These Are What You Wanted As First Cars (And What You Got Instead)

We've all got automotive dreams and, for some of us, those dreams start before we're even able to drive. Once we get that license in our hot little hands, we'd pick up a dream machine that would make the world our easily accessible oyster. 

That didn't happen for a lot of us. Myself? As a girl who listened to indie music and read too much, I thought I'd get a quirky classic Volkswagen as a first car. My dad and I plunked $700 on a rusted out bag of German bolts in the form of an unloved, rusty Karmann Ghia. As soon as the flatbed arrived in our driveway, my naturally nervous mother said no. Absolutely not. 

Looking back, it was a totally fair call. Having driven a Ghia, I can say with coincidence I would have gotten in trouble in that little coke can of a car pretty quickly. Instead I got my mom's hand-me-down 1995 Dodge Avenger. And you know what? It was the right choice. Good call Patricia Marquis. If your ignore the whole teenager trying to pay insurance in pricy Michigan on what was laughingly called a "sports car" by State Farm, it was the perfect teenager car: low, slow and no back seat for shenanigans. It was just right. Sometimes, Mama knows best, it seems. We asked you about your dreams deferred and got a lot of comments. Here's a few of our favorites.

'89 Dodge Caravan. At first this seemed cataclysmically awful, and I felt I was sent down a path to become a basement incel.

But it ended up being the gift that kept on giving. Vans are about parties and life and road trips. When all the cool girls wanted to go road tripping with a safe driver, who did they call? Or nerd girls whom I liked better anyway. But the point is: me. They all called me. Clubs, Tijuana. Camping trips out to the mountains or desert. You name it.

This was well before the age of Uber and such. A minivan in high school and college are the keys to a rich social life.

And the cherry on top is this thing had a manual transmission. Always a conversation starter in a minivan.

From Greg

really really really wanted a 2nd gen Prelude, Talon or CRX. Actually found a 1990 CRX for $500 in the classifieds (remember those?) and called immediately, and the phone was busy and I had to get to school.

Called the second I got home and it was sold. Still sore about that.

Anyways, ended up with my dad's hand me down 89 ranger, had a 5 speed and it was brown and had a 302 with a cam in it so it wasnt a total loss. 

From JaredOfLondon

i just got my first car, it's a 2014 Mazda 3 sedan. however, i wanted this beautiful 1977 buick Electra which was beige, everything inside and outside was beige, and it had the 3speed automatic slush box peak 70s imo. that or a '71 bug which was melon green and had the 4speed manual that mom also said no to :(

From daci

I wanted to buy my friends Grand National in 1995. He only wanted $3,000 for it. It was high mileage but my dad (who's a mechanic) said no. Instead he gave me a 1984 Camaro......with 145,000 miles on it. Everyone in my family of 3 siblings had owned it at some point. My friends GN blew up 5 days after I passed up on it and that Camaro lasted me 3 years and 45,000 more miles.

From J Hendrix

I started driving in ~1995. I should state for the record that I am a Late-Gen X Kid with decidedly Boomer tastes. I don't know why, I can't help it, and neither can you.

Anyway, I really loved (and still love) the look of the C3 Corvette. I know it's a bad opinion, but I won't lie to you all. I desperately wanted a C3 Corvette.

What I actually got was a 1985 Honda Accord Coupe in the hatchback configuration. It was painted a color that was probably billed as "Champagne" with a reddish-brown interior and a slushbox. It ran for years, all the way out to 250,000 miles.

It looked like this, only... considerably worse. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1987-honda-accord/

From Give Me Tacos or Give Me Death

WHAT I WANTED: My aunt's neighbor's 1967 Mustang hardtop, baby blue with a black vinyl roof and wire wheel covers. It looked like a secretary's car but it had a 390 under the hood and was a real sleeper.

The owner was asking $1800 for the car in 1981, but i was right out of HS and did not have the cash for the car nor the insurance.

