What was your first car?

[J Alynn]

1977 Scout travelall with optional semi-solid rear floor panel
Pale yellow, white top and the wood grain vinyl panel appliqués. As a 16 year old I did a lot of dumb things in that car, had all 4 wheels in the air multiple times and that 345 block engine was amazing. I came up once on rt 283 from Harrisburg to Lancaster and flew up on an early 80’s Porsche 911 and stuck with the guy for about 3 miles (foot and pedal to the floor-as rusted as the floor pan was I’m surprised my foot didn’t go through). Scout speedometer was pegged. We finally exited and as I passed he stuck his arm out and gave me a huge thumbs up. I guess it made both our days. .

 

[JAngley]

A 1985 Mercedes 190e. I spent weekends working at my cousins pizzeria to buy this baby and for some reason Mercedes was the car I wanted for my first car. Too much Lil Wayne and 50 cent I suppose lol but honestly this was a great car and I still want another 190e to make an Evo II clone out of but that’s a “one day” topic.

 

[J Alynn]

A 1985 Mercedes 190e. I spent weekends working at my cousins pizzeria to buy this baby and for some reason Mercedes was the car I wanted for my first car. Too much Lil Wayne and 50 cent I suppose lol but honestly this was a great car and I still want another 190e to make an Evo II clone out of but that’s a “one day” topic. View attachment 9263

Such an iconic Mercedes. Never appreciated them “then” but love seeing them now

 

[JAngley]

Such an iconic Mercedes. Never appreciated them “then” but love seeing them now

It really rode nice, had a ton of features that were crazy back then and was a great first car cause it didn’t have enough power to get me into trouble.

 

[dreamweaver]

It really rode nice, had a ton of features that were crazy back then and was a great first car cause it didn’t have enough power to get me into trouble.

Ya my first car only had 100 HP. Still a blast.

 

[JAngley]

Ya my first car only had 100 HP. Still a blast.

Exactly! Good times driving all over with that thing. It’s funny when people see a Mercedes they assume man this guys got some money.. Boy were they wrong lol I could barely keep that on the road and it taught me some mechanical knowledge from that poor that can only be had by buying more car than you can afford to fix.. I didn’t learn though cause the next car was a Mercedes C43 AMG, and boy did that thing have enough power to get me into trouble and it absolutely did…

 

[dreamweaver]

Exactly! Good times driving all over with that thing. It’s funny when people see a Mercedes they assume man this guys got some money.. Boy were they wrong lol I could barely keep that on the road and it taught me some mechanical knowledge from that poor that can only be had by buying more car than you can afford to fix.. I didn’t learn though cause the next car was a Mercedes C43 AMG, and boy did that thing have enough power to get me into trouble and it absolutely did…

My vehicle that followed my 100 hp convertible was a 1970 Camaro Super Sport 396 ci 375 hp. That one got me into street racing on Woodward and Telegraph in Detroit. Fortunately I was able to get out in one peace.

 

[JAngley]

My vehicle that followed my 100 hp convertible was a 1970 Camaro Super Sport 396 ci 375 hp. That one got me into street racing on Woodward and Telegraph in Detroit. Fortunately I was able to get out in one peace.

Ahh to be young and dumb again

 

[cyure]

Ahh to be young and dumb again

Honestly. My brother borrowed my Camaro and told me he went 120 in it, I said well I went 130. We are lucky we didn’t kill ourselves in that thing

 

[JAngley]

Honestly. My brother borrowed my Camaro and told me he went 120 in it, I said well I went 130. We are lucky we didn’t kill ourselves in that thing

155 Was the fastest I went, boy was that dumb

 

[cyure]

155 Was the fastest I went, boy was that dumb

Our Supra is limited to 155 from the factory. We have gotten it up to 110 briefly. I couldn’t imagine 155.

 

[nolen]

I’ve gotten the flex up to 100 but it wasn’t thrilled about it. Seems like 90-95 is about the most it’s comfortable with (at least with the condition of the roads I’m on)

 

[MaddMatt]

Fun stories - I'm always surprised that there are a lot of people who aren't even sure what brand of car they are driving, and then there's people like us. I don't feel old until I start reading "back in the day" stories from people who are actually young...

My 1st was a 1977 Scout SSII - my dad ordered it new, SSII trim but 4cyl and no graphics. Great really dark green color that looked black until you got really close. I learned to drive in that truck when I was about 13 or 14, as one of my chores was wood - we heated with wood and needed 7 cords in the shed behind the house before October. Great way to learn clutch control, and the smell of 2 stroke exhaust and sawdust always makes me sentimental this time of year.

So I drove that thing full of cut and split wood (which we had often dragged in using the same Scout) from the driveway, (where we cut and split) across the yard and backed it down the hill to get behind the house multiple times a day after school - not sure how those of us in the Gen-X survived anything - chain saw, axes, and truck all being operated by a 14 year old with no adult in sight, and this was "expected" behavior, not just "allowed."

I turned 16 in 1985 and started driving it to school - by then my dad had replaced the soft top and doors with hard versions (one orange and one white, but we rattled canned them more or less greenish) as his hour long commute into the city got pretty old in the winter, those cool SSII doors didn't do much to keep wind, rain or snow out. I put a rock through the driver's door window with the snowblower, but luckily we had some plexiglass laying around from another project, so I just cut a piece to fit and had a plexiglass window.

Tried to teach myself bondo to get ahead of the rear quarter panels (remember this was long before we had all the knowledge of the universe in our pockets) - did pretty good on one side, not so good on the other.

