First cars and adventures

Answering to Murcielago's post called "My beast" made me realise how much enjoyable and unforgettable an old and poor first car can in our early years of driving.

So this gave me the idea to post this tread:

[B]What was your first set of wheels and which facts and episodes do you usually remember and make you smile?[/B]

Here goes my own story:

[I]On my first two years of licence, all I drove everyday was an Opel Kadett 1.7d two seater van, wich already clocked 550.000 km.
She was white, strong, and a bit scary in the wet. I always pushed it hard. I've managed to reach 210 km/h in a big downhill at the highway. I've managed to drive it sideways very often. (Even more than I wished to! ) I've managed to make a complete 180º at a highway entrance blocking the road, and not touching the walls that should have a distance between them of something not more than 20 cm of the van lenght. Miraculous! Only a 3 point turn took me out of there. I've managed to make lots of handbrake turns without concern.
One other time, that same loose rear end made me face and touch hard my godfathers wall. Sometimes that beast looked like it had rear whell drive!!!

Friends at work usually laughed and made jokes about me and the van. They used to call it the bakerman's van.
But if you face it the right way, with which would have I played so much without fearing for the tires, the gearbox, the suspension or the engine? Would have I taken so many risks if I had a brand new 106 gti (boy racer dream of the time)? Would have I learn as much as with the damned van? And would I be missing it as much?

I now hown an hi-spec 206 hdi with 90hp, excellent handling, nice brakes, beautiful lines in black, beautifull Speedlines, all the comfort gizmos and a stile that, at least, doesn't scare the chicks.

But I'd be lying if I tould you that I didn´t miss the shadow of the black smoke behind that white rear in the morning. For me, it was the equivalent to a "Gentlemen, start your engines" way of beginning the day.

I have to say to it's justice that it was a bullet proof car, and although it rattled a lot, it had an extraordinary cornering abbility

My Kadett got herself a special carisma. I guess that's why it's good to have a beast to remember from your early years of driving.[/I]

My first car was a white 3 door escort 1.1 popular.

My second car was a 2.0i irmscher opel manta with lairy cams and tuned length exhaust.

Memories of the first;

being stopped for "speeding"
being stopped for "being a young lad in a powerful car" (1.1litres of powerful !!!)
being stopped for "ever used your brakes son?" (I went around a corner too fast in their opinion . . .)
being stopped "just checking this is your car sir. . ."
being stopped "where are you going in such a hurry?"

You get the picture. After one years driving and first no claims bonus (nor points for that matter) . . . i bought a genuinely fast car that I could speed in (if I *ahem* wanted).

In two years I wasn't stopped once??!!!??!!



Cars are for enjoying - Just make sure you drive responsibly, and service your car properly.

[I]P.S. Get yourself a gutless first car; you'll learn a lot more about driving than if you buy a fast car. You'll have to learn how to corner properly; pay attention to the road (can you really overtake that lorry?); brake quickly; and brake better. Good luck, you'll need it. God looked after me in my first year, because my driving was scarily bad. But it isn't now (It's just bad ;) ). Take care out there. [/I]

My 914...

[b]It had been[/b] sitting in my neightbour's driveway for around three years and he basically wanted to get rid of it. It was actually his nephew's car, so I called him up and asked him what the problem with it had been. He told me that it had been well-maintained and that it had according to him "just stopped working" one day. He had it towed to his uncle's house (my neighbour) and tried to fix it, but he found that there was an electrical problem. He thought that it was probably the D-Jetronic system (ECU), and I guess he eventually just gave up. So I scored a hell of a deal: He wanted 500$ for it, and eventually I cut the cheque for him at 450 Remember, this is Canadian dollars, so that's $285 American.

[b]After getting it[/b] towed to the shop, I hooked up a charged battery and the popup lights/horn/etc all worked, so I tried the engine. It basically coughed and sputtered a short few periods of combustion. After a couple more tries, it was time to go to work.

[b]First, I pulled[/b] out and looked over all of the electrical relays. Nothing wrong here. I called up my parts guy (a 911 and 914 specialist) and he told me that the problem would never be the ECU, so I skipped over that.

[b]As it turned[/b] out, it was the ECU, but not directly. The wire grounding it to the frame had broken (which kind of explains the previous owner's comment that it had "just stopepd working". So I bolted down a new ground and the 914 roared to life. It would constantly rev higher and higher, but that's only because there was no vaccuum stoppers on the air filter.

So I was quite happy!

So far, my costs have been: (CAD/USD)

[b]$ 450/285[/b] - The car itself
[b]$ 75/48[/b] - Towing
[b]$ 120/76[/b] - Rear passenger side brake caliper (minus trade-in of the old one)
[b]$ 100/63[/b] - Set of rear 160lb autocross springs
-----------------------------------
Total: [b]$ 745/472[/b]

I'm starting to hate you egg nog.

If you want to pass some of your luck my way (or Ozi's) feel free . . .:D

Guess we're going a bit off-topic here, don't you think Egg Nog?
This was suppose to make people tell us their tales with their first cars... Tell us something a bit more fun tan your bills ;)

Well, I'm not really going off-topic. The 914 is my first car.

I posted all that stuff here as a direct copy/paste from my other post, where nobody read it. Thankfully, people finally did, probably because I put some of the text in bold. Anyway, there's lots more to be said if you want to know anything.

I got four new brake rotors today :)
Tomorrow I'm putting my new springs on :)

The fact is I had really read it the first time you posted this same text on the other topic! :D

First car, and allready a Porsche? I'm starting to hate you to! :D

Hope you enjoy it nice and easy. ;)

I´m sure you will! :D

Woah, McReis, I just realised that you are from Portugal. Then you're pretty lucky yourself, surrounded by all those Gorgeous Portuguese women :)

My first cars was (and still is) a 1998 Peugeot 106 gti.

I got it on the day that I got my drivers license, my dad had bought it for me. I didn't know anything about it. I told my dad about the 106 gti 2 weeks before I got it, and he had bought it and let it recheck at the Peugeot dealer.

My first drive was down the road with my dad, and the car was fantastic! It accellerates really fast (about 7 secs. to 100 kmh) and the handling is just great!
I took it to a track last summer in Denmark and raced a couple of laps around the track, that was absolutely fantastic!

I'm not thinking of buying another car right now, but for the future I really like a fast Seat (Ibiza Cupra or Leon Cupra)

That's the kind of off-topic message I like Egg Nog. :D
In fact Portugal has still got fantastic women, overtaken only by Italy.

But I guess were getting better and better.

We're still worth a visit. That's why I love being here. ;)

The 106 GTi is one hell of a car. Am consider getting one as a second car, if only I could justify it.