When it comes to driving, I was always a late bloomer. I learned how to pump gas at 16, got my drivers license at 17, had my first speeding/bull-sh*t-ticket-that-the-cop-made-up-a-reason-for-to-pull-me-over at 18 and my first car at 21.
Oh yes, 21 is when I finally had my own car. That’s why I am SUCH a good co-pilot on long trips. I’m very attentive :)
But recently, I was digging through some old photos and I found a picture of my first car and with a smug Katie-Holmes-like-side-mouth-smile, I took a little trip down memory lane.
My first car wasn’t a LeSabre or Ford Taurus, it was a white Plymouth Laser (similar to the photo below). Sexy.
It was a two-door piece of freedom given to me by my dad when I transferred to the University of Minnesota because, well, he wanted to make sure I could come home whenever I wanted. And after borrowing cars for so long, I could not WAIT to do whatever I wanted in it. It was like a gift from heaven, with automatic windows and transmission and A/C.
And what made that car even better was the word “Laser” written in cursive on the trunk. I thought this was so classy, until a friend pointed out that from far away it looked like it said “Loser,” thus naming my car, “the Loser car.” Trust me, those girls stopped calling it that when they needed a ride.
Other fond memories in this car include, dreading emissions testing, whining about gas prices (when they were under around $1.25/gallon) and getting stuck in the snow because the car rode so low to the ground. I kid you not, the seats were so low and reclined that I felt like I was in a DeLorean. I was just missing the flux capacitor.
And I’ll just breeze over the front seat making out stories where you try to figure out how to move over the passenger side when your short legs get caught in the space around the gas/brake pedal. Nothing says, “I want to second base” like getting stuck in the car and then laughing. Hot.
So those are my first-car memories. And while the Laser was replaced with a Honda Civic after an unfortunate engine issue, it will always hold a special place in my heart. But man, I did really love that Civic.
What was your first car? Any fond memories of it?
