Hey, Le Gays d'Elders, what was your family car growing up?

1953 Chevy

1964 Pontiac StarChief

1972 Pontiac Ventura

1962 Ford Fairlane 500

1960 VW Beetle

Those were all the cars we had while I was still living at home.

Lots of Cadillacs, Buicks and Chevys

Matching powder blue chevy in the late 60s and then the Oldsmobile Delta 88 and Wagoneer - with several later models afterwards.

Volvos and the cheapo C class Mercedes followed.

An Oldsmobile of some kind. It was big. Dad did have another car for work, a Pontiac LeMans.

Mom and Dad has several cars, but the family car (the one we took on road trips) was a Mercury Marquis Colony Park.

I posted at R1, but here are the cars I've had myself:

1968 Datsun 510

1976 Toyota Corona

1984 Subaru Hatchback

1989 Mazda 626

1997 Honda CR-V

2009 Hyundai Sonata

2018 Subaru Outback (no, I'm not a lesbian)

Mustang

The Mazda Make me jealous

My dad went through interesting cars: Corvair station wagon, early 60s T-bird, 66 Mustang, 50s Mercedes sedan, VW bus, Kharman Ghia. My mom always had VW Beetles.

My dad went through interesting cars: Corvair station wagon, early 60s T-bird, 66 Mustang, 50s Mercedes sedan, VW bus, Kharman Ghia. My mom always had VW Beetles.

My first car was a 65 Pontiac Star Chief

Just me Dad, and he took it with him when he left.

Buick Le Sabre. In burgundy, which was the hot new color in the mid-‘60s. My new winter coat and our sofa fabric were the same shade.

We had the same gold/brown Plymouth Satellite station wagon the Brady's drove to the Grand Canyon - complete with rear facing back seat.

The best part was the Oldsmobile Calais of the 80s - power everything with fuel injection. They lasted forever, but hot ar the time everyone wanted bigger cars.

A Woodie Wagon

We had one of those station wagons c. 1973, green with wood paneling on the sides. And a seat in the back that faced backwards. Then when it finally died, my mom got a 1984 Honda Accord, which was totally new and exciting at the time.

1956 Chevrolet, 1966 Corvair, 1972 Pontiac Catalina. I drove a red 1964 Thunderbird convertible.

We had a blue station wagon with wood panels back in the 70s.

A 1960’s MG

A 1963 Chevy truck

A 1960’s Comet

A 1967 White Chevy with teal interior

A 1979 Cadillac Deville ( a boat, really)

We were a one car family, and Dad was Rambler man.

Cadillac Fleetwood - Dad Pontiac Firebird - Mom

Pontiacs before my father got adept at Japanese car maintenance and we pivoted to Datsuns (and subsequently Nissans).

My dad was a financial mess and would trade card every 2 years. Always had to have a new one. Can’t remember the parade of cars that went through our lives.

My uncle did the same thing all during the 70s R23 - my dad constantly told him he was being an idiot.

From 1954 on to about 1982, Buicks. Nothing but Buicks for my old man.

Until the GM engine scandal the 1980s, where GM finally admitted to putting Chevrolet engines in Buick and Oldsmobile cars. That was the straw that broke the camel's back for my dad.

He never bought another GM car (or any other domestic maker) for the rest of his life.

Caddy to the Club

Buick Regal. 2-door. White with black vinyl top.

Buick LeSabre, blue.

Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme.

Old Camaro (before they changed the tail lights).

Acura sedan (Integra?).

R16, the Colony Park at R5 had rear face-to-face seats.

Family Truckster. Fine automobile.

[quote]Kharman Ghia

Oh, dear.

KARMANN Ghia.

My Mom could not drive. The family car was a Pontiac Grand Prix. My dad also had a hunting/weekend chores truck.

I had to Google Cadillac Fleetwood and it was just as I imagined.

A '59 Chevy Impala and a Ford Galaxy. Both MONSTER CARS.

