Neighbours motors / noteable motors around where you grew up...

[Lord Sterling]

So, we've had a Parents/Mum/Dad's motors thread and a school teachers cars thread. So I thought I'd knock this one up...

(On a side note, I'll always get the right colour and spec of car in pictures if I can)

Early on in my human existence, I grew up on a private housing estate in Telford, Shropshire. The people who lived there were mostly young up coming professionals with young families or older retired folk.

On the one side of our semi-detached we had a neighbour, Tony and Tracy (kind of fancied her, but I was too young) and their young son Stuart (and eventually Mark). Tony and family moved in a year or two after we did, he worked at the Ironbridge Power Station and had a Ford Capri at first, this was then chopped in for a blue Rover Montego that he used to religiously wash every weekend, he kept it absolutely immaculate, buffed up;

Eventually the Montego made way for a Rover 216 GSi in diamond white. Again, Tony would always keep it absolutely immaculate:

Tony would have been a year or two younger than my Dad but he kept his garden, house and cars in absolute tip-top condition. His cars were always garaged too. 

In later years I saw Tony when visiting the estate, I last saw him some years back when I had my white Rover Sterling on the road. At the time he had a Vectra C and some AC Cobra kit-car thing in his garage (pic of actual estate and his car)

That is his actual Vectra C and you can just see my old house to the right.

(On a side note; upon visiting the estate this year 2024 with Father_Sterling in tow, we met quite a few of the neighbours recently and heard that Tony had passed away a few years earlier which was a shock to me)

On the other side, a door up at the start of a series of 6 bungalows, we had another Tony and his wife Rosalie, they had two children, Ben and Judy of which Ben was my friend. They seemed to be a rough and ready family who'd have suited living on a farm, but extremely kind and warm people, which was a great relief, especially in an estate of young execs trying to climb the greasy ladder. Tony, who worked at Wolverhampton tyre plant had a black Saab 900 Turbo and Rose had an extremely scabby blue Metro:

The Saab broke down not too long afterwards and spent probably the best part of a year or two parked on the pavement (on the days before SORN was a thing) I vaguely remember Tony having a green 70s Japanese saloon car with a very small engine that Ben hated which was transport for the broken Saab;

I don't remember exactly what it was though. I also vaguely remember that they might have had another car on the driveway, as I distinctly remember only the Metro just squeezing on to what was basically a 3 car long driveway (they'd converted their garage into an extra room) because of various things on the driveway, possibly because the Saab got moved there. The Saab eventually got taken away, Ben mentioned that it made loud noises as it was moved.

Next door to Ben briefly lived an Italian or Spanish businessman, he spoke French as did I at the time, he was always jetting off to various places so was rarely ever there, he lived there briefly with his Asian (Chinese or Japanese) wife. He drove an Alfa Romeo 164 in silver:

A couple more doors up was an old retired buffer and his equally elderly wife. They were the archetypal retired old buffers living in a bungalow with neatly kept gardens and a clean tarmacked driveway. Early on they had a metallic blue Fiat Argenta, now I don't know if it actually belonged to the old chap or a visitor as it wasn't always there (I assumed it was parked in the garage. The image below is exactly how it looked, same colour and wheels when I saw all those years ago in the late 80s.

Opposite him and Ben's bungalows was another bungalow that had a very long drive, there lived an old retired couple, they were very nice showing their flowers and giving us pop. They drove a black Nissan Cherry which they parked nicely on their freshly tarmacked drive.

Next to them were a young couple also in a bungalow, they didn't seem to be there long. Possibly yuppies as they drove a whale-taled Sierra RS Cosworth in Moonstone.

----------

As a nipper, because both Mum and Dad worked, I was often looked after by babysitters. The first one lived 1 door down from us. She seemed like a young lass and I vaguely remember she seemed to live on her own, her house was exactly like ours except that the garage had already been converted early in the housing estates existence. I remember she drove a Mk2 Ford Escort estate in some light blue colour with vinyl seats, so I am well aware of what those felt like in summer.

Another babysitter also had a car but I honestly don't remember what it was, it might have been Golf, or a Fiesta or something unremarkable. She lived with her parents so presumably was still young, her parents loved in a nice posh house near Wellington, Telford and they had a red Jaguar XJS which I remember they made a bit of a fuss about:

Back to my estate and the babysitter with the Mk2 Escort estate had left by the mid 90s, in came a nice lady with what I recall to be ample chestage, and her husband/boyfriend. She had a rather snazzy and (then) modern Citroen ZX in red, it might have even been a 16v, and he had a (what I thought at the time) sad early Mk3 Escort estate in that light Blue.

