CP

Thomas,

That's a beautiful looking Beetle. A forty-years old car. I wish I age as gracefully.

CP

chris walrod

For me, I must say the 1960 Beetle I drove while in college was probably the slowest as that era Beetle was geared really low. This is how I learned the art of drafting I would draft 18 wheelers on the way home while on the freeway.

Caveman

It's a close run thing between my mum's Datsun Cherry (a horrid plastic thing that refused to die; changing gear merely meant a different engine whine) and a friends knackered 850cc Renault Five which we drove to the south of France. It would cruise at about 45/50 on the auto route. Any higher speed brought about an almighty wheel wobble. Needless to say on the way back (knowing that we had breakdown recovery) we thrashed the guts out of it figuring that we would get back home quicker and more comfortably on the back of a recovery lorry. You can guess how pissed off we were when we found that the wheel wobble was only in a five mph range and that it could actually do about 70/75! Happy memories (almost as happy as spending a day in a French autoroute rest stop trying to smuggle out and dump a tank full of diesel that my idiot friend had put in his car...

Cheers,

David

ESL

1964 Rambler. Had a very early version of cruise control. If you floored it the pedal would stick and had to be lifted from the floor by your foot.

Caveman

Sounds like a 993 clutch...

Adrienne

How funny! That looks just like mine - same color! Ha!

Euromagination

My mom's '68 Beetle is the slowest car I've ever driven by far. She got it when she first moved here to the States from Germany in 1974, and she still has it to this day. Red with black interior.

993Dave

My grandpa's 19?? Chevette (the year is irrelevant). He towed it behind his motor home for years. I don't know if the thing could go 60 mph, but I didn't want to be the one to take it there. The noise alone was a powerful deterrent to accumulating velocity (one cannot say that the car "accelerated"). Even my ever-thrifty grandpa knew what he had; he (in concert with probably thousands of other owners) dubbed it the "Shove-it."

jimq

I learned to drive in a old 50's Crosley wagon and a 1960 Bug eye sprite. The Crosley was the size of a shoe box and mostly made out of wood. Wouldnt get out of its own way. Had a racing style steering wheel. it was press fit on the shaft and occasionaly come off in your hand. Made up for the excitement where the speed left off! Sure wish I had that Bug Eye Sprite today. See them at autocrosses and they sure look fun.

billatlanta

This maybe elsewhere in this thread - but a Mercedes 1983 240D with an automatic. An almost 4000 lb car with 60 hp. The diesel is not turocharged like the later 5 cylinder. From the factory 0-62 mph in 21 seconds! I still have this car. I would venture that with A/C on it is 24 seconds to hit 62 mph. Great car, and you learn how to drive it to make up for the HP.

mrsullivan

i find it interesting that this post has exposed a lot of stories about first cars, engine build/re-build with dads, etc... starts to hint at where some of the car enthusiast genes first started...

mine was a 1981 toyota tercel ... red with an orange door. 215k miles on the clock when i bought it for $500. Sold it for $700 a couple years later...

next was a 1970 olds cutlass with rocket 350/4 barrel rochester quadrajet... my dad and i rebuilt the car and engine from scratch... it was faster than the toyota.. :-)

SteveL1

Mine was a '72 VW Beetle "Automatic" that was my wife's when we got married in '75. It was horribly slow and I tried to make it feel a little faster by pulling the shift lever to the side which would pop the gear in to neutral until you let go. Kinda like side stepping a clutch I suppose. Nah, it didn't help a bit.

Oh, and the frost on the inside of the windshield in the winter!

CP

Jonathan,

I was taking a walk with my wife, talking about my wrecked M5, and how fast cars get us in trouble. I then mentioned my good old Ford Fairlane, how slow it was, and a smile came to my face. Some how, car nostalgia and memories tend to be the sweetest and warmest kind. We talk a lot about the technical and performance aspects of our cars, but the cars (like pets) we remember the most are the ones we connect the most. Quite often, those are our early and most treasured possessions.

I thought then I'd start this thread so more of us can remember the 'Good Ole Days'. Seems to work thus far.

I really enjoy reading these posts. Some are down right hysterical. However, the fondness sentiment never fails to come through.

Thanks all for sharing.

CP

darrendeguire

1984 Ford Ranger Diesel (2.2ltr izuzu motor). Always enjoyed leaving the black cloud of death behind when I put the pedal to the floor, which had no impact on my speed but always a joy to watch car try to avoid it. Only car I ever drove that wind direction and speed made a major impact on my speed.

Leland Pate

This was my all time beater.
'85 Nissan Sentra boasting 69 hp.
It was given to me by an ex-girlfriend to drive while I rebuilt the motor in my old SC Targa.

It did not take long for me and my roomates to ..."customize" it just a tad to poke fun at the local Civic crowd.

Complete with hand made rear wing (actually adjustable)
Faux NOS (fire extinguisher) bottle
Hood scoop (SS Trashcan found at the recycling center)
Real Foldgers Exhaust system
And, of course, fake cell phone antenna