So it was kind of a stretch to say that love and pizza are similar because you always remember your first one. Not everyone remembers their first pizza (Shakey's thin-crust cheese and pepperoni, c. 1977. Yeah, I'm a little weird!).
However, if you've ever owned a car, that first one is indelibly marked in your memory. Here in Texas, where public transportation is getting better but is still a bit spotty, most teen-agers salivate over the prospect of their very own set of wheels. It's freedom. It's power. It's cool. So much of our identities – at least in traffic – are tied to what kind of car we drive and how we drive it.
My first car was a two-door coupe, candy-apple red, gleaming chrome, rumbling small-block V-8, red vinyl bucket seats, mag wheels, power mirrored sunroof and state-of-the-art stereo system. It was a ...
1980 Mercury Monarch. Maybe not as cool as the description sounds (think "Ford Granada"), but it was all mine!
Had nearly 100,000 miles on it when purchased in 1989, but it was reliable for the four years I drove it. Its best feature? The fact that I paid for it myself with cash I earned myself. Besides having a job, that car was my second major forray into adult responsibility. I paid for my high teen-age boy insurance premiums myself, too. "State-of-the-art stereo system", by the way, meant it had the supreme optional 8-track player.
When it came time to replace that old galloping jalopy, it had a fresh coat of red paint, new tires, new muffler, various engine repairs, new stereo (with cassette), new floor mats and sporty front seat covers. I sold it for more than I had paid for it, too. Despite the miles I'd put on it, the car was in better shape than when I first slipped behind the wheel.
I've already established that a first car, like a first love, is hard to forget. Here are a few other things love and cars have in common:
1. When you find a good one, it provides joy and freedom beyond your wildest dreams. And yet both also tie us down to a new reality.
2. You have to pay attention where you're going or bad, unexpected things can happen.
3. Both can help you appreciate the journey, not only reaching your destination.
4. Seatbelts are required because the ride can get wild at any time.
5. Either one can enhance or degrade our identities in a real or imagined way.
6. Getting rid of a bad one is hard work.
7. Sometimes you can put them on cruise control, but that's selling the capabilities of both short.
8. They'll both go further if they are continually refueled.
9. Both can cost a lot of money, time and effort to maintain. Preventative maintenance is best and easiest for avoiding breakdowns.
10. When either comes to a crashing halt, them's the breaks (or brakes).
11. Never be afraid to ask for directions when the going gets rough or you get lost.
12. This one is mainly for the guys: you can be attracted to the headlights, but don't forget you're buying the whole car. Make sure you can live with the whole enchilada (mmmm, enchiladas), including other models in the same line.
13. This one is mainly for the ladies: don't forget these things expel a lot of gassy exhaust fumes. You've been warned.
14. It's hard to enjoy either one fully if you're preoccupied with other things (work, cell phones, etc.)
15. It's not the years that matter, it's the mileage. Make every mile count, because the end of the road comes too soon.
My 1st car: 1973 Ford Mustang Grande, copper colored.
1977 Honda Civic Wagon. Brownish. And lots of skate punk stickers on the back. Hey, skateboarding is not a crime, yo!
You never cease to amaze me. I never would've thought of comparing love & cars, but you've made some really great points here. :)
First car I drove was my parent's old maroon '87 Ford Tempo. It only ran every third week of the month. When I graduated high school, my grandfather bought me what I consider "my first car" - a '95 Toyota Tercel, white, two-door. That car was my baby. Oddly enough, it was right around the time I met my first love as well. I no longer have either - but both are something I'll never forget.
Here's another good one, my dad told me when he bought me my first car (a 1998 Toyota Corolla) -
"If you go too far, too fast, too soon, you'll run out of gas."
Well, my first car was a 1978 Ford Thunderbird named "Tyrone". That car had nothin' to do with love!
Red VW bug. Loved Shakeys, had all the buttons, only remember the "Pepperoni Patrol", though.
