Impressions left on you by your family's cars
Discussion
Yesterday would have been my late mum's 85th birthday, and in a rare sentimental moment I started thinking about some of the things from my formative years that left an impression.
My very first word was "car", so it's no surprise I'm a petrolhead, and many of my thoughts turned to the cars that my family had when I was a kid. Most were boring, grey porridge-type stuff, but a few really stick out and I wondered whether anybody else had memories of not-very-remarkable cars from their youth.
A few of mine:
Morris Minor Police Van
No, not what you think: my dad was a policeman and my earliest memories include being sat in his Minor Van while he put the blue light on - scared the living daylights out of me!
Ford Escort Mk1
XDM398G - probably only an 1100 deluxe 2 door, but what a great car after years of Mini Countrymen. Started out light metallic blue, like this one, but my dad saw fit to have it resprayed yellow for some reason. Coincidentally my first car, at age 15, was also a Mk1 Escort - NGR822H.
Renault 16 TL
Ours was dark blue, reg number CUN770L (probably worth a bit now
). It had the squashiest, bounciest seats imaginable, was column change and could seat 6 if you weren't too bothered about seat belts. A great car - the first truly "modern" car we owned.
Ford Cortina Mk3
Same colour purple as this one, and quite high spec (something like an XL or GXL from memory). This was my grandad's car, bought to replace a gold Vauxhall Viva HC. Quite a comfy old thing, but the best part was the tin of sweets my gran always kept on the parcel shelf: I was very young at the time
Jaguar 240
This belonged to my mate's dad, who was a fireman. It always seemed impossibly exotic to me, on the frequent occasions I rode in it to school / scouts / football etc. Only later did I discover it was "only" a 2.4 straight-six, not the V12 I hoped it was. He removed the engine for a rebuild but then got divorced so the car just sat on the driveway, literally dissolving, until they moved and the remains were scraped up and disposed of. Shame.
Ford Fiesta 1.1L
BEY551W: a superb thing, and the first car I insured in my own name. I moved house in it and discovered that cleaning out the carburettor with brake fluid added at least 10BHP. I was able to buy it through a trade contact and ran it for a year, selling it for a small profit.
Mazda RX-7
Another part exchange I managed to squirrel away from traders' hands, A101SUC was rusty but mechanically fit due to a RoTechniks rebuild and a noisy Janspeed exhaust. I loved it, but impending financial doom meant I had to sell it when I discovered the extent of the rust. One of only 2 cars I've ever regretted selling. The other was a...
Saab 900 T16S
J158JBJ was not my first Saab: that was D270DFS, a 900i 2 door bought to go on holiday in with my girlfriend (now wife). JBJ was black, as all 3-door 900s should be, with a beige leather interior and had covered 210,000 miles by the time I owned it. It never let me down in over 40,000 further miles, including being in Paris for the Millennium celebrations.
Citroen 2CV
My girlfriend needed a car, so I bought her a 2CV in blue, like this one. It was great: bouncy, slow, noisy and with a sardine can roof for sunny days. She loved it, until the chassis snapped and we had to scrap it. Even then it didn't want to die, catching fire on the way to the scrappie.
I have owned over 80 cars since my first in 1984, and during 18 years in the motor trade I drove (at the last count) over 500 different cars ranging from Citroen 2CVs and Fiat 500s to Ferraris, Aston Martins, Bentleys and Porsches. For me, the ones that stick in the mind - and the ones I tried to include in this thread - are the more mundane ones: we all remember seeing exotica as a kid, but that's not the point.
So, over to you.
My very first word was "car", so it's no surprise I'm a petrolhead, and many of my thoughts turned to the cars that my family had when I was a kid. Most were boring, grey porridge-type stuff, but a few really stick out and I wondered whether anybody else had memories of not-very-remarkable cars from their youth.
A few of mine:
Morris Minor Police Van
No, not what you think: my dad was a policeman and my earliest memories include being sat in his Minor Van while he put the blue light on - scared the living daylights out of me!
Ford Escort Mk1
XDM398G - probably only an 1100 deluxe 2 door, but what a great car after years of Mini Countrymen. Started out light metallic blue, like this one, but my dad saw fit to have it resprayed yellow for some reason. Coincidentally my first car, at age 15, was also a Mk1 Escort - NGR822H.
Renault 16 TL
Ours was dark blue, reg number CUN770L (probably worth a bit now
). It had the squashiest, bounciest seats imaginable, was column change and could seat 6 if you weren't too bothered about seat belts. A great car - the first truly "modern" car we owned.Ford Cortina Mk3
Same colour purple as this one, and quite high spec (something like an XL or GXL from memory). This was my grandad's car, bought to replace a gold Vauxhall Viva HC. Quite a comfy old thing, but the best part was the tin of sweets my gran always kept on the parcel shelf: I was very young at the time
Jaguar 240
This belonged to my mate's dad, who was a fireman. It always seemed impossibly exotic to me, on the frequent occasions I rode in it to school / scouts / football etc. Only later did I discover it was "only" a 2.4 straight-six, not the V12 I hoped it was. He removed the engine for a rebuild but then got divorced so the car just sat on the driveway, literally dissolving, until they moved and the remains were scraped up and disposed of. Shame.
