frosty Freezing Friday

[BirdbyBird]

BJ... I have to admit that part of the reason I am still driving the vehicles that I have is that I trust my mechanic to check them out and keep them running and not drain my savings account unless it is necessary choice. PS: my husband is on his second Subaru. He swears by their safety claims but I also have found them uncomfortable to both drive and ride in as a passenger.

[BarbaraRose]

Martha, i remember when my ex and I were married in 1965, his grandmother gave us her old 50 Chevy. We had to put a piece of sheet metal on the floor in front and a rubber mat over that to prevent water from puddles getting our feet wet when we drove. Whole front floor was rusted out!!

I had a '67 Chevy Impala like that. Had a large hole in the floorboard beneath my feet. If I drove thru a puddle, I lifted my feet up so they wouldn't get wet. I sold it to a neighbor and heard that the frame eventually broke in half from being so rusted. I loved that car tho! It would go thru the deepest snow (with a few cement blocks in the trunk!)

[BirdbyBird]

Mine was a red Ford Pinto station wagon....bought used and run to rust in the early 80's when the kids were very young. And yes the hole opened up on the floor of the drivers side.

About that same time late 70's early 80's my husband bought a used truck for some ridiculous low dollar price. It had been painted all over with red rustoleum paint....but it run and it got him to work. Our first house was also a real fixer upper that needed a lot of work. I remember one year trying to get or renew insurance on the house. The insurance company denied coverage between looking at the old truck and the rust on the metal roof over the porch. Slowly the house got a repainted roof (those metal roofs themselves last) new windows and insulation in the walls and the attic. We did have to spend the first winter or two using one of the upstairs bedrooms as a living room because all the available heat could only be found in the upstairs. We found the current house and moved to Lebanon when the 15 year mortgage was fully paid on the first house and Dennis realized that with two growing children about to be teenager he really wanted a second bathroom. The kids were old enough to notice that the inside suddenly (finally) got fixed up in order to sell. I think my son's observation was, it looks so nice now that we are moving. That was when he realised that his father had had the skill all the time. Me, I could make an occasional rabbit hutch or screened cat yard....but I wasn't about to tackle plumbing, electrical and moving walls and definitely didn't have enough hours in my days to think I was going to learn.

[dpf]

"I had a '67 Chevy Impala like that. Had a large hole in the floorboard beneath my feet. If I drove thru a puddle, I lifted my feet up so they wouldn't get wet. I sold it to a neighbor and heard that the frame eventually broke in half from being so rusted. I loved that car tho! It would go thru the deepest snow (with a few cement blocks in the trunk!) "

I had a 77 Cougar XR7 that was my first brand new car. It was all front end and was a hog on ice. I kept two bags of oyster shells in the trunk for weight all winter. If I ended up with no traction and just spinning wheels I'd end up opening the trunk and sprinkling oyster shells under the back tires and then I could take off. One day I was spinning in front of the post office so I hopped out opened the trunk and was doing my thing. There was a rather nosey old man who asked me what I was doing so I told him I was sprinking oyster shells and if he'd just stand there a little while a flock of chickens were going to come and give me a push. (for those of you who don't know what oyster shells are...they are given to chickens in their feed to help keep strong shells on the eggs)

[OregonLuvr]

I think it is fun seeing what everyone's first cars were like. Mine was a 1957 Chevy red and white, I loved it. Pristine condition. Sold it and bought a GTO ha ha, man I loved that car too. It was a stick shift with lots of power.

