For most people, the day they get their driver’s license is a huge milestone. But for car enthusiasts in particular, the achievement tends to spark especially bad cases of automotive daydreaming. With a newly minted license in hand, surely there was a dream car that was both desirable and on the edge of actual attainability that you just couldn’t get out of your head. So what was your biggest teenaged car crush?
I’m not talking about super car lust, like the cars on posters you may have had on your bedroom wall as a teen (in my case a Lamborghini Countach).
I’m talking about a car that you wanted really badly, but might have actually been able to get (perhaps with a minor miracle) in real life. The car you hoped to be seen in, the one you thought was a great expression of your taste and personality.
Was it the ride of a spoiled rich kid at school?
Or was it as simple as your grandparent’s car? You know, as in, “I’ll take anything, just let me get behind the wheel!”
For my new driver teenaged reality, I was actually quite happy to pilot my mother’s ’79 Oldsmobile Ninetly-Eight LS. Yeah, just like the ’78 Ninety-Eight LS pictured above, it was brown with a beige vinyl top and brown vinyl interior. But I could drive it! And our Olds had the 403 V8, so it was actually capable of things my mother never dreamed of…but those are stories for another time.
However, for my teenaged “could-maybe-somehow-be-a-reality-someday” automotive fantasy, one car did rise to the top, though the competition for my teen wheels dreams was fierce.
For me, that car was the 2nd generation Supra that appeared for 1982. I absolutely loved the aggressive, angular-aero design with big chunky wheels and long hood over the sweet, smooth and powerful Toyota 2.8L DOHC Inline-6 with the 5-speed manual. I wasn’t entirely crazy about the black-painted hatch and rear bumper on all body colors. But I had a solution for that: get a Gloss Black Supra! It sure was mean looking, at a time when black cars were not ubiquitous.
Inside, what could be better than striped velour Sport Seats (with inflatable lumbar support!) and a high-tech instrument panel? Of course, in my dreams I would have added the top stereo system with the cassette player and graphic equalizer too!
This Supra would have been absolutely, positively perfect. Cool, modern, sophisticated and fast–talk about a date magnet (the car, not teenaged me). And speaking of dating, a woman I did date years later (and ultimately married) had some interesting teenaged car lust of her own. Being the car nut that I am, I asked her early on what car she dreamed of as a teen, and her answer was not what I expected.
Apparently in Bergen County, New Jersey where Kim grew up the Renault Fuego had a short burst as the “hot ticket.” And she always did have a predilection for rounded designs: even as a little girl, she really noticed and liked the AMC Pacer when it came out. So I guess the bubble back French oddball was part of that continuum. Chacun à son goût (to each his own taste).
Speaking of taste, it’s interesting to consider how things have changed since the 1980s, when 2-doors were hugely popular and high on people’s lists of desirable cars. Now small sporty coupes are about as in-style as Knots Landing.
My 18-year-old daughter, for example, has had but one lust vehicle since she first got her learner’s permit: a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara, in white, please and thank you.
My 15-year-old son, just starting driver’s ed, fluctuates wildly between dream cars, but an ongoing favorite is the Subaru WRX STI (and yes, he really loves the bright WR Blue).
Both my kids want 4-door and 4wd vehicles—the “it” vehicles for many teens in the 20-teens, just like sports coupes were for many teenagers in the 1980s. But while the vehicle type may change, the desire for cool wheels remains ageless (and hopefully will continue even as vehicles continue to transform).
So now you know my teenage dream machine, and my wife’s and kids’. What was yours?
I really liked the G-Bodies. A Buick or Olds flavour would’ve been tops.
I really wanted my parents’ 1981 Century- it was powder blue with a dark blue vinyl top and interior. But they traded it in before I could get my license.
A year or so after I did get my license, the last generation Riviera came out and I really wanted one. But that was too steep for a college kid and even an eventual new college grad.
Citroen CX for ever or even citroen mehari
Getting my drivers license in 1963 the car of my hearts desire was a Porsche 356 or a Jaguar XK-E. I ended up with a 58 4 dr Chevrolet Biscayne which was a gift and all that I could afford.
Had the red GT but wanted my pal’s dad’s blue gt350-sold for 2400.
And my red GT:
I came of age in 1980. Possibly peak malaise? I spent a lot of time wishing it were 1965 as far as cars went.
Being sort of practical, and from the Midwest, my dreams were of things that were actually obtainable to people of the socio-economic status of my zip code. And, a lot of folks were without a job, and buying American just seemed like the right thing to do.
I suppose that if money were little object and my folks were dying to buy me a new car, a 1980 Olds Cutlass coupe V-8, loaded including the T-top option, might have been the ticket. As malaise era cars went, it wasn’t a bad choice.
As it was, my first and second cars were 1973 and 1976 Cutlass Supremes. I liked them a lot, but as cars of that era got to be several years old, they definitely acted like second hand cars.
I got my license in 1972. A slightly older friend had a 240Z which I lusted after, and that topped my (not quite fantasy but pretty much) wish list. Frankly, I just wanted my own wheels (anything except my mom’s brown Buick wagon) so anything would have done…eventually I was virtually gifted a gold ’70 Lemans Sport coupe when I went off to university.
It was 1989: I wanted an Alfa Romeo 33 or Alfasud but admired Saab 900s and the Citroen XM (which I eventually did own, almost by accident). I regret not having tried any older Alfas.
I really didn’t get interested in the car scene until my last year of high school, and by that time, I was already driving my ’71 Vega. There never was a point where Dad handed me the keys and said, “It’s yours.” It just sort of migrated to become mine over the course of that year. My best friend had a ’65 Mustang ‘box top,’ and we’d ooh and aah over the usual crop of late-1970s hot cars, but knew they were far beyond our ability to own. I regret that he died young (early 40s), as he would have gotten a huge kick out of my Commodore / SS. I finally got one, Billy!
The car I really wanted as I came into driving age was my parents’ 1974 Vega, exactly like this one shown. I had learned to drive in it and had hopes of it becoming mine, but alas it was traded in on our execrable Impala.
In hindsight that was probably a very good thing.
“but alas it was traded in on our execrable Impala.”
Preventing you from looking sportier? What a shame. 🙂
This is a trick question for me, because as you said, I wanted pretty much anything for my own. I had to drive my parent’s conversion van quite a bit at that age, which at first wasn’t ideal (hello 13 mpg). Then I wised up to it’s charms. Pack a ton of friends inside? Check. Invisible to cops? Check. Convertible bed in the back, and window shades? Double check. Words of wisdom to all the parents out there: you think a fast car is the worst choice for a young teen? Think again. A rolling hotel room is guaranteed to allow your kid to make many more nefarious decisions!
My first and second choices. The Austin being number one.
Absolutely. The Big Healey was my dream drive in 1978, and still is today. Could have bought a mint version for around £3000 back then….
Coincidentally, I bought this ’57 100/6 2-seater in 1978; coming up on owning it forty (40) years in April! It was $4200.00, so not all that far off your 3000 Pounds Sterling.
Prior to that, I bought a brand new 1973 MGB, and a succession of used MGBs & MGBGTs followed (a total of 16 of them by the year 2000).
I seem to get “hooked” on one type of sportscar__within my budget; Lord knows there are at least a hundred different Ferraris I can name off the top of my head that I lust for__and presently, my cars are 1999 BMW M Coupe & M Rdstr, and an ’01 M Rdstr. I mean really, aren’t these just modern examples of what I wanted the MGBs/BGTs to be all along?
Having gotten my license at the end of 1971, coinciding with Road & Tracks 1971 Road Test Annual issue, there were a number of cars that filled my dreams; BMW 3.0 CSi, 365 GTB/4, Muira SV, TVRs, but of all the cars in THAT issue, I think I wanted the Maserati Indy (2+2) the most…
… of course what I got, was my dad’s ’64 Plymouth Sport Fury (318/auto) with 106,000 miles on it, and it served me well until the ’73 MGB came along on the Friday of Labor Day weekend.
I wouldn’t own another brand new car until the Thursday before Labor Day weekend of 2001, when my wife and I took factory delivery of the ’01 M Rdstr.
Funny how stagnant the world has become, the go-to dream ride for most kids when I was 15 almost 15 years ago was… a WRX STI in blue.
Not me though, ever the nastalgic rebel I am, I wanted a second generation Camaro and Firebird in any condition as long as it was V8 powered, followed by a A- body Plymouth Duster, and followed by just about any old American V8 coupe I could realistically attain with my meager savings as I got closer and closer to getting my drivers license. – which irritatingly became harder year by year as the clone/restomod trend started taking off, picking away at the lesser models.
