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Following on from Top Gear on Sunday night. They are right, the cars of our Childhood are the ones that shape us today, the most memorable car probably isn't our first, but is our Dads. So I thought it would be nice if we could all go on a little trip down Memory Lane and list a picture of the car we remember most of our parents. I'll start, see below my Dad's 1987 1.6 Vauxhall Belmont. Bought from my Grandad for the princely sum of £600, my Dad was out the front most Saturdays and Sundays repairing it. It was part exchanged after 3 years of unreliable service for an Emerald Green 4 year old Vauxhall Astra F.
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Sometimes it's fun to do the impossible
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Cool thread – I really enjoyed that bit of TG and like most of us it had me thinking back to Dad’s cars. Wierdly I still remember the registration numbers of most of them. The first ones I only just remember – a big old Austin Westminster, then an Austin 1100 (OLL755L). The first one that made a lasting impression was a purple Marina 1.8 with matching purple vinyl interior (VPB592M). My Grandad lived with us for a while and he had a 2 door Mk1 Escort (FKB506L). Dad taught me to drive in his Cavalier (TPH404S) and I passed my test in it. A couple of years later he replaced it with the first of several Sierra’s (A410WDT), and I bought the Cavalier from him. The Cavalier with Dad's Sierra behind it..... Once I had my own car, Dad’s cars didn’t have the same meaning to me, but the early cars did – maybe that’s where my love of Retros comes from. I’d be more than happy if one of Dad’s cars was sat on my drive today.
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Currently driving a 1972 BMW 1602 as my daily. Don't ask about previous cars - there have been way too many and I stopped counting at 160!
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My Dad bought himself a new Morris 1100 in 1966. In 1970, he traded it in for a new Morris 1300. It's still in the garage. I see now where I get my inability to sell cars from.
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jmsheahan
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 682
Club RR Member Number: 121
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Dad's carjmsheahan
@jmsheahan
Club Retro Rides Member 121
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Remember my dad having a string of Vauxhalls - mainly Cavaliers. Mk2 poverty spec 1.6 with weller wheels and some aftermarket fog lights - think it had beaded seat covers too . It was his Mk3 and a certain touring car championship that got me hooked though. I've never owned a Vauxhall but have a soft spot for SRI's and GSI's. The one I remember vividly was my grandad's Renault 25 though - a car that talked was the coolest thing ever to a 4 year old! Sitting in it felt like a completely different world.
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Last Edit: Mar 16, 2021 9:49:03 GMT by jmsheahan
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norm75
Part of things
Posts: 658
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First dad car I remember but 2 door, same colour and wheel trims though. Remember one memorable journey with my dad in the snow with plenty of opposite lock. Used to sit on his lap and steer it round our local lanes. On coming drivers used to smile, those were the days. Then came an sd1 2600s. Very unreliable in the year we had it and remember having quite a few BL courtesy cars when constantly back at the dealers for ‘repair’ Ours was pre facelift t Reg I remember trying to get him to buy the jag xj6 for the same price on the forecourt parked next to it but he wouldn’t have it. Memorable journey, cracking a ton running like a bag of spanner’s with a cloud of smoke like James bonds db5 behind it. When I was 8 the rover was chopped in for a brand new poverty spec nova 1.0 in dog sh*t brown. It was brand new so he could have had any colour! A36 BFG. Memorable journey, see below. He wanted a mk2 Jetta TX and I spotted one at a vw dealers going past on a school coach trip and told him about it. We went and looked at D431 UYJ and came home, and then promptly ragged the little nova to an inch of its life to get to the garage before it shut. I was 11 back then and this car saw my brother learn to drive in it and me regularly using it (for some reason he wouldn’t let me buy my own car) until a 7.5 tonne wrote it off not stopping at traffic lights. Great handling car, well balanced and a joy to drive ( my first car was a . . Yeh you guessed it) so much so that dad even out ran his mate in his new 944 turbo! It survived the accident as used to see it in a local town now and then. Memorable journey, puking out the back window at 60 mile per hour.
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Last Edit: Mar 16, 2021 23:07:27 GMT by norm75
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jamesd1972
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,842
Club RR Member Number: 40
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Dad's carjamesd1972
@jamesd1972
Club Retro Rides Member 40
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Was brought up on very practical BMC stuff like Maxi's and Allegro Estates and there was a very negative vibe about Ford's and the lack of interior space lack of a 5 speed box and rubbish in the snow. Dad's 6'2" so wanted space for himself and the kids. Car that stick in the mind most was one of these: It was very cool when Quattro's ruled the world. James
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Mar 16, 2021 11:05:18 GMT
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My dad's most memorable motor for me was a Mk1 Ford Escort 1300GT, in bright red. He would do amazing sketches of the front end of it, which made quite an impression on me as a kid!
