Dad cars

[Spiny Norman]

My Dad was primarily a Renault man during my early years, He had a Dauphine which I don't remember at all, followed by a 10 which I remember was a sort of maroon colour but that's as far as my recollection goes (I'd have been about 3 at the time) then 2 white 16s and the one I remember best of all, mainly because he had it for ages, a blue 16 auto. I can still remember the slightly odd engine note that car had, and the light grey PVC seats I enjoyed* during the summer of 76 when anything not made of steel or concrete melted. 
After that came a motley selection of chod, in retirement he didn't see the point of running a new expensive  car for popping to the shops so I think the order went, Morris 1800, Triumph Dolomite, Fiat 128 and the last car he owned outright before we reached an arrangement after I'd passed my test where I'd buy the car and he contributed to the running costs, a spectacularly AVAS example of an FE Victor which went from showroom to scrapyard through terminal rust in 6 years. 

This is it at 4 years old. 

[Metal Guru]

My Dad’s cars were:-

1963 Ford Popular 100E

1969 Bedford CA Utilabrake 

1976 Mk 3 Cortina 2.0XL

1979 Mk 4 Cortina 2.0GL estate 

1982 Mk5 Cortina 2.3 GL estate 

1985 Mk 2 Granada 2.3GL estate

1988 Volvo 740 2.3 GLE estate

1991 Volvo 940 2.3 GLE estate

1994 Jeep Cherokee 4.0 Limited

2000 Suzuki Vitara JX1.6

2004 Suzuki Grand Vitara GV1.6

2013 Suzuki Jimny 1.3 SZ4

 

[hairnet]

old man was skooterboi in very late 60s 

so prolly lambrettas etc - even tho i got into bikes early i never asked him about them (fool me)

but then he met mum in early 70s and cars

mk1 cortina gfd 927d (ive only ever seen one pic of it from the back)

mk3 tina saloon beige

victor fd that mum put in the ditch at the bottom of the grandparents boreen - i might have been 5 or 6 - cant remember how fucked it was but it got us home and there was no motorways

she'd not driven much and didnt after that until the xantia down there

cant remember how long it lasted but a mk3 tina estate happened - got called kermit

we helped hand paint it black - still dont know why he bothered - learned to bump start it on holiday in ireland after abba and bee gees caused the battery to go flat  (cough) - luckily the lane to the granny is halfway up the galtee so it aint flat - might have been 10 or 11

mk2 granny after that which hed possibly still have (1980 2.3gl auto) from 87 ish -  i loved that car and nicked it a few times to potter about in after i passed my test - he wouldnt cough 300 quid to sort the sills so it went 

for an f reg montego 1.6  - wasnt a bad car apart from rubbery gearchange

then bought the xantia of oof  - newest car hes ever bought 94 bought in 97 - xud non turbo and brilliant car never went wrong ate the miles although it didnt do mega until he started communting to rugby so it would do 250 miles every 3-4 days

so mum got that and he decided to buy a 99 daewoo musso - so merc underneath but he happened to buy one that decided it wanted to run on water - got given back to where he bought it and they paid for the engine to be rebuilt then he bought

an anal  2.5 v6 probe - great car apart from the very american interior which then decided to throw itself at a barrier on the m6 at 80

he was so impressed he bought another which  was kept for a bit then he bought

an e39 2.3 manual (why?!??!) - work paid for pez there was a diesel also but he said no - ya think he mighta cos 12 years with one and no issues

had that from 5 ish years old till the abs died and nowhere could fix it

then bought a mk3 mondeo diesel (04 plate i think) for 3 months until he retired which he gave to auntie mo

then bought a d max pick up - didnt like that so bought a chevy pick up (no idea and having been near it for a week i still dont know) - might have been a diesel? 15/16 plate maybe?

mad that he never did japanese stuff

[inconsistant]

 

Up to when I was about 7 my parents had a Fiat 850, a Viva HA van they added windows and a rear seat to to avoid car tax, then they had a run of second hand Vauxhall Vivas, a couple of them were HBs and then they had 3 or 4 HCs; 2 saloons, then two 2 door estates and these are the ones I remember being in the most. They had a white one then a very 70s bright yellowy orange one. I think I wrote a bit about these in the  ‘Vauxhall and I’ thread. I don’t have any photos of these. If any surface I’ll try to add them in future.

