Tell us about your first car!

[Neeek]

My first car was actually an Austin Metro that I bought from my brother for three hundred quid. One week after taking possession, the front sub-frame parted company as I was doing about 60mph and I slid neatly off the road and into the hard shoulder, fortunately avoiding all other motorists. Got some money back off my brother and all was well.

But the car I remember as being my first “proper” car was my 1987 mushroom grey Skoda Estelle 120L – you know, the little Czech sedans with the engine in the boot and body panels made from what seemed to be cardboard. Some say that the coupe version (yes, they did make one!) handled like a baby Porsche 911. Not having had the pleasure of driving one of those yet, I can’t confirm that, but the fact that the engine is slung all the way out over the rear axle makes that claim plausible. My Skoda was the up-spec model with the 5-speed gearbox and alloy wheels, no less! I bought it from a dodgy old man who lived in town and did the four hundred pound deal on his dining room table, whilst trying hard not to look at the veritable mountain of pornographic videotapes he had stacked beside his ancient TV.

My little Skoda and I had a whale of a time. I endured all the jokes from my mates (What do you call a convertible Skoda? A skip…) and took great pleasure in being the laughing stock of the local village when I turned up every Friday night to go to the pub. These cars, quite rightly, are the subject of much derision in the UK. But it was different, and I liked its amazing craptitude.

Anyway, I had it for a total of 7 months. Caned the hell out of it doing a 30-mile each-way commute and it never stranded me until the very end. But lots of things went wrong…

- the spring-loaded choke cable snapped leaving me at WOT in traffic, which was interesting.
- I had my first accident involving another car as a result when I ran into the back of it (no damage to their car, my Skoda suffered a broken front bumper and cracked headlight).
- it overheated constantly (driving faster fixed that – radiator was in the front).
- it refused to start almost every day until the ambient temperature hit more than 5 degrees, and then it required at least 17 turns of the key before it spluttered into life.
- the coolant pipes froze up in winter (hot water from a kettle poured over them fixed that nicely!).
- it was scary to drive with no weight over the front and nearly killed me twice on slippery roads. My solution to that was innovative – place 3 concrete blocks in the front under the bonnet to weigh it down. It worked!
- the driver’s door handle broke. Twice.
- the driver’s side windscreen wiper flew off at speed in the rain.
- the exhaust manifold developed some gaping holes at regular 2 month intervals and I almost bought shares in muffler putty.

But there was plenty to like as well:

- I never tired of the jokes, and I was still one of only a handful of my mates who owned their own car rather than borrowing Mum’s…
- It was supremely comfortable to sit in, even on long journeys.
- Once the “counterweights” were installed, I took great pleasure in scaring other motorists on my favourite roundabout as I approached it doing 50mph screaming in 3rd gear, braked into the bend and let the tail-slide out. My mushroom taught me a lot about driving RWD cars.
- Driving in snow was great – the only way to get power-oversteer in a 1.2 litre rear-engined vehicle. At 10mph.
- I managed to do naughty things to my then semi-girlfriend on the still-warm boot. And she bragged about it.

Sadly, the end of my time with the little mushroom was a massive overheating episode where I looked in the mirror as I was blatting down the A47 at about 70mph to see nothing but clouds of smoke. I pulled over and lo and behold, the engine was on fire. And I noted that the temperature gauge was stuck on “Ice Age”. Because I carried many water bottles with me in the car to counter the overheating problems, I doused the flames and put the fire out. But my little Skoda never moved under its own power again and was towed home where it sat in the front garden of my parent’s house until the grass grew up to the windows. And then the newspaper deliveryman bought it (he also drove one – wonder if he liked porn too?) for twenty quid, and my little mushroom was gone.

[LethalLeigh]

First car I had was a 1985 Nissan Pulsar hatch, I thought it was pretty damn good all the way back then. It was on it's second motor which appeared to be from Japan but it was still the old E15 job, nothing special. In the end I wrote it off, twice after we rebuilt the front end of it.