Later on, he had a beige Marina estate, a VW Fastback, Renault 12, then onto a succession of company cars, the first being a Sunburst Red 1984 Sierra, one of the first to appear in our neighbourhood.
I particularly liked his 1987 Mk2 Vauxhall Cavalier LXi, which seemed like a rocketship at the time with its fuel injection, and I had some driving practice around local car parks in it, very nearly crashing it once when I forgot to steer the thing!
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Mar 16, 2021 11:43:58 GMT
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Hi, My Dads first car was a Ford 100e in bathroom blue of late 50s vintage which he bought in the Autumn of 1963.
I didn't find until later that he got a lot of mickey taking from his work colleagues about him being on the great train robbery and he was spending his cut.
He worked for London Transport and was only used to driving RT and RF buses with pre select gearboxes, so he struggled at first with the clutch. All journeys started off leap frogging down the road until he got used to it.
The second car was a maroon 1500 Mk1 Cortina which I took over after his death. I can remember sometimes after visiting relatives in London that I was allowed to drive the last couple of miles home at the age of 14, I guess, with much reservations from Mum.
Colin
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Del
South East
Posts: 1,448
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Mar 16, 2021 11:53:59 GMT
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Dad was a mechanic and AA patrol (he's a bus driver now) and was practicing bangernomics back in the early 70s. In order, I remember: Singer Chamois, that was supposed to be resprayed red but turned out orange. FD Victor saloon in blue, which he bought to earn a few extra quid minicabbing. HB Viva saloon, ostensibly blue, but with a red door and a pale blue bonnet. FD Victor estate in bright red, probably the most expensive car he bought. Mk1 Triumph 2000,which knackered its gearbox i in about a month. Mk1 Escort estate, bright yellow, which led to lots of jokes about it being an AA company car. Then he switched to bikes, after my parents divorced.
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longman
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 506
Club RR Member Number: 3
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Dad's carlongman
@longman
Club Retro Rides Member 3
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Mar 16, 2021 11:54:37 GMT
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My Dad worked for Ford as a photographer and was lucky to get company cars , I remember them giving him a tired Mk4 Zephyr which he gave back after a week as it was dreadful , then a string of Consuls and Granada's . The one I most remember though was his silver Granada 2.8i estate , I used to love getting it out of the garage. I vividly remember standing out the sunroof and swearing my head off thinking he couldn't hear me .. he could
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Paul 98 500 SL 86 911 Carrera/sold 23 Octavia Phev
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Mar 16, 2021 13:00:43 GMT
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When I was at school most of my dad's cars were rescued from the breaker by him and my uncle. I was taken to primary school in a Morris Traveller in turquoise with brown wood, that arrived with a seized diff. There was also an Amazon, long before anyone had invented classic cars, that used so much oil that my uncle used to give him old oil from oil changes. After that there were a couple of Hunters and a Dolomite. I was well into my teens when he upped the budget with a Mk2 Civic c/w that buzzy 12v engine. That was the first one I got to drive. The earliest ones I remember were a 105e and a couple of FWD Triumph 1300s that I used as a playground for a while when they died. I have pictures of him with a mk1 Consul and an A40 Devon he bought a matter of weeks before the introduction of MoT testing. My favourite was his Corolla 1.6 Exec auto. His was blue over silver and was absolutely lovely to drive. He became concerned about fuel consumption, because he did fully 600 miles a year, and swapped it for a Corsa auto which was awful.
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Jaguar S-Type 3.0 SE
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jimi
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 1,827
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Mar 16, 2021 13:40:27 GMT
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My dad never owned a car or had a driving licence (other than a bike provisional licence), my mum had cars, her first car was a Ford Squire. I've never owned or had any inclination to have a Ford. My first car ( a mini) is very memorable to me, certainly more memorable than any of my mum's cars. I still have the number plates hanging in my garage 50 years later. I guess the "theory" doesn't apply to me Ford Squire for anyone who is not familiar
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Last Edit: Mar 16, 2021 13:47:50 GMT by jimi
Black is not a colour ! .... Its the absence of colour
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Mar 16, 2021 13:46:07 GMT
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Remember my dad having a string of Vauxhalls - mainly Cavaliers. My dad was a Vauxhall man in the 80's, we had a series of Mk2 Cavaliers, including a relatively early '82 hatchback in bright red with glorious caramel velour. I absolutely loved it and it seemed like a spaceship after the Marina it replaced I ended up driving round in one, a blue '86, as my first car and would absolutely love one now but prices are fairly strong these days for good examples and an early SR/SRi is way of of my price range! I wanted one of those since the early 80s after seeing one in the Vauxhall main dealer showroom when we went to buy something from the parts department. Hatch or saloon, I'll take either!
