My first car story.

sogood

I got my first car, many years ago,back in 1976 when I was about 18. It was a White, 1966 (or thereabouts) Fiat 850 and it cost me £250.00. At the time I was a 2nd year apprentice electrician, earning £8.50 per week and petrol was about 35p a gallon.

It had rusted rear wheel arches, holes in the floor and no reverse gear. It also had a tendency to overheat and the engine electrics got flooded every time it rained.In retrospect, I think I paid too much for it!

My first years third party insurance, with PMPA (remember them?) was £196.00. Getting insurance back then was a whole days work, sitting in their office in Wolfe Tone Street, filling in forms to beat the band. I also had to pass the car through their version of an NCT, in their garage, on the North Road in Finglas. Somehow, it passed! The fact that the mechanic (a PMPA) employee hadn't a good word to say about them might have helped!

I repaired the rust, fixed some sheet metal into the floor and drove around with no reverse gear for ages, missing many parking spaces in the process.
I overcame the soggy electrics by making a sort of raised cover, from aluminium sheet, to cover the vents in the boot. This didn't help the overheating much!

I also painted a matt black band along each side on the raised panel, fitted sheepskin seat covers and a stereo radio/cassette!

The lack of reverse gear was something you got used to, but it had to be remedied at very short notice when I got notification of my upcoming driving test. I had applied, just to get my next provisional licence, and promptly forgotten all about it.

Anyway, notification of the test came in the post on a Thursday, to sit the test on the following Tuesday. So, a trip to the breakers on Greenhills road on Saturday morning and I became the proud owner of a replacement (untested) gearbox. Saturday afternoon and Sunday was spent replacing the box. A straightforward job, by removing the rear bumper,( 4 bolts) rear body panel ( another 4 bolts), disconnect a few wires, undo engine mounting bolts and support the engine and box on a milk crate or similar and push the car forward. Engine and box separated and replacement bolted on, refit and I had reverse gear!

I had reverse gear, but wasn't very used to it! Tuesday I sat my test and failed, on my reversing!

Second time around I passed but soon after the car and I parted company, rather abruptly, when I was hit, almost head on, by a drunk driver. The car was totalled, mangled, to the extent that my door was torn off, compressed, concertina like and deposited in the rear seat. Let's just say that I was very lucky!

Anyway, after that I progressed up through the ranks, going through a variety of cars, but that was my first one. I travelled all over Ireland in it, without a thought. Up North during the height of it, down to Cork and even got stuck in someones front garden out in Connemara. I was driving along what seemed to be an endless road and thought it might be no harm to head back. No reverse, so drive into a front garden and attempt to make a U turn, which failed. So, plenty of crunching, screeching, sweating, much to the amazement of the two small kids hiding behind the curtains.

If either of those kids are reading this now, sorry for the intrusion.

So, what was your first car, does it have a story ?

Guy:Incognito

I bought a brand new Clio in 2000. Everything was hunkey dorey till the mother used it in the scrappage deal 2010 for a Megane. Not quite the roller coaster ride yours was

Insurance was IRP£2900 at 19 with a full licence.

dieselbug

1969 MK2 Cortina, paid £350 for it. It had a reconditioned 1300 crossflow engine, ran like a dream until I wrote it off one night. Downgraded to a 1967 Cortina with column change and a bench seat (passion wagon) later swapped that 1300 engine for a Fiat 127. That was"nt a bad deal.

I remember the floor change fords used to have a plastic nut holding down the gear lever and was"nt unusual for it to come up out of the gearbox when you changed gears.

I was with PMPA (remember your man in the Rolls Royce) first insurance was 350 I think, was probably just about 18. The guy that used to test the cars at PMPA is now a manager of an NCT centre.

By the way my first year as an apprentice paid gross £10 I took home the grand total of £7.30

L1m1tless

Bought a 01 Polo for 6500 back in the day. First time I got into it, Crashed into my fence and took the wing mirror off!

