Forum menu
Trying to remember my parents car history, went something like
Austin 1100
Maxi
Allegro
Metro
Maestro
Maestro
Escort
Colt
Civic
i30
Pretty sure I've managed to blank out a couple...
I vaguely remember my parents Ford Anglia, then it was a Renault 16 which I got spectacularly car sick in, then a Renault 12 which allegedly had less drag going backwards rather than forwards. I later had a Fiesta in that same colour, but mine was a 1300S which I ragged everywhere, and after rebuilding the engine with new bearings, rings and tweaked valves got it to a speedo alleged ton (though I expect that was only about 70 really, officer)
I do wonder if, in 20-30 years, our kids (collectively, I won’t be having any) will have the same nostalgia for cars that are available now, they just seem a bit soulless compared to those we grew up with.
Probably not. Maybe my daughter will remember family holidays sat in the middle seat on the middle row of the SMax, flanked be her grand parents with her feet up on the arm rest between the front seats.
Holidays are what I remember about my parents cars. Driving to Devon at 3:00am and having a picnic breakfast by the railway station at Star Cross before getting in to our chalet in Dawlish Warren.
I also remember them taking the chip pan with them and it being under the passenger seat full of solidified lard.
And the hateful Triumph 1500 TC breaking down on the way back from a wet week in South Wales and taking hours to be fixed before we could continue. My dad really wanted to love that car but it let him down so many times. It was absolute crap.
My dad's cars starting from my first memories in about 1972:
Silver Cortina Mk2
Orange Marina
White Triumph 1500 TC (jumk)
Red Cortina Mk4 (ace)
Blue Cavalier (dull)
Blue Opel Ascona (German import and I had the original plates in my room)
Blue Cavalier 1.8 LXi (The best and I was allowed to drive it)
Maroon Cavalier (new shape - dull)
Green Xantia (Cool)
Racing Green Rover 216 (I'd left home at this point)
Silver Corsa (a Corsa)
Blue Corsa (that he got a couple of weeks ago)
My Mum
Blue Fiat 126
Purple Fiat 127
Blue Fiat Uno
Red Fiat Uno (that I very nearly destroyed in a moment of stupidity by backing at speed across on unlit car park straight in to the tariff board for the pay and display, hitting it end on so it came through the back of the car like a knife)
Silver Astra
Blue Astra
I've probably missed a few out there.
Well neither of my parents drove. So my granda who lived around the corner from us, who worked for Ford, has a lot to answer for. I felt very emotional watching those pieces. He passed away late 2019 and he made me the petrolhead I am today. And a Ford man. He used to pretty much get a new one every year. Always got the new models. There isn't enough room for me to type out a list! A personal favourite was the Mk1 Focus when it launched. He went for the Ghia model as normal and it had the 2.0 Zetec lump in it, 125hp I think. I spent so much of my childhood in the car with him. I'd go round to his just to get a run to the shops and be in the car. I used to borrow his keys and go and pretend to drive the car in his driveway. In the early days I often flooded the engine in the days before fuel injection.
The stand out car story about him was that he was almost killed when hit by an Army 'pig' truck on his way home from work. We lived very near a flash point in Belfast and the Ford plant was in a nationalist area. He had a short drive home, maybe 5 minutes, into a loyalist area. There were a lot of patrols going on. Anyway, he never wore his seatbelt for the short journey. It was a green Capri. One day he was going through the corssroads and the Army pig went through a red light and hit him. The car was unrecognizable. He lost one of his ears which was later sowed back on and was told if he was wearing this seatbelt he would have been killed as the impact threw him into the passenger footwell and protected him. Needless to say, he always wore a seatbelt after that and he always told me to make sure I wore mine.
I miss him every day. I'm off to look at old Fords on Pistonheads.
I do wonder if, in 20-30 years, our kids (collectively, I won’t be having any) will have the same nostalgia for cars that are available now, they just seem a bit soulless compared to those we grew up with.
That's what make me sad about reducing emissions. We have an electric car - my Son isn't going to have great memories about being shuttled around in a milk float! I am an engineer - I get that it has to be done etc but that nostalgia about engines is something that will be missed!
Back to my Dad's cars:
Various Ford's (he worked for Ford so had lots of different ones)
B Reg Nissan Bluebird (think this cost about £2k because he let me hold the pile of cash and I remember thinking it was a lot of money!)
J Reg Volvo 440 - I learnt to drive in this and drive it around.
