First Trip In Your First Car.

I never really went for a vacation in my first car, but I would have to say I've had a few experiences with that car.

And what was the car, you may be asking? Believe it or not, a 1987 Chevy Sprint, 1 Litre engine (yeah, 3 banger) with a 5 speed manual tranny.

Vuarra

Didn't take a trip in her but my first car was a 71 Plymouth Sattelite. An old cop car on top of that. Got it for $400 at an auction. All the girls called it the "Green Machine".

I installed an old radio/cassette player complete with the speakers from my Moms old home stereo. The radio part didn't work so I taped a radio station and would play that tape over and over and over. I still have most of the tape memorized complete with commecrials, weather reports and news. One day a buddy got so tired of hearing the same songs that he could take no more. At a stop light, he ripped out the tape, gets out the car, tossed the tape on the ground and stomped it into little pieces. He calmly got back in the car and said, "the light's green".

Oneday, I was giving 3 of my female co-workers a ride home from Burger King and thought I was the stuff. Had a fresh Earth Wind tape and had put some kind of glaze on the old green machine so she was shiney as a new gold dollar. The one riding in the front went to light a cigarette but the cars lighter didn't work. I used that 12V for the radio and lights under the seats. Good news, I kept a Bic above my visor and went into gentleman action. I flicked my Bic and while holding the lite for her ran into the back of a parked car. She said, "thanks for the light but I think we can walk from here". She and the other girls got out, laughed and started walking. The teasing I got at school for that.

Girls = left Car = totaled Green Machine memories = priceless

The first trip I took with my own car was to Hapton Beach NH, about 6 hours from where I live. I had a 1987 Cavalier Z24, pretty much a rare model. It was fun, 2.8 MPFI 5 speed. We were 6 cars following eachother all doing about 100 MP/H, so my digital cluster played 98,99,100,101,100,99,100,99,98, etc...

Dan

I never took a vacation in my first car. Actually, I've never taken a vacation in any of my cars because I don't trust them.

I guess you buy Chryslers then? :)

Rick

"Rutger6559" a écrit dans le message de news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

No comments.

Funny you should mention that! My first car was a 1955 Chrysler Windsor 4dr that was gifted to me from a distant relative in 1966. The car probably never exceeded 30MPH in its lifetime prior to my getting it, since said relative was a railway executive who hated highway driving, and just shipped the car by train whenever he had to go anywhere that he'd need wheels. In any case, for Xmas of '66, it was decided that my family would spend the holidays at my Aunt's in Minneapolis. My Mom went ahead with my Grandfather around the 20th, and then when school was out, my sister & I left in the '55. Not too long after hitting highway speeds out of Winnipeg, the Chrysler started bucking and lurching. Since it was about -30 F that day, I suspected carburetor icing, but a check of the air cleaner said no. Bad gas maybe? Excess carbon blowing out? Who knew? Anyway, I was 17 - that age when you're both immortal AND know everything - and had places to go, people to see! Nevermind that it's 30 below, and there's no survival gear of any sort in the car, onward Windsor!!

Long story short, managed to limp our way to Staples, MN which is about 130 miles from Minneapolis, and was just big enough to have a repair shop on the main drag. Left the car there, phoned the family in Mpls to come & rescue the 2 hapless teens, and my Aunt came for us in her '64 Olds 98 (Diplomat Blue). Niiiice car, as I recall. When Xmas is done, we all pile into Grampa's '62 Chrysler to pick up my '55 in Staples, supposedly fixed by now. Sure enough, start it up, and it purrs like a kitten. Turns out it had several broken valve springs (forget the exact number), but more than 3 and less than 10. So off we go back to Winnipeg, with me in the lead & Gramps behind, and damned if the '55 doesn't start bucking & lurching again! Same old crap - more valve springs breaking. Fortunately, Gramps had a tow-rope in his trunk, so we hooked our cars together and tandem'd the next 300+ miles, with Gramps in the lead, of course. (My car would at least idle somewhat OK, so I had heat, radio and power brakes on the way home.) But talk about your white-knuckle driving experiences!

Needless to say, my first and last Chrysler product. (There were other problems with the car - blown frost plug, kaffed distributor). Way too much s*it for an eleven-year-old car with low mileage, and never abused. Heh, maybe it _should_ have been abused - perhaps the springs needed some flexercise.

LOL!! Thanks for that!

Thankfully I've never owned a Chrysler product (seen plenty of heartache of friends who have, though), and I don't intend to!

Rick

"Rutger6559" a écrit dans le message de news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

I can say the same, but the other way around! And yes, I have a GM and a Chrysler.

Not the first trip, but a trip I'll always remember;

Philadelphia to California in 1960

I had a '56 CHrysler.

The Interstate system was a few years away.

Phila to western Pa. on the Penna. turnpike. Then, US 40 ( memory's getting rusty ) US 40.... lot of 2-lane and 3-lane roads. ... diners, bars, roadside cabins, tourist havens. They routed you through "downtown" of every city and burg. Wheeling, Columbus, Indianapolis.... Roadsigns were confusing. Picked up US old US 66 in St. Louis. I can still rmember paying $6.50 for a motel room in Oklahoma. Phillips 66 Gas Stations. ( free maps, attendant pumped the gas ) Snowstorm in Flagstaff Then, like the NatKingCole song; Kingsman, Barstow, San Bernadino.... It took near ten days to make the trip. No MacDonalds, no "chain" eaterys. A 400 mile day was a good one.

Interstate travel seems a bit sterile by comparison....

Thanks for that as well! And I agree, but it does have some nice conveniences.

Rick

Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm a total GM guy (for now, time will tell) and my next door neighbor is a total Ford guy. It struck me one night as odd that there we both were completely happy with cars that the other one would never buy.

The world can be a bit strange sometimes.

Rick

wrote in alt.autos.gm

snip trip involving back road driving.

When I was growing up in the 50's we used to take a family vacation every summer. We lived about a hundred miles north of Seattle at the time. So if we were going to go camping on the Oregon coast we would leave at 6:00 am, eat breakfast about 8 in Seattle, following Highway 99 all the way, have lunch in a bit south and west of Olympia, then take a ferry across the Columbia at Astoria, and spend the night in Seaside. The next day we would make the drive to Newport. Today you can make Astoria from Seattle in half a day, and following the coast down, gets you into Newport in late afternoon. I also remember spending most of the day driving to Spokane, about

Rj wrote; a 400 mile day was a good day.

A friend of my dads worked as a mechanic at Chevy in the 50's & 60's. Al & another mechanic would punch out Friday about 5pm drive down to Miami from Chicago & be back in time to punch in Monday morning at 8 am. Chicao to Miami is about 2790 miles round trip, so they were flying.

This was before interstates. One time Al's buddy flipped the car upside down & spun it around like a top on its roof, when they crawled out they were laughing like hell.

========= Harryface =========

So true, so true!! Don't even get me started on my Ford (Mercury) story!! I also have a Nissan story. Every time I backslide, and stray from the GM flock, I tell my closest friends to beat me with large sticks if I ever buy anything that GM didn't make, lol.