The Wall Street Journal-20080119-My First Love Had Skin of Gleaming Steel
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My First Love Had Skin of Gleaming Steel
There was an old auto commercial that opened with a man dressed in British aviator garb from World War II. As he walked to his car the tag line read, "Your first car, like your first love, you never forget. Spitfire." Your article "The Car That Got Away" (Weekend Journal, Jan. 11) seems to prove that advertisement to be true.
My first car was a 1978 Mustang. Technically, toward the end, it was a terrible car. It had a carburetor that lived on Gumout, the body after 10 years was becoming Swiss cheese, and I basically sat inches from the road, feeling every crack in the pavement. Since then I have purchased new sedans that come with electronic ignitions, antilock breaks, airbags and a host of other improvements. However, looking back, I still loved that little Mustang.
Charles Plushnick
Brooklyn, N.Y.
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I'm searching for a certain yellow VW G60 Corrado that I skipped on in 1995 to preserve my marriage. Thirteen years later, my husband is finally ready to let me adopt the little supercharged beast and add it to my (already full) garage.
Katherine Helmetag
Troy, Mich.
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I have two photos on my mantel. One is of my wife -- just before our marriage -- sitting in a 1949 Studebaker Commander Starlight Coupe. The other is of me standing by the same car, which was my first. I am now 82 years of age, and my wife died in July 2005. I have located a duplicate of the car and am in the process of negotiating to buy it. It is my intention to completely restore it so that I can once again own and drive a 1949 Studebaker Commander Starlight Coupe.
R.E. Driscoll Sr.
Weatherford, Texas
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My husband bought a new silver Datsun 2000 Fairlady roadster for $3,000 in 1969. Our son, then age 10, later learned to drive in it (resulting in a new clutch installation shortly thereafter). The car was driven daily until 1990 when my husband retired and we planned to move to Virginia. My husband wanted to get rid of the Datsun. It was old, and he was tired of keeping it in repair. I insisted we keep it because I thought our son would want it some day. So we shipped it across the country, kept it for several more years until we needed the garage space for another car, and then gave it to our son, who did indeed want it and spent much more than the original $3,000 to have it completely restored. I hope that some day my granddaughter will own it. We're glad we didn't let it get away.
Sandra Capone Haney
Onancock, Va.
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This article brought back memories. My first cars were a 1973 Chevy Vega and a 1974 Ford Pinto. I won't be looking for either of them.
Chuck Allers
San Diego