Ford spelled it "Galaxie." Guess they could trademark it.

First car I remember is a two-toned blue '56 Pontiac two-door sedan. My parents had it for ten years.

A red Pacer! Which I happily inherited when my mpther could no longer stand it

My dad drove a yellow Plymouth station wagon. My mom drove a brown Pinto hatchback. Not sure what the years were for either.

This behemoth: a 1976 Oldsmobile Toronado. My dad LOVED it so much that he’d make the entire family crawl in and take us on senseless drives to other towns and then back - without any stops. Sometimes two fucking hours with him chainsmoking the entire way.

The doors were so huge and heavy for a little kid. When I’d carpool in other cars. for swim team, I remember constantly being chastised for slamming their car door egregiously hard on my exit, but putting my back into it was the way I’d ever known.

Mom had station wagons A ford Country Squire with the wood and then a classier white Mercury colony Park with the side lights and premium blue velour interior. Dad had a VW Beetle for commuting after his Plymouth got too old. Then he got a ford Granada. He like ford. I find it difficult to drive a car that is not German. I did buy a used Subaru when moved to Santa Fe but replaced it with a 1979 BMW 730 that was a grey market car. The insurance was a hassle so I traded for a ford expedition when they arrived. Then I got a Porsche cayenne, and Audi convertible and a Mercedes E class. I have an X5 now and I love it.

Ford Galaxie 500 and then an Oldsmobile 98.

The first car I bought out of college was a 1979 Dodge Omni. Mine was pine green and I actually loved it at the time.

I never appreciated that the widespread car rental tv ads in the ‘60s was because most households then had only one car.

Dad was a Ford man, we we always had Ford vehicles. Mom had a station wagon of some sort as she was driving 6 kids around, Dad had a truck. After kids started moving out, they went to sedans. I learned to drive with a Plymouth Volare, which Mom was so worried would stall during my driving road test, that I had to wait until the end of winter to take my test for my license.

[quote]My mom always had VW Beetles.

I'm loving the new VW commercial with "I Am, I Said", and all the vintage film. Makes me want to buy a Beetle, too bad they don't make them anymore.

We had an early 1960s Ford Prefect--as, I assume, did Douglas Adams before he wrote Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy. I learned to drive in a Beetle that was older than I was. It didn't even have synchromesh on first gear, meaning that you had to double-clutch every time you stopped it.

As late as the early 60s, my grandfather had a car with a running-board.

No, people, not double-clutch your pearls!

Another Delta 88. Also various Oldsmobile station wagons (one of them a woody, though the "wood" was some sort of decal). Those were the first new cars we got (starting when I was around 10); when I was in high school my father started getting "company cars."

Growing up, always a Ford Country Squire from the mid-50’s through early-70’s for my Mom, then she drove a Mustang. My Dad always had either the fanciest Ford or a Thunderbird for work. After my Dad died I steered her toward Volvos, usually a station wagon, because they were slower and had more safety equipment than most US makes.

We had OTT neighbors who always had matching Cadillacs - same color, different models - for years.

Who else remembers vent windows in their parents' cars?

There was one family car and my dad also had a pick-up truck. My mom always picked the car every 3 or 4 years, but it always seemed to be the same: pastel, conservative, boring. They secretly coveted Cadillacs, but didn't feel like they were "Cadillac people".

My beef was they always bought 2-doors and there 3 kids, forcing us to crawl into the backseat and feel claustrophobic (no A/C) and choke on my mother's cigarette smoke.

Used Ford paneled station wagons when my much older siblings were still at home. Then a Nova, the first new car my working class parents ever bought.

OP- in the 1970s one did not refer to their parents at mom and dad you would say my mother and my father. Until1975 we had a 1972 Cadillac sedan Deville and a 1967 Oldsmobile 98. Gasoline prices had gone up my father got rid of the Oldsmobile and replaced it with a hornet sport about- What a piece of junk.

