Well it was the first car I owned and it inspired me, but not the way you might think. I purchased my Mom's '68 Buick Special. It has a 350 2barrel. It got out of it's own way, but was no muscle car. Once I was merging onto a freeway when these two guys in an AMX, on this same on-ramp behind me, pull up to my rear bumper. I floored it thinking... well I don't know what I was thinking. They punched it and drove around me laughing. Ever since then I've always owned cars with some muscle.

 

Starters

I always liked cuttlas's an my first was a 77 or a 76, and burned up a few motors starting out then a few more (learning) by then i was more into chevys by then 10 yrs ago a friend totaled my GMC and he had a 70 chevelle, an no money,so i gave 1500, and ive worked all my other projects but it till about 2 yrs ago. I'll have some pics soon.

 

It wasn't any car I owned, it was cars I wanted to own that inspired me. I spent hours reading Hot Rod magazine and dreaming of a 70-1/2 Camaro Z/28 split bumper. I had all the parts from the JC Whitney catalog lined out in a shopping list.

My first road legal car was a 73 Mecury Capri. I painted and detailed the engine and put a Thrush glass pack and had a chome air cleaner on it. All before I was old enough to drive.

 

Mine was a '72 Buick Skylark -- 4 door in Olive green ! I got it for 400 bucks back in '89 . It had a Buick wide block 350 and w/ a Q-jet 4bbl and was still 100% stock . I left many a mustang in my rear-view mirror leaving red lights . That thing would stay in first gear until 55-60 mph and would get there QUICK ! my brother couldn't beleive it till he borrowed it one night to go to the store . I told him ,"be careful leaving stop signs/redlights " as it would break traction at the mere thought of pressing the gas pedal. well, he came home to tell me" you need wider tires" which started the whole restoration process.
I'll post pics when I get home today .

Great thread. I'm not even awake yet , and I'm already nostalgic.

 

I got my first car for $50.00 when I was 14. It was a 1962 chevy impala 4dr with 90,000 miles,283 2bbl auto .I had alot of fun in this car especially in the back seat.I hsd to do some minor repairs,brakes u joints tune up ETC.I coulld'nt put it on the road till I was 15 so I had 6 months to get it ready.I was lucky to have an old mechanic shop 2 miles from home,so I would ride my bike there and tell him my problem and he would tell me what to do.So back and forth until I got it ready.Then fun,fun,fun.From then on I was hooked.My second was a 1960 2dr brookwood station wagon 6cyl 3 on the tree jacked up in the rear to clear L60-15 tires on 69 chevelle wheels.Then my first real hot rod that I built from the ground up,1955 chevy 2dr hardtop sport coupe belair With 283 3 deuces hot cam 4 speed 4.11 posi ladder bars and cragar SS with bigs and littles and a homemade all steel tilt front,man what a ride.

 

1966 volkswagon beetle
no second gear (got it for free)
fixed it and since then it had the best reliability of all the cars i owned.

 

for me it was a 56 Chevy with a Pontiac power plant, it's name was "The Halfbreed", that was 65. And if you will remember that was GTO days so 389 3x2 was a fairly nice set up to go midnight drag racing, second car was a 31 ford coupe with a short wheel base, it matched front and rear axle centers of the VW, was a hemi firepower power motor (early 318 I think), it was even in a move called "The Birds Do it" staring Soupy Sales, sold that went into the Navy, only to loose a war run by the politicians...

 

I'm like Arrowhead. I was inspired in this hobby by other people's cars long before I could even drive one. But as soon as I could I started down the road to hot rod hel1 with these:

My first street legal vehicle, a Jawa 125 - "customized" with JC Whitney decal type pin stripes. I was 13 in this shot.

At 15 I moved up to a real car, a 55 Plymouth V8 with auto. Highly "customized" (in my mind at least) with a bright red paint job, red rims, and wide whites. This picture is from 1960 - you can just barely make out the eagle beak hair cut.

This was the one that really got me hooked on building my own hot rods. Got it when I was 16 and it STILL might be my favorite. 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 with 312 Thunderbird and auto. Had it painted Honduras Maroon, rolled and pleated upholstery, chopped the front coils, put in a tube grill, and had the greatest set of Hollywood mufflers me ears have ever heard. (Sorry for the lack of color photos...this was still the dark ages of photography.)

And this was the first racing beast I built which inspired me later to go into drag racing altereds after I got out of college. It's a 1952 Ford with a 331 Hemi. Pretty crude by todays standards with the hand lettering and spray can paint, but at the time (1963) it was considered a pretty healthy street machine. This is a rare shot with the hood on. Normally I ran it on the street with no hood - to let 'em see the Hemi.

 

1951 Chevrolet Fleetline Deluxe 4dr.. I had seen the car sitting beside the road with a for sale sign in the window for about 4 years, always told myself and my mom, I was going to restore that car. she never beleived me. then just b4 I turned 16, I handed over $800 and had it hauled home, a week later I had it running. I'v been working on it ever since. Factory 235/ Powerglide, actully rare in a Fleetline.

 

My cousin is the guy who built the "Chevado" Wheelstander (Gary Kleckner)-I remember as a small kid riding in his '54 Chevy street car (the car before Chevado), and how cool it was (I still have an original wheelstand Photo-a glossy from Hot Rod Magazine, still in the Hot Rod envelope) of the first magazine shoot of Chevado-

I was also inspired by a friend of my older Brother-he had a '55 Chevy that was named "Fat Chance"-it had a 283 bored to a 292 and a lumpy cam(sounded cool!) with a 4 speed-for the day it was pretty fast-that inspired me to get my first Car-a '55 Chevy two door sedan, followed by a '57 two door sedan-wish I still had 'em!

