I went through some old photo albums ...

... and to my surprise, found some pictures that I didn't know I had or forgotten about.

Here is a pic of my first Comet, a 1971 302, 3 speed, floor shift/bench seat car that I bought in 1980 ...

Note the square snapshot and early Camaro hood decorations that someone grafted on.

That car ultimately looked like this ....

Unfortunately, any other photos got left at my ex's house... long gone now.

Then I found the first pics of my current 1972 Comet that I bought in 1992 ...

14x6 inch painted Magnums came on the car, along with some really hokey vinyl hood and trunk stripes, barely visible and quickly removed.

These next shots are "beauty shots" taken at the Dunedin Beach causeway around 1995.

Changes included a solid hood with a mid-80s Mustang GT scoop, sports mirrors, tinted windows, and the wheels were changed to 14x7s along with much better tires.

Anyone else have 20+ year old shots of your cars, especially showing where you started with them, let's see them!

 

Cool pictures! Always like looking at period-photos.

 

Those are real cool!!

 

cool pictures!

 

Nice cars - takes me back to the days when most of these classics cruised the streets in great condition like in your pictures

 

When I was 14 (1979) I had saved up enough money from my paper route to buy my first car, a 1968 Cougar XR7. I spent two years getting it just like I wanted for when I got my driver's license in 1981. 6 weeks after I got my license I got caught up in an accident that totaled my car.

I would have loved to have found a Comet like your first car as a replacement for my Cougar. I ended up using the insurance money to buy a 1972 Gran Torino Sport fastback, but I really wanted a Comet!

 

My first car was a 65 Mustang coupe that I bought for $525 in 1976.

It had 91K miles and perhaps 3 oil changes and the original spark plug wires ...

The motor was sludged so badly, that when I pulled the valve cover, the sludge was like a jello mold and had the FORD script embossed in it! I de-sludged the motor ... physically scraped the goo out from the upper head area, and ran something in it .... ATF, I think, and got 4-5 additional quarts out of the inside of the motor. Shortly afterward, something solid that must have been encased and was now free to roam, likely a piece of valve guide, jammed the oil pump and broke the drive. We had the oil pump and drive replaced by a mechanic friend, and I am pretty sure my old man paid half the bill and didn't tell me ... I got out of that caper for about $90.

It also would randomly stall out at speed any time it looked like it might rain ... add enough humidity and out of the blue, the ignition just didn't work any more. I got very adept at shifting the trans into neutral, start the motor, rev it to match speed, and drop it back in drive, and carry on at 50 mph. Put new plug wires in it and it stopped doing that.

The car had he usual rust behind the front fenders in the cowl area and minor stuff by the wheelwells. I did pretty awful body work on it ... gotta learn somehow ... and touch it up with Color Match spray bombs.

It was a very early 65 (Sept 64). It had two-speed wipers and a gold painted 289 from the factory ... only a few months of those. 1964 would have had a 260. After two years, I sold the car for $1300... at night ... to two middle-aged guys with flashlights, who were muttering to each other "yeah ... it is an early one". This was right when Mustang restoration was starting to take off.

Pretty sure they weren't so happy with their purchase when the sun came up ... lol.
I would like to think that due to those guys, the car is still around in much-better shape.

 

My second car was this 71 Torino Brougham ...

Bought it from an AMC dealer with only 50K miles on it. It was already warmed up both times I test drove it, and drove great. The day I picked it up, however, it was cold, and barely ran, and was like that every morning. I had to putt it around the neighborhood for 15 minutes, and then it was fine. I replaced the rotten carb spacer on it (rusted out!), and it was a truly great car after that.

Changed the vinyl top from dark blue to black, and the paint from light metallic blue to midnight blue (an AMC color), put the mags on it and drove the wheels off of it. 351C, two barrel, and A/C that would frost the box under the dash ... outstanding highway and date car.

