this is really going to be different for the younger guys vs the old farts like me, but I was discussing this with a buddy of mine. His parents didn't have any cool cars, according to him But my folks had a 1952 Mercury Monterrey Coupe it looked like this only it was light green with a tan top: IIRC, that may have been the first year for that model. I think it had a 3-speed on the column, with an overdrive. They had that car for about 17 years. My dad was a mechanic so he kept in in good shape. But they sold it because my mom wanted an automatic transmission. That was a sweet ride ********************************************************* I think around 1970, my dad bought a 1963 1/2 Falcon Sprint (yeah, they actually had the 1/2 that year). I think he paid about $100 for it because it had a cracked engine block. He was able to find a used engine for it at a wrecking yard it looked like this (same red color too): bucket seats; 283 V-8; 4 on the floor. I remember, a couple of years after college, when I had a little money, calling my dad up and telling him I wanted to but that car. He paused a while, then told me he sold it 2 weeks before. Ain't that the shits ************************************************************** completely unrelated to cars: when I was a kid I was obsessive about collecting football, baseball, and the few basketball cards there were. I ended up with about 10 shoe/boot boxes filled with cards. Baseball was like Mickey Mantle, Stan Musial, Pee Wee Reece, Frank Howard, Don Drysdale, Willy Mays. Football was like YA Tittle, Paul Hornung, Willie Wood, Johnny Unitas, Roman Gabriel, Dick Bass. Basketball was like Wilt, Bob Cousy, Nate Thurmond, Hal Greer, Jerry West I had multiples of a lot of guys and the cards were in great shape. I even had 3 baseball and 3 basketball cards for Chuck Conners....the Rifleman But I forgot about them until the sports card rage of the early 90's. I called my mom to make sure she still had those cards in the attic. She said she threw those away years before....fuck!
My favorite was a shiny new shell pink with white fin 1957 Chevy...that would break your toe if you kicked the door....after that was a new 1964 Impala...white ...all my summer family road trips in that one...They had a cool old Dodge coup with the split windshields when I was a toddler...doubt they bought that one new....Dad's pub in the 50s got them the 57 chevy with the whitewalls too
Still parked in parents garage. Dream is to restore it someday. This is one I saw in Encinitas a few weeks ago
My parents had a 67 Impala convertible, brand new. They then decided to have children and have both had boring ass cars ever since.
speaking of the Impala, did you guys see that 2020 will be the last year for the Impala? end of an era
I didn’t grow up in a car family. But I’d say our green ford station wagon from around 1976 or our 1972 green VW bus. Third would be our yellow pinto. bus looked something like this
The question is had while I was alive or before I was born. All the cool cars came before lol. 69 Camero, 280z, etc
68’ Stang cherry red all leather. ill never forget how many times my step father had us in the back seat and had to pull over and swat at us with a newspaper for being too loud, rowdy in the backseat.
My mother had 57 TBird convertible that was I became A Chevy fan with a 50 Chevy Coupe deluxe with a straight 6, three one barrels and a Frantz Oil cleaner (roll of tp). My first ride at 16, 1966.
...not meaning to nick-pick but the 283 was a Chevy engine...Fords back then got 289s (starting in 1963) made famous by the Mustang. (great engine)
Growing up my folks had this 1959 Chevy Parkwood (virtually identical). Very stodgy but effective. After that my dad had a long string of Ford LTDs. But the coolest car was the 1964 1/2 Ford Mustang Hatchback (his was pale yellow with black interior). I think we were able to cram 7 grandkids in there, along with him driving. Nothing like “safety first”......
The car I have fondest memory of is the 1958 Ford Ranchero my grandfather had before the Mustang. Not sure what was under the hood but it hauled serious ass and my grandfather was (literally) on a first name basis with virtually every highway patrolman between Portland and Lincoln City. When my grandmother was with us she made us say the rosary until we reached our definition safely (While focusing on the plastic Jesus affixed to the dashboard). True story. My dad and his siblings made Gramps give it up (for the Mustang) because of all the tickets (at least the ones he couldn’t bullshit his way out of). The Mustang was quick, but nowhere near as powerful as the Ranchero.
Yep and the early Falcons actually hade a 260v8 which is essentially a 289 but smaller bore. Even the early Mustangs (1964 1/2) had the 260 until later in 1965 when the 289 was introduced.
