First Car

This is close to what my first car looked like. Somehow, this doesn't look quite right. OK, I remember. Mine was a 4 door hatchback. The grill may have been a little different, too

It was a Chevy Chevette, I think from 1980. My dad bought it for me when I went to college. I remember that I didn't get it until after the 2nd or 3rd week I was up at school. I'm not sure how I got around campus before that.

I loved that car in some ways, hated it in others. It was a cheap car, not cool or sporty or racy. I think Dad paid about $2,500 for it. He bought it used. It had no FM radio, no AC, and no power steering. It really needed floor vents on the summer, the area around your feet would get really hot. On the plus side, it was light (easy to push), easy to fix, got good gas mileage, and it didn't cost me anything. You could fit a lot of cargo in it, surprisingly, in the deceptive spacious hatchback. An unexpected bonus was that it was pretty good off-road. It's short wheel base meant that it had pretty good clearance. I took it on some really rocky and rutted country & farm roads while I was in college.

I had a battery problem for most of one year, so I parked it on hills and roll started it. It was fun learning that trick. I would start the car by getting it up to speed and popping the clutch. I had to replace that clutch cable once, it was a $29 part and I put it on myself. The shocks were shot for the last year or two I had it. The piston on the hatch failed at some point and I used a vice grip on the piston rod to hold it up.

One time, I drove it with a friend up to Bluemont Hill in Manhattan Kansas, and it slid sideways on the rough road and put a foot long dent in the driver's door. I got out, inspected the damage, and smacked it with the heels of my hands at either end of the crease. The metal popped back into shape like it had never been dented.

When school was winding down, I figured that I was going out into the world and going to be getting paid and that I would get a serious car. So I bought my first Jeep, which turned out to be a lemon (until I replaced a lot of parts on it). I took that fuel injected new Jeep overseas to Panama when I was in the Army. They only had leaded fuel down there, which fouled and plugged the Jeep's fuel injectors. I realized that if I had just kept the cheap little Chevette, I would have been better off.

It was my college car, so in some ways it holds a lot of special memories. I think my dad's attitude was that a teenager doesn't need, deserve, or appreciate an expensive vehicle and it's crazy to go into debt just to get them a fancy car. I think he was right about that. It was a measure of comfort to know that if I did screw up my car, it would not cost a lot to fix or replace. But I took really good care of it and it took me anywhere I wanted to go in return.

The summer after basic training (for ROTC officers, it was called Summer Camp), I loaded up the Chevette and took it to Colorado with my 12 or 13 year old little brother. I had taught him how to drive, possibly before that time, and I believe he kept asking if he could drive (this may have been the next summer). He was so excited to be going on this trip that he babbled the whole way out to Colorado and was driving me crazy. At one point, I stuck my head out of the window and yelled at the top of my lungs. It was funny. Overall, we had a great time.

I wonder how long the old car lasted before it finally died? Knowing my old cars, it's probably still out there, still going. At least it is in my memories.