Ford Fiesta 1.1L
BEY551W: a superb thing, and the first car I insured in my own name. I moved house in it and discovered that cleaning out the carburettor with brake fluid added at least 10BHP. I was able to buy it through a trade contact and ran it for a year, selling it for a small profit.
Mazda RX-7
Another part exchange I managed to squirrel away from traders' hands, A101SUC was rusty but mechanically fit due to a RoTechniks rebuild and a noisy Janspeed exhaust. I loved it, but impending financial doom meant I had to sell it when I discovered the extent of the rust. One of only 2 cars I've ever regretted selling. The other was a...
Saab 900 T16S
J158JBJ was not my first Saab: that was D270DFS, a 900i 2 door bought to go on holiday in with my girlfriend (now wife
). JBJ was black, as all 3-door 900s should be, with a beige leather interior and had covered 210,000 miles by the time I owned it. It never let me down in over 40,000 further miles, including being in Paris for the Millennium celebrations.Citroen 2CV
My girlfriend needed a car, so I bought her a 2CV in blue, like this one. It was great: bouncy, slow, noisy and with a sardine can roof for sunny days. She loved it, until the chassis snapped and we had to scrap it. Even then it didn't want to die, catching fire on the way to the scrappie.
I have owned over 80 cars since my first in 1984, and during 18 years in the motor trade I drove (at the last count) over 500 different cars ranging from Citroen 2CVs and Fiat 500s to Ferraris, Aston Martins, Bentleys and Porsches. For me, the ones that stick in the mind - and the ones I tried to include in this thread - are the more mundane ones: we all remember seeing exotica as a kid, but that's not the point.
So, over to you.
My grandpa had an Escort very similar to the one in your photo, Miami blue metallic I believe it was.
His was an M registration, NGM885M, he traded in his Hillman Imp to buy it new in 1973.
I was only about 5 at the time, but I still remember going with him to pick it up at the local Ford dealer, Skelly's in Motherwell.
His was an M registration, NGM885M, he traded in his Hillman Imp to buy it new in 1973.
I was only about 5 at the time, but I still remember going with him to pick it up at the local Ford dealer, Skelly's in Motherwell.
Harry Rule said:
My grandpa had an Escort very similar to the one in your photo, Miami blue metallic I believe it was.
His was an M registration, NGM885M, he traded in his Hillman Imp to buy it new in 1973.
I was only about 5 at the time, but I still remember going with him to pick it up at the local Ford dealer, Skelly's in Motherwell.
Yes, I remember my dad trading the Escort in for the R16. The biggest novelty, according to my dad, was being able to accelerate up hills. His was an M registration, NGM885M, he traded in his Hillman Imp to buy it new in 1973.
I was only about 5 at the time, but I still remember going with him to pick it up at the local Ford dealer, Skelly's in Motherwell.
The first family car I can remember is a 1969 Austin 1300 - it was dark brown (almost black) and had a beige vinyl interior. The most vivid memories are lying across the back seat (I was 3 when they bought it) returning from family outings late at night. As many children do, I found the white noise relaxing and happily dozed off, occasionally waking to see the motorway lights whizzing past and recall trying to count them until I fell asleep again. Somehow it made me feel very safe - ironic considering I was laying on the back seat unrestrained!! Those were the days.....
Disregarding a whole fleet of boggo Beetles and Golfs (I grew up in Germany), my dad actually drove some fine motors.
They were French, they were white, and they rusted away under our butts.
Exhibit 1: the Peugeot 504.
Ours was just as knackered as the model pictured. It did have black leather seats, which in the summer in the absence of an A/C got searing hot and produced a vomit-inducing smell. Nice car, though.
Exhibit 2: the CX 2000 Super
Bright red interior, power windows in front (but not in rear, as in the Pallas... grrrr). Utterly adorable car, broke down constantly. Rust spread across the body like a skin disease.
In the 1980s it seems to have dawned on my dad that he had gone astray. He bought the opposite of everything our cars had stood for to date.
This one is a 280 SE IIRC but we had a 450 SEL in that color, plus chromed wheel arches. Even without the 6.9 engine it would lurch forward on kickdown like an angry rhinoceros. Cabin sound insulation was as autistic as in a space station. We were in awe of this vehicle and never bought a Mercedes again.
They were French, they were white, and they rusted away under our butts.
Exhibit 1: the Peugeot 504.
