Have we forgotten?

[russellw]

I have noticed some threads here of late, started by younger people embarking on their first motoring adventure and all too often these threads attract criticism from some of our members.

It leads me to wonder if we have forgotten what that first car actually means to us particularly when, for may, that first experience had become a life-long passion.

So let us take this opportunity to recount what that first experience really meant to each of us.

For me it was simple - it meant freedom, mobility, some personal space, the joy of driving (albeit slowly in a grey engined Holden) and a whole range of new skills learnt in my crude attempts to improve what the manufacturer had provided.

In that era, the early 70's, those improvement consisted of impossibly wide wheels, a fablon strip over the top of the windscreen, 2" exhaust systems, tiny sports steering wheels that rendered the horn unworkable, all manner of loud seat covers, the mandatory and ridiculously long fibreglass whip radio antenna, a set of triple gauges to muffle the single radio speaker and for the enterprising a pair of speakers in plastic boxes to sit on the rear parcel shelf. I didn't have the latter thanks to my first car being a wagon but instead had the compulsory side and rear curtains. Laughable now but no different to the mods that are made these days.

A car meant the freedom to go where I wanted to go; when I wanted to go and with whoever I wanted to go with and that was a life changing experience and I'd have to say that it has, in many ways, shaped the rest of my life.

4 nights a week spent doing 'blockies' - the express purpose of which was to display our automotive dream machines for the benefit of the girls that were present much like any other animal displaying their finery to attract the opposite gender. That the habit also incurred the wrath of the local plod and resulted in many canaries and on-the-spot fines was really just a sideshow to the main event.

As time went on it became Saturday nights at the drive-in (whatever was on as it didn't really matter) with the current best girl (or anyone who'd accept the invitation) and weekend drives to the beach with a couple of mates in their cars. All part of exploring the world opened to us by the humble car.

Cars have marked milestones in my life as well. I remember sacrificing the 2 door Monaro I had at the time in favour of a sedan when the first child arrived and later sacrificing that for another wagon as the family grew and practicality ruled the day but then I equally well remember the day that I was free to make a car choice based on emotion rather than practicality again.

In cars, I have seen much of the world close up. Met the people, experienced their particular automotive passion and (sometimes) eaten the food. Seen some amazing sites, driven some great roads and experienced the highs and lows of automotive design and production.

They've caused me to spend long nights and weekends in hot tin sheds, sweating over some ancient wreck that I have been attempting to resurrect - occasionally causing me grief and frustration but more often being a source of contentment and pride.

Now, it is AFF that consumes most of my car related time but it's still a passion that burns fiercely - all started by that humble $300 machine that first lit that fire.

Cheers
Russ

[cs123]

Well said. When you're younger your car provides you freedom and allows you to express yourself.

I see some mods that younger folk do to modern cars. Sometimes I don't like it but then think I was the same at that age.

It's great that they have a love for their machine that they want to put their personal mark on it.

[Whoosha]

Spot on Russ, when you have the passion from a young age it's something you never seem to be able to shake , some times for the better ,some times for the worse, in most case usually the worse for your wallet, from silly mods that sounded like a good idea at the time (I still wonder why I cut up 3 perfectly good XW dash tops to try and get that quad gauge holder to sit rite ) to rather expensive engine failures from being ill informed,to getting defected only to get it removed and go home and put it back just the way it was, just how you liked it, to just plain having way to much time to think stuff up. I read the build threads and remember my first car (XW P Van) and the countless hours me and the mates would spend doing just the same . Come to think of it nothings changed I still manage to con a few mates around to work on my wrecks for a bit of fun Pity the body wont keep up with the brain, dam that concretes hard to lay on these days.. For what its worth I blame my uncle who decided to take his young nephew to Sandown Race track back in 67 the noise from a gold XR GT down the front strait on full song has never left me ..

[SpoolMan]

My 1st licensed ride was a TC Cortina color was Mulberry, 3 on the floor 200 6cyl, was soon changed to single rail 4 speed, 250 engine rebuilt with cam, balanced, extractors.
I will see if I can find a pic, be good if we could add a pic of our 1st rides.

