Several days ago I saw a vehicle that I once owned; not the exact one, just one like it. Immediately I thought about the one I had, my second ever car, and felt nostalgic.
My first car wasn't very nice, something to do with the fact it cost me $450 and was very old - I paid for, and maintained it, myself though and that brought some satisfaction until only six months later it died and I had to find something else.
I was sixteen when I bought that first car and still sixteen when I bought the second which was a 1972 Volkswagen Type 3 1600 TLE (the 'E' stands for electronic fuel injection). I know, not the worlds' most sexy vehicle but this one was special to me as my grandfather owned it.
At first I simply drove my grandfather around as he'd broken his neck in a fall and couldn't drive. Sadly for him he never got to drive again and so I bought the vehicle and still drove him around in it when he needed. Eventually I bought it.
I loved driving and would drive to school, dropping my younger brothers at their primary school first, and took every opportunity to drive somewhere; anywhere. I washed and detailed that car weekly (I still wash and detail all my current cars and my truck weekly - always have) and paid for the servicing, registration, insurance and fuel out of the small income I made working at the supermarket after school and on the weekends.
I had a lot of fun with that car, enjoyed the freedom it brought me and was always very grateful of how meticulously my grandfather had cared for it because it turned heads. I kept it in the same, and even better, condition.
Years later I still think about it and wish I still owned it. I could buy one of course, and maybe I will someday, although they fetch in the vicinity of $30,000-$60,000 dollars these days depending on how restored it is - a massive increase from the small amount I paid for mine.
Seeing that car the other day really got me thinking about the things we have in our lives that eventually pass by and become forgotten, or rarely thought of.
That vehicle holds so many memories for me, as do many other things I've had, and it's not about the vehicle or item itself but the memories created in it and because of them.
Do you ever think this way about anything? Feel free to tell me in the comments.
Design and create your ideal life, tomorrow isn't promised - galenkp
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Image(s) in this post are my own
That reminds a lot my story too, I got the license last year of school, my parents gave me one of their car a Lancia Dedra and were like "OK now go to school with it every day", so I practiced like this, then started to drive around my grandparents when they got too old to drive... Nowadays you never see this kind of car around
When I see kids mountain bikes it reminds me a lot the one I had, used it for more than a decade, went everywhere with other kids, ah good times
I looked up the car, not one that was imported into Australia I think although we certainly had other Lancia's imported and sold here.
These days the rules are different for learner drivers. I'm not completely sure on the rules but they have to get a learners permit (a long test at the motor-vehicles department) then do a driving log book system for a year I reckon then take the test and if they pass they go to a P (probationary license) for a year as well. Something like that anyway. For me, I answered ten questions at the local police station, got my learners permit immediately, and three months later took the test and passed. No log book, just drove around with my parents. From here that was it, I had a driver's license. (This was in 1986)
Thanks for sharing your story.
It really sounds like an hassle how it is now there... I'm not sure either how/if it changed here... For me it was very similar to you, 20 questions at a public building room, max 3 errors, then 'trial' license to drive with school or parents, then driving test when you felt like you were ready with an examination and done, nothing else then
The funny thing is, the training provided is insufficient and ineffective these days, so many bad drivers that don't know the rules, fault to do the right thing and are obsessed with doing the wrong thing when on the road. I guess that's what we get due to the massive influx of people from countries where road rules don't exist; they choose not to assimilate into the situation here very well and so the roads have become more dangerous.
Yep, I always say the school drive school teaches you how to pass the exam and get the license, not how to drive, that's an other story... Like when you enter a road they tell you, you must turn your head so examinator sees that and it's important he see!, while normally it's important to look in front and use the lateral mirror... I get you, already in south Italy people can't drive, they have all their special rules, not stopping at stops, go on left side when they have to turn right, etc...
I think what makes a good driver is one that knows and understands the basics and then continues to learn along the way and gain better skills through experience.
Yep, definitely experience makes the difference, now I'm very confident but that all happened thanks to km and km of drive, learn tricks, and very important learn that other people most of the times are shitty drivers, turn without the turn light on, cutting your road when they should stop, etc...
What a neat story about your second car. I can imagine some good conversations with grandpa while driving him. That in itself must be memories of gold!
My first car was an old rust bucket that the driver door couldn't open after a while of owning it. I had to get in and out like the Duke boys. It had an 8 track player. A tailpipe that kept falling off. But it was my rust bucket. And like you I treated it like it was right off the dealer lot. Until I couldn't pay to put new tires on it. I had ran it until all four were bald. New tires were going to cost more than I paid for the car. So I just waited until I went in the service until I bought another. Now today, Lots of memories in that little car.
It was a nice time of my life and fortunately I realised that I'd not have my grandfather around forever so spent time with him which has left me with fond memories. (I still wish I had that fucken car though.)
I'm so jealous of your Duke boys ingress/egress scenario...so cool. (I might have tried it out a few times myself.) I used to have a legit 1970 Chrysler Valiant Coupe 770 with the Fireball 318 Hemi engine (restored int in 1989). Loved that car...did the Duke boys a few times until I got it painted and then never again...was too nice to fuck around with.
