Dad cars

[chris667]

My dad was used to teach auto electrics. He used to fix people's cars on the side to supplement his income (the college where he taught was quite relaxed about staff using the workshops on weekends).

As a kid, I used to spend hours "helping" him.

One of my earliest memories is wondering why he was stuffing newspaper into the wing of an old Alfetta.

Of course, those were cars he was fiddling with for other people. He was a ford man. A long line of Escorts (the cars, not prostitutes). All base spec 1.1l.

Love my dad.

Oh, and the MG which he did up, then got bored with. I fixed that one myself when I was older and spent a couple of years prowling round in it.

[Wibble]

Sorry, just found these to add some visuals to my list: His Legend, with my then Carlton, sorry for rotationand his Mk5

[Six-cylinder]

5 minutes ago, grogee said:

Lovely memories. How come GS(A)s keep popping up? I do love them.

My only experience of a GS was a mate's dad giving us a lift somewhere and getting stressed out because it was overheating, I think it was the air cooled one. He was a Franglophile and a Morris dancer too, for shame.

In 1975 he had a budget to buy a modern car, he did not want a Ford Vauxhall or BL car. I was 15 and enjoyed myself vetting the possible cars and we then went to view quite a few with him. He took a liking to the GS and was happy to repeat what he liked.

I bought two of the GSs off him, the 1976 GS Pallas and GS X2 as stop gap cars. I now have a GS of my own, father like son.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

17 minutes ago, grogee said:

....He was a Franglophile and a Morris dancer too, for shame.

OT, but I wonder if there are any French Morris dancers?

[Wibble]

Another memory, must have been 1999 and Mum & Dad were on holiday, west coast of Ireland and the now Mrs Wibble and I went to join them. By then I had the Senator and we arrive to find Dad’s Legend had died. Just the battery but local suppliers had never seen a Honda Legend so took a few days to get a replacement. As I intended to be pissed most of the time I said he could use the Senator. He was then also pissed because it was such a better drive than his Legend!😆

[Rocket88]

4 hours ago, Shite Ron said:

My Dad had the following from when I was born:

Mk1 Cortina 1500 Super

Mini van (brand new)

Mk2 Cortina 1300 de luxe (The first I have any memory of )

Mk 2 Cortina 1600 E

Viva HC 2 door ( a real low point )

Mk2 Escort 1300L 4 door (first company car)

Mk5 Cortina 1600GL ( The best car he had)

Mk5 Cortina 1.6 base estate

Mk3 Escort 1.3L 5 door

Mk4 Escort 1.3L 5 door

1992 Orion LX diesel

1994 Astra 1.4 L (Last and worst company car)

Cortina 1.6 Crusader ( bought by me when he retired)

Cortina 1.6L ( bought by me off its original owner to replace the Crusader in1997)

I am not surprised your Dad hated the Ital after having a Cortina, I was really upset when we had the mk3 Escort, fortunately I bought my own Cortina within a year.

Edited to add, the fun cars were the Cortina’s, the others were not great although the Mini van and Mk2 Escort were ok and would be nice to have now. 

Viva HC a low point? And he had an Orion diesel?

[Shite Ron]

7 minutes ago, Rocket88 said:

Viva HC a low point? And he had an Orion diesel?

Yes the Orion was dreadful but I had my own cars by then, I did drive the Orion quite a bit as the fuel was free and remember having to change down to third on any incline on the motorway if you drove within the speed limit. The Viva was a 2 door in silver with black vinyl seats, it couldn’t be more grim, especially after a 1600E, I was really upset when he bought the Viva and then kept it for longer than any other car, I was very young when he bought it. The Astra mk3 was grim, it was constantly breaking down. We thought the mk4 Escort crossflow was slow after the CVH mk3 but the Orion was unbelievable, it also had the worst orange peel on the paint I have ever seen on a new car.

[Schaefft]

#1 Trabant

#2 BMW E21 320i Auto (because what else would you do right after the iron curtain falls). Apparently it didn't last very long, blew it's engine.

#3 Opel Vectra A, mighty 75hp, no A/C. Was almost brand new.

