I was in a bit of traffic on my way home from work today. My mind was completely free of any meaningful thoughts as I listened to the Rick and Bubba replay on the radio. For whatever reason, I got to thinking about my first car.
My parents got me a car when I was 16 and I'm pretty sure there wasn't a happier girl anywhere. I had no idea I was getting one. My boyfriend was over late one afternoon when my parents came home and asked us to go get the groceries out of the car. (How sly was that?) We headed down to the garage and when I opened the door - there it was - a 1987 Cavalier Z24! To me it was the cutest car ever, because it was mine, all mine!
It was a white, automatic 2 door with gray cloth interior. It had a pop-up sunroof (you know, the kind that always leaked) which I loved. It had a digital dash that was super cool and don't think I wasn't stylin' with my "bag phone". (The bag phone was only for emergencies because it cost about a million dollars a minute back then.) Even though it was off-limits, I kept it plugged into my cigarette lighter at all times.
Who knew that emergency would come the very first week I had it? I drove solo to church that Wednesday night and drove it right into a ditch on my way home. Lovely. I did some serious damage. As an adult now, I can only imagine what my parents were thinking. They just spent all that money getting me a car and I wrecked it the first week. But, proving that I have the best parents in the world, they didn't do anything but assure me that everything would be ok.
My Cavalier was the car that just kept going and going. My brother wrecked it a few years later. It again got fixed and I kept loving it.
I had that car for 10 years. It took me through high school, college, and the first couple of years of my "adult" job. I sold it before Jay and I got married. The air had quit working and it would have cost more to have it fixed than it was worth. I would tell you how many miles it had on it, but the digital dash quit working sometime during college. I had to watch the tachometer to get an idea of how fast I was going. That too was going to cost more than the car was worth to fix.
I tried to find a picture but came up Nil. Hopefully, my parents have one tucked away somewhere. SO! What was your first car and do you remember it fondly?
7 comments:
My first car was an blue Acura Integra, hatchback, also with the pop up leaking sunroof. I loved that car! I do have lots of fun memories of the cavalier-like how the dashboard shook when you drove over a certain speed, also remember the personalized airbrush tag that I got you for your b'day one year (I will go ahead and apologize for that now). ha ha ha
A 1984 Honda Prelude and I thought it was the best thing next to John Stamos, ha! I loved that car, but, like yours, repairs quickly outweighed the worth of the vehicle (at least in terms of fair market value to another willing buyer). It had over 120,000 miles when I got it but I LOVED IT - still wish I had it to this day (and, unfortunately I, too had a bag phone and got to use it that first year when I flat out ran into another car). Too funny!
I bought my first car for $1 from my extremely generous cousin. It was a 1985 BMW 325E. It had a sunroof and purple tint... which I immediately stripped off! It was a 5 speed, so I had to learn how to drive it. I loved that car! I managed to rear end someone about a year and a half later and totaled it! Luckily my dad knew a good mechanic and body guy, so he got it fixed for me. It was a good car but BMW's are way too expensive to keep up, the parts are so rediculuously over priced, it always cost us a fortune every time something broke. Thank goodness I only paid a dollar for it!
My first car was a Mercury Lynx that I had to share with my sister. I paid the car payment, she paid the insurance. How insane was that??? I was much older when I even got my license, 20! But growing up in NYC you really could get around without a car. Great memories!
My first car was a Mercury Lynx that I had to share with my sister. I paid the car payment, she paid the insurance. How insane was that??? I was much older when I even got my license, 20! But growing up in NYC you really could get around without a car. Great memories!
A 1983 Buick Regal (burgandy with burgandy interior). Oh my, it was sweet! Loved it. Still wish I had it. So many memories in that car. Driving the Fine Girls to school, going with you to the airport, taking me to work at Food World. I miss that car. And your Cavalier was awesome!
Oh man... what a story!!
I had a 1974 toyota celica that was older than I was... it was navy blue, a stick shift, and I loved it. I made out with my boyfriend in it daily. (he's my husband now)
My dad named it Clovis. No idea why... it lasted about six months and then it went to Toyota Celica heaven.
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