Toyotafanboi

sogood wrote: »

...and petrol was about 35p a gallon....

oh - my - goodness :pac:

pcardin

I bought my first car in 1995 when I was still in school. It was an 1983 Audi 100 with nice 5-cylinder 2.3 liter engine but no reverse. Bought it for just $200 from some recently divorced housewife because of that non-working reverse. Car was in that stupid yellow(ish) color that Audi used to paint their cars in boring eighties. But it had a cassette player, sunroof and was large enough to bring all my mates with me wherever I was driving. It was handy to have some help when reversing was needed. Wasn't economical but those days petrol was cheaper than lemonade. The one and only audi in my life.

Guy:Incognito

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

oh - my - goodness :pac:

Don't forget this bit.:)

sogood wrote: »

earning £8.50 per week

Toyotafanboi

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Don't forget this bit.:)

ah i know it was still somewhat proportionate... just makes a nice out of context quote :P

brenn7475

My first car was a red 99 Seat Arosa I got it on the 12th of December 2000. It was given to me by my Grandad who at the time had to replace his 1979 Ford Escort. He was getting into his 90's at the time and insurance and safety for him was an issue. My Dad agreed to get me insured on this car provided I take over the driving for him. Shopping trips, trips to the graveyard to see my gran, Mass etc. I was car mad and eventually went on to work in the motor industry myself. It was an excellent little car and it only had 8.5k miles on the clock when I got it. When I first started driving the Arosa it was as if my life was complete. I drove everywhere around Dublin. Up and down the Highways of Ireland. It was no stranger to the Wicklow mountains either. I took good care of it for the four years I had it. Not a mark or scratch. In the end it had covered nearly 60k the clutch was just about going. I sold it to a mechanic that I worked with and he passed it on to his sister. Been nearly 10 years since I've seen it. Hope she is still on the road. When ever I see one now it bring's back some fond memories.

monkeysnapper

My 1st car was a Austin metro.1992. I paid 350 for it and sold it a year later for 850 . I remember thinking, this making a profit selling cars is the way to go, eaaaasssy . To this day I never managed it again

I had a tape in my car I must have played over a thousand times. When ever I hear a song that was on that tape I get a lovely feeling run through me. It's either nostalgia for the car or the first girls bra I ever took off in that dark car park

Guy:Incognito

monkeysnapper wrote: »

I had a tape in my car I must have played over a thousand times. When ever I hear a song that was on that tape I get a lovely feeling run through me. It's either nostalgia for the car or the first girls bra I ever took off in that dark car park

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RsvrKg-cDA

Senna

My first car was a 1994 Daihatsu Charade 1ltr Turbo Diesel, I think it had 58bhp. Bought it for £1200 and my insurance was £3000 @ 21yrs old with a full license and 1 years named driver experience.

Brilliant car, travelled the length and breath of Ireland and put 25k miles on it my first year, it ran on the smell of diesel so I just drove it everywhere and mostly had no reason to be going to these places.

It all came to a crushing end one faithful Monday morning coming back from "Witness" festival. I had been messing about with it the previous week and when I replaced the dash I didn't put the connector for the temp gauge in properly, that coupled with, I flushed the radiator and filled it with tap water and just to add insult to injury, while messing with the engine I accidental pulled out the wire running to the fan. So my trip was destined to end with a blown HG and a cracked head.

It was my pride and joy and i never cleaned another car as often as i did that Daihatsu.



edit; Does that car have a bloody prancing horse on it below the side indicator!!!!

sogood

monkeysnapper wrote: »

My 1st car was a Austin metro.1992. I paid 350 for it and sold it a year later for 850 . I remember thinking, this making a profit selling cars is the way to go, eaaaasssy . To this day I never managed it again

I had a tape in my car I must have played over a thousand times. When ever I hear a song that was on that tape I get a lovely feeling run through me. It's either nostalgia for the car or the first girls bra I ever took off in that dark car park

Have you stopped wearing bras?

monkeysnapper

sogood wrote: »

Have you stopped wearing bras?

