I loved mine too - March of 73 - had the same front end as a Porsche. They changed the design in the summer of 73.

I'll get another one - but my next one will be a 65 hardtop. They were more round.

FWIW, the current Fiat 500 is about as close as you can currently get to a classic bug - with all the safety and amenities of today.

 

Mostly it was our family car- a 1960 Rambler wagon, with push button gears. I'd go in and out our driveway (50 yards) about 20x per day. At night the gear buttons had a nice color glow. I think Reverse was red.

 

I learned to "drive" on a small tractor. I learned to drift in a gokart on a dirt track. Somehow I didn't kill myself on the 60cc Yamaha dirt bike.

The first on road vehicle I learned to drive was a 1970 VW bus. The shift lever stuck up from the floor about 3 feet and your lower legs were the crumple zone.

 

Before learning to drive actual cars, there were these:


1972 Yamaha 250 Trials. The first actual motored vehicle I learned how to crash, a lot, when I was 12.


Traded the bike for something a little more stable (not really) when I was 14. 1982 Yamaha Tri-Moto 200.


Then bought a brand new Honda 200x with my newspaper money when I was 16.

 

Busted my butt more than once on those three wheelers.

 

Well if we are going pre cars. Then it was a Moped, then a dirtbike for me. Then before that a bicycle.

 

1968 Plymouth Satallite slant 6 with a 3 on the tree

 

And not even the AMX version.

Will never forget the look on the DMV Inspectors face when he came out to test me. "We're takin' this? Well... I guess - hope nobody I know actually see's me in this. Lets just get this over with pretty quick - what ya say kid?"

While not the specific car - it was identical to this one here.

 

I learned in a couple of cars my Uncles' '47-'58 Chevy Dirt Track Race Car, and my '69 Austin Healey Sprite... sorry no photos.

The 1969 Austin Healey Sprite was my first car.

 

In 1958 we, my friend and I, started working on a 1947 Crosley sedan. We removed the body, wheels, and everything else (not that there was much to these little cars.
We had help with diamond plate fenders that were made from parts from an old fire truck. The tires/wheels are off of old air tire wheel barrows. We added an extra transmission from a old jeep three speed, so it now had two transmissions (to make it go slower, if it was needed, needless to say, we really did not use it. we built nice little bucket seating, which worked when we were nine, but by two years later, we had to make the seating larger, as we both had grown so much (the picture is during transition. hence the seats were just cushions at time of photo.)
I ended up getting twelve Crosley cars in the long run and wish I had them now!
We both became quite good drivers with this and a renault that we turned into a drag car with a BMW Isetta 300 front end, a ice boat racer frame, with the Renault on the back! (I have long ago lost pics)
Here are the only two I have:

 

1940 chevy master coupe.
ISAMIN

 

This 2-ton capacity 1970 Jeep Gladiator J-3000, which came with a Buick 350 V-8, Timken 4-speed manual transmission (1st was a "creeper" gear, making it essentially a 3-speed in daily driving) and dual-range 4-wheel drive. I'm the shirtless hunk on the right, along with two friends, plus my mom in the back. Picture taken near Schroon Lake, NY in 1972. BTW, I actually took my driving test in this beast!

 

I first started to drive in a 1974 AMC Matador which my brother said I could keep if I could fix it. I fixed it and drove to 8th grade for a week before he took it back. Then it was a 1975 Brown Ford Pinto Hatchback. High school friend let me learn how to drive manual.

 

 

Wow!
Cool thread here!


I especially like the Lancia Beta and Citroen Deese.

I first learned to drive in a rather sketchy homemade go-kart.

Later, dad taught me manual gearbox on a Dodge Omni 024.

Finally got the swing of things with a 1979 Honda Accord CVCC hatchback 5spd,
similar to this one:

 

I had two of these. The first a 1965 with a 327 Gladiator V8 and the second a 1966 with the overhead cam, straight six. They both were work horses, with the 1965 being the ultimate 4speed 4X4 work on the ranch truck! Wish I still had it!

 

Cool! Before this one, my parents had a white '64 Gladiator with the straight six ("Hurricane" Six, I think...?) and "three on the tree." As far as I know, Kaiser Jeep produced their own 4- and 6-cylinder engines, but the V-8s were Chevy (327) and Buick (350).

 

Quote: I had two of these. The first a 1965 with a 327 Gladiator V8 and the second a 1966 with the overhead cam, straight six. They both were work horses, with the 1965 being the ultimate 4speed 4X4 work on the ranch truck! Wish I still had it! end quote.

No, they made the 327 Gladiator V8 engine too!
The AMC 327 is similar to the 287, but displaces 327 cu in (5.4 L) due to the bore increase to 4.0 inches (102 mm). Unlike the 250, the 327 was produced with hydraulic valve lifters. Contrary to some myths, the AMC V8 was not built by Chevrolet, whose own 327 V8 later became better known. The AMC 327 was introduced five years before the Chevrolet 327 engine was manufactured.[5]

During 1965 the 327 cu in (5.4 L) AMC V8 engine became available. It produced 250 hp (186 kW; 253 PS) and 340 pound force-feet (461 N⋅m) of torque at 2600 rpm.
This was a good engine!

 

Interesting! I've forgotten a lot of what I used to know about Jeep back then.

The Buick 350 in our Gladiator was obviously tuned for pulling tree stumps, not drag racing. It was prone to frequent problems with the hydraulic lifters, but otherwise was a great engine for that truck.

 

A 1959 Morris Minor. I bought two non-runners and made one good car out of them. I taught myself to drive a manual shift in that car, I drove it for years and it was part trade for a 1969 MGB-GT, that I still have.

 

First car was a 1993 BMW 325i 2dr. Was an awesome little car but automatic. Owned for 1.5 years and then found a 1995 325is manual which is the car I learned to drive stick on.

 

93 Toyota Tercel with a 4 speed manual and 287k miles. Was my first car that was given to me from my aunt who bought it new. Weighed around 1900 pounds and got 40mpg even without an overdrive gear.

 

1972 Audi 100LS with a 4 speed. Used to drive it like I stole it.....

 

I had a 1965 with the Gladiator 327 Jeep engine and a 4 speed manual and 4x4. It was a great little truck, that I think could have run forever! Mine was a metallic gold color. It served me well for many years.