I didn't have an 8-track player though, you were rocking it old-school!
It's amazing how important and memorable those first vehicles we've had seem to be I think...Loads of memories and better now knowing how much they meant from a freedom aspect back than right?
Thanks for responding, I was hoping to get a few stories like this.
That is so cool. Only had one grandparent alive when I was born. He died when I was 4 or 5. Barely remember him. Have just small glimpses of him in my memory.
Yeah, I'd do my Duke boys too. That little car got beat up. It was not a hotrod either. But would treat it like it. Would ramp the railroad tracks and stuff. Sometimes I expected the thing to fall apart around me. Like some cartoon.
Nothing wrong with emulating the Duke boys now and then, indeed, I think it's essential! 😬
When I passed my driving test and got my license (here it is only possible at the age of 18), for the whole 8 years after you🙂, I didn't have my own car for several years and I drove either the family's or my brother's and sister's cars (during that period I drove a lot of models, since my brother was engaged in reselling cars 🙂).
The first one I bought, to spite my parents, who questioned my freedom of movement, was a Zastava 750, a small YU car.
I traveled the least kilometers with him, but I had some interesting anecdotes😄
And the car I have the strongest memories of is the Opel Astra G, which I drove when I moved from my parents' house, when I used it to transport my entire life to another place, with my partner.
I also used it to transport everything we bought for our new apartment, in addition to the fact that we went to various destinations for summer and winter vacations for several years...
I think everyone has a favourite vehicle they've owned and for many different reasons, but the cars we had in those early days and the freedom they gave us usually have the fondest memories attached.
Key in the lock, start the engine and go.
In those years without obligations, wherever and whenever 🙂
I often think about, just as you do, of buying another 1979 Mustang non fastback called Grande' style.
It is on my bucket list along with my first car eber driven at 14 years of age.
1973 Oldsmobile Cutlass 2 door.
It was my older brothers first car.
Older cars have so much more character I think. I was only thinking recently when shopping for a small car for around town (smaller than my truck) that they all look the same and not innovating, just copying. All that fucken Chineseum as well - I'd never buy it.
There's so many older cars I think look awesome but a very few new ones that I have the same interest in. I'd like a 1970 Dodge Challenger.
Why did you have to sell it? Did you think you would ever feel sad about not having it when you did?
I kind of feel that way about most things I think ^_^; but fortunately it's tempered enough that I only hoard things that feel REALLY important (much to J's annoyance, he's the type that wants to get rid of absolutely everything we're not using but only if it's "in the way" and not his).
I don't know if I mentioned it at the time but I do remember thinking about how our stuff usually meets an inglorious end when a couch that we'd had for nearly 20 years ended up on kerbside when we finally replaced it (it had been falling apart for a while and while it fits in the space a lot better I'm kind of regretting its extremely cheap replacement).
I had to sell it because I didn't have much money and needed a different sort of vehicle at the time - I couldn't keep it and get the vehicle I needed.
It's interesting how much loved and valued possessions (your couch for instance) end up as trash but I guess that's the way of it. I mean, it happens to humans as well right? We start, have a middle bit, get old and disappear.
Oh that makes sense.
Yeh it's a thing that happens sadly. I try to pass things on if they're still good but we're no longer using them and otherwise kind of use things til they're no longer usable but it's still sad when they have to get chucked. But yeh same deal happens with humans, we just (usually) get chucked with a little more sadness and slightly more decorum.
People are so quick to discard of things and get new ones just for the sake of having something new. I think buying quality and sticking with it is the better way. Unfortunately people want to keep up appearances leading to excessive consumerism.
I feel like there's some void that they're failing at filling because it's easier than dealing with whatever is causing the void.
Something similar happened to me, but with family furniture, furniture that has a history of more than 70 years. I recently sold the medieval-style table that my grandmother had in her kitchen and which I enjoyed on every birthday. I sold it to someone who I know will take good care of it and who is in love with that style of table. I have seen some similar ones, but never the same... It brings back beautiful memories of family gatherings, but above all of my grandmother, for example kneading homemade Italian tagliatelle at that table.
Seemsike it meant a lot, I'm surprised you sold it.
Yes, it means a lot, but the table is in Argentina and I'm here, and a lot happened last year, which is why I made that decision. A lot of the family's furniture was stored there, and more than half of it was stolen. It's sad, but we have to sell it.
Fair enough.
I must leave that behind and resolve it, otherwise it is like an anchor and I look forward.
My first car only cost $300, so I can totally relate. It was a hand me down from my Grandma and I did all the tire rotations and oil changes myself. My second car was one I bought wrecked and my uncle and I rebuilt it. It wasn't anything fancy, it was just cheaper than buying a new car and it had a lot more character to it given the history.
That sounds about right, I think it's good for a person's first car to be of lesser value. These days, the young ones are taking out loans to buy a new Subaru WRX or some such thing at $60K +...burying themselves in credit debt at such a young age will rarely build good habits or have them prepared for their life ahead though.
Either that or mommy and daddy buys it for them and teaches them nothing about working hard for somethig.