First car you remember

[Ghosty]

Posting in the shitecycle thread has just reminded me that my mum very briefly owned a red N-reg K11 Micra auto. She didn't like the pedal position and PX'd it for an equally woeful CVT Fiesta. 

Weirder still, the only memory I have of it is putting Halfords wheeltrims on it after losing the original ones, in the Stockport Halfords car park in what must have been 1999 or early 2000. 

I also remember being in OMC Macclesfield around the same time in '99/2000 when my parents paid for the Fiesta - there was a Cougar on display in the showroom and I remember thinking it was really cool. They might even have paid cash for the Fez, I remember my parents getting £4 change, or there being £4 or so on the desk in quids.

I can't have been older than 4 at the time... 

[fairkens]

I have a vague recollection of a Green beetle my mum had, much better recollection of the mark 1 3 door escort estate in cream/beige with brown velour upholstery. Being told to "sit back" in the seat as a substitute for seat belts.

 

This was followed by an already ropey ex-MOD mk2 Cavalier saloon and thus my shite indoctrination was complete.

 

First car my dad had that I can recall was a Renault 21 "savanna" estate. 7 seater. My brother used to sit on the back row and me on the middle to stop us beating the shit out of each other. This was followed by a white volvo 760 estate, if memory serves it had heated leather seats. I think this was followed by a red Mazda 626. These were all company cars at a time when it was a perk worth having.

[MarvinsMom]

The first cart i remember would be the Vauxhall Viva HC estate me Dad had when i was a nipper.

 

It got chopped in for a Morris Marina before our kid was born in 1979. He ran that until it fell apart, i remember running around to the front of the car and pushing my little pinkies though the rust in the front wings. Dad was so very pleased! it was "repaired" using fiberglass and a rattle can.

 

I was friends with a lad at school who's Dad had a Datsun Cherry, one of the funnly little early '70s ones, he chopped it in against an Escort XR3. And it was an XR3 too, been before the "i" was added. Then another friends parent had a SAAB 900, and anothers mother had an MGB, and a relative of my father had a brand new TR7. That was abandoned in France somewhere, they had been on holidays, the inevitable happened and the TR broke down (not, i understand for the first time) so they got a lift down to the train station, and a train home!

[Noel Tidybeard]

first cars i remember were

• dad- daf 44 in white i remember going with dad and grandad to pick this up from a dealers in bromford bridge- theroetcially i should remember the zephyr 4 that was before this
• grandad father side- cortina mk1 tudor dark blue- i used to watch for him on a saturday when they came a visitin and run up the road whereby he'd stop and let me in and drive me back home with gran & aunt & uncle
• grandad mom side- austin 1300 tartan red his party trick was to switch engine off at the top of the road and coast all the way onto his drive about 600yds away

[STUNO]

The Civic story has just reminded me that in the early 80s, along with the previously mentioned cars, I recall that Mrs Hamilton next door had a friend who lived at the opposite end of the street and drove all the way down in her blue Simca 1000 in what seemed like 2nd gear. I recall the noise of the car and its big square headlights most vividly.

 

 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but big square headlights is a Renault 10 thing

 

 

[mercrocker]

[Rusty Pelican]

First car i remember was dads Anglia AHT 804B in blue , it was a 1200 deluxe and we went to Scotland on hols with it pre Motorway and it took 2 days to get there , he then got a MK1 povo spec escort that all the paint came off within a year and was then resprayed under warrantee by Ford , then it was a Datsun 180B , then a Datsun Stanza in a weird tanny yellow colour . Then a Rover 214SLI .

After this it was went really down hill shite wise so i dont remember these at all 

[Skut]

First car i remember was my Dads 76 metallic green Princess 1800HL. An early post rationalisation one. I remember him hooning it along a dual carraigeway in the early 80s at what seemed like a million miles an hour but was probably 70. On the walk to playschool we passed a tatty Isetta bubblecar and a grey Gilbern Invader. Also tatty.

[STUNO]

^^^^^^^^^ Bugger, proved wrong for the 2,000,000 th time, what a milestone. But I could be wrong about that.

[Geep]

I guess it would be Dad's blue 1100.

 

CHO 421C I think it was. Followed by a new one BAA 560J and Maxi's in various guises. MYA 108P was the HL, the one with the red grill badge and twin carbs. (might have been HLS?)

 

My own first car at 15 was also an 1100 in red. can't remember the number though. Replaced with a MK1 Escort once test passed. ENO 554G?

 

I can vaguely remember an uncle's Austin or Morris sit up and beg type thing. Not sure if I ever went in it or if it was just seen/talked about when he visited.