Ours was just as knackered as the model pictured. It did have black leather seats, which in the summer in the absence of an A/C got searing hot and produced a vomit-inducing smell. Nice car, though.
Exhibit 2: the CX 2000 Super
Bright red interior, power windows in front (but not in rear, as in the Pallas... grrrr). Utterly adorable car, broke down constantly. Rust spread across the body like a skin disease.
In the 1980s it seems to have dawned on my dad that he had gone astray. He bought the opposite of everything our cars had stood for to date.
This one is a 280 SE IIRC but we had a 450 SEL in that color, plus chromed wheel arches. Even without the 6.9 engine it would lurch forward on kickdown like an angry rhinoceros. Cabin sound insulation was as autistic as in a space station. We were in awe of this vehicle and never bought a Mercedes again.
When I was born in 1959 my Dad had a 1954 Austin A40 Somerset (RKP 264) that brought me home from hospital apparently! Lovely interior with leather seats, wilton carpet and West of England cloth headlining, but just a 1,200cc engine and a column change!
He replaced it in 1967 with a 1964 Hillman Minx (AYE 245B) that was way ahead mechanically with a 1,600cc engine, floor change and front disc brakes. But woeful interior with vinyl seats and headlining and rubber mats on the floor.
My best mate's Dad had a 1963 Humber Super Snipe that had a lovely leather interior with wood picnic tables in the rear and a bench seat in the front with a 3-speed column change. Sadly it succumbed to rust, knackered big ends and fuel prices in the early 70s.
Also in 1967 my Grandad died and my Mum spent some of her inheritance on her own car, a 1967 Fiat 600L (LTA 602F). It was slow and noisy in the rear seats anyway, but did have a roll-back vinyl roof that was it's one distinctive feature.
In 1972 Dad replaced his Minx with a 1970 Fiat 125 (FME 446J) that he loved for it's twin-cam engine - it even had a rev-counter!
Then in 1974 Mum replaced her 600 with a 1971 Fiat 127 (OML 690K) that felt like a rocket-ship after the 600! I still have fond memories of that as it was the first car I drove on my own the evening that I passed my driving test.
Sadly Dad had a massive cerebral haemorrhage in 1975 and never regained use of his left arm and leg. So his Fiat 125 became my 2nd car in 1977 (Mum had kept it in the hope he would recover). So I have fond memories of that too, tearing around with mates in Cortina GTs and taking Dad out in it from time to time.
Not his/my one (ours was RHD) but it was this colour.
He replaced it in 1967 with a 1964 Hillman Minx (AYE 245B) that was way ahead mechanically with a 1,600cc engine, floor change and front disc brakes. But woeful interior with vinyl seats and headlining and rubber mats on the floor.
My best mate's Dad had a 1963 Humber Super Snipe that had a lovely leather interior with wood picnic tables in the rear and a bench seat in the front with a 3-speed column change. Sadly it succumbed to rust, knackered big ends and fuel prices in the early 70s.
Also in 1967 my Grandad died and my Mum spent some of her inheritance on her own car, a 1967 Fiat 600L (LTA 602F). It was slow and noisy in the rear seats anyway, but did have a roll-back vinyl roof that was it's one distinctive feature.
In 1972 Dad replaced his Minx with a 1970 Fiat 125 (FME 446J) that he loved for it's twin-cam engine - it even had a rev-counter!
Then in 1974 Mum replaced her 600 with a 1971 Fiat 127 (OML 690K) that felt like a rocket-ship after the 600! I still have fond memories of that as it was the first car I drove on my own the evening that I passed my driving test.
Sadly Dad had a massive cerebral haemorrhage in 1975 and never regained use of his left arm and leg. So his Fiat 125 became my 2nd car in 1977 (Mum had kept it in the hope he would recover). So I have fond memories of that too, tearing around with mates in Cortina GTs and taking Dad out in it from time to time.
Not his/my one (ours was RHD) but it was this colour.
My dad had largely reliable, forgettable and economical diseasel family saloons...
Most I can't really remember to be honest, but one that does stick my mind.
A 1994 White VW Passat B4 with a 1.9 PD diesel engine. My dad was pretty anal back then with MPG and kept a spreadsheet. Don't think it ever did less than 50mpg tank average....
My mother on the other hand had much more interesting cars. No requirement for a long motorway commute meant that she had more free reign.
I have fond memories of being taken to and from school in her Visa GTI. (when was the last time you saw one of these?!) Again in white. Was only ever available in white, red or black...
After that was sold she had a xantia for a while which had cool suspension and was laughably comfortable but its electronics and control systems were desperately unreliable and eye wateringly expensive to repair....
After that she had a Ford puma Thunder edition, which was a lot of fun and a great little sporty number.
Most I can't really remember to be honest, but one that does stick my mind.