Then in 76 my dad got his first company car,  a P reg Marina 1.3 Super in vivid orangey red with beige vinyl interior. I kid you not, it was the most reliable car he ever had. We had it for 4 years from brand new and the only thing that went wrong was the handbrake wouldn’t release once due to a damaged/faulty ratchet. He added a radio to it, I remember him drilling a hole in the wing for the aerial. Unfortunately one time he had to brake hard and the tyre caught the bottom of it and bent it so he had to replace it, and changed the position so we had two holes in the wing. This is it in the background next to our neighbours Audi 100. The Marina was much brighter and more orange than this photo shows it. That's me with my Auntie.

That was replaced  with another company car, a V reg Cortina 2.0 GL in August 80 so I think it was the brand new reg no and everything. He had a choice of this or a 1.7HL Princess, which he was quite keen on as the Marina had been such a great car. I had to use all my cunning and car knowledge to try to talk him out of it, so was really happy when he went for a Ford, and risked the wrath of his Vauxhall loving, and employed, father and brother in doing so. He loved it and had a run of Fords all through the 80s. It was proper posh, front head restraints with a big square hole in the middle, cloth seats, radio, folding rear arm rest. It was beige with dark brown interior and fake wood plastic dashboard. It was a bit nippy too, at least compared to his previous cars. Can't find any photos of it.

For his next (company) car in 1984 we headed way upmarket again, to the heady heights of an Orion 1.6 Ghia. But not the 1.6i Ghia. Just the plain 1.6, so no red bumper piping, My dad din't care much for cars he  just knew that he, in common with Alexei Sayle, didn't like the poxy Sierra. I think  he was given the choice between a 2.0 GL Sierra or a 1.7HL Ambassador. He fancied another Ford as he liked the Cortina but I seem to recall he managed to convince the company car person that a hatchback wasn't suitable for his work needs due to the potential to get stuff nicked out of the boot or something like that, so they came up with the Orion as an alternative, as this was a couple of years before the Sapphire was launched. Because it was a smaller car and smaller engine he was allowed to upgrade to the Ghia spec. But not the 1.6i Ghia as that was too sporty and would give the wrong impression, apparently. It had such luxuries as digital roof mounted clock, tilt slide sunroof, radio cassette with 4 speakers and a joystick for balance/fade, rev counter, electric front windows, head rests front and back. Maybe even remote boot release. I think the rear seat backs might have folded too. Ooh, and central locking. I loved that car, we had it for 4 years and it’s the car I learned to drive in, along with lessons in a Datsun Sunny.

Here's photos of it with the neighbour's later Audi 100 in the background.

Here it is in the proper 1980s strength snow we used to get in the South East.

 

Here's the neighbours cars in the other direction

He replaced that with another Orion 1.6 Ghia in 1988, he wasn't that bothered about cars, so just went with more of what he knew and liked. This one was a dark blue F reg with a blue interior, and  the mk2 version had a better, faster engine and handled better, and had wider tyres but had been de-contented so didn’t feel anything like as plush as the previous one. We were still a one car family at this point so me, mum and dad all drove this car. I didn’t like that one as much so I showed my displeasure by ragging the tits of it at every available opportunity. I was clearly an ungrateful  twat as a teenager! This is the only photo I can find of it. It had the wrong front bumper/grill moulding from the factory. I can't remember the details but the Orion one was very slightly different from the Escort one, maybe the Orion had a body coloured strip and the Escort was black  and ours was black. Or something.

At this point we became a two car family as my mum got a low mileage 8 year old one owner from new Mini Mayfair. I loved that car. Here it is parked in front of our neighbours Audi 200 and Renault 11.

Then it gets more interesting car wise. He got made redundant in the early 90s, but found work almost immediately. The only car they had available was an Audi Coupe, so he ran that for a while and that was the first car he absolutely loved. It wasn't very luxuriously specced  but felt properly solid in a way German cars used to in the 1990s and 2000s. It was fairly brisk, I got to drive it too, which was, er, very fun. 

