1:1 Cars that had an effect on you, and why.

[bob terry]

The one for me? My avatar. 48 Ford Coupe built by Fatjack Robinson in the 80's. I've got the Perrys resin body, but I'm waiting to see if Revell will do a stock roof 48.

[bbowser]

A lot of great stories! Car culture in the US is alive and well, at least for now.

For me it's a '64 Grand Prix, red with black interior. Dad left us kids at grandma's to go shopping for his first new car. He wanted a GTO, but apparently Mom prevailed and they came back with the bigger (more practical for a family of 4) Grand Prix. It had a 326, console shifted auto with buckets, and those famous finned - 8 bolt wheels. Actually the finned center portion was part of the hub, cooling the state-of-the-art drum brakes, the wheel was more of a 2 piece rim affair. My dad swore, after rotating the tires (with a 4-way), never again! It also had the big manifold vacuum gauge on the console where there should have been a tach. I was 10 at the time.

I learned to drive and parallel park in that car. Dad offered to sell it to me when I turned 16 but I couldn't afford it, bought a '66 Corvair instead. I liked that car too, but shoulda, woulda, coulda had a V8.

[Dragline]

My neighbor's brand new 1970 Z28 was it for me. I was completely in love at first sight. I liked the 69's well enough, but his sister babysat me and I was head over heels for her [at 6]. That car really put cars in general on the map for me. Before that it was the odd Matchbox or Hotwheel. Of course motorcycles were all I really knew in those days. My dads was the best and his Bro's were OK too. Everyone else's stunk as far as I was concerned.

Bob

[ChrisBcritter]

Though I was too young to remember it, first influence was my dad's junior executive hot rod - a '57 Buick Century.

Thanks to product placement, Imperials - in the 1960s, a lot of them showed up on TV programs; the fact that I saw very few on the street made me long to own one that much more - so I had the red Corgi convertible. Loved how a luxury car could look so aggressive, more so than Lincolns or Cadillacs. Probably would have bought the AMT "Hero" kit if it weren't for all the cowboy junk tacked onto it.

As to real-life cars, there was a '58 Chevy Biscayne coupe in my neighborhood that was painted gold, had the front end jacked up, no front bumper, radiused rear wheel wells, mags all around and '59 Pontiac Catalina taillights. No idea what was under the hood but it looked and sounded badass. (Doesn't some resin caster make a '58 Biscayne?)

Another local street rod was a '26-'27 Model T tudor that was primered, had no covering on the roof, and was channeled with chrome kidney-bean wheels and zoomie pipes on (IIRC) a small-block Chevy. I only saw it maybe twice but the memory always stuck with me.

Later on I got hooked on first-gen FWD Eldorados - again, a tough looking luxury car - drew 'em on my third-grade notebooks.

[DPNM]

1956 Corvette. My Dad's car. I got to drive it ONCE. I drove it to where I worked, at 7:00 AM, in the rain, with him in the car. I sat in the car a gazillion hours as a kid.

1960s Cadillacs. Also my Dad's cars. He had 5 at one point. The cars I learned to drive in.

1967 Cougar. My first car.

1967 Covette Coupe. 427 car with a 350ci transplant before I got it. Auto trans. 2 speed, low and go. Also a 1966 Corvette convertible. A true 396 car with a 4 speed.

1978 Dodge D100 short bed/step side 2wd pickup. It was black with the Warlock gold striping and wood bed stakes. It also had side pipes and a custom tonneau cover.

Datsun 240/260/280 Z and ZXs. I had a multitude of them and these are when I learned to drive quickly. One I had was set up for gymkhana/autocross. I can also corner. I learned to love turns in the road.

Volvos. Ive had a couple from the mid '80s and I am always keeping my eye out for the next. A 245 wagon.

Edited October 16, 2014 by DPNM

[ToyLvr]

As you might guess from my avatar, the Chevy Corvair is at the top of my list. My family had a '60 4-door when I was a little kid, which is the first car which I can remember riding in. I used to drive my parents crazy because I would climb in the luggage/storage cove behind the back seat and lay down. Of course, that was back in the days before seat belts, much less child car seats. I was to be reunited with Corvairs when I was 15. My Dad bought a rough '62 Monza coupe for me as my first car. He figured it would keep me outta trouble due to its low horsepower, as well as being a good learning opportunity in do-it-yourself mechanical repairs. Little did he know.....

Today, I own two (2) 1:1, a '64 Monza convertible and a '65 Monza 4-door. They are #35 & #36, respectively, that I have owned since old #1. Like Skip Ragsdale mentioned about his Mini Cooper, I still get a silly grin on my face every time I drive my Corvairs, and I'm instantly transported back in time to my teenaged years.

