discussion What car do you first remember your father owning?

[Dave Ward]

Seeing the upcoming ICM Ford Model A, my mind went back to the first car I remember my father owning - It was a Morris 10 either 1946 or 1947.. so it wasn't a spring chicken when I sat in it in the early 60's - I do remember my paternal grandfather having a 50's Vauxhall Velox, like an American gangster car - loads of chrome.
Anybody remember any exotica owned by parents/grandparents?
Dave

 

[Guest]

Nothing overly exotic, but the first one I remember is the Mazda 626 my parents bought in 1980, much like this one but in metallic blue:

View attachment 505204

My father had a few Opel Kadetts before that, but I don’t really remember them.

 

[stona]

Not a first car, but I distinctly remember a blue Vauxhall Victor. For some reason the last part of the registration has stuck in my mind, not so sure about the first three letters (BRM (?) 851 B).
It seemed huge to me, though I was a fair bit smaller then. It had a bench seat in front too.

The first car I remember was a black Ford Prefect.

There's no way that these were bought new and I have vague memories of the Prefect being unreliable and requiring attention from one of my uncles who, allegedly, knew about cars (he was an electrician at the Cowley factory so he certainly saw a lot of cars!)

 

[Jim R]

First car my dad bought, way back when I was about 10, was a second hand Morris Minor. I don't remember much about it. My first car was a Hillman Imp.

 

[boatman]

MY DADS first car was a austin seven black one an then next a austin ruby blue one an when we got to a hill my brothers an i had to get out an push it up the hill then get back in ( phew ) an it was about 1957 an i was about only about 6 yrs old but my brothers were older but had to do my bit lol
chrisb

 

[Andy T]

Dad never really owned a car, he always drove company ones and put his own money into caravans or motor homes.

I do remember going with him to collect his first though, along with a colleague of his. We pulled up into the car park and were presented with a pair of brand new Talbot Alpines, one red, one white.

My dad picked the red, YET 38T, and was most pleased to find it had a rear wash/wipe, unlike the white one.

 

[BarryW]

The earliest car I remember my dad having was an Austin A40.

 

[minitnkr]

1947 Pontiac 'woody' station wagon. I remember the whole little league baseball team plus equipment would all pile in after a game to visit Dresher's Ice Cream. His 1st cool car was a mistake. A buddy got him a deal on a 67 Chevy Biscayne sedan in 1974. It was a California State undercover car with all the "pursuit" options (special suspention-140mph capable) & had a 375hp big block V8. Very fast. He'd never owned or even driven something that quick.

 

[Guest]

First car was a Ford V8 Pilot, then a Pontiac Chieftain and from there it was all Jaguars Mk5, 6, 10.
My first car was a Ford Cortina Mk2, then a Mini Cooper 'S' that had a full roll cage fitted, twin carbs and tuned to within an inch of its life by one Colin Chapman, who still liked to get grease under his finger nails... Unfortunately I wrote it off at the Catterick Barracks round-a-bout on the old A1, had a new set of Dunlop tyres and one blew, the engine finished up in the little guard hut (unoccupied) and I finished up in the ditch next to it, bruised and battered but walked away. A Ford Escort againe tuned and in race mode, then a Moggie Minor Van fitted with a Jag rear end, Marina front suspension, Ford V6 from a Zypher, scaffold tubes replaced the exhaust from the manifolds, custom button interior with seats from a Humber Snipe. Took it to a test station rolling road and had it up to 165mph.

 

[Waspie]

Easy one - None. He couldn't drive!! :smiling2:

 

[peterairfix]

The first one I can remember is a mk6 reliant regal and I can still remember seeing the poor fellow on the top of the scrapyard pile.
It must have been a omen as I have always had reliants

 

[boatman]

YES Peter my first car was one of them an it was the only car i felt sea sick in as it was so rocky on bends an scrapein the front valance on the road wow
chrisb

 

[Allen Dewire]

My Mom threw dad out when I was 4. I can't remember what she had driven at the time, but she bought a new 1961 Ford 550 Sunliner convertible with a 390 cu. inch V-8. After my brother got it, she had a Chevy station wagon in the middle to late 60's.

My Grandpa was an old wood butcher and in the 60's, he drove a 1955 GMC stepside pickup. Almost every day we used to walk over a mile down the road to meet him after he finished work and was on the way home. My bother and I jumped in the back because there was a big dip in the road and my grandpa would give gas and drive through it. It was like a roller coaster ride, into and out of the dip...Really cool!!!

Prost
Allen

 

[rickoshea52]

An Austin Allegro with BFG plates and no seatbelts in the back. How I hated the drive from Osnabruck to Glasgow and back.

 

[Andy the Sheep]

The first car I remember was a black Lancia Appia 2^ serie like this one

I still remember he used to take me for a short tour sitting on his knees (today he would be heavily fined and probably lose half of the points on his driving licence) letting me to shift gears (the gear shift was at the wheel).
After that we had two Opel Kadett then, after a short interval with a Ford Capri, a Simca 1307 and now he owns a Fiat Brava, all second hand cars.
He's 90 now and still drives, spreading terror and confusion in the neighborhood (and utterly scaring his passengers). :tongue-out3:

 

[spanner570]

Rag top, Black/Green Morris 8.

The doors were hinged on the middle body pillar.
When I was young, I was in the front passenger seat. (Being ex. RAF, my dad didn't know the meaning of 'Slow') when the door suddenly flew open, but thanks to my dad's quick reaction in grabbing hold of me and hauling me back into the car, I am able to write this......Thanks Dad!

 

[Mark1]

Bmw motorbike and sidecar, bmw isetta,ford taunus, plymouth roadrunner,ford falcon,fairlane,fairmont,lincoln continental ,pinto and the list goes on.

 

[AlanG]

The first car i remember him using was a Lada Riva which he then sold and got an Austin Maxi.

 

[davecov]

My father left us in the Sixties when I was about eight or nine years old but my mother says that he never seemed to have the same car for more than a few months. She said that he had owned about forty cars over the years as well as a few motorbikes. I found out that he spent a few years in Pentonville nick for cutting and shutting stolen cars! As a result, I can't recall the first car he had although it might have been an old Fifties black Ford Popular which could never get up Bread and Cheese Hill!

This is one of my favourite Dad's cars, a Ford Consul when we were camping in Cornwall in the mid-Sixties:

My Grandad's Ford Popular "POO 14" by his caravan in Clacton. My Dad's Zephyr 4 is alongside:

The only other cars that I can recall my father having, were a Vauxhall Victor FB and an earlier model of Ford Consul. The latter car is memorable because once, on our return from Heathrow Airport, there was a police chase going on and the baddies' car ran a red light and t-boned our car as we crossed a junction.

Dave

 

[scottie3158]

The first car I can remember my dad buying was a bright yellow Datsun 120Y up until then he used to rent a car if we needed one.