Yer dads car.

[jim8flog]

My dad didn't learn to drive till he was about 40 and bought himself a little Austin A30 to learn in and take his test.

However, it wasn't really a car suitable for two parents and three boys aged between 6 and 18 so he sold it and bought himself a Vauxhall Victor Estate. He bought it a week before my brother was due to take his test and it was about three times the size, gear shift on the steering arm and, needless to say, my brother failed his test!

Your first picture is an A35. Bigger rear window than the A30 and wing mirrors That was my first car.




A35 left and A30 right . Seeing the photo reminded me about the trafficators for turning signals on the A30.

 

[Robster59]

Your first picture is an A35. Bigger rear window than the A30 and wing mirrors That was my first car.


View attachment 35638

A35 left and A30 right . Seeing the photo reminded me about the trafficators for turning signals on the A30.

Well I was only 6. It would be the A30 as it had the traficators I do remember.

 

[Robster59]

What was the one we went to Workington in and had to knock on someones door to get water?

I think that was my Dad's Rover 90. Rear opening doors that Dave S decided to open on the motorway as a joke, forgot they were rear opening and nearly got pulled out of the car.

The amount of times we broke down in my old Triumph Herald!

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

What’s nice about memories of dads first car - the Austin A40 - is that the farm that he pulled into when it overheated is still there and hardly changed. Those EastRen folks on here will know the farm - on the old A77 not far past the club on the LHS heading to Kilmarnock. Every time I have passed over the 55yrs since then I can remember us pulling in. I think dad must have used the farmers phone to get a neighbour to come and pick us up...while he hung around at the farm waiting for it to cool down. ?.

As much as he was proud to be able to afford a car he had to sell it when we moved to Newton Mearns....he just got the bus to where he worked in Tradeston and we walked to school. We were bus and shanks’s pony until the Cortina Mk1 arrived.

 

[Norrin Radd]

I remember dad having an Austin A35 Then an old Thames van , but the best car was a ford Corsair v4 , such a comfortable ride and it shifted down the road pretty sweet.

 

[jim8flog]

Well I was only 6. It would be the A30 as it had the traficators I do remember.

Two of the things I remember about them were

1. How bad the brakes were. I was once going down hill at 30 mph I turned round to my passengers and said I hope you lot realise I have got my foot hard down on the brake pedal.
2. To start the car you pulled on a knob on the dash to connect the power to the starter motor.

 

[Robster59]

Two of the things I remember about them were

1. How bad the brakes were. I was once going down hill at 30 mph I turned round to my passengers and said I hope you lot realise I have got my foot hard down on the brake pedal.
2. To start the car you pulled on a knob on the dash to connect the power to the starter motor.

And the knob on the dashboard to operate the trafficators (or dooflicker as my Mum called it).

 

[Foxholer]

It was Mum that 'funded' the cars in our family! It seemed that Dad's income paid the household bills and Mum's part time (half a day 5 days a week doing office work/books for small businesses, including Ivan Mauger's for a while) paid for the large capital expenditure like cars, caravans and holidays.
First car I really remember was a '51 Rover 75 (with the Cyclops Fog Light) that we used to go on outings to the mountains, both in Summer and Winter (for picnics/toboganning resp). It could chug up the sttep hills in its 'crawler'gear that (unusually) was (or at least seemed to be) a lower ratio than Reverse! and it had 'Free Wheel' so could glide back down the slope from the foothills to Christchurch on fumes when that feature was turned on. It got us and the Caravan to some wonderful places over the years! A memorable breakfast of freshly picked mushrooms and still warm cows milk on the way to Lake Wanaka once - we would start on Friday evening and go as far as 'reasonable' that evening and simply camp on the side of the road! That ffree-wheel eature had to go for the '90 that replaced it as that had power assisted brakes that neeeded more than tickover to be reliable. Not considered as good as the '75, but it's what I learnt to drive in - hardly needing to do anything more than shift into 2nd (with the dog's hind leg stick) to pass - as the cop knew all about the ratios as his brother had a 105! A 3 litre - with overdrive (that Dad hated me turning on)! - followed so the Rover 'feel' pretty much shaped my attitude to how driving should feel! The SD1 VdP we bought soon after arriving in UK was a major disappointment - and its lack of air-con certainly didn't help!