A 1964 Ford Fairlane - black with red interior. It was a great car. That's the one I remember most.

We had had a 1962 Mercury convertible. Once when all of us kids were someplace with our Mom - the oil light came on.....but Mom just kept driving us home. Of course the car was ruined.

My father said: "People as stupid as you shouldn't even be allowed to drive a car."

My mother handed him the keys and said: "Okay, you can do all the driving from now on." And she never got behind the wheel again. He had to drive EVERY PLACE.

Vent windows were the best, R48. Where I live it gets very hot in the summer, and people always say how did we survive without a/c in cars in the olden days. The answer was that the vent window did a superb job. Unless there was a hot wind, it was amazingly effective. I'd have them back in a minute. Much better for the environment than running the a/c, too.

1962 Pontiac Catalina Station Wagon 1967 Pontiac Catalina Sedan 1973 Chevy Impala Sedan

Weren't vent windows principally smoking-related?

Three Chevys, a metallic pale green 1964 Impala SS. Then another of the same car in metallic beige when I got in a wreck (not my fault) with the green one. Then a later model 1966 or '67 navy station wagon we called "the Blue Goon."

That’s not how French works.

This is the commercial I mentioned. I think I remember some of the commercials they show.

A friend had a VW bug. Neat little car, but a very uncomfortable ride. Hard seats and I'm not sure that car even had shocks.

The first car we had was a purple Nova, maybe a ‘72. My dad had a work van he drove. Then they inherited my grandfather’s Buick which was a *cruise ship* it was unbelievably huge, a golden mustard color. Loved riding in it.

My dad got an aqua and white DeSoto in 1957. Only new car he had. Then it was used base level Chevy station wagons throughout the 60s and 70s for Mom. VW Beetle for Dad which got passed down to me.

[quote]I drove a red 1964 Thunderbird convertible.

LOVE that car!

R51, we had a 1971 Hornet Sportabout. It was rudimentary but reliable, and handed down to me after my Fiat rusted out.

It was functional at best, but I drive a 5-door hatchback, and that purchase was inspired by the Hornet.

My mom did not drive for many years, not until I was in HS. She had an ugly but utilitarian Chevy Celebrity.

My dad had a big white boat Impala that caught fire as we were driving home when I was about 6 or so. Then for a decade or so after he had AMC cars....first a Gremlin (which looks cool to my eyes now) then a Concord (which was an ugly sort of K car contemporary).

1962 T-bird convertible.

1965 Chevy Impala two door

1969 Dodge Charger

1971 Chevy Caprice (mom’s car)

1975 Buick Electra Limited Coupe

First car I remember was a Simca sedan, which was later traded in for a 1962 WV van. In 1965 after birth of the second child, my parents traded in the VW for a new red Chevy station wagon which was out only car for several years. It got traded in for a Fiat 3-door 128 hatchback in the early 70s (which became my first car when I started driving.

My father was a car nut, which he passed to my brother, so I have stories ranging from tragic to hilarious describing their shenanigans. Dad had an early 60s (I forget the year) white Cadillac Coupe de Ville with black leather interior that was just huge. My sister somehow got it wedged between our freestanding garage and the house and he ended up getting all of the neighborhood boys to come over and literally lifted the car two feet to the left. It was amazing no one was injured or killed. Anyway, he traded that for a 73' Dodge camper van that was just another barely-functioning jalopy. He sold that and bought a Volkswagon wagon that was underpowered and drove like a tank. He then bought a Datsun B210 wagon on which l earned to drive a stick. That died, so he then bought an '85 Chrysler LeBaron wagon brand new and it was such a piece of shit that he sold it and drove VW Rabbits for years including the last one, a convertible, that he hung on to for a long time (15+ years). When he died, my mother gave the Rabbit to one of his friends because she was "sick of the oil stains in the driveway." She said she was prepared to pay somebody to haul it away and was thrilled when his friend offered her $250 for it, but she wouldn't take his money and just handed him the title and keys.