A 1994 White VW Passat B4 with a 1.9 PD diesel engine. My dad was pretty anal back then with MPG and kept a spreadsheet. Don't think it ever did less than 50mpg tank average....
My mother on the other hand had much more interesting cars. No requirement for a long motorway commute meant that she had more free reign.
I have fond memories of being taken to and from school in her Visa GTI. (when was the last time you saw one of these?!) Again in white. Was only ever available in white, red or black...
After that was sold she had a xantia for a while which had cool suspension and was laughably comfortable but its electronics and control systems were desperately unreliable and eye wateringly expensive to repair....
After that she had a Ford puma Thunder edition, which was a lot of fun and a great little sporty number.
I've no idea why I'm such a petrolhead?; my Dad (Ken) ran cars because they were drier and roomier than the unremarkable francis barnet 150 motorbike & sidecar he ran before I came along. His first car and my first memory was a beige Austin A35, this was followed by a green Morris 1300, then the peak of his entire motoring life; an Austin 1300GT!! it had a rev counter and was RED!. This Zenith was replaced by the nadir of an orange Allegro 1300 (he probably chose the 1300 as he had a spare oil filter or summat).
Then- tired of decades of BLMC/BL unreliability and rust- he turned to Ford and ran a series of totally bland Fiestas until he passed away, but not before he finally owned a couple from new after a lifetime of running 2nd hand.
My overriding memory was that all the BLMC stuff needed constant wire brushing and rust removing most weekends before they turned to dust.
Then- tired of decades of BLMC/BL unreliability and rust- he turned to Ford and ran a series of totally bland Fiestas until he passed away, but not before he finally owned a couple from new after a lifetime of running 2nd hand.
My overriding memory was that all the BLMC stuff needed constant wire brushing and rust removing most weekends before they turned to dust.
We avoided all forms of interesting cars, as if on purpose! However, my dad was determined to do all his own servicing and the like so it was always something reasonably basic. The first I remember is a red A40 Farina, which was followed by a white Minx of some variety - I think it was a C reg, so will leave it to the Hillman Beards to tell me which it is.
Then in the mid-70s we became a two-car household, so a Mk2 Cortina was paired with a Morris Minor, which was all very uneventful.
The Triumph Toledo was less successful and we got an AA Relay back most of the way from Brixham with a blown head gasket. For a while our two family cars were both ADO16s - a G-reg Austin 1300 and an F-reg Morris 1100. I remember the Morris being quicker than the Austin...
Then it got a bit psychadelic with a metallic green L-reg R16 TL and a purple Mini Clubman 1000. The R16 was really comfy and spacious, but had crap brakes and lots of rust. We were fairly certain the Mini wasn't standard as it was more than just a bit nippy. It also had crap brakes and lots of rust.
Also somewhere in there is a green Mini 850 that just dissolved into rust. And a battleship grey Mk1 Escort 1100 estate that really struggled with Bristol’s topography. And rust.
We hit the mid-80s with a Mk4 1600 Cortina and a Mk2 1300 Escort. Oh yeah! The Tina was traded in for a Sierra in '86, and the Escort was first smashed and repaired, and then stolen but never recovered in '89. Replaced by an early Mk3 Escort 1600, that I put into a fence post one night...
Whilst there's nothing terribly interesting in that lot, I did learn a lot about maintenance, body repairs, and swearing and was soon looking for s
theaps of my own to hoon around whilst they slowly disintegrated. Fun times! 
Then in the mid-70s we became a two-car household, so a Mk2 Cortina was paired with a Morris Minor, which was all very uneventful.
The Triumph Toledo was less successful and we got an AA Relay back most of the way from Brixham with a blown head gasket. For a while our two family cars were both ADO16s - a G-reg Austin 1300 and an F-reg Morris 1100. I remember the Morris being quicker than the Austin...
Then it got a bit psychadelic with a metallic green L-reg R16 TL and a purple Mini Clubman 1000. The R16 was really comfy and spacious, but had crap brakes and lots of rust. We were fairly certain the Mini wasn't standard as it was more than just a bit nippy. It also had crap brakes and lots of rust.
Also somewhere in there is a green Mini 850 that just dissolved into rust. And a battleship grey Mk1 Escort 1100 estate that really struggled with Bristol’s topography. And rust.
We hit the mid-80s with a Mk4 1600 Cortina and a Mk2 1300 Escort. Oh yeah! The Tina was traded in for a Sierra in '86, and the Escort was first smashed and repaired, and then stolen but never recovered in '89. Replaced by an early Mk3 Escort 1600, that I put into a fence post one night...
Whilst there's nothing terribly interesting in that lot, I did learn a lot about maintenance, body repairs, and swearing and was soon looking for s
theaps of my own to hoon around whilst they slowly disintegrated. Fun times! Edited by PomBstard on Thursday 18th November 10:11
Thanks for the posts everyone - keep 'em coming!