51 plate Peugeot 206
52 plate Volvo s40 - I ended up buying this off him 7 years ago and kept it running for another 3 years so we have some great family memories in this car with my son as well as my Dad using it!
Currently on a newer S40 I think - its about 8 years old anyway
First car we had that I remember was a Mk2 escort, it was metallic green with a black vinyl roof. I remember one night my dad got called out by work in the middle of winter but just as he was heading off we got another call from his work saying the job had been cancelled. I managed to run up the street in my pyjamas and wellies to catch him as I was faster than the car in a foot of snow.
The escort was followed by a red Chevette (this auto corrected to Corvette!) with plastic seats. Driving on holiday one year dad stopped at a lay by and we hear the F1 race at Silverstone, we were there for maybe 15 minutes and when I vent back into the car I nearly had the skin on the back of my legs removed by the boiling hot plastic seats.
A couple of Mk1 fiestas after the chevette and then a Mk3 escort followed by a Mk4 escort
I can remember precisely three of the cars my parents had prior to me getting my own:
Singer Vogue
Vauxhall Victor
Vauxhall Carleton
Since there was a good twelve years between the first two there must have been at least one other but nothing comes to mind though I do remember a car that had indicator bars for speed and revs rather than dials but no idea what it was. I learnt to drive in the Victor, a real beast. The car not me.
Those that I can remember:
BMW 2002
Escort RS2000 (S Reg)
Mk1 Golf GTi
Renault 19 (WTF?!)
Mk2 Golf GTi
BMW E12 M535i
205 1.6 GTi
A succession of Discoverys and Defenders
I was actually bored rigid by last night's show, but seems I'm in the minority!
I was actually bored rigid by last night’s show, but seems I’m in the minority!
It did go on a bit too long, the "sitting on each others laps like you would have done with your Dad" was a particular low point.
I liked the Lake District scenery though, even though some of the continuity especially around the race to the ferry was a bit glaring (to me anyway, knowing those roads very well).
Morris Oxford
Citroen Light15
they just seem a bit soulless compared to those we grew up with.
Soulless in the fact they work and start without fail, don't rust after 5 years, don't kill you as easily when you crash. Although I agree with what you are saying and my memories of sitting in the "boot" of a Vauxhall Viva estate and ending up sitting by the gear knob after rolling through the car in an emergency stop won't be forgotten.
Soulless in the fact they work and start without fail, don’t rust after 5 years, don’t kill you as easily when you crash.
Oh, obvs modern cars are better in every measurable way, but in being so passively brilliant, they become invisible, almost like white goods, unless you get something properly exciting, but even those won’t have an engine note in 10 years.
"I was actually bored rigid by last night’s show, but seems I’m in the minority!"
no me too.......
Cortina...........
Brilliant picture!
My family were never that big into cars, although I think my Dad has some nicer cars in his youth.
He was a black cabbie, so a lot of childhood memories involve going most places in his 'old' K Reg black cab - having to spray some cold start stuff down the big hose in cold weather & watching the engine shudder into life as a cloud of soot was ejected out of the back.
Going places in the summer & burning your legs on the black vinyl seats, as the inside of the cab approached the temperature of a hot oven!
My mum had a red Cortina, but a newer shaped version than that shown in the show. That got nicked from her work car park & my mum was quite upset by that. I think it was the first car she had owned that she really liked - all her previous cars had been hand me downs.
After the Cortina it went:
Vauxhall Chevette
Volvo 340GLE this was almost new & was definitely a high-point, until someone t-boned it & wrote it off
The Volvo was hastily replaced by a Ford Orion LX
That was replaced by a 53 plate nearly new Focus 1.6 which my parents still own. They don't do many miles - I'm not even sure it's tipped over 100,000.
My uncles cars were always more memorable than ours.
One uncle is a driving instructor & we learnt to drive in his mkII Fiesta.
My other uncle was always a bit more of a show-off & I remember the day he turned up at my Nans house in a Sierra XR4. We were amazed - it was like some kind of spaceship to us.
Like Rob says above, I actually said a similar thing to my Wife last night about whether my daughter will have such vivid memories of childhood cars as we do.
Are we gonna get there without breaking down? That fuel rich smell & Dad fiddling about with the choke, boiling hot journeys down the motorway on holiday stuck doing 55mph so the car didn't overheat etc.
Now it's just get in, start the car & go. They generally 'just work' and it's less of a 'thing'. New cars on friend's driveways was a big deal. Neighbours coming out to look at the 'new' car and all that - now so many people swap their cars every 3 years & it's no longer such a big deal - it's almost an expected thing.