 

He only had the Audi Coupe a few months, until he got his proper company car, a Peugeot 405 GRDTRGRTDRT or something like that. it was a 19. turbo diesel so went nicely when the turbo was on boost and handled like a car that size shouldn't really be able to. 

My mum replaced her lovely Mini with a fucking Metro.

Dad replaced the Peugeot with this grey Audi A4, the first of at least four A4s including a couple of estates, the burgundy one was a really lovely car and would never do under 50mpg no matter how much I red lined it. He had A4s until he retired, then bought a used Saab 95 estate (no photos) The 95 was lovely, about 10 yrs old and one owner from new. It was either a 2.0 or 2.3 turbo so gathered pace very acceptably,. and wouldn't do more that 30mpg no matter how gently he drove it. I think he found the fuel consumption troubling after so may Audi A4 diesels so he traded it in for  a nearly new Saab 93 1.9turbo diesel estate. I didn't like the 93, it  felt very un Saab like compared to the 95, more like an over-priced Vauxhall made to look like a Saab. Funny that. 

 

He always wanted an Audi TT so he got himself an Audi TT which he kept for about 10 yrs and has only recently sold. Here is is just before he sold it with my 924 in the way.

My mum on the other hand, replaced her Metro 1.3 GS (Good Shopper) with my uncles cast off special edition shitty Astra which is still one of the nastiest cars I've ever driven.

She then inherited a Vauxhall Cavalier, a Blue 1.6 Auto which was big and capable but a bit bleak. Here it is in front of my awesome Mini Clubman Estate.

At this point my parents had the  Saab 93 and the TT and I lost interest in their cars because my other half  got a job with a company car and she chose a Rover 200vi which is probably a good place to stop the nostalgia fest. These photos are from  when she had to give it back after a year or two.

[hairnet]

no dis gm

 

[DoverShark]

My father had a1973 Audi 100 as a first car (Fizzy 50 came first) this was 1977 and I’ve always found this a rather left field choice. Aldi’s are everywhere now but a rare sight then.
 

Theres a cracking photo of it somewhere with him sat on the bonnet looking like an Osmond after he had painted the lower half silver.

This was replaced in 1980 with CVG 184T another green Audi this time an 80 estate or Avant.

Again fairly rare thing on UK roads. I’ll assume they weren’t as prestige as they are now as I was one at the time and Dad was barely out of his apprenticeship boots.

This was kept until around 1993 (the Audi 80 sport alloys were however kept and ended up on my first car, which I wrote off immediately in 1997) 

A 100 Avant.. in white! Replaced it, I think it was on an ‘E’ plate and was of course bigger than all my mates dad’s cars , his van, our house… the planet etc.

I don’t think he gelled with it and it was soon replaced with a 1991 Audi 90 in green! I think this was also a 2.3 20v.

Then he started buying Huyndai from around 1995, again before everyone else was. 
 

I never asked him why Audi or why one day he fancied a Huyndai. Obviously all Audis are sh*t, I had an A4 avant as a company car 2018-2022 and I didn’t like it.

I then got an Ioniq 5 and liked that, maybe the apple didn’t fall far from the tree 

 

 

[AltheJazzman]

On 1/5/2026 at 1:10 AM, Six-cylinder said:

So now you know where I get my bad habits from!

 

My late father liked cars, but my mother kept him from buying anything too exciting like a Mercedes W107 Convertible he took me to see once. However, he did do some man maths and had some half interesting cars.

His first car was Standard Flying 9 which he shared with my grandfather. My guess he would have had this pre war Standard in the mid 1950s.

 

I am not sure what he had next, but I know he had a Bedford CA utility while he was building our house in 1959.

The first car I remember was a Standard Vanguard Phase 1. That broke a piston and his friend towed us home with a Consul MK2. My father put a second hand engine in it and returned it to the road.

 

My father trained to be a carpenter joiner, but went on to take his exams to become a building surveyor. I can’t remember another personal car after the Vanguard so he may have gone into his first new company car which was a Ford Anglia 105E.