To maintain momentum, here are some of my mum's cars. She suffered a badly fractured right ankle as a teenager and later developed crippling arthritis in the joint. As a consequence she never learned to drive, until my dad "accidentally" bought a Renault 20 automatic and she realised she could use her left foot on the pedals. She soon passed her test (in her mid-forties) and that enabled her to work. Soon after that my parents divorced, but at least by then she had some independence and bought her own cars.
So, the car that started it all for her:
Renault 20 TL automatic
(Rubbish pic, but I wanted to use this one as it's the same colour as ours). TGT155R, subjectively a hateful thing with only 1647cc and not enough power to get out of its own way. Used to struggle up really steep hills but was comfortable and the first car we owned with central locking - woo-hoo!
VW Golf GLS automatic
UMB323R: no newer than the R20 but quite a smart, low mileage thing when we got it. High spec, and looked great in bronze. Despite an impromptu underbonnet rustproofing session (when 16 year old me forgot to put the oil filler cap back on), it rusted terribly and the lacquer peeled off almost everywhere. Before it got to that state I used it to date my first real girlfriend, which impressed her parents as they were German!
Mini Mayfair automatic
Now divorced, my mum started buying her own cars and this was her first. It was in the same primrose yellow as this one and I fitted a pair of spotlights to the front for her, which she loved. She became a dab hand at removing the dizzy cap and spraying WD40 to dispel the water on damp days!
By now she was working and earning pretty good money, but also travelling for work extensively, so she graduated to more modern, reliable cars via a couple of Metros and an Escort Mk4 (all automatics). She had 3 Nissan Micras as her last 3 cars but I won't bore you with pictures of those. They never let her down and she continued working up until she developed pneumonia and was rushed to hospital, from which she never came home. When she died 6 months later - aged 76 - we inherited her last Micra and ran it as a second car for Mrs Banana for 3 years: it ran faultlessly.
As a footnote, I once sold my dad a Peugeot 205 from my dealership in Suffolk and agreed to deliver it to him in North Wales. I didn't fancy the train journey home, so I bought my brother's car from him for £100 and drove it back. So, for a week, I owned a...
BMW 520 (E12)
It was in this fetching shade of orange and was actually quite an OK thing to drive, although starting it was a little hit-and-miss due to the choke not working properly. Nice alloys too, but very basic otherwise. It was disposed off in an auction and I got my money back.
To maintain momentum, here are some of my mum's cars. She suffered a badly fractured right ankle as a teenager and later developed crippling arthritis in the joint. As a consequence she never learned to drive, until my dad "accidentally" bought a Renault 20 automatic and she realised she could use her left foot on the pedals. She soon passed her test (in her mid-forties) and that enabled her to work. Soon after that my parents divorced, but at least by then she had some independence and bought her own cars.
So, the car that started it all for her:
Renault 20 TL automatic
(Rubbish pic, but I wanted to use this one as it's the same colour as ours). TGT155R, subjectively a hateful thing with only 1647cc and not enough power to get out of its own way. Used to struggle up really steep hills but was comfortable and the first car we owned with central locking - woo-hoo!
VW Golf GLS automatic
UMB323R: no newer than the R20 but quite a smart, low mileage thing when we got it. High spec, and looked great in bronze. Despite an impromptu underbonnet rustproofing session (when 16 year old me forgot to put the oil filler cap back on), it rusted terribly and the lacquer peeled off almost everywhere. Before it got to that state I used it to date my first real girlfriend, which impressed her parents as they were German!
Mini Mayfair automatic
Now divorced, my mum started buying her own cars and this was her first. It was in the same primrose yellow as this one and I fitted a pair of spotlights to the front for her, which she loved. She became a dab hand at removing the dizzy cap and spraying WD40 to dispel the water on damp days!
By now she was working and earning pretty good money, but also travelling for work extensively, so she graduated to more modern, reliable cars via a couple of Metros and an Escort Mk4 (all automatics). She had 3 Nissan Micras as her last 3 cars but I won't bore you with pictures of those. They never let her down and she continued working up until she developed pneumonia and was rushed to hospital, from which she never came home. When she died 6 months later - aged 76 - we inherited her last Micra and ran it as a second car for Mrs Banana for 3 years: it ran faultlessly.
As a footnote, I once sold my dad a Peugeot 205 from my dealership in Suffolk and agreed to deliver it to him in North Wales. I didn't fancy the train journey home, so I bought my brother's car from him for £100 and drove it back. So, for a week, I owned a...
BMW 520 (E12)
It was in this fetching shade of orange and was actually quite an OK thing to drive, although starting it was a little hit-and-miss due to the choke not working properly. Nice alloys too, but very basic otherwise. It was disposed off in an auction and I got my money back.
The first car I remember was a Triumph Herald Estate car, like this but pale blue and a st-ton of rust.
