It’s stating the obvious, but I’ve been into cars for as long as I can remember. Now in my mid-20s, I’m constantly daydreaming of what will be my next car, but even as a young child, the car I’d be driving someday was always on my mind.
Going back 20 years, my earliest memory of picturing my first car as an adult was at age 3. This was right around the time I started collecting car models (initially 1/24 scale and then 1/18) and other toy cars, with one of my favorites being a battery-powered 1/24 scale light blue 1995 Chevrolet Blazer. Located on the side were two buttons, one of which made engine and horn sounds, and the other which operated the wheels, making that car move forward several feet.
As one of my favorite toys at this age, I began myself as an adult, driving the full-size version. The dream of owning a Blazer lasted about a year or two, then I moved on. As I’ve grown up, my taste in cars has changed significantly for the better, and it seems funny to think that this was once my dream car. So, in the spirit of childhood memories, what was the first car you ever wanted?
I wanted the 70’s Blue Max funny car when I was a kid! Probably not the most practical choice. I also fell in love with boxy Mercedes-Benzes as a kid so I guess my tastes were pretty diverse even then.
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For some insane reason, 3 y.o. me was OBSESSED with my Aunt Teresa’s 1988 Chevrolet Cavalier sedan. Pretty sure it wasn’t even an RS. White with a blue interior and silver painted steel wheels. I remember it having a 5 speed.
I still remember the first time I saw a Mini as I walked home from school in 1959.
There was nothing else like it and I wanted my father to buy one.
Keeping in mind that I was somewhat less than my current 6′ tall when I was a toddler, driving most cars presented some obstacles. There was one that seemed the right size, and Coon Brothers on Telegraph always had a row of them in their lot facing the street: the Nash Metropolitan. Seemed much more reasonable than a 50 Plymouth, no matter how snazzy the Plymouth’s windshield visor was.
Of course, when I was little, I was surrounded by exotic cars with futuristic styling.
that’s an easy one. cannot believe it has not been asked and answered here a million times already.
1957 chevrolet bel air. my mom’s first car and the first one i remember.
now – not so much.
There were so many cars I was fascinated with as a child, it’s hard to remember the very first car I wanted. It must have been either the Dodge Viper, Nissan 300ZX…or VW Eurovan with the pop-up tent.
I was born in 1991, by the way.
My Grandpa had a VW Squareback and I always thought it was cool. I wanted a car with a glowing choke knob too. My all time favorite match box car was a Lotus Europa but I figured that with a name like that they were only in Europe.
Naturally no-one believes me when I tell them my Kindergarden teacher had a 4 door 510 in Sora blue. It had to be a ’69. It was brand spanking new. I’m on my third one.
Willys Jeep & 1957 Chevy.
I really got into cars when dad bought our 1960 Impala in May, 1965 when I was 14. Learned to drive in it and cruised all over!
A 1961 Lincoln Continental four door convertible, silver-gray metallic, red interior, black top.
Born 1974; Chevy shorty stepside pickup in blue, preferably pre ’78 with the round taillights and the rear sidemarkers that matched the fronts in the fenders. Basically the 1/32 scale MPC snap kit which was the first-ever model kit I owned.
My tastes got smaller when I switched allegiance to the Chevy Luv with details like 3-color taillights, twin pod dash and that upward kink in the body side crease on the front doors. Sometime around middle school I started reading Car and Driver and all the cars I’ve owned have followed the small-light-with-a-stick ethos they preached back in the ’80s especially (regardless of whether or not the actual model was/is buff book-recommended).
I wanted a Landrover, partly from my Matchbox cars and partly from the occasional real one on the street and in dealers in the early 70s
When I was a kid I used to collect all sorts of model cars, and in particular I had a thing for collecting scale concept cars from Hot Wheels. I remember a long time ago I had a collection of somewhere north of three hundred cars (which would be close to $400 in stupid little toys) that were all kept in plastic cases stacked in my room. All of them except for three. Those were a ’64 Mustang convertible with an opening hood, a vehicle called Evil Twin (which later I picked up a collector’s edition of, still in the case), and a Deora II. If you asked me when I was a kid what my favourite car was I’d always say it was the Mustang, but that’s only because I knew nobody knew what a Deora II was. Over the years I lost both the Mustang and the Deora II, but they’ve come back to me in different ways.
