Life Care residents remember their first cars
Much of modern life is made possible by automobiles, and our residents recently spent some time reminiscing about their first vehicles and what was special about them.
“My first car was an Oldsmobile. It gave me freedom. I was so excited.”
C.F., Life Care Center of Hendersonville, North Carolina
“A white ’51 Chevrolet sedan. I wanted a Corvette instead.”
S.R., Life Care Center of Westminster, Colorado
“Chevy Impala. My brother sold it to me for $25. I put four new tires on it and sold it for $100.”
S.L., Life Care Center of Sparta, Tennessee
“1961 Ford Falcon. It was gold and blue. I was about 20 years old when I got it. It used to be my brother’s car, and he passed it down to me. I drove the car around town and to my job.”
F.B., Life Care Center of Estero, Florida
“Yellow four-door Chevy. My husband got mad at it, put it at the fence and said, ‘We ain’t using it no more.’”
H.M., Life Care Center of Sparta, Tennessee
“It was a ’47 Ford coupe, and I had it painted burgundy.”
C.B., Life Care Center of Kennewick, Washington
“A ’31 Chevy, green. At that time, there was something about the war, and people were buying these cars, and they were really pretty cars. And the girls liked me because they liked my car.”
G.H., Life Care Center of Pueblo, Colorado
“1958 Chevrolet Impala. She was a beauty. She was comfortable, was great on snow and gas. Bought this baby with my savings working as a teacher at Francis Wyman School.”
J.H., Life Care Center of Stoneham, Massachusetts
“I remember my 1957 Ford Fairlane. It was a nice date car. It was green with round fail lights and had fins on the back. It was the year that it was fashionable to have pillows in the back ledge or window. I had green and white pillows made for my Fairlane.”
W.T., Ridgeview Terrace of Life Care in Rutledge, Tennessee
“A Vega hatchback. I totaled it from driving fast. Only lasted for two years.”
M.R., Life Care Center of Aurora, Colorado
“When we were still dating, my husband taught me how to drive. When we got married, he bought me a 1952 Impala. That was my first car.”
N.H., Garden Terrace at Fort Worth
“My first car was a 1941 Ford. My girlfriend’s mom was keeping it in her garage and gave me it! I was about 15, and I tried to paint it with a brush and regular paint!”
D.T., Life Care Center of Blount County in Louisville, Tennessee
“It was a Grand Prix 1972, red and white. It had power windows and brakes and was a great car until it wasn’t.”
L.G., Life Care Center of Estero, Florida
“My first vehicle was a midnight-black Ford. I was so excited about it. I remember for the first week, I slept in it.”
G.W., Life Care Center of Hendersonville, North Carolina
“A ’37 Ford. After my dad got it, he put it in the garage. The next day, we went out to get into it, and there was a bullet hole in the trunk.”
J.B., Life Care Center of Westminster, Colorado
“1950 Chevrolet blue car. I called it the Nifty Fifty. I would like to have it now.”
G.B., Life Care Center of Sparta, Tennessee
“A ’71 Subaru, gray. I loved driving it. My biggest thrill was driving from here in Pueblo to La Junta, Colorado. I knew I could go further, but I didn’t do it.”
A.V., Life Care Center of Pueblo, Colorado
“2003 silver Chevy Impala. It was very fast. I had a loud stereo system. She was my baby.”
D.G., Life Care Center of Aurora, Colorado
“Dodge sedan. It was my first car, and I was upset when my dad traded it in for a different car because that was my car. I cried over it. I got a better one, but I didn’t care because I wanted my car.”
W.P., Garden Terrace at Fort Worth
“My first car was a Plymouth Chrysler. My dad and I were out driving around one day, and it just so happened to be a day I decided I didn’t want to drive. While we were out, he wanted to peel a peach for a snack and ended up flipping and totaling my car. We made it out safely, though.”
E.F., Life Care Center of Blount County in Louisville, Tennessee
“A 1967 Dodge Ram that a guy that liked me, who also worked at a gas station, bought me. I loved it and always drove to Revere, Massachusetts, in it.”
D.O., Life Care Center of Stoneham, Massachusetts
“My first car was a yellow Gremlin with a big engine, and it was a hatchback. It was a smaller car. I was so proud of it and didn’t want to ruin it, so I never would drive it and wouldn’t let anyone else drive it.”
B.W., Life Care Center of Hendersonville, North Carolina
“My first car was a gray 1936 Plymouth. My first time learning how to drive it, my parents took me to a mostly empty parking lot. Somehow, I managed to crash it into the only other car in the lot, and it wasn’t even moving!”
H.K., Life Care Center of Blount County in Louisville, Tennessee
“A ’74 Pinto. My dad paid $400 cash for it. It was a stick shift, and my dad made me drive it to Estes Park to teach me to drive it.”
C.C., Life Care Center of Westminster, Colorado
“I learned to drive with a 1938 Chevy, tan color and suede interior. It was a two-door. I had to learn to drive because my mother had migraines.”
P.B., Garden Terrace at Fort Worth
“I had a ’56 Ford that was blue and white and had a canopy. It was also a college graduation present.”
J.R., Life Care Center of Kennewick, Washington
“I had a ’59 Fiat that was black and only went 45 miles per hour. The engine blew out on the first day I drove it because I went through a mud puddle.”
J.S., Life Care Center of Estero, Florida