The first car I actually paid for was a 1979 Fiat 131 that I scored for $200. It was certainly at the end of its life with a damp, dilapidated vinyl interior and a motor sufferring crankcase compression. Suffice to say it didn't last that long but I got some good use out of it with some very enjoyable handling in the wet.

[xc 460]

First car I had and still have is my Xc coupe. I got it in 96 when I was 16.It was yellow and was set up for a 460. I bare metalled it and painted it red at my dads panel shop,had it re trimmed and put a 302 clevlend in it. I drove it every day until I had a canary put on it for being to low. I took it of the road and had a 460 built for it, we made a custom bonnet put mini tubs in it and now it only gets driven now and then.

Originally Posted by LethalLeigh

First car I had was a 1985 Nissan Pulsar hatch, I thought it was pretty damn good all the way back then. It was on it's second motor which appeared to be from Japan but it was still the old E15 job, nothing special. In the end I wrote it off, twice after we rebuilt the front end of it.

Another N12 Pilot here, late 85 model sedan.

Bought it of my brother when he upgraded to a N14 SSS. This thing had a 2.25 exhaust manifold back (no cat due to pre-unleaded!) with a single sports muffler on it. Apart from that I did a home-short shifter job by cutting the stick and using the hacksaw blade to cut a groove so the gearknob grub screws could catch. The thing used to go very well for what it was, even though it had 65 or so hp stock, but in a 750kg body. Used to rev it out hard, past the redline of 6000 almost to 8, flatchanges, single spinner burnouts. I had really sticky 185s at the front and cheap 155s at the rear, it made it handle really well, to the point it could lift a rear tyre under braking into a corner. Lasted me 1 and a half years before the gearbox blew, rego was due in a few days and had a bit of cancer on certain structual compontents. Piston rings were unheard of.

[xurbanx]

The first car was I think (estimate) a 1990/1/2 EB Falcon S (or EA, I'm sketchy on the details), auto and the car dad taught me to drive in. It leaked when it rained, it wouldn't start straight away on most days and it had LPG. After many complaints from mum on spending way too much money repairing it, dad put the Fiesta on finance and sold off the Falcon S for about $2,000.

[efgoofy]

First car was a 77 XC Falcon, running a 302 and straight gas, was ok, burnt orange and vinyl roof. auto and thats about it, was fun to drive in the wet, but then the gas line played up and it would stall when in idle constantly, ended up going to the wreckers for $50.

[Papa Smurf]

My first car was a 1952 Vauxhall Wyvern 4cyl. I bought it for $50.00 in 1969 from the bloke next door. I went to the trouble of having the Motor Reco'd and it cost me the WHOPPING sum of $210.00. I had a friend of mine's Dad put it together for me as I only paid to have it bored, crank ground and new pistons, rings, bearings and Gaskets.

I loved this car and fixed the small amount of rust in the Beaver Panel and got it registered in my Dads name. (I was too young) It was a great car and I would have had it longer but someone stole it, took it joy riding and Wrecked it completely. :(

All the other cars I had are too many to mention

BTW, my Pay I took home in those days was $13.50 for a 40 hour week. :(

[henry 351]

My first car was a 1984 sigma 2.6 5 speed. Quite comfy, but surprisingly uneconomical for a 4 cylinder. I had it about a year and traded it on a one owner XD Fairmont Ghia 5.8 with factory ESP suspension, now that WAS a car...and my eyes were opened.

[nat_daly]

99 au s pack with no muffler
was a great car

[lisa76]

My first was a 1982 Gemini Panelvan. It was fire engine red and had graphics up the sides. Dark tinted windows, 215 tyres - definitely fully sik. It cost $4700 at the time (it was only 9 years old) and it ran on the smell of an oily rag. Her and I had a great time and I'm still sorry I sold her, she'd make a great runabout car to pass onto the kids later on. It had just one problem - it kept blowing a valve on a regular basis. I sold it to buy the car that would forever turn me off Holdens. I've always been a Ford girl, never hated Holdens until I bought a VK. It was the biggest lemon, it spent more time off the road than on. NRMA road service and I were on a first name basis. In the three years I owned that thing I only put 5k on the clock.