[Luckythirteen]

The first car I actively remember, was Ma's Mk3 Astra. Blue outside, grey inside, and it seemed to be constantly steamed up. I remember climbing into my car seat, and finding it was a bit damp...

 

But the earliest one I remember liking, was Grandad_Thirteen's Merc 190. So much nicer than the shitty Astra! I still smile when I see one...good associations.

[mercrocker]

First car i remember was my Dads 76 metallic green Princess 1800HL. An early post rationalisation one. I remember him hooning it along a dual carraigeway in the early 80s at what seemed like a million miles an hour but was probably 70. On the walk to playschool we passed a tatty Isetta bubblecar and a grey Gilbern Invader. Also tatty.

True shiter in the making to remember all that!   I didn't do playschool (didn't have it my day) but I remember the walk to Infants in 1964.   The teaching assistant had a turquoise NSU Prinz 4 -  it was like a spaceship back then amongst the A30s and split screen Minors outside the school.  I can remember knowing it was new because it had a "B" on the number plate....

[RayMK]

Dad was in the RAF.  Sadly, I have no memories from Malta where, according to photos, Dad hired a Morris Minor and sometimes an Austin Devon for occasional outings. Back in the UK in 1954 at Little Rissington he bought a matt, dull red (faded) 1933 Austin 7 for £15. I remember that because my memory switched on at around 4 years old. Dad painted the car with black Valspar after fixing the door bottoms with aluminium sheet and the leaking sunroof with hardboard (!).  The car hardly ever exceeded 30mph, which made the trip to Hastings to see his mum and dad seem like a lifetime. I curled up on the back seat to try to keep warm and listened to the back axle growling whilst the trees slowly wafted past the windows.  When Dad was posted to Leighton Buzzard, I recall seeing a 'modern' sit up and beg Ford coming out of the RAF camp when we arrived.  Dad parked AGX423 next to a larger Austin of similar age - our next door neighbours' Dad was a slightly higher rank. Their car was ART234 and had acres of space inside. Our next move to RAF Bicester indicated that the A7 was becoming unreliable.  Its engine was often on the kitchen table whilst dad twirled valves and got jewellers rouge everywhere.  I was 10 when Dad sold it for £25 to an American serviceman whilst we were at Bicester. I cried for hours.  The replacement, a 1954 Hillman Minx, was incredibly luxurious and fast. It had a heater and could cruise at 50mph  .

[Negative Creep]

I think my Dad had a blue Sierra estate and I recall a family holiday to somewhere in Dorset/Devon. I also remember trying to use the car phone but not understanding area codes, but I'm not sure if that was the same car or not

[Parky]

Dads Ford Cortina mk 1, KYK 570D. Dark blue, rusty, and constantly in bits on the kitchen table. But everyone down the street had old shitters so there was no shame or embarrassment involved.

[MrDuke]

Austin Landcrab 1800 in maroon - my clearest memory is getting out on a hot summer's day and the black vinyl seats trying to rip the skin off my bare legs. I can vaguely recall a borrowed J4 camper around the same time, but we didn't have that for long.

[CreepingJesus]

I think that would be my dad's Toyota Corolla. Mustard yellow estate. Would've been about 76 or so, I'd have been 3. Toyota did sell a Corolla estate (or estate ish liftback) then didn't they? Memory is quite fluid, so I could well be wrong 38 years on.

Neighbours had a Mk1 Scrote (which he torched, while doing some welding. He was damn lucky to get out alive) and an Imp. My uncle had a pale blue Beetle, which I used to play on the running boards of, and pretend to be Al Capone.

[outlaw118]

First one I remember was a 1971/2 K plate silver Renault 6. Bought new from C P Smith is Westcliff, my Grandad liked it so he bought an identical one - which was called Toby for reasons I can't remember. He kept that till 1983, before chopping it in for a silver Nissan Sunny GPP302Y(?).

Anyhoo, Mutha & Fatha_Outlaw, with two trainee fat blokes chopped the 6 in for a 12, in horrible metallic green, with tan vinyl. TVW298N, aka Bertha. As many have already mentioned, vinyl seats + sun + small boys in shorts = PAIN. Unlucky car this one, remember Fatha coming home on the back of an AA truck with all the front stoved in where he's used a Mark one Escort as a brake, at the traffic lights by Rainham nick. He got a Marina as a courtesy car, and I remember him saying at the time (I was 5) that it was "rubbish". It got hit by a Routemaster a few months after that, then after a repair job, someone dropped a scaffold pole on it. 

She got traded soon after...

SMM347S Blue Citroen GS Special, "Bluebell". Blue brushed nylon interior, lots of static shocks. Also the only car I got car-sick in - up to that point. Always chucked up at the same place, on my way to Grandad's in Chingford. Weird.

