61 bug and I had a '66 Tiger (close enough to Alpine except for a chrome stripe, engine, tranny, and SPEEEEEEEEEED!!!! The tiger replaced our MG-A 1500. Except acceleration, the biggest difference in the MG and the Tiger was the Tiger had rollup windows and didn't leak a lot of cold air in Minot ND and the MG sure did.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[sneaky_pete]

hmmm... I don't remember how air tight my Alpine was, but probably not very since it was a rag top. Lived in Utah when I had it, and I do remember having to stop frequently in the winter to scrape ice off of the windshield as both the defroster and the windshield wipers were almost useless. It was a fun car in the summer, but I had to bleed the clutch hydraulic system, clean the brushes in the starter motor, and tweak the distributor almost weekly to keep it running. Good old Lucas electrics! (the BSA suffered from the same).

I knew a couple of guys with Tigers, and heard that the V8 drive train was hell on the rest of the car. Never driven one though - I bet they were fun.

[Pat]

sneaky_pete, Everything is relative. Compared to the side curtains on the ragtop MG "El Tigre" was hermetic. The only real problem I had with the structural integrity came, after of course, adding all the performance goodies the factory authorized (and a little more.) I momentarily lost traction in second or third while INTO the acelerator and the ensuing wheel tramp ripped a rear shock right out of the car. It didn't come lose, it ripped a chunk of car out with it. You need traction masters to tame wheel hop, the clock spring effect of the rear leaf springs under hard acceleration with variable traction.

Ahh the glories of Lucas electrics. The tiger only had partial Lucas equipment, like the fuel pump. The MG was Lucas under the hood and Jaeger gages on the dash. The MG heat and defrost was not quite as good as a VW which was pitiful in North Dakota. The Tiger had oodles of heat and defrosted wonderfully. In the summer time while cruising at, lets just say ELEVATED speeds (Measured top speed was a tad over 165MPH) the BIG intrusion of the tranny and rear of the engine into the passenger area (to obtain perfect front to rear ballance) acted as a good heater, especially if you were over 6 ft tall and rested your right leg on the "hump." Long haul drivers used to talk abouit cooking things by wrapping them in foil and putting them on or neatrr the manifold under the hood. The Tiger could cook meat on a hot day, YOUR LEG!


[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[CJDave]

[img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] '53 Fode, '55 Pontiac, '58 New Yorker, '67 "Bee" Roadster. The MGB was totally without defect from the factoreee. I put a detachable fiberglas hardtop on it and I made my own after-market air conditioning kit for summer. The A/C looked like it came from the factory in that "B", with a scoop below the front bumper for the condensor and thermostatically controlled fans for the flat condensor. It was a British Racing Green wire wheel model, four speed with overdrive, and got 29 MPG regular and 26 with the A/C going. [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

[Pat]

Dave, When I first got my A there were dyed in the wool types who claimed that cars with roll up windows instead of side curtains were not actually SPORT CARS but some lesser imitation intended for secretaries and college girls attending only to get the Mrs. degree. Of course I reveled in the luxury of roll up windows and a failry tight ragtop on the Tiger which was BRG too. Except in really poor weather I went topless but did admire the better looking F/G tops during really rainy or cold weather.

Spoked wheels huh? Ever hear the term "coffin on four harps?" The Tiger could not be ordered with spokes, something aboiut the torque of the 289/302 Ford V-8.

Did you have true knock-offs? I always thought they were neat but never had them.

Not strictly in the FIRST CATEGORIES as described in original post but... I also had some AH cars along the way. MY favorite was a Bug Eye in red-orange with chrome rollbar and nerfs. The hood hinging was modified to open like a Lotus (pivot in front - raise in rear.)

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[CJDave]

[img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] My "B" was the first to have a giant chrome hex nut on each wheel. There was a spanner in the tool roll that you put on the nut and then hit the spanner with a hammer. That was a reaction to the death of a well-known socialite in Monaco whose fashionable scarf trailing in the slipstream of her open cockpit sports car got into the left rear knock-off and the rest was predictable. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]