My First Car

Like a first kiss, our first car is an indelible — and usually fond — memory. We asked 14 metro Detroiters to recall the wheels (clunkers included) that set them in motion

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Tricycle. Bicycle. Car. On the sidewalk, around the block, on the open road — wheels bring freedom. Taking possession of the keys at age 16 opens up a wide new world. No wonder most of us are happy to recall our first car, as these metro Detroiters did via e-mail with Hour Detroit.

Cynthia Ford community volunteer, wife of Edsel B. Ford II

Then: “My first car was a 1969 Cougar. I did love it. I was in college, and my father and I spent several days looking for just the right car. Initially, I thought I wanted a VW wagon (it was the ’60s after all). We were looking for something reasonable in price, but safe. And nothing in those dealerships fit into our price range. We ended up at the Lincoln Mercury dealership where my father had bought cars in the past and found this beautiful used Cougar. It was so much more elegant than the VW I thought I wanted. I just thought it was the prettiest car I had ever seen — and I felt terrific driving it.

“I still remember it vividly — and fondly. It was cream with a dark-green leather interior and dark-green pinstripes.”

Now: “I drive a company car, but own a 2003 Ford Thunderbird convertible. It’s powder blue with a black soft top and a white hard top and is very, very pretty.”

Bob Lutz GM vice chairman

Then: “A blue 1948 Volkswagen. [I loved it] at times, when running. It cost the equivalent of $500 in 1952 Swiss francs.”

Now: “A Cadillac STS-V.” 

Graham Beal director, Detroit Institute of Arts

Then: “My first car was a 1953 Riley 1 1/2 Litre [below], classified as a ‘Tourer’ in England. I absolutely loved it, even though
I spent a great deal of time fixing it. It was black with a black, cloth-covered top. In 1966, when I bought it, I paid £80 ($200) in the exchange rate at that time].”

Now: “I’m about to get a Volvo C70 (convertible).”

Neal Rubin columnist, The Detroit News

Then: “My first car was a steel-blue 1964 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88. The 1960s was a decade of innovation for Oldsmobile, none of it reflected in my car, which was about 40-feet long and chugged roughly the same amount of fuel as a Boeing 707. At least the Olds had wider seats.

“I adored that car, quirks and all. It had carburetor issues, for instance, so in cold weather I’d have to pump the gas pedal 35 times to get it to catch when I turned the key. Not 33 times, not 38 — 35 did the trick.

“It had pale-blue [vinyl] seats, guaranteed to be ice-cold in winter and painfully sticky in the summertime.

“When I took possession, it was basically a four-door paperweight. The transmission had begun shedding parts in the middle of Denver’s equivalent of Woodward Avenue. For the price of a new transmission ($200) I had myself the ‘flyest’ 10-year-old ride in Littleton, Colo.”

Now: “I’ve become a true Michiganian, which is to say I own two cars. The one that makes me swoon is a turbocharged 2005 red PT Cruiser woody convertible. The way I baby it, you’d think it was made of rock candy. Drive it in the rain? But then it would get wet.”

Brooks Patterson, Oakland County executive

Then: “A 1954 two-door Ford with “Miss Pig” painted on the side, which should have served as a warning. I hated it, but it was all I could afford while in college. It was light blue (damn near robin’s-egg blue). It cost $400.”

Now: “A 2008 Chrysler 300.”

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