[Geez Louise]

Well here is a bit of an insight from a females perspective. Not that it is much different.

Being younger and having the freedom to go to places I knew, if my parents found out, I would be in some serious hot water, was half the fun, the excitement of being able to just cruise wherever you wanted to go.

And the laughter and silly things we use to do, that would make you cop huge fines or even amount to you losing your license now adays.... like fitting 8 people in the back of a '76 Escort Panelvan to go into town...It was a squeeze, but everyone fit. Mates on the back of utes cruising around town...

I remember putting up velvet curtains in that Escort and loving every tacky minute of it. Same as when we added the disco ball and dice....our parents hated it which made it all the much better. We were being rebellious and loving it.

All us girls use to look at the guys driving their cars and the hotter the car, the hotter the guy seemed. Funny but true! Same can still be said for girls nowadays.

Yes, the younger generation today have different ideas to modding, but not that much has changed.

The need for a good sound system, flashy wheels, big rubber, more speed, flashy paint,...it all still exists. I hope that it never fades. They will cherish their memories as they get older. Once you have a love of cars, it never fades.

As for my first car, the first one that was all mine..I had a green TC Cortina. She needed some love and attention but I bought her in 1987, with my hard earned, for the princely sum of $300 and I loved it!

[ego gtp]

my first car that i owned and drove when i got my licence. i had 3 before this but too young to drive. it was a genuine XB 351 INTERCEPTOR and wow did i enjoy it. it probably spent as much time off the road as on i broke everything. 2 engines 3 trans 2 diff centres and numorous axles and lots of other stuff. i met some great people through that car some still friends with 28 years later.i agree with russ and whoosh you may not like what the younger generation do with there cars but it will make alot of them grow and build some orsm cars through the years to come just like most of us cheers gary

[Silver Ghia]

Reading Russells story about his first car pretty much reflected my first car which was also a grey engine powered wagon, and in the same era. I must have been the enterprising type, having the valve radio hooked up to the two plastic boxed speakers from Kmart in the sidewalls behind the back seat back (the back seat was down all the time).

I remember the front guards being full of rust, I managed to find a good second hand one which remained in the red-brown primer, couldnt find one for the other side so the rear part just forward of the passenger door flapped in the breeze, and rust holes around the headlight. And water leaked onto my right leg when it rained. But mechanically that car just kept going.

Looks like I missed out on some of the nocturnal activities mentioned, I was too involved with my hobby car at the time (S-series Valiant) that I was doing up, and the planes of course.

[OzJavelin]

My first "real" car was a black '65 Dodge Phoenix which I added moon discs, whitewalls, twin spots (hand spotlights, not driving lights) twin aerials .. And a Confederate flag on the grille. It was my idea of a 50s "custom" .. Constructed from a huge 60s sedan .. Driving around in the early 90s. In hindsight it was a mess .. But like all young drivers I thought it was awesome!!

Yeah I think we forget what it's like to be a young driver with their first car .. The knowledge gap we all had, and the mistakes we all made ..

[aussie muscle]

Originally Posted by russellw

For me it was simple - it meant freedom, mobility, some personal space, the joy of driving


and for the enterprising a pair of speakers in plastic boxes to sit on the rear parcel shelf. I didn't have the latter thanks to my first car being a wagon

my license was an acceptance into adulthood!

i had a wagon as my second car, but I managed to get box speakers, albeit mounted sideways on the wall behind the rear seats.

[2011G6E]

I think the problems start when you think you don't need any more skills, that you know it all, that you're the best there is.

Doesn't matter how good you are, you can always learn more.

Another problem is listening to the wrong people...pub experts and internet warriors who give you eiher mistaken, wrong, or just plain dangerous advice on how to do something.