Supercars stopped being dream cars for me early on, I had all the posters of the Mclaren F1s and Ferrari F40s and stuff in my childhood bedroom but I think I was basically over them by the time I was 11 or 12, when getting a driver’s license alone still seemed like a lifetime away.
What car did I want? A 1987 Buick GNX.
1970 Pontiac Firebird 400.
I got my license in 1976. I hated that I got stuck with my mother’s 74 Luxury LeMans most of the time and pined for my own car.
I tried to talk my parents into letting me buy a rusty, decrepit 52 Chevy owned by a relative, but it would have been an awful first car. When I was finally allowed to buy something, it was a good time for me as the used car ads were awash with great mid 60s iron. I got pretty lucky when I found the 10 year old 67 Galaxie 500 convertible with 60K miles on it. It was nice and straight (and not terribly rusty for that place and time).
I used to have daydreams of finding a late 50s-early 60s big black Chrysler in an old garage and buying it, but that dream never became reality.
They did not have a Galaxie or a convertible in 77. Do you mean 67?
You are correct, sir. I have gone back and fixed my late afternoon typing.
Never too late. in northern california you can still get a nice driver 64-66 Imperial for 1500-2500 dollars.The dealer in Chico, A. Volpato. Inc. sold more Imperials than any other dealer on the planet every year. There are more of them here. A close friend had 60 1964-65-66 Imps until his divorce, at that time for $800 he sold me 3 Crown coupes and 2 4 doors plus enough parts to build a car.
pics of my 63 Electra, 66 Imperial, and a close friends Tucker I kept detailed.
I also got my license in the Bicentennial year of ’76. My dad offered to buy me a car, so long as it was under $1200. I longed for a 1971 Mustang Mach I, but then I saw a ’66 Impala, black with black bucket seats and console, but Dad insisted it was too big. We were about to give up for the day when we spotted a ’65 Mustang fastback, metallic blue with blue interior; the paint was a bit faded but the gorgeous interior was almost mint. $1200! That was my first car.
Me too, for getting my license in 1976! It was in the fall of that year (call it 1977MY) and I had learned to drive in my parents ‘73 LTD (you and I have had this conversation before JP, and I know how much you just LOVE these cars… https://www.curbsideclassic.com/uncategorized/curbside-classic-1973-ford-ltd-bring-on-the-bloat/)… but being in a Brougham state of mind, when that new for ‘77 Thunderbird came out, I really wanted one of those. I ended up with the LTD, and took very good care of it, unlike the linked car above (mine looked like the one pictured below). Ironically, in the fall of 1979 (@ 19) I was finally able to afford my first new car and bought a midnight blue ‘79 Fairmont Futura, just as the ‘80s were coming out, so I got a deal this kid could afford. It was much less expensive than the T-Bird, but still had that basket handle roof I liked.
As a kid at 12 in ‘72, I had a thing for the C3 Corvette. That never really waned, and I really wanted one, but at 16 reality set in and more pedestrian choices were where it was at. To this day, despite the fact there have been much better ‘vettes, the C3 is still my favorite, with the chrome bumper festooned 1968 thru 1972 (73 for the back) being my absolute favorites. The rich kid down the street got one in 1979 (same time I got the Futura) and I was somewhat green with envy. His was all black, and he kept it perfect. He traded it in ‘84 for a 944… the naturally aspirated one, not the turbo. This was a car guy. He ended up becoming the cameraman for MPT’s Motor Week.
Oh, and just for you JP….
Add me to the list. I like those too. I have driven a couple of them and liked driving them. I also like the styling. This is coming from a guy who generally doesn’t like large cars.
I don’t remember what I lusted for when I got my license to be honest . I got my licence in January 1964 and was hoping to drive my Dad’s ’62 Olds wagon and not my Mom’s junky and ugly ’52 Plymouth. A week before I got my license, Dad came home with a black ’51 Chevy four door for me to drive and , supposedly share with Mom. She drove it only once or twice. I think he was trying to keep me from getting myself and my brother killed trying to see how fast the Olds was. Of course I found that out anyway. I really liked that old Chevy and had it for a year until the ” two in the glue” Powerglide started making noise. We traded it in on a ’55 Ford four door ( my last four door ever) that had a V8. That was a fun car.
Anyway, three months after I got my licence the Mustang came out. That’s when I knew what I really wanted. I was 23 when I finally got my first one.
Actually, I wanted this same generation Supra, in silver with a blue interior like my Dad’s 1982 Cressida which became my first car eventually. Seeing it on the front cover of the 1982 Tamiya model kit catalogue is what sparked my desire – in the catalogue it carried the JDM name “Toyota Celica XX 2800 GT”. It’s still one of my all-time favorite cars.
I wanted a used 1976 Toyota Celica Hatchback that was on sale for $3,200. I ended up with the 1975 Ford Pinto for $2,300. A $900 difference between heaven and hell.
In ’77, my dream new car was Trans Am, with TA 400.
And dream used car was a ’70 442 convertible.
I wanted an Edsel. Seriously. Ended up with a ’74 Pinto. Did love that little car.
Hey Roger; I can relate! I am a BIG Edsel fan, too. That was always my first choice for a Classic / Collectible car. I have posted a larger comment in this article further down. (A Pinto, eh? How was it to drive???)
From the second I got the Matchbox of it at age 6 (1968/69) I wanted a Lotus Europa. That desire stayed strong through high school (end of 70s) and in fact up through the present. Ditto a Lamborghini Miura.
In HS though I knew that was impractical, so I rather liked the idea of a Bradley GT… cheap(ish), unusual, and looked cool. Plus I liked the idea of building it myself (not that I had the place of tools or time or a mentor, bit still…) But also any Mustang, or Ford van, or 1st gen Cougar.
During college in the 1st half of the 80s the Mustang love continued, but an 82 Supra as shown above was also in the dreams.
When I was finally in the market for my first car I saw an ad for a 50s Ford pickup with a flathead, but the bank of dad wouldn’t bite, so I ended up with my old Courier, which actually ended up being the perfect vehicle for that time of my life (though a Datsun PU would have been prettier.)
Either a Vauxhall Victor FD 3.3 four speed or a Valiant 265 Charger then current and previous Benson & Hedges standard production race winners, sadly lack of money got in the way
“I’ll take anything, just let me get behind the wheel!” I lusted after pretty much everything that rolled but mostly drove the family’s 1953 Ford Mainline 2 door with flathead 8 and 3 on the tree,
I got my license in 1983, and what I wanted was either my recently passed away father’s 1979 Opel Rekord E, or a Volvo 144. Just got Dad’s car for a little while until it was sold. In ’85 I almost was able to buy a 1950 Citroen 15. As most say, anything that I could have had.
Did you like the Rekord? I don’t remember them as new but as sad rusted cars killed by Irish roads and weather. When I see them in Germany they take on an altogether better character. Some might raise an eyebrow but I’d love a top-spec Rekord over a corresponding BMW. The Rekord is better than a Taunus and more agile than a Granada.
I loved that car. But I can’t say how much of it was objective, and how much was emotional. I was 16 and my father let me choose the car, which he got with around 15.000 km on it. In Uruguay the Rekord, together with a BMW 320 or 520, were the fanciest cars you could get, barring a Mercedes, costing 5 times as much (no real relation to prices in Germany, of course). Rekords sold here at that time came with power steering, tinted glass, a sport steering wheel, tachometer, AM/FM stereo casette player, and not much else in terms of accesories. There was a Luxus version with A/C, alloy wheels, and headlamp wiper/washers. The A/C was almost useless. It ate up much engine power and didn’t work well. Dad didn’t want to spend the extra money so he got the standard Rekord.
As to how much did I like it, and how I see it after more than 30 years…I was pretty fond of the line of that car. It looked and felt like a superbumper-less American GM. Extremely comfortable inside. You could take out your jacket behind the steering wheel without much contortion. Seatbacks were infinitely adjustable at a time when that was not obvious. Outward vision was excellent. Heating….in a country where most cars were Brazilian, and brought standard what originally was an extra-cost heater that wouldn’t melt an ice cube in hot broth, a good German heater was a real wonder. The big Rekord, with its rear window defogger and heater at full blast, would be ready to go in about 3 or 4 minutes in an 8 degree C day. Just to clarify, it’s not too cold here, but very humid. Windows get very foggy.
So, I’ve walked you around the interior. Let’s start the car. One rapid step into the gas pedal to activate the automatic choke, turn the key, and….probably it’s running. Then again, it could be too rich, or too lean, and you’d have to try it a few times, or eventually tire of the automatic choke and start it with your young, 18 year old foot up to the firewall. No wonder there was so much uncooked gas smell in our garage.
