MY FIRST NEW CAR

                                                                        by Steve Armstrong

Back in the spring of 1976 I was 19 and got my first good paying job in a warehouse called Nor-Les Sales.  I soon realized that I would be able to afford a new car.  That year the 1976 Grand Prix caught my eye.  By August of that year, I was called to work for GM’s Pontiac Motor Division.  They had all ready built all the 1976 models and now building the ‘77s.  As soon as I saw the ‘77s, I liked it so much better.  By January of 1977, I knew the time had come and I could afford to buy my first new car.

I have always tried to make my money go as far as it could, so I decided that I would order a PEP vehicle (company owned) as the program was called at the time.  I remember going up with the clerk to order the car.  I all ready knew what I wanted.  Working third shift gave me plenty of time in Plant 8 during breaks to check out the cars.  The clerk kept trying to talk me into cars that I did not want; like the Can Am which was a limited production run for that year or going with a manual transmission.  At that time I had not driven a stick and I was not about to learn on my brand new car.  Looking back now it would have been a rare option to have, but at that time I had no intention of keeping the car past a couple of years.

After many failed trips to Plant 8 to see if I could find my car on the assembly line while it was being built in February or early March, I finally received a letter telling me it had been put into service.  All I could do now was wait for them to put the 3,000 miles or 3 months on it - which ever came first.  Finally, Memorial weekend it came out of service and I got to see my new car for the first time over in Plant 16.  It looked just like I hoped it would.  I could not wait for them to clean it up so I could take it for a drive.  Finally, on June 6^th that day came.

As years went by, I realized that they were not going to build cars like this anymore so in the early eighties I decided that I was going to hang on to it.  Now thirty years later, I am still its one and only owner.  It just flipped 32,000 mile this summer.  It still is pretty much the same way it came off the assembly line in Plant 8, except for normal ware and tear.  I replaced tires, exhaust, a headlight, oil & filter along with some touch up paint during its life.  I try to keep it as original as possible, that’s the way I like it.  Right now I have no plans to ever get rid of it.  I enjoy it more and have more fun it now than when it was new.  I only paid $5,800.00 for it and have all the original paper work; even the original order sheet from the plant.  Not many people can say that they still own their first new car; maybe one like it, but not the original.  I can!