Cars

[Kiop]

I have very fond memories of the cars that graced (or disgraced) our roads when I was a kid and have to laugh now when I think how great my parents thought they were, and of course they were great in their time.

My dad's first car was a Ford Escort Mk 1 'H' reg - it was yellow with a black stripe running down the sides. We called it 'The Wasp'.

Next, we had a white Ford Escort Mk1 Estate 'K' reg, then a blue Hillman Hunter 'M' reg, and then a blue Morris Marina 'S' reg.

My favourite was the Marina but my favourite car from back in the day was the Ford Sierra.

I have a keen interest in the cars of yesteryear, so what cars did your parents drive and which were your favourites?

(Sorry if this has been done before)

[rossobantam]

Re: Cars

1970's as a kid I remember we had a Zephyr, a Vauxhall Viva (in 1973, I thought it was soooo luxurious), Mini, Austin Maxi

For my 18th mum & dad got me a Triumph Toledo....cream with wide brown stripe down side . Still, to ahem, 'entertain' the ladies you just had to have a motor (esp where we lived, miles from anywhere!)

[Richard1978]

Re: Cars

My Dad had company cars for 3 years so got a new one every 3-4 years, almost all were Vauxhalls.

They include, S reg Mk1 Cavalier, V reg Renault 18, Y & C reg Mk2 Cavaliers, F & J reg Carltons, & N & V reg Omegas.

My Mum had a Renault 12 (which I once knocked off the easy ro release handbrake & damaged a fence), a Metro (My brother managed to write it off in the end), & a Mk3 Fiesta (The little end went when I was driving home on a cold dark night, managed to struggle to a layby).

[Marine Boy]

Re: Cars

My Dad had company cars for 3 years so got a new one every 3-4 years...

My Dad also had company cars but his were Fords. We had two Cortina Mk 2s, (possibly silver and light blue) a dark blue Consul, an 'oyster gold' Granada, and then a Sierra. I can still reel off the number plates of at least three of them. Now that's just a bit wierd.

[branny]

Re: Cars

My dad had loads of cars, he changed it every 2 years or so. Can't remember what regs they were but these are the ones that i can remember

Mini
Austin 1100
Cortina GXL mk 3
Marina tc (twin carb)
Cortina mk 4
Allegro
Lancia Delta
Cavalier mk 2
Austin Maestro (he had this when i passed my test and let me borrow it)
2 Protons
Rover
now on his 2nd Astra.

The marina was the best. Metallic paint, vinyl roof, plush interior and tinted glass and this was early 80s.

At the minute we have a Peugeot 206 cabriolet which isn't very practical when it comes to a baby seat (the Wife wanted one, bloody hairdressers car) Thinking of getting a Qashqai.

[rossobantam]

Re: Cars

amazing when you analyse the swing from Vauxhall, Morris, Austin etc....incredible how we (once the centre of manufacturing) had so many car makers, to what we have now

Now its all German, French, Jap, Korean, Spanish, Italian etc etc

For one of the worlds' 'top 5' economies, we seem to actually 'make' so little nowadays...all the industries have gone the way of the car makers (steel, coal, trainmakers, merchant navy/docks etc etc)
France has 3 'top' makes...Renault, Citreon, Peugueot, selling in their millions. We have a few 'localised' manufacturers

UK seems to be a 'service' economy nowadays, reliant on imports (we even import coal eg from Poland, when we have tons of the stuff)

Thatcher's legacy...pah

[Hooper68]

Re: Cars

I remember my parents having a Vauxhall viva,Morris marina,Skoda estelle,and my favourite a mini traveller which for anybody who has never seen one was a mini estate ours had moss growing in the rear windows

[Richard1978]

Re: Cars

I remember my parents having a Vauxhall viva,Morris marina,Skoda estelle,and my favourite a mini traveller which for anybody who has never seen one was a mini estate ours had moss growing in the rear windows

My sister's friend's Mum had one many years ago, it eventually needed a lot of work on it, but they managed to sell it to a collector.

[Kiop]

Re: Cars

My Dad also had company cars but his were Fords. We had two Cortina Mk 2s, (possibly silver and light blue) a dark blue Consul, an 'oyster gold' Granada, and then a Sierra. I can still reel off the number plates of at least three of them. Now that's just a bit wierd.

Lol, I remember all of our old car reg plates. Yes, very weird!

[baggieman0]

Re: Cars

I remember my parents having a Vauxhall viva,Morris marina,Skoda estelle,and my favourite a mini traveller which for anybody who has never seen one was a mini estate ours had moss growing in the rear windows

Wow! My Dad traded his Blaze Red Marina for a Skoda Super Estelle in Hip Berry Red as well, eventually I inherited the Skoda when he upgraded to a Nissan Cherry. If you could drive the Skoda you could drive anything, it had a vastly underpowered engine in the back and no weight in the front, so was "interesting" in the wet (or the dry).

[Derekflint]

Re: Cars

Let us not forget the glory of the vinyl seat!

Ah, how fondly I remember summers in the early 70s. Running to my Dad's Capri with a comic book in my little shorts, hopping onto the back seat...

Hearing what sounded like my skin tearing away from my flesh as I almost leapt back out again.

Great days.

My own first car was a Triumph Dolomite - with the carpet also being the gaiter for the gearstick. Always made me think of the advert that they used to play in the local cinema - 'enjoy the luxury of fitted carpet' - providing it doesn't interfere with reverse!

[Richard1978]

Re: Cars

My Mum's Renault 12 was like that, black vinyl seats that were too hot to sit on & I needed a fish slice to remove myself without leaving a couple of layers of skin behind. Some day I was lucky & my Mum remembered to put a blanket over it.

[Derekflint]

Re: Cars

My Mum's Renault 12 was like that, black vinyl seats that were too hot to sit on & I needed a fish slice to remove myself without leaving a couple of layers of skin behind. Some day I was lucky & my Mum remembered to put a blanket over it.

But curiosity always wins out. There you are itching on the blanket, so you figure that the seat won't be as hot, so you move the blanket. Cue the Jaws music...

[wispa lover]

Re: Cars

My dad used to have two Volvo 240s. One was orange, we nicknamed it 'Vax'. We replaced it with a blue one, nicknamed 'Bluebell'. We once traded Bluebell for an Audi Quattro, we had it for a year or two, we didn't like the Audi that much so we went back to having Bluebell.

[scotchmist]

Re: Cars

I remember my parents parting with their F-reg Volkswagen Beetle 1500 in 1977 for a 2-year old Renault 5, which we thought was the height of luxury as it had a 3-speed blower, choke, rear-screen demister and hazard-warning lights which were all absent in our beloved old Beetle! It also had its gearstick mounted in the dashboard which was actually very convenient but dropped in later models.