Opposite them and us in a corner house was little John and his tall wife who looked like Stevie Nicks' ugly tall sister and their sons Gavin and Steven both of whom were proper tossers.  John had a Fiat Ritmo that was always parked in the garage, apparently because it had broken down, later on he had some sort of Rover R8 200 that he kept and ran for many years.

Next door to him were a young couple, all I remember of that was that they had a Green Mk1 Astra with a "Fat Willys" sticker in the window.

A few doors up from them was a youngish chap who had a red 88' Astra GTE, his driveway was unusually short so he parked sideways on to the garage. Sadly, us kids being knobs would play football on the road and I once kicked the football too high and it landed on his bonnet 😳

A little further up was this:

Now, I think this bloke used to work for Ford, I recall seeing that he had another Fiesta in the back garden, I believe it got there through another garage door at the back as there is no other way into his garden as it's all walled off.

Over the road from Fiesta man was this:

This family always had this VW camper from way back when I was a kid, they still have it now, so it clearly of sentimental value to them. Of they also had a late Rover Mini on the driveway. I knew the daughter as she'd play out with us sometimes. 

Further up the road was a Taxi driver, he had a big driveway and a nice white garage door, easily enough for 2 or 3 cars at a squeeze but there was only ever his MG Montego taxi on the driveway, it was always parked in the same way facing the window and not the garage:

Further up from Taxi Montego was a house that had a Fiat 131 (? Or some sort of saloon Fiat) and a Fiat Uno that was always parked on some patio stones nicely and professionally laid out in front of the front door, it was always parked backwards.

Opposite them was a semi-detached that had some unremarkable cars until the early 90s when suddenly a Mk2 Cortina appeared on the driveway, it didn't look overly used and sat on the driveway for a fair few years until it disappeared probably sometime in the late 90s.

Literally the only view I had of the Mk2 Cortina.

Back down the road and around the corner from us in a small cul-de-sac was a lady called Sandra, she had a Mk3 Fiesta XR2i in red, I always marvelled at how superior it was to my Mum's basic Mk3 Fiesta 1.0 Popular Plus. For a while she seemed to have a boyfriend who had a Mk3 Cavalier SRi, he looked like a typical 90s salesman in a white shirt and tie.

A couple of doors up from her was ginger Ashley, his Dad had a driving school Mk2 Fiesta. Over the road was Toni and her brother Dean, their Mum always had a Mk3 Escort XR3i of some description.

At the top of the estate was my mate Christopher, his Mum Diane and his Dad (don't remember his name) they always had a Blue Volvo 340 GL:

Right opposite them were former Essex people Clayton and his son Danny who was my mate and his family. They lived in an extended end-house with a 2 car driveway, his Mum worked for Avon cosmetics and his Dad apparently was a Rover mechanic, when I met Dan, his Mum had a Green Mk2 Cavalier and his Dad Clayton had a white Rover 827 Vitesse:

Dan's parents' cars were always backed into the drive and the Cavalier was always parked in front of the garage. Later on, they moved into an older former council house less than a mile away but out of the estate, the green Cavalier disappeared and the White Rover stayed for a long while, we got taken out in it a few times, it was great to be driven in that and remember when my my old man had the Sterling.

Dan and his family would have moved onto the estate a good few years after myself and Father_Sterling had moved to Brussels, but I came back a couple of years later and lived the last couple of years on the estate with Mum before we moved out

When Danny lived in the 2nd house out of our estate, as it was literally 2 minutes away, we hung about together as we were approaching our teens. In our teens he took me to see a Mk1 820 Fastback in white which sported the area G??? KYG, this intrigued as my Dad's Sterling was D233 KYG, however, apart from being supplied by the same garage, there wasn't much more to see.

A new start

In 1993 I left the UK for Brussels, but was back by 1994/5 through no choice of my own due to Dad's long-term hospitalisation. We lived on the estate for a couple more years before the house was repossessed by the bank (arseholes 😡) and we ended up in a damp council flat in Dawley, Telford, near my school.

Our flat was 2 story building with a flat upstairs and one downstairs. They had seperate entrances. When we arrived, I was quite intrigued by old boy upstairs who had a Blue Escort estate on the driveway which used to be his front garden, it rarely ever moved. We didn't have a driveway so Mum parked her Fiesta on the wide pavement. 