[Acadianmom]

Pat, I was wondering where you found oyster shells where you live. The oyster shells I see are not ground up. lol

Martha

[snowball]

"
I had a 77 Cougar XR7 that was my first brand new car. It was all front end and was a hog on ice. I kept two bags of oyster shells in the trunk for weight all winter. If I ended up with no traction and just spinning wheels I'd end up opening the trunk and sprinkling oyster shells under the back tires and then I could take off. One day I was spinning in front of the post office so I hopped out opened the trunk and was doing my thing. There was a rather nosey old man who asked me what I was doing so I told him I was sprinking oyster shells and if he'd just stand there a little while a flock of chickens were going to come and give me a push. (for those of you who don't know what oyster shells are...they are given to chickens in their feed to help keep strong shells on the eggs)

As I was reading this wondered if it was the stuff for the chickens didn't think to put it under stuck cars lol


I actually don't remember my first car didn't know the names of cars but think it had pink or salmon color then I decided to trade it in before I did what I needed to the dealership sold it and I didn't get anything for it a car or nothing... just a dumb country college student
sheila

[BarbaraRose]

My first car was a red Ford LTD, don't remember what year. Later I had 2 Ford Pinto Wagons, a light blue one and a brown one with wood paneling on the sides (my only stick). Later there was the '67 Impala, a Monte Carlo with all the bells and whistles, a Plymouth Turismo, a red convertible Pontiac Sunbird, a white '63 Chevy Bel Aire that I bought while living in Santa Barbara and drove back to MN. Then came 2 Ford Escort wagons and then 2 Jeep Liberies, a Grand Cherokee and my current Liberty. Have never owned a brand new car, altho I did buy a brand spanking new 19' boat in 1986!

[Pooker]

This is such fun! My first real car was a used '52 yellow Chevy convertible! My future husband's car was a '50 Chevy 2-door that had Bondo all over it to patch the rust and holes. Guess you know we always took my car on dates! Only problem I ever had with it was when you tried to put the top up, it wouldn't latch unless I jumped out, climbed up on the hood and sat down hard on the top edge! Then come back inside and lock the handle!

Evie

[Irmi]

Evie, that is so funny about you having to crawl on the hood to get your top up! All of you had some really neat cars!

My first car was a 1967 Valiant that I bought when I was 17. The next was a Barracuda. When I met Steve, he was driving a red Corvair and just before we got married, he bought a white Pinto with red and blue pin strips. Our last few cars were my 1996 SL500 2 seater Mercedes convertible, 1988 Buick Regal, which I absolutely loved, that I kept for about 25 years before I sold it. Steve's truck is a 1998 Chevy Silverado that we still have and our 2012 Ford Focus that we bought because it can be towed 4 wheels down. It's not a very comfortable car but it's economical and our toad.

[MandysMom]

My first car was the Silver Blue Metallic Ford 65Mustang, I shared with Mom, until I needed a car for clinical rotations, at which point it was on loan to me, until just before college graduation and off to the Navy. They signed the Mustang over to me as a tradi- in on my 71 Fiat Spyder, and off I went in it to my new career ! the PT Mel bought, is only my sixth car ever! Other than NightOwl, my Leisure Travel Van!
Velda

[Acadianmom]

Irmi, we gave my nephew my son's Ford Focus when he got a new car in 2018. I don't remember what year model it was. I never thought about it being towable. When my son gets through with a car just about no one wants it. My sister and nephew seem to like it a lot because it's easy and cheap to fix. It looks like a rolling trash bin now.

My first car was a 1965 Volkswagen my first husband and I bought after he came back from Viet Nam. We sold it in 1968 to pay the hospital bill when my son was born. I bought a Cougar when I went back to work and another Volkswagen some time after that. After Harold and I got married I had a GMC van. After the GMC I had an S-10 Blazer. I liked the Blazer a lot except it only had 2 doors. I would like to have another van but the only used ones I see for sale are the 12 passenger vans that usually have a lot of miles.

Martha

[Colliemom]

My first car was a 1966 Chevy impala, red with a black vinyl top. My parents gave it to me when I graduated from high school because they were getting a new car. I drove that for it about five years and then traded it for a Buick skylark which I drove until about 1978, then got a used Chevy blazer. That was followed by a Chevy pickup, a Chevy Trailblazer, a Chevy Tahoe and a couple of Chevy pickups, up to the one I have now. You get the drift I driving trucks I like riding up high and I also like the convenience of the automatic four-wheel-drive or regular four-wheel-drive if I need it. Plus, I was pulling travel trailers too. Seems like I’m always hauling something in the back.