Who here has ever bought thier first car again just to "do it right"?

I was browsing CL the other night and ran across an ad for my first car, well not MY first car but the same year and model as mine. I was incredibly tempted to call about it, as visions of what I could do with it, now that I actually have some decent automotive skills and a little larger bankroll than 16 year old me did. But as I thought more and more about the car and what I would want to do with it, and what 16 year old me had wanted to do, it started to be less and less appealing.

As Grassroots as I would keep the build, It was still adding up to be a decent sum of money for what I would like to to do and my thrifty side didn't like where this was going. Then the practical side of me started in on the holes in my plan, and it basically said that everything I was trying to fix or improve on the car was already done on a newer model that was only a few hundred dollars more than the car I was looking at. So the only reason for getting this car would be pure nostalgia, and I guess it comes with getting older and maybe I'm actually getting a little more wise as the years go by, but I can't bring myself to buy a car purely for nostalgia.

So has anyone here actually purchased your first car and made it the car of your 16 year old dreams later in life? How'd that turn out for you?

Oh, the car was an '87 Nissan Maxima in case you're wondering.

I did, sort of. After the initial rush of driving it home, I realized that I had moved on from that automotive genre and I mostly used it to kill grass in the backyard. A month or two later I found the perfect RX-7 for an absurdly low sum, and the grass-killing became permanent. A couple years later the city gave us a notice for having too many cars in the yard, so I pulled a couple easily removed valuable components and the junkyard picked it up and gave me $25.

On the other hand, I'm still using the carburetor I pulled from it... it's the throttle body on my 13B.

I've really thought about it, though the aftermarket support for Plymouth Sundances is vanishingly small at this point.

Hmm, 1980 Toyota Corolla fastback with a 3T-C. I suspect 99% of them have returned to the earth by now, it'd be kinda fun to find one but I'm pretty sure that driving one today would ruin my memories of the wee beastie.

Well... the first car I had with my name on the title was a Lumina handed down from my grandparents. It did have a gutsy 3.8 and top-trim interior so that was good. Unfortunately that "reliable domestic car" had more finicky issues than the old BMWs I've owned. It was a brilliant highway cruiser though and it was good looking too, especially with the sleek LTZ grille, taillamps, and faux dual exhaust. Sometimes I think I would enjoy a nice, clean, and well-kept version of that car (in black, preferably.) I'd probably warm up the engine a bit, maybe find a junkyard supercharged 3.8 from a Buick or Pontiac. Don't know what else I'd want to modify though.

But alas, I have never seen a nice, clean, and well kept 3.8 LTZ trim Lumina for sale.

Actually... who am I kidding. That car was crap. Moving on.

First car I bought was an '88 Chevy Beretta with the anemic 4-cylinder. Served me well enough through college but sold it and bought a new Saturn when I graduated. When my (much younger) brother was about to graduate from HS and head to college, I decided my graduation present to him would be a car- so I found a few years newer Beretta with the HO Quad-4 and fixed it up and gave it to him. Unfortunately he's a lazy berkleyer didn't want to learn to drive its manual transmission so he instead took my parents' older (automatic) car to college with him and the Beretta sat for a while until they brought it up and gave it back to me and I sold it.

I now have no desire whatsoever to own another Beretta.

Now, the FC3C that was my third car... THAT I miss...

No real desire to own another 77 Cougar, but I did buy the same car twice (89 Mustang) so that I could do it "right" the second time.

I've gone to look at a few BMW 320i's, and its weird how the smell of decaying "gummihaar" is consistent over the years, it kind of snaps me right back to high school. Then I remember what it was like to have a car with no a/c. In Florida. In August. And then I get over the nostalgia pretty quickly!

It wasn't my first car, but after buying a new white 1995 Neon Sport sedan with automatic trans, I went back in 1999 and bought a white 1995 Neon ACR sedan.

My kids and I had this conversation like a few days ago.

"Dad, you had a CAMARO! Why did you give it away!??"

"Well, it was actually a pretty terrible car"

"WHAT!? A CAMARO!?! WHY??"

"It was painted blue, black, white, red and yellow when I bought it, it sat all funny, the engine made no power, it leaked fuel and oil, and was generally really bad"

"But don't you want a CAMARO!?"

"yeah, kinda..."