My school was literally a stones throw from our flat. All I had to do was cross our road into Manor Road, pass a row of houses and there I was, at school. In the middle of the row of houses was a house with overgrown grass and 2 cars parked on it but tight upside the boundary hedge, one was a Blue Mini with a tacky bodykit and the other a dilapidated looking early MG Maestro:

I used to think, if youve got 2 cars, why arent you using them, I would! I actually remember helping him push the Maestro to get it started, I think he started using it from then.

Another couple of notable cars were a Silver Mk1 Rover Sterling onna driveway opposite my school, it was always a dream of mine to own it;

And down the road was a house that always had a nice e34 5-series upside the narrow driveway on the side of the house:

To Brussels;

Nothing much to note, we lived deep in the hustle and bustle of the city, some of the places we lived required on-street parking, if not, my Dad would invariably have a vehicle that didn't fit in the underground parking (Citroen C15 van with a roof rack for example).

One apartment we lived in for a long while which had on-street parking, we had a Belgian-French neighbour who lived in the building next door to us with his wife and 2 daughters, he owned and drove an early Renault 25 in gold:

When he came to sell, it was going stupidly cheap (think early 00s prices) I think he wanted the equivalent of £150 or something, but my Dad, being my Dad didn't buy it, even when a friend of his suggested buying it as a project for me! He just flatly refused 😤 😞 stating the usual of "they're not good sellers" and "Renaults don't have a good reputation" etc... so ends up buying some of the shitest cars just because they'd be easy to sell on/hold their value or whatever. I think this is the reason why I buy cars I actually like rather than what's "good for me".

[wesacosa]

One of my school friends lived across the road with his single mother.  Imagine the excitement when I noticed one day she had replaced her knackered mk2 Granada pre facelift with a Celica XT.   One of his many "uncles" also used to visit in a black early 70s Corvette 

Other memorable friends parents cars were an early mk1 Panda and a few Talbot Horizons 

Another friends mum had series 3 jags, then two Mk2 Granadas and finally a red over sliver Cortina Crusader which inspired me to get one years later 

I also remember a neighbour having a lovely Avenger automatic and one bloke who had an Acona S/R which strangely he always used to start up with the door open and only close it when it fired up 

[sierraman]

We had this real wanker type called John that lived on our street, he always drove like right dick in his Rover 820E. Further down my school chums dad had a Sierra diesel taxi, an old guy called Tom had a terracotta Astra Mk1 covered in scabs then latterly a Metro with a big ‘Another Wadham Kenning Car!’ sticker in the back window. Next to them a really old chap had a new Carina E every 2 years or so, always in a right cheerful breezy colour like turquoise. Across the road a bloke my dad used to call ‘Bill the Bag’ had a maroon Sierra with XR2i trims on. Either side of us were two complete opposites, attached to us they had a pale blue Montego that had been repainted in aerosols and a Cabstar. Then the house to the other side were quite high up in a scaffolding firm so had a succession of big new Ford estates, new Mondeo when it came out 93etc. 

[Rust Collector]

Walking to school in the early noughties, there was somebody on Western Road in Newhaven who owned a Pontiac Firebird. I remember desperately wanting to own it as an 11 year old 🤣

No picture as it’s too far back for Google etc., but from memory it was vaguely like this:

Although now I’m doubting myself and thinking it might’ve been a gold one.

Either way, it’s one of the first cars I remember desperately wanting after seeing it.

 

[hairnet]

from 3 or 4 till 18 (1992)

lived 3 from the end of a dead end road with a school as the dead end

across the road old leo had a marina

the chap next to him bordering the school had a 3 door austin or morris 1300

next door to us nell had a mk1 fiesta

next door to them next to the school patsy the builder bought a brand new 208 merc van (84 i think)

next door the other way albert who worked for rumbelows had an avenger estate then they gave him a 3 door escort mk4 estate

old polish couple next to them - dont think they drove

next to them mr almond - 70s vw beetle which we used to blag a lift in when he put it away in the garage at the bottom of his garden via the cobbled entry round the back of the houses

then couple up from him was john - who had a 80s lancia delta

other side there was a chap who would come home dressed in a suit in a red tr7

which we would ask him to pop the lights on

then round the corner in the dead end street (there was an allotment that ran from the school for at least half a mile towards the main rd and the three block of terraces had the cobbles behind them_

mk1 cavalier 

then back out on our road - purple triumph stag which one summer - me riding a raleigh strika (borrowed) doing a top speed run

t boned the stag as he did a uey to face out the right way to the main road

passenger door got a 8 inch round dent in it

 

[Floatylight]

Notable ones from the village where i grew up in from the 80's

A school friend who's Dad had a mint Datsun Violet, rare at the time and never seen another, this was the family Sunday car, the daily was a Sierra 2.3d that ended up bending in half due to having a full snap on tool box in the back with all the tools to fix coaches, then used to tow the coaches to a place of safety.

