My first car was a beat up rental car. I think it was red. I don’t remember the make or model. I remember that it was very small. I needed a way to get to summer school. My parents rented a car so I could drive myself there. My parents were big on reliability so they wanted to get something that was well maintained but not expensive.
What was your first car like?
A blue one cost 50 pounds.
I was more into bikes than cars but thought I’d have better luck with the girls.Wrong again. 
In 1968, I was working as a clerk on the UK Natural Gas Conversion Project. My boss thought I could do better but I’d need a driving licence, so he arranged for the company to pay for lessons. Eventually, I passed the driving test and was transferred out as an appliance surveyor. I had to spend a few weeks on a crew bus - like this:
Then, when I was considered “trained” I got my own brand-new Viva HA Van (the company had a fleet of hundreds) - like this:
Of course, I didn’t “own” it but, for a year or so, as I worked in the UK Midlands, it was my “home from home”. Then, the company lost the contract, I lost my job and I lost the van but I never forgot the “modern” driving experience so, several personal vehicles later, I acquired a Viva HB Saloon - like this:
Sadly, this vehicle was “bad news” - breakdowns, collisions and, finally, theft.
This car was my first one and I hated it, still do. It’s one of two car models ever produced in East Germany. This one is the simpler, less expensive version with a plastic car body designed for the average customer who’d had to wait a minimum of 8 years for it. The Trabant has been the worst and most dangerous car ever. It’s got a tiny 22 hps, 0.6 ltr two-stroke engine which emits a horrible stink. Ingeniously, the fuel tank is placed above the engine. It would break down every other minute and needed to be refuelled frequently. It did 80 km/h. I was lucky to get a brand-new, more expensive “estate model” with leatherette-covered seats since I got it directly from West Germany. I drove it for eight years and then the spook was over.
MK1 Escort, bought it off the Milkman’s daughter 
Morris 1000, bought for £50 sold 2 years later for £45
When was that? £50 in 1955 would be worth £1,644 today…
She was only the Milkman’s Daughter, but she “Floated” the lads boat 
It was a 1956 model
A green Austin A30.
A 131 Fiat Miafiori, back around 1982.
Never in my life have I ever driven a worthless rusty heap of 
in my life. Couldn’t wait to get rid of it.
I had one of those later in life. Your description fits my one as well. Luckily, I lent it to someone who had an accident in it and wrote it off before it had rusted too badly. An abrupt end for the car rather than the slow decline that would have been the case.
My very first mode of transport with an engine was this…
I bought it brand spanking new for £100 ish’
At a cool 45mph max (50mph downhill with a tail wind) I covered hundreds of miles on it, to work and to every seaside resort down the east coast of Yorkshire from Saltburn to Cleethorpes many times. I passed my motor bike test on it and it became time to upgrade to something bigger.
Dad persuaded me to take driving lessons and with his help, upgrade to a car…Life expectancy was poor in those days for big bomb rock men riding big machines…
So after passing my driving test at 17 I bought a mini van from a bloke who was a mechanic at the bus company my mam worked as a bus conductor at. Together with the £60 van he taught me to do various maintenance tasks like doing the brakes and tappits and to smoke senior service fags…Cough! Splutter!
This is what it looked like…More or less…
I happily drove the van for the next few years and created many memories for myself and a few local lasses…
I had a similar mode of transport as a teenager. A Phillips Gadabout moped bought from Currys in 1960. 50cc and 35 MPH (with a following wind). I used to ride it to the railway station, chain it up and catch the train to get to my first job. Came back one day and it had been stolen. I couldn’t believe it.
I got it back a day of so later. the thief had ridden it a few miles and dumped it undamaged in someone’s front garden. It just happened to be the home of a policeman. 
Pre war Austin 8 with four speed gearbox but 3rd gear had to be held in gear. Top speed was about 45mph which was just as well as the mechanical brakes were very poor.
Fiat 850 sports coupe which I purchased in Germany, my good lady and I travelled around Europe in it with baby daughter sleeping in the backseat, Holland, France, Belgium and the U.K. Happy Days
In the late 60s. I married a serviceman stationed in Germany, and flew over to start our marriage. I was 18, in love, and open to any new adventure. He bought a used VW Bug, green, from one of his buddies when they transferred out.
I had a Florida driver’s license, but needed an international license to drive in Germany. I took the test, got my special license, and drove that little bug all over northern Germany.
Picture this: When platoon GIs needed a ride to Frankfort airport to go home on leave, I sometimes crammed three GIs in that car and drove them! No complaints from them, so if they were scared, not a peep! What great fun we had in that simple mode of transportation!
When hubby’s stint with the Army was over, and we moved back home, our very first vehicle was a 1965 Mustang, white with powder blue leather seats. We adored that car!.
Like this?
Yes, except not a convertible… it does make a mess of your bouffant hairdo otherwise…
(and we couldn’t have that, could we?) 