I kind of walked into that one didnt I. Touché to you

MetzgerMeister

My first car was a 1998 Rover 400 liftback in 2004. I wanted a Rover 200 but couldn't find one to fit my budget. I smoked like a trooper in it, fitted black seat covers, stuck Metallica and Rammstein badges and patches all over them, drilled holes in half the car fitting a sound system, slept in a freezing cold underground car park in Cork in February in it, "entertained" lady friends in it, drove a fair amount, never serviced it, cut the tow-bar off it (that was fun), covered the rotten parcel shelf with a Metallica flag all the while keeping it looking well

Eventually a loud knocking noise appeared whenever you'd brake so it was time to say goodbye.

I haven't smoked in a car of mine since because since my 2nd car, they have all been worth keeping good!

Big Nasty

After driving the mammys car for a couple of years the first car I bought was an '85 E30 Coupe. Got the ride in that car no end, would buy another if I could still fit in the back of one myself, never mind with a 'lady' on my lap!

dgt

My first car I got when I was 15, er that's rather crap that story...

My first road legal car was a silver Bravo, I got in Waterford in 2007 for 400. Drove it home with a knackered engine. Rebuilt it over a year and drove it for about 2 years, longest I've had a daily driver. Put up around 40k miles on it too

Silvered windows, obnoxious exhaust, low profiles, lowered yep it attracted a lot of attention. I used to get stopped every other day :rolleyes:

It went through 2 gearboxes, 2nd time the diff went into a lockup state I replaced it with a 6 speed and lost full lock on right turns :pac: kept 5w40 exclusively in it

I went everywhere with that car, touring around Cork city, the far west of Westport, rallying round Gormonston beach and spinning all over the North. It even went to the army shooting range with me, with no front bumper

The 9 horns, gearknob start button, backwards switches, countless toys, I had so much fun in that car. Turned it into a van, entertained many ladies behind.... I still have random bracelets and a pair of sunglasses from goodness knows who

The van came along (as a car at the time) and that saw the end of my silver car. I wanted something different, something I could say was a signiture of mine.... The silver car was crashed before I got it, never repaired right. How it got through the NCT beats me.... :pac:

Alas, my car now sits on wheels as a bare shell, housing spares for other cars. A shadow of it's once mighty status in my eyes

Since then I've had countless vehicles... Cars come and go but I will always have a soft spot for that car, my ticket to freedom

homer90

First car was an 88 K10 micra @ 17,The car was in english import with the removable sunroof don't ya know :cool: So, thinking I was the dogs danglies. In fact I was quiet the opposite at 6'4 climbing in and out of that yoke.....

Anyway 3 months down the road I wrote it off when I rear ended a truck, luckily me and my soiled jocks managed to walk away......
Was paying the car off for the next 3 years, cursing every day as I hitched a lift to and from RTC GMIT...........


True Story.......... :pac:

MugMugs

First car a 92 Honda Civic saloon charcoal grey bought off the docks. She was immaculate! Changed the wheels to stock alloys and had a savage top of the range Pioneer head unit installed.

She was my baby. Drove her for a while cleanest car inside and out I ever kept until one afternoon sitting in traffic some stupid bitch who was rubber necking an accident beside us hammered me up the ass into the back of a golf. She killed my girl.

Bought a fabia after that and I've never loved a car since

sogood

Loving all these stories, keep them coming! Isn't it such a common theme, the special place that your first car holds in your heart and your memory.

Of course, at the usually rebellious stage in your life when you long for freedom and independence, when you want to make a ststement of some sort, to create your own unique stamp of individuality, a car ticks all of the above boxes. Except of course for the fact that the statement you make is usually governed by financial limitations, thus my statement was a Fiat 850, as opposed to a TR6.

I constantly toy with the notion of doing a nut and bolt resto, and if I could afford it, a TR6 would be high on the list, second in line would be, a Fiat 850!

Am I trying to recapture my youth? Possibly. But I would also like to restore the next one properly, with the benefit of hindsight and experience.

