I was on cnn.com the other day and spotted an article about the thrill of owning your own car as a teen in the 1960’s. The article described how one teen worked at the grocery store, delivered papers, and sold ice cream just so he could buy his own car by the time he turned 16. Not only did he save enough {$200} to buy a car, but he also WORKED before he ever even turned 16. The car meant freedom to him, in a time where most households had only one car, and 1 out of 5 households had none at all.
Back when I was in high school you were cool if you just had a car, but these days it’s less about having a car {any car} than what kind of car. My first car was a 2 door Ford Escort and I drove it into the ground. I literally had to stop on the side of the freeway because the engine was smoking about 5 miles from where I was trading it in for $500 {which was a gift let me tell you, that thing had run it’s course}.
Now cars, smartphones, and jobless teens are just kind of a given. Part of it totally has to do with how much we expect from them academically and with their extracurricular demands, but still, it seems sad–like they are missing out on an earned right-of-passage. The first set of bought-with-your-own-money set of wheels used to be a tell-tell sign that you were transitioning into adulthood. Maybe it’s our fault? We buy them their first set of wheels so the WE can gain a little freedom. They can drive themselves to and from practice, or whatever other commitments that have given us mini-van butt over the years.
Whatever the reason, it’s totally a cultural shift. Don’t you ever just miss the good ol’ days?
So, what was your first car? I bet it wasn’t as sweet as a pale blue 2 door Ford Escort. 😉
~Mavis
Terri says
My sister and I drove our parents’ car from the time we were old enough to get a driver’s license. Our father had a pickup and our mother rarely ever drove the car. My parents purchased my first car when I was going to business college. My grandparents drove it down from Kansas. It was a 4-door 1968 Nova: medium blue, vinyl floor, vinyl seats and no air conditioning. It did have an automatic transmission. (My father finally gave up while trying to teach me to drive a standard.) An add-on air conditioner was later installed. When I drove back to Texas, I was dumbfounded by snow blowing from the new air conditioner–seriously. My father thought it was really funny. Some adjustments did get rid of the snow 😉
Rochelle says
I bought my first car with money I earned as a clerk for the local pet store. I made $3.35 an hour and paid $700 for my 1974 Ford Maverick. It was olive green with a white fake rag top.
Gas was .99c a gallon, less than 1/3 my hourly wage, minimum wage at the time. Now gas in our area is more than 1/2 the minimum hourly wage. Hmmm.
Rochelle says
I too drove that Maverick into the ground. When it was on its lasts legs I traded it for three months pasture rent for our horses.
😀
Kathy says
My first car was a pale blue Ford Fairmont. I was 29 years old when I got that baby, needed it to get back home to Ohio from Arizona. My son bought his own first cell phone and paid for his service and bought his own first car, green Honda Accord. We miss that car, it literally bled to death outside a friends house. Head gasket blew, oil all over the place on a brand new cement drive. My other son bought and paid for his own first phone as well but lives so close to his job that he walks. Refuses to get a car. I guess I taught my kids the value of earning their own money to get what they want and/or need, and taking care of it until it dies.
tc says
my first car was a red MG1100, second hand that my Dad said I had to pay for myself but he would go with me to look it over and help negotiate, I had to get my own insurance too, I had been saving from my 8 pounds ($15) every two week paycheck, can’t remember the cost now as it was so long ago but it wasn’t expensive and I was very proud that I passed my test first time.
My parents taught us the value of money and taking care of things, when I graduated school In England at 16 they gave me two weeks to find a job as I then had to start paying them board and lodge at 2.50 pounds a week, I worked hoeing beets, strawberry and potato picking until I found the job at the nearby duck farm, then I joined the RAF at 17 so I would have a chance at a future outside the tiny village I grew up near. Times were tough but times were good with the countryside to grow up in and though I didn’t like that my parents gave me such tough love at the time I am so grateful for it now because it taught me to stand on my own two feet. I even bought my first house a one room up one room down terraced cottage at 18 years of age, again my Dad said you get the money I will help you negotiate the deal and fix it up. Pity he passed away, I miss him.
