Hey teacher, leave those shites alone!

[BL Bloke]

When I started school in the late 60's the car park was mostly run of the mill stuff for the time but one car that did stand out was a black Riley RM.  When we moved house in 1971 I went to a different school and the headmaster, Mr Proud,  had a metallic grey Renault 12.

The cars I remember from secondary school are;

Mr Grimmett the history teacher had a metallic blue Simca 1000

Mr Pegg the music teacher had a beige MG Midget

Mr Millington had a white FD Victor estate 

Mr Baker the metalwork teacher had a blue Chrysler Hunter 

Mr Turner the German teacher had a metallic green Simca 1301/1501 (not sure which). I had a ride home in this one when I was taken ill at school one day, the only time I've ever been in a Simca.

[Niffleman]

My headmaster had a Montego VDP in 1988 or 1989. Metallic gold, I think.

[Markeh]

I remembered a few more from my time:

Primary - another TA had a K11 Micra - I think it was an Ally (I don't know why I remember this). We had a Q&A session with our new Year 3 teacher before he started, someone asked about his car and he proudly told us his Mk5 Escort had reached 100k on the way there that day. Substitute teacher had a Mk6 Escort estate, which seemed a mundane choice for someone who looking back was probably clinically insane. Similar note, one of the kids in my class got brought to school in an imported Dodge Ram - bright red, double cab, big wheels, looked like an SRT-10, doubt it was, but timeline was right, it could've been - the lass claimed the speedo went to 200mph, we tried to argue it was probably in km or something daft.

Science teacher from secondary had a succession of different cars on the same badly spaced out private plate, late 90s Civic hatch with some tasty mods comes to mind - a few years later saw the same plate on a Dodge Caliber of all things. English teacher had a late 306, think my form tutor had a late Mk1 Megane. Remember a few of the TAs had some unusual choices - Mk1 TT (Think it was a V6 - bright red), E46 Compact, late Alfa 156 and an RX8 come to mind, amongst more run of the mill stuff, Mk1 Yaris (which I think they still have), Accord estate (got written off), Mk2 Mondeo (chap died so long gone), Mk1 Scenic. Had to push one one of the languages teachers up a hill when the snow hit really bad in 09/10, they were stuck in front of us in a 308. One of the art teachers had a Grande Punto, my dad was working at a Fiat dealer at the time and the chap recognised our surname when he brought it in for some work.. Head of the tech support bit had a Joke when they first came out, in that short amount of time when they were still a weird choice rather than just existing everywhere.

Have been entrusted with teachers keys on two occasions - once to collect some old PC parts I was being given by my business studies teacher (B-Class merc) and then to find my coursework that was somewhere buried inside an IT teacher's S40 - helpfully they forgot to tell me what car I was looking for and which of the three staff car parks on site it was in, I spent about 15 minutes roaming round pressing unlock to try and find it.

Some interesting stuff in school buses for me as well - Most of the time I went to secondary in either a Y-reg Sprinter, a W-reg smiley Transit or in later years when a different firm took over, a 57-plate Master - hated the people with a passion, shopped them for having the taxi plate off a completely different Master on the van. Someone else on my bus's parents (the sort with 2 identical brand new sequential plate C-Classes on the drive and in a new, fairly posh housing estate) actually complained about the use of the old smiley Transit!

[Eyersey1234]

My form tutor in high school on the Isle of Wight had a blue Sierra which was replaced by a Mazda 626, the RE teachers had a Mk3 Astra and a X reg Corsa, Miss Durrell the history teacher had a Mini, Miss Harrington the other history teacher had a Daewoo Leganza, there was also a Fiesta Zetec S regularly in the car park and a Volvo 850 T5

[Nails1979]

I can remember in comp school one of the P.E teachers had a mk1 MR2 which I thought was cool but no one else did. He also looked very 80's hasselhoff ie hair and dress sense. But was fat and pervy with the young lasses. There was other smol car shite that for a while we had great fun picking them up as a group and turning them round etc. 

[Low Horatio gearbox]

One I can remember.

