My 1st car was a 57 Ford Fairlane. I had driven it when it was my brother's but
we never got it running again. I don't remember what was even wrong with it. My
2nd car was a $100 Pontiac Bonneville. It was a monster my 10 speed bike fit in
the trunk with out removing the front wheel. It lasted about 8 months until I
parked it for 3 weeks. after that I had to put a squirt of oil in each cylinder
to start it if it sat for more than 48 hours. Then my oldest brother got
transferred and I had to take care of his 2nd car A 1963 1/2 Ford Falcon with a
68 289, 4 speed and 4 barrel carb. When he came back (1975?) it was time to
look for transportation! A friend had a real nice 68 Ford Cougar but it was an
automatic so I keep looking. A 1969 Midget with body damage. The front end was
just replace all the bolt on sheet medal. The rear turned in to frame bent in 2
places. So I picked up a 65 sprite body and changed everything over. After that
as Bud says the rest is history
Paul Van Wig
Big Bear/Long Beach, CA
pvanwigatmacdotcom
facebook.com/pvanwig
1959 Nash Metropolitan (the wife's fun ride)
1968 Morris Minor Woody RHD
1960 Bug Eye (awaiting restoration)
1980 CJ7 Lives @ 7440'
2012 Turbo Diesel Ram 2500 4X4
2003 Toyota 4Runner (the wife's Mountain car)
2012 Cadillac SRX 3.6 (the wife's work ride)
1958 Minor-wrecked
1965 Midget-parts
1981 Datsun 210 1500 w/ 5 speed
I was reading a car mag this morning in the reading room, and it occurred to
me that all of us remember our first car. That's what we do...since we are
car guys (and gals).
How many of you remember the place you bought it and the name of the
salesman (or private seller)? I even remember the names of the rest of the
sales staff at the dealership.
I bought my 1963 Sunbeam Alpine Series III in 1968 at Buzz Marcus Motors in
Glenside, PA. Buzz was an SCCA racer who drove Triumphs. His mechanic was
Dick Stockton, who also worked on my TR. I think Buzz is still on Facebook
and living in FL. He opened one of the first Toyota dealerships in the area.
My father bought his first Toyota there, a 1970 Corona. When Toyota exploded
(not literally), Buzz sold the dealership and retired to racing full time.
My salesman in those early days was Dave Landis and the other salesmen were
Bennet Orr and Hap Schmalbach.
If I can remember the parts manager's name, I'll get back to you. I also
bought my TR4A IRS at Buzz's, so I became fast friends with the parts
department.
Allen Hefner
Norristown, PA
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