Debbie says
My first car was a Maverick too…
Jesse says
Geo Metro Convertible! 2 door, 3 cylinder, cloth top, stick shift! My dad did buy it for me and I drove it until I graduated from college when I paid for my own car. Love that sweet little car! (Unsafe at any speed, made of tin foil, leaked like a sieve)
Mavis Butterfield says
Made of tin foil. Ha Ha Ha! I think mine was too!
Ashley says
Ha! Geo Metros were the ultimate piles of junk! They were so awful that everyone wanted one!
Julie Ann says
I drive a very nice little bitty Geo Metro hatchback – not a pile of junk unless one treats it that way. My husband and I just gave it a pretty teal green metallic repaint. Nice straight body, no leaks, gets 48mpg, and blows 35-degree A/C. Next on it’s dress-up list is a set of nice rims (no more hubcaps 😛 ) and some window tinting. I would LOVE to have a convertible Geo!
Our local small town area seems to have an odd obsession for them… there are DOZENS driving around, especially here at the college where I work. Hubby and I have one each, though his is the four-door beater LOL! My Father-in-law also has a daily-driver…and a few stashed away for parts.
Jen Y says
I’ve never had my own car. My family was a one car family – I was thrilled to just be allowed to get my driver’s lisence. I went to college & then got married (in 1987). He had his own car – a 1980 Ford Fairmont. In 27 yrs of marriage we’ve bought two more cars since the Fairmont – in 1991 we bought a 1990 Geo Prism that my husband still drives to work today. In 2004 we became a two car family when we bought a 2000 Honda Civic that I still drive.
Our son could not wait to drive – he was driving when he was two. One of his first words was car & I remember very clearly taking him to visit a friend in the hosptial when he was around 18 to 20 months old & not really even talking yet. As we walked through the parking lot he spotted a red sports car & he starts jumping up & down & running to it saying ‘Car! Ride!’ over & over. :o) He bought his 1st car in 2009, a very nice used Honda Accord for $3000(much nicer than my car). He really wanted a truck but he followed his dad’s advice. He’s now 21, married with a mortgage & just bought his 1st truck. How does that happen!?
Many of his friends didn’t want to get their lisence let a lone a car so it must be something about where you live? I’m very surprised at how many teens/college kids I know who waited until they were 20 or so to even learn to drive. My son got his permit at 14 & was driving in the city by 17. He couldn’t wait for the freedom of driving his own car.
Rebecca says
My first car was a brown 1978 AMC Concord that would backfire every time I started it!
Ashley says
I totally get the freedom of having your first car! I got mine a couple months before I was even 16 and I was so excited that I contemplated sleeping in it, lol. I’m not so old (28), but even I had to work to earn enough money to buy a car. I saved half of my babysitting money from ages 11-16 (I made $1-$2/hr), plus half the money I earned working part time for a couple summers to pay $2000 on a $4000 Neon. I then got a steady job to pay my parents back for the $2000 loan they gave me to cover the cost. Maybe it’s because I live in a small town, but it’s pretty rare for parents around here to just buy their kids a car. Best case scenario they get a hand me down, but usually everyone has to pay for their own (extremely crappy) cars. I know mine bit the dust several times before I finally got a different one 6 years later. Mind you, that piece of crap high school car was probably the most reliable one I’ve had, haha!
My parents did pay my insurance, but I had to pay for my own gas…which wasn’t so bad. I think it was around $1.34/gallon and that was just 12ish years ago.
Anne Luttrull says
Mine was a 1969 Dodge Coronet 440 4dr. A great muscle car. Lots of power and a great ride.
jadell says
1 What a fun discussion! My dad bought me my first car for $1000 in1995. It was a 1970 Ford econoline supervan three on the tree. It was a piece of junk, but it was a set of wheels, so I was grateful. I drove it for two years, then I bought a 1994 geo prism. I still have that car.
Vicki says
I didn’t learn how to drive until I was 37 years old. We lived in Baltimore City, and could get a cab, train or bus to get just about anywhere we needed to get. When my husband at the time (who was legally blind and could not drive) got a new job in SC, he phoned me from there and told me not to even move down if I didn’t have my license since there was no public transportation of any sort besides cabs, which were ridiculously unreliable and very expensive. Needless to say, I contacted a driving school and had my license within three weeks – which was two days before the moving van arrived. My first vehicle was an emerald green 1994 Dodge Caravan, which I loved and mourned when it was totaled in an accident in 2006 that happened when I wasn’t anywhere near it.
