Great find and story, Kevin.
Mine was a '73 Pinto which got handed down until the last in the house (me) took it to college.
I also drooled mightily over the CBX when it came out....had posters all over my wall of
that *beast*.
Reminds me of my first car; a '83 AMC Concord. Good parts: dashboard had toggle switches. Bad parts: everything else.
On the other hand, the wisdom of my parents in letting me buy a car (when I was 17) that could do 0-55 in about 12 seconds and never made it to 60 without a good hill is something that still impresses me to this day.
I find it amusing that my motorcycle, a 2009 BMW R1200GS, is roughly 60cc larger and has double the horsepower of your first car. I hadn't realized there had been cars with engines smaller than what my motorcycle has. Here I thought the 1.8L engine in my first car, a 1981 Corolla, was small.
Every kid should start off with a car of that quality. Ben and I inherited my grandma's 1974 Datsun hatchback, about which Niles in an episode of Frasier had the best-ever line: "Well, there's a novel idea: name the car after its most hideous feature."
got my first car in 1997, 7 years after getting my driver's license when I was hired by a company providing company cars.
Was a '94 VW Golf TDi, spiffy little job.
0-60 times from the net look to be in the 16-18 second range, comparable to my much heavier and significantly more powerful Mercedes (77hp in 3500 pounds).
Basically, it's a 1969 Geo Metro. About the same mass, about the same power, about the same speed, but rear engined.
(I'm always amused reading reviews at, say, Truth About Cars, where someone calls a 9 second 0-60 time "slow".
Wow. Thats kinda a cool car. I bought my first car (1988 Ford tempo) for 900 bucks. Not at all cool, but my wife was using it for her horrible 10 minute commute to work until last year when the transmission went and was just not worth fixing. That car owed me NOTHING.
1964 Buick Special 4-door, 310cid Wildcat V8, driver's side doors roped shut. Grandpa (RIP) said to me, "It needs a rear brake line and a front wheel bearing. If you fix it, you can have it." (This was fall of 1980.)
1100cc '60 Karman Ghia I bought for $500 in 1981, I painted flames on it and other stuff. About like the Simca in speed and handling, but with less interior room. Rebuilt the motor every time it lunched a valve, so it wound-up with four rising-sun flying-saucers stenciled on the side. My graphic-arts impulse came early.
Forget the CBX. Try a motor out of any of today's MegaBikes--like the new Hayabusa powerplant, which is closing in on 200hp. =-O
Feel privileged--most people in the US have never even heard of a Simca, so you get Cool Points just for being original. I'm so boring that my first bike was a SOHC CB750 and my first car was a Ford LTD wagon.
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Great find and story, Kevin.
Mine was a '73 Pinto which got handed down until the last in the house (me) took it to college.
I also drooled mightily over the CBX when it came out....had posters all over my wall of
that *beast*.
Reminds me of my first car; a '83 AMC Concord. Good parts: dashboard had toggle switches. Bad parts: everything else.
On the other hand, the wisdom of my parents in letting me buy a car (when I was 17) that could do 0-55 in about 12 seconds and never made it to 60 without a good hill is something that still impresses me to this day.
Reminds me of the line from Ferris Beuller's Day Off: "I don't even have a piece of crap, I have to envy yours."
My first car was a Lada. Good times.
I find it amusing that my motorcycle, a 2009 BMW R1200GS, is roughly 60cc larger and has double the horsepower of your first car. I hadn't realized there had been cars with engines smaller than what my motorcycle has. Here I thought the 1.8L engine in my first car, a 1981 Corolla, was small.
Hell, you should see what still sells on the roads, new no less, in Euroland.
1.2 liters, about 100 horses and in a mid-sized wagon too. I'll also tell you it's a really good car.
Skoda.
Wish it were here.
BTW, they also offer four different diesel engines in some models. Four. Also have your choice of five gas engines, from mild to very respectable.
Every kid should start off with a car of that quality. Ben and I inherited my grandma's 1974 Datsun hatchback, about which Niles in an episode of Frasier had the best-ever line: "Well, there's a novel idea: name the car after its most hideous feature."
got my first car in 1997, 7 years after getting my driver's license when I was hired by a company providing company cars.
Was a '94 VW Golf TDi, spiffy little job.
198? Ford Escort. Shared it with my brother.
Now picture folding the rear seats doen and carting three large yellow lab retrivers around. (Hint, there was a row of five faces in the front) ;)
56 hp in 1700 pounds, rear engined?
Sounds pretty good, actually.
0-60 times from the net look to be in the 16-18 second range, comparable to my much heavier and significantly more powerful Mercedes (77hp in 3500 pounds).
Basically, it's a 1969 Geo Metro. About the same mass, about the same power, about the same speed, but rear engined.
(I'm always amused reading reviews at, say, Truth About Cars, where someone calls a 9 second 0-60 time "slow".
Kids these days!)
Reminds me of a Trabant...
Oh, I've sat in a few Trabants. That's pretty scary.
Fiat 125. 'Nuff said. The only good thing about it was that it could out-corner a Mini-Cooper S, when it was working. When.
1600cc 4-cyl, 4-speed gearbox. And a clutch made of glazier's putty.
I loved it.
Had Simca 1000 while in Germany holding back the commie hordes in the 70's when we still HAD commie hordes.
It was a great little eurocar... I think I paid $300 for it.
MC
1972 Fiat 128 sedan. Green. With yellow wheels.
Wow. Thats kinda a cool car. I bought my first car (1988 Ford tempo) for 900 bucks. Not at all cool, but my wife was using it for her horrible 10 minute commute to work until last year when the transmission went and was just not worth fixing. That car owed me NOTHING.
1964 Buick Special 4-door, 310cid Wildcat V8, driver's side doors roped shut. Grandpa (RIP) said to me, "It needs a rear brake line and a front wheel bearing. If you fix it, you can have it." (This was fall of 1980.)
1100cc '60 Karman Ghia I bought for $500 in 1981, I painted flames on it and other stuff. About like the Simca in speed and handling, but with less interior room. Rebuilt the motor every time it lunched a valve, so it wound-up with four rising-sun flying-saucers stenciled on the side. My graphic-arts impulse came early.
Forget the CBX. Try a motor out of any of today's MegaBikes--like the new Hayabusa powerplant, which is closing in on 200hp. =-O
Feel privileged--most people in the US have never even heard of a Simca, so you get Cool Points just for being original. I'm so boring that my first bike was a SOHC CB750 and my first car was a Ford LTD wagon.
Note: All avatars and any images or other media embedded in comments were hosted on the JS-Kit website and have been lost; references to haloscan comments have been partially automatically remapped, but accuracy is not guaranteed and corrections are solicited.
If you notice any problems with this page or wish to have your home page link updated, please contact John Hardin <jhardin@impsec.org>