What Was Your First Vehicle?
[Photo Credit: Justin S. Cheshire via Wikipedia.com]
What was your first vehicle? Chances are, it wasn't a new car.
According to a new survey, very few of us got a brand new car to drive. Mine was definitely used, and looked a lot like this Dodge van (pictured). It was a hand-me-down from my dad's equipment rental shop, and it did not help me get dates. My wife tells me that no self-respecting girl in the 80s was going to go out with a guy who drove a van. Just a bit creepy. (So, thanks mom and dad for ruining my teen social life).
But I really liked that 1966 Dodge van. Drove it from my home in Seattle up to Canada, and even down to Mexico. It got me from Point A to Point B, and a few other places. Although I did have to keep adding brake fluid. Yikes!
FM radio was busy taking over the world, so I installed the van's stereo system myself. Totally makeshift, with some big home speakers in the back and a couple of tweeters busting my eardrums over my head. Awesome it wasn't.
Those survey results, by the way:
- 83% of Americans started with a used car.
- 56% of Americans got our first vehicle before we turned 18 (I was 16, and got my license the same day I was allowed to have one).
- The most popular first car brand was a Ford. (That was my second, a Ford Mustang II.... the van was better).