First car I bought by myself was a 1991 VW Jetta, 5-speed. Did a lot of custom work to it including professional paint job, tint, stereo system (3 subs, like 11 speakers total), wheels, custom headlights, nice-sounding exhaust (no bees in a can), lowered...was really nice...and got hit head-on after just a year and a half of owning it.
First car I DROVE was an '85 Chevy Celebrity, top speed of about 40 it felt like. That was my dad's old car, wasn't really mine.