What you *thought* your first car might be

[JHS]

Yes, Brigitte loved her Renault Dauphine too

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The car has aged better than she has. But will we ever see a 90 year old Dauphin?

 

[MrGreedy]

Sorry to be a kill joy, and I haven't read through all of this, but just a reminder that often one of the secret security questions or account recovery questions these days is make/model of first car. Don't post anything you don't want AI webscrapers having access to.

 

[ALFAitalia]

Wow.....your life must be fun if all you you have to do is worry about stuff like that!!! You will be telling posters to make sure they tell their insurance about the first car they thought they might have next as it might affect their premium!!!

 

[Bellow]

Sorry to be a kill joy, and I haven't read through all of this, but just a reminder that often one of the secret security questions or account recovery questions these days is make/model of first car. Don't post anything you don't want AI webscrapers having access to.

You worry too much.
Now, where were we? Ah, first car. My first car was a XXXX XXXXX and I used to take my mum out in it after her divorce when she resorted back to he maiden name Xxxxx and we used to take our first family pet XXXX with us. It was nice though to get home again to the xxxxx coloured front door, a colour I later chose for my own front door.

 

[ChrisHGTV]

Way back in the day, I managed to thumb a lift what was then a new Aston Martin DBS on my way back from school. I think that is what I wanted, but my £30 budget would only run to an early '59 Mini. That was fine as it had the early lightweight shell, but did require a new rear subframe and a new 'Clubman' front end before being road worthy. But by the age of 17, I'd already been building cars for 7 years, all be it 32nd and 24th scale slot cars....
The engine in the Mini mysteriously grew from 850 to 1293cc over the next 18 months until it was obviously quicker than I was and it met its end in a ditch not far from home...

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I had also liked the Cortina 1600E in that Aubergine colour and had sprayed the Mini in that same Ford colour.
My mate and I were on our way to see my new girlfriend at the time, but headed back home to borrow my Mum's Mini.
I think I said at the time that my car had broken down, but probably failed to mention it had broken down a small post. a small tree and ended in a ditch...
I suppose the tale has a happy ending as my mate is still just that, I have never had any collision contact with any other road vehicle since then and the girl we were going to see has been my wife for over 50 years now...

Ah minis! Actually that’s one car I always thought I’d get when I could but then I got sidetracked by Alfas! I live(d) just up the road from Avonbar who used to do a lot with minis. The ultimate I always fancied was an Avonbar 1340 with a Jack Knight Developments 5 speed box. I did buy some bucket seats from Avonbar for one of my Alfas -as close as I got.

 

[HappytalkAgain]

You worry too much.
Now, where were we? Ah, first car. My first car was a XXXX XXXXX and I used to take my mum out in it after her divorce when she resorted back to he maiden name Xxxxx and we used to take our first family pet XXXX with us. It was nice though to get home again to the xxxxx coloured front door, a colour I later chose for my own front door.

Post of the month by a mile!

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Way back in the day, I managed to thumb a lift what was then a new Aston Martin DBS on my way back from school. I think that is what I wanted, but my £30 budget would only run to an early '59 Mini. That was fine as it had the early lightweight shell, but did require a new rear subframe and a new 'Clubman' front end before being road worthy. But by the age of 17, I'd already been building cars for 7 years, all be it 32nd and 24th scale slot cars....
The engine in the Mini mysteriously grew from 850 to 1293cc over the next 18 months until it was obviously quicker than I was and it met its end in a ditch not far from home...

View attachment 163315
I had also liked the Cortina 1600E in that Aubergine colour and had sprayed the Mini in that same Ford colour.
My mate and I were on our way to see my new girlfriend at the time, but headed back home to borrow my Mum's Mini.
I think I said at the time that my car had broken down, but probably failed to mention it had broken down a small post. a small tree and ended in a ditch...
I suppose the tale has a happy ending as my mate is still just that, I have never had any collision contact with any other road vehicle since then and the girl we were going to see has been my wife for over 50 years now...