The reason why this qualifies (if only on a technicality) is that in 2003 Chip Foose’s company built a real-life replica of the Deora II for Hot Wheel’s 35th Anniversary as a sort of advertisement for the Hot Wheels Highway 35 World Race event. While there are differences from the original (namely the interior and use of a Cadillac V8 instead of the flat-plane crank V10 or twin-turbo V6 of the original toy) it’s still an amazing car and a stylistic zenith that I’ve never been able to get over.
I still have my Deora II toy somewhere. I’ve had it since before I can remember (literally).
1963 Pontiac Grand Prix.
69 Charger. Actually got to ride in one when I was 6, my mom had blown up the engine in our 61 Valiant on our way home, and some nice guy gave us a ride. It’s ingrained in my mind to this day.
Very interesting question. I grew up in a working class neighborhood in a small town in western Kentucky so the vast majority of vehicles I saw would have been from the low priced three, with the occasional Studebaker or Rambler mixed in just to shake things up. I am pretty sure that the first vehicle I really lusted after was my uncle’s 1951 Mercury; the model with the suicide doors on the back. The six year old me thought the Mercury was the greatest car in the world but apparently it was not. Later conversations with my uncle revealed that the Merc was prone to overheating, the brakes were woefully inadequate and it was hard to keep in tune. Not long after my aunt and uncle got married the Mercury was swapped for a 1955 Olds Super 88, another car I found way cooler than the Plymouth my father drove.
The first car that I thought was really cool as a kid was the Dodge Daytona. This was likely due to it being my only Matchbox car with an opening hood and my parents driving a Dodge Aries. I also seem to remember it being in the show Hunter.
Fiat 130 Coupe. It looked like a way better version of dad’s 125.
The first cars I can remember wanting, when I was four years old in mid-1970s Los Angeles, were at opposite ends of the spectrum. I wanted a Rolls-Royce Camargue desperately. But I also wanted a Gremlin; nobody drove anything like that in our neighborhood, it seemed really exotic, and I was smitten the first time I saw one.
I first notice one at about 5 years of age and I still love them. 1956 Packard Patrician.
1977-79 Buick LeSabre Limited 4 door just like the one Grandma had, it rode like a Cadillac and the seats were so comfortable, I would like mine to have either the 350 Oldsmobile Rocket or the 403 V8.
Also admittedly when I was little another car I’ve wanted was a 1980-82 Chevy Citation 5 door because in the late 80’s I’ve always associated a bunch of hot looking ladies driving that car and that car reminds me of various girls I’ve had crushes on during that time, little did I know they’ve turned out to be one of the worst cars GM has ever built.
Born in 87, I was always drawn to my Pontiac Fiero Matchbox cars as a child. A little later the 2nd gen 300zx was the car I lusted after. I still think the 300zx is one of the most beautiful cars ever made. It’s a shame nice ones are so hard to come by.
For real life cars, as a toddler i was mad for VW Type 1s, and then saab 99s. My love of all things large and GM came when i was around 5 and never went away.
When I was about 3 or 4, I rode with my father in a mid 1990s Chevrolet truck (The full size ones, not the S10). We owned a 1992 F250 at the time, but I really liked that Chevrolet.
We have one today, and I must say, my younger self had good tastes!
There was a ’56 Chevy Nomad in a Adobe Beige over Sierra Gold two tone in the always parked a couple of blocks from where we lived about the time I was in Kindergarten (1959). That was my first lusted-after car. Second on the list, and the first one that I built a model of was a split window Corvette.
The first car I realistically wanted as a teen was a cobalt SS from need for speed Most Wanted. I’m probably a bit younger than most of you here…
When you were a teen and it was a Cobalt SS.
It almost equals to when I was a little boy and I liked the Pontiac Firebird in NFS 4, so probably I’m around your age.
Another picture from another video game I liked then.
