Cars your father used to have.

AMKC

So was having conversation with the Da and started talking about cars and the the Dad was telling me about the Ford Prefect he used to have. It was very special 1 of only 4 in the country because they were so expensive to insure. The wipers in that were linked to the engine lol. He said it was really too powerful a car for him back then but he was a young lad and knew no better lol. Never got round to asking him how he managed to pay the insurance but must next time lol.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Prefect

I think after that he had a Ford Corsair.

So what sort of cars did your Father start out in?

Oops!

Prefect? They were built i cork, they were everywhere back in the day!

My mother talks about my da driving around in an MG Midget back before they married. I know he used to rally in an Escort with his brother, a mark 1 I assume (just looked up the years of the models). My first memory of my da's cars was of a black Mini, followed by a red Ford Escort, and a blue Ford Escort, one or both of which may have been written off after some unofficial late night country road rallying (definitely one of them, I never got an honest answer about the other one!) He drove more practical cars after that, but usually with a sporty streak, some Peugeots I remember. But mostly I remember what he used to refer to as his "toy cars". He rebuilt a Hillman Imp from two Hillman Imps, a mark 2 escort and his final toy car, his Porsche 911. Many evenings when he'd walk outside saying "I'm off to play in my toy car" and my mother responding "Don't drive off in it, it's late/dinner's ready/I don't feel like going out again".... He'd rev it and rev it then we'd hear it roar off out the driveway. And my ma would just roll her eyes and tell one of us to go find the tow rope, and wait by the phone.

PMBC

A Ford Anglia. I remember sitting in the salesroom model and the new car smell, real leather seats. He taught me the rudiments of driving but it was a few years later that I learned in a different car from my sister. The car didnt bring him luck as a local crashed head-on into him causing him an early death.

AMKC

PMBC wrote: »

A Ford Anglia. I remember sitting in the salesroom model and the new car smell, real leather seats. He taught me the rudiments of driving but it was a few years later that I learned in a different car from my sister. The car didnt bring him luck as a local crashed head-on into him causing him an early death.

Awe sorry to hear that.

I think my Dad had one of them too.

Strumms

Mazda 323 hatchback x2 ‘8? & ‘85- liked them, decent comfort levels and very reliable...

Opel Corsa saloon ‘92 - hated it, absolutely an uncomfortable piece of shît compared to the Mazda’s, ugly too, build quality of the interior was poor... plastic city, of a cheapish variety.

Nissan Almera ‘96 & ‘98 - bit boring but ok, light years ahead of the Opel.

Toyota Corolla ‘02 & ‘06 - bit unremarkable but well built and reasonably comfy, preferred the Nissan though.. I learned to drive in the second Corolla, always found the steering seriously stiff.

Nissan Qashqai ‘10 & ‘14 - loved them, ended up getting a ‘12 myself.

Since then he’s been buying Hyundai Tucsons... every two to three years, brilliant car..

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly

From my living memory:
Allegro
Marina estate
Golf
Polo x 2
Astra estate
Civic
Mazda 6
Golf
Ford Hearse to his grave

He had motorbikes and some cars before I was born, but I know not what.

My dad had a Jensen interceptor in the back garden. I was young so I never remember him driving it but he says he did.

My older sister took me to Pizza Hut one night and when she was paying, she spotted a Jensen parked outside and said it to me. The man who owned it was beside us at the counter and she flogged our dad’s one to him

Other cars that I recall....

Ford Granada
Jaguar dunno what one
A few Mercedes
And my fondest memory was a Peugeot 504 estate that 6 of us used to travel back to Ireland in every summer. Myself and my brother were always shoved in the back alongside luggage, VCR’s, drink and anything else that was so much cheaper in the UK in the early 80s.

freddyuk

My Dad's car is sitting in my garden. He owned from 1967 to 1969 and I bought it in 1973 from local garage and had it ever since. Daimler V8 2.5 1965.

