My first "car" was a '46 Dodge panel truck with a cloth roof that always leaked. I put a bed in the back with the idea of sleeping in it during college semesters but got married; which entitled me to cheap campus married housing. There was only one seat, so I built a small box with a pad on top for passengers who had to lean back on a 2"+2" upright. Not many girls I knew would ride in it, and some were suspicious of the bed in the back, but my wife rode in it during our year of courtship, so it must have been true love. I had installed an old gas jet in the dash and connected it to the water pump under the hood. The idea was to have hot water for shaving while going to school. If you opened it with the engine at highway speed, it would shoot hot water all the way to the back of the truck. Needless to say, some of my curious friends turned on the valve without asking and got warmly christened. My future wife and I were cruising through downtown Tampa on Franklin street one night when I heard a squeal. "She" had turned on the valve and became so panicked, she didn't turn it off. I cut the engine and coasted to the side of the street. That was the first time she had ever gotten completely furious at me, so I was glad our marriage would soon take place since she might change her mind if she tangled with any more of my "inventions". After marriage we traded the truck for a late model '52 Chevy which lasted a long time. Gerry
Dan Penoff wrote: > My first car was a 1970 Ford Maverick two door with the inline 6, 170 ci, the > smallest displacement version of that engine. Had a three on the tree with > worn out bushings that made shifting a search every time you went to shift. > > I owned it about 6-8 months before I lost control on some ice on a really > nasty curve on the road we lived on. Went over a large rock before striking > a tree. The rock literally tore the front suspension out. > > Had an AM radio and heat. That was the extent of the amenities. I did > install an under dash Radio Shack cassette deck. > > Ironically, the wife had a four door version of the exact same year and model > when I met her. We had that car for years. You couldn't kill it, and even > the absolute worst winter weather wouldn't keep it from starting. It was so > dead reliable that I refused to touch the ignition system the whole time we > owned it, for fear that I would upset the balance and somehow jinx the > reliability. > > I put plugs and wires on it, and probably caps and rotors, but I never > touched the points other than to clean them up. > > We sold it to someone she worked with, and their kid(s) drove the car for a > number of years after that. > > Dan > > > > > > > On Jan 29, 2015, at 11:39 AM, Andrew Strasfogel via Mercedes > > <mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > > > > My first two cars were both 1950 DeSotos with the semi-automatic > > transmission. Bought one for $89 and sold it for $75, the other for $20 > > and then junked it for $0. One broke down on Boylston street in Bahston > > during rush hour; the other gave up the ghost during the particularly > > brutal Minneapolis winter of '68... > > > > I can't think of anything nice to say about either one, except that they > > were IMPOSSIBLE to stall. > > > > On Thu, Jan 29, 2015 at 11:20 AM, Donald Snook via Mercedes < > > mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > > > >> Kaleb's email about wanting a car like his first car got me thinking about > >> my first car. My first car was a 1978 Oldsmobile Delta 88. It was light > >> metallic blue. It was my older brother's car and he was going to sell it > >> or trade it in. I ended up buying it from him. It had the crappy 260 V8 > >> and it was worn out. We called it the Snookmobile. My brother called it > >> the living room on wheels. It had a whole bunch of problems. The > >> headliner sagged, so in my 16 year old wisdom, I staple gunned it back up. > >> It took about 800 staples! The exhaust had a hole in it and if you opened > >> the passenger door, exhaust would poor in. If the car was parked with the > >> nose downhill, the horn would come through the rear speakers. If you > >> pressed the cigarette lighter in, it would shoot out onto the passengers > >> lap. It required a quart of oil every three days. By the end of its > >> tenure, it was a quart every day and a pint of power steering fluid. The > >> little knobs on the window cranks were all broken, so it took forever to > >> raise or lower the windows. One Spring break in High School I decided I > >> wanted to visit my father in Mississippi. He bought new tires for the car. > >> I made it about 65 miles out of town when it blew a hose. I think it also > >> blew a headgasket. I drove it for a few more months and anytime I drove it > >> over 15 minutes, it would overheat. Finally, I traded it in to my Uncle > >> who had a small car lot. He gave me a very generous $450 dollars for it. > >> He took the new tires off, and the trailer hitch, and junked it. > >> > >> Even though it had a lot of problems, I loved it. Of course, what 16 year > >> old doesn't love their first car! > >> > >> Don Snook > >> _______________________________________ > >> http://www.okiebenz.com > >> > >> To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > >> > >> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > >> http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > >> > >> All posts are the result of individual contributors and as such, those > >> individuals are responsible for the content of the post. The list owner > >> has no control over the content of the messages of each contributor. > >> > > _______________________________________ > > http://www.okiebenz.com > > > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > > > All posts are the result of individual contributors and as such, those > > individuals are responsible for the content of the post. The list owner > > has no control over the content of the messages of each contributor. > > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > All posts are the result of individual contributors and as such, those > individuals are responsible for the content of the post. The list owner has > no control over the content of the messages of each contributor. > > > ----- > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 2015.0.5646 / Virus Database: 4273/9021 - Release Date: 01/29/15 > -- arche...@embarqmail.com <arche...@embarqmail.com> _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com All posts are the result of individual contributors and as such, those individuals are responsible for the content of the post. The list owner has no control over the content of the messages of each contributor.
