OutdoorMissouri.com

I'll start with a little Background...

It was then end of the summer of my fifteenth year - a few months before my 16th birthday. My brother, who had just graduated from college, took a summer job down in Dallas and was returning home. He had an old 66 Ford Pickup truck that he had driven through college.

I was in the driveway shooting hoops when he pulled into the driveway after a 600+ mile trip from Dallas to St. Louis. He pulled into the driveway, shut off the motor, and the thing burst into flames. OK - burst into flames may be a bit over doing it - but smoke was definitely pouring out from under the hood and under the cab along with the smell of burning rubber and plastic. He stepped out of the cab, threw me the keys, and said "it's yours".

I spent the next few months fixing it up. Pretty much all if the wiring had melted together, so I replaced each and every wire in the thing. It was pretty much of a beater, so I did some bodywork, some interior work, and, along with the help of a friend who was in the auto body business, painted it. It was a dark, dark blue - almost black. In fact, if you saw it at night, you would think it was black. In bright sun, it was a very deep dark blue. I loved that truck. It was by now means a hot-rod. it had a 240 ci motor with three speed on the column. But I drove that think from my 16th birthday through my first year of college. Some of the best times in my life were had in that old truck.

Well, I came across a deal that I just could not pass up. I found a 65 Ford F100 that is almost identical to my old friend. Certainly rough around the edges, but certainly restorable. Picts are posted below. So, what was your first vehicle?

Mine was a 62 Chevy Impala....I also had either a 64 or a 65 short wide bed Ford PU that had overdrive in it..and positive traction rear end. I really liked it too...

I got an 87 Dodge Shadow my junior year. When I'd go to town to cruise with my buddies on the weekends, we'd call it "The Beast", "The Silver Bullet", or "The Getaway Car." It was a 2.2 L 4 cyl. It cost $3300 in 1991. I sold it to a hooker in 2000 for $1000. The motor blew up on her 20 hours later when she was on her way to Mardi Gras. She was very resourceful in paying truckers to get her the rest of the way to New Orleans.
At 30 years old, I'm just now on the 2nd car I've owned. It's paid off, and I'll hang on to it until my 12 yr. old is ready to inherit it.

She was only a part-time hooker. She was trying to stay on the right side by working at Wal-Mart.

'79 Chevy Silverado $600. i drove it for two and a half years, through everything i have the balls to take it through. It had a bad habbit of getting flat tires at inopportune times. and it ran so crummy for the last year i never put more than $4 in gas unless i was going on a long trip. It did have a camper shell i used for camping on float trips etc. I sold that truck for $500, and only changed the oil, and put on new tires, no other maintanence.

MOCraig said:
You sold it to a hooker? How did you know she was a hooker?

dave-t. said:
'79 Chevey Silverado $600. i drove it for two and a half years,

And even after two and a half years of driving it, you still misspelled Chevy.

59 Chevy, 4 door, 6 cyl, 3speed. Cost me $50.00. Drove the thing for two years then my dad drove it to work for a couple more. I finished it off by running in a demo derby and finished 3rd place and it still ran after the derby.

I inherited a 2 door light blue 64 Buick Special from my grandfather when I was 15. His sister had bought it new, but died in a hotel fire in Hawaii in 1965 . My grandfather got it from her, but never drove it, because he was the Sheriff of Jackson County and had a patrol car. My grandmother never drove it as she didn't have/want a driver's license. My mom's only brother lied about his age and joined the Marine Corp when he was 15, so he never drove it. My mom went to college when she was 16, but didn't take the car.

As a result, I got that '64 Buick Special in 1976 with about 12,000 miles on it . It had been sitting in my grandparent's basement (they had a rear entry garage under the house) for nearly all that time.

It had an aluminum block 310 Wildcat V8, with the 2 speed powerglide transmission. Most of the hoses were dry rotten, so I had to replace them. After a new carburetor, headers, dual exhaust and some Cragars it was ready to go. That car was very quick, but the fastest I ever got it to go was 120MPH. I got my first speeding ticket 3 days after I received my license ...I didn't even have the picture ID yet .

That car ran like a top all through high school. While in college, I left it at home because it began to leak a little from the radiator, but I would check it and top off as necessary. I left the car at my parent's house and told them not to let anyone drive it. My little brother "borrowed" the car without anyone's permission and it over heated. He pulled to the side of the road, waited 10 minutes and started it up again, overheating it some more. Aluminum block engines don't like being overheated and it warped the block .

I really liked that car and still have a picture of it.

64 Karman Ghia and a 62 Chevy stepside PU. Both restored from the ground up.

The Chevy had a 327 bored out .60, I believe a 288 cam, a 6" aluminum Edelbrock high rise intake, 2 4-brrl carbs, hooker headers, black leather rolled and tucked interior, 78 Corvette yellow paint, and aluminum American Racing wheels.

The Ghia was bright candy apple red, with white interior with a gray pin stripe insert, all factory chrome and trim, and was converted form 6V to 12V.

I sold both when I left for the Army and made a killing on them! I wish I had them back now.

Mine was a 82 Plymouth Horizon. It had a 2.2 L. fire breathing 4 cyl. That car never broke down on the road. It lasted from my first year of college until I was married. (7 yrs) The bumper fell off somwhere between Columbia and St. Louis. (I never noticed it.) The car literally died on the lot to trade it in. Then came my 1991 f-150 6 cyl. that truck lasted until 2002 when I bought my GMC.

70 Dodge Charger RT 440 Six pack w/pistol grip 4 speed. I win. It was fun while it lasted.

1965 Dodge Dart; I gave $100 for it in 1985, 'bought it from some foreigner that was attending UMR and moving back to wherever he came from. It was a 4 door, slant 6 with 65,000 miles on the OD. It had a working AM radio with a shoty right speaker. It got me off the school bus, was not a bad little ride either considering.



I usually took my dad's 1977 Dodge 3/4 ton 4x4 Power Wagon out on Friday and Saturday nights though.



By the time my senior HS year rolled around, I was cruising with a 73 stang. The back was jacked off the ground to nearly 36", traction bars, burning super wide 50's on the rear wheels and duel exhaust dumping out behind each door (Shhhh, do not tell anyone it's just a stock 302). Nobody was allowed ride in the back seat - it would cause the rear qtr panels to crunch into the tires.

I got my dad's '66 Chevy truck. We went thru and did a mild restore. I quit driving it when I went to college, but we still have it now.

Since then I've owned:
1968 Pontiac LeMans convertible
1970 Pontiac GTO convertible
1970 Chevy K5 Blazer (still have)
1972 Chevy K5 Blazer (still have)
Plus a slug of other "not as cool" rides...

56 Olds 4 Door Sedan.
Paid $50 for it from a old lady in 1981. It had sat in her garage for a number of years. Had to do some work on the motor. New rods, belts, hoses, gaskets,.... that sort of stuff. Did most of the work in shop class at school. It had a hole rusted through the floor board behind the drivers seat. We put a piece of sheetmetal over it on hinges. Used it to dump beer cans. Drove that car for two years. Sold it for $250. Wish I still had it.