Subject: Re: [Spridgets] O.F. memory

From: Rick Fisk <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 12 Dec 2012 14:13:46 -0500

My dad gave me my first car so of course I remember that well - '55 Chevy 2
door Belair.  I also remember buying my first Spridget.  I bought it at a used
sports car lot called "Sir Lance's Lot" on Commonwealth Avenue in Fullerton,
CA. in January of 1968.  I bought a '59 Sprite with 70,000 miles for $500.
It was a California car so rust-free of course.  I still have it today.  :-)

Sir Lance's Lot had a whole bunch of British iron on the lot that day.
XK120's/140's, XKE's, MGB's, a big Healey, and various Midget's and Sprites.
I wanted a Bugeye and that was good because it was all I could afford.

Rick

Sent from my keyboard

On Dec 11, 2012, at 11:11 AM, Allen Hefner <[email-masked]> wrote:

> I was reading a car mag this morning in the reading room, and it occurred
> to me that all of us remember our first car. That's what we do...since we
> are car guys (and gals).
>
> How many of you remember the place you bought it and the name of the
> salesman (or private seller)? I even remember the names of the rest of the
> sales staff at the dealership.
>
> I bought my 1963 Sunbeam Alpine Series III in 1968 at Buzz Marcus Motors in
> Glenside, PA. Buzz was an SCCA racer who drove Triumphs. His mechanic was
> Dick Stockton, who also worked on my TR. I think Buzz is still on Facebook
> and living in FL. He opened one of the first Toyota dealerships in the
> area. My father bought his first Toyota there, a 1970 Corona. When Toyota
> exploded (not literally), Buzz sold the dealership and retired to racing
> full time.
>
> My salesman in those early days was Dave Landis and the other salesmen were
> Bennet Orr and Hap Schmalbach.
>
> If I can remember the parts manager's name, I'll get back to you. I also
> bought my TR4A IRS at Buzz's, so I became fast friends with the parts
> department.
> Allen Hefner
> Norristown, PA
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Archive: http://www.team.net/archive

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From: "Nelson Wittstock" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 13 Dec 2012 22:39:05 -0000

I remember very well the buying of my Sprite.  I was in the USAF in England 
in 1961.  The salesman, Andrew Wilson-Gunn, came to my base and was taking 
orders.  I ordered the car in December.  On January 8 a buddy drove me to 
Donald Healey's dealership in Warwick and dropped me off.  After completing 
the paper work I was shown my new shiny black Mark 2 Sprite.  I was thrilled 
with it.  I was about half way back to my base which was about 50 miles from 
Warwick when the car slowed down and just stopped running.  It took a minute 
to realize that I was out of "petrol."  There was not a house anywhere in 
view.  A kindly passing driver stopped to ask if could help and then drove 
me ten miles to the next town and back again with fuel.  The rest of the 
trip was uneventful but I will never forget that day.  I still enjoy driving 
it.

Nelson 
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From: "Bud Osbourne" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2012 08:30:23 -0500

My first was a '59 Porsche 356A coupe (Messien Blue, w/ox blood interior),
in July of '64.  Long story, from which I'll spare you, but the price (paid
by my father) was the cost of a major service, by our local Porsche
dealership (Continental Cars on West Liberty Ave. in Dormont, PA just
outside of Pittsburgh city limits).  The original owner, a long-time family
friend and employee of my father's, was our port engineer and had forgotten
more about machinery than most of us can ever hope to learn.  After meeting
some of the mechanics, a couple of whom are still good friends of mine 48
years later, the original owner took me out in the car for a "pre-flight"
check.  By the time I got behind the wheel to drive the 20 miles to our
home, I was pretty much intimidated & in awe of the car.  After several
miles of getting the feel of the car and as the roads became increasingly
rural, I realized that I was having a LOT of fun driving this awesome GT
car!
The car's purpose was to transport me and my younger sister 30 miles (round
trip) each day to and from high school, over a delightful series of
twisting, plunging, rough-surfaced back roads.  Miracle of miracles is that
we all three (my sister, me and the 356) survived unscathed and I learned
lessons in high-speed driving that are still serving me well today.
We traded the car in, about 13 months later, at the Porsche dealership, on a
'61 356B S-90 Roadster.  I don't know where my old coupe ever ended-up.  I
understand it was sold to a U. of Pitt grad student, from the Philadelphia
area, but that's the very last I ever hear of the car.
Part of the reason for the car's moving on was that we were having it
serviced at the local (Washington, PA) BMC/Jaguar dealer, Town & Country
Cars.  Unfortunately, the clowns they had working on it were completely
un-qualified for Porsche work...........and I suspect they screwed-up a
bunch of BMC/Jaguar products, too.............., but I did end up spending a
lot of my school lunch hours prowling that dealership, which ultimately led
me to buy a '66 MGB in August of '67.  The rest, as they say, is history. :)

