For some, a first car is a platonic ideal. It’s tied to so many memories, so many firsts, that no method of transportation will ever be better. For others, a first car is the lowest of the low — something to start from, before moving up. For many of you, though, your first car was somewhere in between.
This morning, we asked for your stories about loving or hating your first car. You answered, and we’ve compiled a top ten list of your first-car love/hate stories.
My first car was a 91 Taurus GL. I had SO many great and bad memories in it. Learned to drive in it, learned to detail on it. If I could find a nice example I’d buy one. At the time my dream car was a black 1st gen SHO. Shame both are impossible to find and so are parts for them.
Having ridden around in a SHO from this era, you’re absolutely right to idolize them. They may not be performance-car fast by modern standards, but there’s something incredibly cool about that exterior shape combined with that engine.
Submitted by: Meh
Since my first car was a ‘73 Chevy Vega wagon*—one of the worst cars to ever come out of Detroit—not a chance.
The second car I ever bought is the Charger—all-time styling masterpiece, men beg me to buy it, awesome performance due to the 440, and all-time Hollywood star car. So to say I love the Charger is the understatement of the year.
* We’re all allowed one stupid, stupid car purchase.
Is the Chevy Vega an objectively great car? Probably not, no. Is it the sleek-for-the-time two-door Camaro wagon of enthusiasts’ dreams? Also no. But does it look cool, with hard lines and good proportions? Absolutely.
Oh, yeah, the Charger is cool, too. Consider, though, a Vega wagon with a modern EV drivetrain swap. I will definitely not be browsing Facebook Marketplace for Vega shells tonight, after this.
Submitted by: the 1969 Dodge Charger Guy
Though not the first car that was actually “mine”, as in titled in my name, it was the vehicle that I was handed a set of keys to when I got my license. It was my grandpa’s old 1984 Chevy C-10 Silverado pickup. This was in 2001, and it was purchased new a few months before I was born, so to me, it was an ancient, rusty (though not that rusty), gas-guzzling & painfully slow redneck-mobile, at a time when my favorite cars were Corvettes and Firebirds and Eclipses. It smelled like Red Man chewing tobacco inside and liked to occasionally stall when going uphill. I kinda hated it, but at the same time I begrudgingly accepted that it gave me freedom, so that was our relationship.
Today, the fog of teenage angst has long since lifted, so that I can look back with nostalgia and longing for something I’ll never get back. That truck was the last new vehicle my grandpa ever bought, and after over 350K miles of duty - a constant fixture of my entire adolescent life - it gave up its ghost on the exact same day my grandpa gave up his. Those old square-bodies are now worth a mint, though that is only a minor reason why it pains me that the truck is gone for good. I tried hunting it down after my grandma sold it, but no luck. Maybe someday I’ll build an homage, something like the picture below (I know that’s a K10 and not a C10, but I’d like 4WD if I could get it).
The old Chevy C/K trucks had an air of honesty, down-to-earth-ness, and approachability that modern trucks have entirely eschewed. The C/K isn’t aggressive, it isn’t ruggedized or bossy. It just wants to do an honest day’s work and go home. For that, I respect it.
Another contender for my first vehicle was actually a lifted K5 Blazer. When my dad and I went to test drive it, it felt so big that my dad ended up just trying to keep it over the double yellow line to avoid hitting street-parked cars. I did not end up purchasing it.
Submitted by: dbeach84
Do I love it? Shit. I have a dedicated folder with pics, both that I took and some I found online in carspotting forums. I still regularly check google maps to see if it’s still parked in front of my mom’s house, five years after I finally said goodbye. I have a separate folder with oficial promo documents (pics, brochures, etc). I named my last radio show after it. And it was a nightmare of a car. But yeah, still totally love my 1989 Renault Espace Quadra From The Bowels Of Hell.
God, that shape. Those wheels. If that Espace had amber reflectors, it would even be a shining example of Late Cold War-Era Default Car Face. Not only do I commend you for still loving this old Renault, I now love it too. We’re in this together.
Submitted by: Comment Box Sanitation Dept. - never sticks to cars
I had an ‘84 Civic I bought from an in-law for $20 and if I had the cash I’d hunt the ends of the earth for a rust-reasonable* example.
*Rust killed mine - I still remember the day when the bumper mounts rusted through and the bumper fell off, but my dad fixed it with some pipe he has lying around - and possibly every other example, so I am being realistic here.
I can personally assure you that not every early-eighties Civic has rusted to oblivion. Honda brought one out to the first drive event for the new Civic Si, so at least a single early Si that lives on in near-perfect condition. Now, if they’d sell it to you, that may be a different story.