Next door to them a guy who drove round in all manner of old snotters, seemed to change cars monthly and i remember all sorts of end of life bangers, driven with some vigour, wouldn't want to meet him coming the other way in the lanes.

 

[hairnet]

2 minutes ago, hairnet said:

from 3 or 4 till 18 (1992)

lived 3 from the end of a dead end road with a school as the dead end

across the road old leo had a marina

the chap next to him bordering the school had a 3 door austin or morris 1300

next door to us nell had a mk1 fiesta

next door to them next to the school patsy the builder bought a brand new 208 merc van (84 i think)

next door the other way albert who worked for rumbelows had an avenger estate then they gave him a 3 door escort mk4 estate

old polish couple next to them - dont think they drove

next to them mr almond - 70s vw beetle which we used to blag a lift in when he put it away in the garage at the bottom of his garden via the cobbled entry round the back of the houses

then couple up from him was john - who had a 80s lancia delta

other side there was a chap who would come home dressed in a suit in a red tr7

which we would ask him to pop the lights on

then round the corner in the dead end street (there was an allotment that ran from the school for at least half a mile towards the main rd and the three block of terraces had the cobbles behind them_

mk1 cavalier 

then back out on our road - purple triumph stag which one summer - me riding a raleigh strika (borrowed) doing a top speed run

t boned the stag as he did a uey to face out the right way to the main road

passenger door got a 8 inch round dent in it

 

edit we had a mk3 tina estate kermit green which we hand painted black

learned to drive in it aged 9 on holiday when listening to the radio flattened the battery and taught how to bump it down the slope to the lane (in reverse )

in that 2 weeks drove it to the lane at the main (!) road (just about single track) - the lane was only used by one other family further up and youd hear whenever they came and went

[hairnet]

3 minutes ago, Floatylight said:

Notable ones from the village where i grew up in from the 80's

A school friend who's Dad had a mint Datsun Violet

 

grandad had one of them ovr 941w - might have been from new? have ALWAYS wanted one

they retired and bought a mk1 fiesta and took it to ireland

they bought a 90s starlet (surprise) after that

[beko1987]

I can't beat that effort bar set by posting frigging pictures but when we lived in Martinsbridge Peterborough (a shit hole estate) I remember :

My friend Luke's dad's blue Sierra estate

Vw polo breadvan

Many mk3 fiestas

A friend Craig's dad had a BX GTI which I sat in once

Same friends dad got an S reg 3 door clio in that burnt orange colour probably the week they came out in an S Plate in the 'new' shape. We went for a drive in that, I remember thinking it was awesome! 

When I moved from the local primary school to the local secondary school a few miles away, one of the local mums drove 4 of us there and picked us up every day for some money each month. She drove a g or J cavalier in red, with the velour interior. Sadly her son was a prick and I was glad when we moved really close to that school but I remember the car. Hereward FM played some made up song on the breakfast show one morning which was very rude and the next morning they read out an apology 😂

Once my grandad had someone over parked at their house who had an identical red astra mk3 hatch, with the next finishing letter sequence on the numberplate (both J plates iirc) . At the time I didn't know wtf he was on about but now thinking back I get it! 

[barefoot]

Everyone in our street owned 1100's.

[tooSavvy]

At the bottom of our street, when a kid, was an old guy and he used to open his garage doors and roll out his met blue H120 Rapier... About '68/9 so new new 😯

 

🚙💨

[grogee]

Up the road I used to pass a white Mini 1275GT which I thought was cool and a different one ended up being my first car. Preferred a Clubman ever since. 

Next to it was a VW T2 pickup in matt green owned by the weird builder. It was fucking shit, really noisy with a pointlessly high load bed. Hated it. 

For a while there was a Mk1 Mazda 323 that was abandoned in the car park opposite our house, it gathered warning stickers and was eventually towed away to be cubed. 

There were a few more highlights in my Devonshire village but nobody had any money so none of them were very exciting. One teacher had a Panda with the black and white splodges, and another had a Colt Sapporo that looked mean AF. 

The violin teacher had a Wizzkid so that's also cool. 

[eddyramrod]

How far back do you want to go?

I was born in 1959 and after a few months we moved to the house I remember, where I stayed until I was 28.  This was a 1920s three-bed semi in a crescent of similar houses, all with driveways.  So... next door attached didn't have a car, he had a motorbike, until he replaced it with a grey Rover 90 P4, ECM 903.  He replaced that with a Zircon Blue P6 2000TC, JRN 823H and later a Reynard Marina 4-door, VOX 577T.  That was his last car.