I'm not sure the reversing around the hay bales at full chat was particularly respectful of the old cars! Also, don't think the Cortina was in such good condition either. Looked like a horrible line of bubbly rust that had been sprayed over on the front edge of the bonnet in one close up shot. Dragged on a bit for me, anyway...
Renaut 5
Mini Metro
Mini Metro
Mk2 Vauxhall Astra
Successon of Vauxhall Astra company cars
Fiat Tipo, which I learned to drive in.
It would be interesting to see what Fazzini-junior-senior would say about my car list other than being Vauxhall heavy (but they are always cheaper than the equivalents and I don't have dosh for 'posh'):
89 Vauxhall Nova 1.2 Flair
93 Vauxhall Corsa Sri 16v
96 Honda Accord (best car I have ever owned and i miss it)
05 Vauxhall Vectra
08 Citroen C4 Grand Picasso a.k.a The Bus (kids named it)
06 Vauxhall Vectra
06 Vauxhall Vectra Estate
06 Kia Sorento (bought a caravan - kids names this one 'The Truck')
06 Vauxhall Vectra Estate 3.0cdti - bought as a stop-gap when the Kia died but kept it for 5 years til it died
14 Vauxhall Insignia Estate 4x4 - owned it 8 weeks - its been in the garage for 2 of them - it is going back for a refund soon. Shame - its lovely except it doesn't work 🙁
Tried watching the new (BBC) Top Gear but just couldn't get into it. Kind of like when a band changes their singer, but this time they changed everyone. Much prefer the original.
Liked that. As a local it was nice to see some other bits of Cumbria other than the usual Lakes. (Caldbeck, Frizington...)
Rode up to the Caldbeck masts a few times, its really nice around there.
Anyway ...Dads cars
Talbot Matra Rancho,
Volvo 240 GLT and then a Montego MG Turbo
After that he went all sensible and bought Mazda's
my first car was a Escort Mk1 1.3L. With a metal steering wheel.....
Best one in a years ..... better than most late Clarkson and gang !!
Simple reason ..... Authentic.....There's been too much contrived rubbish for too long.
As for cars, they were really my mum's, dad had vans for work.
Earliest memory was a lime green Capri with a black vinyl roof and the plastic "diffuser" over the back window.
And the highlight was getting a new Sierra when they first came out. I remember it turning heads as we drove down the road for the first couple of months. Chocolate brown with a gold go faster stripe down the side finishing in a mountain range type motif at the rear.
Happy days
Mini, followed by various cavaliers. So my first car was a mini. Good memories
And the highlight was getting a new Sierra when they first came out.
Yeah we had one of the early ones too - a 1.6GL in metallic deep red. YEF 77Y - my brother still has that plate on his motorbike.
I once nearly killed a young woman on a moped when driving it - she ended up under the front of the car with what I thought was blood all over her and the floor around her (it was after dark). It turned out the handlebar had pierced the radiator and it was coolant pouring out everywhere. Her head was lodged right up against a front wheel but fortunately I stopped just in time and she only had minor injuries.
Blue Triumph Herald
White Escort Mexico
Orange Morris Marina Coupe
I can remember sitting in the back of the Escort doing the ton along the A38 across Haldon. It is only fortuitous that I was not in the last one when the story ended 🙁
As I thought about my Dad's old BMW E12 M535i, I thought I'd have a hunt and see if there are any left and managed to find his actual car! At least, I'm 99% sure it was his - the reg changed when it was re-imported, but the description fits and having just spoken to him, he's pretty sure it was his.
Fuzz Townshend drove.
Still can't get my head round that.
This is Fuzz
Vauxhall Viva estate
A fine car !! Especially in metallic gold. Passed my test in one, just like this
Harris has posted on Instagram that he has bought the 323i
The Fester is registered with the DVLA as being white, although the yellow really suits it. Excellent segment although a little understated for a series opener, i thought. Will be interesting to see more of the uk being showcased this season.
Best one in a years ….. better than most late Clarkson and gang !!
Agreed, really enjoyed that episode and am warming to the new bunch and watching the show for the first time in years.
Dad's car history was a Mini Clubman and a Mini van followed by a new Y reg Fiesta Popular Plus in pine green which was then replaced by a E reg red Escort which I later learned to drive in.
Mum had the cast off van, a rotten Morris Marina, the Fiesta (which she loved before it was written off), Metro, Viva, then some new cars from the 90's onwards.
Watched it these evening, thought it went just a tad, smidgeon over the reminiscing part.