OK, we are on the road now. Steering (this was a recirculating ball ZF unit) was great. Turning radius was amazing compared to other cars (we had two Ford Corcel at home, a Brazilian version of a Renault 12). I remember it to have good feel and to be very light. Then again, I had driven few cars, and very short distances. The engine was slow to rev, and the car was slow to move. It felt as a heavy car (if I remember correctly, curb weight was about 1300 kg). When you got it to 100 km/h, it would stay that way with minimum fuss and very silently. When they were new, I thought they had a 6, so silent they were at idle.
The gearbox had excellent operation. Very light, and very precise. After a few years 4th began to disengage, but I never knew why as we sold it before fixing that.
As after that car everything I´ve had has been FWD, I can’t fairly compare with what I remember as an unstable rear axle, especially when turning a little fast.
All told, I guess it was an excellent car for the times. A BMW 320 cost about the same as a Rekord (20K USD in 1979) and the 520 (with the same equipment) was about 30 K. The only one you could get here in top spec was the 520. I long for finding a good condition one, and for my wife letting me get it, just for good memories.
Hope I have answered your question, LOL!
1978 came and with it, my full license and ability to drive, alone, any time. I could not have cared less as to what I got. I learned in a 65 slant 6 Belvedere, so the 69 Chevrolet Caprice, peeling vinyl top and cracking gray paint and non-working a/c was absolute luxury. Honestly, nothing new was that appealing, and that was the right car for the right time. We did not have a lot of money, and I did not have an afterschool job, so I had 0 chances of getting anything special and was happy with what I got. I guess that driving full sized American iron has lead to my fascination with small (really, tiny is more appropriate) imports, but I would have never wanted the small cars of that time. A Chevette or Pinto, or a Gremlin? Never thought of them as worthwhile then, but now, yes. Japanese cars were still a novelty, unknown and treated warily, so I never thought about them. Perhaps a British sportster, like a MG or Triumph, but that was just a pipe dream.
I passed my test in 1999 and I (and my peer group) considered ourselves lucky to be able to get a car at all. I had already left behind the stage of desiring new cars, and find it impossible to answer what I would have bought were money no object. Probably something ludicrous like a Mark 2 Jag 3.8.
My grandmother had promised me when I was about 10 (and I was excited about it) that she would give me her 956cc Renault Supercinq when I came of age, but she quit driving due to ill health and the car was sold for pennies about 4 years too early for me.
In terms of cars that might just about have been realistic if I had been working consistently, maybe an Alfa 145, a mildly sporty Fiat Tipo, a Renault Megane Coupe, or something a bit older like a Saab 900 Turbo or a Scirocco.
Realistically, the options included VW Polo, Rover 213, 1 litre Fiat Uno etc etc.
As a little kid, I wanted a 1957 Oldsmobile, which was an 18 year old car, at the time.
In my mid teens, I wanted a circa 1980 Aston Martin Lagonda. A couple of years later, it became obvious these cars were a mirage, and the few that were made were not viable transportation.
My lust turned to 60’s Thunderbirds, where it’s been ever since.
License since the summer of 1984. Dream car back then a Ford Capri Mk3 2.8 Injection.
I guess I’m a product of the brougham era, I wanted a 1979 Ford Thunderbird. I guess
I badly wanted a Saab 96. So sleek and form-follows-function! Front wheel drive! Four-on-the-tree! The three-cylinder engine with only 7 moving parts. Most of all, so different!
I drove an old one, the only one we could find in the area at my price level, and it was really worn out. Disappointed, I abandoned that dream and was very happy to get a VW Bug instead.
You see I still had the attitude that if something was popular it must not be any good. Probably caught it from my father, who drove a Studebaker when I was in grade school, before that a Nash, and once even a new Crosley. The VW cured me of the attitude, at least in the car department. Never have owned a Saab it turns out. Mostly been driving Toyotas for thirty years.
A few years ago Lily sold her ’92 Subaru wagon to a kid who was obviously getting his first car. He was so excited! Warmed our hearts to know that great car was going to be appreciated.
The Mazda MX5 Miata was my favorite car, back then.
Anything pre-WWII.
Which dad delivered on two years later in the form of a 1937 Buick Special two door sedan, luggage back (what would have been later called a fastback).
We’re talking 1966 for the driver’s license, 1968 for the car.
When I reached driving age, I wanted a Volvo 740 GL, preferably a 1989 or 1990 model. Nearly 20 years later, I’ve achieved that goal, as I now own two ’89 740 GL sedans – one with nearly 306k miles on the clock.
Good choice. The 740 made an impression on me. i adore the 240s solidity and softer edges but equally the 700-series is a fascinating hybrid of Sweden and America. I was at the Volvo museum in Gothenburg and loved having a chance to inspect a box fresh 760. The quality of construction is impressive.
I am likely older than you. My interest was a Volvo 240 series, and especially the 242.GT.
An Alfa Romeo Spider. In the late 1980s when I got my license, I desperately longed for one of these. I loved everything about it: That it was a convertible, that it was Italian, that it was an archaic throwback to an earlier era.
When I was about 18 or 19, my father – as a birthday present – took me to an Alfa dealer for a test drive. Sometimes it hurts to meet your heroes, and this was one of those cases. Maybe I had expected too much, but the actual driving let me unimpressed. And then there was the oddity of three things falling off the car on the test drive… the door handle came loose when I was getting in, a hubcap rolled off during the drive, and something else came off in the salesman’s hand (I think it was a vanity mirror).
I still like Alfas, if for no other reason than they remind me of the time when I loved them. But I never again wanted to own one.
It was 12/04/1974 when I got my license (on my 16th birthday). My dream car was a DeTomaso Pantera. No brainer!
Impossible to answer. I had AADD (Automotive Attention Deficit Disorder) which meant that the answer would have changed several times daily.
I can relate!
I was 16 in 1972. My buddy Weldon (may he RIP) and I were all about ’55-’57 Chevy 2-door body styles. I actually DID buy one (a ’56 210 2-door sedan)) at 16-17, but it was just about worth the $50 I paid for it (it didn’t run and had all sorts of other issues).
At 18, I bought a running, driving ’56 150 2-door sedan for $400. I then proceeded to pull its perfectly good 6 to swap in a 283.
Easy. Sandro Munari was winning the World Rally Championship in a Lancia Stratos and my Dad bought a Lancia Beta but I always wanted a Citroen DS and/or BMW 3.0CSL (E9). That would have been in the early 70s.
Got my licence on 12 March ’77. Drove my Dad’s Lancia but got my DS in 1989 and still have it. Never will have an E9…although I guess I should never say never.
My wife had a Vauxhall Viva HA when I met her in ’78. Turned out she was an Alfisti – who knew? Hankering after a Guilia at this moment
I had a 66 HA Viva with 1256 HC motor and box it went great far better than the standard brakes and suspension were designed for which added some excitment, no it didnt last long
I’m a self-confessed Mopar-fanboi. Still, this was the new-for-’93 that had approximately all of my attention. My head nearly exploded the next year, when the convertible came out.
Dream car? Realistically? I turned 16 in mid-1979. There were lots of cars I wanted, but being the practical dweeb I was, I recall really wanting a new VW Rabbit. Followed by a Chevy Nova coupe.. I’ve always had a crush on the ’72 Skylark coupe, so I was somewhat pleased to acquire a ’71 Skylark 4 door sedan for $900 in late 1979 as my first car. The 1970 Duster I got for $40 before that doesn’t count, as me and dad never got it running after replacing the thrown rod, I sold it for $50.
At age 16 my dream-dream car was a 60s-era Mustang convertible. My reality-based dream car was a new Mercury Capri with V8, stick shift and T-tops.
Hm – this may seem a bit weird considering I turned 16 in June 1970 and it was still the era of hot ponycars and musclecars. This strange and gorgeous thing had just been recently shown for the first time and was splashed all over the enthusiast magazines. It was like something dropped on Earth from some bizarro parallel world. I was in lust right from the start.
Oh Yeah.
I was in college in the early seventies. The coolest professor on campus drove one of those. A friend who was his student got to go for a ride once. Envy!
Fiat 600 soft top with suicide doors. my excuse? florida native, surfer, with a mechanic uncle named Tony…
Nice. “Fix It Again…”
In 1984 i left China, started living in Toronto and had not gotten a driver license yet even i was in early 20s. My dream car was Porsche 944 and Benz 300E (W124). I still recalled I pointed to my friend how beautiful a passing W124 in Don Valley parkway of Toronto, my friend reaction was he was amazed the simple and elegant trail lights. That design has been copied by other auto makers for 30 years. The love for 944 was beause of favorable reviews from Car and Driver. In reality, i would buy a Celica, Prelude or Civic Wagon of that vintage. However, when I was on market for a vehicle in 1990, I got a 1983 Caprice Claasic sedan as my first car. I purchased my second car in 1992 was a 1987 Accord sedan. So what you want is different what you can afford. Nevertheless, W124 remains my list of favorite cars.