Anyway, love the stories and thanks again.

bbam

My first was a 1979 C type Opel Kadette, bought in 1992 for £300 Beaut if a car, spent another £300 on new wings, respray and Opel steel sport wheels.
Ran it with 225's on the back and 195's on the front. The engine packed it in and we replaced with a 1.6 from an Ascona. It was great on the road and fast as hell.
Unfortunately it became a beast on petrol and eventually I traded it in for a VW Jetta 1.6 diesel.
Bit me and the missus went round the country in the old Kadette. Isn't it funny the way we'd all like our first car back, id say many of us would be disappointed. But I'd buy it back in the morning.

ofcork

My first car was a Fiat Punto 60sx,bought new in 98 and had alloys put on,still have the invoice 9895 pounds.The insurace cost myself and the bro 2475.Had to bring it back alot for niggles and still ended up buying a sporting in 2002.

OldmanMondeo

My first car was a 1984 Kaddett. Black 2 door 1.2. Stuck nice speakers in it, decent stero. Had the crack in it. Jumped many a bridge, replaced shocks a few times, and some other things done that would have got me put off the road for a while, if not killed. Bought it for IRP£550, drove the nuts off it and parked it into a wall, require new wing bumper head light, all of which purchased from a breakers in different colours. Half arsed put them on the car, I had already replaced it. Sold it for IRP£400. Seen it a while later looking really good. It got burnt out at halloween... Ended up with a car same as MugMugs, nice 1.5VTi Civic 4 door, Met Grey.

Bpmull

I got my first car just last August so fairly recently. I was told by my parents that if I passed my test I could get a car had my test on a warm Saturday on August I knew my chances of passing were not great 35 percent in Kilkenny to be precise. The tester was sound enough. The town was the busiest it had ever been I stopped at one zebra crossing and 3 hen party's crossed screaming and falling on the car (but that's another story).

Anyway I passed the test on the Saturday and looked for the whole weekend and found a nice looking astra van in Dublin i knew a van wasn't ideal but it was cheap. So went to Dublin that Monday morning with my mother who hates cars(my dad who loves cars was in the uk at the time). So we walked into the garage and first the astra in the corner seriously rough looking at first glance. My mother said it was a waste of time but I insisted we look at it. I walked up the structured wheels at the front were scratched it was dirty covered in cob webs a good few marks on it the back bumper was seriously scratched but I drove it and knew it was for me it had a full Opel service history and was genuinely like new to drive. My mother was still unsure and tried to put me of it. I went home and I knew something was wrong and my gut just told me the car was for me. So I got my uncle up on the tuesday who is a mechanic and he checked it over from head to toe put it on lift and said that it was a gem mechanically.I then owned a 1.3cdti 2008 astra. And 15k km later I love the car. What I like the most about it is I feel like I am constantly improving it and making it better. I think I'll have it for years. Sorry for the boring story probably sounds alot better in my head.

Cungi

First car was an 83 mk 2 Fiesta 1.1. Black and grey two tone with a big pixelated sticker along the sides that blended the black into grey. Never seen another like it.

Got it in 1999 for £50. i was 19. Stuck on XR2 bumpers, pepperpot alloys, roof spoiler from a 1.4 Sport and XR2 interior.
Went to inform the insurance company and they wanted to charge me the same as an XR2 cos it looked like one apparantly! Even though twas only a 1.1 which it still said on the back.

Got rid of it and got a mk3 1.0 instead.

Blue850

Just for the OP







My 850

I heard of one 850 owner who needed a gearbox, and got one out of a Fiat 600, fitted it and ended up with 4 reverse and one forward gear,
the 850 engine runs anticlockwise while the 600's ran clockwise:D

sogood

Blue850 wrote: »

Just for the OP







My 850

I heard of one 850 owner who needed a gearbox, and got one out of a Fiat 600, fitted it and ended up with 4 reverse and one forward gear,
the 850 engine runs anticlockwise while the 600's ran clockwise:D

Thanks for those, sweet little motors. Mine was only that good in my imagination!

