what is your experience with your first car? - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Austin85 · #16 12-02-2005, 11:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by abud

my first car is the 1991 benz 300E that i got 4 years ago !!!
I drove this car to school, I love this car, but unfortunately last year my father sold it and give me a new car...
now, my car is a C200...

...'scuse me, "....father sold it and give me a new car..." There's gotta be something there for a dad giving his kid a Benz.....???? There's a good lesson for junior.

Anywayz, 1st car was a '64 Comet; got it for $225. ; Plenty of Chrome on THE BODY; Dumped it when had an aquaintence work on it and the head gasket was put on poorly and the coolant mixed in the engine.....bummer!

compress ignite · #17 12-02-2005, 11:49 PM

Volvo 122S [Amazon],

4cyl , automatic ,2dr. coupe.

"A Tank disguised as an automobile "

"We rolled it over out in the woods for fun"

someone down the block from me still has one he uses as a daily driver.

Ford would never allow Volvo to make anything as sturdy as this was (COST).

300SDog · #18 12-03-2005, 12:05 AM

1966 Triumph Spitfire Mk2..... Worked all Summer at Fiat dealership to buy it, age 16. My wages were $2.50 per hour, weekly paychecks were about $85 circa 1970, gasoline was $0.21 per gallon, 4 yr old Triumph Spitfire cost me $450.

I wrecked it 3 yrs later and bought my first Benz, a 1963 220Sb with blown head-gasket for $650. The seller was braggin how he screwed me on the deal, but I fixed the head gasket in one weekend and drove the MB through 4 yrs of college including several cross-country trips.

Carleton Hughes · #19 12-03-2005, 12:20 AM

1951 Chrysler Windsor,4 door flathead 6. Wonderful,easy to repair and built like a tank,the front passenger seat bore the stains of many a long-forgotten lass.

I loved the M-6 semi-automatic tranny that you upshifted by releasing the accelerator pedal until you heard a dull click.
My second car was a '27 Buick Standard Six Coach,{2 door} that I drove for a dozen years,daily until 1994,apart from a ring job and a bearing scraping and adjustment at 90,000 K it was supremely reliable and always started in all temps,sometimes in winter a rear axle key would shear but I always carried replacements.

It still exists,owned by a guy in Queens who just takes it to shows.

cmac2012 · #20 12-03-2005, 03:40 AM

Oh this'll go over big.

My first, er uh, vehicle was a '59 International Travelall Panel Truck. Same size as the passenger Travelall but with no windows on the side and no seats in the back, of course. It had been a Sears service truck. "Sears" had been painted over but the words "We Service What We Sell" were still visible.

Bought it in Moses Lake, Washington for $275 in '71. A buddie of mine and I were driving sweet pea combine in Quincy, WA and had hitchhiked over to the big city. Great hippie truck. Had to get a tranny from a junk yard 6 months later for $40. Eventually painted it.

My first car was a '67 Saab 96, V-4, bought in '75 for $600 (!?!). Hot little car. Long record of rally victories in Europe as well as lake racing. In Scandanavia, in the winter of course, they'd put on these tires with 3 or 4 inch long spikes on them and race around on the ice. I saw pictures of it.

Weak trannies and clutch. Had the engine/tranny out 8 or 9 times in 5 years.

The one in the middle was the older 2 stroke, 3 cylinder. Mine was like the other two. I first saw one in Road & Track in the mid 60s and thought, "What is this ugly lump o' $h!t?" Little did I know....

Ara T. · #21 12-03-2005, 05:21 AM

My parents got me my 1985 300D Turbo (damage to the left rear quarter panel)about 3 years ago and I been driving it since I got my license. I wasnt terribly excited about cars back then, especially an old man looking dented up one. But after driving it for a while I began to love the steering feel, the pokiness, the solidity. I was much more content with this then say, a civic or something that Id have gotten instead.

I learned to drive on it and driving modern cars, EFI gas cars just seems weird now. I guess we have been lucky with this beast, since weve had it there have been no clunks, crunches, or anything bad like that. Starts really easily and stops amazingly well with the new master cylinder it needed. After I put in the new master cylinder i went for a test drive and accidentally locked up the brakes, guess that old one was really bad, had to really stomp on it.

snp8990 · #22 12-03-2005, 11:42 AM

My first car, brings back memories, was a 1965 220S Fintail. It was great, euro edition, RHD, manual on the column, bench seat, Beige over Beige. I wish I still had that car. My brother also had a 1965 220S Fintail, but his was Brown over Beige.
So far, only one of my sons can drive and I got him a 1999 VW Jetta (Old body), it has the Wolfsburg Edition package and is great. Small little engine that packs a punch. It feels as if it is a little MB

neanderthal · #23 12-03-2005, 12:34 PM

1976 BMW 2002. my heart, my soul.

still have it. its still in pretty good condition, still needs the paint job it needed when i bought it

but the smog nazis wont let me register it coz its missing some smog parts, even though it passes the smog test without said parts

im trying to get an earlier round tail light model with good body, interior and paint, and transfer all my good stuff to it; engine, transmission, brakes, etc. i had the whole drivetrain, fan to propellor shaft, replaced in 2000.

