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My First Car: Readers share their memories

Everyone remembers their first car. Here are some of the more detailed submissions Drive has received this year from our readers. Have a story and a photo to share? E-mail it to drive@tampabay.com, and include your name, age and the city you live in.

By Scott Long, Times Staff Writer
Published December 31, 2007

 Maybe it was that rusted-out floorboard. Or that bargain-basement price. Or just simply the fun of cramming all our friends in it and cruising around town.

Whatever it is, we never forget our first car. And one thing rings true after almost a year of running the My First Car feature on the St. Petersburg Times' Drive page: Almost all of us wish we could drive that first car of ours just one more time.

Hundreds of readers have sent us their stories and their photos. And that makes it all the more a shame that we have space to run only one every week. So as we bid adieu to 2007, we invite you to turn to Page 4D and relive the automotive memories of years gone by, shared with us by many more of your friends and neighbors.

And when you're done, dig through that closet and dust off an old photo of your first ride. We'd love for you to send it to us, so we can share it with hundreds of thousands of other people.

Gas surely costs more than when you filled up for the first time, but the price of good memories has held steady - free.

'53 Chevy, David Hart, 63, Clearwater

I bought this car in 1961 for $595, just before my senior year at Dunedin High School. I added a carburetor kit, dual exhausts, rear seat speakers and soft blue lights under the dash that were a big hit at drive-in theaters, prevalent in the Clearwater area at the time. Note the chrome "beauty rings" on the black-painted wheels.

'47 Kaiser, Levi Belflower, 87, Dunnellon

Mine was one of the 100,000 advance orders made for the postwar Kaisers. I had just returned from the fighting in Europe and moved to Miami. The car was big as a tank without much decoration except for a massive chrome bumper that promptly rusted out in Miami's humidity. The company replaced it, and I drove the car until 1955, when I purchased a new sleek, chartreuse green Kaiser.

'21 Stutz miniature model, Norm Arbo, 78, New Port Richey

In 1933, I'm 4 years old and I'm teaching my older sister Evelyn to drive while she cuddles with our Eskimo Spitz pup Buster. Buster loved cars and met his demise while chasing one. Twelve years later, I taught Evelyn to drive our parents' '40 Ford.

'69 Ford Mustang, Jacqueline Brown, 54, Safety Harbor

At age 18 in 1971, I bought my very first car, a three-speed on the floor for only $1,995. For my 30th class reunion, I had the car repainted and partially restored. My Mustang has been as far north as Maine and as far west as California. I have driven close to 300,00 miles on it and still have the original engine. I've received a first kiss on Valentine's Day with a new love, taken it to the drive-in and attached a U-Haul and traveled across the United States for endless adventures.

'56 Silver Volkswagen Suntop, Barbara Davis, 63, Safety Harbor

I bought it used in 1963, but in great condition, for $1,000. It was a stick shift, since that is how I learned to drive. No seat belts, rear view side mirrors or gas gauge. But it had a one-gallon "spare" tank that was accessed on the floor by flipping a handle over with your foot. It got about 35 mpg. While at college, the guys had picked it up and put it on the front porch - up about 10 steps!

'62 Pontiac Tempest LeMans, Marilynn Myers, 64, St. Petersburg

I bought it brand new and it was my pride and joy. I loved that car, and it was very hard for me when I sold it in 1973, but by that time I was married, had a 2-year-old child and the unair-conditioned Tempest just didn't fit into the family lifestyle. Fast forward 45 years and attached is a photo of me with my '62 Tempest. Is it the same car? Maybe! Quite a few years ago I was driving along and saw this 1962 Tempest sitting on a corner with a "for sale" sign on it. After researching the original color, we found out it had been bronze with white top, just like mine had been. I like to think that my beloved 1962 Pontiac Tempest LeMans found its way back to me.

'60 Simca, Geanne Marks, 62, St. Petersburg

In 1963 my dad took me to downtown St. Petersburg to see a beautiful shiny red Rambler, but my eyes kept drifting to a little French car - a 1960 white Simca convertible. My dad being a Hudson car man knew the Rambler was more sensible, especially when I didn't know how to drive a shift car, much less one with five on the column. But being the dad he was, he test drove the car and I bought the Simca.

'27 Chevrolet, Robert L. Moore, 83, St. Petersburg

I bought my first car in 1938 for $18. I was 14 years old and taught myself to drive it in our side yard. In the photo is my sister Mary Lee, myself and my friend Carl Dittus as we are leaving for school. Also, here's an article from my high school newspaper about my Chevy, which caught fire in the parking lot at school because some guys skipping class were smoking in the back seat and dropped their ashes on the cloth interior.

[Last modified December 28, 2007, 20:32:10]