Show us your vehicles

[Shimmy Sally]

I think I'm in love

We seem to have lost the pic of my first car, so here it is again.

I could fit so many people in that thing!

 

[Mr. K.L.Bowers]

First car

Sally,
Mine was a VW beetle. Could still get 7 + in it. I operated clutch , gas & drove and someone else shifted for me. Did not work well, but who cared!
KB

 

[Shimmy Sally]

Sally,Mine was a VW beetle. Could still get 7 + in it. I operated clutch , gas & drove and someone else shifted for me. Did not work well, but who cared!KB

You never forget your first. You spend to much time pushing it to forget.

 

[MrNewportCustom]

My Clown Car!

You never forget your first. You spend to much time pushing it to forget.

That's for sure!

My first car was comical, to say the least. It was a '77 Toyota Corolla Liftback SR-5 ("SR-5", I learned, wasn't as special as I'd originally thought: it simply meant it was a five-speed.) Shortly after buying it, a friend and co-worker asked to see the car. While showing it to him, I opened the glovebox to reveal the mid-price-range stereo and equalizer. He asked how much and I told him three hundred. He said he could've gotten me a better deal on a stereo. I explained that the price included the car. He gave me a one-time-only nickname I'd rather not repeat here.

It had no paint to speak of - factory-applied pin-stripes aside, the silver paint looked like primer. It had no grille and the front bumper was held in place with two bolts and a chain - the same chain that locked the hood - giving it a rather crooked smile. (On a rainy day, a small tree and I had a minor disagreement in the center island upon which it resided.) After that tree had jumped into my path, the power steering pully rubbed on the frame. I silenced that by installing a new belt. I won in the end, though: the city later removed the no-longer-perfectly-vertical tree.

The rear taillights were replaced with Vato Zone special bullet-style lenses, and to open the hatchback I had to push down on the lock and pull up on the hatch, and turn the key all at the same time! Figure that out! (At a very-recently-turned-green traffic light (to him), the former owner and a drunk driver had a major disagreement.)

A faint white tooth mark ran most of the length of the passenger-door window to a small dent in the B-pillar, caused by the nose of a doberman who had tried to jump into the car while it was in motion (there was also a dent in the door from his knees.) And to roll up the driver-side window, I had to open the door, grab the glass with both hands, and pull it up manually. (I once did this while on the freeway - scared the heck out of my date!)

Oh yeah! The push-starting part: The starter was bad - naturally. As far as I know, I'm the only person in the world who could push-start his car in less than six inches, in reverse. When the starter relay was having delusions of insignificance, I'd put the five-speed in reverse, open the door, push backward with my left foot, and pop the clutch with my right while turning the key. I had to do that every third or fourth time I wanted to go somewhere.

This car had me multi-tasking long before the term was invented.

It once carried a 150 pound dry-mount press in the back for three weeks, nicely lowering the rear about an inch. It took me that long to rest up from putting it in there!

It once hit a fork in the road . . . literally! The fork in question had, apparently, fallen off a truck that was hauling a forklift. A few other people were changing blown tires. I was lucky to have only lost the two center hubcaps on the right side.

After about seven years of . . . interesting ownership, the radiator spontaneously decided it needed an auxiliary drain petcock, minus the means to stop the flow, so I gave the car away. The guy installed a new starter and drove it home to fix up for his girlfriend. I can almost verify that it had 314,000 miles at the time that I disowned it.

And in all that time, until the radiator began spitting up, it only left me stranded once - a small heater hose had burst. I replaced it on the road, topped up the radiator, and drove home.

I sometimes miss that car.

Mine had a black interior.



Lee
______________________

I sometimes wonder if the car became a strain on that guy's relationship.

 

[benstephens]

That is a lovely looking car Mr K L Bowers you must be rightly proud of it. I think I have posted a picture of mine before, but I can not remember which ones, so here is a picture of the three of them.

1943 Ford GPW. Used by the Canadian Army as a stretcher jeep. There are some photographs of it in France in 1944, I think one is in the Memorial de Caen.

1938 Hillman Minx

A small 10hp car, and sorry a very small picture at the moment, I will try and find another.

1935 Riley Kestrel

(I think I posted this one before?) I have some better photographs coming of this car.

Kindest Regards

Ben

 

[Smithy]

Beautiful Riley Ben. I remember seeing it in another post when you were about to buy it.

I wouldn't say no to a Riley Roadster either...

 

[benstephens]

A friend of of mine has a Gamecock, which is very nice. I considered a Riley Lynx, but decided that I wanted a Saloon, and I love the lines of the Kestrel.

They are good cars, and fast for the period as well.

Ben

 

[Shimmy Sally]

That's for sure! My first car was comical, to say the least. Lee

That's quite the story. My first car gave me less trouble than my current one. I had this one for 7-9 years before it needed work, so that's not bad. Now I have to use a bamboo stick to trip the lever to get it out of park. I don't know anyone who can fix that and the shop gave me a rather high quote, so I'll just keep poking it.

 

[Mr. K.L.Bowers]

GPWs

Benstephens,

NICE GPW! I was considering a Jeep first until I decided I was too old to do the GI impression accurately. I have a friend with a Willy’s M38 that he bought for a song. He also has an early CJ basket case. His plan is to semi-restore the M38, sell it and get a WW II era Jeep.
I have always liked the British cars from the pre-war era. There was a 39 Rover parked near our area at Reading this year all weekend, unlocked. So we all had our photos taken in it.
K.B.

 

[NicolettaRose]

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/ind...e&friendID=48213342&albumID=0&imageID=1541801

Here is me and my baby, not vintage alas Please don't mind the tiara, that was my friends idea when I said I wanted a pic with my car haha

 

[KittyT]

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/ind...e&friendID=48213342&albumID=0&imageID=1541801

Here is me and my baby, not vintage alas Please don't mind the tiara, that was my friends idea when I said I wanted a pic with my car haha

Isn't this a repeat of something you've already posted to this thread?

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showpost.php?p=349621&postcount=254

 

[NicolettaRose]

Yes, but they told me to post it in this thread, so I did. Are you following me around looking at all my posts today, kitty? lol.

 

[KittyT]

Yes, but they told me to post it in this thread, so I did.

No, the threads were merged and your original post became a part of this thread.

 

[NicolettaRose]

Well I didn't know that....I don't spend enough time on here to look at each thread in complete detail..

 

[KilroyCD]

1936 Elgin

Here's one of my vintage bikes, a 1936 Elgin.

 

[KilroyCD]

1936 Elgin

I seem to be having trouble getting images to post. Let's try again...

Success!

 

[CharlieH.]

Gorgeous ride Kilroy!
I've always fancied a red prewar bike myself...

 

[MrNewportCustom]

Beautiful Kilroy! Very nice! I love these old bikes. Here's the one I want. . . .

1947 Monarch Silver King.

I know where to get one just like this one that's in good, restorable condition; I just don't have the means right now. (Note the hexagonal top, down and seat tubes. )


Lee

 

[KilroyCD]

1941 Columbia Superb (reissue)

Here's one from my collection that is actually a reissue. Columbia resumed limited series production (to run to 1500 units, but they never reached it) of this bike, the 1941 Superb, for their 125th anniversary in 2002. This is serial number 102, and is unridden. In essence, it's a brand new 1941 bicycle.

 

[KilroyCD]

By the way Lee, the Hex-Tube Monark is a beautiful bike. I'd like to get one too.