We lived at number 61, so next door was 59.  57 didn't have a car.  55 had a red Minor van, 788 ALV, which never moved for years, even when he bought a white Cortina mk3 estate.  He was a teacher, and somewhat Basil Fawlty, so best given a wide berth anyway.  53 had a Goodwood Green 307E van, same as my dad's: WWM 444 where ours was XWM 234.  He later had an ADO 16 in a similar colour.

63 never had a car all the time I was there, but they did have a lovely brick garage and corresponding beautifully-paved driveway.  I remember 65 having an aqua-green ADO 16, much later than no53's; J or K reg.  Further up was a chap who had a succession of company Cortinas: his son had a series of Capris, being somewhat older than me.  Next door lived Carol and Anne,  two sisters who would play with me and my sis and whose mum (no visible dad) had a red-over-white Audax Minx with fins.  It always looked so much more glamorous to three-year-old me than my dad's (previous series) grey/blue one, which preceded his aforementioned van.

As time went on, new people moved into 57, with a black Austin A110 Westminster, DUL 920C, and a small collection of Velocette motorbikes.  The Austin was replaced with a silver Cortina, JOE 23E.  Yeah, how much would that plate be worth now!

Across from us, up beyond Carol and Anne, there was a 1920s box-saloon which was garaged, but I remember seeing it coming and going from time to time in my primary-school years.  No idea what happened to it, or even what it actually was.  Coming closer, there was an old dear who had an air-cooled Fiat 500, and next door to her, a chap with a collection of microcars.  I can remember several Bonds and Messerschmitts - not individually but as a lasting impression.  I don't think he ever had more than about three at once.  There's another gap, then Jack and Edna Pope and their two sons, both older than me.  Edna sang in the choir with my mum.  The older son, Richard, built himself a mustard-yellow Lotus Europa, NNU 554J, which he let me sit in one day.  His kid brother William was about ten years older than me so I remember his first few cars: two Minis and an A40.  One of them carried 853 GOE; might have been the A40 but I'm not sure.  Jack had a brown Triumph Toledo until he died, after which Edna took it over until she replaced it with a brown Volvo 343.  I had my brown Toledo during the time he had his.

Next to the Popes was Mrs Wade, who didn't drive; but eventually was replaced by a couple whose name I don't remember.  I do, however, remember their beige Avenger, AHT 608J!  Later they had a Humber Sceptre, around the time I had mine.  Attached to them I don't remember a car, but from my teens on, there was a family with three successive Renault 16s, then a 30 (which I bought and eventually sold on for parts), then a couple of P6s (which might have been V8s) and eventually Jaguar XJs.

Apart from the Jags, this all happened between 1959 and 87; most of it before 77 which is when my driving lessons began.

[Pieman]

Unusually for me I don't have much of a memory of neighbourhood cars apart from a couple.  Neighbour to one side used to have a black Mk2 Granada Ghia estate after which he had a couple of Jag XJs, he was an undertaker so we'd occasionally see a funeral limo outside too.  His wife had Minis, I remember one in BRG and one in yellow, not sure about after that.

Neighbour the other side was a policeman, he had a red Mk4 Escort followed by a turquoise blue Mk3 Astra estate, and his wife had a red K10 Micra with a "Nurse On Call" sign in the windscreen.  After they moved, the lady of the couple that moved in was German and had a maroon LHD Mk1 Punto which eventually acquired UK plates, I can't remember what her husband had.  I vaguely remember a white Metro lived at the house opposite.

[brownnova]

I used to walk to school past a Red Renault Fuego every day. 

Just like this but A reg. 

I think I tell the poor long suffering Mrs_b this every time we walk past that house! 

[comfortablynumb]

Not far from my mum's house in st Albans there was a MK3 zodiac, which I was completely in love with, since my dad had the zephyr.

I was building up the courage to go and knock, when it disappeared 😕

[Christine]

'   67 ish ..     Nobby next door had a  concave grill zephyr or zodiac?   ..  next house  had an 2cv  , next had a mk1 cortina   next had a hillman hunter. We had a brand new viva hb .  Last house had an AJS 500 like a scrambler  .  Over the road had a Morris mini mk1 , a  triumph 2500 pi estate  ,  next was a Standard vanguard heap  and a Herald ,  next 2 houses  didnt have a car,  and last house

had an A60 austin pickup truck .