NIMAN

Ones I remember are

Ford Anglia
Vauxhall Viva
Renault 9
Renault 12
Ford Fiesta (his last)

Wibbs

My dad had a fair number before he got hitched and lived around the world including the States. He had a 50's Ford Fairlane convertible, which nearly did for him when a tyre blew out on a dirt road in Africa and it rolled over. He was thrown clear on the first roll as the wheel dug in. No seat belt of course. Then all went black. He came to with a handkerchief over his face and the miraculous medal on a gold chain he wore around his neck wrapped neatly in his hand(it's around my neck as we speak). He reckons a local did it thinking him no longer with us. Luckily another local drove along and got him to some mission station where the doc stitched him up after picking the gravel from his head. It turned out he'd been at school with the same doc. Ah jaysus, it's a small world was how the conversation kicked off. A brandy or three was shared. For medicinal purposes. I dunno why the doc needed it, but he was the professional so fair enough. The local tribal lads who he knew well then showed up and took the piss as blokes will suggesting his aftershave must be so bad that even scavengers left him alone*. It took him years to get into the habit of wearing a seatbelt and he wouldn't set foot in a convertible ever again. I remember a mate of mine showed up with his new series 1 MX5 and no way would my dad even sit into it. He had a holy horror of convertibles. Others I recall from pics were a Lincoln Continental also from the 50's and then another from the 60's, an Aussie Holden, then going the other direction a Fiat 500. Then a 60's Alfa. Then came an ex works Triumph Herald Coupe with European rally history. I was brought home from the hospital as a newborn in a moses basket stuck behind the seats of that. Safety first. I know it broke his heart to sell it, but it was hardly a family car. Traded it in for a Humber Sceptre which he loathed and he got feck all on the trade in. An ex works Herald Coupe would be worth a few bob these days. Then it was a succession of Fords, Cortinas and Capris.






*he was convinced to his last day that those guys were somehow psychic because of a few incidents of WTF. In that example they lived a good trek from the mission station and just happened to show up asking after him. When they first saw the state of him they all ran to hug him one after the other making sure he was going to be ok. Then they took the piss out of him.

micah537

He had some Beetles and some Fiat that he had great time for, some Granadas and Cortina and probably a lot more.
The first car I remember was a Mercedes 190, followed by a 520i and then the my favourite by a long shot, a XJR.
In 2000, and everyone seemed to want a 00 reg, he was looking at some cars and came home with 97 which led to a large enough argument from mum but he kept the car, and what car/rocket it was. He sold it in 04 as the hassle from my oldest brother and then the second oldest who was an absolute car nut kept wanting to be insured on it. He definitely regrets selling it.
Replaced it with a big comfy Lexus LS which I used to drive occasionally as a learner, kept that for 6 years, then a new Gs450h and new E350.
Currently driving a van and his vintage cars.

Since retiring he usually pottering about in a Fiat Ducato as he likes driving vans due to having a transport company for 30 years and just because they are handy for throwing random things into.

He started collecting vintage cars in the early 00s, got a Jaguar XJC, XJ series one and two, 83 911sc which was bought for peanuts back then compared to what they are making now, BMW 635, E30 320 cabrio and trying to restore a Datsun 260z but has possibly given up.

mistersifter

I recall a blue Hillman Avenger (which we crashed in!) a fair few fiat 127 and 128 and later a Lancia Dedra

Pawwed Rig

Opel Kadett
Opel Kadett
Opel Kadett
Opel Kadett
Opel Kadett
Opel Astra

are the ones I remember

theteal

The auld fella started out as a mechanic for Renault and I know he went through a few of his own before I came along. Not sure of exact models but it was 1970s - 80s, I dont think there were that many to choose from. The main car I can remember from my childhood however was the glorious Austin Montego!