1970 Pontiac Grand Prix model "J". I owned this car for quite a while during my years in college. I went from the simplicity and utilitarian Corvair, to the sublime performance and comfort of the GP. 455 V8, A/C, full power accessories. I kept the car until I got married, and went back to driving Corvairs to save $$$. While the Corvairs have always been fun, I'll never forget the marvelous GP. Wish I could afford another one.

Escaping reality for a moment, I'd have to close with a tip of the hat to the Chrysler Turbine car. I've been fascinated by it ever since I was a kid. Beautiful body design by Elwood Engel, futuristic engine, luxurious cockpit. I figured I'd be driving one as an adult. Now, the only way to own one is to be a multi-millionaire car collector like Jay Leno.

[Harry P.]

1960 Ford Falcon, sort of a turquoise/aquamarine color. My dad's first car, and the first car I can remember being in.

1960-something big Chrysler, the one that had the big glass "bubble" dash with the luminescent gauges. My mom's cousin's car. I still remember that dashboard to this day.

1967 Impala. My mom's cousin's son's car (is that still my relative? )... Evening Orchid with a white interior. Man, what a sharp looking car. Again, to this day I remember that car, even though I was just a little kid when I saw it.

1967 Plymouth Belvedere. My first car. Got it from my dad when it was ten years old.

[redneckrodder]

1974 ford f250 highboy .... truck that i remember me and my dad cruising around in when i was only 3 or 4

1977 chevy dually 4 door...a truck that we had for many years that was driven by my parents everywhere when we had it

1965 ford f100 ranger....my first truck i got a few years ago and plan on getting it running within the next year or so

1988 cherokee cherokee 2 door...going to be my daily driver next year after i get my licence

[JTalmage]

My dad's 65 Fairlane. Mom and dad used to take me for a ride in it when I wouldn't sleep as a baby. Something about that lope cam idle that puts a kid right out. Made me a Ford fan and an American car enthusiast for life.

[rusty85]

The Ford Sierra Cosworth. Its the car that put me on to rallying and motorsport in general. My pop took me to a couple of rally stages in Scotland as a kid, I couldn't help but fall in love with the Sierra Cozzies ripping past down the forestry roads.

It is also the car that made me believe a mundane car could made into something epic (my dad had a basic Sierra at the time).

[StevenGuthmiller]

My mother was a station wagon fanatic when I was young, so I remember a lot of huge Mopar, wood grained wagons growing up. My dad was in the construction business, so it was all Chevy pickups with him. But I do remember one spring in 1973 when some how my dad found a chinc in my mothers station wagon armor & by some miracle, talked her into bringing home a brand new 1973 Dodge Charger SE! It was not a particular hot rod, having a 318 automatic but it's seared into my memory as being one of the coolest cars we ever had in our family! Triple black with the opera windows! My glee was short lived as my mother hated the car from the day we brought it home & by fall we had a brand new 1973 dodge wagon! Yuuch!! Steve

Edited October 17, 2014 by StevenGuthmiller

[tooltas]

my famly and friends all had chevy or gmc pickups so that's manly what I built but the tv movie ''HOTROD'' got me hook on 40 to41 willies coupes

[freakshow12]

Mustangs and Shelby's. My dad bought 3 in 1976. He had several before that but these were special to him. He bought a coupe, convertible and a fastback the same day. He have me the convertible ( I was just a baby). Sold the coupe to my uncle( my cousin has it now) and kept the fastback. We still have those 2 38 years later. Then we got a 65 fastback that is getting a full 65 gt350 cloning( can't afford a real one) then came the svt stuff. I have a blown 97 cobra vert and an 03 mach 1. Then the Shelby's came. An 07 vert that was converted into 40th #267. Then I got my 14 last July. I have some fox capris too. Now my daughter bought a. 94 gt and my oldest son is looking at foxes. It's a lifestyle I tell ya. 11 at home and counting. I've sold only 4 ever lol

Then there are the torinos. As a kid dad had a grabber blue 71 GT with a 351c and a 4 speed and a 70 cobra 429 4 speed ( I know where that one is and am trying to get it back without him knowing ). Also had a 70 cougar eliminator 428 4 spd and one camaro. A 68 RS/SS 396 4 speed convertible with factory aluminum heads and chambered exhaust. ( I know where it is too. Been in a garage for years)

Sorry for the long post

[Robberbaron]

The first family car I rode in was my dad's 1968 Impala 4-door sedan. Only thing remarkable about it was how stripped down it was. Straight 6, 3 on the tree. Think the only option my dad got was an AM radio, and maybe the heater. (though I think the heater was standard by '68?) Normally you'd expect someone ordering a car like that to get a Biscayne or possibly a Bel Air, not the Impala.