The next new company car was a 1963 Morris 1100 which we drove on holiday to Austria in.

 

Next Company car was passed down from his boss and was a 1964 Austin Cambridge Estate. I remember being fascinated it had a radiator blind that was operated from the dashboard with a thin round bobble chain.

 

Next was back to new. 1965 Vauxhall Victor 101 Estate.

 

1968 my farther sent me to the garage to get something from his car. Well, that was a surprise there was a new car, a Vauxhall Victor FD 2000SL saloon. I remember him saying the parcel shelve cost extra. He was a manager for a building company with several sites spread from London to Leicestershire and did 55,000 miles in 18 months by which time it as worn out.

 

My father took us to the Earls Court Motor Show and us boys spotted a Toyota Crown and he liked it as well, enough to test drive. His boss and my mother agreed he could have it. Time moved on and the Crown had not been ordered and my mother started nagging saying they needed it for our holiday to Austria. I nearly fell off my bicycle when he drove past me in a Mercedes. He was out with his boss and they spotted a 4 year old Mercedes 220SB. They thought it might last longer than another new Vauxhall or the unknow Toyota Crown.

 

Unfortunately, the building company he worked for didn’t get paid by a developer and went bust. The Mercedes had to be handed back.

He went to work for another builder and was given a MK1 Ford Escort 1100 base, in peeling silver fox pool car before they ordered him a new car. He was not happy with the job or Escort and moved to another job where he had to provide his own car initially and bought himself a 1960 VW Beetle as a stop gap.

Then he decided to work for himself as a surveyor and bought a 1960 Jaguar Mk2 3.4 Automatic.

 

My father was then given the opportunity to start his own building company and build houses. He gave the Jaguar MK2 to my mother to use for shopping and errands and took the 1960 Beetle back for a work car. My mother did have a 1957 Beetle small oval that the 1960 one replaced.

The Jaguar Mk2 was replaced with an S-Type 3.8 Auto because my mother found the MK2 steering was too heavy and the S Type had power steering.

 

 You may think the cut off photos of the earlier cars was my farther or I could not frame a picture properly, but this is not true. The car pictures were cut out of family photos of people or scenery accidently captured.

The Beetle was replaced with a 1972 Citroen GS1220 Club about 18 moths old. The S-Type was kept for many years as my mother’s errand car and family outing car including a trip to Austria.

 

When the Jaguar S Type needed more work than my father was prepared to do a new patten of owning two Citroens at a time was implemented. My mother was getting the newer car usually about a year old when purchased and the older car would be cascaded to my father as a work car.

There a selection of Citroen, but I can’t remember the exact order they came in.

N reg Citroen GS 1220 Club white

L reg Citroen GS in white

 

W reg Citroen Visa 2-cylinder red

S reg Citroen GS X2 brown

 

R reg Citroen GS 1220 Pallas silver

 

X reg Citroen GSA 1130cc Special white

 

Then came the BX era starting was an A reg BX 16RS

 

C reg BX 19GT white

 

E reg BX 19GTi red

K reg BX 19GTi red

 

Unfortunately, I lost my father comparatively early in 1995. My mother kept the K reg BX GTi for many years, eventually it came to me and I still have it.

I love this post, especially all the inherited pictures of (presumably) you as a youngster. My excuse about the weirdly cropped photos is that my Dad really was a useless photographer. That's quite a Citroen obsession. That would have been considered properly weird back then, back when French cars were really odd innovative.

The S-Type 3.8 appears to be rusty already on the lower edges of the doors in that photo?

The Toyota Crown might have been a bad choice after all, as even though we associate Toyota with infinite reliability now, early Japanese cars had terrible rust proofing, or rather lack of. The Mercedes was truly built to last.

[AltheJazzman]

15 hours ago, inconsistant said:

 

Up to when I was about 7 my parents had a Fiat 850, a Viva HA van they added windows and a rear seat to to avoid car tax, then they had a run of second hand Vauxhall Vivas, a couple of them were HBs and then they had 3 or 4 HCs; 2 saloons, then two 2 door estates and these are the ones I remember being in the most. They had a white one then a very 70s bright yellowy orange one. I think I wrote a bit about these in the  ‘Vauxhall and I’ thread. I don’t have any photos of these. If any surface I’ll try to add them in future.

