First Car Meme

The latest blogger meme going around is "Your First Car" and the adventures enjoyed therein.

I managed to live car-less after graduating high school, USAF training, and my first 2.5-year stint in Korea. With my first stateside assignment to Fort Meade MD, I finally needed some wheels. With Dad helping me shop, I finally settled on and paid cash for this '78 Buick Regal, modeled here by Lil Bro.

It was a blast learning winter driving in PA and MD and I made a quite a few road trips home for the Holidays and even long weekends. The Big Road Trip was with my buddy Dave, when we made a summer road-trip to Virginia, where we checked out Busch Gardens, King's Dominion, Colonial Williamsburg, and every miniature golf course between them all. It was on the trip back when we discovered the Buick had a leaky radiator... as we limped off the long Bay Bridge system spewing steam.

With my next tour to Korea, I discovered I'd be stationed in Texas next, so I availed myself of the awesome deals on factory-ordered new cars and picked out my first Ford Mustang. Dad bought the Buick from me for pocket cash and used it as his work beater for years until it started falling apart and Lil Bro offered up his Ranger pick-up as he moved up to an F-150. Dad was kind of bummed that my later taste in cars differed so much from the car he helped me pick out, but the Buick was just what I really needed when I started out driving. I've driven Mustangs and Rangers ever since.