Westernyelp

I remember a Fiat Ritmo with the roundy headlights awful looking yoke.
And a bright Orange Mirafiori with brown cloth seats. Loved that. Full of rust though

punisher5112

Opel Kadett, kept it for near 25 years on the road, all I ever remember is it was covered in rust but always passed pmpa test etc.
Nissan Sunny, nissan primera, Mercedes e200 kompressor, Octavia vRS, last car was another nissan primera but he never used it so nothing now.....

TP_CM

Just a quick nod to one of my favourite threads on boards

https://touch.boards.ie/thread/2058033987/1

And to save you the trouble, the pictures finally appeared here

https://touch.boards.ie/thread/2058033987/10

beertons

Open Kadett TZW 100
Nissan Sentra 5562 AI
Audi 80 93OY826
Audi A4 98KE3751
Audi A6 06KE11605
Audi Q3 12KE
Audi Q5 16KE

There's a load of vans aswell.

ec_pc

My dad was self employed and we always had a car and a van, He's 80 this year and still going strong.

As a child in growing up in the 70's I remember he changed the car every August after holidays and got all sorts of cars from the local Datsun dealership including new Toyotas etc. No need to shop around in them days.

The cars I remember best :

In the 70's :
Renault 12 estate black vinyl seats that got red hot in the sun and burnt your legs
Toyota Corolla Estate
Datsun 180 B estate - always thought this was a cool car

1980's
Nissan Bluebird - bullet proof, a few trips to France in this one. He sold it to some guy and it was stolen and burnt out 6 months later
Mazda 626 estate

1990 on wards
Mistubishi Lancer estate x 3
Volkswagen Passat estate x 3
Dacia Duster

As for the vans :

Volkswagen Type 2 Van
Nissan Urvan - I think he got the 2nd one in the country, fell to bits with rust, bit of a run in with Nissan over that one.
Nissan Vanette x 3
Citroen Berlingo
Renault Kangoo x 2. One of these of course was ex an post.
Volkswagen Caddy which he still has


Some good if ordinary choices down through the years for someone not into cars. I even reversed the bluebird into one of the Vanettes one time and he just shrugged his shoulders. I crashed the Mazda 626 and my bother crashed one of the Lancers.

AVFC.Stephen

mistersifter wrote: »

I recall a blue Hillman Avenger (which we crashed in!) a fair few fiat 127 and 128 and later a Lancia Dedra

We had a fiat 128. Neighbour had a Ritmo. Weird how jealousy can get you at times ðŸ™႒

Lewis_Benson

Strawberry Milkshake wrote: »

My dad had a Jensen interceptor in the back garden. I was young so I never remember him driving it but he says he did.

My older sister took me to Pizza Hut one night and when she was paying, she spotted a Jensen parked outside and said it to me. The man who owned it was beside us at the counter and she flogged our dad’s one to him

Other cars that I recall....

Ford Granada
Jaguar dunno what one
A few Mercedes
And my fondest memory was a Peugeot 504 estate that 6 of us used to travel back to Ireland in every summer. Myself and my brother were always shoved in the back alongside luggage, VCR’s, drink and anything else that was so much cheaper in the UK in the early 80s.

Wow, if I ever go down the classic car route, I will get an interceptor.

zoe 3619

Rover 2000 was the family car of my childhood.Think a lancia beta was next.
Just googled images and would love to have either sitting outside now.
Can still remember the reg of the rover now.

passatman86

I would remember his car history better than he would.
Honda 50
91 Opel kadett estate
92 Nissan sunny
94 Ford escort "returned to garage after dodgy sale"
97 nissan primera
99 Nissan primera sri
06 opel vectra sri
10 opel insignia
13 kia ceed estate
18 kia ceed hatch

Best for memories would be the sunny
Best to drive probably the 99 primera sri

AndyBoBandy

My Dad had a fair few Toyotas over the years, but one of my favourites was a 1988 Toyota Sprinter.

He reckons he got from Cork to Dublin one day in 1990 (long before motorways) in only 2 hours (when Ireland were playing Romania in the World Cup)..