[ClevlndStemer]

A holden hatch, reliable and fuel efficient.

[RspecAU]

My first car was a 66 XR station wagon which i paid $100 for witn no motor or gear box. I bought a motor for $250 and was given a 3 speed box witn no syncro on first gear. I had that for 6 month before buying a 77 XC. I always whish i had of kept the wagon as it was rust free and it never stuck me up anywhere.

[charles_wif_xf]

Still got my first car, the XF. Got it in 1990. Went to the darkside for a week or so in 1997 (till some goose nicked it! VK Commonwhore).

[Steffo]

First car I drove, licenced on the road etc, was a 1995 Ford Econovan Maxi auto. It had well over 500,000km, was only firing 3 cyl, and the engine was very, very stuffed (nearly 30L/100km economy... lol). You had to brake left foot, and keep the accelerator applied a little bit so that it wouldn't turn off, and then slowly ease out the brake like a clutch to get going again. Would have ended up going into my name but it got stolen.

First car I actually payed for was a 1991 Nissan Pintara Executive. 2.0litre, automatic. Had its fair share of problems, mostly electrical. Like.. stereo on (aftermarket headunit was in it when I bought it) and the brake light fuse would blow. Headlights on, brake light fuse blows... for a little I was actually turning them off while stopping, putting the car in park at the traffic lights then turning the lights back on. Got that problem fixed, but the stereo issue was never done, I just pulled its fuse and left it at that.

[Ryan]

First car was a TE Cortina.

Only drove it for a week, before getting the VL.

[goXF]

My first (and still current) car was (is) a 1987 XF S pack sedan. Bought it from a dealer in early 2002 with only 82,000Km on the clock. Was previously owned by a middle aged lady who obviously looked after it, but didn't drive much...
Four and bit years later the clock is showing 128,500Km and i havn't had much problem with it at all.

I got an immobiliser fitted and as well as 4 door remote central locking.
I also got cruise control fitted.

The latest addition was LPG last year.

[Kenaz]

Mine was a mint condition 88 EA Falcon GL. My parents gave it to me when I was 18. It was a gold/champagne colour with colour coded bumpers and mirrors. It was 3 speed cfi when I got it. We converted it to MPI and when my brother bought it off me he converted it to manual. Even though my brother has two other Falcons, he is still using the EA as his daily driver at the moment. I think it only ever let me down once, when it snapped the fan belt. EAs get a bad wrap, but mine was fantastic!

[DJL351]

1980 Datsun Sunny Sedan.
1600cc 4sp manual..... bright yellow.

The car itself may not sound funny..... but think of the 6 foot+ 100kg+ bloke driving it! :

D:

[Big Mike]

1980 CM Chrysler Regal - unbeatable 265, TorquFlite, A/C, frost blue with all the stainless, veleur, vynil roof everything. Even bucket seats and floor console/arm rest. No p/s though but don't need it in Valiants with 4.5 turns lock-to-lock.

And sure enough - still got her out the back. She's always been there when my Camaro crapped itself regularly, or various other cars I owned had issues - or like while my BMW is being serviced... The old Val was always there. Nowadays, the XB Coupe is my daily, but one day SOON I'll drag that old girl out and get her back to at least as good as when I last parked her. Its so sad to see the ravages of time.

[Jock260]

Mine is xe s pack, 4 speed manual, EFI,monza red with orange stripes. late 83 model (one of the last xe's) got it 22nd of feb this year, start it up every week for 10 mins, lol. dunno how it drives, but my dad says it drives great, could use some extractors, but besides that, its fine, lol.