Always a great story

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Always fancied a Jag, when I was a kid. But when the time came, reality kicked in. And I got a Vauxhall Viva. And years later and the amount of different cars I've had. Never had a Jag.

Funny how these things work out

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

So my first car was a Mini Moke that I painted bright yellow (so that it stood out ???? ) :

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Great story.

That’s the trouble with the Mini Moke, they’re just a bit samey, there are so many of them - and they look so plain - they just blend into the background. Definitely need a bright colour or else you wouldn’t work out which was yours in car park

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Before the reality of having to buy, maintain, tax and insure your first car kicked in...

I don't recall dreaming about what my first car might be, rather than I had to get behind the wheel of any car.

And, so it was, that after first getting behind the wheel (aged 8 on my father's knee) I eventually "taught" myself to drive by TWOC-ing his 1952 Standard Vanguard at the age of 15.

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In 1967, the old man invested in a brand new Volvo 145. Now with a driving licence, I was given unrestricted use of it (on his insurance).

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Boy! That was a rocket ship that cornered as if on rails. I always had to return it with the same amount of fuel, and because he was a miserable git, he would note the mileage and charge me pro-rata for the servicing! I didn't appreciate it at the time, but it was an invaluable lesson about responsibility.

I didn't get around to actually owning a car until 1975 - of necessity going downmarket somewhat...

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Wow unrestricted use of a brand new Swedish passion wagon car when you’re first driving is quite something

 

[V12cat]

I knew what mine would be and at 15 years of age I bought it. A 2¼ petrol 1963 SII SWB Landrover for £600. Money that I earned at £1 per hour on our family farm. It taught me a huge amount. I changed the engine for a diesel, swapped the gearbox for a SIIA one and did a multitude of other mods.

I had a few other LR vehicles after. A 6 cylinder 109 ( that became a V8 auto) , 2 door Range Rover and a 90 to name a few. As a platform for learning they are supreme. Beyond that, they are abysmal (TBF the 2 door was hard to hate!) and have remained so ever since.

What I should have yearned for was a Mini.....

 

[Jobsworth]

Land Rover here too. My dad died when I was 15 years old, leaving a Masai red series 3 88” in the garage with a knackered clutch. I bought a Haynes manual from a jumble sale for 25p and taught myself. I took up the floor, removed the door tops, put a ladder across the closed doors and roped the gearbox to it. I learned to drive in that old wagon, and although I passed my test in a friend’s Volvo 340 the Land Pig was my first car. To be honest, I always knew it would be

 

[baxlin]

Wow unrestricted use of a brand new Swedish passion wagon car when you’re first driving is quite something

Mmm. In the 1960s, when in the RAF, I had a Moggy thousand traveller, not a bad passion wagon. But I replaced it with a Frogeye Sprite, which, while it was a real (excuse the ‘60s language) ‘babe magnet’, it didn’t have quite as much room inside as the Mog…

I lost quite a few so-called mates as well, with it only being a two-seater.

 

[AB65]

BMC mini 850 Reg # UNJ 304 (1960)
Great little car on my 17th birthday!!!

 

[Sweetooth]

Austin a35 van in blue ,it could be very tail happy!

 

[Gollom]

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Austin a35 van in blue ,it could be very tail happy!

My second car was a 4-door Austin A30

 

[StMarks]

It seems to me that this thread seems to have gone slightly off track.: As I understood it, the intention was for it to be about the car we "dreamed that we would have" -vs "what we ended up with in reality" ???

 

[Jonesy161]

I was determined that my first car would be a mk1 lotus cortina, what I actually got was a mk 1 cortina 1500 gt, absolute rot box but lots of fun.

 

[TC350]

Before buying my first car I hadn't given a single thought to what it may be. My parents never had a car and my older brothers left home before they had cars. My criteria was simply something I could afford that would keep me warmer and dryer than the motorbikes I'd been using g to get me about. My interest in cars didn't even start to blossom until I'd gone through a few, but even then I remained realistic as to what was achievable.