After being introduced to the Love Bug movies when I was around 4 years , I was obsessed with the Volkswagen Type 1 and will forever want a 1963 VW Beetle Ragtop sunroof sedan in L-87. Pearl White In my childhood I got quite a lot of VW merchandise which I still mostly have; one of which was a poster picturing a 1950’s Type 1 next to the New Beetle proclaiming “A bugs life” was always above my bed, I still have it in storage somewhere. In my early childhood my family cruised around in a blue a2 Jetta sedan and I would love to get something similar to it. Being on the rainy west coast of Canada I didn’t end up with a Volkswagen Beetle, I ended up with a low mileage 1998 Saturn SL2 (automatic), I absolutely despise GM but my fathers GM fanboyism and my interest of an underdog got in the way. My Grad gift to myself will be upgrading to a more sportier manual automobile.
’77 Pontiac Firebird Trans AM. Still want one..
Mom’s first car. Bought it for a song right after the first gas crisis. She had no real idea what it was. In her own words, “I would get pulled over all the time. Then the officer would see a woman. I never got a ticket.” She also said it was broken into multiple times, and that is why she got rid of it for a new ’79 Fox Mustang…
Nobody else wanted the Batmobile?
That was going to be my reply. In terms of real world options, the first thing I remember hankering for was one of these. I must have been an odd child.
The very second my dad brought home his ’68 Jeep CJ-5 for plowing snow, I knew I loved Jeeps. Ive owned 2 CJ-7s, a Scrambler, a YJ and TJ Wrangler. Even my gawking 3 y/o self knew Id have one some day, but Id have a ton of toy Jeeps first…and since.
I saw my first C3 Corvette about that same time and immediately loved it. That exotic curvy body reached out to me…it was like something from another planet. Like the Jeeps, I had plenty of toy Corvettes. I was 10 y/o when the C4 Vette came out, with its bland, uninspiring body. For the most part, that infatuation was over by then.
I “came of age” (in a Ford household) just before the Mustang appeared, and so these ’63-64 Falcon Sprint convertibles/hardtops looked fun and lithe and “big/fast enough.” The beefed-up Falcons in international rally dress really appealed; for some reason I’d rather have a lookalike “tribute” rally Falcon here in 2016 than even a “Bullitt” Mustang (though the resale market would probably think me crazy).
68 or newer VW Westfalia camper. My dad had a 67 VW bus, last year of the split windshield. When we traveled around Europe , many camp grounds had the new VW Westfalias that Americans had just bought during vacations. I was envious, because I liked the newer look, and the ease and comfort of their camping experience. In 85, I finally bought a 74 Westy. Wish I still had it.
Probably between this or the Bandit’s Trans Am.
I was 2.5 years old when the Edsel appeared. That’s what I wanted.
My tastes in cars have always been a little different. mine is a 1959 Rambler Rebel. It was only in the 60’s that I discovered that it was not the fire breathing dragon that the 1957 Rebel had been, the only car faster that year was the Corvette. I still to this day think the ’59 looks better compared to the ’57 which is more rounded and almost no tail fins. To this day I like cars that are angular and/or boxy as opposed to being curved. My favorite Rambler of all time is a ’65-66 Ambassador. Looks almost like a 3\4 size 1961 – 1965 Lincoln Continental.
YOMV (your opinion may vary).
None. When I was young all I wanted was my Aurora road race set and a Schwinn 10 speed Super Sport. My interest in cars, other than washing and vacuuming them, didn’t come to fruition until I was almost 15 years old. At that point my father, who had many company cars, set out to buy his own car and I went along in early spring 1968.
We looked at a wide variety of cars from Volvo 1800, to Porsche 912, to Mercedes 220, to California Special Mustang, to Mercury Cougar to name a few. In the end he bought the Cougar at Canoga Park L&M. I exerted no real suggestions as to what to get. As I got close to turning 16 I had all the magazines discussing the 1969 and 1970 line ups. Still have them all today.
Anyway it was presumptuous for me to think I would get a new car at the age of 16 in the form of a 1970 Mustang.My father seemed to anticipate this and suggested the now 14 month old Cougar he could buy from the company at a very good price. He did and I paid $2200 over 22 months. He even helped find me a contact to purchase Ansen mags and white letter F70-14 tires a month later.Still have the mags but now the car has 15″ Ansen mags. This is the car that started my romance and taught me everything I know about cars, particularly Fords, from engine rebuilds, to body work, to painting.
in 1968 my uncle bought a 1964 mercury park lane convertible, black with a red interior.