101sean

Land Rover obviously! Bought my first one in 83, a 10year old heap with a rusty chassis that I paid way too much for. Drove it home from the dealer thinking WTF have I done. I
sold it 2 years later at a big loss and have continued in the same vein ever since!

It was a huge learning curve and long before you could ask for help on the Internet but you soon ran in to like minded nutters to help you out.

Sometimes wonder for my sanity but wouldn't have anything else.

goz83

in 2003, I was 19 and my first son was just born, so I got rid of the Gilera DNA (moped/hairdryer) and got me a 01 Astra club hatch for €10,500. Insurance cost €4,700. Great car that gave me almost no trouble in the 3 years I had it. I replaced the clutch after 2 years and that was it. Sold it for €4000 to my sisters friend (a steal...i know) in near perfect nick, beause I was getting a company car at the time. I wonder if it's still on the road

Eric Cartman

In 2008 when I was 18 the recession had hit the uk but not quite the eurozone. I wanted a 4x4 , looked around the uk as importing was viable as sterling was 90p to the euro . I found a 2004 kia sorento , 55,000 miles, full heated electric leather seats, heated windscreen, electric windows, heated mirrors , full time 4wd with low range box and some nice 18" team dynamics rimfire wheels, brought it in and converted it to commercial for 50 euro vrt. Brought it in , converted, vrt'd and even the ferry trip in total set me back 7900 euro, at the time the sorento was going for 11k in the base model here.

It was in perfect condition and I managed to get insirance for 1800 through quinn direct , kept the car for 2 years and sold it for 7800 euro with 97,000 miles on it , so it only cost me 600 in tax, a set of tyres and 4 services in 2 years, plenty cheap motoring .

Diesel was 89c a litre so even a 2.5 turbo 4x4 was affordable.

dry_runner

Bought my first car at 17, a 1992 Toyota Corolla AE101 1.6FX 16v. A quick little car and drove very well, in metallic black with decent spec for the time all electrics and speedo in Kmph. Cost just over €2k to buy and the same again to insure in 2006.

Lots of stories with this car one of the best was the road trip to Limerick on the premise of going to a college open day during sixth year, our mission was really to sample the college night-life that was on offer. Funds were scarce at the time so we opted to sleep that night in the car, or the Corolla suite at the Toyota Hotel as it became known. That was grand until closing time arrived and we gathered to make our way back to the "hotel", except none of the three of us in our fairly intoxicated state could remember exactly on which street I had parked.

So there we were; three 17 year olds who had never been in Limerick before, drunk, cold and lost wandering around the city at 3am looking for a black Toyota. As the hours rolled by and we started to sober up, my comrades grew weary of searching; one suggested more drink the other suggested sleeping on a park bench. I was determined though and insisted we plough on. It was after 7am and dawn was breaking on Shannonside when we rounded a corner and there she appeared, gleaming in metallic black, the early morning light dancing on her elegant (for an early 90s jap hatch) bodywork. Such joy and relief I have never known or lost a car since.

Also had my first crash in the same car on the day of my driving test. A greasy, tight, fast, left hand bend, baldy tyres and the fact that at 18 I thought I had the talent of a young Carlos Sainz meant that I learned an expensive lesson on corner entry speeds and lift-off oversteer that day. Landed in a ditch a fair bit of damage done (repairable), but undeterred managed to procure another car and do the test. Failed spectacularly (dangerous overtaking etc.), probably because I was in a rush to get done, get home and get a tractor to pull my pride and joy out out of the ditch before too many people noticed.

Apologies for the long post, thanks OP for a great thread, brought back some mighty memories

laura1990

My first car was a 00 Nissan Micra, I was 17

Had it 3 years never gave a minutes bother, brought me around the country, was as slow as a donkey! Always had it gleaming ( it was black ), somehow managed to pack my whole world into it when moving to and from college, and managed to pack surfboards and friends into it too.

I have so many good memories with that car, makes me smile
My two younger sisters use it now, its like part of the family!

Ive since had a 05 golf ( which I hated ) and now have a 96 golf which I love to bits.