And dad’s cars, he was/remains a petrol head but at 92 he’s slowed down a bit. Oldest recollection to current...
Jaguar v12 xjs
Then another in a slightly different shade.
Jaguar saloon, ex Birmingham city managers apparently.
Audi 100, the one with the much fanfared CD of 0.30 or so.
Audi GT coupe, 2.2 five cylinder, the first car of his I got to drive. Loved it.
Fiat Turbo
Toyota Supra, the daft one with the big wing.
Celica GT 4 turbo
Mitsubishi Evolution 8 (stolen while he put air in the tyres)
Hyundai Coupe
Then another, newer shape.
Toyota Yaris
Corsa
Audi A2 with dsg.
That’s not a bad history looking back. Evo was bloody nuts, Audi GT was just incredible to drive, not in a pull socks off, just soooo smooth.
Tried watching the new (BBC) Top Gear but just couldn’t get into it. Kind of like when a band changes their singer, but this time they changed everyone. Much prefer the original
for me, i much prefer the new band members but they still play the same old shite music!!
thats the first episode ive watched tbh, i was captivated by the scenery i recognised. and i quite like Freddie and Paddy being a Bolton lad, but scripted banter and contrived races just dont do it for me.
That was a brilliant episode some member berries, stunning scenery and just enough sillyness topped off with a ridiculous super car.
I don’t think my parents ever owned a Ford certainly none of those, I had W reg Fiesta 957cc popular though.
I enjoyed it. Decent segment on the dad cars. And yes, Chris Harris has posted on FB saying he's bought the BMW now - excellent.
I still remember my dad's succession of Capris before he finally got sensible and traded it for a Granada - F-reg shape before they gained that 'challenging' front end looks. Since then he's owned nothing of particular interest.
I wonder what my kids will think of my cars when they're older 🙂
Dad's earliest car I can remember is a bit strange because I can't remember going in it. It was a classic - and I distinctly remember sitting on the running board making a plasticine model. Only memory I have of being in it was when we went to a car show a decade later and we went out for a drive.
This is it (but it was in blue at the time)
Then Land Rover series IIa safari SWB. My sister and I would be scooped out of our beds in the early hours and onto the side facing seats to go on holidays.
Then Land Rover Defender 90 - about 14 years in total there!
He can be excused though - for much of that time he was in the traffic rozzers so was tootling about in Coopers, SD1 and his favourite a Range Rover with that magic light thingy on top.
The Land Rovers were all - frankly - shit. But some great memories.
For those near Derbyshire, there's a new motoring museum opening this year - and you can drive many of shit-boxes we used to ride around in! 🙂
https://www.drivedadscar.com/
https://www.greatbritishcarjourney.com/
That’s what make me sad about reducing emissions. We have an electric car – my Son isn’t going to have great memories about being shuttled around in a milk float! I am an engineer – I get that it has to be done etc but that nostalgia about engines is something that will be missed!
I read today that Tesla want the government to increase taxation on IC cars to encourage people to go electric. There wouldn’t be a vested interest in there somewhere...?
We have an electric car – my Son isn’t going to have great memories about being shuttled around in a milk float
My kids love the idea our car is electric, the grandkids of our neighbours over the road stared at it the other week in awe at the noise it makes when reversing. Kids will talk in fondness of seeing or their parents owning an electric car for the first time. I recall driving around in the stinking shit boxes leaking fumes everywhere due to no emission standards and poor MOT regulations we once had.
I don't have good or bad memories of being driven around as a child or the car I was driven around in, I was just driven around.
The memories I have are driving my own cars around, that were the same largely shit cars mentioned in this thread (late 80's driving 60s and 70s cars)
That was a great episode and very poignant for me, having lost my dad recently, but I held it together until they played Uriah Heep during the top speed challenge. His favourite band and a track I picked for his funeral. I had to take a moment and I think I need another now.
He always drove big Volvo estates, apart from a posting to Cyprus in the early 80's where he had a 1.6 Passat for tax purposes. He never got over the fact that a bottle of whiskey on the passenger seat at import would have avoided the import tax on his beloved Volvos. He was actually happy that my Mum wrote off the Passat so he had an excuse to buy another Volvo.
Sorry to bring the mood down, but sadly...
https://twitter.com/harrismonkey/status/1372099666360348672?s=19
RIP you smiling, fast, awesome lady!
R.I.P Sabine
Awww shit. 🙁
RIP
Was all set to get excited about the car museum up the road in Ambergatw and scrolled down to that sad news.
But what a life lived.
Legend, RIP