Late to the Party.

Both of my readers have already read it every place it's been posted previously.

The lovely Jennifer is getting credit for me joining the meme, but she's not the first place I saw it.

So here’s the meme. Long answers or short.

1. What was your first car? Model, year, color, condition?
2. What adventures did you have in it, good or bad?
3. What happened to it, what’s the end of the story?

I have two first cars!

The first, first car was a 1973 Volkswagen Passat.  It was in sound condition, but in 1988 that didn't count for much.

Pic from Wikipedia.  Mine was tan with a brownish interior.

I bought this car in a very common form of exchange on Army posts.  There was a guy leaving and he had this car.  If I took over the title and insurance, it was mine.  The deal was that I would pass it on to another soldier when I left the unit.  Which I did.

I drove all over Europe in that car!  Well, all over Germany.  The cathedral in Neu Ulm.  Disneyworld in Bavaria.  Hitler's condo.  Checkpoint Charlie.  The wall (in Nurnberg).  I had a car!  I did not have a camera.  The most adventuresome part of driving that car was getting to Autobahn speeds.  Starting at about 110 km/h a vibration began.  It got worse and worse until about 130 km/h where suddenly it was like driving a Cadillac on glass.  Top speed was about 140 km/h.  It was like Chuck Yeager going through the sound barrier!

The second first car was a 1983 Mercury Lynx; automatic.  It was in near new condition in 1991 when I bought it for the princely sum of $2,000.  This is the first car I actually paid for.  What a piece of shit.  Ford has much atonement to make with me for this car.  Mine was red with a red interior.  Audio started as a factory AM radio which I "upgraded" with Kraco (a gift from my dad).  About a year into owning it, it fired a spark plug out into the hood liner.  That cost about $1,500 for a new head.  It would just quit from time to time.  Then a minute later fire back up like nothing had happened.  The heater core design must leak because three of them didn't fix the issue.  I sold it for $400 to a local used car lot in 1993.

This is the first car I made out in.  It was my first taste of automotive freedom despite having a car in Germany.  I never felt that feeling of freedom driving in Europe that I got in America.  It was the first car I ever modded all alone (if that junky stereo counts as a mod).  It was the car that taught me my dad was right and learning to fix my own car would save thousands.  It was the first car I got a speeding ticket in (80 in a 55).  It was the first car I was happy to be rid of.

Photo from Old Parked Cars.

I tried to replace it with a '73 Ford Mustang Mach 1.  That car was a manual in a deep blue metallic.  351W engine.  Stolen.  I was arrested when I tried to register it.  I was released when they busted the guy who "sold" it to me.  The rightful owner got his car back (and I am happy for him) but I lost the $3,000 I paid the thief.

There is no good luck for Thag and Ford.  So we avoids them!