01 June 2013

Kathryn's Jeep






















WHO?       Katey
WHAT?     Jeep
WHEN?     right now
WHERE?   beside the barn
WHY?       "cuzza Daddy"!  :)

06 May 2013

Vowels . . .

Just received this email, and got quite a chuckle out of it.

"Sir,

Would you like to buy a vowel?

Sincerely,

Vanna "

YrHmblHst's nom de plume comes as a tip o'the hat, and in homage to, Henry N Manney III.  Would that I have his wit and style with the quill...

13 February 2013

Scott's Charger


YrHmblHst saw these 'back in the day' photos over on The Oldie But Goodie , and just KNEW there had to be a good story behind them. Some sleuthing and searching around to find the source, and hopefully the background to the pictures, turned up the story of Scott's Charger. Neat story with fantastic photos, this one is unlike many others because Scott STILL owns the car he went searching for whilst 16 years old! How great is that? I know I wish I still had mine...
Thanks to Mr Crawford for sharing his memories with us on the WWW .

"My name is Scott Crawford and I was a teenager at the perfect time. An Air Force brat, (my dad was a pilot and flew the supersonic Convair B-58 Hustler, but that’s another story) I went to 10 schools in as many years finally landing in Spokane Washington because of Fairchild Air Force base.theoldiebutgoodie:

Last year, I beleive in March, I talked with Scott Crawford, the owner of this Charger. Great and humble fella, He shared the story with me about this car:
“Hi Daniel, Sorry this took me a while to get back to you. It’s been a bit busy and I had to think of what to say. If this is too complex let me know and I will simplify it for you.
My name is Scott Crawford and was a teenager at the perfect time. An Air Force brat, (my dad was a pilot and flew the supersonic Convair B-58 Hustler, but that’s another story) I went to 10 schools in as many years finally landing in Spokane Washington because of Fairchild Air Force base. Too young to have experienced the original round of muscle car heaven, I entered high school just as the 64’s through 71’s were re-entering the market as used cars (amazing used cars).
They ranged from ratted out wrecks on their second or third engine and sporting every crazy accessory that our local auto store offered, to gorgeous mint jewels, babied and barely worn. The latter usually required a (good) job and fairly deep pockets while the former could be had for as little as $500.00 to a steeper $1500.00.
I loved cars from the first moment I could walk and, like every freshman teenager, I watched with great interest as juniors and seniors paraded to and from school in their newly acquired muscle. I didn’t take long before I started to think about which ultimate machine I would own.
My first viewing of the movie Bullitt with Steve McQueen sealed it for me. I had to have a 1968 Charger. I began my quest and after 6 months of looking I found and purchased the car I still have today. It was a few months before my 17th birthday and my world changed forever.
Once the world of muscle car ownership opened up, merely being in a car became a spiritual experience. It was a time where seemingly every other car on the road was muscle car. At least that was certainly the case while cruising Spokane’s Riverside Avenue, the local driving hotspot. What would now amount to an insanely awesome turnout at a national car show was a regular (if not ho hum) night on Riverside.
When I picked up my Charger in 1977, it was already 9 years old. Although far from brand new when I got it, it was in excellent shape for its 9 years and I never had to do anything to it, except keep it in good condition (not always easy for a teenager). It remains a time capsule of my senior year in high school being all original (to the time) except for an insane stereo I put in it a few years ago and the occasional maintenance item, very few tweaks, fixes, and trim replacements. I also replaced the wheels and tires on it in 2006 with new Cragars and B.F. Goodrich Radial T/A’s in the same size as the originals.” 
 

Too young to have experienced the original round of muscle car heaven, I entered high school just as the 64’s through 71’s were re-entering the market as used cars (amazing used cars).
They ranged from ratted out wrecks on their second or third engine and sporting every crazy accessory that our local auto store offered, to gorgeous mint jewels, babied and barely worn. The latter usually required a (good) job and fairly deep pockets while the former could be had for as little as $500.00 to a steeper $1500.00.

08 February 2013

Gillette's Sunliner

Thanx to Mr Alvin at The Last Days for sending in this story and photos of his first car. Fun story and great pictures of a cool car. Interesting blog too; history and insight from one who was there.
Ya gotta wonder though... Did maybe the car 'know something' and actually keep them all out of trouble?      :)


Tale of a Red Hot Motor

In 1959 I had saved enough money to buy my first car. Working afternoons and weekends, I had two jobs most of my high school years. Against my parents advice and concerns, I forged ahead and found a 1954 Ford Sunliner, (convertible.) Most of the “coolest” cars parked in the student driver’s area of the high school parking lot were convertibles. I fell in love and really wanted that car! 


31 December 2012

Trent's Spider


It's Alfa Romeo week here at My First Car... 
This from Trent who has PROMISED photos... A fun story made better by the fact that Trent STILL OWNS the car! He says it's a bit 'down at the mouth' right now, the two plus decades having taken their toll, but a little TLC is in the works, as soon as he finishes his Citroen.

"I was in the market for my first car. As every fifteen-year-old kid knows, this is a life altering decision... The deadline was the second day of November, the day I could finally drive my own car to school, ergo out to lunch. It was the middle of October. I had the money but was almost out of time...

Steve's first Alfa

Steve shared this story of his first Alfa Romeo with members of his local Alfa Club as reproduced here. Steve has become quite the lifelong Alfisti, owning several, winning numerous local, regional and even National Concours, plus publishing a book on Alfa Romeo restoration. His story about getting to America is quite the intriguing tale, but for now we'll just talk about his First Alfa.

"An Alfa owner lived in the same building as my family in Hungary. I was about twelve at the time and the Alfa was a red Giulietta Spider Veloce. The owner always parked it on our wider sidewalk against the wall of the protruding building next door. In this little domain, he did all his repairs, including a complete engine overhaul...

Rod's Alfa

"After borrowing my Dad's old Ford LTD for a few years, I bought my own car...a dark green 1973 Alfa Spider. That car quickly had me seduced.
A couple of weeks after buying the car, I noticed some gooey grey stuff in the radiator...