A 71 or 72 Ford Maverick Grabber, with a Boss 302 engine and 4 speed, with all the good suspension tweaks that Shelby did to the 65 GT350 Mustang. Platform sharing CAN be a good thing! Would still like one…
This is easy: a 1957 Chevy 2 door hardtop sports coupe. I still want one, too. Either in Bel Air trim or 210, as long as it is a hardtop. Heavens, I’d also take a 4 door hardtop sports sedan for that matter.
That was my childhood dream car. From my very earliest memories, this was the car was just infatuated with, a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air 2-door Sport Coupe in red or black (no skirts, continental kit or other goofy 50’s accessories). Growing up I really like 1950’s cars, and this was my ultimate car. I could rhyme off all the specs as a young kid, and of course I wanted a fuelie. As I got older I took an interest more in 1960’s and 70’s car and the ’57 Chev became more of a cliche of the 1950’s. However, I still have a special place for this car.
So I obtained my learners permit and then drivers license back in 2009. At that time, I was floating around a lot of ideas, from affordable and easily obtainable, to ones that were much more of a fantasy.
I can’t quite remember which car I dreamed of the most, but I always had either a later model BMW E46 3 Series or E39 5 Series hot on my mind. They were still rather expensive on the used car market at the time, for me anyway. My endless talk of BMW however, did get it into my mom’s mind, and I was able to convince her to get one, for herself at least in the form of a CPO 2007 X3 🙂
I’d have to wait a few more years for my own Bimmer. As most know I was passed down the 2004 Toyota Highlander, which wasn’t at all a bad first car, but hardly did anything for the enthusiast in me.
I’m not at all shocked that your daughter wants a Jeep Wrangler. It seems like most teenagers (guys and girls) who aren’t super into cars from a handling perspective want Jeeps. All of my close cousins of driving age (4 boys, have had a Jeep in one form or another as their first car).
The E46 bug bit me in the early 2010s, but one read of the E46 Bimmerfest Wiki ruined it for me.
Yeah, the E46 wasn’t the pinnacle of long-term reliability for BMW. Its successor, the E90 seems to have maintained a much better reputation in this respect. In fact, I actually would be very tempted to purchase a low-mileage E90 as an extra vehicle, should the right spec come along. I’ve driven enough E90s to know that I really like the size and handling characteristics.
When I was 14, I wanted a ’77-’79 Caprice Classic 4-door, fully loaded. Saw an absolutely sanitary such car in a parking lot and left a wobblyhanded note that was never returned.
When I was 16, I wanted a ’60 Valiant V-200 automatic sedan, preferably red with red/black interior just like in the brochure. An early-production model with all the chrome gingerbread that was decontented out early in the production run: the little shark fins atop each front fender, the inner chrome ring on the spare-tire trunk lid, the hard stainless windshield and backglass reveal mouldings rather than the later mylar-over-plastic lockstrip.
Never did get a ’60 Valiant. I briefly (days) owned a ’61 before unwinding that fraudulent deal. I now own what was my father’s ’62 Lancer. And about 12 years ago I was a day too slow to pounce on a pristine, fully-loaded, low-miles, low-price ’79 Caprice Classic sedan.
No, wait a sec, no, I’ve got that wrong. I was 13 when I wanted the Caprice. When I was 14 I wanted an Australian Valiant—an AP5 or a VF Pacer. My folks said no wrong- (right-) hand-drive car.
Throughout my childhood since I could first identify vehicle models, I had always dreamed about owning a Ford F-150 and being able to haul & tow just about anything I could think of in the bed & a trailer. If I also wanted to haul more than just a few passengers, I could opt for an 8-to-12-passenger Club Wagon (Transits weren’t in the US yet) instead and remove unnecessary seats so I could still haul a decent amount of cargo (my dad has an Expedition, but to me SUVs are too small on the inside for their size). Fast-forward to high school: driving my older brother’s 2001 Ranger with the 4-liter SOHC V6 convinced me that anything much bigger or more powerful would be either too difficult to park or very expensive to fill up with gas on a regular basis, maybe even BOTH. All that, plus the fact that most seats from full-size passenger vans are VERY HEAVY and don’t even fold for easier removal & storage, eventually led me to the ultimate realization that a used minivan of a certain kind would be the best solution for 90% of my driving requirements: solid-built construction, plentiful but NOT overwhelming horsepower & torque, superior gas mileage over SUVs and larger vans, and abundant interior room within a manageable (size AND price) footprint; ALL from a well-trusted brand. THAT led me to the Aerostar I drive now. A 7-passenger Transit Connect with the back seats removed (they WILL come out with a Torx wrench) at a good price is now in my plans as a secondary vehicle.
I forgot to mention: my neighbors used to have a green 1995 Aerostar much like the one featured in the How Hard Can It Be to Make a Minivan series. I only remember riding in it once with a few of my friends (on the way to school), but I can tell you that it was one of the best vehicles at the time for that kind of carpooling task in the late 1990s and the turn of the millennium . No seats to have to fold out of the way for entry & exit in the 3rd row while STILL being able to park in a standard house garage or carport was a BIG plus for me, and eventually a very crucial one in my final decision for a dream vehicle. Sometimes your childhood dreams do come true.
A Renault Gordini.
I still marvel at the design of the R8. It’s a jewel of a car.
I turned 16 in 1977 and dreamed of buying a 1953 Studebaker Starlight coupe from a neighbour, but reality intruded and I got a 1968 Plymouth Fury II instead.
I was all about motorbikes at that age. I really wanted an FJ1100 for my big bike needs, plus I had a hankering for a 350 Moto Morini, for the little back roads around where I lived.
As a teenager in the UK, extortionate insurance costs precluded any car beyond a 1 litre Micra anyway.
Obtaining the license in September 1988 caused me to yearn for a 1988 or 1989 Mustang GT. Five speed, of course.
I didn’t want a ‘90 as the airbag eliminated the tilt wheel.
The first car with my name on the title was an’89 Mustang, but with just half a real engine. That 2.3 was mostly willing but it was, as the saying goes, a lot of hat and no cattle.
I was about a year ahead of you in November ’87, and it was the Saleen for me.
Ended up with an ’81 Mustang with a straight six. :/ At least it was a stick, and with t-tops!
1973 BMW 2002 ti. But I got another BMW: 1956 BMW R26
1976-77 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, I’ve turned 16 in August of 1996 and always thought they were nice looking cars, other cars I’ve liked was a 1967 Ford Galaxie 500 2 door hardtop with a 390 V8 or a 1971-73 Cadillac Sedan Deville due to my love of the Cadillac Corey Haim drove in the movie “License To Drive”
When I got my license, Chevy had just re-introduced the Z-28. There was a bright yellow one on the showroom floor of the Chev-Olds emporium my Dad worked at. I wanted it bad.
One of the mechanics in the shop had a silver 1970 Chevelle SS396 for about a third of what the Z cost that was a very close second. No chance I could hope to afford either but it was fun to dream about them.
Ended up with a roached ’65 Impala 4 door hardtop for 300 bucks. In retrospect I likely would have killed myself in the Chevelle or the Camaro…
I wanted a Spirit R/T so bad. Fast, but with an aura of practicality around it. Safer than similar cars, too. Airbags way before they were common. Infinity stereo is common in them, the cool pinstripe interior that my Sundance had. Clear and sensible gauges and controls.
Nice topic and article GN. I always enjoy how beyond posing a subject in your articles, you help sell your essay, by expanding with examples and various perspectives. And your own thoughts of course. Car makers have always had this huge advantage in marketing. With cars it is so easy to sell a lifestyle or a dream, more so than any other consumer product.
As your daughter demonstrates, the rugged, outdoor lifestyle that Jeep promotes, along with the brand’s legacy, is like printing money.
I wanted a 1976 Chevrolet Corvette L48 as my first ride. The specific car I was lusting over had a black exterior, red interior, side pipes, rally rims, no AC, and the whole package. Really sweet car.
Too bad my father saw an ’84 ‘Vette in a ditch, he said the car was almost unidentifiable, the two teenage lovers inside passed away. My father didn’t want me driving a Corvette after seeing that.
Instead, I bought a red ’85 Maserati Biturbo E as my first car, I loved that car, I’m looking to purchase one again in the future.
A couple years later I traded it in for a newer Alfa Romeo 164L. I still own that Alfa to this day, alongside my beautiful 1977 Chevy Monte Carlo S.
The attached image is of a very similar Corvette.