The back seat hinges broke so us three kids used to sit sideways in the back, rattling round over gravel roads. I remember dad driving home once holding the accelerator as it had snapped off at the pivot; mum going through a huge puddle and having to wait for it to dry out so we could carry on, and learning to drive in it. After I got my drivers licence I bodged the rust and repainted it, and fitted a new gearbox as the old one kept jumping out of second. It was eventually sold to a triumph fan and promptly blew the engine a couple of days later.
t-ton of rust.The back seat hinges broke so us three kids used to sit sideways in the back, rattling round over gravel roads. I remember dad driving home once holding the accelerator as it had snapped off at the pivot; mum going through a huge puddle and having to wait for it to dry out so we could carry on, and learning to drive in it. After I got my drivers licence I bodged the rust and repainted it, and fitted a new gearbox as the old one kept jumping out of second. It was eventually sold to a triumph fan and promptly blew the engine a couple of days later.
I said:
...literally dissolving...the extent of the rust...
Fink-Nottle said:
...and they rusted away under our butts...
Mr Tidy said:
...Sadly it succumbed to rust...
brownspeed said:
...BLMC/BL unreliability and rust...
PomBstard said:
...crap brakes and lots of rust...And rust...body repairs...
I said:
...it rusted terribly...
some bloke said:
...a st-ton of rust...I bodged the rust...
There's a real theme developing, isn't there?t-ton of rust...I bodged the rust...Here's my Dad's first car and an early attempt by me at photobombing. He bought it in 1937 (I have his receipt for it somewhere) though the photo was taken around 1951/2, I've no idea where.
1937 was also the year he joined the RN and within a week or two of finishing training he was heading for Hong Kong so the car must have been stored for the next 10 years until he was demobbed in 1947 and got married.
My earliest memory of that car (my only memory of it!) is of being in a carry cot on the back seat at night and looking up at railings outside. What happened to it I've no idea, it wasn't around after we returned from Malta in 1953 when an A40 Devon like this one appeared on the scene, reg. EDN 945.
I remember this one well as my Mum tried to drive in it but it was always full of 'kangaroo petrol' when she was at the wheel. We lived in Lincolnshire at the time and her lessons were on the runway at RAF Strubby on Sunday mornings when there was no flying.
At that time Dad alson had a staff car, a Standard Vanguard like this:
It was the first car I 'drove', sitting on Dad's lap steering up and down the lane where our house. I also remember it had no heater as one holiday he sent his driver to Cardington, to the airship hangars for something and I went with him, wrapped in blankets and with a hot water bottle to keep my feet warm.
The A40 remained the family car for a few years though was mostly used to visit my grandparents down south (in Kent and Middlesex), my Mum in the back with my recently arrived twin sisters and me next to Dad with my own steering wheel fixed to the dashboard with a rubber sucker. It had a horn button in the middle that beeped when pressed and which I was very quickly banned from touching...
With all the paraphernalia my twin sisters needed completely filling the A40 Dad decided more space was needed and bought a 1956 black Morris Minor Traveller; a split screen with red interior.
One time the rear doors needed repairs to the woodwork and were removed. I used to sit in the back holding on to the rear seat with one hand, waving to following drivers with the other. That car hung around for quite a time, into the mid-1960s when it carried all five of us, plus a dog, to a new posting in Germany; its roof rack so heavily laden the bars were hitting the car's roof.
Whilst in Germany Dad ordered a new car, his first ever brand new car, a Hillman Super Minx estate in green, this green.
He and I travelled by train to Ostende to collect it. This was in pre-motorway days so he taken me along to navigate. It must have been during a school holiday as i was away at boarding school. It was a foggy day and he was stopped by the Belgian police as, unused to the switches, he hadn't put the headlamps on and was driving on sidelights only.
He managed to bluff his way out of that but it had rattled him and later on he'd stopped on a bridge, forgotten the handbrake was to the right of his seat and had let the car roll back into the lorry behind. The not very happy clog-wearing driver got out, gesticulating and pointing to a cracked light on the front of his scruffy truck. I could see one of the rear fins on the back of Dad's new car had done the damage but sneakily brushed glass off the car with my sleeve so that when the police arrived - again (different lot fortunately) there was no proof we'd done it and seeing the state of the rest of the truck they let Dad continue. I never did tell him what I'd done.
The Moggy, which Dad had promised to me as my first car, was at home when I returned to school but gone when I next went back at half term - he'd swapped it for a Colston counter-top dishwasher!
So you see, I had a Dad who was never into cars, they just had to be practical load-luggers, nothing more. He never used to drive fast, 45mph was his comfortable speed in the Austin and Morris though he did up it to 50 in the Hillman. It was only much, much later, not long before he died, that he told me that he always suffered from motion sickness which explains why he sometimes used to ask me to slow down when he was my passenger. It was also then he told me that in all the years he'd been at sea during WW2 he'd been sea sick every bloody day...
