Automotive Sales Training

My First Car – Oh The Memories

By December 14, 2010 February 2nd, 2019 19 Comments

Just those three words evoke all types of emotion pretty much regardless of who is talking. That sentence brings back memories no matter what age you are now, the model of the car, the cost, the apperance or how long you owned it.

The first feeling most people think of is the freedom that first car gave us, the independence, no longer were we dependent on mom, dad or an older buddy to cart us around when we wanted to go someplace or get something. The adventure of driving places perhaps your parents didn't drive to (or even know about). Maybe the thought of a first kiss, our first ticket, or fender bender. Remember how clean you kept that first one, the time spent washing and polishing. Recall how many people said to you..."Be careful, this isn't a toy"...lol.. oh the memories.

My first car was a 1949 Willys Jeepster, and no I didn't get it when it was new, before you all ask. I turned 16 in 1967 and my dad was a manager at a Cadillac Dealership near Cleveland Ohio and they had taken it on trade, he bought it and then brought it home and sold it to me. At the time I was a caddy at a country club and also mowed lawns for a small landscaping company to earn money to be able to get a car when I got my license. This Jeepster was in pretty good shape and cost me $600 bucks which was a whole bunch of money when you're making $75 a week. I was pretty pumped up about it and it was far different from anything anyone had at school. I remember one kid who's parents were loaded got a new GTO every six months....but mine was cooler...it had an AAAARRROOOGGGAAA Horn..Yellow, with a white convertable top, 3speed on the columm and an AM radio, heater and wipers that were interesting when it rained.

The very first day I drove it I was headed over to a girls house...go figure, I had just lite a cigarette and it fell on the floor I bent over to pick it up while holding onto the steering wheel which I must have pulled slightly to the left coming over a hill. I looked up just in time to see another car right in front of me and I yanked that steering wheel hard to the right and ran into a fence. I was ok, wasn't going fast, no seat belts then of course, but I did put a small dent in the right front fender.The police came and asked for my license which of course I didn't have on me.

My court date came and my mom went with me, very embarrassing I must say, and the judge made this huge deal out of me not having my license with me, "What if you had died in this accident young man and nobody knew who too contact?"...really??? I ran into a stupid fence! My mom even thought that was a bit over the top, but I got grounded and guess what I wasnt allowed to do?.....Drive my Jeepster.

That torture lasted one month and it did teach me some very valuable lessons, always have your license and put an ash tray on the dash so you dont take your eyes off the road. My Jeepster actually started a fad at school when a second person got one too, I acted all happy for him but really I was kind of pissed cause now mine wasn't the only cool car in the parking lot.

I don't know how long you kept your first car but I had this Jeepster for about 2 years,  2 summers,2 winters. And Yes I kissed my first girlfriend in it after meeting her at the county fair, my first accident, my first ticket and my first taste of independence and freedom.

Like so many other things in life nothing beats the first one or the first time and that Jeepster was no different, I have had many cars since then, many that cost more than that entire farm I grew up on. I will never forget the feeling of driving down those dirt roads, top down, warm breeze, my right wrist draped over the steering wheel and my left arm resting on the door. That am radio blasting out some weird music from England.....Stones and Beatles...

That was My First Car, what was Yours?

Craig Lockerd

Craig Lockerd is the founder and CEO of AutoMax Recruiting And Training. He has nearly 50 years of experience in the auto industry. You can find Craig on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

19 Comments

  • My first car was a 1985 Dodge Charger, with a standard transmission. I bought it for $600 and had no idea how to drive a standard when I did, but I learned! It was an older car, I bought it in 1996, was 16 at the time and was pumped about the freedom it allowed me.

    I remember when I bought it that I didn’t have the money to get insurance, much less tags right away so I would drive it around my neighborhood, on the look out for police. I did get pulled over after about a week but the police officer understood and told me to be careful, he never told me NOT to drive it, so I continue to do so until I got my next pay check and thus my tags & insurance.

    I remember that car well, it was maroon, had leather and dark tinted windows. I had it for about 9 months when everything started to go bad on it, but I didn’t care, she was my first and she’ll always have a place in my heart. After all, she was only $600! LOL

  • Glenn Wilkins says:

    Saved up enough money at 15 yrs old to buy a 1978 Trans Am. Saved all my money for another month to pay for air shocks, Louvres (those metal vents that fit in rear window,for the younger generation that never seen them), And a new set of 60’s for the rear tires. Wayyy too much car for a 15 yr old when i found out the hard way, that Trans Am’s werent very good in curves in high speeds!! 🙁 I look back thinking about how i saved forever to get that car on my own, then realize it was probably my first step towards manhood.

  • Ralph Rasmuson says:

    A 1965 Mustang 2+2 hatchback. Orange with black vinyl. 289 V-8. 3 speed on the floor. I ordered “spinner” wheel covers for it from J C Whitney! I also got a “reverberator” to make the radio sound cool. Needless to say, I tore the clutch out of it and my dad sold it immediately. I think after that he got me an old Chevy Impala with an automatic and NO spinners!! (I parked that car in back of the school) Man I loved that Mustang!

