Alan's First Ten
Automobiles
Today I share the images of the first ten cars that I owned. Of course there were others, but today I post the first ten!!!
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| 1958 Chevrolet I acquired this four door Biscayne from My Parents in 1960 while I was working at Rolling Acres Dairy Farm near Elgin, IL. I financed it with My Dad. I drove if for about a year and half prior to joining the U. S. Navy in August of 1961. At that time I still owed some money, however I simply signed over the title to my Dad and Enlisted. The one I had was more of an Aqua color. |
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| I acquired this 1961 Ford Fairlane from my Division Officer on the USS Ranger (CVA-61) on 18 July 1964, which was the date I detached for Shore Duty in Washington, D.C. I paid $900.00 cash for this, which was money I saved during the 1963 Western Pacific Cruise because I knew I would need a car when I transferred to shore duty. The one I had was Navy Blue with a White Top. |
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| I purchased this car from Capitol Ford in Washington, D.C. on February 19, 1965, which was my 25th Birthday. I drove by the dealership the evening before and made a deal by trading in the 1961 Ford and down payment of $1.49 cash for a Ford Galaxie 500 two door hardtop. It was financed by Suburban Trust in Washington, D.C. The one I had was Silver Smoke Gray and had a 240 cubic inch six motor. The Navy Shipped this car to London, England which was my next shore duty station. During my three years of duty in England I only placed 3300 miles on this car. The model I had also had the small hub caps with no air conditioning. I recall that I paid $2900.00 for this car. |
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| Once I returned from Shore Duty in England I was on Sea Duty in Charleston, S.C. on the USS Sellers (DDG-11) My Wife and I had two girls by then so we determined that she should also have a car to perform the duties of a Mom. The 1971 Maverick I had was a light blue one with steel wheels. The car shown here has different wheels. If I remember correctly the cost was almost $2400.00 |
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| My next duty station was Navy Recruiting Staff Duty in Macon, Georgia. I recall that one very hot day in May of 1972 as I was traveling home in the 1970 Maverick that I did not need to suffer with out air conditioning. I completed the journey to my Trailer on Lot 4J, Wells Mobile Home Park in Jones County, changed clothes and returned to Barney A. Smith Mercury on the Gray Highway and acquired this Mercury Montego with a 351 inch Winsor V-8 motor. The one I purchased was Bright Red with the Black vinyl top. I think that the cost was $5400.00 which I financed with the Navy Federal Credit Union. This was the car I used to court My Bride and we were married on 7 October 1972. Unfortunately the car was involved in a major accident in North Georgia as we returned from our Honeymoon and it was a total loss. |
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| We acquired this 1973 Mercury Montego in January of 1973 after winning the lawsuit when we acquired the funds from the trucking company, Builders Transport of Savannah, GA, which caused the accident. Except for the larger bumpers, this was a perfect image of the 1972 model that was wrecked. When we married My Bride had a 1972 Chevrolet Chevelle and we traded it in for a 1973 Mercury Montego. |
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| This used 1974 Lincoln was acquired from Barney A. Smith in Macon, Georgia in late 1975. I had received orders to the USS John Paul Jones (DDG-32) which was homeported in Long Beach, CA. My Bride, who was suffering from Morning Sickness informed me that we would not take two cars on the cross country road trip to California so we traded in her 1973 Mercury Montego which was white with a light beige vinyl top and my 1973 Mercury Montego for this Triple White Lincoln. This Mark IV had the 460 cubic inch motor and was a real dream to drive. |
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| This 1981 Mercury four door was acquired in 1982 after I had retired from the U. S. Navy in Macon, Georgia. Once again the deal was completed at Barney A. Smith in Macon. The Mark IV was beginning to require major maintenance and the fuel for it was also expensive so we made the decision to down size. |
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| This 1984 Dodge Caravan was acquired in late 1983. This Mini-Van had just come out and I acquired it with a four cylinder five speed transmission with seating for five. The cost was $8600.00. We used this vehicle to travel to Iowa for Christmas 1983. The twenty gallon fuel tank allowed us to travel to Indiana before we had to fill up. If I remember correctly that was 33 miles per gallon. I had just completed my six months of probation at Brown and Williamson Tobacco Company so I was now a tenured employee. Thus I felt secure in making this purchase. |
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| This 1986 White on White Mercury Grand Marquis was acquired at Barney A. Smith in Macon, Georgia. The 1981 Mercury was traded in. This was the family car that also complemented the Family Mini-Van that we also owned. This car, like the Dodge Caravan was financed with Navy Federal Credit Union. |
