Favorite Car Of Your Teens/early Years...

cleanLX

Founding Member
Jan 17, 2001
976
536
144
The woody Wagon project on this site brings back fond memories of my youth...
and my favorite car of that time...
'78 Pontiac Grand Safari wagon. 350cu.in. 4bolt, Holly 4bbl, Eddy intake, RV cam, 400TH with RV tq convertor and shift improvements, 4.10's and a posi. :). It had been my Mum's daily and the the families travel trailer tow machine (thus the mods), but, Dad treated Mum to a new Road Master soI inherited this thing... which allowed me to junk my death trap pos '78 civic.
This thing went all over eastern Canada usually filled with my buddies and bikes/skis or camping gear. Got me through grade 12, several years of working saving for college, though college and into the first few years of my career... as an architect.
Loved that car... man could it go through the snow.
 

Attachments

  • wagon.jpg
    wagon.jpg
    207 KB · Views: 140
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
  • Sponsors (?)


My dads 67' Chevy C10 swb 2wd. It had a peppy 327 engine with a push button start which I thought was cool. Another vehicle I loved is a 67' VW bug with IRS (I hate swing axles) that my dad built into a Baja bug for my grandparents. He did the engine, body kit, interior and paint on it and it got passed around the family for about 20 years and then disappeared. It cut through the Pismo dunes effortlessly. I wish I could track it down and buy it back.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
I was a Chevy guy. I had everything under the sun. 1st gen Camaros, Chevelles, but my favorite was my '55 Nomad with a 327 and a 4 speed. It was Corvette yellow with black interior. Had that when I was 19. I didn't get into Ford's until the late 80's.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
In HS I had some terrible cars (a Vega and a 4 dr. Cutlass). During college I worked as a co-op and had to buy something more reliable so I picked up a Dodge Daytona Turbo Z. Those things held little value on the used market, but were pretty nice for the time. Once I graduated and got a job I traded it for an '86 GT with t-tops that I kept for about 15 years. Wish I still had that car.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
^^yes they have... always wanted one, got to looking at them a few years ago when they were affordable, but, could not justify it... now, could justify it but cannot afford it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
85 Mustang GT.
I remember going into the local dealer and looking at them on the lot when they were new.
Dick Butkis drove a blue t-top in the movie "Hamburger: the Motion Picture"
I was about 15, no way I could afford one.
Fast forward 30 years and I have the ability to buy one, but I bought a 93 instead
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
My first car was a 62 Impala SS 350-TH350-4:11 possi. Yellow with a black and blue interior lol.

First car I really really wanted..1989 mustang LX(year I graduated HS). Bought one in 90' and modded it the first month after purchase and was racing (with nitrous etc over 75 miles one way) within the first year.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
I had the usual p.o.s cars when I first started driving (1976 Buick Skyhawk, 1980 Monte Carlo, 1976 K5 Blazer.) Have to admit the Blazer was a roach but it had the removable hard top that went all the way up to the windshield, that was cool.
My first cool car was a 72 Chevelle would have been worth a good chunk of change today if I still had it!
Shortly after I graduated H.S. (1987) my buddies father bought him a brand new 5.0 and when I heard that thing I was hooked, now I have my own!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
My dads 67' Chevy C10 swb 2wd. It had a peppy 327 engine with a push button start which I thought was cool. Another vehicle I loved is a 67' VW bug with IRS (I hate swing axles) that my dad built into a Baja bug for my grandparents. He did the engine, body kit, interior and paint on it and it got passed around the family for about 20 years and then disappeared. It cut through the Pismo dunes effortlessly. I wish I could track it down and buy it back.
My Dad had '76 Chev 5/4ton 4x4, 400 small block warmed up, built 400th trans... that thing was awesome, I had so many visions of driving that when I got my license... he sold it months before... DOH! ... I did get to drive it some, country roads, snow plowing... but never got to really enjoy it... license, driving alone and free... never happened.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
It was always the mustangs. First it was the early ones because some neighbors had them and I immediately fell in love. One neighbor had a 1968 fastback in pristine condition. There was also a 1967 convertible that needed some help down the street from me. That led to fox bodies...etc.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
When I first learned to drive, it was in the family four door 1962 Nova. Had like a 194 c.i I 6, backed by a power glide...in Colorado, at 5000 ft above sea level, it was the poster child for slow, boring, and " I don't think so".

I used to jump it off the sand dunes in eastern Aurora,,where all the motocrossers used to ride their bikes.

One day, my friends an me were tearin it up,..jumped the "Nov" ( say it like the ricers say "Nos")
off of a particularly steep nose dive dune.

Plowed the Nov head first into the sand,...Killed the engine dead.

We sat there for an hour trying to figure out why that btch wouldn't start ( not that we knew what to look for). After the hour was up,..faced with the dread that we were gonna have to walk out, find a pay phone and call my dad, and have him have to deal with the car he bought new in 1962, nose deep in sand, out in the sticks, I yell out of frustration PHHHCCKKK!.......And start wailing on the steering wheel and related appendages.

I knocked the shifter back into park.

The light bulb goes off,...I try to restart,....it does,..we jump it off of another dune, just because it stranded us for an hour,......and not wanting to press my luck,..leave......with haste.

That was the only Chevy..the next car was my " first cool car" 65 GTA FB 289/ C4
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users
First car was a 67 Mustang my dad and I built in our garage when I was 16. It had a 289 4bbl,4spd and a 8 inch rear. Blew up the engine missing a shift at E Town and swapped in a JY 428, C6, and 9 inch 4.11 from a Lincoln.. Had manual brakes, steering, doors, windows and no AC .. but ran low 13's and I got plenty of tail with that car. Had an 8 track with Jensen 6x9's and Keystone Klassic rims and Gabriel Hi Jacker shocks... gotta love the 70's baby
20170130_201305.jpeg
..
 
  • Like
Reactions: 3 users
I got my '86 when I was 17, more than 15 years ago... So yea, Foxes for sure. But the two other kinds of cars that I was interested in buying at the time:

datsun-240z-owner-left-no-bolt-unsnapped-1476934690444-1000x667.jpg


DSCN1871.jpg


Honorable mentions, although I never test drove any of these:

115bba7a5d3b0309c2a8e1839d33a973.jpg


58e6af692f03f_NIS_Front-Left-3-4-940x549.jpg


To this day I still want one of these SOOO bad:

merkur-xr4ti-brochure.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
My favorite car I ever had was a 94 testarossa ......



It was the matchbox version.

My favorite car was an 89 Geo Spectrum 5spd. That little car was amazing. It was the second car I modified. The first was an 89 Ford Probe 5spd ...it was OK.

The Spectrum had a front bumper off an Isuzu I Mark and the extra vittles too. That car spent a lot of time sliding around corners and terrorizing the early import scene.

My 94 Integra was pretty nice, too. I did a Frankenstein motor....LS V tech swap. It was a quick car for what it was. That car would drag the average GSR Integra.

The 92 Accord was alright with the H22 swap. Back then getting swap mounts was a PITA. ( that was 17 years ago. Wtf )

The 87 4cyl fox...swapped to carbed 460 was a complete death trap....even though it was a torque monster.... I should've upgraded the non power assisted 4cylinder brakes. Back then I thought big was always better and kept my foot in everything. Not that car....seemed I kept my feet on the brakes more than the gas pedal.

Its wild thinking about all the time I spent with imports. I still help folks out with their ricers....but nothing compares to a mustang to me.

My 89 GT convertible was later in life....I was almost 30 when I bought it in 2006. That was my baby...but....she's long gone.

This 88 turbo notch will fill its place ( I'm sure ). It may be my best one yet.