There was another guy in this town who had one very similar to mine, except his had Keystone Classic wheels on it. We were at the same bar one night, and got to see each others cars. Shortly afterwards, I regularly had sheriffs hassling me. Turns out that, while I was no saint, that kid was an animal, and collectively the two of us became known as "that @#$%ing blue Torino" to the cops. I met his best friend, just last year (he saw a pic of my car), and he told me some great stories, confirming my suspicions.

I sold the Torino in 1980, feeling the need for something a bit lower profile ... like a non-descript refrigerator white Comet.

The next guy put a great interior in it. I kept track of this car for about 5 years. About 10 years went by, and I spotted it once again, 25 miles north of me, still driving around, but it was looking raggedy. Wish I still had it....

 

Cool stories! Thanks for sharing!!

 

This is my 1970 Maverick. I took delivery on June 18, 1969. VIN # - 0X91T 139277

 

gotta love the stories of first cars and after dark sales.

I know Ive kicked myself atleast once for buying a car after dark
heres a pic of my first comet I bought it when my 6 year old daughter was just a few months old I swear I see it in the gallery from before I owned it. the previous owner got it in a trade and had intentions on fixing it up but had no means to do so

I saw it on craigslist for $1800 and I ended getting it for $500 after he consulted with his wife and unborn child

now over the years Ive done everything to it and its awaiting transformation into a race car as we speak/type

 

Wa8ddn,

Neat color on that Mav .... Coral? I know it has to be some catchy name ...

Very cool that you got a pic of your wife and kid in front of it too. Square photo with the date stamped on the side .... love it!

 

Captain Comet, you got me to dig out my old photo albums this morning. Even though there are no Mavericks and Comets in my old photos I thought I would share with you guys!

This is my first car that I talked about earlier in the thread. 1968 Cougar XR7. It was a J Code 302-4V with 230 HP with a automatic trans. This pic was taken in April 1980 right before my first varsity baseball game, man I was skinny back then! This was about 5 months before I got my driver's license.



After my Cougar got totaled I used the insurance money to buy this 1972 Gran Torino Sport fastback. It was a 351C-2V and automatic trans.



My mom needed a car so my dad talked me into selling them the Torino and I got this 1974 Mustang II coupe. It had the 2.3 motor and a 4 speed manual trans.




The Mustang turned out to be an oil burner and even though I loved the stick shift I missed the sound and power of a V8. I found this very nice 1971 Cutlass S fastback that had a 350-4V motor and auto trans. The car was a burnt orange color with a black vinyl top and a single black stripe up the center of the hood.



I kept the Cutlass through the end of high school and after I graduated I was working more hours at the grocery store and started looking for a faster car. What I found was a1970 Buick GS 455 Stage 1 hardtop.

It had the original motor and Turbo 400 trans but had been warmed up with a Crane cam and Hooker Competition Plus headers. It was silver when I bought it but the paint was faded so I painted it Frod Candy Apple Red. The original rear in the car had been replaced with a 10 bolt Oldsmobile with 2.56 gears. I found a 12 bolt with 3.55 posi out of a '69 Chevelle and swapped that in the car. I als put a shift kit in the trans and found a 800 CFM Q-Jet for the car. The car had an awesome hit at idle and ran VERY well!

 

I actually traded the GS on a 1975 Datsun 280Z with a 4 speed in it. It was a very nice car, but I couldn't find any pictures of it. While I had that car I met my 1st wife and we got married and when she was pregnant with my first son I sold the 280Z to my sister so that I could get a car with a back seat.

What I found was this 1968 Torino GT hardtop. It was a one owner car with 60K miles on it. It had a 390-4V motor and 4 speed trans. It had bucket seats and console. It had 4.11 gears and Hooker headers on it. It was Diamond Blue with a black vinyl top and black interior.



I ended up buying this 1969 GS350 as a project. I replaced the vinyl top and carpet, redid the seats and got it repainted in it's original Cameo Creme color. It turned outreally well and the 350-4v, Turbo 350 trans and 3.23 geared rear combo ran pretty good.