[HMC]

Cars on my radar aged about 11 (1991)

Our window cleaners car

‘81 colt sapporo coupe

On the corner of the street there was a morris minor on a driveway that never moved, and disappeared in about 1991ish

 

I had a thing for cortinas in particular and there was a light green carousel and a red/ silver crusader in the next street.

I had a sunday morning paper round at abou that time onwards and this was generally more interesting- standouts for me at the time

88 VDP 216 EFI

88 montego vdp estate x2

83 ital SLX estate 

86 capri laser b***uex

82 cx estate

87 240 estate D***SHG

74 viva

72 wolseley 1300

87 polonez

81 metro (with no bumper end caps and mat black front wings) VDB***x

I was such an avid car fan even now i could list almost entire round of 3 bags and 7 streets and most of the cars on it in the early to mid 90s 🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓

[SEATMad]

Those of you who know me from my Flickr days will remember me posting this. A little backstory about it. This Mazda 626 GL It's been sat here since 1997, believe to be owned by a former airman who was stationed in my village, though, I've heard conflicting explanations for its abandonment in the past. I've lived here for most of my life and this has been a constant throughout. I always used to cycle past this when I was out with my mates, always fascinated with its design and it's story as to why it was left abandoned. I was quite lucky to grow up on an RAF base as cars were always left abandoned when airmen got posted out. When I was growing up, there was no shortage of old chod left to rot around the various married quarter estates and on camp itself. Shame I was too young to document them all however I remember most of them almost like landmarks of the village. Obviously as time went of, they all started to disappear 1 by 1 until today where this rather sorry looking 626  is the last remaining abandoned car left out of all of them. As you can imagine, I hold quite an attachment to it as the last remaining bastion of my childhood love of old chod.  

As of today, It's still here and in very poor condition now. I will have to get an updated photo at some point however she's declining at a sharp rate now. Such a shame ad I do genuinely believe this and the others around my village are responsible for forming my my love for cars of this era. How sad of me I know

[DavidB]

A neighbour of mine left a succession of knackered cars over twenty years on his parents driveway , even ruining a freshly laid driveway with leaking sumps, failed oil changes and cracked paving stones caused by a constant back and forth of drab old crap.

oh wait, that was ME 😂☺️🤨🙄

[iainrcz]

I vaguely recall a blue Marina, A Jetta GTI and x2  Fuegos.

[MrBiscuits]

I can't remember what I was doing this time last year, but I can give you a detailed account of the motors on my terraced street in the mid 1980s...

Dad's car would've been a red Datsun 120y coupe, with black tide mark.

Next door had a red 70's beetle and an impossibly fat wife. He later traded the VW for a new Seat Ibiza.

Across the road a builder was hogging two spaces with his Datsun pickup and a dark green P reg Audi. I think it was a 100 - quite rare in those days.

My mates dad, about 4 doors down had a brick red Fiat 131 and a fella my Dad sometimes talked to had a mk1 Cav in that pastel yellow they came in.

A highlight for me was the year some new-age types rented (or squatted?) one of the houses. They had a rusty purple renault 4 with a skull sticker on the bonnet and a Leyland EA van that they hand painted in the street. One day that disappeared and was replaced by a ropey looking Bedford TK fire engine.

Naturally us kids got told to stay away from that end of the street but 6 or 7 year old me was fascinated by that TK and would cycle past it over and over on the pavement. It seemed such an incongruous and exotic thing to be hiding in our little backstreet.

[Spiny Norman]

Talking back in the 70s when I was a kid...
The old buffer next door was a retired RAF type and had a BRG Triumph spitfire which he kept spotless.  Across the road was a Vauxhall Cresta PC which I once made the mistake of offering to wash for some extra pocket money. Took me half the morning, bloody thing was huge....

In terms of exciting/unusual stuff there were a couple of Lancia Fulvia coupes nearby, plus a Vauxhall Sportshatch (tarted up Viva estate with the Firenza droop snoot front) and for a while in my mate's street, a bronze coloured Lamborghini Jarama, to this day still the only one I've ever seen in the metal.

[Split_Pin]

My recollections of childhood neighbours' cars have faded somewhat but you all have fantastic memories and thanks for sharing 😀

From birth up until I was six in 1986, I lived in a street of inter-war bungalows. I remember my friend's dad who I called Uncle Ken always had a Capri and he towed a wooden trailer  with it. He had a green MK2 and then a red MK3, they were probably 1.6Ls. Must have been a squeeze with his wife (Auntie Mary) and 2 kids!