I’m a wee bit truck obsessed. I wanted a WM 300 powerwagon. Maybe the only kid to want a car that strains to get to 55mph.
I turned 16 at the end of 71. I loved prbably every V8 car ever built as long as it had “sound”. The right “sound” mind you. But a 1970 340 Dart Swinger would have been near the top of the list. 4 speed naturally. Or any big or small car was fine. I did buy a Canadian Pontiac Laurentian 2 dr hard top. Crack block 261 6 cylinder, 2 speed slip with a broken frame to add to its allure. I swapped frames and installed a 283 with 3 sped on the floor and dual thrush mufflers. Painted it medium matellic blue. But it was no 340 Dart Swinger lol.
I really wanted a ’96 Taurus Ghia. Once I started taking driving lessons though, I decided I wanted a manual transmission so I then started thinking about a final-generation Magna (Diamante) with the 3.5 V6 and 5-speed manual.
1981 Chrysler Imperial
Dating myself here, but from the time I was ten years old in 1957 I lusted after the ’57 Thunderbird. By the time I got my drivers’ license in 1963, I was still in a deep swoon over these cars, but they had grown older over the ensuing years, and were fairly common on the used car market. I would peruse the used car section of the Los Angeles Times every Sunday dreaming of how I could get one of these, which, at that time, if memory serves correctly, they were going for about $1200. But my father was adamant that when I started college in 1965 these T-Birds were simply too old and too high mileage, and he wanted me in a much newer vehicle. I finally had to give up and put my dream on the back burner, and we found a 1964 Pontiac LeMans with some 12,000 miles on it which served me well throughout college for the next seven years. But the dream simmered on for many more years…
Until the retro Birds came out in 2002, and suddenly the dream came roaring back. I finally got my ’57 T-Bird in the form of a brand new 2003 model, which I still have to this day, with only 17,000 miles on it now. It still looks and drives like the day it came off the dealer’s lot. It has been the fulfillment of that old dream, and I am still enjoying it like a giddy teenager every time I put that top down and go for a cruise.
Wow. For a guy who has missed key life passages for the love of automobiles, I’m shocked to realize there wasn’t a dream car for 16 year old me. As some others have mentioned, I was just thrilled to drive anything. I was part of the last generation who knew many other kids who also weren’t allowed a car at 16, so my Mom’s Valiant wagon was inspiration enough. I DID lust after certain cars, usually a different one every day, but not to OWN. They all seemed too mature for me. I would have loved to drive a first gen Riviera or a ’66 Toronado, but could never have seen myself with either of them as my personal ride.
Turned 18 in 1987, so my dreamcar obviously was a white Testarossa 🙂
My real life dreamcar was a Peugeot 205 GTI but my parents decided to buy me a brandnew Jetta 1.8 …. although my grandfather wanted to buy me a red 911 Turbo my mom went crazy and forbid him to do so 🙂
I don’t think i would either have survived the Turbo nor the GTI …..
Pre driving age, my kindergarten teacher had a 4-door 510 in the pale sky blue. I used to stare at that car while waiting for the bus. Years later down the street there was a first generation Toyota Celica with small bumpers that also caught my eye and then someone moved in briefly with a 2 door 510 all murdered out long before that became a thing. I remember he used to hoon that thing around everywhere he went. My dad said they would bury him in that car one day.
Everyone wanted a Baja Bug or a Gremlin back then. Strange times. I always liked the 70 to 74 Nova in a 2 door but what I spent an unusual amount of time with was the Popular Mechanics issue with the build it yourself Tri-Magnum. It was on the rack in the school library and every chance I could get I was in there thumbing through the article looking at the pictures because I had read it so many times the text was committed to memory. My brother thought that I should be committed. To and institution that is.
When it came time to start driving I had to settle for a ’72 Toyota Corroded wagon and share it with my brother. The 2 speed toyoglide sucked. I learned how to maintain momentum and use downhills to gain speed. I did eventually get a 510 though. No one wanted it and neither did I but the rest is history.
In the late 60’s I went to the Perth Motor Show and instantly fell in love with an Alfa Romeo Spider, the original one with the pointy rear end. Totally unobtainable of course. Slightly later I saw one of the original Mitsubishi Galants which I badly wanted. Didn’t happen although I later test drove it’s successor, a 75 Lancer with the 1400cc engine. Got my license in 1973 (over here you have to be 17) and ended up getting a 1968 Morris 1100 automatic (Austin America) which I kept for 2 years, but I really lusted after an original 1968 Holden Monaro GTS, preferably with the V8 but the 6 would do. Back in the mid 70’s I could have got a nice one for 1500-2000 bucks, but now they’re going for well over 100,000. Ah well………
This was the one —
Complete with cyclops center gauge, magic wand shifter, & bus-size steering wheel
16 in 2007. My most realistic “want” was an earlier, manual Volvo S60 T5. I loved the 2005-2007 Subaru Legacy GT and 2004-2008 Acura TL, but they were holding their value a bit too well (and older versions of the Legacy and “3.2TL” do absolutely nothing for me).
My father did end up buying a 2008 TL, which he gave me as a college graduation gift several years later, when he replaced it with a Passat TDI and then a Honda Accord Hybrid. So, I am still enjoying the car I wanted at 16!
I am a little weird, my screen name attests to that. I wanted a 1959 Rambler Rebel in 1967. They were few and far between. Next choice was a 1961 Rambler Ambassador. Never got either but owned 3 1963 Rambler Classics and a 1966 Ambassador over the years.
I’m weird too. I fantasized about a 64 Cadillac Eldorado convertible. I still can’t swing one.
I turned 16 in November of ’78. My taste for cars was all over the map and “dream” car would change almost monthly. I liked the new Mustangs & Capris and the newly downsized Pontiac Grand Am, otherwise I wanted an older 2 door hardtop, starting with a ’66 Mercury Comet. Then I lusted for a ’69 Mercury Marauder X100, a ’72 Olds Cutlass Supreme, also liked the ’66 Thunderbird. I was grateful to be driving my Mom’s 73 LTD 4 door and on occasion my Dad’s ’75 VW Rabbit. The car I ended up buying was the dumbest car a 16 y/o could have with gas prices over $3 a gallon in today’s $ – a 1968 Oldsmobile Toronado, which I recently found out was one of only 134 with the W-34 option, it’s 454 was rated at 400 hp. It also had bucket seats and console. Had the Tornado less than a year – went to a more practical ’68 Dart in beautiful shape due to it being a California car, only it’s mileage was probably 200,000 more than it said and it’s 273 V8 was about to blow a rod. Finally settled on a gorgeous red & black 1967 Pontiac LeMans, one owner car that had its original window sticker.
1990; either a Mustang 5.0LX hatch or a Geo Prizm GSi hatch depending on how weird I was. I was happy to get an ’81 Omni.
I spent a lot of time driving a base Prizm sedan around that time and would have been very curious to compare the GSi, which I remember reading about in the brochure.
I got my license in 1979. What I wanted was my Dad’s 69 Marauder X100, which had been totalled a few months before my birthday but was still sitting behind the house. What I got was a 68 custom 500 sedan from a friend of my mom’s cause we never seemed to be able to work a deal for the front clip and parts to resurrect the Marauder.
What I found out much,much later was my mom had given orders that car was never to see the road again as she felt it was too much car.
Considering my SECOND car was a Chrysler 300 with the 440 TNT that I managed to total two weeks after buying it….she was much smarter than I gave her credit for at the time!
When I was 16, I would have liked a 1939 or 1940 Ford, because I thought they looked cool. I’d built a model of one in sixth grade. I honestly didn’t give any thought to the underpinnings. When I was able to buy my first car at age 21, I got a Saab 95 V4. The choice was almost totally driven by the underpinnings.
In my early teens (circa 1992), I discovered the Panhard 24. That was my dream coupe — and it still is. Nothing from the ’80s or ’90s aroused any interest in me at the time. That has changed a bit, but not a lot.
then when I was 16, I went to Prague on a school trip. Discovered the Tatras and fell in looooove with those, especially the T600 and (of course) T87. That’ll be my dream saloon for as long as I live.
Neither the Panhard nor the Tatra are easy to come by, though the 24 is affordable and I did catch a ride in one once. But that’s what teenagers do — fantasize.
My 16th birthday was in 1971 and I started out with a 65 Chevy Biscayne 2-door hand-me-down from my dad. Before I turned 18, I had several desirable vehicles such as a 1968 Charger 383, 1969 Road Runner 383 / 4 speed, 1969 Fury ex-state police car, and a 1970 Duster 340. The only vehicle I lusted for was ANY Mopar with a 426 hemi, but that continues to be on my bucket list to this day.