The alternator bracket broke, and got welded back together, so many times we finally gave up and suspended the alternator with bailing wire - I had a whole process when I noticed the charge dropping - pull over, keep the engine running so you could see the tension on the belt, twist the bailing wire with a screw driver until the belt looked tight and straight again, check the gauge and go on with your day - no problem.

So many more memories in that truck, but my head was turned by something pretty about a year later, and I traded it on a '79RX7 - got $300 trade in but the car was only $2k, so I made it work.

And here we are, with a deposit waiting on my new Scout. My first car, and if the new ones are as good as I hope I'll get 5-10 years out of this next one, trade it on a newer Scout at that time, and it will likely be my last. Pretty good bookends to a life time of driving.....

 

[Tuff66]

A 1966 Scout 800 in the original blue

Mine too! (I'll post later...stay tuned.)

Photos! I wanna see photos!!!

 

[Tuff66]

My 1st was a 1977 Scout SSII

So cool! They were classic trucks in their day (and even still today). If you have any info on that Scout, be sure to "register" it on Supers Scout Registry.

 

[Tuff66]

Every mile with her is an experience.

Love that statement!

That's a beautiful truck!

 

[Tuff66]

My uncle owned a foreign vehicles junkyard; parts store and used vehicle lot. When I got my license, my father told me that we were going to go see my uncle for a surprise. The following day we went to see my uncle. When we arrived, he was busy with a customer so we walked around the yard looking at all the cool cars he had collected over the years. After quite a while uncle finally came out to talk with us about this car he had just acquired from and older couple. He said the car had been in a garage with a tarp over it almost from new and asked if I would like to take a look. I must say I was quite intrigued by the way my father and uncle were acting, like there was some inside joke I knew nothing about. I didn’t know what to think. Uncle lead us into one of his garage bays where a vehicle was under a tarp and he told me to uncover it. When I pulled off the tarp, I couldn’t believe what I was looking at. A pristine British racing green 1964 TR4A with a white convertible top and black leather interior. We spent the next hour or so going over how the top went up and down, what kind of gas to use how to change the oil and went over the tools he thought I would need that he had put in the trunk. At this point I am getting nervous because I had been saving for a car but didn’t have a lot saved at this point. So, I asked what he was asking for the car. Uncle says your father said you have been working hard and saving money for a car, how much you got! I told him I only had saved $800. He threw me the keys and said Sold. As I drove it home with borrowed dealer plates, as I was driving home I looked down at the odometer to see it had only, you guessed it 800 miles on it. Man, I miss that car.

Incredible story. Very cool!

 

[Mousehunter]

While not really mine, I learned to drive before I got my license with a chopped down VW dune buggie. Also learned a lot about repairs with it...

 

[J Alynn]

Fun stories - I'm always surprised that there are a lot of people who aren't even sure what brand of car they are driving, and then there's people like us. I don't feel old until I start reading "back in the day" stories from people who are actually young...

My 1st was a 1977 Scout SSII - my dad ordered it new, SSII trim but 4cyl and no graphics. Great really dark green color that looked black until you got really close. I learned to drive in that truck when I was about 13 or 14, as one of my chores was wood - we heated with wood and needed 7 cords in the shed behind the house before October. Great way to learn clutch control, and the smell of 2 stroke exhaust and sawdust always makes me sentimental this time of year.

So I drove that thing full of cut and split wood (which we had often dragged in using the same Scout) from the driveway, (where we cut and split) across the yard and backed it down the hill to get behind the house multiple times a day after school - not sure how those of us in the Gen-X survived anything - chain saw, axes, and truck all being operated by a 14 year old with no adult in sight, and this was "expected" behavior, not just "allowed."

I turned 16 in 1985 and started driving it to school - by then my dad had replaced the soft top and doors with hard versions (one orange and one white, but we rattled canned them more or less greenish) as his hour long commute into the city got pretty old in the winter, those cool SSII doors didn't do much to keep wind, rain or snow out. I put a rock through the driver's door window with the snowblower, but luckily we had some plexiglass laying around from another project, so I just cut a piece to fit and had a plexiglass window.

Tried to teach myself bondo to get ahead of the rear quarter panels (remember this was long before we had all the knowledge of the universe in our pockets) - did pretty good on one side, not so good on the other.

The alternator bracket broke, and got welded back together, so many times we finally gave up and suspended the alternator with bailing wire - I had a whole process when I noticed the charge dropping - pull over, keep the engine running so you could see the tension on the belt, twist the bailing wire with a screw driver until the belt looked tight and straight again, check the gauge and go on with your day - no problem.

So many more memories in that truck, but my head was turned by something pretty about a year later, and I traded it on a '79RX7 - got $300 trade in but the car was only $2k, so I made it work.

And here we are, with a deposit waiting on my new Scout. My first car, and if the new ones are as good as I hope I'll get 5-10 years out of this next one, trade it on a newer Scout at that time, and it will likely be my last. Pretty good bookends to a life time of driving.....

I learned how to bonfire exact same way

 

[dreamweaver]

While not really mine, I learned to drive before I got my license with a chopped down VW dune buggie. Also learned a lot about repairs with it...

I had to laugh when I saw this I learned to drive in an old VW bug, engine and front suspension exposed roof chop totally off no windscreen. My friends and I had a blast driving around many acres of old farm land. That thing took a lick'n and kept on tick'n. After years of abuse still running we left it at the bottom of a gravel pit on the property. Years later there was just a few scraps of the carcass left. Thanks for triggering a trip down memory lane.