Cecily says
My first car was a 1980 datsun 210. I had to hit big hills at 60 just to get to the top of them.
Kayla says
My first car was a hand-me-down from my older sister. It was a 1989 maroon Honda Civic hatchback, stick shift with the back seat falling apart. It had no A/C and would overheat if you drove more than an hour. I loved that car, but sadly I totaled it. That was a sad day. I got over 300,000 miles on it. I wish they made cars like that now.
Lynne says
My parents bought me a neighbor’s 1963 Buick Riviera for my 18th birthday. I was in college several hundred miles from home and my dad wanted me to be able to safely drive myself back and forth, and to him, that meant that I had to drive a big car. He joked that I had to turn the car off when at the gas pump or it would be an even heat. Early 1970s – 25¢ a gallon gas – those were fun times.
Brenda T says
What a fun conversation!! Remembering the good ole’ days and they really were good when I think of them now! When I was growing up back in the 50’s, some families did not own a car. We were fortunate to have a family car which also served as a work car for my dad. When I turned sixteen, the only time I could drive the car was on the weekend, and then I had to wash it, clean it out, and put all my dad’s merchandise in the storage room. (He was a salesman) Usually my girlfriends would come over to help and chip in on the gas! We just couldn’t wait to drive up and down main street of town and go to our favorite car hop. We just knew that some good looking guy from another town would show up, and sometimes they did!!
What wonderful memories we made during that time in our life!!
LaToya says
So true, Miss Mavis – as long as you had a car, you were cool. Even if it was a beater.
Both our cars are paid off now. The littles will be driving in 3-5 years. So the plan now is to keep our cars, no payments for that time, and then give them our cars…and then we get new ones then. We’ll see how that works out – how the cars last.
My first car was a 1967 Plymouth Satellite. It wouldn’t start when I was at the DMV to take my driving test. So I had to go back another day. And then one day it broke down in the McDonald’s drive-thru right after I placed my order. So I got out, walked home, and left it there.
Shona says
1963 Ford Falcon. My parents matched what I earned working at a muffin shop. The original deal was they would buy me a used 240 Volvo outright- I would not have to put in a dime, but would have to pay for insurance and gas. A VOLVO!?!?! Ug! That’s what my mom drove! So turns out, the Falcon was a total lemon and after 3 years I sold it… and bought a 1982 240 Volvo sedan (with no help from my parents, that was a one-time offer), drove it into the ground & then bought a 1984 240 Volvo sedan.
I grew-up in an affluent part of LA in the 80’s, very Less Than Zero, and let’s just say my Falcon stuck out among the convertible Rabbits and BMWs in the student parking lot. However, the cute German exchange student thought it was “a cool American car.”
Beks says
My parents actually bought my first car in 2002, when I was sixteen, but I’d been working since I was fourteen (my parents made sure that I ALWAYS had a job of some kind). My younger cousins haven’t really learned to drive, and haven’t gotten their driver’s licenses, and didn’t get jobs until after high school, despite not having extra-curricular activities. Breaks my heart. Like they’re missing out on something big.
Lisa says
I didn’t have a car in high school. But, I got married at 18 and my in-laws gave us the 1968 VW Karmann Ghia my husband had been driving. I didn’t learn to drive it for a few years since I had never driven anything but an automatic.
A few years ago I bought my daughter a Ford Focus used, but only a few years old, because it was the safest car for new drivers. There are so many new safety features in cars I didn’t want her driving an older car, as they just aren’t safe anymore.
I don’t think anyone is missing out not driving. My oldest son is 32 and doesn’t drive. He doesn’t want to. He and his wife have a car, but he lives within walking distance of his work. I don’t see what’s wrong with teens not working either. I babysat and did vacation pet care, but I mean a paying job with taxes taken out and all! I always told my kids school was their job. The other day there was a post about kids being scheduled to do too much. I believe that goes for teens as well.