Spending some of my ’60s childhood as an Air Force brat, while my Dad was stationed in Spain and Portugal, I developed an incurable fondness for ‘little foreign cars’.
Back in the States, by the time I started learning to drive in the early ’70s. there was no shortage of derelict orphan Dauphines, Fiat 600s, Hillman Minxes, DKWs, and Simcas begging to be rescued from driveways, back-yards and vacant-lots for $100 or so.
The first such candidate that actually looked like it might become mine was a 4-door ’64 MG 1100, sitting forlornly in the postage-stamp front yard of a run-down Alexandria row-house, wearing a $150 for-sale sign.
I really lusted after that car. I found ads in old Life Magazines at the library and my parents old National Geographics to fuel my dreams, with race-car drivers touting it as a “Sports Sedan!” But repeated calls to the phone-number on the sign went unanswered, and after several weeks, one day the little MG was gone forever, and my dreams were shattered.
But maybe that was a good thing!
Happy Motoring, Mark
Upon getting my license in 1997, I had one automotive dream that seemed easily attainable: to drive my grandparents’ 1985 Toyota Cressida. My dad had sold it to them about 4 years earlier but never stopped talking about how well it drove, with the engine from the Supra, so I wanted to experience that for myself. But alas, in the 4 months between me getting my license and us visiting them 600 miles away, my grandparents sold the car! Since then, they’ve all but disappeared.
Otherwise, I didn’t have a single dream car to speak of. Like others here, I found everything interesting for one reason or another. I do recall liking the Chrysler 300M quite a bit, and much later I did manage to buy one. Even deeply used, I found it to be a very good car.
I think the one I wanted most was a third-generation Honda Prelude, which I did later own, albeit as a used car.
Late ’85 for me, so it would have been the Saab 900 Turbo SPG which would have to stand it for the less attainable but even more desirable (to me) Audi Quattro Turbo. Of course we lived on the other side of the tracks so neither happened and I was lucky to eventually save up enough for the ’79 Mazda 626 Coupe I bought off my Dad.
Great question though!
A 1958 Chevrolet Viking series 60 flatbed truck was my first ride. The truck originally belonged to my uncle who in turn gave it to my dad who gave it to me when I turned 16. The truck was a chalky, rusty, dark green with springs poking through the driver’s seat! It had a top speed of about 50 with its 235 six and 4 speed manual. But it was a tough and reliable old truck. Sold it in 1998 to an old guy for $300.00. He said he wanted to restore it, but his idea of restoration meant turning the truck into a rat rod. Ugh..
I turned 16 in 1970 during my freshman year in high school. I got my license that Summer. There was a black ’60 Caddy convertible (not an Eldo) that the bus would pass on the way to school. It had chrome moon rims and wide whitewalls. Did I want that car! After H.S. I got to have my ’64 Caddy rag top.
My Dad would let me drive his ’63 Lincoln while I was in H.S. He was a cooler guy than I gave him credit for.
I was 16 in ’72, and I wanted my cousin’s ’70 Roadrunner about as badly as I’ve ever wanted anything. It looked showroom new, pretty much identical to this one, except in black:
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSL0Uwg7bAiETkRFAqs1J_0NDoBMfls0GTAWeCx_Hz0tE0kIUuN
I told him that when he wanted to sell it, to let me have first crack at it. He forgot and sold it in 1974 to a kid I went to school with. I was beyond pissed. After the RR was gone, I looked for a good one, and couldn’t find one in anywhere near the condition that one was in, so I started thinking about a ’73 Cuda, which turned into a ’74 Cuda, which I almost got. I had the money to buy the exact car I wanted, but wasn’t 18 yet, so my mom had to sign for it. She had the habit of putting that stuff off and by the time she got around to it, the Cuda/Challenger had been cancelled and all the good ones were gone. I ended up ordering a ’74 Roadrunner, which took almost 6 months to finally arrive. That car is alive and more than well in the Vegas area today, with a 487″ stroked 440 in it. The original 360 has been rebuilt and is in the owner’s garage, ready to go if it was ever wanted.
I wanted a GTO. Real bad. When I got my license the car was in its third year of production and the new 66s were out. Not only was a GTO way beyond my busboy wages, my Dad was pretty convinced it was not the right car for a 16-year old, especially after we drove a used 65 with Tri-Power. He was right, of course. I instead bought a 1960 VW bug and was very happy. When I bought my Infiniti G37 new in 2010 I chose to consider it the GTO I never had, though in fact it is a far better car in every way. Often things turn out just fine over time.
I wanted a 1968 Mustang but had to settle for my father’s 15 month old 1968 Cougar. However, in 1983 I picked up my 1968 Mustang for restoration. Both sit snugly with each other side by side in the garage.
I didn’t realize you’d had the Mustang that long. Wow!
I was infatuated with the 64-67 GTO and 71-73 Mustang in my pre-license years. But I would have been happy with anything on wheels (outside of dirt bikes) when I finally became licensed.
And I was.
In 1989 Dad had an 82 Cutlass Cruiser wagon and Mom had an 83 Lynx L “5 Speed”. Fantastic cars to beat into the ground as a new driver. The Cutlass wagon took the abuse with aplomb. The Lynx? Not so much.
My teenage dream car, and the one im still pining for at the age of 33teen is the 1965 chevy Bel air 2 door post coupe. (A Biscayne or Impala would suffice, really just any full size 65.) I was saving up for one as a teenager, and when the georgia car I was going to make an epic road trip to go buy fell through, I ended up getting impatient and buying a 77 impala fastback with a 350 and f41 suspension, which was cool in its own right, but I still gotta have that post coupe…someday…
I coveted the BMW 318ti. Not sure why, but I’ve always loved stupid cars.
I suppose I was about 11 years of age when the guy across the road arrived home with a brand new HG (I think) Holden Monaro. 253 V8 with Powerglide. He bought it to tow his boat. The Monaro was bright red with twin racing stripes. Man, that car was lustworthy.
Sorry to be picky but the HG had the trimatic not the powerglide. Maybe your neighbour had an HT?
Michael C….I stand corrected. I was not one hundred percent sure, hence my brackets. It was an awesome looking car, but of course with the baby V8 and that transmission it would have been a rather sedate ride compared to what is on offer today. Still, much better that the base model with that long in the tooth inline 6 and three on the tree. Of course, the 327 and 350 versions were in another league again.
In August of 1968 I turned 16 but my lust for the automotive form started earlier when my cousin bought a new 1965 Pontiac Tempest LeMans 2 door hardtop, They lived about 1000 feet north of us & we visited them often. It was gold in & out with bucket seats, a 326 4 speed & it had wheel covers that looked like chrome reverse. It was love at first sight !!!!! Decades later I asked him about that car. He & his wife couldn’t believe that I remembered all of the details about it. When she got pregnant they sold it & got a more family friendly car. They both loved that car & were heartbroken when they found out that it was totaled within 24 hours of the sale.
Passed my driving test in Feb 1970 me and a friend went to look at a e type jag £800 easy £400 each Oh no insurance was £800 Much the same story for any so called sports car insurance way too high But I could get insured for a mk 11 3.8 jag saloon car for sensible money no contest the fact it ate me out of house and home fuel wise didnt matter ran old jags for yrs never gave much more than £200 for them nobody wanted them MK 10s where even cheaper
2003 Volvo S60 D5. 5 cylinder Diesel engine, 163 hp. Leather interior and high quality interior, 6 airbags. One hell of a car for a first time buyer
Besides the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow II, which is, and unless I win The lottery, will always be my unicorn. ( and I will never win the lottery, I ain’t dumb enough) I had dreams of a 1995 Fleetwood Brougham. It changed the day I wrecked my first car- my dreams change from time to time, But besides staring at Elenor Thornton, they all have three pointed stars.
I got my license in 1989 and desperately wanted a Grand National or a built ’69 Charger but being a 16 year old that worked part time in a gas station, I could only afford to buy my brother’s 1977 Grand Prix for a couple of hundred dollars when he bought an ’96 Cutlass.
I still have the GP and now it shares the garage with a ’69 Charger and a Grand National. I refuse to grow up!
It was 1977 and the Rabbit and Scirocco were still pretty new, They were getting raves from all of the car magazines and they looked awesome….By the spring of 1981, I had saved enough to buy a brand new 1980 alpine white Scirocco…I was big man on campus. Traded it in 1986 for a new GTI, but when I turned 50, I found a pristine 81 Scirocco S which I have restored…Probably the nicest Scirocco around.
I started out in 1969 with a 1959 Fiat 600, complete with the “convertible top”. Which I still have BTW. But oddly enough for a teenager I hungered for a Rolls or a Bentley. So 5 years ago I finally finished my 1957 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud.