#4 Opel Astra H which was then crashed by my younger brother right after he got his license lol

#5 Opel Astra H. Replacement paid for by insurance

#6 Opel Astra J Sports Tourer. Bought new, now over 200k km

It probably won't be long before the next car, it remains to be seen whether he sticks with Opel. I think the good customer relationship with the local dealer makes a big difference. We also had a Corsa A and B as hand downs from my grandma, the latter being crashed by my older brother...

 

[grogee]

10 hours ago, Wibble said:

Another memory, must have been 1999 and Mum & Dad were on holiday, west coast of Ireland and the now Mrs Wibble and I went to join them. By then I had the Senator and we arrive to find Dad’s Legend had died. Just the battery but local suppliers had never seen a Honda Legend so took a few days to get a replacement. As I intended to be pissed most of the time I said he could use the Senator. He was then also pissed because it was such a better drive than his Legend!😆

Interesting. I do intend to do a proper thread on my old Ledge. In a lot of ways it was the ultimate car - beautiful engineering, ultra reliable, lovely cabin. But in one important way it was intolerable - the ride! How could they get a luxury car so wrong? 

[MiniMort]

11 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

In 1975 he had a budget to buy a modern car, he did not want a Ford Vauxhall or BL car. I was 15 and enjoyed myself vetting the possible cars and we then went to view quite a few with him. He took a liking to the GS and was happy to repeat what he liked.

I bought two of the GSs off him, the 1976 GS Pallas and GS X2 as stop gap cars. I now have a GS of my own, father like son.

My family had a GS as well (it was the start of their long long history with Citroen's). 

The story goes that in 1975 my great grandmother (yes, I'm that young) wanted to replace her Daytona Yellow Mk1 Escort with a brand new Mk2. So she bought one, in purple apparently, and as soon as she brought it home, my grandad noticed that it was leaking oil onto the driveway. 

So, back to Ford it went, and (given that this wasn't the first issue my family had with brand new Ford's) my great grandmother looked at alternatives. And she soon announced she'd bought a brown GS Pallas - one of those French cars with the funny suspension. 

My grandad tells me he drove it home from the dealer and was absolutely amazed at just how much better it was (sorry Ford fans) than the Escort she had before. They had it for three years before replacing it with a Cortina (apparently GSs aren't that good at towing caravans) but in that time nothing on it went wrong. 

Sadly I can't find any photos of it so have one of the Cortina it was replaced by as consolation. 

[groovylee]

I struggle to remember my old mans cars, but i'll give it a go:

Ford escort mk1 estate in white (caught fire during welding works)

Austin maxi in shite brown, quickly brush painted two tone silver and gunmetal hammer effect hammerite

gold cortina estate

light blue sierra estate

Rover 214 SLi 1992

Vauxhall Agila

vauxhall Meriva

Vauxhall Corsa (current)

 

it started so well, then sort of descended into 'all vauxhalls are shite' territory..... 

[GeordieInExile]

My favourite car my folks ever got was their 125i coupe. Should never have got rid. Comfy enough, quick enough, nice enough to sit in, handled really well. Shame it wasn't the 135i - but my stepdad was at least able to get the 125i petrol rather than the diesel my mother wanted.

The worst was the Evoque that replaced it, bland and shat its engine oil out all over the ground after 10k miles.

[Wibble]

10 hours ago, grogee said:

Interesting. I do intend to do a proper thread on my old Ledge. In a lot of ways it was the ultimate car - beautiful engineering, ultra reliable, lovely cabin. But in one important way it was intolerable - the ride! How could they get a luxury car so wrong? 

Exactly that, the ride. I loved his Legend, it was a beautiful car and that shape in particular that he had, I thought was fantastic. It was absolutely loaded for the time but he still thinks the Senator is the most comfortable car he’s ever driven. He paid £20k for his Legend, I paid £5k for the Senator about 3 years later and think he felt a bit short changed then and the Legend was gone soon after.

[Alfaisti]

Going to show my age, old boy died in 1978 and he never bought a new car ever!!! List is like P*actical C*assic porn

Morris Minor

Austin Cambridge

Austin A40

Sunbeam Talbot 90 (loved the rear suicide doors)

Wolsley 6/110

Ford Cortina mk2 1300

Ford Zephyr Mk 4

Simca 1501

Singer Gazelle

 

[Isopon]

My parents cars when growing up were utterly disinteresting, but my grandparents were quite the opposite.

