We had some real tanks when I was growing up – largely because that was the North American style. Now you can enjoy them yourself. But after you do, please post at least a selection of cars you remember your parents having, with pics and model names.

1969 Austin 1800

1972 Chevrolet Chevelle Station Wagon

1975 Ford Pinto

1978 Ford Fairmont Futura

1981 Jeep Cherokee

Best one our family ever owned

Worst one we ever owned

The one we always wanted our dad to get but never had

I can’t post images as my tablet crashes every time I try but:

The first I can remember was Messerschmitt KR200 in red
http://bright-cars.com/uploads/messerschmitt/messerschmitt-kr200/messerschmitt-kr200-08.jpg

Then Humber Hawk in black and rust- I remember poking a stick through a hole in the floor and wearing it away on teh road as it went by
http://www.simoncars.co.uk/humber/hawkm.html

Then ( my favorite) Rover P5 3 litre in grey, well it was my favorite until the engine seized on the Farnham Bypass at midnight and was scrapped as it was too expensive to fix

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rover_P5#/media/File%3ARover_3-litre_aka_Rover_P5_2995cc_July_1960.JPG

it was a 1980 model – bought in 89 – my dad had always had motorbike prior to my arrival and my mum didnt drive. This car turned out to be a cut and shut of two cars prior to my dad buying it.

so we got a

it also turned out to be a rust bucket so we migrated onto something much newer.

one of them on an E plate in 1990. didnt last long it was a noisy tin bucket even then.

very quickly moved onto/traded in for an 84 audi 100 sport which we had a few years

after a few suspension issues that were pricy a trade in was made for the gold/bronze coloured audi 80 that went on to inspire significant numbers of the family to migrate from their rusting hulks of MGs/fords to audis for a number of years (most of the 90s)

but still the most memorable journeys were undertaken in my grandads

We had a succession of these;

4 kids under 10 plus a dog meant that the traditional Mk2 or 3 Cortina was just not big enough.

All sliding forwards under what passed for heavy braking was fun.

SEO 893M , when dad got this I thought we`d made it, always bought them 2 years old off his flash mate 🙂

Not sure if this counts, cos I was only about 1 year old. My ol’ man with his new Victor Estate

We had a Maxi – loved it.

I drove his “jelly mould” Sierra round the estate and was most proud of myself

We had one of these, growing up. 2 adults, 4 kids and a dog so me and my youngest sister had to sit in the boot, facing backwards. Was proper rubbish for playing ‘can you see the sea yet’ on the way to Cornwall in the summer 🙁

I saw a jelly mould Sierra in Bulgaria this year – looked to be still in reasonable condition, too!

Rachel

Some lovely. Some terrible. All have great memories attached.

I sadly never got to drive the Celica. It was the proper 4WD one. Zoooooom!

none of the above are actual photos. Correct models and year though

My parents didn’t drive (well, my dad did, but didn’t own a car) so chauffeuring in my formative years was done by my grandparents. The first car I vaguely remember was a Fiat 128 in, I think, 60s wallpaper orange. It was either that or lurid green (clearly a strong memory).

He replaced with a new Austin Allegro 1.5 HL (high luxury, folks!) in poo Russet Brown. It was an ‘R’ reg, so I’d have been about 5 when he bought it. Looked just like this only with the ultra-stylish vinyl roof:

That went in favour of a Renault 11 in the mid 80s. Looking at the model numbers, I think it was a 1.4 GTL. I was desperate for him to get the TXE with the electronic dashboard, but there was “too much to go wrong with it” and my dreams of being Michael Knight were quashed.

But still, it was a much cooler red colour, and that ‘fastback’ window, man!

(None are my pictures, just the closest I could find on the web)

Coldplay > where was that photo of the Carlton taken?

@stevied: I LOVE that car!

From my youth ..

Our family cars
Hillman Imp (Australia)
Anglia
Allegro
Mk2 Cortina
Rover 3500

Friends dad had a 3l Capri, woosh …
Saw and heard a Cosworth Sunbeam leaving car park at Thruxton

My dad had one of these

Dammit…a Renault Fuego

https://goo.gl/images/JTyxV1

always mess up with pictures but a morris oxford with a starting handle and two massive weights in the boot over the back axel to keep it in the corners.

Cougar, that’s a cavalier GSI saloon, I’ve a story about how I may have got Francoir Delacour nicked for speeding on the network q in one of them..

First I remember was this.

Then this.

Then one of these.

But wished it was one of these.

then

and

then

My mother had to learn to drive quickly, hence passed an automatic test. Many years later she resat in a manual car and remains the only person I have ever heard of to pass her driving test first time twice!

She started in a Wolseley Van den Plas and graduated to a DAF 55 Marathon Rally! It was ridiculously fast!

The Subsequent DAF 66’s that replaced it were never as exciting, nor the Mini Clubman, but she did graduate eventually to an MGBGT once we’d grown up.