1937 was also the year he joined the RN and within a week or two of finishing training he was heading for Hong Kong so the car must have been stored for the next 10 years until he was demobbed in 1947 and got married.
My earliest memory of that car (my only memory of it!) is of being in a carry cot on the back seat at night and looking up at railings outside. What happened to it I've no idea, it wasn't around after we returned from Malta in 1953 when an A40 Devon like this one appeared on the scene, reg. EDN 945.
I remember this one well as my Mum tried to drive in it but it was always full of 'kangaroo petrol' when she was at the wheel. We lived in Lincolnshire at the time and her lessons were on the runway at RAF Strubby on Sunday mornings when there was no flying.
At that time Dad alson had a staff car, a Standard Vanguard like this:
It was the first car I 'drove', sitting on Dad's lap steering up and down the lane where our house. I also remember it had no heater as one holiday he sent his driver to Cardington, to the airship hangars for something and I went with him, wrapped in blankets and with a hot water bottle to keep my feet warm.
The A40 remained the family car for a few years though was mostly used to visit my grandparents down south (in Kent and Middlesex), my Mum in the back with my recently arrived twin sisters and me next to Dad with my own steering wheel fixed to the dashboard with a rubber sucker. It had a horn button in the middle that beeped when pressed and which I was very quickly banned from touching...
With all the paraphernalia my twin sisters needed completely filling the A40 Dad decided more space was needed and bought a 1956 black Morris Minor Traveller; a split screen with red interior.
One time the rear doors needed repairs to the woodwork and were removed. I used to sit in the back holding on to the rear seat with one hand, waving to following drivers with the other. That car hung around for quite a time, into the mid-1960s when it carried all five of us, plus a dog, to a new posting in Germany; its roof rack so heavily laden the bars were hitting the car's roof.
Whilst in Germany Dad ordered a new car, his first ever brand new car, a Hillman Super Minx estate in green, this green.
He and I travelled by train to Ostende to collect it. This was in pre-motorway days so he taken me along to navigate. It must have been during a school holiday as i was away at boarding school. It was a foggy day and he was stopped by the Belgian police as, unused to the switches, he hadn't put the headlamps on and was driving on sidelights only.
He managed to bluff his way out of that but it had rattled him and later on he'd stopped on a bridge, forgotten the handbrake was to the right of his seat and had let the car roll back into the lorry behind. The not very happy clog-wearing driver got out, gesticulating and pointing to a cracked light on the front of his scruffy truck. I could see one of the rear fins on the back of Dad's new car had done the damage but sneakily brushed glass off the car with my sleeve so that when the police arrived - again (different lot fortunately) there was no proof we'd done it and seeing the state of the rest of the truck they let Dad continue. I never did tell him what I'd done.
The Moggy, which Dad had promised to me as my first car, was at home when I returned to school but gone when I next went back at half term - he'd swapped it for a Colston counter-top dishwasher!
So you see, I had a Dad who was never into cars, they just had to be practical load-luggers, nothing more. He never used to drive fast, 45mph was his comfortable speed in the Austin and Morris though he did up it to 50 in the Hillman. It was only much, much later, not long before he died, that he told me that he always suffered from motion sickness which explains why he sometimes used to ask me to slow down when he was my passenger. It was also then he told me that in all the years he'd been at sea during WW2 he'd been sea sick every bloody day...
As this topic says 'family's cars' I will include my future BIL's hot rod. I grew up in NZ in the 70s-80s where we had a lot of Brit, Aussie and US cars. He was building a T-bucket hot rod in his garage, and I first saw it at the stage it was just driveable. It had a stinking hot 283ci Chev, and a 4 speed, and would rev to 7500rpm effortlessly. It took a couple more years to finish and I accompanied him and his mates to a drag strip a couple of hours away a few times (best time 11.78 @ 115) and that experience immersed me in the hot rod/US car scene .
I was an impressionable youth at the age of 16/17, and started mucking about with Ford flatties, then bought a 1963 Chev Belair at 18. I had it for 5 years and had many adventures in it, and always regretted selling it. I always wanted another similar car, but never had the spare cash until recently. I had enough spare cash to buy a 66 Impala here in Scotland and have had it about 6 months, and I am pretty happy with it. There are a few wee jobs to do but I'm looking forward to attending a few events with it next year.
I just did a search for the reg number of that T bucket online and found it - it's a little different but it's nearly 40 years old now.
I was an impressionable youth at the age of 16/17, and started mucking about with Ford flatties, then bought a 1963 Chev Belair at 18. I had it for 5 years and had many adventures in it, and always regretted selling it. I always wanted another similar car, but never had the spare cash until recently. I had enough spare cash to buy a 66 Impala here in Scotland and have had it about 6 months, and I am pretty happy with it. There are a few wee jobs to do but I'm looking forward to attending a few events with it next year.
