First Car Stories!

[69LM1]

Just sold that 69 red/red X-11 that I have been working on to (partially) finance the rebuild on a Eliminator that I just bought. Anyway Pretty cool story, a guy calls and is looking for the car for his 15 year old son. Son has been saving and dad is going to match what the son has saved.
Son has been on ebay, and of course has seen the 2fast 2furious "Pure American Muscle Baby" scene with the Yenko.
The Dad has a 69 Vette big block CE motor, pan to pan, still in the crate! so, I wound up dropping the price a few hundred. Cool story because I remember my first car and thought this might make a cool new thread so hear goes:

It was fall of 1980. I had been working all summer at the local Winn Dixie and saving. I had just gotten my learners permit, but my dad, an auto mechanic had been letting me drive to the local quick stop store every once in a while (over my mothers objections ). I was really liking the 80's camaro look and of course wanted one. After looking in the paper for weeks, I found an ad for a 69 Camaro and talked my Dad into going to look at it.
So, with $300.00 in my pocket (all 5's, 10's and a few 20's), my Dad, my Uncle and I went to go look at this Camaro. I had never up to that point seen a 69 before, but was expecting to see something like the 2nd gen body.
So, we get there and this older gentleman shows us the car.
Man, talk about something that can get a teenage guys mind off of girls (for a sec anyway)! It was love at first sight. There sat a faded puke green 69 camaro, with a 307, 3-speed manual transmission, black interior with a console.
Then the bomb, the guy wants 425.00 for the car!!! Dad was also concerned about the car being "to fast" for a 1st car.
As dad was a dirt poor mechanic, 125.00 was big money. So as I am in the corner begging him for the loan, the guy overhears us and drops the price to 350.00!!!! So, my dad and uncle loan me the 50.00 and away we go with the car!!
Talk about an early Christmas. Of course, I could not drive a stick yet, so dad had to drive the car home.
When we got around the block from the house, dad stops the car with a serious look on his face. He give me the "this is not a toy" speach, then proceeds to rip off the line, smoking the tires, urhcing second and third gears, while proclaiming that if he ever catches me losing to a ford he will take the car away !!!
It took me 3 years to finally get the car restored, and Dad rebuilt the engine and added a few goodies (anyone remember the "curve" kits?). During my senior year in high school, I had a overnight school function for the busines club. When I got back, Dad looked sheepish, friends were smiling and mom was mad. It seems that while I was gone over a friday night, Dad snuck out with the car "to go to the grocery", . A neighbor sees the car Drag Racing and calls my mom to tell her that she saw me racing. Of course, I was out of town and it turns out it was my dad! Anyway, I just thought that was a great story, and that it was pretty cool that this guy is building a muscle car with his kid.

Any one have any cool stories like that? One day I will share the one where later in like my little brother total's my 69 Z28 while I was in the Air Force!

[Jeff H]

I came up $200 short of being able to buy my first car, a 6 cyl 69 Camaro conv. I went off to college thinking about the car for several weeks until my mom called one night and said "guess who called today?" It turns out they couldn't sell the car and finally came down the $200 and I ended up getting the car. Of course, I was at college so my dad went and got the car for me. He would take it out every Sunday morning to go get bagels. I didn't get to drive it until I was done with school in May! I had it restored by the local Vo-tech school and my dad would still take it out every Sunday morning to get bagels. The funniest one was watching my dad take my 68 SS396 conv to the muffler shop with open headers! He figured the cops wouldn't give him a ticket so I said "go ahead".

[njsteve]

My first car was a 69 Z11 pace car. I am one of 5 kids. I saved every penny I had since I was born. While all my friends blew their cash on minibikes, motorcycles, drugs, beer, women (not necessarily in that order) I ended up saving $2700 by my 14th birthday. My dad and I drove by a crummy little ripoff car lot and saw the car. We ended up buying it for $2700. When we got home (of course I couldn't drive as I was only 14) my mom says to dad: "You know Bernie, his brother just turned 16 not him" I guess he lost track of which kid was which at the time! I learned just about everything about cars from that car. Including: don't think it has a 350 in it just because the fender emblem says "350". It ended up having a 1964 327 under the hood. Never ran right. Had a carburetor fire one day. While I was on my third fire extinguisher trying to put out the flames, my mom walks out with a bowl of tuna salad and asks: Are you coming in for lunch soon? I grabbed the bowl and tossed the tuna salad on the fire. To my amazement it put the fire out! I never insulted my mother's cooking after that. Here's a photo of me in 1976 (age 14) Gotta love that hairdo!

[Salvatore]

Sounds like tuna helper! Good story.

[berger]

started looking for my first car at boston police auctions once a month w/ my dad I was 15, we started bidding on a 68Rs/SS ConvertW/ orig. motor, in primer, roof shredded ,
5$ first bid, had it at going twice at 350$, 1 other guy started bidding, up we both went 5$ ata time, ran out of dough at 800$, father said I can't loan you money your mother will kill us both if we bring this home, well after uncle scolded us for letting her go, we were both hooked on camaros, found my first 67 327 coupe in east bum NH out of want adds, 1000$, shot to hell, drove up in snowstorm from cape cod, found it in middle of farm field, after spraying about a can of ether in the carb, boom! cooked the hood, but she was running and we proceeded to drive her home w/ no headlights / side windows/ or seats, we used milk cartons,crazy but true, restored her in 4 months, scoured every bone yard in new england for parts w/ pops, found my 67 yenko for 500$ out of the wantads too 11yrs ago.

[MrsBillyBobcat]

GREAT stories guys!!! Keep 'em coming!

Hey Steve (njsteve)...By any chance is this your Camaro in this pic? (see attachment)

Rita

[Bill Pritchard]

Rita, you are going to be Grounded for Life if you keep this stuff up

[Salvatore]

Hey Rita, By any chance is that you leaning on Steve's camaro?

[njsteve]

That's not my car but it is me in the photo. As you can see I spent all the money after I sold that darned 71 hemicuda convertible and put it all into plastic surgery. Boy was it ever worth it! - NJSteve or is it NJStephanie?

[55chevy]

Heres my first car. A 71 Chevelle... I used to race guys from school all the time with this one. 300hp 350/automatic with a 2:56 rear.. Nobody could touch it on the top end back then. Loved that car!