My first car was a clapped out, rust bucket, 1951 Ford two door sedan that I bought from a neighbor for $40 when I was 15 (1965). I spent a year and a half rebuilding the engine (with dad's help), re-doing the interior (with mom's help), and doing all the bodywork and paint myself. I still remember how proud I was to drive it to school when I was 17. I abused the flathead six until it threw a rod, and then rebuilt and swapped a stock flathead V8 into it. I couldn't trust it to go more than 50 miles from home, and the engine would vapor lock if the temperature was over 30 degrees, but I loved that car.
My second car was my favorite of all time, though. It was a 1960 Thunderbird with a manual overdrive transmission and a Lincoln suspension, with manual steering and power brakes. It was red with a red/white interior. I had it repainted and reupholstered in red Naugahyde. I had it up to an indicated 135 mph once. Many years later I found out that Ford had built 532 of those cars, which are now referred to as "Nascar T-Birds". Ford banned racing in late 1959, so some were bought by privateers and a lot were used by moonshiners. It was low, fast, and had a huge trunk. I knew when I sold it that I should find a way to keep it and store it, but I didn't.