What was the car your mum/dad had when you were a kid?
Discussion
Volvos. Always bloody Volvos. A relentless thirty year long parade of the wretched things.
Whenever I heard talk of a new car I jumped on my pushbike and raced to the Leyland garage and bought home brochures for Jaguars and Triumphs and Rovers. I cleared the local Ford dealer out of Granada pamphlets. I sent off coupons from magazine adverts to blag brochures for BMWs, Mercedes, Lancia and Fiat.
Anything with more cylinders than wheels. Pleeeease dad, Pleeeeease I whined, I promise I'll wash it and polish it and hoover it out for you. I begged and pleaded and pleaded and begged but nope, nothing doing.
The replacement was almost always the top of the range, full loaded ex demonstrator from the local dealer and always in bloody blue. I only sussed one of the replacements when I came home for the school holidays because it had slightly different wheels on it.
When dad died guess what mum did? Px'd the big one for a small one. Can you guess what colour it was? Yup...
Whenever I heard talk of a new car I jumped on my pushbike and raced to the Leyland garage and bought home brochures for Jaguars and Triumphs and Rovers. I cleared the local Ford dealer out of Granada pamphlets. I sent off coupons from magazine adverts to blag brochures for BMWs, Mercedes, Lancia and Fiat.
Anything with more cylinders than wheels. Pleeeease dad, Pleeeeease I whined, I promise I'll wash it and polish it and hoover it out for you. I begged and pleaded and pleaded and begged but nope, nothing doing.
The replacement was almost always the top of the range, full loaded ex demonstrator from the local dealer and always in bloody blue. I only sussed one of the replacements when I came home for the school holidays because it had slightly different wheels on it.
When dad died guess what mum did? Px'd the big one for a small one. Can you guess what colour it was? Yup...
Dad was a petrolhead.
Earliest I can remember is a mk5 Cortina with Revolution wheels
I can then recall
Capri 2.8i
Granada 2.9i Ghia
Sierra Estate 2.9i 4x4 (with a Cosworth grille)
BMW 325i coupe
Jaguar XJS V12
BMW 525i SE (E34 - he had this for years and years)
Triumph TR6 (which he restored)
He's got a C Class estate now.
Mum was not so bothered but I can remember 2 x Cavalier SRI's, which were cool.
She's got an SLK now.
Earliest I can remember is a mk5 Cortina with Revolution wheels
I can then recall
Capri 2.8i
Granada 2.9i Ghia
Sierra Estate 2.9i 4x4 (with a Cosworth grille)
BMW 325i coupe
Jaguar XJS V12
BMW 525i SE (E34 - he had this for years and years)
Triumph TR6 (which he restored)
He's got a C Class estate now.
Mum was not so bothered but I can remember 2 x Cavalier SRI's, which were cool.
She's got an SLK now.
Cars my dad owned from my birth until I was 18 (1980-1998):
0-3 years old - 1978 Chrysler Sunbeam
3-7 years old - 1981 Toyota Starlet
7-9 years old - 1987 Nissan Sunny
9-13 years old - 1990 Proton 1.5 - imagine being 9 yrs old and trying to explain to my friends a) what a Proton is, and b) why my dad has bought one. Best friends dad at the time had a Citroen BX 16 valve. Think about it.
13-17 years - 1994 Hyundai X2 1.5 GSi - electric rear windows and aerial!
17-18 years - 1998 Hyundai Atoz+ - dad was interested in getting a Hyundai Accent, but this came with a/c and he could me on the insurance as a 17 yr old named driver.
0-3 years old - 1978 Chrysler Sunbeam
3-7 years old - 1981 Toyota Starlet
7-9 years old - 1987 Nissan Sunny
9-13 years old - 1990 Proton 1.5 - imagine being 9 yrs old and trying to explain to my friends a) what a Proton is, and b) why my dad has bought one. Best friends dad at the time had a Citroen BX 16 valve. Think about it.
13-17 years - 1994 Hyundai X2 1.5 GSi - electric rear windows and aerial!
17-18 years - 1998 Hyundai Atoz+ - dad was interested in getting a Hyundai Accent, but this came with a/c and he could me on the insurance as a 17 yr old named driver.
M4cruiser said:
My car ownership was obviously tainted from the start, my dad had a Vauxhall Viva.
Not what you call a flash car. Gets ridiculed on car TV programmes.
I remember it breaking down near Brands Hatch.
Depends on model- then HA was hideous , the HB actually quite funky with coke bottle hips. Could be 'breathed on' too (to use the period term) as there was a Brabham Viva conversion. Also the big bore 2 litre , matt black bonnet Viva GT, as raced by Gerry Marshall. Respect ... Not what you call a flash car. Gets ridiculed on car TV programmes.
I remember it breaking down near Brands Hatch.
My mum was the only driver (Dad took direct trains straight into London for work) but she always had a thing for Rover, so it was a case of a couple of Metro's when I was younger. Started with an Austin era MG Metro (but not a turbo sadly 
), followed by a couple of Rover Metro's, with the GTA bodystyling (as well as a GTA itself). She's currently running around in an MG ZR that I bought her in 2003 to replace her last Metro. Still running well too 
), followed by a couple of Rover Metro's, with the GTA bodystyling (as well as a GTA itself). She's currently running around in an MG ZR that I bought her in 2003 to replace her last Metro. Still running well too 
Bit of a mixed bag when I was a kid. When I arrived in '83 my Dad had an XR3 (carb'd!), followed by a 1978 Pontiac Trans Am, an '81 Camaro Z/28 and then a '69 Chevy C-10 pick up fitted with an ally headed 427ci big block from a Corvette. From there it went downhill with an A reg Sierra 1.6L!! (the pick up was sold to fund a forged crank for a dragster!). Then it was on to a series of mundane company cars including a 1.7 TD Cavalier and a 2.0 petrol Peugeot 406 saloon. The last car he had as I left home was a 406 Coupe, a red V6. As an ex-demo it was loaded to the hilt; adaptive damping, climate, full electric seats, sunroof etc...I actually ended up buying it from him!
My Mum's history is far less varied, basically a series of Maestros and Escorts!
My Mum's history is far less varied, basically a series of Maestros and Escorts!
jamesRS6 said:
We had a maestro in gold!
That was bad enough, prior to that before I was born they had an orange lada.
I shared a pale blue maestro with my sister when I was learning to drive/ first passed my test. Shared is a very loose term as I very rarely got my hands on it as she either needed it for work, or to attend an appointment followed by work, or to visit friends followed by work. When I did get hold of it for my own use I was under strict instructions that I never let the econometer hit red - despite me paying for my own fuel. For those who don't know the econometer was an LED light bar that moved from green to red depending on how much fuel you were using but because maestro it would hit amber at about 40 and red at anything above 70. Whenever my friends and I got hold of it our mission was to hit red as soon as and often as possible. That was bad enough, prior to that before I was born they had an orange lada.
Cost me a sodding fortune at the time but I did have great pleasure telling her later that every time I took that car out I drove it how I wanted to rather than how she told me to.
Oh and I bought my own car way quicker than she did
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