My first (only, and still) love and I had Shakeys' pizza on our wedding night. First car white '65 Mustang--don't still have it. Lots of good miles on all of us:)
'65 candy apple red mustang. Decor interior and light package. V8 automatic. Decked out with peace signs and McGovern stickers. I don't still have it, but I hope someday to replace it. Sans stickers.
My first car was a 1988 Hyundai Excel. It was my big sisters car before I got it. I was so glad to have gotten a car that I didn't care what it was.
Cars = love.
Pizza = love.
Question:
Cars = Pizza?
The mind boggles.
Great post.
wow...I had almost forgot about my first car. 1984 Toyota Carolla....originally silver but before I bought it (for $1,800 w/80,000 miles)the previous owners must have taken the ol' Wagoner Power Painter and painted it blue. Everytime I'd go to the do-it-yourself carwash....I'd have blue paint just peeling of the car. Cheapness!! But hey....it got me where I needed to go and it got great gas mileage!!!
My first vehicle was a '76 Chevy pickup. My parents figured I could hit stuff with it without causing damage- (at least to me or it). Sure 'nuff- hit stuff I did.
It was a very nice color known in the owner's manual as "Golden Meadows". If it helps to picture this color, my highschool boyfriend called it the "Golden Meadow Muffin Mobile".
I had to learn how to change its tires, (with the help of a three-foot fence post attached to the lug wrench) and check it's oil and other fluids- (by climing into the engine and sitting on the block).
It was quite an experience! Sorry about the book-I should post on cars...
You are a wise man.
1974 Chevy Vega. Drank more oil than gas. I loved it.
I know that feeling T Bone.
Actually my first car that was fully paid for by me is my present....1998 Honda Integra. Paid for in full three months after the purchase date! I'm a happy camper..at least for the time being.
I loved my car. In fact, people who knew me in high school and college think I lie when I say I haven't owned a car in 8 years.
Believe me, if the experience of having a car in the city didn't rival the definition of "hell on earth" I would have a set of wheels today.
My first car was a 5-speed cherry red sportscar, complete with Alpine stereo, black leather interior, bucket seats, and moonroof. (sigh) Although my second car was my baby - girl and machine as one. I L-O-V-E-D that car. (deeper sigh)
On love & cars: a wise person once said "If its got testicles/tits or tires, its gonna give ya trouble" (c:
My first car: 1993 Hyundai Elantra. I saved for 4 summers to buy that car and I totalled it 2 weeks after having my license on a rainy leaf-filled day.
First car I had was a two-tone blue 1980 Pontiac Grand LeMans...with all-blue interior. Drove that thing between Pennsylvania and Mississippi during college.
First car I bought myself was a silver 1988 Mazda MX-6 Turbo with maroon interior. Wish I still had it.
Great Post, T-bone. You never cease to amaze and pique those almost-forgotten memories.
My first car was....
A 1974 Buick Century V-8, 350 hp. Light blue w/white (at one time) landau top. Bench seats - fit oh, 8 to 11 high school kids in it, at least. (Great drive in car--it was HUUUUGE) This sucker was SOLID. Remember when cars were made of steel, not plastic?
I had an after-factory installed 8 track player (Lots of Zeppelin going on then, as I recall).
Her name was Bessy -- and she was a bitch. I had to keep oil at the ready, she was a guzzler... Also used that "gumout" stuff to clean 'er out... (? Fuel additive?) Kept a giant bottle of thing of Heat antifreeze filled w/water for her oft-overheated radiator... Learned how to start her by taking the wing nut off the airfilter (?) and sticking a pencil in the manifold-thingy? (hell, I'm just a girl, not sure if that's what it was called, but you get the gist)...
She was sooo front heavy from that monster engine, that she'd fishtail if I did more than 25 in the snow... It was a lesson in constantly turning INTO the skid. :) Had to stack the trunk w/kitty litter and bricks...
Damn, those were fun times!!! Thanks for the memories!