PT_SHO
New Reader
12/30/23 7:00 p.m.
Almost certain I came home in their '47 Ford convertible. Same car I learned to drive in, in the early '70's, when it was worth almost nothing. Gonna post in a picture of an almost identical one that I took at a Good Guys, though ours was repainted very dark green and had light convertible top and stock wheels. Car was a wedding present to my mother from her parents.
Car was dailied until around 1980. Dad was going to restore it after he retired as it was going up in value by then but hurt his back and couldn't finish it. It finally got sold off maybe around 2005, I wasn't going to take half of a year off of my job to do it after Dad passed.
In reply to calteg :
So .... 80s 5 series was an absolute tank? Because never changing the oil and making it until you were 4 or 5 seems like an accomplishment to me!
KentF
Reader
12/30/23 8:52 p.m.
'57 Ford Fairlane two tone cream and orange like this one. I was 1 year old when they got it. On long trips dad took the rear seat back off and laid it in the trunk so my sisters and I could sleep. Later he installed lap belts from an airplane (did not come with them). We called it 'Ol Orangy.
I was born in 55, my dad had a 53 Dodge Red Ram. The two things that I know about it are that he sold it because he bent a push rod, and that he raced a Cadillac down a mountain in it, resulting in the Cadillac blowing up.
We left AZ a few months later, moved to FL in a 50 Plymouth.
In reply to Russian Warship, Go Berkeley Yourself :
I forgot your dad was a racer. I'd love to read the history in a thread or maybe I already read a history thread on him. Looks familiar.
Having south side Chicago roots I'd love to read about it. Or maybe I already did? I'm not the brightest bulb in the box.
'61 or '62 Austin Mini. Dad was in the AF, stationed in Bermuda. The car was rusted and was supposed to be dumped in the ocean, so he did a quick bondo repair and repainted it with orange safety paint from the shop so it would pass inspection.
I still question it, but apparently when my grandparents and aunt and uncle came to visit, they all piled in that Mini to get around the island. Dad was 5'11", Uncle was 6' and Grampa was 6'2". 6 adults and an infant in a Mini. Thank goodness the island is small......
-Rob
Drive? Hah, hah, haaaaa....
They walked or took the bus.
Mom had a 53 Chevrolet Bel Aire 2 door hard top she bought with her savings from being a Bell Telephone operator supervisor before she married my dad. I think I remember seeing pictures of it being cream (white?) over pale green. Like this
It didn't stay around much after I was born - dad was a Ford guy, so the Chevy had to go.
After the Ford, dad got upset with the $.32 / gallon gas and bought a Morris Minor. When that was too small for the family, he moved up to a Hillman Minx like this one.
Then there was a 1956 DeSoto with a FireDome V8. Wow
Sonic
UberDork
12/31/23 11:01 a.m.
I was born in 79, my parents two cars then were a 75 Mercedes 450SL and a 75 Chevy conversion van.
Shortly after the SL was traded in for a new 300SD turbo sedan.
kb58
UltraDork
12/31/23 11:07 a.m.
A 1950's Chevy Bel Air... dang I feel old.
1967 Pontiac GTO: Posi, four speed, dog dish hubcaps.
I recently saw the super 8 movie of the occasion. :)
David S. Wallens said:
1967 Pontiac GTO: Posi, four speed, dog dish hubcaps.
I recently saw the super 8 movie of the occasion. :)
I've seen it three times, never would watch a super 8 of it.
Tk8398
HalfDork
1/1/24 2:34 a.m.
1976 Bronco (Midnight Blue) and yellow/black 914 limited edition.
Pretty sure I came home from the hospital in a borrowed car, earliest car I remember was an Austin A40. I do know that Zoo came home in a 1969 Austin Cooper S, which explains a lot.
Sounds like there were lots of cool dads back in the day.
Duke
MegaDork
1/1/24 11:17 a.m.
'65 Catalina wagon. 389. Like this but with a black vinyl top:
I came into the world late summer, 1983, and at the time Mom was driving a 1972 Buick Skylark 2 door, black vinyl top, 350 2bbl with auto. Looked about like this one...
I came home from the hospital in the Buick.
Dad had a '76 F250, about like this one...
360 FE, C6 auto, got 8 mpg no matter what. I think he also may have had a 69 Malibu with I think a 307 at the time, but I'd have to ask him.
When my brother came along 2 years later, the Skylark needed a lot and was pretty rusty, so Dad picked up a 1983 Mercury Zephyr station wagon with a 302 (that made a whopping 140 horses, ha ha).
I was born in '82 and my parents had a Rambler. Not sure what year. What even is a Rambler?!
I was born December of 46. My father decided to farm after WWII. He started farming using horses. He was strictly a Ford man so the car was probably a Ford sedan from the late 30s. I have memories of riding in it, not the exterior. A new Ford 2 dr sedan with a flathead V8 & 3 on the tree was purchased in 53. The car was so low it struggled on unplowed winter and muddy spring roads. A 28 Ford Model A was purchased to be used during those those seasons. This was the first car that I turned wrenches on and drove. A career in the automotive industry and almost 100 cars followed. I still perform preventive maintenance on my Miata and daily drivers.
I came home in a 1951-ish Ford Consul. It was my aunt's car, which my Dad had borrowed because a drunk had punted his stopped 1950 Hudson Pacemaker across a level crossing in downtown Toronto. The guy driving the approaching train saw what was going to happen and slowed down just enough to ensure that I arrived a few days later without further incident but while the Hudson was still in the shop.
We kept the Hudson until about 1960. After a brief interlude with a 1958 Ambassador that had a honking V8 and 3-speed manual plus overdrive, my Dad bought his first new car, a 1962 Rambler Classic, which eventually was the first family car I drove.
My first road trip (as a 1-year-old) was in an early-70s Audi going from Rhode Island to Seattle (while towing a boat). On the way back 3 years later (as a 4-year old) I rode back from Seattle to Virginia in the passenger seat of a 1970 Triumph GT6 (which I owned 20 years later), with my mom driving. Dad drove the Audi (with the boat towing) with my 2-year old little brother in that car.
JimS
Reader
1/2/24 1:51 a.m.
Born in January 1944. I have no idea how I got home since parents had no car at that time and I never asked. First family car I remember is a 50 Ford coupe, flathead, three on the tree.
My brother came home in one of these in 72, except with the red dot hub caps. In 74 it may have been this or a E36 M3ty 65 mustang or a pinto.
Obviously too young to remember, but probably the 1953 Studebaker Commander that I first had a memory of.
I'll have to find the pictures, but I was driven home from the hospital in a 1964 Pontiac GTO. 389, tri-power, 4-speed, no power steering, red with black vinyl top. Dad's race car at that time was an Austin Healey Bugeye Sprite which competed in one of the small-bore production classes(HP?).