Kris says
I inherited my parents ’84 Toyota Tercel Wagon in ’95, my senior year in college. I too would have to gun it to make it up hills, going over the mountain passes was terrible! Me and the semi’s in the slow lane… I would take it in every 6 months to be serviced because there was always a noise. Mom made a deal with me to give me the trade in value when I bought my first car in ’98( Subaru Forester). Dad preceded to drive it into the ground. Even before I got the car, my brother and I shared it with Mom and we had to pay our own gas and insurance. My babysitting money was earmarked as gas money when I was driving to work in high school & college.
Beckybeq says
Tan 1973 Plymouth Fury that my grandpa had bought new. Then my dad had it, then it went to our nannies when my dad was a single dad, then I got it in 1984. I had to do all the repairs on that boat of a car, walking into an Autozone totally takes me back to high school. When the Fury needed a new transmission (beyond my skill) we sold it and bought another fixer upper. I had 11 cars between the ages of 16 and 21, all of them worked on by me. My favorite (as a story in hindsight) was the 1970’s Ford station wagon we bought for $50. It needed new (junkyard) exhaust pipes and the previous kid had broken all 8 lugnuts on the back wheels. The hood flew up while I was driving it on the freeway one time. Yep, lots of fun – NOT!
Ellen in Clackamas says
What a great conversation! My first cars was a ’51 Plymouth (tank). 2 door and 3 on the tree. Quite the funky car…you could either have the heat on or listen to the radio…guess which one we picked!!! Back seat was piled with blankets so we wouldn’t freeze to death driving and singing. That car was so ugly it was voted ugliest car in the school parking lot and some of my girlfriends wouldn’t ride in it because they didn’t want to be seen in it! My Dad had given it to me before my 16th birthday (I think he paid $50 for it) so I could practice driving down our country road. Went and got my driver’s license the day I turned 16. Oh the freedom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, and like Beckybeq, my hood flew up once while I was driving. That is a scary thing when you can’t see as you are barreling down the road. The car I bought for myself my senior year was a ’64 Chevy Malibu…everything the tank was not. Automatic, power steering, power brakes, light weight. Lucky I didn’t end up in the ditch somewhere.
Nancy K says
Mine was a 1977 Chevy Nova that was handed down to me. My grandparents bought it new, and when they bought a new car (1986 Chevy Celebrity that I later got handed down) they passed the Nova down to the eldest grandchild (four cousins older than me), then it gradually got passed down to me, then on down to the next cousins and so on.
I soooooo loved that car -it was a tank! No matter that the heating/cooling system didn’t work, and I had to pour a gallon of water into the radiator every so often on hot days. Loved it!
Michelle says
My 1st car was a ’75 242 Volvo my dad bought me for $500 dollars. I had to pay from all the upkeep & gas. Gas was .75 when I started driving in ’87. Loved that car it was a tank! I had to change plugs every time I started it for a while & another couple months of keeping my foot on gas & brake at lights to keep it from stalling (3 pedals 2 feet not so easy). Also learned how to drive a stick w/ hot coffee between the legs ’cause no cup holders. My 17 yo & friends none of them drive I can’t figure it out I couldn’t wait. I told her she needs to get her license ’cause I’m tired of driving her every where.
Laurafou says
The first car that I bought myself was a 1970 VW square back. I loved that car. The car my brothers and sisters shared in high school was a blue Ford Pinto. We used to call it the blue blur. Lots of memories associated with that one.
Tracie H says
Oh Mavis! I swear we are twins who were separated at birth! My first car was a 2 door black Ford Escort with Louvers!!!! I literally drove that car until it blew up…… And my Daddy rebuilt the engine and I drove it for three more years! I worked two summers watching a demon child to buy that car! But it was worth every hour!
Mavis Butterfield says
“watching a demon child to buy that car!” Hilarious!
Mavis Butterfield says
It must be a thing then… running escorts into the ground. 🙂
Becka says
Mine was an old Plymouth sedan from the 1960s. The way you changed gears was by pushing little buttons to the left of the steering wheel. You flashed your bright lights with a small knob on the floor to the left of the brake. It had no seat belts either so my brother-in-law found some at a salvage place and installed them for me. 🙂