By 1984 Chevy Celebrity – Best First Car Ever.
Okay, many American people love their cars. We need them to get around and as a guy, I needed one to impress the ladies. 
I was young and I realized that I needed a car if I was going to get girl. My first car didn’t have to be a Bugatti or a Cadillac Escalade, but a simple car that I could take girls out on a date. So, I was excited because a car was my pathway to love and to adulthood. By the way, there were no Cadillac Escalades or Bugatti’s in 1989.
I grew up without my dad. Also, I didn’t have the knowledge of an older dude to guide me in this process. I had to figure this out on my own. I talked to a few of my friends, but they really were not much help. So, I started this process by going to the newspaper.
Man, I searched through the paper looking for the best car possible. I was 19 at the time and it was a daunting task. Again, I didn’t know what I was doing or what I was looking for. However, I just kept looking. I looked in the paper on Monday, I looked through the car sales ads on Tuesday. I even looked in the papers for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
I had pile of newspapers stacked high in my room. I lived with my grandmother during that time. She would come into my room. She would look around and then say:
“Boy, you better stop taking all my newspapers and quit hiding them in your room. I want my papers. I paid good money for them papers. I want to read them!”
“Okay, grandma. I just want me a new car.”
“For what? All you’re going to do is crash into something and die.”
“Thanks grandma. That’s a great way to help your grandkid to move up in life.”
“Move up? How about you move out? That be much better.” Then the old lady would cackle and slam the door behind her after she walked out of my room.
Still, I continued to keep searching for a car. About 3 weeks later and after lots of harassment from my grandma – I found a new car that I would be interested in.
I had to travel to a local car lot in my city. Like I said at the beginning of this story, all of this happened in 1989 or the late 1980’s. In those days, shopping was way different than what it was today. There were no online stores, apps, websites, social media ads, or blog pages. You had to physically go to a place to see the car you wanted. Taking this type of action is also strongly recommended for car shoppers today.
Pictures just can’t let you know if a car is worth the money. You have to get behind the wheel, pop the hood, examine the trunk space, and look the car over for dents, bangs, and scratches. Anyway, I had caught the bus to a car lot that was named “Old Westend Autos”. It was a midsized car dealership and it had about 150 cars on their lot.
The car that I wanted was a maroon 1984 Chevy Celebrity. The car sucked back then. Truthfully, a Chevy Celebrity was a family or geek’s car. However, this car held promise for me. It was something that would serve my purpose, but it definitely wasn’t a chick magnet. For a first-time car, though, it was a good buy.
It was a 4-door vehicle with a maroon paint job. The interior was in good condition and there were few scratches and dents on it. The miles were around 100,000 and that was fairly high for cars in those days. I didn’t care. This car was calling me. I sat in the driver’s seat and grasped the wheel. It felt good in my hand. The car salesman told me to take it for a test drive. I did and it was great. Once I turned the engine on and started to move across the lot, I knew this car was for me. I test drove the vehicle and came back to the lot. I was sold on this vehicle.
I ended up paying about $1500 for that car. I had saved up about $2500. Just keep in mind that $1500 back then is worth $3000 today. I also had to pay tax, title, and other fees. Those expenses have always been included with the cost of cars. I paid the money, and once I got done I ended having about $400 left. I was okay with that.
I brought the car home and showed it to my grandmother. She joked:
“Oh, my Lord, he’ll be dead in a week.” She chided.
“Thanks again grandma for your support.” I said to her.
But, she really liked the car. I use to take her to the grocery store a lot and to run other errands. Now, one of my main reasons for getting the car was to impress the ladies. Remember, I said this car sucked and it did. But, the girls I took out where more impressed by the fact that I had a car, then the type it was.
You should also know that there were fewer gold diggers around in the late 80’s. So, females really didn’t pay too much attention to what a guy was driving, just as long as he was driving. I took some girls to the movies, I drove girls around, I picked up girls from the bus stop and I picked up girls on the street. I met girls and took them out. It was so much fun picking up ladies, dating them and chauffeuring them around.
My little crappy Chevy Celebrity gave me access to all kinds of females. I was in heaven. We’ll my car finally died one day because the engine locked up on me. I forgot to keep oil in it. I remember pulling it into this abandon lot and leaving it there. It eventually got towed and it was never heard from again. Shortly after that time, I had another car. But, I will always remember my 1984 Chevy Celebrity. It was my first car and it helped me to become a man. More importantly, it helped to me to get the ladies and to learn more about taking care of women.