Bud Osbourne

-----Original Message-----
From: [email-masked]
[mailto:[email-masked]] On Behalf Of Allen Hefner
Sent: Tuesday, December 11, 2012 11:11 AM
To: Spridgets list
Subject: [Spridgets] O.F. memory

I was reading a car mag this morning in the reading room, and it occurred to
me that all of us remember our first car. That's what we do...since we are
car guys (and gals).

I bought my 1963 Sunbeam Alpine Series III in 1968 at Buzz Marcus Motors in
Glenside, PA. Buzz was an SCCA racer who drove Triumphs. His mechanic was
Dick Stockton, who also worked on my TR. I think Buzz is still on Facebook
and living in FL. He opened one of the first Toyota dealerships in the area.
My father bought his first Toyota there, a 1970 Corona. When Toyota exploded
(not literally), Buzz sold the dealership and retired to racing full time.

[email-masked]

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From: Paul Van Wig <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2012 08:51:33 -0800

My 1st car was a 57 Ford Fairlane. I had driven it when it was my brother's but we never got it running again. I don't remember what was even wrong with it. My 2nd car was a $100 Pontiac Bonneville. It was a monster my 10 speed bike fit in the trunk with out removing the front wheel. It lasted about 8 months until I parked it for 3 weeks. after that I had to put a squirt of oil in each cylinder to start it if it sat for more than 48 hours. Then my oldest brother got transferred and I had to take care of his 2nd car A 1963 1/2 Ford Falcon with a 68 289, 4 speed and 4 barrel carb. When he came back (1975?) it was time to look for transportation! A friend had a real nice 68 Ford Cougar but it was an automatic so I keep looking. A 1969 Midget with body damage. The front end was just replace all the bolt on sheet medal. The rear turned in to frame bent in 2 places. So I picked up a 65 sprite body and changed everything over. After that as Bud says the rest is history

Paul Van Wig
Big Bear/Long Beach, CA
pvanwigatmacdotcom
facebook.com/pvanwig

1959 Nash Metropolitan (the wife's fun ride)
1968 Morris Minor Woody RHD
1960 Bug Eye (awaiting restoration)

1980 CJ7 Lives @ 7440'
2012 Turbo Diesel Ram 2500 4X4
2003 Toyota 4Runner (the wife's Mountain car)
2012 Cadillac SRX 3.6 (the wife's work ride)

1958 Minor-wrecked
1965 Midget-parts
1981 Datsun 210 1500 w/ 5 speed

[email-masked]

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From: Larry Macy <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2012 12:12:38 -0500

My first car was actually 2. I found a pair of MGA's sitting along side a house. One was a 59 and the other a 61. There was one MGB engine in a box and several boxes of parts. I got the whole thing for $300. I do not remember the dude's name, but I do remember the expression on Dad's face. We draggeds them home with a rope and one of them basically had no brakes. Boy was that fun!!

I was not yet 16 and had no license or permit. I cleaned out one side of the garage and began the long clean up. It was taking a while and soon I found girls and somehow the A's never got finished. I sold them about 3 years later for the same $300 I paid for them. In somewhat the same condition. The engine was built and some of the body work done. But still no where near being finished. 

Next up was a 73 Vega Kammback. Loved that car. Later on we got our First Midget. a 76 in 1978, used from a MG Dealer lot in Denver.

Larry

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