Looked fantastic for it’s time too…

SEPT 23 1989

Great memories of when a new to us car arrived on the drive as a kid

My mother had a Mk1 fiesta and came home one day with a Mk2

iit felt like a spaceship inside compared to the Mk1

The innocence of it

Bits_n_Bobs

The stand out car we had was a Lancia Trevi bought new. It was as rare as hens teeth, the coolest/weirdest interior ('Swiss cheese' dashboard) and rather exotic for a family 4 door sedan. Despite the horrendous reputation it never gave any problems.

...some memories all the same

kevthegaff

Father had a Nissan bluebird from cant remember(born early 80s) until around 1994.
Bought a 4 yr old Volvo the long ones in 94
Then in 2010 bought a new avensis which he still has
3 cars in nearly 40 years impressive

gameoverdude

Renault fuego. Loved that car.

mistersifter

we used to tell me Da we'd never get in the car with him again if he ever brought home a Lada. In reality we were probably driving around in worse shítheaps at the time.

One day he told us he was after buying a brand new white Porsche and it would be in the garden when we got home. When we got home there it was; a shiny new white porch door. The bollix. Stupidity of us believing him.

KaneToad

There is a pic of my auld fella, when he was a young fella, with his prized Fiat Mirafiori. He looks like he hadn't a care in the world. Little did he know how much that would all change...

knucklehead6

In my life time.

Austin Avenger,
2 fiat mirafiori.
Mazda 626
3 mondeos
Merc A class

I still remember the reg of one of the Mirafioris and the 626

Alun

My Dad learnt to drive fairly late on in life in the 70's, and his first car was a powder blue 1964 Ford Anglia. That was the car I learnt to drive in. After that came an MG 1300, two Fiat 128's, and a Vauxhall Viva. That's the last one I ever drove. I can't remember what he had after that.

CoBo55

58 Morris Minor ZR something, I don't remember it.
64 1500 MK1 Cortina Estate EZH 561
69 1725 Hillman Hunter GZU 109
81 1300 Fiat 128 228 NZL
79 1400 Renault 18 TL on LPG WZR 406
82 1600 Opel Ascona something GZU
84 1600 Opel Ascona can't remember the reg, horrible cars.
87 1300 Suzuki Swift 87 WX 1796
99 1.9 SDI Skoda Felicia 99 WX 6448
02 1.9 TDI Skoda Octavia 02 D 8839

Learned a lot between the Cortina, Hunter, 128 and the 18 especially about LPG:pac::pac:

FinnC

Datsun Cherry!

CoBo55

knucklehead6 wrote: »

In my life time.

Austin Avenger,
2 fiat mirafiori.
Mazda 626
3 mondeos
Merc A class

I still remember the reg of one of the Mirafioris and the 626

Hillman or Chrysler Avenger they were a great car, never made by Austin luckily enough.

Irish Steve

AMKC wrote: »

So was having conversation with the Da and started talking about cars and the the Dad was telling me about the Ford Prefect he used to have. It was very special 1 of only 4 in the country because they were so expensive to insure. The wipers in that were linked to the engine lol. He said it was really too powerful a car for him back then but he was a young lad and knew no better lol. Never got round to asking him how he managed to pay the insurance but must next time lol.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Prefect

I think after that he had a Ford Corsair.

So what sort of cars did your Father start out in?

The windscreen wipers on the Prefect were driven by a vaccum pipe connected to the inlet manifold, but the problem with that was that if you were pushing more than so fast, with the throttle fairly wide open, there wasn't enough vacuum to keep the wipers going, and the only way to clear the screen was to momentarily take your foot off the throttle. That wasn't too much of a hassle if you were running on the flat, but if you were using a lot of power to climb a hill, then life got "interesting", as there were only 3 forward gears on those cars, so if you lost your forward speed as a result, you were likely to have to stop and then start again.

