Hillman minx , and then a Singer Gazelle
What car do you first remember your father owning?
- Thread starter Dave Ward
- Start date
Hillman minx , and then a Singer Gazelle
My Dad never owned a car. He had an arrangement with an ex-army mate who owned a sit-up-and-beg Ford Popular, Dad paid for the insurance in exchange for the loan of the Poplar for a week's holiday in the summer. Dad cycled to work, but he was killed in 1957 when a milk float knocked him and his bike under a truck. The first car in the family was my older brother's Riley Pathfinder, which he replaced with a Ford Thames van to carry his band's gear about. For a few years he was the family's driver, until Mum bought a Singer Chamois, which I hated at first, but later passed my test in it then bought it from her.
Pete
Pete
My 74 4spd Corvette was still fun to drive, but the maintenance began to be a PITA, so the 6spd std LT1 Camaro was purchased. Get in, hit the button & go very quickly with little effort & the dealer does routine maint. It is much faster, corners better, stops way faster & is much more comfortable than the vette. Many smiles per mile.
I read a story about on of these once. A couple of RAF chaps in uniform were at a bus stop one night returning from the pub. WW2 had been over for a few years but was still fresh in everyone's minds. Then, a noise came down the street. It was a Heinkel bubble car. One of the RAF lads, assumed the position of a gunner, and with his imaginary guns fired at the Heinkel. The driver of the Heinkel saw this, proceeded to swerve down the road, on and off the throttle simulating a hit. It seems everyone at the bus stop cheered.
A Viva HA, This isn't it, but ours did have the red interior. This car died and sat at the side of our house for a while, probably waiting for the scrap man. I wonder how many imaginary drives I went for in this car ?
This was actually his first car having been a motor bike person before, but the birth of my older sister put an end to bike ownership.
This was actually his first car having been a motor bike person before, but the birth of my older sister put an end to bike ownership.
My Grandad had a Vauxhall Victor. If memory serves it had a bench seat in the front?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
I have fond memories of the Vauxhall Victor which seemed a very big car to me. The first cars I remember my Dad owning were: A mk1 Transit van, a Hillman Imp, a Ford Anglian and a an Escort Mk1 (Which I remember being in a traffic accident in - total right off. I was in the front seat with no seatbelt with my dad trying to grap me with his left hand as I shot into the footwell and the engine coming to meet me in the opposite direction (different world back then!) We also had a Vauxhall Cavalier (Opel Manta equivalent)
G
I think it is Matrons sister, the roads are a lot safer now she has had her knees done, but I keep the plumbers bung in the car just in case she starts....
G
Believe me, after 30 years as a truck driver covering Europe and the old Eastern Bloc countries, and since I retired being the free taxi service to the council dump I sometimes wish I had never started. And the standard of some drivers today leaves a lot to be desired with just watching them trying to park, and then the illegal 'scramble' bike riders....
G
But think of the argument when two of them crash....
G
Yes, the red and white light clipped over the drivers window and plugged into the cigarette lighter or connected to the battery.
G
Yours would be big, blonde and two enormous headlights, and your wifes would be all muscle and a six pack like a cattle grid....
G
Shelby 427cu Cobra for me, but the lottery never gets nearer and the dream stays the same....
That was it! I don't remember where it plugged in, but I think inside the car so maybe a cigarette lighter.
The car was parked 'on street' and I think this was probably a legal requirement, even though it was lit and a 30mph limit (typical residential street in other words). Grandad was ex-Army, senior NCO, and would have been a bit of a stickler for rules like that :smiling3:
I've just checked and....drum roll....
Rule 249
All vehicles MUST display parking lights when parked on a road or a lay-by on a road with a speed limit greater than 30 mph (48 km/h).Law RVLR reg 24
Yet another rule largely ignored!
Despite this, my car does have parking lights (as opposed to sidelights) that can be turned on using the indicator stalk with the ignition off. I've never used them!
i have used them when parkin on side of rd as my car has these lights on the indicater stem with the ignitaion off an can be switched to left an right so just one side front an rear lights show an very handy to so not a great drain on the battery
chrisb
Mike, the Camaro isn't as pretty or as great sounding as a big block Cobra, but you don't have to fuss w/multiple carburetors or "the lord of darkness" electricals, and it is a lot less expensive to insure.
Only cars my dad had that I liked were two Zephyr Mk IVs and a Zodiac Mk IV. That was fabulous! 3 litre automatic with 195 BHP. We went from Birmingham to Exmouth on holiday in it one year - maybe 1965? - Took us 2 hrs 30 mins. Not bad with a 22 ft Sprite Major caravan hooked on the back and a 10 ft dinghy on the roof rack!
He also had an Austin Cambridge, a Mk 1 Transit (this was an ex Securicor van with all their security features. Dad locked the keys in it one day. It took him nearly five minutes to find a screwdriver and take the windscreen out and two minutes to put it back after recovering the keys!), a Dolomite and an Allegro.
He also had an Austin Cambridge, a Mk 1 Transit (this was an ex Securicor van with all their security features. Dad locked the keys in it one day. It took him nearly five minutes to find a screwdriver and take the windscreen out and two minutes to put it back after recovering the keys!), a Dolomite and an Allegro.
2 adults & 2 kids in a Vauxhall Viva HA driving from Sheffield to Penzance ( 1968? ) overnight Friday/Saturday ( after father had done a days' work! ). An hours stop at Indian Queens on Bodmin Moor, otherwise non-stop. I seem to remember 7:00 pm to 8:00 am, but my memory may be incorrect
Dave
Dave
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