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Jun 27, 2019 18:49:15 GMT
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its a pretty safe bet that if you are here reading this then you are a petrol head and chances are that has a strong bearing in the things you experienced as a child. what are the little things that stayed with you that kicked off your love of all things automotive?
for me...? the fascination of the electric windows in my grandads s1 xj6 , the crazy boost gauge (must have been from space i thought) in my dads 99 turbo , the sound of my step-dads stag , blasting around sat on the rear shelf/battery lid in my mums mgb. i think i was a lost cause from an early age really!
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'80 s1 924 turbo..hibernating '80 golf gli cabriolet...doing impression of a skip '97 pug 106 commuter...continuing cheapness making me smile!
firm believer in the k.i.s.s and f.i.s.h principles.
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Jun 27, 2019 18:50:56 GMT
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Waving my dad off to work in the morning, he'd go to the end of the road, turn round, and come back to wave, but I was too mesmerised with the electric aerial going up, and have fitted one to the astra. And I still watch it go up in the n/s mirror
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Last Edit: Jun 27, 2019 18:52:14 GMT by astranaut
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Jun 27, 2019 19:07:09 GMT
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Ive always had a thing for the smell of a leather interior, but not any leather interior. A jag smells good, but its not quite there, even an old roller isnt quite right but a farina... Its up there with freshly cut grass, or freshly baked bread for just flicking a switch in my brain that makes me only able to think of that smell and I seem to have the ability to totally blank anyone whose talking to me whilst the smell is in range. I put that down to when my dad had his 6/110 my mum would put me in the car and take me round the block to get me to go to sleep. It was the only thing that worked sometimes. Probably not a good idea for me to own a farina thinking about it, id probably fall asleep at the wheel.
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Jun 27, 2019 19:54:09 GMT
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My dad drifting a 1.7 Ital in the snow
Seeing a mate's dad coming of the roundabout sideways in the wet in a Talbot Sunbeam while we stood waiting for the bus
A local guy building a Nova kit car I used to watch working, disturbing him with questions and passing an occasional spanner
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Jun 27, 2019 20:02:10 GMT
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My dad drifting a 1.7 Ital in the snow Seeing a mate's dad coming of the roundabout sideways in the wet in a Talbot Sunbeam while we stood waiting for the bus A local guy building a Nova kit car I used to watch working, disturbing him with questions and passing an occasional spanner Just remembered, mate's dad would have the tail out, one hand on the wheel, one hand waving as he passed!
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Jun 27, 2019 20:15:23 GMT
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My Granddad’s Nissan Silvia, followed by a Mazda 323 gtx and my uncle’s R8 Rover 220 gti were the catalyst for me. Fond memories of those cars.
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Jun 27, 2019 20:32:06 GMT
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Possibly driving my dads Mini pickup on an old Stock car track aged about 7
And various other automotive and mechanical exposures
Consider myself lucky.
Next
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Jun 27, 2019 20:49:53 GMT
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My Dad was never really a ‘car guy’ as such, but he did like to have nice car. I remember Vauxhall Victors, Granada’s & I was just ‘into’ them, not sure why, just loved the 70’s valour, the smell etc. I do remember though, the old man rose high in the ranks of his world & him coming home with his first Jag. A brand new 80’s Sovereign, he was proper made up, almost like a ‘I’ve finally made’ it moment. Funny how these bits of tin & rubber evoke such emotions within us
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Jun 27, 2019 20:56:36 GMT
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When we moved from Australia to Holland Dad bought a Cortina MK1. That must have been a cosy thing with the 6 of us in it. Anyway, dad always kept his small change behind the center cap of the steering wheel.
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luckyseven
Posted a lot
Owning sneering dismissive pedantry since 1970
Posts: 3,839
Club RR Member Number: 45
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It's the little things.luckyseven
@luckyseven
Club Retro Rides Member 45
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Jun 27, 2019 21:06:06 GMT
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The paw button As a little kid, I was convinced one of (few) knobs on the dashboard of our Beetle had a picture of a paw on it. I don't recall ever being curious as to why, never even entertained the madness of a button that's sole purpose was to "deploy paw", I just thought it was cool that the bright orange painted metal dash had what was quite clearly a paw on a big black button I've got my own Beetle now with its own paw button. Slightly disappointingly, all mine seems to do is turn the headlights on and off
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Jun 27, 2019 21:43:59 GMT
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My Mum always used to take my brother and I for walks round town whenever she went shopping, and we'd go car spotting. I would always tell Mum what the cars were from the age of about three. So whilst other kids had fairly limited vocabulary at that age, I would be spouting no end of car names on a regular basis, and not all of them "normal". For example there were a couple of Eastern European car nuts in Clacton back in the day, and I had become accustomed to saying Wartburg and Moskvitch on a regular basis. However, the two cars that really did it for me was a Jensen Interceptor which (unsurprisingly) smelt of 5* petrol a lot (remember that?!) and an early white XJ12 Jag with a weird quad-tailpipe arrangement (they were flat). Never saw anything else like it. There was also an FX4 Taxi which had the numberplate starting with "ALO" so it was always the "Hello Cab".
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My Dad had HTH500N - A maroon Audi 100s Coupe - I was mesmerised that to open the boot, you had to slide the switch hidden under the O/S rear armrest. Who the hell thought that up? I'll wager quite a lot that some owners probably went through their entire ownership not knowing how to open the boot!