When I started driving in 1982 (well, technically, got my licence in 1982...I'd been driving on a farm I worked at since I was 16 in 1981 after leaving school at the end of year 10), the process was very different to today.
Everyone waited with baited breath for the day of thier 17th birthday, then you would turn up at the cop shop (there was much wailing and nashing of teeth if your birthday fell on a weekend and you had to wait until monday! ) , ask for your learners, and the copper would put the little thin white card licence in a big old typewriter and ask what sort of learners you wanted...most people just said "the lot" just in case...and he would cross off the boxes for different vehicles.
I paid, I think I recall, $10 for this and off I went. There was no test for your learners when you turned 17...you got your learners and started, well, learning.
Another huge difference was you only had to wait six weeks to go for a test to get your full licence. The cops would advise you to "maybe get a couple of lessons", and the quiet talk was that if you went for your test and hadn't got any lessons, your test would be much harsher...not that it was very hard.
I got a couple of lessons and luckily I had to wait until ater work to get them, so I gota lot of pointers about driving in the dark, which a lot of people didn't get until they were thrown out on their own.
I recall I had two goes at getting my licence, but you didn't actually pay for your licence until you passed...which is why you sometimes hear stories of older people who had ten goes at getting thier licence.

I already had my first car, an ancient 1953 Austin A30 I had bought off a friend for $300 (registered) when I was 15, and off I went on my own.

I've seen it with my own three kids though...they have to keep reminding themselves that you never stop learning.

[thefargo]

that sounds very familiar..
"In that era, the early 70's, those improvement consisted of impossibly wide wheels, a fablon strip over the top of the windscreen, 2" exhaust systems, tiny sports steering wheels that rendered the horn unworkable, all manner of loud seat covers, the mandatory and ridiculously long fibreglass whip radio antenna, a set of triple gauges to muffle the single radio speaker and for the enterprising a pair of speakers in plastic boxes to sit on the rear parcel shelf..."

for me, add mags at the rear , until I could afford them for the front as well, a few pay weeks for that. then (drum roll), the old carpet out of the lounge room, as my parents had bought new carpet for that room. it looked old, it looked like old person's carpet, but it was a luxury!

I spent a long time drooling over a friends 'clarion' tape player. for me am radio, was as good as it got.....and you know; tell a young person that and ..............

[Polyal]

I wish i grew up in the 60's or 70's...some cool first cars, mine was an EA which I thought was the bomb at the time..I later found that it literally was a bomb. Jokes jokes, it did its job and I certainly overspent on that thing.

[Bushbasher]

I was driving my parents home from the pub in Arno Bay to our shack after nights out at 15 and got my learners the day after my birthday in march of 81. I was desperate to get my licence before P plates were to be introduced on July 1st. It took me 3 attempts, the first I failed because I gave way to a school kid who'd stepped off the kerb to cross the road as I went to go around a corner; apparently I should have forced him back onto the footpath or running him over by not stopping instead of waving him through. Second time I was a bit too keen with my parallel parking because I took 4 attempts to get it done according to the instructor even though I still had 3 minutes to complete the manoeuvre. So on my third attempt he passed me, just too weeks before the P plates were due, YAY!. I think I lasted 3 months before I ran out of points .

My first car was a hand me down 2L TC cortina in Green, an excellent well balanced car that went hard and that would happily wind off the clock. I eventually told my old man to stick it where the sun don't shine after he pulled rank on me and wouldn't let me drive it me till it was fixed (minor bingle)for something that wasn't of my doing. My first car that I bought with my own money was a HQ windowless panel van, 202, 3 on the tree. It was a commecial van so had nose bleed ride height but did have a nice metal flake paint job and mags. It handled brilliantly and could corner so hard it'd pick up the inside front wheel and could go just about anywhere, the stories I could tell about that car, (sigh) . I was always more into function than form so the only mod I ever made was to fit a removable dividing wall between the front and rear with a door so I could back up to walls and climb in the back with girlfriends and have total privacy, ahh the memories, hehe. Some of the things I used to do in both my first 2 cars would leave people shaking their heads and calling me all sorts of names not least of which would be " you're *********' mad!!" At 16 you have no concept of mechanical sympathy and in hindsight, although my car control was pretty good if I'd have had a mechanical failure or blowout at the critical moment during some of the things I did I might not be here today. My only defence is that I never blindly launched into and manoeuvre without studying it first and working out the variables so I wasn't as bad and mad as some of my contemporaries who acted first and thought about it later, although that's no excuse and I certainly wouldn't condone or encourage others to try some of the things I did.

