The first car I bought myself was a 1974 Datsun 240Z.
It was a fun little car, six cylinders, 4 speed manual transmission, room for two, with a hatchback you could put some boxes or luggage in. Pretty much a perfect car for a single guy about to become a 2Lt in the Air Force.
Most guys were buying Trans Ams and a few Corvettes. Fort Sam Houston offered car loans to cadets, but the most they would give was $6,000. By 1981, that wouldn’t buy much, especially new. I would have liked the Mazda RX-7, but there was no way I could afford that.
One Saturday morning, I took my approved car loan down to C-Springs and went car shopping. I probably went to 4 different dealerships before I stumbled across the 240Z. It was beautiful, and the test drive was fun. All engine, it just zoomed. So, very little negotiating: I had the money, and soon I had the car.
What I quickly found out was, while I loved the car, it was steel built and had probably been driven up in the north east with lots of salt on the roads. It had lots of rust problems. At Nav school, I eventually ended up taking it to an auto body shop, getting it bondo’d to hell and back, and repainted a bright red vs. the original orange. I drove that for about two years, until I was at Castle AFB, going through B-52 Crew Training.
That was when I spotted the awesome 1979 Ford Mustang that would catch Laura’s eye, and change my life forever… jk! (But only about the car.)
Most guys were buying Trans Ams and a few Corvettes. Fort Sam Houston offered car loans to cadets, but the most they would give was $6,000. By 1981, that wouldn’t buy much, especially new. I would have liked the Mazda RX-7, but there was no way I could afford that.
One Saturday morning, I took my approved car loan down to C-Springs and went car shopping. I probably went to 4 different dealerships before I stumbled across the 240Z. It was beautiful, and the test drive was fun. All engine, it just zoomed. So, very little negotiating: I had the money, and soon I had the car.
What I quickly found out was, while I loved the car, it was steel built and had probably been driven up in the north east with lots of salt on the roads. It had lots of rust problems. At Nav school, I eventually ended up taking it to an auto body shop, getting it bondo’d to hell and back, and repainted a bright red vs. the original orange. I drove that for about two years, until I was at Castle AFB, going through B-52 Crew Training.
That was when I spotted the awesome 1979 Ford Mustang that would catch Laura’s eye, and change my life forever… jk! (But only about the car.)
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