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

It was Mum that 'funded' the cars in our family! ...

Likewise - I'm guessing that dad buying his replacement car - our Mk1 Ford Cortina - only became affordable when my mum started part time working a year or two after we moved house. Now that car was very cool looking.

 

[Patster1969]

The 1st car I really remember my dad having was a blue Alfasud - great little car but as you can imagine with any 70's Italian car, likely reduced to a pile of rust overnight. I remember my brother pushing his finger through the wing it was so rusty. Also remember him having a green Capri and a Cortina Mk2.
He liked to drive fast but that was likely because he was always late, likely due to the fact that it took him so long to actually leave the house.
He made you want to scream sometimes, when we were just about to leave when he noticed a rogue fingermark somewhere - out came the handkerchief for a bit of last minute polishing.
Always had music on loud - Fleetwood Mac was a particularly favourite of his

 

[HampshireHog]

A brown Moskvich, probably started my general indifference to cars.

 

[4LEX]

Sierra RS Cosworth before the divorce. After a Cavalier SRI.....two absolute classics.

 

[HeftyHacker]

First car i remember of my dads was an old land rover, can't remember what Mark it was but it was a light blue. With 5 kids and being unable to afford a new fangled people carrier at the time it was the only thing he could get all 7 of us in! Always laughed that you could watch the fuel gauge go down on a motorway run.

After that there was a Sierra, a mk3 Golf, a Mazda 323 (that I wrote off after 8 mins of being insured), a Peugeot 206 and now a Citroën berlingo.

I don't think he's that interested in cars reading that list ?.

 

[Billysboots]

My dad had a white Vauxhall Victor estate. An absolute tank it was.

 

[Bigfoot]

My Mum was a Health Visitor so always had a car but the one I always remember was a Ford Anglia but not for how it ran!

I remember it because of it being the reason for the police to call at our house. She had just got out of it and was stood on the doorstep of the house she was visiting, when a wagon came round the corner too quickly and deposited a very large load of steel on top of the car.

It was squashed !!

 

[Voyager EMH]

Dad's first car was referred to as the "old ford". I am not sure what the model was, but my oldest brother (pictured with mum) said that dad still had it when I was born. Next car was a ford popular, pictured with me and dad. Sorry that there is not more of the car in the shot, but it is the only one I could find. I think my grandmother took the photo of me wearing a massive cardi that she'd just knitted for me (you'll grow into it) and I know that my shorts look like a skirt, so there's no need for too much mickey-taking thanks - I have two older brothers to do that job. Next car was a Hillman Superminx that was superb. Not found a photo yet.

 

[craigstardis1976]

So for those of us young enough to wonder...why were cars put on bricks? (I can just about understand if they were not going to be used for a VERY long time) but was this something you often had to do back in the day?

 

[Ross61]

So for those of us young enough to wonder...why were cars put on bricks? (I can just about understand if they were not going to be used for a VERY long time) but was this something you often had to do back in the day?

they were on bricks when someone nicked the wheels. ??

 

[Tashyboy]

they were on bricks when someone nicked the wheels. ??

I remember I got home from the pub one night and some *** had kicked me chrome wheel trims off me MG midget. A couple of days later I was tipped the wink who the *** was. He was bragging down the pit how good his cars wheels looked with his new acquired trims. Following weekend after another nighttime session I walked past his car and there was my trims complete with scuffs etc. I must of looked a clown with four wheel trims sticking out of the top of my coat walking home.

 

[Piece]

Dad had a variety of cars, mostly Fords. Capris, Escorts and Fiesta. His final car was a 1972, 350 SL Merc in metallic red.