The freedom, the cruising, hanging out with ya mates and checking out everyone else who was doing the same thing, lol, going bush for a thrash just for fun, impromptu parties that would spontaneously evolve whenever everyone would find themselves in the same place at the same time, ah yes, good times.

Bushbasher

[GT0132]

Good stuff Russ.

My era was late 70's so not a lot different than yours. I recall the speakers in boxes on the rear shelf , small steering wheels...I also recall, rather than lower your ride it was cool to jack up the rear and paint the diff red....or was that an NZ thing ??

[b0son]

Originally Posted by cs123

I see some mods that younger folk do to modern cars. Sometimes I don't like it but then think I was the same at that age.

I dont see much I can relate to in terms of youngsters and modding.

When we were younger, it was suspension, tyres, exhaust, etc .. they all served a purpose. More grip, more power.

Nowadays, its bling rims (20"+), the almost complete removal of suspension (how many cars have you seen that are basically all but scraping on the ground), appalling body kits that look like rejected props from a B grade sci fi, and absurd money spent on paint jobs for cars that are basically piles of crap and worth nothing.

Thats not to say thats my opinion of all of them... there are plenty who do it right, but sadly, there are far more who do it oh so badly.

[russellw]

Originally Posted by GT0132

Good stuff Russ.

My era was late 70's so not a lot different than yours. I recall the speakers in boxes on the rear shelf , small steering wheels...I also recall, rather than lower your ride it was cool to jack up the rear and paint the diff red....or was that an NZ thing ??

I'd forgotten the jacking up the rear end thing - we did it here too, particularly with wagons and vans. Not quite sure what we were thinking when it was frequently done by using 'helper' springs that clamped over the top of the existing leaf springs. I'm sure it did precious little for vehicle dynamics!

Cheers
Russ

[wrongwaynorris]

Point taken Russ . If I have been guilty and I do not recall being so ( I try and take into account the relevant circumstances before commenting ) of bagging out some poor 17 or 18 year old and his pride and joy I apolgise profusely . I copped it back in 1977 from all my mates and their fatheres brothers etc etc for buying a 1963 Hillman Imp when they all had , EH's , XW's , Toranas etc etc and one rich kid with a Mini Cooper S . Real charecter building stuff that was .

[russellw]

Originally Posted by b0son

I dont see much I can relate to in terms of youngsters and modding.

When we were younger, it was suspension, tyres, exhaust, etc .. they all served a purpose. More grip, more power.

The point I was making is just the reverse of that for two reasons:

1. Many (although not all) of the mods we actually did had an inverse impact on performance or a negligible one at best. Plastic spoilers, small steering wheels, jacked up rear suspensions and plastic speaker boxes did nothing to benefit performance and in at least 3 of those probably made it worse.

2. Whichever era you grew up in had it's "thing" that you did. In the 50's (when it first started) it was nearly all bling related - the must have car mod of that era being the chrome hubcap. Through the 60's and 70's, while there were plenty of performance mods (shocks, heads, carbs etc.) there were still the 'bling' items that you disparage. They weren't 20" rims but they did consist of wheel covers, chrome bits that you could fit just about everywhere and some of the other items mentioned in the OP.

I don't profess to understand all of the current crop of mods either but then I don't have to. There are plenty of people (as this forum attests to) who still spend $$ to improve the performance of their cars while others choose the appearance or features route but that doesn't make either invalid.

One of my mates back in that era worked for a certain government agency responsible for rail based transport and thus (with access to a massive workshop and 'bits') everything on his car that could be chromed, was. Anything that couldn't be, was painted in the particular shade of yellow used to paint the trains of that agency.

Yes, the full length chromed dual 2" system and split manifold on his EH probably improved performance but the fabricated (steel) front and rear spoiler, 2" rear lift kit and road train sized (chrome) front bull bar certainly didn't but it was a car that stood out and drew attention and as I initially said, that is all it had to do.