[70caprigt3k]

My first car was a 1983 Falcon GLi 4.1 Crossflow 4spd manual and air conditioned picked up for $100, it was bulletproof, went sideways into a tree, snapped out of a slide straight into a tree pushing the clutch fan straight through the air con condenser and radiator, chopped the bumper off chucked a xf radiator in and some mesh over the radiator and she was good to go again until it was bogged and not driven or rescued for about 6months which ended its life. Shortly after that i picked up a $200 FC ltd that had been in an accident and not driven for 3 months she had a 4.1, LSD, Electric seats, electric sunroof, electric windows and no exhaust, it held up well for ages until one day it bottomed out on a corner and split the sump open and drained all its oil so i decided to put it out of its misery and sat there in a line lock for about 3mins full revs until it conked out in a massive cloud of tyre smoke/burning oil smoke/steam. I opened up the bonnet and amongst the cloud of smoke that came out all the coolant was boiling and there was oil every where and smoke coming from the broken section of the tappet cover gasket, Started 5 mins later to move it and never started again after that. I want another bush basher haha.

[Dezza]

My first car is the one I own now. My parents bought the car before I did. They bought it in 2002, with 148,000 kms on the clock. They bought it as a runaround for me, but then I pranged it 9 days later. Since it was insured as 3rd party property, we wouldn't receive any money for it. So we decided to keep the wreck and took it over to my uncle's where he did a 2 month process of replacing most of the front panels, the nose cone, radiator, and engine mounts. The engine, steering, and suspension all survived the impact. We then took it to a panelbeater where the front was repainted.

I bought it off them at the start of 2004. Since then I have had fitted a Clarion CD/MP3 player, 180W Clarion 3-way rear speakers, an EB T-bar, and recently clear indicators. It still features 4WD ride height. It has now done about 230,000kms and is still in very good condition. The interior is immaculate and the paint is in awesome condition. There are a few small dints but none of them are too extreme.

[crannersEL]

Being 18 ive only had one car to date, its a 1997 EL GLi which was my partents car from about 20 000K's old. I learnt how to drive in this car, which was a bonus because i knew it in and out for when i was on my P's

[smciner1]

My first Car was a 2 Litre 4 Speed 1979 Mk II Escort Ghia. Started off Mint Glaze with a Black Vinyl Roof. Ended up Hermetage (XD Colour) with all the Rally Pack Gear on it. Great little Car.

[OzJavelin]

1961 Studebaker Lark, 259V8 auto .. $300

[wolfmaxmotrsprt]

my first was a 1987 meteor(laser) wagon. silver. 5speed. great car. cops never looked twice at me. but got up and went. mainly on the great ocean road. love front wheel drives down there.

[EAsyduzit]

Aah yes...Who can forget their first car? 1981 2L TF Cortina. Stock std until the crap position of the weber carb directly above the dizzy to ensure any fuel leak ends up with a pyrotechnics show! The usual story - set of 2nd hand headers off an apprentice mechanic mate, 2" sports system and a Ramflo filter, light rebuild by a small-time engineer which turned out to be an absolutely bulet-proof plant out: which loved to spin out, a set of Globe rims cleaned up and cutomised, stiffened suspension and clutch after clutch after head after clutch...until it just drives you nuts! Then you go and trade it in on another Ford - my EA! Now time to start doing a few things to the old girl and having some fun tinkering with it...

Wish me luck with my 2nd hand gearbox replacement... :

[blackahcdx]

My First car was a 81 Honda Civic Three door hatch with the HondaMatic auto transmission that u had to shift hears in. Not bad little car, bought it for $2000, then ran up the back of a commodore.

Traded it in on a Ford Ka, which i got rid of two year later. Didn't need a car then.

Then had a Diesel Gemini for a few months, then a Daihatsu Charade and now my Astra.

Next car? Will drive the new Commodore and see what thats like, maybe a HSV VXR, or Astra SRi T, or the coming RenaultSport Clio 197

[AUIII]

Mine was a 1992 eb series 2 Spack in everglade green in fantastic condition (except the head gasket). It was a great car and I wish I never sold it.

[Bucknaked]

Mine was a 69 HT Holden. Such a classic. 186 with powerglide. Leaked oil from every seal in the engine. Go around corners and the fuel would somehow leak out around the petrol cap. Couldn't get up hills. It was an old bomb, but it was cool.

Mum won $900 on Keno at the Adelaide Casino. So she used that money to buy me my first car. Sold it for $1,000 12 months later :