Primary in the mid to late 80s

Mr Murphy: black rubber bumper MGB GT, very cool tho one of my classmates remarked to him it was " a cool Porsche " an unforgivable sin but we were only 5

The only other one I remember in school, was a mk1 Astra in a light green metallic colour

And a house by the school gates had a black 99 turbo with a spoiler and alloys which  was just  amazingly cool.

 

Sedondary early to kid/late 90s

The music teacher had a (various shades of) gold  W122 200 automatic, viewed  at the time as quite naff but now achingly  desirable, even with it's  gold of many shades and hues  paintwork.

The new very fit newly qualified chemistry teacher had a then utterly shite 2.0D Montego countryman estate. Sadly a crap teacher and was only doi g it I her words "as it was something to do with good money after finish her chemistry degree" mechanically fine but terminally rusty.

The previous chemistry teacher had a really nice nearly new black ZX diesel. And was also  much superior teacher and human being too.

One of the English teacher had a mk3 1.4 astra "merit" and despite being 3 ish years aloud the red pInt was fading already.

 

Bonus.

The school had an LDV 400 convoy as a school bus. It was stolen and burnt out , fuck knows why as it had the most gutless noisy  asthmatic diesel engine.

The previous lab tech once told us of thr IT/ maths teacher Mr Miles taking the passenger seat out of his Morris minor so the lab tech could play his guitar when he gave him a lift to school as the moggy had no stereo. The same teacher who didn't know his wife had left him for 5 days as she worked shifts, she left him on the Monday and he didn't notice her absence till the Saturday .

Extra bonus. I got a mild bollocking for driving (my sisters near new..ish R plate  Corolla 1.3 GLi) to the fire assembly point on the school fields  during a fire alarm instead of walking 😁😂🤦‍♂️

[quicksilver]

Can't believe how long this thread has been going and it's over 5 years since I shared my secondary school memories. Seems I didn't mention the German teachers but I've remembered what they drove. Both the ladies who taught me were actually German and had German husbands: Mrs Rutter had a silver Corsa and Mrs Von Both shared a red Sierra estate with her hubby. There was also a teaching assistant on a placement from Germany who brought over her Merc 190. It's odd looking back that this meant a humble part-time TA had the same model of car as the headteacher (and hers was in better condition too). I was never taught by the male German teachers and I can't remember what they drove but they were memorable as one was called Mr Hare (or Herr Hare in German) and the other was a Pole who spoke German with a strong Polish accent!

Oddly, this school never had its own minibus and would borrow the LDV from the neighbouring school (N387 PNV, why do I remember that?!). That old thing lasted well into the 2010s long after I left, I remember seeing it outside the school with a for sale sign, then someone else bought it but it's not on the DVLA system any more so it must have finally died.

[Niffleman]

As a teacher for the past 20 years I have noticed that the quality of school minibuses at the schools where I have worked has improved massively.   When I started the LDV Convoy was the bus of choice.  Terrible diesel engines,  awful suspension,  spartan interiors and louder than a hurricane.  Now we have Transits which are quiet,  comfortable and good to drive.

[Eyersey1234]

At Cowes High we had a P reg Transit as the school minibus. I remember we hired a LDV minibus once when I was in Cadets to take us to Summer camp at RAF Henlow and the clutch turned out to be fucking fucked m8. To be fair the hire company bent over backwards to sort it, sending 2 estate cars which as it happens we didn't need as the minibus was fixed by the time we were coming back 

[Alusilber]

When I had a brief spell in the Air Cadets in the mid-80s, I remember a trip to the local glider airfield. A Commer minibus in full RAF livery (matt dark green, yellow stripe) appeared from somewhere to take us there. No proper seats, just wooden benches down each side. Them were the days...

