My first set was #722. I got it when I was 6 (1982), I remember because it said for age 7 and up. I collected many after that. I first got into the mechanical sets before they were called Technic, they were called Expert Builder. Though I thought the town sets looked cool, I didn't have the role playing mindset for the Legoland stuff. I preferred to build things that worked.
I was also in the Lego Builder's Club. I got magazines and things. There were quite a few adults even back then doing Legos and competitions.
Did anyone else think the plastic pieces in orange "Push-ups" made perfect fitting Lego wheels and axles?
In the early 80s, carmakers were widely switching to downsized front wheel drive platforms. I was both fascinated and obsessed with that. Since Lego didn't make CV joints back then, I came up with many different methods to make a front wheel drive lego car. Some with belts, some with u-joints, some even with rubber hose from a pneumatic set, I even thought about using a bendie straw. My preferred method I have in both the go kart, and the subcompact car I have built, with bevel and crown gears. The shifter isn't functional but the steering is. These pics are from nearly 30 years ago. A long time obsession was the GMC motorhome because it looked cool and was front wheel drive too. I built this method into some of those too. I used old transformers to give my vehicles a lot more power. I remember another time I made a clutch using a tire engaging with a satellite dish, pushed by a pneumatic cylinder.
I still have all my Legos in a box in the garage from when I moved. Before that, I would take them out every now and then, and my daughter and I would build things. The sets were always expensive, and I haven't priced sets in a long time. Also I preferred the older pieces where you had to make something from simple pieces, many of the newer pieces are just too fancy for me anyway. I think I figured I had accumulated about 2500 blocks. There was nothing like sound of the blocks in those perforated plastic bags, when shaking Christmas presents.