Submitted by: Citric
Love is an understatement. In fact, I still have it. I was a lucky 16 year old and got it brand new 17 years ago with 8 miles on the odometer. Now, with 180K on said odometer, I just road tripped it 1,200 miles in a weekend. Not so much as a hesitation to jump behind the wheel and head off.
I’m now in my mid 30's, so the car has been with me for more than half my life. It’s no longer my daily driver, but there will never be another inanimate object that I love and adore as much as this car. You simply can’t put a price tag on sentiment.
Having looked into this era of Acura TSX for K-swap donor cars, I can confirm that Conor isn’t the only one still interested in this chassis. Cars with far higher mileage than this still command exorbitant premiums second (or third, fourth, fifth, sixth) hand. Keep it forever and drive it into the ground, Conor.
Submitted by: Conor
My first car was a 1989 Toyota Supra (gray, turbo). My dad and I were out car shopping, and I wasn’t keen on the looks of it at first- but at his insistence we took it for a test drive. When I hit the gas I just knew this was it.
Had the car for 4 years, sold it when it tipped 100,000 miles and got a Jeep Wrangler as a replacement, because I knew I’d never have another sports car like that Supra.
It’s been a quarter of a century and I STILL miss that car.
The third-generation Supra, while older and neither as fast nor as furious as later iterations, is overlooked. The 7M-GTE still makes good power now, let alone in its day. And those lines, hard-edged but with enough curvature to stand out from the competition, have aged impeccably.
Submitted by: Scelestus
Yes.
Objectively my car is kinda boring, being a 2001 Mitsubishi Lancer in green, but there’s an emotional attachment to your first car that you just don’t get with your subsequent ones. I actually cried when I sold it to the next owner.
I recently saw pictures of it online, and apparently it has been resprayed to black, and fitted with some, erm, ‘enhancements’. That left me feeling a bit bittersweet to be honest. Like you don’t feel right to see it modified in such a way, but on the other hand at least it’s still around and in the hands of someone who is (probably) taking good care of it.
Selling your beloved car off only for it to be butchered by the next owner is a time-honored sadness. I recently stumbled across the person who bought my old Subaru Legacy GT wagon, only to find it outfitted with JDM tail lights, dark tint, and RGB interior lighting. Ben C’s Green Lancer is dead, long live The Black Lancer Formerly Belonging To Ben C.
Submitted by: Ben C
Depending on what one would consider a “first car,” I could be pointed to a 1989 Honda Accord, 1997 Nissan Sentra, or 2017 Kia Soul.
They’re all good in their own way. I’m fond of all three.
I have regrets for all three of them, and all of them had their own quirks:
- Accord was old and drank every fluid it could by the end of its life: coolant, engine oil, steering, transmission... I started getting sick from coolant vapor filling my car when I turned the heat on. Still, I wish I could’ve fixed it instead of sending it off. Could’ve even gotten me started on tackling more serious car repairs (e.g. transmission and radiator replacements)—alas. I wasn’t ready, both financially and mechanically.
- Sentra was my first car as a primary driver and it always tried its best. But all went south when my friend backed into it from its side, and the car never stopped drifting to the right ever since until we got rid of it.
- Kia Soul... was a Kia Soul. It’s fine, and I got it for a song (important if you’re buying a car by yourself for the first time imo), but it checked off literally none of the boxes when I bought it. I wanted heated seats; it didn’t have heated seats. I wanted CarPlay/Android Auto; it didn’t have that. And so on. But it was incredibly practical and gave me almost no trouble (aside from a minor trim issue it had early on, which was fixed under warranty).But that’s just me whining about it. I’m not sure if I want any of them back now, but none of the three left me stranded on the road without a cause (and Soul kept on trucking despite having every reason to call it quits in the middle of a highway after an incident) so I’m grateful for all three.
Knowing your limits when it comes to early car repairs is important in early car ownership. I still have a scar running the length of my right hand, as a reminder that radio installs can only be so rushed before you start making mistakes. Selling off a car because you aren’t yet equipped to fix it is never a bad thing — it means someone else has the chance to renew it so that it may live on.
Submitted by: heartbleed
Love it? I still have it.
I got it a week before my 16th birthday in late September 1986; It was my daily until 1993. It’s pretty ornery so kind of a pain in the ass on the street, which is why it spends most of its time on the trailer or the track.
When you drive a car this long, it becomes a part of you. I push her hard and she’s always willing to play, but if I were ever to make a big mistake I would be pretty distraught.
Keeping, maintaining, modifying, and living with a car for decades is an admirable effort. Anyone who misses their first car, or wants a car they’ve since sold back, looks up to you for the commitment to a single VIN. Of course, bonus points are in order for using a shot from the Glen.
Submitted by: Matt Sexton