I came across this 1974 GTO and thought it was a pretty neat car. It was a 350'4V with a factory 4 speed and bucket seats. I put a small Summit racing cam in it, rebuilt the carb and put 2 1/2" exhaust on it. I also replaced the vinyl top. This car ran surprisingly well for a low compression 350 with 3.08 gears.



The next car I found was a VERY nice one family owned 1972 Monte Carlo. It had the 402-4V big block and Turbo 400 trans.

It was Sequoia Green and had green vinyl interior. I put a 270 Comp cam in it and replaced the 2.56 gears with a 3.55 posi setup. I also replaced the exhaust with new at the time Flowmaster mufflers. I was the first person in my town to have them and everybody wanted to hear the car run. I don't know how many people ordered those mufflers after hearing my car, but it was quite a lot.

The ran a 14.52 @ 96.1 MPH in the 1/4 mile on the 235/60/15 BFG Radial TA's. I won many trophies at car shows with this car.



My wife liked my green Monte Carlo so much she wanted one too. I found this 1972 Monte Carlo about 30 miles from my town for $850. It was also a 402-4V, Turbo 400 car. It was a burnt ornage color with a saddle colored vinyl top and interior. It also had power windows on it. I replaced the vinyl top and carpet and had the car repainted in it's original color. I also added Flowmater exhaust to the car. It turned out really nice for what little money I had in the car.

 

The next car I bought was this 1979 Camaro Rally Sport. It was a 305-4V car with a 4 speed trans. It was also a very unusal color combo of tan and bronze exterior and saddle interior.

I added the in style at the time Centerline Auto Drag big and little combo to the car. It had a nice stance and looked pretty fast even though it wasn't at all. It was a nice cruiser though.



After that I went back to my Ford roots. I found this nice 1969 Fairlane 500 fastback. It had 78K original miles and had the 351W-2V motor and automatic trans. It had the original Black Jade paint and black bench seat interior.



While I had the Fairlane a car that I had been interested in for years came up for sale. It was a 1967 Cyclone GT hardtop. I bought it from the 2nd owner. It was a 390-4V, 4 speed car. It was Frost Turqoise with black bucket set interior.

I added the styled steel wheels and put the original chrome reverse wheels on my Fairlane. I also added a Edelbrock intake and 750 Holley to the car and a posi unit to the 3.25 gears. The car ran a best of a 14.40 @ 94.5 MPH on the 235/60/14 BFG Radial TA's. The car was incredibly consistent for a street tired stick shift car and I won quite a few trophies with the car bracket racing.



A friend from worked told me that his next door neighbor had just brought home a convertible Cyclone similar to my hardtop. I asked him to get some info on the car. He found out that the lady next door had inherited the car from her step-father and wanted to sell it.

I showed up that weekend with a pocket full of cash and a car trailer hoping to strike up a deal. What I found was an all original 50K mile car. It was a 390-4V car with bucket seats console and a C6 auto trans. The step father had started to take things off for a restoration. He already had the bumpers rechromed and still wrapped up and had a new convertible top put on the car.

I was able to get the car for what I thought was the great price of $2,500! I did a body on frame resto. The only part of the interior that had to be replaced was the carpet, the rest of the inside was like new. The body was straight and rust free but the paint was shot. The car was completely taken apart and repainted Springtime Yellow with the black GT stripes.

I bought the car in Decmeber 1997 and had it finished in May 1998. I drove the car from Lynchburg, VA to Hagerstown, MD that summer for the Fairlane Nationals. The car won 1st place in it's class. It was a beautiful car that turned heads everywhere I went. I never should have sold it!

This is what it looked like when I bought it.



This is what it looked like after I finished.



Since then I have had at least 50 Foxbody Mustangs and have recently got back into the old car thing with my Maverick Grabber and Comet.

I hope you guys enjoy the pics and stories! It definitely brought back some fond memories looking back through my old photo albums!

Great thread Captain!!