May of 67 I turned 16 and got my license. Growing up with Pontiacs, I naturally was drawn to the GTO… A 67 HT or Conv. would have been wonderful. I even lobbied it didn’t have to be new. Even the “Old” 64 model would be fine with me. My father would have none of it. A 16 year old male in 1967 even then brought higher insurance rates. However, Dad worked with me and I ended up with the 64 Cutlass Holiday hardtop, 330 V8, auto .a.c. Bucket seats and Olds Spec wire wheel covers, were fine enough for the time I liked the car. It was not a 442, but close enough. And that became my first car.
ANYTHING that was slick, fast, and beautiful! What you wanted and what you got were two different things. The first one was a `63 Mercury Comet S22 coupe with a three speed floor mounted gear shift. Paid $200.00 for it late 1970,months before I even got my license. Would practice driving the manual transmission in my communal driveway. Good car in good, clean shape, but I ‘bombed’ it up as just about any driver would do on his first car!
what did i want to drive back in the day? let’s take a trip down memory lane….
1957 chevrolet bel aire. my mom owned one and it is the first car i remember.
1968 pontiac firebird. actually owned this a 400 convertible with a th400.
first gen bmw 6 series. saw one in france one day and was instantly smitten. had no idea what it was (other than a bmw!) and could not believe the styling.
last generation jeep cherokee xj. actually owned this too but not a manual.
now, i think about touring wagons with a manual trans. that’s a pipe dream but if i had enough $$$ i would make it happen. mondeo, opel, bmw, audi anything can be modified!
If I had a “dream car” in early teenage years, it was probably something affordable (times were tough for my family back then,) but once I saw the Fuego reviewed in Playboy Magazine, I was smitten! My first car was something affordable-a used Mercury Monarch I bought when I got a new job and needed wheels to get there, but later on, I finally got my Renault (also used, but still a treat!) I never got my date with Morgan Fairchild (the other teenage dream I had,) but I did get my car.
Great question GN. I bought my first car even before I had my driver’s license, a beat-up rusted blue 1972 Chevelle 2-door. My dream car at that time was that car, but heavily modified. My Chevelle had a 250 straight six and a Powerglide, and the engine wasn’t running. I wanted to build a high performance Chevy small block, upgrade the suspension with stiff springs and big sway bars, and convert it to an “SS” clone. At this time, Pro Street was big, but I had visions of building something along the lines of a Pro Touring car, before Pro Touring became a thing. I’d spend hours scouring the PAW parts catalogs and the like searching for parts that I couldn’t afford to fix up my old Chevelle. In the end, I got the car running but it was too far gone to be anything beyond a beater. It was well above my skill-set and budget at the time to bring it back to the glory. I learned a lot about working on cars from that car.
While the Chevelle spent much time up on blocks, I actually learned to drive a few others, two of which were also from 1972. One was a 1972 Torino and the other a 1972 Skylark 4-door. I stuck my nose up at that Buick because it was a 4-door, but I’d take it in a hearbeat today. It was a floaty old beast, but that 350 Buick had nice low-end torque.
After the Chevelle was sold to a friend (who used it for parts), I ended up lusting after a 1977-79 Chevrolet B-body coupe with a 350 and F41 suspension, but ended up with a hand-me down B-body wagon instead.
This was my first car(not the actual one but just like it). It was my Grandparents.
I got it just before getting my license in 98. They bought an 84 Olds cutlass supreme and handed me the keys to the Marquis. I really loved that car. I wish I still had it. But it was on its last legs.
But it’s nice to be able to say I got exactly what I wanted for my first car.
My story is somwhat unusual in that despite the fact that I’m a car nut from an early age, I actually didn’t get my license until after I graduated from law school in 1987. I spent much of the previous decade either living or commenting to Boston for school & had no real need for a car. The car that I lusted for at the time was the Mustang LX 5.0, which just came out. I bought a 1985 1/2 Escort for my first car instead, which I did like, although several years later I almost bought a 1985 Mustang GT, which my brother wisely dissuaded from buying as it was somewhat beat.
License in fall of ’64, driving test on a Driving School ’63 Dodge Dart. Auto lust was for the ’64 Pontiac GTO with the tail pipe splitters. First vehicle was Honda 250 Scrambler, then a ’57 Pontiac 4 DR. I was lucky enough to work for Dealerships all my life [mostly the back end] yet make a good living and enjoying perks of new Demos for most of the time. Still nuts about cars.
Wanted a 69-70 Cadillac or a 77-79 town car. Ended up with an 80 0ldsmobile 88 royal brougham which was soon replaced with a 78 ltd landau coupe.
I actually got my dream car, When I was about 16 I used to see a 1969 Valiant Regal Hardtop driving around the town I grew up in.
To me, it looked just like one of the Plymouth or Dodge muscle cars I used to read about in magazines.
It had Pacer wheels & wheelcovers, wide tires, BFG T/As on the back, rode a bit lower than stock and most importantly, it had a 318.
When I was 17 my parents started letting me look around for a car to buy.(in Australia driving age is 18, but you started learning at 17)
I looked at a few cars, including Aussie Chargers, (it was always going to be a Valiant !!) but nothing really grabbed me.
Imagine my joy when the above mentioned actual car came up for sale, my parents let me take out a loan, (in their name) to buy the car.
That car taught me a lot, unfortunately responsible car ownership wasn’t one of them.
I wasn’t very mature for my age and drove that car hard without looking after it.
I wish my Dad had taken the keys and locked the car away until I was “old” enough to handle the responsibility.
Anyway, it wasn’t all bad, and me and my mates had some great times with that car.
Here it is. unfortunately the wrong way around.
There wasn’t just one! I was a total slut for the Fiat 128 sedan, Fiat Brava, the LeCar (in orange with the fabric sunroof), a Volvo 123GT, Mercedes 190.. but I had a twice rear-ended Kleenex yellow Datsun 510 wagon.
I fell in love with the 56 DeSoto Fireflite with Adventurer running gear, and thought one in a convertible would be cool, that was when dad bought it new, I was seven. Then the 1957 Plymouth came out. Several relatives and friends bought new Belvederes, my dream car became a Belvedere convertible from ’57. David Jansen had a tv series from ’57-’60 where he played a PI, he drove new Belvedere converts in 57 and 58 and a DeSoto Fireflite convert in 59-60. The way he drove them made me want one more. I started detailing the cars in a good size area blocks around home at 12, by 15 had three jobs, and enough savings to buy cars, I also had my drivers license because Chico was much smaller then and was a “rural” area in California which allowed me to get a full license at 15. I had found a ’57 Belvedere convertible in town, with all accessories I wanted, even the right colors of gold with white trim, but wasn’t sure the young guy would sell, it was like new, even had a new set of wide whites. Also there was the little problem of dad. He and I were aliens to one another. He was football, hunting, fishing, man’s man all the way and a type A+ personality that could make your head explode, I was already taller than dad at 5’10” at 15 and still growing, I also had developed muscles and abs from work and working out. Mom taught me how to read and comprehend by age 2, I developed a personality like hers , more relaxed, which drove dad crazy. by 1st grade I was writing school skits, and performing, in glee club and learning to dance every style possible, by sixth grade I was good at performing, and added painting, drawing, sculpting, playing guitar, flute and piano. Dad considered most of it wasted effort. At least we agreed on fishing (although being out in nature with a camera was as relaxing) and on mechanical things. I bought my first Harley, a 1958 Electra-Glide in deep blue with white trim at 15. It came with a full set of black leathers and buckle engineer boots, which mom wasn’t thrilled with, she said I looked like a hood, which I guess I did as much as a kid who still was thin, had short golden blond hair, pale blue eyes and looked more Bambi than Brando. But she was right, things were changing, in the short amount of time between jobs I had joined a motorcycle…group, who were cool guys, just different personalities from what I had known and I didn’t tell my parents, although dad WOULD have approved, he rode with a Harley group as a teen. I also maintained my squeaky clean image at school, although closest friends knew. My new personality also made a decision. Dad had absolutely forbidden my purchasing a high powered convertible as a first car, this after teaching me to drive the DeSoto and not letting me get my license until he was sure I could hang the tail out, do slalom and 180’s and really knew how to drive. I had the money, and decided not to worry mom,or tell dad. I rode the Harley to where I’d seen the ’57 parked most. I figured it was meant to be, the guy was just putting a for sale sign in the car. This was 1964, his name was Tim and his dad bought the car new, he had it a few years and had it overseas with him in the Air Force, he blew the engine a year before and located a 1958 Fury 350 Golden Commando, had it sent to him and dropped it in the ’57, then went ape and beefed everything else mechanical