Mr Kidd and Mrs Kidd next door were retired and he had a yellow Hillman Avenger which he replaced with a red MK1 Astra. He loved his garden and his dragon hedge survived right up until about 2020 on street view before Mr & Mrs Bland flattened the place with grey monoblocks.

Mrs Hamilton on the other side didn't drive. Auntie Sharon next door again had a burgundy Datsun Sunny, the 1978-82 generation. My wee pal Caroline lived further along the opposite side of the road. Her dad had a MK2 Cavalier and he bought her mum a Hillman Hunter as a runabout. What I really remember is Caroline had a green Majorette BMW 733 which I coveted. I finally got my own one from Bucketeer in 2014!

I don't remember much more than that but I'm saving all your stories to enjoy later!

[EyesWeldedShut]

Up to age of 11 I lived on a council estate (scheme) in Ayr - left in 1974

Immediate neighbour was a salesperson and he had Ford Cortinas then a Cresta. There was an Anglia a few doors down and a Toyota HiAce camper a few doors up. That was it for about 30 houses.
We'd play out in the street all the time and rarely get disturbed by anything other than the electric bakers' vans and the rag and bone man (he upgraded from a horse to a Commer around 1969). I know that sounds like a bloody Hovis advert but, honestly, that's how it was.

My dad couldn't drive so we'd walk/bus it everywhere or cadge a lift off family (neither sets of grandparents drove either but were in easy walking/cycling distance - our garden was back to back with my maternal grandparents, we had three married aunts/uncles and two great aunts/uncles plus various cousins within ten minutes).
Aunt had a Moggie Traveller that she drove like a demon and scared the sh*t out of us. She had married an early AutoShiter who ran a car or van for as long as they'd hold together - Moggies, Minis, Dormobile, Saab 96 and 99, Cortinas galore plus a slew of Honda 90s. When they met he lived in a touring caravan that was on a static pitch - he'd furnished it from the 'tip' (locals used to dump all their crap on the old coal bings near the site) and he'd heat it with a wood burner fed on 'scarfings' (bark trimmings) cadged from the local sawmill. He had a smol trailer that seemed about three feet wide but twelve feet long so he could drop the scarfings in without having to saw them. He'd  also have a go at fixing or repairing anything - my childhood hero.
He took us to Croy beach when we were tiddlers and we'd sit on his lap 'steering' as he worked the pedals in the Dormobile whilst the other adults would sit in the back and make fake OMG scream sounds. We felt like Evel Knievel doing a hundred mph when, in reality, we probably never got out of second gear.

Cousin had a Mini Traveller with hanging wood and deep door pockets - I know as I threw up in one as I was nearly always car sick and my dad would remind me of that fact for decades (he had to scoop the door pocket clean).

Great Uncle had a green Oxford (Series 5?) that he took his wife, her sister & her husband (my grandparents) to Spain in around 1966. He drove all the way as none of the others could drive. My grandad was a keen 8mm cine camera guy and shot lots and lots of film on that trip. I can recall a few bits and bobs (Seville orange trees in Seville and we'd laugh at the tiny Fiat/Seat type cars). Unfortunately it seems that most, if not all, of that film has been lost or died of old age and I never appreciated what a jaunt it must have been for the time.

I went back for a peek in 2016 and every house has two or three cars, the hedges and front lawns are all gone so that you can get those cars in off the street which is not wide enough to park on either side. Still not that busy but nobody was playing outside nor playing the Largo from Antonin Dvorak's New World Symphony
 

[Eyersey1234]

Up to the age of about 11 I lived down a cul-de-sac, our next door neighbour had a C reg Peugeot 309, later replaced by a J reg Skoda Favorit, his son had a C reg brown Subaru 1.8 estate, later replaced by a H reg blue Rover Metro. The old couple across the road had an Austin Allegro, then a A reg Maestro and finally a C reg Astra, which was written off after it became the filling in a 3 car sandwich. Next to them was a retired nurse, she had a F reg Golf, then a G reg Polo and a T reg Micra,  the next 2 houses had Citroens, ZXs and 2CVs. Another neighbour round the corner had a K reg Fiesta for many years. There was also a G reg blue Sierra, replaced by a L reg burgundy Mondeo 

[catsinthewelder]

I can't remember that many,  next door was Auntie Joyce (my godmother).  Who drove a C reg Fiesta ghia in light blue metallic.  She wanted to replace it for some time but new (late 90s) Fiesta ghias only came in 5 door and her elderly aunt would have struggled to get in.

Across the road was Mr Curtis who was very old and finished up driving a Lancia Y10, before that was an Alfa Arna.

