"soulless, hyper fuel-efficient machines"

My very first car was a 1969 VW Beetle. I put a header on it, along with some aluminum mag wheels. I really loved that car. Waxed it at least once a month. Maybe because it was my first one? Sometimes I was disappointed because nobody else seemed to like it. Girls sure didn't think it was "hot". I drove it for almost 4 years....

... and when I was 19 I spent all the money I had saved up and bought a brand new 1977 Firebird TransAm off the showroom floor. As it turned out, I bought it about a month before the movie Smokey and the Bandit came out. Wow, everyone loved it. The girls thought it was hot! Everyone wanted a ride. Man, I got in a lot of trouble with that car (suspended license, twice). It gulped gas in large quantities, the doors rattled, and it ate tires (ok, some of that was probably my fault). I kept it less than 2 years and sold it...

... and bought a 1977 Toyota Celica GT liftback. The 1st and 3rd cars were great cars.

 

That's awesome loved the story!

 

I bought my 67 Mustang Fast Back brand new just about the time Bullitt the movie came out. I remember taking it to the drive-in to see the movie. Heads did turn.

 

Just curious, how old are you folks????

 

I'm 56 and that's OK. I figure we're getting older every day.... or we aren't. Life is good.

 

67-77-87-97-07-13 That's 49 notches right there. I got out of the Air Force in 64. Bought the Mustang in 67. I was plenty old enough to drive and had a good job to pay for the car. And if you had a 1943 copper penny, you'd be rich/richer.

 

Was about to buy a 1969 convertible Camaro SS before I headed to college. The orange interior was pretty wild. Drove it several times before deciding and then Ford came out with a cheap car called Maverick. Ordered one of those instead with the 200 cid (3.3L) straight six and automatic transmission. The only automatic I ever owned until the Prius.

I'm really glad I took the more sane route. Those Camaro's were flying off the roads in pretty high numbers. Fatalities were high. The dealer that I almost bought the Camaro from was a family friend and told me a little later that he was really glad I didn't buy one. Found this picture of an identical Camaro... except for the front plate.




Ended up never really buying a high performance car. That was one of the closest times I came to doing it. The other time was a few years later... almost bought a Dino (a quasi performance car). But that's another story.