On my dads side he had a Chevette, a Triumph (model unknown, was only owned for about a month), an Avenger that was usually broken and then a brand new Sierra Laser (my dad went to collect it with his his parents and remembers the dealer applying the 'laser' stickers around the back)

On my mothers side there were lots of RWD Escorts- Mk1's and Mk2's in various states which were either restored, sold or scrapped. There was also a Morris Minor Traveller that had a fucked wooden frame and was promptly moved on. His last Escort was a Mk1, 2 door 1100L in bronze with a brown interior. It's still around and he still owns it- still original and unmodified.

[Inca-mpetent]

Where to start.......
The cars my dad has had(that I remember, at least)

Before I was born:
Goggomobil(unknown model)
1965 Opel Kadett A(bought brand new)
1967-1968 Opel Kadett B Coupe
Citroën DS(multiple)
Citroën CX(multiple)
Citroën BX(multiple)
These three are all over the place, and he has owned about every model except GTi's
He also owned a Fiat 850 Spider at some point
Citroën 2CV(as a car for driving lessons, he was an instructor at some point)

After I was born:

Even more BX's
2 Citroën ZX's (both white with 1.4 engines)
2 Pontiac TransSport (both white, 3.8 liter V6. A 1992 one and a 1995 one)
A few Citroën Berlingo Vans
Mazda 121(1989, 1.3, Cabrio Top)
A 2003 Kia Carnival (2.9 CRDi)
A 1998 SsangYong Musso(2.9 Turbo Diesel)
A 2011 Iveco Daily (2.3 liter turbodiesel)

That's as much as I can remember




Sent from my Redmi Note 9 Pro

[Wack]

On 10/27/2021 at 5:44 PM, grogee said:

"Mk5 Cortina 1.6 base estate"

<feels smug with the clock and MW radio that my Dad's L model had>

School holidays I used to go to work with my dad , he left the shoe industry in 1970 and started a business on Cambridge market 

I'd have to suffer radio 2 all the way there but at 8am radio 2 became radio 1 on MW

Sometimes I'd get a full 10 minutes of chart music before he noticed 🤣

[grogee]

1 minute ago, Wack said:

School holidays I used to go to work with my dad , he left the shoe industry in 1970 and started a business on Cambridge market 

I'd have to suffer radio 2 all the way there but at 8am radio 2 became radio 1 on MW

Sometimes I'd get a full 10 minutes of chart music before he noticed 🤣

Ours was locked on Radio 4 LW. ALL the time. Round the twisty Devon lanes where there is no reception. 

zzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZ...garet Thatcher in Parliament today announced...zzzzzZZZZZZZ

[passes under overhead power line]

gggggGGGGGGGRRRRRRR4RGGGGggggg

[Richard_FM]

My Dad's Cars:

S reg Red Vauxhall Cavalier Mk1 (My first journey was in this)

V reg Blue Renault 18 (A bit fragile, but got us to the Isle Of Wight & back in 1982)

Y reg Green Vauxhall Cavalier Mk2 (Known as the frogmobile due to the colour)

C reg Silver Vauxhall Cavalier Mk2 (Known as the Jet car from the letters in the registation)

F reg Red Vauxhall Carlton Mk3 (OK apart from a faulty relay in the ignition system causing it to "kangaroo", as my Dad called it)

J reg Silver Vauxhall Carlton Mk3 (His favourite company car)

N reg Green Vauxhall Omega B (He didn't like this!)

V reg Gold Vauxhall Omega B (He wanted to buy this when he started his early retirement but they wanted too much)

02 reg Silver Ford Mondeo Mk3 (Ex Enterprise)

12 reg Silver Nissan Qashqai (My Mum still has this)

[AndyW201]

I remember my dad saying his first car was an E series  Vauxhall Cresta, in the early '60s. That was followed by a MK1 Ford Zephyr.

After meeting and marrying Mum, he downsized a bit with an Anglia 105E. Despite it being only about 5 or 6 years old at the time, he remembered the rear shock mounts rotting out. 

That was followed with a MK1 Cortina.

Then my brother, sister and I came along  and they had to get by with some snotters including a MK1 Escort estate (one of the first), a Vauxhall Viva HA SL90 (the first car I remember, so that will have been about mid-1974) and an absolutely disastrous MK2 Mini, complete with one piece flip front.

