First Car Stories

I was working at Burger King in 1982. By the time school let out for the summer, I had a few bucks saved up. The Dukes of Hazzard was popular then, and I really wanted a Charger. No Internet then, No Auto Trader magazine either... It was used car lots and classified ads, or bugging the old man about his car on the side of his house.
I saw a '70 Charger 500 near my school. It was F8 with green interior, 318/904 and in decent shape. The sign in the window read $1500. I didn't have $1500. I ended up going to look at a 69 Dart that was in my price range : $500. I ended up buying it for $400.
318 2 barrel, 904 trans, 7 1/4" axle and 4 wheel drums. They sure built a LOT of them that way! Red with a black interior. I drove the car when it would run, but that turd left me walking quite a bit. It always seemed to have some electrical problem waiting to happen. I had the car from July '82 to August '83. I put in 3 starters, 3 batteries, 2 alternators & VRs and one starter relay. Being 17 and inexperienced, I never figured out the root problem. It could have been as simple as poor connections at the bulkhead.
I made several mistakes with the car. Once I installed ignition points and couldn't get it to start afterwards. I called a buddy for advice. His response? "What did you gap the points at?"
"Uhhh, GAP points?" I didn't know you had to do that!
I used to take the car on dirt trails to drive like Bo Duke. I got stuck several times but never jumped it. I added slotted mags and air shocks and had it painted. About 8 months after I sold it, I saw the car in a self serve wrecking yard. It had no body damage and this was several years before CA required smog checks, so my guess was that the new owner also got tired of pushing and towing the car and junked it. That was my first car and my first A body. Today I have owned 56 cars and 24 have been A bodies. I currently have a 67 Dart GT, a 71 Duster and a 74 Duster. I love these cars!