[Dirk Diggler]

Who else had the joy of travelling to school in one of these? Made by CIE at the Inchicore works, in service from 1960s to mid 2000s, wiped out by seat belt regulations (and that crash in 2003 ish)

They were woefully badly maintained (I can remember the roofs not being attached at the back, they'd hop and jump over bumps) Fabulous things to travel in, very 1950s tech

[Leyland Worldmaster]

7 hours ago, Dirk Diggler said:

Who else had the joy of travelling to school in one of these? Made by CIE at the Inchicore works, in service from 1960s to mid 2000s, wiped out by seat belt regulations (and that crash in 2003 ish)

They were woefully badly maintained (I can remember the roofs not being attached at the back, they'd hop and jump over bumps) Fabulous things to travel in, very 1950s tech

KCC had some very similar vehicles with Strachan and Brown Bodies. I think they were based on the Bedford SB Chassis. Yellow with a white roof. 

I can't find pictures of these on the Internet. Maybe someone here knows what I'm talking about! 

Anyway, I don't remember names very well. Some stand out cars though. Mid to late 'Eighties:

SAAB 99 green. Honda Prelude, red. Harvest Gold Mini. My first crush drove that... Blue Ford Orion. 

Early  to Mid Nineties:

J Registered Ford Orion,  (Prefix J Plate) Jaguar XJ6, Green Renault Espace Mk1; same owner as Jag', Audi 80; this is probably why I like Audis; got a long lift in it. Best car I'd been in... Dodgy PE Teacher had a brand new Rover R8 214 which we thought was cool. It was the 3 door hatchback\ coupé thing... 

That's it for now... 👍 

[Dirk Diggler]

2 hours ago, Leyland Worldmaster said:

KCC had some very similar vehicles with Strachan and Brown Bodies. I think they were based on the Bedford SB Chassis. Yellow with a white roof. 

I can't find pictures of these on the Internet. Maybe someone here knows what I'm talking about! 

Anyway, I don't remember names very well. Some stand out cars though. Mid to late 'Eighties:

SAAB 99 green. Honda Prelude, red. Harvest Gold Mini. My first crush drove that... Blue Ford Orion. 

Early  to Mid Nineties:

J Registered Ford Orion,  (Prefix J Plate) Jaguar XJ6, Green Renault Espace Mk1; same owner as Jag', Audi 80; this is probably why I like Audis; got a long lift in it. Best car I'd been in... Dodgy PE Teacher had a brand new Rover R8 214 which we thought was cool. It was the 3 door hatchback\ coupé thing... 

That's it for now... 👍 

As far as I know these are Bedford based but uniquely Irish (built at the railway works); there's only 2 survivors, the rest scrapped. 

 

[warch]

Teachers usually come in several difference flavours;

Newly qualified teacher- Looked about 12 and got dogs abuse from unreceptive pupils- Drove an old Mini or a Fiesta.

Games teacher- No indoor voice and lived in polyester- Owned their own vehicle but usually seen at the wheel of the school's Neolithic Transit or Sherpa minibus.

Call me Andy- Perched on the corner of the desk and pretended to respect his pupil's opinions- Usually rode a push bike because proto hipster, or something palpably shite like a Beetle.

The showoff- For some reason decided he (always a he) needed to impressive 11-16 year olds- Drove an Alfa or a sportsbike (the one at our school owned one of each, the former got nicked by some kids in Year 10).

Craft design technology teacher- Spoddy even by teaching standards or not a proper teacher so DGAF- Usually had a Volvo (ur teacher wagon) or a Lada Riva or something. 

[DSdriver]

My form teacher and art teacher Mr Frampton had a Consul 375 Classic with the Z back window. Because he and his wife were vertically challenged it had blocks of wood taped to the brake and clutch pedals. It was maroon.

[DSdriver]

...and our English teacher Mr Neal was the most unlikely person EVER to turn up at school in a huge American car but he did, apparently because he and his wife had a vast amount of kids. This was in the days before seat belts, the pill, and all that nonsense.