Got traded in 1983 for a 1980 Renault 18TS Estate HKL515V in silver; aka "Sylvia" lovely bit of kit, turned out that the previous owner had cracked the block, and pumped it full of something, and needed a new/recon engine about 1984. £957.77 it cost, i remember it! (How sad!).

Eventually got traded for B727XVX Montego 1.6L in Oporto Red. Absolute fucking shambles of a car. It leaked through the door sills, meaning that the rear footwells became ponds, and broke down often. 

They were offered a huge discount to buy D299TWC, Montego in Moonraker blue. I learnt to drive in this; although I had a few lessons in the red one, I had more in the blue one. had my first "moment" in that too, chucked it into a roundabout at a foolhardy speed, and it understeered into the inside kerb, completely ruining a rim and tyre. Fortunately mutha & fatha were away, unfortunately it cost me 3 weeks wages (part-time student weekend job) to get it fixed.

 

I could go on.....

[dome]

It was my parents Allegro for me-must've been about 4 years old. I got better, but it took a while. Social services were involved.

[Captain Mainwaring]

I vaguely remember being driven about in my Grandad's Metro when I was yay big. He hated that car - it was in and out of the dealers for warranty repairs in the brief time he owned it. He got fed up eventually and got shut of it.

 

Another early memory is helping my dad clean his Mk2 Cav. With a yard brush. Certainly remember the resultant clip 'round the lughole...

[beko1987]

Dad's g reg 2.0 Granada. Rear electric windows, velour seats. Maroon in colour on steels with trims

[ERNO]

 

Me and my Dad on holiday in Nairn, in what I'd imagine was 1976. I still remember travelling in that car. I particularly remember touching my leg on the exhaust one day and being rather shocked at how hot it was.

[Cheggers]

I still clearly remember my Dad's mk2 Cortina estate YGU 983G - It was grey with leg-burning black vinyl seats. That was followed by a Mk3, then (bizarrely) a Datsun 260C, a Morris Ital 1.7 HL, a Sierra 2.0GL and an Escort 1.4GL (all estates). He saw out his driving years in a 1.2 Clio, which is still being used by my nephew.

[burraston2006]

My earliest memories were of my mums Rover 2000. I think it was a series 1 TC in primrose yellow. Always loved these things so at some point I hope to get one. Probably missed the boat on these price wise!

She also had one of these for special occasions:

( picture stolen from the tinterweb)

 

Can't remember what father had. I'll have to ask him!

[danthecapriman]

Probably my Grandad's early Tolbot Horizon, it might actually have been a Chrysler badged one. It was an old one anyway either T or V reg. it was in light green with a light brown/beige interior.

He had it years, but it eventually died of terminal rot. Apparently he sold it to a couple of younger guys who ended up repairing it and turning it into a rally car! Grandad then got a Y reg Metro.

 

My parents first car was a dark blue Datsun Sunny Coupe. They kept this old thing for years aswell. It was very reliable and just went on and on. The body got really crusty by the end though.

It eventually failed it's mot on rust in 1998 and was traded in against an R reg Vectra. A decision my parents made that didn't sit well with me! The Datsun never saw the road again and went straight to the crusher from the Vauxhall dealers.

[Crusty Sills]

Dad had a beige Mk2 Escort like this circa 1986

 

(pic off of tinterweb)

 

It got T-boned on the way to work 1 day and was replaced with a doom blue Lada.

 

Mum and Stepdad had a Datsun 180b,

I got in trouble for popping the water bubbles that were lifting the paint on the rear quarter.

[Ben_O]

I would have to say the Mk1 Polo

 

My mum had a Red one as her first car when i was a kid and also my Uncle had an identical one but in Blue which ended up being the family bike. I believe my granddad owned it, then my Aunt, then my Uncle again and it just went round and round until it wasn't needed anymore.

 

Fond memories of sunburnt necks sitting in the back bombing down the M11 to Cambridge.

 

Both were just like this one

 

 

In fact the blue one was the same colour as that.

[billyboy406v6]

Renault Dauphine BM 702.

[Snipes]

The neighbour's Nissan Micra Collette. F895 FNB. My dad was late to the car game and eventually went through a series of Dyanes, Estelles and various other early Skodas. Autoshite gold but the last thing a school kid in the mid 80s could admit to.

[Timewaster]

I don't really recall the Hillman Imp that my dad ran until I was about 3 BUT I vividly remember being in the dealers showroom when he bought it's replacement.

G.Nice & sons Waterbeach. It is still there nearly 40 years later.

Dad was choosing between a white R12TL and a maroon marina deluxe.

I liked the marina but the R12 won and lasted 7 years as a family car ending up a red oxide splodged embarrassment to me and my teenage Bro.

I walked most places