My first vehicle purchase was a brand new, straight off the lot, brown 1971 Pinto Runabout (fortunately we were not rear ended). We paid $2400 for it and absolutely loved it. Unfortunately we outgrew it with the birth of our second child. But until then we loved it. Since then we have owned conversion vans, SUVs, station wagons and regular sedans. But I can honestly say that this 2012 Prius is the most enjoyable vehicle I've owned since my first love.
My father-in law has a near twin to that car that he has been "restoring" for the past 20 years or so. He's also from Indiana. For my first love, it was a 1971 Camaro RS - Z28 clone I had in high school. It had a 350 4 spd and rear disk brake conversion. I can't say I drove it for fuel economy though! Not mine, but it's close:
I drove a 1962 Falcon 2 door station wagon until 1977, quarter of a million miles meant something then. Mine was dark blue, this is as close as I can find. It may not be a coincidence that I drive an economical station wagon today.
My first love car would actually be this Prius!! The first car I drove was a '63 VW Beetle (light blue), the first car I owned was a '82 Pontiac J2000 (blue-green). Then we've owned an '89 Chevy Corsica (silver) and a '96 Mercury Villager min-van (green-blue). My husband still enjoys his '99 BMW 323i (silver) though.
I owned a 1976 Fiat 131 station wagon. It also had the Spider engine in it. It could flat out get up and go. But the reliability was awful. Even today when people ask me if I have jumper cables, I tell them, "Of course. I used to own a Fiat."
My first car was a '66 Chevy Impala, 2-door, medium blue, black vinyl interior, 283 V8, and a Powerglide 2-speed automatic. My brother bought it new when he was in the Navy and it went to my mom and then to me when I went to college in mid-70s. The first car I loved was a new '78 VW Rabbit (still made in Germany) with a manual transmission, bought when I got my first job after graduating from college.
1996 Ford Escort 4 door a/t. Don't know why but I loved that car so much but I did. It had an issue in that it wouldn't turn on the radiator fan. My dad had rigged a light switch to turn the fan off and on. Forgot to turn it on a few times and overheated the car a few times during Texas summers. Other than that the car was solid, even after 3 overheats.
Very first was a 63 1 ton Ford Utility truck but the first one I enjoyed was 69 Ford Bronco. Sweeeet.
The mid-70's was when I went off to college, too, with the first car that was really mine, a 1962 Chevrolet Impala SS. Medium blue with a white top, which I liked calling the "sportsroof." It had three on the floor, having been converted from three on the column. Bucket seats with a little box between them to hold the 8-track cassettes. Of course, the tape deck was after-market in the '62. I'm pretty sure the radio was AM only, and I had the original wheel covers which featured a little spinner in the center. The only real problem I ever had with it was after the engine got hot, it would not restart immediately after being cut off. Discovered that the heat from the engine caused the starter to swell inside its housing. So on a long trip if I stopped for something, I'd have to let the starter cool down for a while before it would shrink enough to spin in its housing or pour water on it to cool it down. I ended up replacing it with a Buick starter, and that solved the problem.
My first car was a 1965 VW Square Back and at the time I loved it But the 2 that I really wish I still had and loved were a 1963 Porsche 356B and my 07 Infiniti G37s both different but they both put big smiles on my face when driving them!
Mazda RX7 (1983) Mayan Gold Color. Had custom sheep skin seat covers and a killer clarion sound system. Loved to "bark" the tires! I miss the car!
1954 Studebaker. A beautiful automobile -- ahead of its time in styling. I often loved the car, but it so often would throw a tantrum and vapor lock, and the relationship suddenly ended when it caught me with a 1956 Dodge.
My first car was a 66 Plymouth Fury III 2tone dark green w/white top. Every once in a while a car would pull over when I came up behind them. The one I fell in love with was my first new car, a 77 Celica liftback orange. Nothing but Celicas and a couple Toyota pickups since, till the prius. Glad to see Toyota rediscovering orange with the C. Think the Celica badge will be back soon?
My first new car was a 1973 Pontiac Luxury Lemans. I ordered it from the factory with many options that are standard on my Prius such as air, ps, pb. I owned it for 4 years. It was a nice maroon that turned white when I sold it. After 66,000 miles the car was literaly falling apart. It got 8 mpg and rattled. I paid $3,100. What a difference 40 years make. They don't make them like they used too..Thank God!!!!