[DSdriver]

... and another non-conformist, technical drawing teacher Les Hartridge

Had a lovely petite French wife who played havoc with the imaginations of hormonal schoolboys

[Low Horatio gearbox]

19 minutes ago, DSdriver said:

... and another non-conformist, technical drawing teacher Les Hartridge

Had a lovely petite French wife who played havoc with the imaginations of hormonal schoolboys

 Ssomething about a French wife... sorry distracted by the Dauphine 

[High Jetter]

Dauphinoise! J2 Morris? I heard of Esperanto, and was born in Bromley. Guess I wasn't invited...

[DSdriver]

4 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

Dauphinoise! J2 Morris? I heard of Esperanto, and was born in Bromley. Guess I wasn't invited...

This would have been mid sixties before Bromley Tech became Ravenswood. I had a good time at the school, but the attrition rate on teachers was quite high, several committed suicide whilst I was there, I hope it wasn't all because of me.

[High Jetter]

Before me, then, I arrived in Bromley Hosp in late 1960.

[DSdriver]

4 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

Before me, then, I arrived in Bromley Hosp in late 1960.

I hope you had a note for being late

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Back in the late 80s, my D.T teacher drove a bronze Porsche 924. It was an X plate from what I remember. He was a nice enough fella, although quite excitable. I remember making a clock within a picture frame for a D.T project. The clock face was a 911 wheel and the image above was a 911 which I'd carefully drawn (and then coloured in felt tips...).

His reaction upon seeing the design in the early stages was, 'Wahey! Porsha!'

No-one else called them Porsha in the 80s. 

[DSdriver]

I hope you got high marks for such blatant...  erm how can I put this politely?

[DSdriver]

Initiative that's the word - teachers are always telling kids to use their initiative).

[Low Horatio gearbox]

On 2/16/2021 at 11:18 PM, Dick Longbridge said:

Back in the late 80s, my D.T teacher drove a bronze Porsche 924. It was an X plate from what I remember. He was a nice enough fella, although quite excitable. I remember making a clock within a picture frame for a D.T project. The clock face was a 911 wheel and the image above was a 911 which I'd carefully drawn (and then coloured in felt tips...).

His reaction upon seeing the design in the early stages was, 'Wahey! Porsha!'

No-one else called them Porsha in the 80s. 

I did  pretty much the opposite to the no nonsense Mr Jones mid GCSE project and  asked to use the bench polisher to polish some 105 crank arms . The answer as a tedty yes and a dissapointing frown.

On topic I remember him semi mid life crisis havin gotten a massive (to 15 year old me !) Triumph TBS 750 in black and being awed and surprised at the twin solid discs on the front of it. (And the fact he lived less than a mile from school so spent longer putting  his riding clobber on than actually riding it)

[barefoot]

Our maths teacher, Terry Yarwood was a bizarre character. He'd mark the work & initial it TRY.

In '79, when I was in the 6th form, he drove a Lotus Elite type 75, initially with the registration TRY 1, which was pretty impressive. The number plate was later replaced by one with a P suffix. TRY 1 is currently on an E-type.

[The Vicar]

In my primary school days (which weren't that long ago!) we had teaching brothers, and our principal - Brother Fidelis - had a shiny new 95 Mazda Xedos 6  in maroon with beige leather, which I, very much an aspirant-shiter by this time, thought was the coolest and sleekest car ever.  As I got a bit older I used to be tasked with washing it for him on nice days, which meant I could often be excused early from class on sunny Friday afternoons, much to the envy of my classmates!

[Llessur]

One of my primary school teachers Mrs Smith had an ultra sexy maroon Ford Escort like the one that Prince Charles drove to his wedding. Every year she would hassle a local farmer for a bunch of chicken eggs which she would bring in to incubate in her classroom to teach us valuable lessons about life or eggs or heat lamps or something. One year one of the chicks hatched with some horrific deformities so the benevolent Mrs Smith announced that she was going to pop out to put it in her car so she could take it home to look after it. Unfortunately she neglected to take into account the fact that her classroom overlooked the school car park so we all had a very clear view of her placing Quasimodo underneath her front tyre and giving him a soothing dose of the steam roller treatment before smearing his mangled corpse into a hedge with a newspaper. Have been suspicious of maroon cars ever since.