Wednesday, August 04, 2021

The Way We Were Wednesday - My First




We all look forward to our first, we fantasise about the joys, the feeling of adulthood.  We remember our first, the thrills, the disappointments, the reality of it all.  Our first cars that is (I can only imagine what some of you were thinking.) 

This was my first, a 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale.  It was four years old when I bought it, the odometer said it had 40,000 miles, I would bet that had been rolled back a bit.  I had finished high school, worked my last summer on the farm, and I had a little money.  What I really wanted was a small car, my fantasy car was an AMC Pacer (the greenhouse on wheels.) But for the money I had to spend, and pay for a year of insurance, this was the best I could find.  It had a 350 cubic inch V-8 that went through water pumps about every 10,000 miles.  I got to the point I could change them myself in about 30 minutes.  The trunk leaked. The air conditioning died after about 4 months (and I was living in Florida.) Still it was wheels, and it was mine all mine.  
I remember being shocked the first time I put gas in it.  Previously I had driven dad's cars, and when I was home on the farm I had a key to the farm gas pump.  I had never bought a full tank of gas. My that was a surprise.  I drove this about a year, then bought another one, and my oldest brother bought this from me - I warned him. 

   

 

16 comments:

  1. That's not a car, thats a land yacht!

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  2. It was actually a cool looking car, although it should have had an accordion fold in the center for taking corners. My first was a new Mazda GLC. No photos. Before that, I drove my father’s 4-door Chevy Impala. THAT made your coupe look small.

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    1. In the long list of cars I owned a GLC wagon

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  3. Anonymous8/04/2021

    What a fab car. I was so disappointed to not see such cars rolling around the corners of New York streets like a boat in heavy seas.
    Great memories but how ugly was the Pacer!!!. We had Chrysler Valiant Pacers here, but they were nothing like that beast.

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    1. It was a full size car, when full size meant HUGE

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  4. I could never get used to the idea of, and thanks Maddie, a "land yacht," so my first car was a 1969 VW Bug. It went anywhere and everywhere with me for quite a few years and then I ended up selling it for more than twice what I paid!

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    1. Oh I should have bought one of those, came close once, in about four weeks I will feature my first VW.

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  5. Now this one puts me in mind of high school! I wasn't driving in high school, but everybody else seemed to be. Do they make that color anymore? This is what I mean about owning a car I don't have to wear. I never had a first on my own.

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    1. Car colors are either boring or garish for the most part.

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  6. Ah yes...my first car. It was a 1964 Pontiac Tempest convertible. I still have dreams every now and them where I'm driving that car.

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    1. You could go to Barrett Jackson next January and relive those days

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  7. My first was a 1985 Plymouth Reliant...a burgundy rust bucket tin box on wheels - but it was all mine and I loved it.

    Sassybear
    www.idleeyesandadormy.com

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    1. This was the 70's (I must be older than you) my father wanted me to buy a Dodge Dart.

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  8. My first car was a Plymouth Duster - a 72? Very educational car. Learned about differentials, fuses, flywheels, tie rods, water pumps, carburetors. The last made me a bit of a hero years later. I was on a swamp buggy tour and the thing wouldn't restart. They took the panel off the floor to look at the engine. I recognized what was in there and had a good idea what was wrong. Told them to hold down the butterfly valve, then try to start it. I was ignored for a bit, so finally I just knelt down by the opening, put my finger on the thing and told them to crank it up. Started up again. Just like the old Duster used to. Before its cylinders began to crack.

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  9. I cannot remember my first car; you will make me think on this for awhile.

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