Then in 76 my dad got his first company car,  a P reg Marina 1.3 Super in vivid orangey red with beige vinyl interior. I kid you not, it was the most reliable car he ever had. We had it for 4 years from brand new and the only thing that went wrong was the handbrake wouldn’t release once due to a damaged/faulty ratchet. He added a radio to it, I remember him drilling a hole in the wing for the aerial. Unfortunately one time he had to brake hard and the tyre caught the bottom of it and bent it so he had to replace it, and changed the position so we had two holes in the wing. This is it in the background next to our neighbours Audi 100. The Marina was much brighter and more orange than this photo shows it. That's me with my Auntie.

That was replaced  with another company car, a V reg Cortina 2.0 GL in August 80 so I think it was the brand new reg no and everything. He had a choice of this or a 1.7HL Princess, which he was quite keen on as the Marina had been such a great car. I had to use all my cunning and car knowledge to try to talk him out of it, so was really happy when he went for a Ford, and risked the wrath of his Vauxhall loving, and employed, father and brother in doing so. He loved it and had a run of Fords all through the 80s. It was proper posh, front head restraints with a big square hole in the middle, cloth seats, radio, folding rear arm rest. It was beige with dark brown interior and fake wood plastic dashboard. It was a bit nippy too, at least compared to his previous cars. Can't find any photos of it.

For his next (company) car in 1984 we headed way upmarket again, to the heady heights of an Orion 1.6 Ghia. But not the 1.6i Ghia. Just the plain 1.6, so no red bumper piping, My dad din't care much for cars he  just knew that he, in common with Alexei Sayle, didn't like the poxy Sierra. I think  he was given the choice between a 2.0 GL Sierra or a 1.7HL Ambassador. He fancied another Ford as he liked the Cortina but I seem to recall he managed to convince the company car person that a hatchback wasn't suitable for his work needs due to the potential to get stuff nicked out of the boot or something like that, so they came up with the Orion as an alternative, as this was a couple of years before the Sapphire was launched. Because it was a smaller car and smaller engine he was allowed to upgrade to the Ghia spec. But not the 1.6i Ghia as that was too sporty and would give the wrong impression, apparently. It had such luxuries as digital roof mounted clock, tilt slide sunroof, radio cassette with 4 speakers and a joystick for balance/fade, rev counter, electric front windows, head rests front and back. Maybe even remote boot release. I think the rear seat backs might have folded too. Ooh, and central locking. I loved that car, we had it for 4 years and it’s the car I learned to drive in, along with lessons in a Datsun Sunny.

Here's photos of it with the neighbour's later Audi 100 in the background.

Here it is in the proper 1980s strength snow we used to get in the South East.

 

Here's the neighbours cars in the other direction

He replaced that with another Orion 1.6 Ghia in 1988, he wasn't that bothered about cars, so just went with more of what he knew and liked. This one was a dark blue F reg with a blue interior, and  the mk2 version had a better, faster engine and handled better, and had wider tyres but had been de-contented so didn’t feel anything like as plush as the previous one. We were still a one car family at this point so me, mum and dad all drove this car. I didn’t like that one as much so I showed my displeasure by ragging the tits of it at every available opportunity. I was clearly an ungrateful  twat as a teenager! This is the only photo I can find of it. It had the wrong front bumper/grill moulding from the factory. I can't remember the details but the Orion one was very slightly different from the Escort one, maybe the Orion had a body coloured strip and the Escort was black  and ours was black. Or something.

At this point we became a two car family as my mum got a low mileage 8 year old one owner from new Mini Mayfair. I loved that car. Here it is parked in front of our neighbours Audi 200 and Renault 11.

Then it gets more interesting car wise. He got made redundant in the early 90s, but found work almost immediately. The only car they had available was an Audi Coupe, so he ran that for a while and that was the first car he absolutely loved. It wasn't very luxuriously specced  but felt properly solid in a way German cars used to in the 1990s and 2000s. It was fairly brisk, I got to drive it too, which was, er, very fun. 