I would have happily sold my 5 year old soul for it!
it took him all of 4 years to drive it into the ground. 🙁
too this day I am still a sucker for any car in a black and red color combo.
As a kid 4×4 pickups pretty much all of them. First car I lusted over Charger Daytona loved the wing cars as a kid. By the time I was 12 I was obsessed with original civilian power wagons and still am.
A 1966 Ford Mustang convertible. Red with red interior,289 with C-4 Cruise-O-Matic. A friend of my Mom’s,a woman named Carmen, had a brand new one back when I was the ripe old age of (7). She took me to school in it a couple of times (even had the top down). Sadly she didn’t have the car very long due to a divorce. She was trying to raise three small children by herself at the the time,and could not afford to keep the Mustang any longer. The funny thing is,her estranged husband,also had a brand new, red w/ red interior “66 Mustang GT 2+2 fastback. I think he ended up losing his car too. Probably served him right for bailing on his family?
The earliest car I can remember was a 2003 lime green Saturn Ion quad coupe. For some reason, I thought that it was the coolest car ever. Granted, I was only 3 at the time, and my tastes have changed a lot since that time. By the time I was 10 or 11, I found myself lusting for hi-po 1980’s Saab 900’s (SPG, Turbo, etc), and I still find myself doing this. By God, I will own one someday 🙂
1958 Pontiac Tri power
I wonder how much influence Hotwheels gives throughout the years.
The very first car that I sat in at a used car lot was believe it or not, a Model T Ford. This was in the early 60s. I was around five years old.This car was in very nice original condition and was a little over thirty years old. The car was located in one of the used car lots that were around our house on East 14th. St. in Oakland. My Dad took me to see it because I pestered him so much. The first car that I really fantasized owning and driving was a 1956 Cadillac hardtop Sedan de Ville. This was probably in 1965 or 1966. I remember being impressed by the fancy interior and the long low lines. A very strong memory is looking under the hood and seeing that V8 motor nestled down low covered with that fantastic double scooped air cleaner and the glass bowl fuel filter. This started a long time love of Cadillacs. I have owned many older Cadillacs and finally did own a ’56 SdV for a couple of years.
I’m not too sure but I think it must have been the Citroen SM. I was born in 67 in a Citroen family (the 1st car I ever rode in was the 2CV that brought me home when I was 5 days old), and the SM when I was small was the ultimate car. OK my grandpa and great-uncle both has DSs, which was fine enough, but the SM was some kind of über-DS (very fast, very impractical, with amazing looks and with a price tag that put it out of reach for mere mortals) which you really didn’t see every day. AND it was also used by the Gendarmerie’s highway patrols, which made it even cooler in my young eyes.
Then when I was about 12 my uncle went to the States on a business trip and brought me back a copy of Custom Rodder magazine, which give me a new, VERY different perspective :-). I still have more than a soft spot for the SM, though. I don’t think I’ll ever own one, but who knows. They are not terribly expensive to buy (yes, I’m aware they become a money pit the very minute you drive off with them). Mine must be metallic blue.
My first car and my first dream car was my grandmothers 1986 Mercury marquis.
I don’t know why but I always liked this car and was ecstatic when I got it.
I would love to get another one.
The pic is identical to the one I had.
It would be a battle between the Rover SD1 V8 and Citroen CX Pallas. I was a strange child.
Both EXCELLENT choices!
I remember my friend George’s fathers 77 Ltd landau and his grandfather’s Lincoln continental. George’s father always drove that huge Ltd wide open. It was very luxurious and it had flip up lights and a car phone. First car phone I ever saw. That Ltd was some ride. The grandfather had a seldom driven continental in mint condition. I rode in it one time. I played with the power seat and window button. The old man said, you pusha the buttons I putta you out. I couldn’t resist and did get put out and had to walk 4 miles home at age 7. The old man made a big impression on me in that magical car. I walked home in the cold not mad but inspired that some day I would have a Lincoln of my own. 3 Lincoln’s and 2 Ltd landaus later I can only say thanks old man Collarulo.
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A new forward-look Plymouth was on display at a dept. store. I gasped and my 4-yr. old jaw dropped………. 30 years before Christine …….