I remember going with him from school to pick up the next car, YWW 159L, an immaculate white Hillman Avenger De Luxe, this will have been aboute 1978. A great car, went all over in it and it never let the family down.

Another Avenger next,  a brown Chrysler De Luxe 2 door BYG 745T, only 3 years old and an ex West Yorks police CID car. This one didn't end so well, it ran fine if a bit tappety so dad was persuaded by a local part time mechanic to get another engine put in as it was high mileage, being ex-police. Only the engine the guy put in was worse than the one that came out and dad got fed up and sold it on at a loss.

Needing a cheap short term car, my uncle came up trumps as he bought the odd car from auction and 'flipped' them (to coin a phrase not really heard of in 1982!). He got hold of an Escort MK1 1300L estate, PTO 715M, in Sahara beige and in really tidy condition. In the end it turned out be another really good car, and we had it over two years.

Next came our family's first new car, the Escort was traded in for B829 MPY, a Nissan Sunny 1.3 GS 2 door in metallic blue with oh-so '80s silver & red wide 'graphics' down the side.

Next was D260 BPY, a Fiat Uno 60S in red, also with 'graphics', and dealer fitted glass sunroof and Sparkomatic stereo. (First cassette player any of our cars had!) Mum didn't get on with the gear change though so it didn't last long.

It was traded in for D944 FPY, an Escort Mk4 1.3 Popular, later gaining a side rubbing strip and L wheel trims so it didn't look too pov-spec!

Back to Nissan next and F610 VPY, another Sunny, a 1300 LS. First car we had with leccy windows!

Then back again for H976 NPY, a Micra GS with yet more dealer graphics and a smart set of dealer accessory 5 spoke alloys.

By then, the Nissan dealer had lost the franchise to the AFG group, so started to sell Rover and Hyundai. Next car then was K901 XEF, a Rover 214 Si 3 door. I really liked this one. The first car I got to borrow a few times when my own shitter wasn't working!

Vauxhall next, M830 OVN was a Caribic blue Corsa 1.4 SRi. Another favourite of mine.

Then Ford, N51 VAJ was a Tourmallard green Escort Mexico. Dad loved this one, but they got rid after the third time it got broken into.

So it was traded in for a delivery mileage Renault Mégane MK1, N927 TCN, a nice enough car, but the parents just didn't gel with it. They missed the Escort.

So after getting a garage built (!), they were back down to Ford, and came back with P371 JVN, a nice Escort 1.6 Si in a nice shade of Aubergine purple.

A strange one next. Y584 DTV was one of the recently launched Corsa Cs. They got it from the Motorpoint car supermarket in Derby. It was part of a cancelled Irish order, so it was badged as an Opel GSi, the equivalent of our 1.4 SRi. It was a good £4000 or so cheaper than the SRis list price but had keep fit windows and no air con or sunroof. Was a little rocket ship for a 1.4 though.

Next up was a Citroen Xsara, NY52 XYA. Again, a nice car, roomy, extremely comfy, well equipped, but it had the 1.4 8 valve engine and it was soooo slow compared to the Escort. (Even compared to the Corsa 1.2 SXi I had at the time...)

Then came the last car my mum and dad bought together since my dad passed away in 2004. PL03 PDK was another car supermarket purchase, a Mégane 1.6 Dynamique. My dad loved the big-arse Mégane when it came out and he loved this one. It had the usual loaded spec, plus the electric panoramic roof. Sadly when he died, Mum traded it in for an 05 Clio Dynamique, as she was starting to find the Mégane a bit big to handle.

Since then, she had had a few more typical 'giffer' cars,

'07 Mitsubishi Colt

'09 Ford KA

'11 Nissan Micra

'14 Nissan Micra

'16 Hyundai i10

'18 Hyundai i10

Still driving at the age of 74, no plans yet to give up...

[TheOtherStu]

My Mum tells me she had a Triumph Herald convertible when she met my Dad.

I have no idea where her cars went so badly wrong. Not even a cheeky MX5 or SLK in her collection.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

1 hour ago, TheOtherStu said:

....when she met my Dad.

I have no idea where her cars went so badly wrong. ....