WHAT I GOT: In 1983, i bought a 1973 Pontiac Ventura with a 250ci straight six and a two-speed automatic. I purchased the car in the parking lot of an Acme supermarket in South Philly from a guy who never confirmed he was the actual owner of the car. i drove the car for a year before the engine block cracked when the temperature plunged to below zero and stayed there for almost a week.

From Earthbound Misfit I

I was lucky. I didn't know what I wanted, and I got a '63 Rambler Classic 4-door.

Mitt Romney might have seen his as a penalty box, but I considered mine a blank canvas. Which, considering it was off-white with a tan interior, wasn't far off the mark. I went to work on it, and it led me down the road of innocent cars turned into serious hot rods. I still enjoy that trip.

From jrhmobile

I got my license in 2007 and wanted an RSX-S. I thought it was the coolest car ever when it came out a few years prior, but ended up with my grandma's 1998 VW Cabrio instead. I did end up buying an RSX later on once I was out of college and it was every bit as great as I thought it would be.

From BigRed91

In 1971 I turned 16 and got a 1963 Valiant convertible. It served up lots of fun for years. I had wanted a BMW 1600 that was available, but I didn't realize I could afford it. I probably dodged a bullet.

From XL500

I loved cars with fins, so I really wanted a '59 Cadillac convertible. That or a '66 Lincoln Continental convertible with suicide door.

I did get a car with fins, though. My first car was a '60 Chevy El Camino that my Dad dragged home from behind a bowling alley. He and I bodged it together, and I drove it all through high school and part of college.

I eventually traded it for a "69 Lincoln Continental hardtop, so I did get the suicide doors I craved.

Still haven't gotten the '59 Caddy, but hope springs eternal.

From Stillnotatony

I'm not really sure what I wanted for myself to be honest. My family had had several Corvettes over the years (73, 77, and an 84, the 73 before I was even born), and I was a fanboy for the 63 split window, though I knew we'd likely never get one of those. I had been bugging them about getting a chrome bumpered C3 for a while as the next Vette for the household. We went and looked at an orange 71 when I was 14 and my parents pulled the trigger on it. I ended up driving it part of the way home on my learner's permit with my mom and effectively called squatter's rights on it and it was "unofficially" my car from that point on. Granted I did a lot of work on it with my dad. It was probably more "officially" the family "fun" car, as we pretty much always had at least one fun vehicle in the garage growing up, but I drove it to high school and college and still have it to this day almost 25 years later.

From MoparMap

Unrealistically, I wanted a 2005 Mustang GT. I turned 16 in 2008, so these were three years out and selling hot. I did not have the cash to purchase a new-ish Mustang.

Realistically, I had my eyes on a Chevy HHR. I liked the retro wagon look! Alas, the interior is deceivingly cramped for such a large greenhouse. Also could not find one in above average condition for the price range

What I ended up getting

From Greasetank

I wanted a 65 Mustang, either coupe or convertible. I ended up with my mom's 76 Mustang II.

Which let to me getting an 80 Mustang coupe, then an 85 Mustang coupe, then an 89 convertible (still have) and a 96 convertible (also still have).

...yet no 65 still.

From FiveLiters1

Wanted a '65 Mustang coupe or late 80's Camaro IROC-Z. What I got was a hand-me-down 1985 Chevrolet Cavalier with a leaky sunroof. It was still decent performance for a Cavalier as it was a Z24 with the 2.8L V6 and wider tires. Then, as an adult, I looked up how much horsepower it actually had and was surprised it was barely over 100.

From Michael Tonelli

I wanted an SN95 era Mustang Cobra in that teal/blue/purple iridescent paint scheme. I wanted that Mustang right up until I was 20 and I got job where one coworker had an early aughts GT and another got a new C6. While that may not be a fair comparison, my first ride in that C6 effectively killed my love for the Mustang.

What I got was a brown Taurus wagon. Considering my lack of coolness and social circle at the time, I definitely think I got in more shenanigans because of the wagon capacity than I would have in a fast car that probably would have just been crashed or license quickly suspended. 

From engineerthefuture