My dad liked his cars

@Cougar

It’s a “Cavalier GSI” and not a photo of the actual car my parents owned. Theirs was a silvery colour (IIRC). G119 HTA was the reg.

Why do you ask?

We had one of these – there were only two cars owned on my street, and the other was also a Ford Pop.

In the late 60’s and 70’s when things began going well for my father he started buying Jags or Daimlers rather than Australian Chryslers or Holdens. Occasionally though he bought something a little more exotic as a toy if they came on the market- 70’s NZ was very protectionist, and had a CKD car industry- built up vehicles were hit with massive tariffs, so tended to only come in as personal imports or with immigrants.
At the time I had no idea what this was

and at the time was very disappointed that he’d taken it as a part exchange on one of these- god knows how this ever got into the country in those days.

They were the highlights though.

Growing up in the late 60’s my mother drove one of these for most of the time I was at primary school- cars in NZ were very expensive, and expected to last a long time.

this was replaced with a Hillman Imp, then, unfortunately one of these, hough at least it was in orange.

We had one of these in the late 70s

Five kids and a cantankerous corgi over the Wrynose pass was a particular highlight.

Edit: and if your dad is still around, ring him up tonight and have a laugh about it.

My mates dads Sierra cosworth, 3door Hatch on a D plate. Brilliant. He was a lunatic driver and used to race anyone and everyone. Once did An emergency stop in the middle lane of the M5 from 125mph. To show my dad how good the ABS was. I thought my eyes were going to pop out. He also ended up racing a Audi Quattro in the pouring rain, that was more of a test of stupidity than the car though..

Dads Sierra 4×4 ghia estate, 2.8 v6 loveliness. Luckily I was insured at 17 which was nice.
Sadly the joyriders and ram raiders liked it too, stolen so many times but never burned out.

Oh my.
Mini Clubman ‘estate’

Allegro estate (worse)

Austin 1300 estate (sorry, Countryman)

Citroen GSA estate

Went across Spain in one of these when I was about 8
Triumph 2500TC

Renault 4 – ours was bright yellow (and non- wtaerproof electrics

Spitty – ours was blue. and fantastic !
… but had zero room in the back (yeah, there was a back – about 12 inches of space) for 2 quite big and growing kids so didn’t last long

one glorious day my dad went out to buy an estate car, probably another passat
and came home with a mk1 golf GTi. like this but had a bit of a body kit on it
(IIRC I was 14 or so, my brother was 17 😯 )

however the one I remember best was “the ferret”
1100 mini clubman. Was my mum’s for years, then my brother got hold of it and ragged the arse off it for several more years. By the time I got there it was loose as hell and surprisingly quick; we had some great adventures. Killed it on black ice when I was 19 but still got the front numberplate in my garage
(ours didn’t have minilite-alikes or anything but it had a heart of solid gold 😥 )

My dad had several of these, brilliant wee things.

Best car I remember us having was a white P6, black leather and tinted windows, that lovely woofly V8 sound and in my head, when dad trod on the go pedal, it was not unlike when Han engaged the hyperdrive. Horrifically, I think it was too expensive to run and ended up being dumped in a field at the back of dad’s work, where I imagine it sadly rotted for a few years before being scrapped. 🙁
[Quote]Saw and heard a Cosworth Sunbeam leaving car park at Thruxton[/quote]
A what, now? Lotus Sunbeam shirley.

Oooh. Forgot this. There was a stretch of motorway about 30 mins E. of Exeter where we’d “get home a little quicker, shall we”. Super quiet and comfy at 100+

My mum had a Renault 4 that succumbed to rust, one winter it was snowing the car due to the number of holes 😀
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which was my favourite car as a kid.

Use the “Preview post” button 😉

My family had appalling taste in cars, mostly Renaults. Ghastly…

Actually quite cute in an ancient, tiny car sort of way…

Renault 16, first hatchback, allegedly. The bastard offspring of a brick-era Volvo and a Citroen with all the worst bits of both.

In that colour too. Just non-descript.

Thankfully never actually bought though curiously both parents lusted after one. No idea what was going on with my parents. I fear they were deeply damaged.

My response was to ride motorbikes for 20 years before moving onto Mk2 GTis and Corrado VR6s.

We had a trendy teacher back in the 70s with a bright orange Renault 16. Your pic transported me back! He was a big hit with the girls at school. (Which didn’t seem dodgy back then)

A Wolseley like this one was our first family car

followed by an Austin A40

followed by an Albion Nimbus (the very one in the photo in fact)

The car which I recall from my childhood
mums selection
Triumph Herald
Mini
Hillmam imp, no problem withnhead gasket
fiat 128, which broke down in the ford at World’s End Llangollen
Toyota Carina
Dads selection
Hillman Minx
Hillman Hunter, same car but with more chrome
Colt Gallant, 2.0 litre small body, went well
then the above Carina

My childhood in cars….