The first car I bought and paid for was a blue 1971 Fiat Spider. (Couldn't find an online image of a blue one, but you get the picture.) My previous set of wheels was a 1966 red Opel Cadet that had experienced a wobbly reincarnation from Northside High School auto shop class. My mom was friends with the shop teacher, and for $600.00 she thought she had struck a bargain. Terrified me to drive a standard-shift, so the little red car sat in our driveway for about five months before I finally learned how to master a clutch. Pat, my next door neighbor, got tired of seeing a perfectly good car sit unused and insisted I WOULD drive the Cadet. After a few days, it was second nature. Moving from a stopped position on a hill took a bit longer, but eventually my heart didn't rev up faster than my right foot on the gas pedal.
The summer of 1972 was a coming of age; eighteen year-olds could legally drink and go to bars. That fall we would be able to enter the voting booth and elect a president. (It would be my first and last time to vote for a Republican.) I was working and saved up enough down payment to satisfy the credit union application, and the Opel was history. My choice was between a new bright yellow Honda Civic,
or the one year-old used Fiat 850 Spider convertible. The Civic was priced at $1650.00 and the Fiat at $1800.00. My parents were not happy with my decision, but I had my heart set on the little Italian import. Giddy with my adult status and freedom from the ties of high school, I sped through the summer days. The world was my oyster and I, the pearl.
6 comments:
Yes, as a matter of fact, keeping the little blue demon in top shape cost exactly one arm and one leg!
Good choice, Pattie. The price was worth every extra penny.
Ronni
The first car that my boyfriend owned (and thus, was the first car that I owned once we got married) was a 1967 Ford (it was a medium blue)... it was a great car...and it was so sad when it died around 1985...and we had no money to fix it... we had a similar issue as you with a standard when my husband brought it home a 1976 honda civic and neither of us knew how to drive it...(it cost us $1000)...
My first car was a 54 Dodge convertable. My second was a 59 MGA and I voted only once for a Republican - Ford.
Allen just up the road on 287
Oh, Pattie - this brings back such memories. One of my roommates during my freshman year in college had that very same Fiat Spider. Well, almost...his was a '70. Same yellow color as in the picture. Damn, that car was fun to drive. We used to zoom around his neighborhood in Arlington, (VA, not TX) and I would be amazed at how that little car held the road.
I have pictures of him driving it right up to our dorm room door when it came time to move out for the summer...a nearly impossible feat, considering the narrow gap between the stone gates. Amazing!
My little brother had the exact same car - same year and color even. Plus he was living in Fort Worth at the time. I borrowed it a few times - it was great fun to drive.
My own first car was a VW Beetle.
I have never voted for a Republican.
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