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96 E320 W210 Wafter - on 18" split Mono's - Sold :-( 10 Kia Ceed Sportwagon - Our new daily 03 Import Forester STi - Sold 98 W140 CL500 AMG - Brutal weekend bruiser! Sold :-( 99 E240 S210 Barge - Now sold 02 Accord 2.0SE - wife's old daily - gone in PX 88 P100 2.9efi Custom - Sold
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rickygolf83
Scotland
Mk2 Golf 8v & 16v, VR6, Nova Antibes, Mk4 1.8t & mk4 Gt Tdi 130
Posts: 560
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My mums Nova Antibes, getting pinned to the seat in my mates dads XR3i and all the great cars on the road in the late 80's early 90's!
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As a youngster my late brother was a mechanic and would give me rides in Cooper S when out road testing it for a customer / seeing Ian Fleming s Studebaker Avanti in same garage and a little latter hand brake turns in Morris Commercial / me in the back trying to hold large paraffin container from falling over / after school job ........... the rest is history .........i was hooked
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Started out with nothing and have most of it left.
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At a young age I could also tell my Mam and grandparents what cars were, thanks to my Dad and two of my uncles. They taught me young. Before he married my mother my Dad was a mechanic in the RAF. He didn't modify his cars, but he tinkered and maintained them himself, as did my uncles. One of the things I was in awe of was how much faster one uncles car was compared to ours. We had a MK3 Tina 1.6 and he had a mk 1 3 litre Capri GT. My other uncle had a Beetle as his daily and a bay panel van to do his milk round. I was always mesmerized by the funny pedals, they looked and worked strangely. I was also very impressed with the sliding doors on the bay, it had not one but TWO!! One on each side!! I'd never seen that before. I liked the noise they made, too. That's when I think I became an air cooled VW person, as an impressionable 5 year old.
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Ritchie
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 769
Club RR Member Number: 12
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It's the little things.Ritchie
@ritchie
Club Retro Rides Member 12
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My folks were never car people either, but I always seemed to have an interest in machinery and engines in particular from a very young age. My dad used to have a trawler with a Gardner 6LXB in it. My job was to start it at the start of a trip, and once he showed me how to reset the stop lever, pre-heat, count to 10 and hit the button there was no stopping me, I was about 5yo at the time. At the same time he had a Ford D Series that I loved sitting in and pumping all the air out of the tanks as I prodded the brake on and off, he used to give me a load of hassle for that. My Grandfather had a Signal Orange (I think) Mk1 Transit dropside, jeeesus I would love that now. His mate had a BMC flatbed with the windows at your feet, I loved riding in that aswell. I clearly remember sitting in the cab of the 'D' trying to figure out what buttons on the tacho were for, while it rocked side to side as they filled up bags on the back with chipped ice for the fishing. I was mainly into bikes (still I'm into both) as I grew up. Cars came slightly later as all the folks had were Volvo estates and a rotten old Maxi, so nothing exciting. They did have a classic Rangey for a while though, which intruced me to the joy of the V8 woofle. When I was about 7yo, my Dads pal visited us with his brand new White 3dr Cosworth. My school was right opposite the house and I spent the whole of the morning break standing at the railings staring at this thing wishing lunchtime would hurry up. Back home for lunch and he took me out for a spirited drive it it. That was it for me, I was hooked and have been ever since.
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Not sure my dad ever really was a petrol head as such. Probably didn't have the money to be one really. Constant stream of bangers and unusual cars kept appearing at our house. Fords mostly, Cortinas, Granadas a nearly new Mondeo Mk1 in that odd pinky colour at one point, Pandas, Unimog, Ice Cream Van, transits, MG Metro that never ran etc. Had motorbikes though, and Goldwings in particular. If I could find a Honda Goldwing 1000 (naked) at a fair price, I'd snap one up. First bike I ever went pillion on. My best friends dad had some special stuff. Used to get into competitions with his brother as to who had the better/faster cars. From Supercharged Jags, Carlton GSI 3000's and 850 T5R. These are what I went on holiday with. These cars are in my memory more than anything my dad had. Now, don't get me wrong, I love a banger. But I crave power mostly. But like my dad, I lack the funds
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Last Edit: Jun 28, 2019 8:44:30 GMT by Soopahfly
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,266
Club RR Member Number: 146
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It's the little things.vulgalour
@vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member 146
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Jun 28, 2019 19:34:49 GMT
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Hot black vinyl and the smell of it. My entire childhood transportation seems to have been surrounded by hot black vinyl. It's probably why I'm such a well adjusted and productive member of society today.
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Jun 28, 2019 19:54:06 GMT
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Another clear memory I have is when Dad put his first tuned engine in his Maxi. The car went from standard slightly whiny E-series with noisy cooling fan, to having a near scilent electric fan, and an engine that sounded like the biggest roughest dog you can imagine saying "blob-blob-blob-blob-blob-blob" (thats how i remember it anyway). On first startup it didnt even have any silencers on it and sounded mental, add to that the smell of the paint curing and all the bits of oil and grease burning off and its something that will certainly stay with me. Aside from buying the camshaft, all other engine mods were done by him, his own ideas as he didnt really have anything to copy, little bits here and there that he thought he could improve, balance or lighten. He got it damn right because the engine he bought from a 'professional' builder and MG Maestro racer years later wasnt nearly as good.
He later let me drive this car around a campsite in the New forest when I was about 12-13. I can only really understand now quite how nervous he must have been.
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Flynn
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 143
Club RR Member Number: 166
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It's the little things.Flynn
@flynn
Club Retro Rides Member 166
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Jun 28, 2019 19:55:41 GMT
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Aged about 5 or 6, a family friend took us out somewhere in their Vauxhall Senator. It was probably a 1989 model and so had a digital dashboard, this was the coolest thing I had ever seen and it really stuck with me. My go to type of car tends to be big boaty things and I think this is probably where my affection for them started. Just for reference... Picture of a Vauxhall Senator dash. Oh yeah!
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1971 MGB GT 1983 Daimler Sovereign 4.2 1999 Jaguar XJR
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