You may have answered your own question there.

[The Vicar]

On 10/27/2021 at 10:24 PM, Wibble said:

Another memory, must have been 1999 and Mum & Dad were on holiday, west coast of Ireland and the now Mrs Wibble and I went to join them. By then I had the Senator and we arrive to find Dad’s Legend had died. Just the battery but local suppliers had never seen a Honda Legend so took a few days to get a replacement. As I intended to be pissed most of the time I said he could use the Senator. He was then also pissed because it was such a better drive than his Legend!😆

Quite a coincidence that you should post this, because in 1999 my father bought a new Legend. Only 2 were sold in Ireland that year!

[motorpunk]

An Anglia, then an Escort van, then many Cortinas, then he discovered VW and loved ‘em - early Passat, a couple of Jettas which I loved, then a Vectra and since then back to Ford with a couple of new Mondeos. The last one he said “this’ll see me out” which made me very sad, thinking of him winding down in life.

[chris667]

On 10/27/2021 at 9:15 PM, Tadhg Tiogar said:

OT, but I wonder if there are any French Morris dancers?

I think it would be a Maurice dancer, non?

[Tadhg Tiogar]

5 minutes ago, chris667 said:

I think it would be a Maurice dancer, non?

Touché.

[1duck]

My dad had lots of chod before i was born, but in the time i've been alive.

Vw Passat

Renault 25  - Volvo Amazon

Renault 25 - Mercedes 280ce

Renault Safrane 

Renault Safrane

Fiat Tipo

Seat Ibiza

Ford fiesta

Fiat uno

Citroen AX

Fiat Panda

Kia rio

Honda Civic

A couple of micras

 

[Nullzwei]

What a great thread.

My dads cars... that i can remember.

VW Golf mark1 blue 4 door. Sometime in the late 70's.

Citroen GS estate. Blue. Like a space ship after the golf. Remember travelling all the way from Newcastle down to Cornwall on holiday in this as a kid.

Talbot Solara GL or GLS. Blue saloon. He put a vinyl roof on it, fitted a  solenoid to open the boot and had his initials on the bootlid.

Nissan Sunny estate. ~Red with beige interior. He did not like this much and gave it to my step brother.

Citroen BX 16rs. Mark 1. Beige. Learnt to drive in this car.

Citroen BX 14 Leader. Mark 2. White with the grey lower half with leader decals.

He liked his French cars.

 

 

[Wibble]

5 hours ago, The Vicar said:

Quite a coincidence that you should post this, because in 1999 my father bought a new Legend. Only 2 were sold in Ireland that year!

Wow! The road tax there must have been horrendous on that😬

[Eyersey1234]

My dad's first car was actually a van, some kind of Fiat. It blew up on him on the motorway and was replaced by a Singer Vogue. This was the car he had when he met mum. There then came a Mk2 Escort which he bought from mums cousins husband, then after I came along a B reg Nova. This car he crashed coming off the motorway and got banned for drink driving. After he got his licence back he got an A reg Maestro, followed by 2 C reg Montegos, a saloon then an estate, by this point he and mum had split. According to the DVLA the estate was first registered 1989 so why it got a C registration I have no idea. 

The 2nd Montego was replaced by another Nova, a F reg 1.0 Gem which was a povvo spec special edition, then a J reg Hyundai Pony X2 GSI, which didn't last long as it was too expensive to run. 2 more Fiestas followed, an A reg then a H reg, which was stolen. He got a C reg Metro for a few weeks followed by a G reg Maestro. After he lost his job he didn't have a car for a while, then had a A reg Polo then a G reg Granada, which the cambelt snapped on. This was replaced by a C reg Mazda 323 then a D reg Polo. This takes us to 2002 when he bit the HP bullet and got a P reg Punto. 

The Punto was replaced by a R reg Citroën Xantia, then a 03 reg Punto in 2004. After this he became a driving instructor for a while and had an 04 reg BINI followed by 2 Fiestas, a 55 then 06 reg. Another Punto followed, this time a 52 reg, then a 04 reg Galaxy. He then had a mid life crisis and bought a 02 reg Mazda MX5. Finally comes his current car, a 2010 Mondeo which he has had for several years and is looking at getting a 2016 Mondeo to replace it.