Meta6981 · #24 12-03-2005, 01:27 PM

My first was a beat to hell 91' ford exploder, Used to tear it up with that hitting shopping carts that were in the middle of the lanes, throwing gravel out in the "rural" part of town. This beast had over 300 thousand miles on it by the time it died. Was only running on 5 of the 6 cylinders. We used to load up 5 people in the seats then two in the back if we were all going to the same place. THis vehicle also liked to do doughnuts in parking lots when it rained and to run through flodded streets. Oh i miss a car that i could beat to hell and not really worry about it. I also used to keep blankets and lawn chairs in the back for late night calls to hang out.

She had really weak heads that we had replaced them once at about 200thousand miles, then what killed her was another blown headgasket.

Benzadmiral · #25 12-03-2005, 06:23 PM

Oh, wait. We're talking *cars*.

My first car was a new '75 Ford Maverick 4-door sedan, brilliant metallic green with a lighter green fabric/vinyl interior. Sounds funky, but it was quite elegant for the mid-70s. Besides, it was the more upscale model with the 250 cid six, A/C, power steering (but standard brakes!), seat belts, and an AM radio. (I repeat: mid-70s, okay?) I drove it from 1976 to 1981.

My deal with my fiancee (later Wife No. 1) was that she'd buy it, we'd both drive it, but I should learn how to take care of it. Which suited me perfectly. After what seemed like centuries of waiting at hot or cold bus stops and of cadging rides from ever-more reluctant friends, heck, I'd have been pleased with a car that insisted on 1000-mile oil changes! I learned how to do that, how to change the fuel and air filters, to maintain tire pressure and change coolant, to wash and wax it. A great education.

I'd probably think of the Maverick as a slow tin can today, after almost 30 years of automotive improvement, and after the 7 years I've spent in Benzes. But I loved it back then. It was quiet and reliable, easy to change oil on, got decent gas mileage for the time, and was fun to play with and to drive.

Mr.Kenny · #26 12-03-2005, 06:28 PM

1947 Willys overland wagon with hurricane 4 & overdrive. I Bought for $100. in 1973.... Painted & fixed up like original. Drove throughout high school & beyond. It was truly cool living in California near the beach driving a car that looks like a woodie.

I filled it with bean bag chairs & I used to haul a lotta kids around in that thing.

My Dad sold it for $1800 when I was out of the State.

rs899 · #27 12-03-2005, 07:45 PM

1969 Austin America . 4 speed auto . The transmission shared an 8 quart common sump with the 1275cc. lump.

I sold it 3 months later when I figured it wouldn't last. Replaced with '68 MGB.

raymr · #28 12-03-2005, 11:21 PM

1964 Corvair Monza w/2-speed automatic. The engine caught fire as I brought it home. I later rebuilt the engine in the basement and it ran for several years. Then it started clanking louder and louder and finally threw a rod and snapped the crankshaft while my mom drove it to the store. R.I.P. 'Vair. It was a slow bugger and probably saved me from getting a lot of speeding tickets.

djugurba · #29 12-03-2005, 11:45 PM

1982 Ford Granada.
Front corner vent windows and a front split bench seat. Brick red on red cloth/vinyl, with wood-look plastic dash trim. Wire wheel covers.

many memories...

My father installed a tape deck to replace the 8-track for me. The following morning (sunday), we decided I'd drive us all to church. My dad had apparently wired the new tape deck incorrectly, because the wiring promptly started a fire beneath the dash, sending smoke throughout the cabin. I got another new radio, and did it myself!

While visiting colleges with my mother, we were arguing while loading up the trunk. She was rifling through her suitcase, and I was standing beside the drivers door watching her. When we got in the car, I asked her for the keys. She said, 'you've got the keys'. 'No', I answered..., 'actually, you threw them in the trunk while you were yelling at me and slammed the lid.'
We both started laughing, but then realized we were 6 hours from home with no spare key. I cut out a hole in the rear hat deck where I was planning on putting new speakers and reached my lanky arms down into the trunk... but it was so huge that I couldn't find the keys anywhere. I did get fiberglass from the hat deck all through my arm, though... eventually we had to have a towing company extract the rear seat to get the trunk open. The keys had fallen down into a crevasse in one of the wheel-wells, and even with the trunk open, we needed a wire coat hanger to retrieve them.

That car was the best for drive-in movies... the hood was HUGE and could support me and three friends without so much as a ding. ah, memories.

I had a Volvo 122s as well, but not until 2001!

cmac2012 · #30 12-04-2005, 01:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by w126

cmac,

I love the old Saabs. Esp. the 96's.

Here's the legendary Erik Carlsson in action:

I owned two 900's -- '88 and a '91. Totalled the '91, so then bought an '88 which gave me some trouble.

I rode in a 900 once but never drove one. My dad bought the new body style after the 96 (was that a 94? --doesn't make sense to go downhill in numbers but I think they did) in '71. Pretty nice car. Fairly reliable.

Cool picture there. Looks like it was a 2 stroker. I could be wrong, but I'm under the impression that that particular body predated the V-4. I like that body style better than the ones I had (the 96 and a 95, the station wagon version of that model), the grill is about all that's different I think. Just looks more tidy.

Here's another shot of the 2 stroker. Might be the same driver, I don't know.