Yeah, no real desire to buy a tan '88 Chevy Nova (first car I got to drive daily, hand me down from the parents) or an '81 Subaru DL wagon (first car I bought with my own money).

But I did just buy another '06 Miata. It's the exact same year, trim level, color, etc...as one I had 6 years ago.

I still have my first car. I turned it into the drag car i wanted in high school. Hated it. Then hardcore pro-touring. Now more of a grand touring cruiser. It doesn't make sense. Financially. But emotionally....

I would, but when was the last time you saw a Cadillac Cimmaron?

You know, owning an Audi 5000CS Quattro again would be kind of awesome...

I don't want another Dodge Omni.

I do kind of want to get another Volvo 240 wagon with a four speed. I voluntarily sold it after kid #2 was born because the AC just couldn't keep the car cool enough to haul babies around in the summer in Houston. I think I'd like to properly sort one out and make it as 'nice' as I could. I just really enjoyed that car.

My first car? '87 Accord with the smallest and worstest engine. I'd own one again, but not to do it "right"- I'd want it exactly the way it was, horrible Chinese "Flying Dragon" tires and all.

The second car (and first that I really modified) was a B13 Sentra SE-R- that one I would take another crack at.

The third car was an SW20 MR2 and I did buy another later in the same color, which I arguably may have done a worse job with

I bought a '65 Mustang coupe when I was 16 and was in way over my head. I sold it when I was 19. When I was 30 and finally had a real job, I bought a '65 fastback and built it exactly the way that I wanted to when I was in high school. I had that car for about seven years before I realized that while they look great, they really aren't very good at being cars. I sold it, bought a new WRX and never looked back.

My dad has no love loss for a 63' Bel Air 4-door post sedan, with 6 cylinder automatic and the fancy option of a heater.

I've even found a couple. He threw a book at my head the last time I showed him.

My first car depends on how you look at it. First car I drove with regularity was my brothers 3/4 ton Chevy pickup. I'll likely never own that particular vehicle again, but will probably own sometime on the same platform or a decedent of it. First car that I wanted to be mine, and eventually was, and that I learned to drive stick on (at the age of 15) is currently sitting in my garage right now--but it is still dads, I'm just storing it for the winter. I might buy it from him if he ever sells it. First car that was "Mine" was a 1999 Nissan Maxima. No desire for that again. Nice car though.

my first was a 72 Challenger 440 with a 6 pack and 4 speed, got it for $2800 in 1996. I couldn't afford to get one now, heck I thought that I was making out and playing the buyer for a fool when I sold it in 1999 for $8600.

mtn's story about his dad reminded me:

My parents have no mechanical inclination whatsoever, in fact when I changed the oil on their snowblower my dad's response was "it has oil?!". They don't like cars and generally see the things as appliances... but the one car my dad speaks fondly of is a '65 Mustang, base model, manual everything, 6 cylinder. If anyone ever finds such a thing, preferably in red, send it to me because I'm going to buy it and drive it to his door unannounced.

I would love a 73 superbeetle done properly. Had to sell it for school money.

First car was a 94 Volvo 850, N/A sedan with a 5 speed. I actually DID own another 850, my third car, but I wasn't intentionally seeking one. My best car buddy from school calls me up one day and asks if I want a free Volvo. I needed a car at the time so I was like "hells yea" and a couple days later I drove it back from Connecticut. This one was a 96 Turbo sedan (auto of course ).

They were actually both pretty good cars, didn't do much with either though because I was in high school/college and poor. I think I put new speakers in the N/A car, and the Turbo got an MBC set as high as the ECU would allow, as well as a pair of Konis on the rear that I got cheap. The ideal thing would have been to own both at the same time and make the Turbo/5 speed combo Volvo wouldn't give us. I'd own another though at the right price.

First car I bought was a 1990 Acura Legend L 5-speed sedan. Lived that life once, no inclination to go back. It was cool and comfortable, but a pain to work on, the replacement parts were drying up and the aftermarket was nonexistent.

My first car was a 56 VW beetle vert. And it would go just about that fast. It was in pretty bad shape and I was not much of a mechanic at that time. I sold to the pilot that flew the company plane at my father work place. He sent $10 having the generator repaired and drove it for 10,000 miles and sold it to a collector. When I sold it to him, he took up payments of $25/month. Payoff was $200. I had paid $395 for it.