Seems to be a sad common denominator in this thread about dads.
But the first one I was aware of was the Datsun 100a coupe ( hmmmm , a link to my car now ?) It was tangerine orange and black plastic seats that removed childrens skin in the summer heat. We went from Berkshire on holiday to Falmouth. To see family for a week. The car played up and I sort of remember we saw an AA guy. We seemed to be overheating and he said just to keep driving it . Now I was only about 7 , so jaded with what was going on, but more mechanically capable at that age than the old man
. When we got to his sisters home, he went out in his new Val Doonican jumper, to come back in the house , with what look cat puke down the front of him, as he took the rad cap off :? . Remember it being parked up in the garages area of where we lived for months , as then got a brand new company car. In deciding to sell it, he was clueless . No juice in the battery then involved about 15 neighbours, in turn, pushing it up the garage block trying to bump start it
. We then knew 'all' the neighbours.
Next was a brand new Volvo 343 DL in yellowy orange in colour. Any breath of power from power from the cranky Renault engine was immediately dissolved in the variomatic gearbox. It was cool, because it was new and that Volvo's to my parents meant we werent going to die in any kind of impact.
We moved on to a Fiat 131 Mirafiori in turd brown with orange and brown interior. It has a removable radio which was great for anti theft. Except the pins in the connector fell out, so stopped working. The paint fell of it, the battery and alternator packed up.
We then moved up a gear and got a second hand Peugeot 405 estate from a friend. It was big, it was brilliant. It was a normal metallic blue. We all loved that car. On a trip to our family in Cornwall, we managed to loose the complete exhaust when hurtling over Dartmoor . We arrived in a sleepy Falmouth suburban street , at my aunts waking most of her neighbours at close on midnight :? We had to er, quietly head out the next morning to the exhaust shop and wait for a replacement 'manifold' that had cracked .
Then lead to a new Volvo 245DL in old man beige. Did lots of miles in that one as a family. Was never happy unless you had your seatbelts on, as the first car to have sensors . Bought from Volvo Sweden and imported.
Last car he had was another Volvo and a 740 GL estate. Was a very wafty and we did lots of holidays and trips in that. Went to the Porsche factory as he used to organise as a travel agent , the trips. Bit odd, we were the only people to not appear in a Porsche. Had a blow out on the Autobahn at big speed and I was driving and thought we were going to roll it. We were late for the ferry, so quick change and we still made it with an hour to spare 8) . We were both extremely hung over , so lobbing money into motorway bins to lift the barriers was safer than going near a booth and sticking of booze
Sadly he passed aged just 44 years old. His history of cars was pretty woeful, but was an awesome dad. My love for cars didnt come from him. From talks with mum ( she is still with us at 77 now) I always wished I could have thrown him the keys to my Lotus/ TVR/ Zed and say 'take mum away for the weekend and enjoy' but sadly that was never meant to be.
At the summit of the picturesque fens
