My cousin and I getting in my $600 car on my 16th bday in 1998 (probably heading to the gas station that would sell cigs to minors)

    by SubstantialProperty5

    31 Comments

    1. I had that same beauty of a car. It kept dying on me but man it looked so cool at time as a high school student. I was lucky to have that as a first car.

    2. Where in Missouri?

      Those Cavs looked great, but it seemed most died a rusty death. And soooo much plastic!

    3. Hell yeah! I feel this pic.

      I don’t smoke now but I remember the “flavors” of all the different cigs we’d have due to just getting whatever we could get our hands on.

    4. Fickle-Addendum9576 on

      It’s wild to me that 16 yr olds could just drive alone. Where I live you can apply for a learners at 16 but have to have it for 2 years and you can’t drive without an adult with a valid license. And then if you pass a road test after that 2 years you get a secondary license which lets you drive alone or with maximum 1 other person for an additional 2 years. So a minimum of 4 years before you can be a regular driver.

    5. ya, that might be a $600 car in 1998, but it was a mouth-drooling ride in 1988 to a bunch of high schoolers. I wanted one so baaaaad. Well, next to the Prelude of course…

    6. Imagine being able to get a car for $600 in 2024. That’s near impossible these days unless it’s a broken shitbox.

    7. Lucky. My first car was a used 1989 Hyundai Excel sedan. It was brown. Slower than a fucking sloth.

    8. 5 speed w sunroof, same color…5k for an 88 in 94 w 50k miles. Blew the engine at 130k of driving like an asshole, 2 clutches, I think I put 60k on the “new” engine by the time I beat it to death.

      I loved that car and every single question mark shaped burnout from doing 180s in reverse, Miami vice style.

    9. Nice! My first car was a $500 Pontiac Sunbird. Adjusting for inflation, that would be like getting a 2015 car for $850! I miss the days of cheap, disposable used cars.

    10. I think we all had that gas station that sold stuff to us when we were underage. I feel like my friends and I put his kids through college with the amount we spent over a few summers

    11. Today’s version of that makes me sad.

      “My cousin and I can’t afford a $6000 beater so we’re vaping in his basement and playing (whatever game those kiddos are playing now)”

    12. Almost me.

      Around the same time I got a used ’89 Z24 for $3500. It had a custom maroon paint job. Fortunately, 16-yo me worked at a car wash, so I kept that baby sparkling. Installed a sick detachable CD faceplate and new speakers/subs.

      Unfortunately, the digital dash somehow converted to kilometers and the rear driver’s panel succumbed to cancer (rust). Traded in for a 2000 Mustang.

      Good times.

    13. That explorer in the background was probably in its prime in 98. My dad has a 97 that looks identical. It served as a first car for me and by brother, has 250k+ miles and he still uses it as a farm truck.

    14. My sister had a 88 Z24 back in 96 and fucking loved it. She still says it’s her favorite car almost 30 years later.

    Leave A Reply