to Fury specs. He was out of the service, going to Chico State College, and had just bought a custom order 64 Sports Fury convertible in Bronze poly, full equipped, and with a 426 Max Wedge with 4 speed. The dealer only offered 200 on the ’57. I told him I loved ’57’s and had drooled over his car for months. He sold it to me for $300, Jimmy, a friend who lived a block away from home asked his parents if I could park the Plymouth there. They were free thinking near hippies who said yes. The ’57 needed nothing, totally clean and waxed, full power equipment, A/C from factory, of course, it was only seven years old, he had also added the Fury instrument cluster. The only thing missing was dual rear antennae, but that was okay, the one on the front fender was power. It also had the wing tips on the bumpers, which I loved. I was happy as I got home, only to have a surprise waiting. Dad had found his ideal for my first car, a Morris Minor 1000 coupe. “Oh God!” I thought, one of the slower cars around. Dad and I headed for the college district, as he turned a corner by a sorority house he said, “There it is.” I realized he didn’t have a clue what a Morris Minor was supposed to look like. This was setting low, with wide tires and rims filling the wheel wells, driving lights across the front, a roll bar visible,. As we walked to it, the girl owner came out. I was looking at the inside, custom bucket seats and harness’s, no rear seat, but a custom leather covered shelf, woodgrain dash, normal speedo, but also gauges and tach, the steering wheel was stock, but the banjo type and in good shape. I popped the hood, at first I wasn’t sure what I was looking at, then realized it was an MG-A Twin Cam with dual webers, and a home made ram induction system, a set of Fiam air horns. I was getting excited about it. Dad paid the girl her asking price of $100. She was saying,”Daddy says he wants it back, but put it in my name so I could not have any problems, it’s just so rough to drive, and hard to get in and out, the seat belt fastening, I just want a nice little Fiat a friend has. I was sure the father was going to go ballistic, but kept my mouth shut. Outside it was nicely painted Rambler Montego Rose, and inside the original red leather side panels with dark brown leather sheall seats and brown roxpoint carpet. The roll bar and headliner were white vinyl covered. It had a heater-sort of, with no radio, toggle switches did outside lights. She explained the starting, turn the key on and when the electric fuel pump stops, pull the starter switch and once started, blip the throttle until completely warm, then you can drive. That’s what I did and still killed it the first time I let the clutch up. By the time I got it home I really liked it. I read McCahills test of a 57 Minor coupe, 0-60 in 34 seconds and top speed of 72 mph but nearly 50 mpg. McCahill also always urged people to know the performance of their cars. I went to Norms and picked him up, we went out to farm country, where it is relatively safe to go fast. Both on board, it clocked off 0-60 in 10 seconds with a glorious howl from the webers and rap from the exhaust. Later we had Norm drive his ex-CHP 57 Buick Century with certified speedo to see how fast the Minor went. It was just under 120 mph. We soon checked the Belvedere performance, 7.5 0-60, with a top of a little over 130 mph with both wcfb’s wide open. I’ve never been down to one car since that day. The synchronicity of iit, both had torsion bar and leaf spring suspension, both were 3-3.5 turns lock to lock, both had performance engines, they both had performance linings on their brakes, but the Minor had drums the size of a ashtray. I weighed it, and it was just over 1,000 pounds, the Plymouth surprised me at just over 3,000 pounds. I drove both a lot, but my time with the Plymouth, which I intended to keep forever, wasn’t long enough. ending up as a center car in a six car pile up, even the engine block was damaged.. When it was wrecked I had added an Austin-Healey 100M, a ’56 turquoise T-bird with white roof, (which got rolled over a few months later), and the first of 12 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 Sunliners and 2 door Victorias. At 17, I found a perfect, original (23,000 miles) 1959 Plymouth Sport Fury convertible in bronze, inside and out, white top, new wide whites, full power, A/C, swivel seats, headlight dimmer, cruise control, radio, automatic inside rear view mirror, pushbutton TorqueFlite ,posi, and Golden Commando 395 (361 with dealer added 2x4bbls). it was flawless and I bought it instantly, intending forever ownership. Dad found out I had been buying and selling cars for years, and all the relatives knew it. While I was at work he sold the ’59 Fury, and four other cars he located. Dad said until I was 18 he could at least control my car purchases. He would not tell me where any went. Dad was in very good physical condition and in our verbal argument, he thru the first punch, I was still standing when it finished. Dad was pissed and ordered me out of the house. That wasn’t really a problem for me, but mom stopped me from leaving, telling dad we had taken his verbal abuse for years, and if it was going to be physical, she was going too. There was tension in the house, but dad never verbally abused, or raised a hand again, but the ’59 Sports Fury was gone. He tried to tell me it was for my own good, it was too much car, yada yada. Actually I didn’t talk much to him from 17 to 18, and on my 18th Birthday came home with my three year old ’63, 30,000 mile 425 cube Electra convertible which he couldn’t sell out from under me. We stayed silent to each other for another two years, I remained to referee arguments which they still had, but not as bad as before, gradually dad got calmer, we did agree on cars, and I maintained the DeSoto and International pickup for him. When he retired, things heated up with them at home and he asked if he could work with me at my restoration and detail business. I said yes, he was brilliant at the work and loved doing it, we formed a new respect for each other, he finally calmed down. His last 20 years were good for him, and easier for Mom. He still had a temper and you could imagine the term “road rage” was invented for him, but life worked better than it had. One evening, he had been upset at someone in traffic that day, and wasn’t feeling well, he didn’t want to go to the hospital to get checked out, his last ride was in the Electra. He left the DeSoto and International to me. pic is of my 1st ’57 conv, I have another to restore now.
LRF, that really was a great story, but My God, could you PLEASE use some paragraph breaks next time?
I had to keep stopping after about a third of the way through, for fear of vertigo taking over, then kept losing my place, and having to reread a lot of it.
I know it’s my problem, not yours, but just asking; great story though, including some parallels, though I’d put you closer to my older brother’s age than mine.
Didn’t get my license till i was 17, (in 2006) would of loved to own the 2005 Cobalt SS Supercharged, but i ended up with a 1993 Mercury Topaz i saw on my way home from school one day, drove my parents nuts to get it for me, seeing how my grandfather had one similar.
I got my license in 1973. I wanted a 1963 Corvette Stingray or a 1964 1/2 Ford Mustang. ‘Nuff said.
A 1968 Chevrolet Bel Air, Biscayne, Impala or Caprice Classic. I wasn’t picky about the # of taillights.
What an interesting posting! I received my license in 1985, at the age of 17. I always had “older man tastes”, I know. I didn’t go for Camaros or Mustangs like my peers. I desired cars that hinted at “old-world” luxury and panache. I have a large list, but here are the top 6 in this photo-chart, the last one (bottom right), ended up being my first new car! So, these are: 1982 Chrysler Le Baron sedan, with the landau half-roof partially covering the rear door (similar to the 1967-71 Thunderbird), 1982 (that generation) Lincoln Continental (“let’s do the bustle!” – a previous posting title), 1985 Cadillac Cimarron (the Charlie Brown of Cadillacs, but with the V-6), 1985 Oldsmobile Firenza Cruiser station wagon (with the wood trim, of course!), Chrysler Le Baron Town & Country convertible, and finally, Chrysler’s P-car with it’s slightly-cute “hidden-hatchback” design: my 1989 Plymouth Sundance “Highline” (a Canadian trim line). Honourable mentions for me are: 1985 Buick Skyhawk sport hatchback with the hidden headlamp option, 1985 Chrysler New Yorker, and 1986 Oldsmobile Toronado.
For me, it was a toss up: Ford Granada Ghia sedan, loaded with leather bucket seats; the new, “downsized” ’77 Thunderbird, or what I ended up with: a ’67 Mercury Cougar. It fit my budget and I always loved it. And I’ve had a certain ’68 for almost 25 years now.
Back in the day I was desireous of the then-new Volkswagen Scirocco, the Toyota Celica and the Datsun 280-Z. Not too long afterwards I lusted for the Mazda RX-7 and the first Honda Accord Hatchback Coupe.
Dad and I had the same commute when I was 16, and en route there was one of these, in this color, with these stripes, with these wheels, in the driveway. He casually mentioned that he planned to procure it for me. It took me about six months to accept that he had been joking…
After reality set in, I shifted my sights to something different.
Just-out-of-reach-attainable? ’64 Ford Galaxie hardtop. This was in 1996, but I always loved the classics. Found one in Auto Trader for $3500, 390 and mags, but my budget was about half that so I didn’t even bother to go look at it.
“Reasonable” new car dream of the time? Probably a V8 Thunderbird. The affordable sibling of the car I really wanted, which was the Lincoln Mark VIII. (That or an RX7, how are those for polar opposites of the coupe world?)