Random Acts of Patriotism has a blog meme, What Was Your First Car?:
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?
1. 1976 MG Midget, which I got in 1985.
2. On a Thanksgiving trip to Georgia the windshield wiper motor went out. Naturally it rained the whole way. Because the car was so small I was able to open the driver’s side window, stick my arm out, and work the windshield wipers every now and then.
3. Wrecked it my senior in high school. It doesn’t take a lot to total one of those little guys.
The Midget was a blast to drive. It wasn’t fast, but it was low to the road and handled well. And it was a convertible, which is awfully fun when you’re a teenager.
Downsides? Plenty. All of them mechanical.
- The Zenith-Stromberg carburetor was an odd design with a piston that needed a lubricant. I used Marvelous Mystery Oil. In the summer in the East Tennessee mountains the carburetor would vaporlock.
- You had to use special fluid in either the clutch or the brakes, I forget which, maybe both. Regular DOT 3 fluid would destroy the seals, requiring a rebuild.
- The electronics were Lucas-built and had a number of quirks. One that I remember was that if the radio was on when the turn signal activated you could hear an echo-ey clicking noise in the speakers with each blink.
- The hoses were apparently made of Swiss cheese and old newspapers. The PVC line went out, leaving me stranded. The clutch line went out, leaving me stranded. One time we came out of the movie theater to find the car in a puddle of gasoline bigger than the car where the fuel hose suddenly sprung a leak.
For some reason they don’t make ‘em anymore. I can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t want such a fine example of British Leyland craftsmanship.
JayG and Jennifer posted their answers. And Kevin. And The Adaptive Curmudgeon.
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It may have been a mechanical nightmare, but it was quite the looker.
Jennifer recently posted..Oh Look! A Meme
Since the MG was my teenage dream car (I started driving in the ’80s), I was jealous at first, but those mechanical problems would have been a real pain. Was the car easy to work on?
I don’t think I even remember my first car; it was either a ’60s Valiant, or one of any number of little Toyotas, Hondas, or Nissans from the ’70s. I had 3 older sisters, and between us, we went through quite a few beaters in a short span of time.
Mike S recently posted..Two Perspectives On The Latest Sham Terror Plot
“Was the car easy to work on?”
You’ll have to ask my brother. He did all of the small stuff. The big stuff went to a local import place that was a little pricy, but that did good work. I’ve never been very mechanical. I’ve changed oil, filter and plugs and that’s about it.
Wow, that was a disaster. I understand that your first car is very memorable. I remember having trouble with the horns and the door in the driver sit. I had to move to the passenger sit or lower the window to open myself.
Daniel recently posted..how to get a girl to like you
Wish I would own a car. Would love to have some adventure using it. Im just an ordinary citizen which commutes everyday. Maybe next year, I’ll get lucky and be able to buy one.
Jun recently posted..how to get a girl to like you