A Fiat 1100 Delight.
My parents’ first car was a 2-door Studebaker. Then I (the third kid) came along and they switched to 4-door sedans exclusively. Not only full-sized, but larger full-size - Mercury, Chrysler, another Chrysler. Meanwhile, my father’s company cars were only a tad smaller - Chevy Bel Air, Plymouth Fury, then a whole series of Fords and Mercurys after his company got Ford as a client.
The good ol’ early 70s Datsun 710 station wagon in maroon.
I couldn’t find a picture with the right color.
I don’t really remember it but my dad owned a first generation Ford van when I was born; quite likely brought me home in that vehicle. Sold the van and bought a '71 Ford Ranch Wagon ~three years later. Then there was a '72 Plymouth Fury III, followed by a four-door '79 VW Rabbit diesel for a few years. I was the only kid, out of 10, living at home by then.
Dad once drove the Rabbit all night – about 16 hours total – to spend the holidays with one of my sisters. Him and Mom in the front with me and the large family dog in the back. Prompted by that experience, he later bought another wagon – a loaded, one-owner '84 Chevy Malibu diesel with the fake wood – so there would be more room for the dog. The Malibu wagon became the family car and he continued to use the Rabbit for commuting.
My dad was a shadetree mechanic when I was little. Always at least one project car around, sometimes a project car and a parts car. One of those projects was a green ~1960 Studebaker Lark.
We started with sedans, but in 1960, we got a station wagon.
An Edsel.
We had that for several years and eventually switched to a Pontiac station wagon that we used until I was in high school.
We didn’t have any car until my senior year in HS. In late 1953, we bought a 1941 DeSota, which stopped running five months later. A couple months after that we got a '49 chevvy sedan for just $300. This turned out to be a pretty good car that I eventually inherited and ran till 1962. In the meantime, we had a succession of wrecks, all sedans.
Cool. I too am the firstborn of 5. The first 4 of us were born one year apart.
For years my parents had 2 cars. By the time I turned 16 they had bought two more. So the “old” 1969 Buick Skylark became “my” car. It’s a humble car, but it was basically “mine” to use whenever I wanted.
It was great becoming the third driver in a 4-car family.
At one point, we had 4 drivers and one car. You can imagine how often I got the keys. I was 20 before I got my own car.
Ouch.
I was extremely fortunate.
First one I remember was a late 50s Buick, complete with one of those window-mounted air conditioners.
Next was a '62 Rambler American, then a '71 Chevy Chevelle Malibu 4-door with a white vinyl top (which in later years I discovered that both me and my brother had got up to 100mph on virtually the same stretch of road) and finally a '73 VW Squareback.
I had a 1970 Chevy Chevelle as a young adult. The Chevelle brings back good memories. Important note: that’s the Chevelle, not the Chevette. Important distinction there.
But as a kid growing up, my family was mainly a GM gamily. Although very early on we had a Ford Falcon station wagon. I was 7 when they traded that in an I barely remember it. Then, we had…
1968 Buick Sportwagon, in puke green
1969 Buick Skylark
1976 VW Van, the Microbus
1977 Chevy Caprice
I got my license in 1977 and that Skylark pretty much became mine to use whenever I wanted. Yes I was very fortunate.
The earliest car I have much memory of was a huge Ford station wagon that was Mom’s car. It had 2 bench seats to hold 6 people, then the back area had two very small seats that could fold down to make a larger cargo area, or up to have two sideways facing seats for 2 people each. So in theory it could hold 10 people (though that back area would NOT have held 4 adults!!).
Mom’s car before that was, I think, a Comet sedan - I have only a faint memory of it.
Dad always had some kind of comfortable sedan - he was a sales rep for a packaging company and put a lot of miles on it. The last car he owned was a Mercedes (doubtless afforded because the company paid mileage); when he got a company car. I think when he retired he purchased his most recent leased car. Mom inherited the Mercedes - which was in fact the first car I ever drove. It was also the first car we had that had bucket (vs bench) seats in the front; I remember my mother once driving 6 kids home (3 of hers, and 3 from a friend’s family) from school when it let out early due to snow!!
At some point they traded the Mercedes in and got a VW Rabbit for Mom, which was the one I got my license on. My brothers each had Ford Pintos - the parents bought the first one for them to share, then #2 brother actually won one in a raffle.
Brother #3 went through a series of cars - some helped by my parents, some he bought as junkers. None were terribly memorable. My first “car” was my senior year in college - Mom and Dad bought a used Fiat from friends of theirs. It was a “station wagon”, meaning it had a roof that extended all the way back; it was tiny, only 2 doors (aside from the hatch), and to get to the back seat, you tilted the entire front seat forward on a hinge. It spent more time in the shop than out of it, and stranded me on more than one occasion (to be fair, one of those times was a flat tire). It did get good mileage (when it ran).
Dad had pickup trucks, Mom had a station wagon. About the time we kids were all in high school, Mom got rid of the station wagon and got a Chrysler LeBaron (much smaller, but more luxurious).
For some of us, cars become a member of the family. Over the years I’ve taken pictures of notable cars that I see. Not at a dealership or a show, they have to be out there “in the wild”. I now have about 1,000 photos in a Facebook album and the comments I get from FB friends, they share fond memories of earlier years.
Just like we are seeing here, cars can bring back memories, some good and some less so.
When I was little we had a Chevy station wagon. As best I can figure it was a late-70s Caprice in orange. I’ll always remember the “GM” on the seatbelt release buttons and the pattern of little holes in the interior ceiling that could mess with your vision.
Then in December 1985 (I was 7) my parents brought home a Ford Aerostar. A roomy vehicle with three rows of seating was a much better option for a family with three boys. It had some of the problems that first-year car midis have, but it lasted us until the late 90s. Fond memories.
Over the years of my childhood he had a '52 Kaiser, a '58 Edsel. a '64 Ford Galaxie, and a '67 Dodge Monaco. Definitely all full-size sedans.
Minivan.
My parents bought a new Toyota van in 1989 and kept it for 11 years. It replaced an earlier Dodge Van that I only vaguely remember. The Toyota was uglier than sin but it was functional and comfortable. They made several long trips in it and my dad used it to pull a drift boat with regularity. I inherited it after they finally got a new car when my brother got his license and I drove it for a few years. It was a 5-speed which I guess made it rather rare.
I haven’t seen one on the road in years. I wouldn’t mind driving one again, just for the nostalgia.
The first car I remember was a Plymouth Duster, so not quite a full size sedan, only had 2 doors. Then we got a Chevy Citation, and my dad drove a tiny little Subaru of some sort. I distinctly recall him setting off for work after the blizzard of '78 and couldn’t see his car because the snow banks were taller than the car.
Later we got a Dodge Omni and a Nissan wagon. I got the Omni to take to college.
Shows how definitions have changed. The Plymouth Duster was officially classified as a “compact.”