 

He only had the Audi Coupe a few months, until he got his proper company car, a Peugeot 405 GRDTRGRTDRT or something like that. it was a 19. turbo diesel so went nicely when the turbo was on boost and handled like a car that size shouldn't really be able to. 

My mum replaced her lovely Mini with a fucking Metro.

Dad replaced the Peugeot with this grey Audi A4, the first of at least four A4s including a couple of estates, the burgundy one was a really lovely car and would never do under 50mpg no matter how much I red lined it. He had A4s until he retired, then bought a used Saab 95 estate (no photos) The 95 was lovely, about 10 yrs old and one owner from new. It was either a 2.0 or 2.3 turbo so gathered pace very acceptably,. and wouldn't do more that 30mpg no matter how gently he drove it. I think he found the fuel consumption troubling after so may Audi A4 diesels so he traded it in for  a nearly new Saab 93 1.9turbo diesel estate. I didn't like the 93, it  felt very un Saab like compared to the 95, more like an over-priced Vauxhall made to look like a Saab. Funny that. 

 

He always wanted an Audi TT so he got himself an Audi TT which he kept for about 10 yrs and has only recently sold. Here is is just before he sold it with my 924 in the way.

My mum on the other hand, replaced her Metro 1.3 GS (Good Shopper) with my uncles cast off special edition shitty Astra which is still one of the nastiest cars I've ever driven.

She then inherited a Vauxhall Cavalier, a Blue 1.6 Auto which was big and capable but a bit bleak. Here it is in front of my awesome Mini Clubman Estate.

At this point my parents had the  Saab 93 and the TT and I lost interest in their cars because my other half  got a job with a company car and she chose a Rover 200vi which is probably a good place to stop the nostalgia fest. These photos are from  when she had to give it back after a year or two.

I see your penchant for taking photos with deliberate obstructions started young? People, trees, and even entire cars partly blocking the subject matter.

The poor Metro never gets any love compared to the Mini, despite BL's efforts in calling it the Mini Metro initially, and even using the same A series engine. Is it just the ugly looks, or an internal hate for 80's BL cars?

Also, why did you hate the Astra so intensely but thought the Cavalier was "capable"? They must have been fairly similar?

I think we're all old enough to get nostalgic about a Rover 200vi. I've been watching Mike Fernie on Youtube restore his MG ZR160, which is essentially the same body shape / platform as the above.

[AnnoyingPentium]

I was going to say I'll make some here feel a bit old but see @Weird Car has already pipped me to that one.

My Dad started out with a D-reg Nova Merit 1.2 that eventually got stuffed into a ditch (followed in his footsteps there). He sold it in 1996 and it lasted till about 2000.

This was replaced by a 1990 Nova SR 1.4 - which received Weber 40s among other bits and pieces. Still on the road but on another plate, the lad who has it got in touch with me after buying. Kept this until I was born, then it was shuffled about his mates when I was growing up.

At some point he inherited this Cavalier too, from his Grandad.

That was sold at the same time as the D-reg Nova I think.

Later he went on to have Celicas, starting with a GT-Four Carlos Sainz.

My Grampa's Vectra B at the back got used extensively as a practical car when more doors were needed - partly why I bought mine I suspect.

This GT-Four got sold, for an ST205 that got a respray in orange. He had this up until passing in 2007. Not certain this one is still about, but there was a logbook issued about eight years ago...

On top of this there was about a dozen Mk1 Puntos, a Mk3 Astra Arctic, some Cavaliers,  and a Mk2 Punto (brand new). Certainly explains my taste in cars anyway.

[vanmartinrooy]

My dad always spent all his meagre wages on the biggest house he could afford, and refused to buy anything on credit, so we had some right shitters growing up

I came along in the early 80s, at which point they had a mk2 Cortina. This was replaced by:

White Hillman Avenger saloon (which I don't remember)

Red Chrysler Avenger estate full of rust holes (which I most certainly do). After an especially bleak family trip in which it wouldn't go over 50mph on the M4, this was replaced by a:

Black 3dr Chevette estate. This came from a local military base and ran around the site unregistered for the first few years of its life, so ended up on a C plate - this got us police attention once or twice. We used to see a few identical ones round the local area. It was a Chevette E, which seems to be a spec so miserable they didn't even offer it for general sale 😂. Nevertheless it survived for 11-12 years, ending its days covered in orange rust paint and being started with a screwdriver.

