The Student LoanDown wants to know: What does your first car say about you?
My first car was a 1981 Honda Accord hatchback, pretty close to this 
. Turquoise blue with a racing stripe and an AM radio—hot. My mom bought it for me after my sophomore year in high school, but I had to wait until I completed Driver's Ed that summer before I could drive it. Twenty years later, I'm still driving a sensible Honda.
Pam's first car was far cooler than mine—a yellow and black 1956 Ford convertible with rolled leather interior. It was a 16th birthday present from her parents in 1963 . Gas cost 27 cents a gallon, so her weekly gas budget was all of $3.00. Once a convertible gal, always a convertible gal—Pam tools around in a Mercedes now.
Arriving during her sophomore year of college, Caroline's first car was a 1976 Caprice Classic in a lovely powder blue. According to Wikipedia , her car was 19½ ft (5.9 m) long—longer even than many modern full-size pickup trucks, which probably explains why to this day she still pulls WAAAY too far into the garage and parking spaces.
Rachel's first car, which she shared with her mom, was really more of a bus: a 1987 Volkswagen Vanagon Westfalia. She'll never forget the look on the DMV guy's face when she showed up for her California driver's exam. But it was functional—it even had a kitchenette and slept four people. The family in "Little Miss Sunshine" should've been so lucky!
A 1987 Oldsmobile Regency was Barbara's first set of wheels. She and two friends christened their boat-sized automobiles the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria (Barbara's pretty sure she was the Pinta). Unfortunately, the Pinta had some health issues—fading paint and rust—so she didn't last long.
Why do we ask? Tomorrow we'll fill you in.
Some wonderful bank. They give you a loan and expect triple the amount in return. What a load of crap! What can afford 15% interest over 15 years? No one in their right mind would voluntarily pay 15% interest, you might as well just get a credit card. Actually there are credit cards with less interest rates.
My first car, which my parents allowed me at age 16 to share with my older sister, was a very beat-up and abused 1965 Mercury Comet sedan that was many years past its prime. That particular car was in It's painful to write about it, except that it made me truly appreciate every car I've driven since then.