Cheers
Russ

[wrongwaynorris]

" 2. Whichever era you grew up in had it's "thing" that you did. In the 50's (when it first started) it was nearly all bling related - the must have car mod of that era being the chrome hubcap. Through the 60's and 70's, while there were plenty of performance mods (shocks, heads, carbs etc.) there were still the 'bling' items that you disparage. They weren't 20" rims but they did consist of wheel covers, chrome bits that you could fit just about everywhere and some of the other items mentioned in the OP"

Hey Russ , remember that other old nugget of the late 50's and early 60's the copper exhaust pipe to get that boomy sound . God i am showing my age now .

[AC]

My first car was a 1987 KC Laser GL.
Back in the day, I was happy with a 25% tint, Cat back 2.5' exhaust, lowered 30mm onto a set of 15' Rims, A Ghia interior made its way inside and a bit of doosh doosh in the boot. That made me happy for quite a few years. I thought it was an awesome car at the time. Made me very happy and I was very comfortable driving it anywhere and everywhere. I used to spend a lot of time on it, washing & cleaning it and looking at what I could mod next for as little as I could on my apprentice wages.

Everyone I knew at the time thought I was "car crazy" for my little Laser. I probably was

[russellw]

Originally Posted by wrongwaynorris

Hey Russ , remember that other old nugget of the late 50's and early 60's the copper exhaust pipe to get that boomy sound . God i am showing my age now .

We were still doing it in the mid 70's - I didn't with the EJ but the EH that followed, with 161 and 4 speed, got the split manifold, dual 1.5" exhaust with copper pipe after the muffler and it had a blaaaat sound that attracted coppers (of the blue uniformed kind) at 500'.

Doubt that it was the healthiest of choices but it was fun!



Cheers
Russ

[damoose]

Originally Posted by russellw

I'd forgotten the jacking up the rear end thing - we did it here too, particularly with wagons and vans. Not quite sure what we were thinking when it was frequently done by using 'helper' springs that clamped over the top of the existing leaf springs. I'm sure it did precious little for vehicle dynamics!

Cheers
Russ

Lol I really love threads like these
I used the old pump up shockers Just roll up to the servo and pump them up to any height I wanted even with all my mates in the back seat, really really dumb now i look back at it always wondered why the back wheels wanted to overtake the front

[Whoosha]

this thread is a crack up, + 1 for good old Munro Hi Risers as for 70s BLING Hell yeah .. Started with Purple hairy carpet stuff on the inside of the roof of my van , 8x14 Chromies all round sitting the fattest Parnelly Jones tiger paws you could get at the time (so much better than Aquajets ) not to mention the obligatory white,silver or gold tyre lettering stick, to the 3 speed Speco floor shifter finished off 8 years later with its 3rd respray 4 th motor ,5th gear box, 4 diffs, Mirrored tiles on the in side roof (god knows how that would have ended in a crash ) to the must have island beach mural down the sides Must dig up some old happy snaps
image

[my_gxl]

My first onroad car was a VC commodore. Only upgrades it got was tyres when i always wore them out, and removal of rear muffler after knocking it off from heading off the road backwards.

It is the first and only holden I have owned. It has been the blue oval ever since.

The freedom and random crazy times, like driving to town, getting pizza, then back out to the hume weir and sitting on the bonnet, reclining back onto the winsdcreen at sunset (plus the warm bonnet kept the pizza hot).

[jixel 78]

I can sympathize with where this thread is heading. The good old days etc. I work with alot of apprentices on the workshop floor at a large Ford dealer, and I see determined effort, genuine sweat and tears go into AWD Nissans and other complicated Japanese sports cars to extract a bazillion horsepowers and a trillion RPMs. This has had (in my opinion) a really positive effect on these young blokes skills in their work. Cleaning the points and tweaking the mixture on my first car, a bog stock Datsun 180B,(late80`s was my era) gave me some of my most now treasured knowledge,along with the pipes, springs, carbs etc that followed till it was eventually pranged and retired to the scrap. My point being we should encourage these young people to achieve stuff, and remember it because they can do great stuff to a modern car,and from my experience most are extremely keen to know how to fix and modify old ones too. I fitted an aussie speed manifold and 350 holley to my old XF daily one day and was told in no uncertain terms that it should be injected post haste. After discovering the simplicity of the holley,and studying my `how to power tune holley carburettors` book I got for xmas one year, the 19 year old apprentice concerned cant get enough of it.