my first car.

My first car - 1978 Toyota Corolla LiftBack. Bright Orange!



I bought it off the Clovis West High School Auto Shop. It wasn't running at the time of purchase, but I knew it was going to be a great little car for me. I got it for only $300 dollars or so. And after almost $1000-$1500 dollars of repairs, it ran like a champ! All the work done by me! I even drove it to Oregon and back one summer. No overheating... at the time.

The day it died was a day I will never forget. My youth Pastor, and now friend, Scott Borman, asked me to give him a ride to pick up his car at the shop one evening. I agreed and off we went. I kind of had a little bit of a overheating problem the last couple of weeks with the car. But I really didn't think about fixing it, because I never went anywhere that was so far away that would be a long enough amount of time for the car to overheat. As we were cruising down the freeway, I noticed the gauge was starting to get into the RED. Scott noticed it too. I told him we were cool. Later Smoke started to come out of the hood. "We're still okay", I said. Then Smoked started to enter the cab of the vehicle. A lot of smoke! And then... the car died. We now were coasting up the ramp and onto a BUSY shaw avenue! Luckily the light turned green just in time and we coasted all the way in the parking lot of a restaurant. Scott and I then had to walk to the shop to get his car. That was the last time the great pumpkin car ran.

Scott and I still laugh about the day. Later the car became a demolition car for a sledge hammer at a youth group hang out party, called "the spot." It was a after high school football games event. Good times!

Tell me about your first car!