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autojumbled
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 221
Club RR Member Number: 106
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Dad's carautojumbled
@autojumbled
Club Retro Rides Member 106
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Mar 16, 2021 13:52:06 GMT
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My dad had numerous cars during my childhood. We had a VW type 2 bus for years but that was mum's daily driver. Dad had a lime green beetle in the garage but I don't recall it ever being driven although it definitely ran.
One car I do remember being very cool was a Renault. I've no idea what it was but I vaguely recall it resembling a Porsche 944 but that was through the eyes of a 10 year old!
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Mar 16, 2021 13:59:18 GMT
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Renault Fuego, perhaps...
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jimi
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 1,827
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Mar 16, 2021 13:59:53 GMT
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One car I do remember being very cool was a Renault. I've no idea what it was but I vaguely recall it resembling a Porsche 944 but that was through the eyes of a 10 year old! Fuego perhaps ?
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Black is not a colour ! .... Its the absence of colour
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autojumbled
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 221
Club RR Member Number: 106
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Dad's carautojumbled
@autojumbled
Club Retro Rides Member 106
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Mar 16, 2021 14:18:41 GMT
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One car I do remember being very cool was a Renault. I've no idea what it was but I vaguely recall it resembling a Porsche 944 but that was through the eyes of a 10 year old! Fuego perhaps ? That is likely it! It was the rear end that most made me think it was a Porsche and sure enough, that wrap-around glass tailgate is very 944-ish.
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Dad's carpeteh1969
@peteh1969
Club Retro Rides Member 107
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Mar 16, 2021 14:47:54 GMT
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This was my dad's car up until he passed in 2013 at the age of 82 from Dementia and cancer then it came to me.
I kept it until 2016 I drove her a bit but I could never relax and as it was always Dads car, so I passed it on to a Cortina Collector from Harrow and used the funds to by the Corsair.
He bought it 12/08/1982 and was one of the last 50 Mk4's off the line before they changed to the Mk5 version, the only car he ever bought brand new. It had done 118460miles I maintained it since 1995 and being a manual V6 quite a rare car, he used it for his everyday work car for 15 years until he had a company 190 Merc and for towing a 16" Abbey Caravan for holidays. Never rebuilt or stripped down I changed the water pump a few times and fitted a the timing gear for a genuine all metal ford one and that's all it was never a problem what so ever. Dad was one to tinker and made his own heated screen wash heat ex-changer which worked a treat, he also added a oem water oil cooler and long oil filter mount from a 2.8 V6 just to help with things and it worked perfectly.
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Dad's carMercdan68
@forddan68
Club Retro Rides Member 68
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Mar 16, 2021 16:21:35 GMT
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My dad has owned many cars since I was born , the two I have great memories of, firstly a dark green Zephyr 4 bought form a showroom in the old Kent road south London I remember being in the showroom sitting in that massive finned car I must of been about five years old Same as this one Then forward to the long hot summer of 76 and my dad done the knowledge and became a black cab driver in London he must of been learning since 74 as he passed within two years I still remember his first cab and the night he brought it home EYK442J long gone according to dvla records He went in to own a good few more FX4 cabs before leaving the game I’d love to own a 70s one now My dad now 83 drives a Lexus IS250 But says the best car he ever owned was 1999 Rover 75 he had....oh and thanks dad those hours spent passing spanner’s and polishing cabs mean I’ve always been a petrolhead!
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Last Edit: Mar 16, 2021 16:42:09 GMT by Mercdan68
Fraud owners club member 1999 Jaguar s type 1993 ford escort
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Mar 16, 2021 18:30:05 GMT
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I saw that TG article, it was quite good to be fair.
my dad always had sh"t heaps of cars that cost very little, if it got him a couple of miles to work then it did its job, if we ever went on a holiday in a car then he used to hire one [usually fiats - strada, mirafiori, 127, they were all ace, probably because at the time they were new] it must have been cheap to hire cars in the 70s because he was only a lorry driver and will not have earned a lot.
he had quite a few mini 1000's, I loved them, he also had a few bigger cars, a couple of ford granada's/consuls, rover p6's, austin 1800's/landcrab things, mk2 cavalier, the newest car he ever bought was a one year old lada samara 1.3. christ it was plop but he ran that for about 5 or 6 years and it never had an oil change, it took me and my family on holiday to wales when my car broke on the morning of going on holiday.
my fav car that he had, was a hillman imp. we went to southport in it and had to stop to top up the cooling water often! he bought an ex rally imp for spares and swapped the engines himself, I would dearly love to have a drive of a hillman imp, awesome little cars.
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