Throughout my childhood there was also a series of cars ranging from some classic antiques to over two dozen Volkswagon Beetles that he'd buy, repair/recondition, and sell. Of course he got caught jumping the title (to avoid paying sales taxes) and learned the hard way to not do that any more. I drove around in various Bugs with for sale signs in the back window for years.

Dad bought Mom a '64 Beetle as an apology gift for running off to a football game the day I was born, leaving her to call his brother for a ride to the hospital. She drove that until I was about 8, when she gave it to my sister and bought a used sedan that I don't even recall the make or model. She traded that in on a new two door '75 Ford Granada that she ultimately gave to me when I learned to drive, and boy did I love that car. She bought herself a series of Camrys from then on, trading them in when she'd paid the loan off and buying another. When she retired, she upgraded to Avalons, which she drove until her doctor took away her driver's license (although we never told her and got her a state ID card to replace it; she'd long since stopped driving as either I or one of my siblings drove her wherever she needed to go).

Chrysler Fury III, but my dad drove his truck everyday, my mother didn't drive, so one just sat there, at one time we had three vehicles and mom still didn't drive.

R64, I had a 128SL (before it was transmogrified into a hatch). It was more fun than anything I've ever driven (my current car is very close) but it's the car I refer to in my post at R61.

We had a Volvo 240DL Wagon and a Ford Thunderbird.. This is when I was around 6-7..

Mother drove a Mercedes wagon that she had forever and my Dad had a succession of Peugeot sedans until they stopped bringing them to the US

R69- Those cars were neither reliable or comfortable. At the least the giant American cars of the 1970's were extremely comfortable.

1966 Plymouth Fury II

1972 Plymouth Fury III

^^^ ...and the '72 was a boat!

We owned a boat.

Seriously, it was a boat ... a 1963 Buick LeSabre two-door hardtop.

Looked just like this one.

A yellow Plymouth station wagon.

Oldsmobiles and Buicks.

1959 Bentley S2 Convertible, 1969 Aston Martin DB6 Volante, 1971 Fiat Spider, 1971 BMW 2002, 1972 Datsun 240z, 1973 Chrysler Imperial LeBaron, 2 Oldsmobile Vista Cruisers

Model T.

As one of the Le Gays d'Elders, I remember all of these cars in the 60s and 70s as you described them. That was a time when cars had a distinct look, and most could identify a particular model produced by Chevrolet or Ford or any other maker. The colors were so diverse, as well. I am sick of seeing all the silver, white, black and red cars on the roads today. I want to see the avocado green, pastel yellow, royal blue cars again.

1962 Ford Falcon

The first I remember was a pea green VW Beetle, which I think they'd had when my father was in grad school. After that came a succession of Dodge Darts.

Volvo 240DL Wagon and Ford Thunderbird. This is when I was 6-7? Later it was an Audi 5000 and a Ford Aerostar!!!!

The first car I remember was a '54 Chevy. This was in the early '60s. It looked about like this, green - except no shade over the windshield, and of course the whitewalls had fat white stripes, not those thin ones. (Continued.)

The thing that I remember most was that the '54 Chevy had straps between the two doors to hang onto to get out of the car.

We had a blue '57 Olds that I particularly remember because when we parked on the street outside the doctor's office, I had my finger in the way and my mom shut the door on it. The nurse said, well, you've come to the right place. Those were very heavy doors, in those days. The black nail (that eventually fell off) was a conversation piece in the neighborhood all summer.

We then had a 1960 black Chevy Impala with red interior. My favorite car.

"A red so bright it will both hurt and enchant your eyes."

Later we had a white '68 Ford Country Squire station wagon with the fake wood on the sides. And the headlights that had the grille doors come down and cover them when not in use.

The Ford wagon.

This car always prompted my parents to talk about the station (that my mom always called a "beach wagon") that they had, with actual wood on the sides, in the '40s.