I just did a search for the reg number of that T bucket online and found it - it's a little different but it's nearly 40 years old now.
some bloke said:
As this topic says 'family's cars' I will include my future BIL's hot rod. I grew up in NZ in the 70s-80s where we had a lot of Brit, Aussie and US cars. He was building a T-bucket hot rod in his garage, and I first saw it at the stage it was just driveable. It had a stinking hot 283ci Chev, and a 4 speed, and would rev to 7500rpm effortlessly. It took a couple more years to finish and I accompanied him and his mates to a drag strip a couple of hours away a few times (best time 11.78 @ 115) and that experience immersed me in the hot rod/US car scene .
I was an impressionable youth at the age of 16/17, and started mucking about with Ford flatties, then bought a 1963 Chev Belair at 18. I had it for 5 years and had many adventures in it, and always regretted selling it. I always wanted another similar car, but never had the spare cash until recently. I had enough spare cash to buy a 66 Impala here in Scotland and have had it about 6 months, and I am pretty happy with it. There are a few wee jobs to do but I'm looking forward to attending a few events with it next year.
I just did a search for the reg number of that T bucket online and found it - it's a little different but it's nearly 40 years old now.
Excellent!I was an impressionable youth at the age of 16/17, and started mucking about with Ford flatties, then bought a 1963 Chev Belair at 18. I had it for 5 years and had many adventures in it, and always regretted selling it. I always wanted another similar car, but never had the spare cash until recently. I had enough spare cash to buy a 66 Impala here in Scotland and have had it about 6 months, and I am pretty happy with it. There are a few wee jobs to do but I'm looking forward to attending a few events with it next year.
I just did a search for the reg number of that T bucket online and found it - it's a little different but it's nearly 40 years old now.
My earliest memory of Cars was my Dad setting off somewhere with me on his Motorcycle (A Vincent Rapide 1000cc) with me in the side car. I was five year old.
We arrived at a Car dealership and I distinctly remember me asking him why he was putting his Helmet and Gloves in the back seat of the funny little Green Car.
'Its our Car now son'.... It was a Hillman Minx, LVH 86E, in some sort of Green colour. I imagine it broke his heart exchanging what amounted to being the best motor cycle in the world for a mediocre family Saloon.
The Minx lasted for about 6 years until he took possession of a Mk2 Cortina 1600E, that was a lovely thing, easily the best car on the street. We tried it out the new M62 up at Scammonden and saw 100mph on the clock... marvelous. It took us on a lot of memorable trips, lots of days and nights out Marshalling on various Rallies (RAC, Mintex, National Breakdown, various Road Rallies) Cooking Sausages on a Calor gas stove in the boot... just by the Petrol Tank there!.
The 1600E lasted for a few years until Dad started looking around again. It became clear he had narrowed his search to three options, a Lancia Beta Saloon an Alfa Sud Ti or a Saab 99. Despite my pleading for him to get the Alfa, or even the Beta... he bought the Saab. A Green 99 2 Door Saloon. He kept that Car seemingly for ever, changing the original 1.8 Dolomite Engine, for the 1.8 Saab version, then again for the 2.0 Saab version, before finally trading it for a 900 16V, then again for a 900 Turbo16. Running the Saabs for nearly 40 years, before being tempted by the Skoda Salesman into a Fabia VRS.
We arrived at a Car dealership and I distinctly remember me asking him why he was putting his Helmet and Gloves in the back seat of the funny little Green Car.
'Its our Car now son'.... It was a Hillman Minx, LVH 86E, in some sort of Green colour. I imagine it broke his heart exchanging what amounted to being the best motor cycle in the world for a mediocre family Saloon.
The Minx lasted for about 6 years until he took possession of a Mk2 Cortina 1600E, that was a lovely thing, easily the best car on the street. We tried it out the new M62 up at Scammonden and saw 100mph on the clock... marvelous. It took us on a lot of memorable trips, lots of days and nights out Marshalling on various Rallies (RAC, Mintex, National Breakdown, various Road Rallies) Cooking Sausages on a Calor gas stove in the boot... just by the Petrol Tank there!.
The 1600E lasted for a few years until Dad started looking around again. It became clear he had narrowed his search to three options, a Lancia Beta Saloon an Alfa Sud Ti or a Saab 99. Despite my pleading for him to get the Alfa, or even the Beta... he bought the Saab. A Green 99 2 Door Saloon. He kept that Car seemingly for ever, changing the original 1.8 Dolomite Engine, for the 1.8 Saab version, then again for the 2.0 Saab version, before finally trading it for a 900 16V, then again for a 900 Turbo16. Running the Saabs for nearly 40 years, before being tempted by the Skoda Salesman into a Fabia VRS.
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