My mum got a job in the late 80s, which required a second car - this was a silver Fiat Panda with a full length canvas double sunroof, which to a 7 year old was f**king awesome. To be fair, it still is to a 43 year old.

1991 brought the flashing of cash and a maritime blue F reg Sierra 2.0GL estate arrived - this was very shiny and flashy at the time and impressed everyone with its electric windows and the joystick thing to control the speakers. It was, however, a cut and shut (which he knew about), and over time the back half ended up a different colour to the front 😆

As my mum hated driving the Panda, this was sold and the Chevette lived on as a second car. This fleet soldiered on for a number of years, until it was time for me to learn to drive - the Chevette was finally retired and replaced by... another Panda. As my mum hated that too, she drove the Sierra, and four of us squeezed into the Panda every morning to get to work/school. 

I passed my test, drove the Panda for a bit and then got a G reg Astra for myself. A year later this failed the MOT spectacularly and at the same time the Sierra died, leaving us with one Panda as sole family transport. Thus follows a story which I often tell people to explain how my dad works - he found a J reg Sierra estate for 850 in the freeads, so I gave him a lift to collect it in the Panda. It had just had a new water pump, so he left it running to warm up while they went indoors to do the paperwork - at this point I noticed blue smoke starting to pour out of the exhaust. Raised the alarm and we left in the Panda, Sierra-less. Came home a few days later to find a brand new Citroen Picasso in the drive - he'd gone down to the dealer and handed over 11.5k in cash for it 😂

All cars from this point on were brand new - there followed another 04 plate Picasso in a few years, which was a surprisingly reliable horse of a car, followed by a 13 plate Zafira and now the current steed - a 23 plate Dacia Duster.

Meanwhile the Panda blew its head gasket spectacularly while I was driving it down the M3, and was replaced by a brand new 52 Fiesta which was a decent little car. There  followed a midlife crisis moment in 2008 in which he sold the Fiesta and bought an 05 Toyota Celica - being a Toyota this has continued to provide sterling service up until this very day, as it's now been inherited by me 😀

 

 

[Six-cylinder]

4 hours ago, AltheJazzman said:

I love this post, especially all the inherited pictures of (presumably) you as a youngster. My excuse about the weirdly cropped photos is that my Dad really was a useless photographer. That's quite a Citroen obsession. That would have been considered properly weird back then, back when French cars were really odd innovative.

The S-Type 3.8 appears to be rusty already on the lower edges of the doors in that photo?

The Toyota Crown might have been a bad choice after all, as even though we associate Toyota with infinite reliability now, early Japanese cars had terrible rust proofing, or rather lack of. The Mercedes was truly built to last.

When my dad decided to change the Beetle I would have been about 15 years old. I helped him compile a list of about 6 cars to look at. Alfa Giulia, Peugeot 305, Fiat 128, Citroen GS and I can't remember the other two. He viewed and test drove the list and he liked the Citroen GS the best. In addition to his last BX that I still own, I also bought the silver GS 1220 Pallas and brown GS X2 from him in the mid 1980's as stop gap cars. This is how I ended up with 12 working Citroen and other project Citroens!

I loved that S-Type and occasionally I was allowed to take it to collage. I wish I had bought it, but I had just bought my first house and a project E-Type.

I think the S-Type Jaguar was about 9 years old when he bought it and my guess by my Herald 13/60 in the background the photo dates to about 1980, 15 years old. I think he kept it for another couple of years after that, I had moved out when he sold it. Bearing it mind, it was a 1960's Jaguar it was in good shape and held together pretty well. Yes it got rust spots on the door bottoms and my father did the giffer thing and rubbed them back and painted the bad bits with red oxide paint.

If he had bought the Crown, doing something like 35,000 miles a year he would have worn it out before it rusted away!