Across from him the Turnbulls still live (now well into thier 90s and still driving). She had a mini followed by a Rover Metro.  He had a R8 400 in nightfire red.  In the back corner Mr Squib had a red Maestro.

On the next street my mates dad ran a greyish brown Morris 1000 saloon and a green Traveller with a 1275 along with a orange MZ 250.  Appox 1998 they inherited a brown mk1 Fiesta which was added to the fleet.

[RayMK]

As mentioned in other threads, we moved every 1-3 years 'cos dad was an RAF 'other ranks.'

1954  Valetta, Malta.  Cars were usually just  hired for a day or two.  Morris Minors and Austin Devons are on one or two of our photos.

1956  RAF Little Rissington.  I cant remember seeing any other cars amongst the married quarters, except for Dad's  '33 Austin 7 and RAF Standard Vanguards.  The bus to my school at Great Rissington was a Bedford OB. 

1958  RAF Leighton Buzzard.  Next door had a 1933 Austin 12/4.  Next door to them was a Beige Hillman Husky.  My friend's dad had a pale blue oval window VW beetle.  There was a Ford 100E Prefect on the other side.

1959  RAF Bicester.  The only car I recall there was a  shabby pale grey 1950s Jaguar MK5 belonging to a friend's dad a couple of doors away.

1961  RAF hiring, Anna Valley.  My friend Roland was from a Plymouth Brethren family.  His dad had an early Hillman Minx, probably a Mk2 of 1948ish.

1961-62 Southsea, Brading Avenue and Eastfield Road (only there for 12 months but two addresses!).  Trolley buses were the main memory there.

1963  RAF Naphill.  My friend's dad had a Royal blue VW Beetle.

1964  RAF Halton.  My friend had a Raleigh Runabout moped.  The maths teacher at John Colet school had a battered old black Austin Sheerline.

1966 RAF Bruggen, Germany.  Next door had a Peugeot 404 saloon.

1967  RAF Wegberg, Germany.  Across the road there was an old Opel Kapitan, a Citroen DS and a couple of doors down our friends had a pale blue VW fastback.  Dad's friend had a brand  new Fiat 124 estate.  The RAF policeman had a dark green Mercedes Ponton diesel.

1969 RAF Nocton Hall.  Nothing memorable there!

1972 (after returning from college)  Neighbour had a brand new Reliant Supervan.  it was bright yellow but predated OF&H.

1974-80  Brackley.  Next door had a yellow Renault 15.  Opposite our house was the owner of SK Distributors who had a Skoda showroom in town. I saw my first Skoda MB and derivatives there, then the Estelle a few years later.  

1980 onwards: Nothing particularly memorable amongst neighbours. I had all the weird cars e.g. Citroen CX GTi Turbo 2, Volvo 66, Ginetta G26, Citroen Dyane, Reliant Regal MK6 etc.

[EyesWeldedShut]

One I recall as an older teenager was a neighbour opposite down in Portpatrick. She was single in her 50s/60s (maybe a widow) and had a Renault 20 which was the only one in the area. That was replaced by a Renault 30 (badermatic) that she hated using so would ask me to park it, take it for servicing etc. I thought this was great as my dad had just 'upgraded' from a Herald to a Toledo.

Elsewhere in Portpatrick there was the usual sort of late 70s stuff with odd bits like Moskaveich, Yugo, Lada, Polski Fiat. Couple of retired Major types with Rover P6s. A Saab 96 and one Hillman Imp up on the cliff.
Mate's wife did a school taxi run with a new Passat 1.5 which she'd often cram six kids into.
My boss ran a Humber Sceptre auto which was v.nice to drive and also unique to the area.

[Dan the van]

Great thread.I grew up on a then new small housing estate in leafy Surrey.(1965-80).Our next door neighbour had a new black mk2 3 litre Capri.One day he rocked up in a white v12 E type drop head which I used to wash every Sunday for him.The house directly opposite was rented out to a bunch of wealthy students.They had a mk1 3litre Capri,a '71 Porsche 911e and a '76 Trans Am between them.Hearing them leave in the morning was impressive especially the Trans Am!.Two doors along from them was a chap who liked Panhards.He had a red CT 24.He then moved on to Lancias,a Beta coupe and then an HPE.Next door to him was a Simca 1501 estate.The mechanic in the Masionettes at the end of the estate liked his Jaaags.A 420g,Mk10 and a series 2 E type fixed head coupe.There were several Alfa's dotted around,a Guilietta saloon and a couple of Coupes.And a Fiat 124ST.Which was my first car.And,of course,many mk3 Cortinas.