Turns out the salesman lied to my dad and told him the Impala had more interior room than the Biscayne. That's the only reason my dad was willing to spend more money for the Impala! Guess he was going to get some more profit one way or another.

That was pretty much about the most uncool car you could think of, but it did create my appreciation for all of the full size 68 Chevys. For some reason it seems like they're more overlooked than most of the other years, but that might make me like 're even more...

[dustym]

3rd gen Nova. helped push some girls who had one stuck in the sand late 70's. My second car was a 72 nova. and still have 1 to this day.

[unclescott58]

A lot of great stories! Car culture in the US is alive and well, at least for now.

For me it's a '64 Grand Prix, red with black interior. Dad left us kids at grandma's to go shopping for his first new car. He wanted a GTO, but apparently Mom prevailed and they came back with the bigger (more practical for a family of 4) Grand Prix. It had a 326, console shifted auto with buckets, and those famous finned - 8 bolt wheels. Actually the finned center portion was part of the hub, cooling the state-of-the-art drum brakes, the wheel was more of a 2 piece rim affair. My dad swore, after rotating the tires (with a 4-way), never again! It also had the big manifold vacuum gauge on the console where there should have been a tach. I was 10 at the time.

I learned to drive and parallel park in that car. Dad offered to sell it to me when I turned 16 but I couldn't afford it, bought a '66 Corvair instead. I liked that car too, but shoulda, woulda, coulda had a V8.

326 in a '64 Grand Prix? 1964 Grand Prixs came with the 398 at minimum. Some ran with 421s.

Scott

[Draggon]

The Hairy Canary a/fx is my #1. I saw it in a match race at Fremont around '67 with the Samson dart, Brutus GTO, Souza Bros. and Dad mustang. The race lasted into the evening. We wandered down towards the end of the strip after awhile, and the lighting was so poor it was getting very hard to see. As the eliminations began, here comes the Hairy Canary, full throttle, crossed up in the dirt, off the side of the strip, throwing rooster tails at about 160, in the dark. I still remember it like it was yesterday, 47 odd years later. I have a model of it, my most prized modeling possession.

[Mike_G]

When I was about 13 a kindly sportscar salesman let me sit in a brand-new Lamborghini Miura SV

[Greg Myers]

[randx0]

Make it three yards .........

[Bennyg]

Subaru WRX 22B.

Always loved it. Had a couple of posters on my bedroom wall, one cut away showing the mechanicals and not cut away.

Ben

[FASTBACK340]

1994 Chevrolet Caprice 9C1 with the LT1 engine option.

After 15 years of driving the worst of the worst, this car reaffirmed my beliefs as to what a copcar should be. This was only the second year we had cars with AM/FM radios, power windows and seats and, Gasp, CARPET!

I kept mine for two and a half years, which is an eternity for a copcar.

G

I have a friend down in Maryland that's addicted to 9C1's, has owned a bunch over the years. Years ago we used to pull banzai-runs to Toledo from Maryland,or to Masscar from NYC, everywhere. Best part is having people get out of your way when you come flying up behind them….thinking YOUR an unmarked car. Total bullet-proof reliability with great road manners.

[FASTBACK340]

Getting to my memories….

Growing up as a child being into cars, everything in print back then was Mopar. In the early 60's Mopar's were succeeding in all form of then popular motorsports. That instilled my interest in the marque. The first time I ever attended a drags trip was at the long-gone NY National Speedway out in Center Moriches in Suffolk County Long Island. The VERY FIRST car I see race is the Hurst Hemi under Glass. That day in 1968 changed me forever watching a car run 130 MPH on it's rear tires.

And so started the Barracuda illness.

[mnwildpunk]

I was four when my older brother brought home a 1941 chevy master deluxe coupe. From that day forward I have loved everything on four wheels. Living a mile away from brainerd international raceway aka donniebrook didn't hurt either my family got free tickets because of the noise

Edited October 20, 2014 by mnwildpunk

[DynoMight]

1969 AMC AMX. Fire-engine red. 390. 4-speed. Rebuilt in our garage. Painted, piece by piece, by my father and then re-assembled. My earliest memories are with that car. "Helping" (what my mom called it) my dad. It was probably just getting in the way haha.

The Bullit Mustang and the 68 Charger... The Greatest Car Chase in the History of Car Movies!

Dom from F&F's Charger. Pure testosterone. Hurts even more to see it crash today.

1970 AMC Javelin. Parts car. Had it when I was 5 or 6. Remember going out to get it. It showed me that not all cars have to be shiny and running to be cool. I remember sitting in it, with the mothball smelling interior, holding the steering wheel and acting like I was going around a race track lol.

1965 (???) Ford Custom. Dark metallic blue, no clear. Rust and patina. Rebuilt 427. Straight piped. Car was just, it was just perfect.