My First Car: '69 Oldsmobile Toronado, John Thomas, 54, Tampa

'69 Oldsmobile Toronado

It was back in 1975 and I was a freshman at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa. I had only lasted two weeks at school without a car. I hitchhiked home and bought this car from a friend who had previously been hit in the driver's side by a truck. I bought it from him for $670 and it originally had a base price of just over $4,800. It was front-wheel drive and had an in-dash 8-track tape player. It had power everything: steering, windows, rear defrost. It was a high-compression 375-hp Rocket 455 V-8 engine with 4-bbl. carburetor.