My father had a 1948 Oldsmobile, a 1952 Buick, a 1959 Oldsmobile (he liked old cars) and, then, suddenly, a sporty red V8 1963 Ford Fairlane.

58 Pontiac Laurentian (sold when I was a year old) 64 Chevy Biscayne 72 Ford (Don't remember the model) 76 Chevy Belair

I'm pretty sure my parents had a Chevy Nova back in the early 70s. I used to lay on the shelf over the back seat in the rear window as a little kid. Very safe!

Our next door neighbor (a teacher) had a white Chevy Impala convertible. She used to take her nephews and me for ice cream and we kids used to ride on the top of the back seat when the top was down. Also very safe.

They both had cars. Dad had a Mercedes and I forget what mom had but it was something American and boxy. A Ford I think, or Oldsmobile. This was late 70s-mid 80s.

It's strange that I don't remember any cars before my parents got divorced when I was 7. After the divorce, my mother got a bright lemon yellow bug that I threw up all over when I had a bad stomach flu, my Dad didn't learn to drive umtil his 30's. My cousins had a station wagon that had the back seat that folded down and we all fought to be on it.

I'm pretty sure I was driven home from the hospital after being born in a Kaiser-Frazer, because that was the only car my parents had at that time. I've only seen it in pictures, because the first car I remember was a '53 Chevy, which they must've bought shortly after I was born (in '52.)

My mother had a succession of Country Squires. My dad went from an Olds Cutlass Supreme, to a Buick Electra, and then a Cadillac Sedan DeVille.

My grandpa had a circa 1970s Dodge Dart, mustard yellow with black vinyl top. I remember it having 4 doors, but all the online photos of a '70s Dodge Dart have 2 doors.

He had a stroke and stopped driving. My grandma didn't drive at all. So, my grandpa either sold (for cheap) or gave the Dart to one of my cousins, who really appreciated the car. The car must have been in perfect condition with really low mileage.

One car family -- Buick Roadmaster

1973 Mercury Cougar

1984 Ford Crown Victoria

199? Dodge Caravan

The bus my grandad took to work, that had stopped very near our house for years, stopped running.

In the mid to late '60s, where I lived, it was decided suburbs didn't need public transportation any more. They also paved over the streetcar tracks downtown.

So he had to get a license and buy a car. It was a Mercury Comet, mainly because the closest dealership to us was a Merc dealership.

My mom wanted a little French car so dad got her a Renault Dauphine. Those things started rusting out on the showroom floor but everyone was into all things French back then because of Jackie Kennedy. She wanted it in coral pink but settled for a grey one. It could do 0-60 in only 35 seconds. Shitty car but great ad campaign.

Dad had a 57 DeSoto which was a very cool car at the time.

One of the families on our street had a Citroen. Another family had a Jeep Wagoneer (the people who owned this were the Holst family, so my friends and I called it the Holstmobile). These cars just stood out in the '60s when everybody had the standard American cars - Ford, GM, Ramblers. One family had an Edsel.

My best friend's family had a Volkswagen Thing growing up - that was a weird car.

What happened to Volvo? Their cars were indestructible at one point. Now they are disasters on wheels.

I'll spare you the details, but in the 1970s my family went from barely scraping by to very comfortable almost overnight when I was 7 or 8 years old. Pre-money, we had two old junky cars: a white Pontiac and an aqua Chevy, both at least 10-15 years old. The floorboard of the Chevy had rotted out, so they always played the "hold your feet up" game with preschool me to keep me from getting killed.

Post-money, one of my parent's many splurges was the purchase of two brand new fully loaded Cadillacs, one black, one sea foam green. Once the novelty of those wore off, the sea foam one was traded for a big Chevy pickup truck. Once gas prices soared, the black one was traded for an orange Datsun B-210, just like they gave away on Tic Tac Dough. When the Datsun proved to be undependable, it was traded for a blue Toyota Corolla, which was the beginning of my parent's lifelong devotion to Toyotas. A parade of Celicas and Supras followed.