  • 1983 Buick Skyhawk. That’s right, you can say it “BABE MAGNET!” I was 16 and it was a hand me down from my mom. After all she had upgraded to a new 1991 Taurus. I remember the doors on that thing probably weighed as much as most vehicles do now. It was Buick “compact car” at the time, as if Buick ever made a compact… lol. Kind of a washed out gold color with some brown velour style seats. Oooh Baby!

    I think I drove it for about 2 years until the heads blew and I sold it to my uncle for scrap. I figured I would get the next hand me down and when that didn’t work out I had to take my entire savings – $2500 – to buy a 1984 Blazer S10 that got driven off a small cliff at one point… that’s another story though.

    Thanks fro bringing it up Craig!

    -Mike

  • Stephanie Stagner says:

    My first car was a 1964 Pontiac Tempest, 4 door white w/red interior. It was very used of course. I paid $50 dollars for it and the insurance was $20 for full coverage every 3 months, I was a huge liability for my father back in those days…. My mother told me she wouldn’t even drive that car across the Mississippi bridge on a good day. This car took me 900 miles west at age 19 with a girlfriend – We were going to see the world through that cracked windshield. The higher the altitude the more the black smoke billowed from the tail pipe. That poor little white car (now completely covered in soot on the back) was in desperate need of repair. I needed to find a job! As my girlfriend and stood under the hood and pointed to the the various tubes, wires and caps (that must be the…. no that’s the….. that’s has to be the…. ) a nice looking young man who claimed to be a mechanic came by and asked if he could help – That mechanic said, “you have a serious problem here which will probably cost more to fix than this car is worth”. He spent several hours underneath that car tinkering away, and low and behold it started. That tinkering mechanic can be found in our garage on a Saturday afternoon rebuilding a variety of things. I love you honey!

    • That mechanic would be my #1 father-in-law. Aka Grrrpa. And you are right, he is always fixing something… VW Bug, Bus aka “The Big Blue Whale,” The yellow truck… what do we call the camper? lol!

  • THAT….is an outstanding story…Thanks!

  • nsimmons says:

    The year was 1977… A 1973 Pontiac Grand AM, yellow, tan leather (or pleather) gut! The kicker…455 CID (7.4 L) V8 engine! Can you say Gas Guzzler during the peak of the Gas Crunch! Automatic with bucket reclining seats, great for snoozing at the Drive-In theatre, (if the movie was boring, y’know what I mean)…
    I remember driving that car down the road, with an 8-Track cassette screaming out any Eagles, 38 Special, or Bruce Springsteen song… I loved them all!
    It does provide you with a new realized freedom and a sense of being in control.. Hey I am the conductor of this car and I am now the conductor of my own life! Look at me!!!!

  • gene diehm says:

    wow! they say its your memory the first thing to go…..but i remember my first car!!! 1955 chevy bel air baby blue 6cyl 3 on the tree!!! man thing must have weighed 3 tons!! called it sherman. that thing could realy take a hit! woohoo!!

  • Timothy Oliva says:

    My first car wasn’t anything special in anybody’s eyes. I have pathetic credit (thanks to an old cellphone) and I went in to a dealership looking for a car because coming into work everyday with your mom is not cool.. Even less cool when your 21. So I looked at an 02 Chevrolet S10 Extreme. Beautiful truck, black on black, 5 speed, well maintained and I had no cosigner so I couldn’t get it. So my friend RJ from the dealership says, “For $1000 down I can put you in a car today as long as you will take what we got”, I jumped at the chance and took home a very well used 1999 Chrysler Intrepid with a 2.7l v6 and 174000km on it. At that point I knew nothing about Intrepid’s aside from being “an old person car” but I loved it, she was mine and nobody else’s. I named her ‘Steph after a friend that the car has the same personality of, everyone fell in love with her and she was always there when you needed her.

    Oh and I should mention, I do still own my baby ‘Steph to this day, about 5 years later and I am slowly fixing and modifying her. Just thought I would share with everyone

  • Rick Emmons says:

    1968 VW Bug. light blue with a dark blue racing stripe and big yellow fog lights. the year I got it was 1970 and I was in my 2nd year of high school working at Shaw’s grocery store in the deli and selling Amway on weekends, nights in a pet shop. Couldn’t wait to save up for cragar SS mags & Micky Thompson tires to put on it. It didn’t go fast but it looked like it could. I got my 1st speeding ticket in it going 45 mph in a 30 and lost my licence for 90 days. I think I got the ticket for having on american flag sneekers. When I got puled over I got out of the car and the cop said what the hel* do you have on your feet boy! I was doomed after that, nothing I said mattered. I only had it for a year and traded it for a Ford Mavrick Grabber with a 302 I thought that was a rocket ship after the Bug.