 

My First car. 1968 Firebird
Circa 1976 and today. Same car.

 

I went to the used car lot one day just after I turned 16 to see what they had. I was bored of my 76 F250 with a 390 big block 4x4, and I wanted a hot rod. they had a 89 Gt mustang with the 5.0 in it, 5 speed, and it had the whole GT40 engine in it from the 93 Cobra. I took it for a spin and it was the most fun I ever had. The dealer was so busy he just handed the keys to me and told me "let er rip, kid". Mom and dad wouldnt cosign for me, so i had to let it slip through my fingers. that thing would light em up in second when you dropped the hammer. I still have a soft spot for a FOX mustang, Maroon with metal flake, Cobra R rims and decent exhaust.

 

My first car was the truck that I still own. Got it in 73 when I was 15, this picture is the first day (or so) that I drove it to school in 77. I can't wait to get it back on the road in a similar fashion with the straight six, a three speed and no power anything!

Brian

 

My first car had no influence on where I am now, but it was a first step in learning how to work on cars. I got her in '79. It was a '73 Pontiac Lemans. 2 DR, 350 with the 2 bbl., nothing special except that I got it from the proverbial "little old lady". Her son was selling it because she was too old to drive. Low miles and very well maintained, mint condition. It was dark green with a white interior. I added 5 spoke cragers and dualed it out and cruised it till I got a '66 Mustang. That old Pontiac wasn't fast, but it seated 6 and was a nice cruiser.

 

Here's mine 64 409 SS...35 years later I still have it.

 

Here's mine 64 409 SS...35 years later I still have it.

Awesome. It's cool you held onto her. Must have a ton of stories.

 

In 1989 when I was 18 and still in high school, my friend and I were on a spare and driving around the neighbourhood. He had a '65 Impala that I loved. That was one of my favorite cars even before he got his. We drove past a used car dealer and we noticed a 65 SS for sale. They were asking $6800. 327 4-speed.

I took it for a test drive and was sick for it, but I just didn't have the money. It stayed on the lot for a while and eventually got vandalized. Not too badly though. Some interior trim, the speedo and tach lenses, and stolen hubcaps.

My dad and I went down one day. He talked him down to $2800. The dealer wanted it gone before it suffered any more.

I paid for it with some of the money I made working at the gas station since I was 16. First thing I did was get a new paint job.

I still have it. Here are some pics of it. The pics are about 4 years old. It needs new paint. Next restoration, it will stay garaged.

Oh yeah, you may recognize the first pic as the source of my avatar

 

Awesome. It's cool you held onto her. Must have a ton of stories.

Yes...here's the deal my grandparents raised me from the age of 3. I remember the day they went to the dealer and ordered it and the day the salesman delivered it to our house. Grandpa died in 1972 and he willed it to me. I was in 7th grade and the car had 28,000 miles on the clock. I drove it through high school and then stopped driving it in 1977. Today it has 66,000 miles.

 

My first car was the truck that I still own. Got it in 73 when I was 15, this picture is the first day (or so) that I drove it to school in 77. I can't wait to get it back on the road in a similar fashion with the straight six, a three speed and no power anything!

Brian

I remember those pictures you posted of you as a teenager chopping that truck. You had a lot of talent at a young age. Totally admirable. Nice job Brian.

 

Mine did not start with a car. When I was 12 (I had to paper routes after school) I ended up repairing some bycicles for a lady and she gave me one in trade. That started my bicycle repair shop in my dads shed. :welcome:

Then at 14 I bought my first car.

That was when I started buying slightly better tools (craftsman) and learning to work on them. No choice...it needed work to keep it on the road.

1970 Buick GS Stage 1 (455, 4 speed, ect.)

I learned a lot in the few years I kept it. Ever since then I have worked on whatever came along that was broken.

I don't really classify as a hotrodder I guess. I can't afford it.

 

wow the 409 and martinsr truck great to see you kept them all those years.

onley wish i still had mine tryed to find another but the prices were to high or the cars were just in to bad of shape stopped trying when i found the charger.

BILL

 

Had a 70 Chevelle SS396 that I dropped a 454 LS6 into...............but my 1st total rebuild was my 55 Chevy 150.

 

I was inspired long, long before I could drive. When I was a kid my dad and uncles were heavily into stock car and drag racing, they had a repair shop where they built their cars, I loved hanging out there every chance I could.
My first car was a 69 Impala 2 dr sport coupe, 327 TH 350
Regrettably, I was never one to take pictures of the cars I've owned. I have a very few that were pics of something else that my car would be in the background. Like may others here there are several that I would love to have today, most notably were a 70 GS Stage 1 and a 72 Elcamino SS 454.

 

1940 Chebby Master Deluxe 2dr sedan -- 1953
1948 Chebby Fleetline 2dr Aerosedan ----Now

I also have a 2003 F-150 and a 1995 Sable

Al

 

74 Camaro 350 had it 2 weeks before it was t-boned. Then I got a 73 Chevelle and drove it for most of the winter.
I have always loved the sound of a SBC, so much so that I put one in my current car, an 86 Pontiac fiero.

I figure I have waisted well over $100000 worth of cars before I turned 21. If I would have taken care of them and restored them they are all bringing top price now that you cant find them. ain: