Tell us about your first car..

LsFarm wrote:Better known as 'three on a tree' or 'three on the tree'



But was first gear syncromesh? or 'select a grind' ???

I learned to 'double clutch' on a ford 8N tractor, so a non syncro 1st gear wasn't much of an issue., but my sister HATED it.. she is two years older than me, and I had to drive around in a parking lot to teach her the use of a clutch and gearshift, on a Rambler American 'three on the tree'.. I knew how to drive it waayyy before I could get a license... And Dad had lost patience with teaching my sister.. we went to the church parking lot.. and dad left us to destroy the trans and clutch... we didn't

Greg

No sincros in first gear. To get into first while moving required double-clutching, really not that hard to learn (for me anyway).

1968 Chevy Van. Talked my father into the idea I could use it for part-time work after school & in the summer.

spc wrote:1968 Chevy Van. Talked my father into the idea I could use it for part-time work after school & in the summer.

I will bet the only work that ever got done was laying some pipe in the back of that van!

LMAO

69 Chevy chevelle maibu 2dr hardtop. Mine was white with black vinyl top, no power steering, no power brakes, no options at all except day/night rear view mirror. 307/powerglide. 200hp. I couldn't imagine they had a 396 for this car, the 200hp 307 felt fast to me at 16. It kind of sucks getting older, there used to be beat up '68-'69 malibu's everywhere for $50-$100, try to find one now for 50 bucks. good luck.

e.alleg wrote:69 Chevy chevelle maibu 2dr hardtop. Mine was white with black vinyl top, no power steering, no power brakes, no options at all except day/night rear view mirror. 307/powerglide. 200hp. I couldn't imagine they had a 396 for this car, the 200hp 307 felt fast to me at 16. It kind of sucks getting older, there used to be beat up '68-'69 malibu's everywhere for $50-$100, try to find one now for 50 bucks. good luck.

I had a '67 Malibu 2 door for a long time. Bought it for $150, then sold it for $150 a year later to a friend's brother. Bought it back a year or so later for $50. It was my daily driver. When the 283 finally wore out I installed another 283 out of a '64 Chevy. Took it on a lot of ski runs. Lots of rust, the support for one of the gas tank straps broke when I was on Route 80, had the gas tank in the trunk until I had time to weld a piece of angle iron onto the frame to attach the straps to. Junked it when that motor started to wear out and the tail end was rusted so badly that the exhaust fumes became a problem. It was factory Purple metallic. One of the best cars I've ever had.
Also had a '64 Malibu SS and a '69 Chevelle 4 door sedan, six cylinder/Powerglide with no power steering or brakes. Sold it to the same friend whose brother bought the '67, he lived a few towns over, he resold it. One day I was outside of the house and the Chevelle goes by with a hot blond at the wheel. Never saw the car or the blond again.

LsFarm wrote:...she is two years older than me, and I had to drive around in a parking lot to teach her the use of a clutch and gearshift, on a Rambler American 'three on the tree'..

It's called 'tree on a tree' around here. Did it look like this?


I don't have a shot with the later mods. We *found* 4 badly corroded cragars on the side of the road, painted them white. (most of our tires were baloney skins we found put out for trash. "These look pretty good!" Aye, she was awesome. A fine motorcar. Had "Dak Tari" in jungle script across the front. What was the engine? 196ci?

Wood'nCoal wrote:The clear coat used on the cars today keeps them shiny and fade free a lot longer. One of my friends had a Duster that was red, time had faded it to red with a whitish haze on most of the car. One time when I took it to do some work on it I hit it with the wheel and some compound and a quick coat of wax, he didn't realize it was his car when I returned it. My dad's 1967 Ford was light blue metallic, a large part of the car had peeled down to the primer within 4 years or so, my father brought home some zinc chromate primer from work, sure looked terrible with those yellow patches all aver it. Around 1976 we had it "Easl Scheibed", the car had over 150,000 miles on it and we figured it would quit soon. Earl's paint gradually washed off over the next ten years or so. It's now painted the darker blue Ford offered in 1967, been off the road for about 12 years, in a dry garage (did drive it a few miles last year, though).

I took my driver's test in a '67 Valiant slant 6.

My '67 Ford in 1986-looks the same today. My '68 GMC is in the background (anyone want to buy it?) '66 Buick Electra in the garage up on jacks.

Ken...I know your 64 wasnt black...but, does this bring back memories ?

1968 Dodge Supe Bee, 383 Magnum auto. 8 mpg.....12mpg after rejetting the Holley 780
Not running, on blocks in a backyard, about 1978, from Long Island NY, $250.00 bucks.
It now sits in my little brothers barn in Maryland, awaiting resurection

1965 Ford Galaxy 500 2-door convertable 390. $200 cash. Only had one working brake (left front) but it would get up and go like ell. Never took a pic of it.

Green 1968 Chrylser Newport 4 dr. 383 auto. could fit 8 people

1968 Plymouth Roadrunner, 383 4 barrel. My husband bought it for $8.00. I loved that car. It was damn fast.....

Unfortunately, I let my husband get behind the wheel on an icy road and he lost his temper and he gunned it, the wheels stopped turning and it never started again. There it went....$8.00 up in smoke. Wish I had it back.

My husband's first car was a 1966 Dodge Charger, 318 engine that he blew up and replaced with a 440 from a 69 Roadrunner. Not quite as fast as the '68 Roadrunner, but it was a fun car.

Wow this is an old thread. My first car, a 61 VW bus. Step-through which means the front seats were split and you could get in the back. I had my learner's permit, knew very little about cars. It had a plug wire popped off and I was on a ride with two buddies. Starter was going. We went up a back road and decided to turn around due to construction. I backed into a steep driveway and it stalled. I decided to roll backwards and pop the clutch to jump start it. My buddies got out to watch. I rolled back and my foot slipped off the brake. The bus went off the end of the stranger's driveway, which had a small retaining wall at the bottom. A tree stump stopped the bus as it stuck 45 degrees up in the air. My buddies jaws dropped. I jumped down out of the driver's seat and ran up and got a construction guy to back his small dump truck up to it. He hooked a chain up to the front and pulled it up and out of the driveway; I popped the clutch as he got to the top of the driveway and it started. I gave the guy $5 which was a lot at 17 and 1974.
I always wondered what the homeowner's must have thought to have come home to see their driveway end scraped up and the bark ripped off their tree stump.

It put a dent in the back engine cover, which consequently would fall off around town. Hungover the next day, I would drive around and find the engine cover. I ran it out of gas once, thinking the heater control knob below the front seat was the 'reserve gas tank' knob. That was my first carb rebuild, and my first valve adjustment. I think is was .012 intake and .013 exhaust. An old trick was to adjust the exhaust to .014, which left the exhaust valve seated for a fraction of a second longer to dissipate heat!!!
I have another novel to write about the 62 Benz 220s my big brother found for me; for $350! (1975) It wouldn't go into gear (4 on the tree), and only needed gear shift bushings. The sellers thought the trans was shot.