They didn't have power brakes like the modern vehicles, or split braking, or anything like that, and disc brakes were a thing of the future, it was all drum braking.

The 3 speed box only had synchro on second and third gear. The tyres were all cross ply, and narrow, so road holding was also a challenge in circumstances where a modern vehicle doesn't even notice a problem. Front wheel balance on older fords was critical, if it was off, then the wobble back up to the steering wheel was nasty, and made for very unpleasant driving.

They weren't that powerful, as it was an early design side valve engine. They were not built for the newer roads that started coming on line over the later years of their life with the higher speed limits, if you got 70Mph out of one, you were doing well, and winding the elastic to get up to that speed took a while.

I had one 54 years ago, it was my first vehicle, the van version, and I took my test in it. My next vehicle was an Anglia, with the 1.2 engine, which was very different, and much more suitable to the driving conditions that were then more common.

An Ri rua

His first car was a Merc 190. I think.

Then a Jaguar Mark 2 3.4s. He was away working on pipelines. Then brought it back when I was 4..We used to play in it as kids, thought it was weird, a car with more switches than an aeroplane on TV.
Then came Irish reality and tax.
Then a 1300cc Beetle.
Then a 1200. Mine and under renovation.
Then a Renault 18 1.8 petrol.
Then a Peugeot 309 saloon diesel.
His final car was an Audi 80 1.6td. Great little car..

CoBo55

Irish Steve wrote: »

The windscreen wipers on the Prefect were driven by a vaccum pipe connected to the inlet manifold, but the problem with that was that if you were pushing more than so fast, with the throttle fairly wide open, there wasn't enough vacuum to keep the wipers going, and the only way to clear the screen was to momentarily take your foot off the throttle. That wasn't too much of a hassle if you were running on the flat, but if you were using a lot of power to climb a hill, then life got "interesting", as there were only 3 forward gears on those cars, so if you lost your forward speed as a result, you were likely to have to stop and then start again.

They didn't have power brakes like the modern vehicles, or split braking, or anything like that, and disc brakes were a thing of the future, it was all drum braking.

The 3 speed box only had synchro on second and third gear. The tyres were all cross ply, and narrow, so road holding was also a challenge in circumstances where a modern vehicle doesn't even notice a problem. Front wheel balance on older fords was critical, if it was off, then the wobble back up to the steering wheel was nasty, and made for very unpleasant driving.

They weren't that powerful, as it was an early design side valve engine. They were not built for the newer roads that started coming on line over the later years of their life with the higher speed limits, if you got 70Mph out of one, you were doing well, and winding the elastic to get up to that speed took a while.

I had one 54 years ago, it was my first vehicle, the van version, and I took my test in it. My next vehicle was an Anglia, with the 1.2 engine, which was very different, and much more suitable to the driving conditions that were then more common.

The MK3 Cortina was desperate for the head staggers very sickening car to travel in, Henry's venture in to double wishbone suspension was a bit of a disaster.

TrailerBob

Oul man had a myriad of yokes before I came along.. Anglia, Hilman hunter, VW variant,
First of my memory was Beetles... always 2 knocking around. I remember EZW227 and EZW 234 being a pair in the mid-late 80s when I was a chap.
Renault 18 can't remember the reg
Nissan Bluebird in Australia circa 1990 - felt like a tank
Renault 5 back home 86 KE 13
Opel Kadett 88 L 467 - stolen twice
Then came the corollas
89 KE 1245 Beige DX
93 KE 1251 Grey XL
96 KE 2523 Maroon XL
99 KE 1303 Red bug eye (All of these were second hand from the same original owner traded into Fitzpatricks)
Then the Passat revolution
He's had 6 of those since 2003... I'll stop with the reg numbers now

He also still has a Yamaha 80 motorbike he bought new in 1969

CoBo55

TrailerBob wrote: »

Oul man had a myriad of yokes before I came along.. Anglia, Hilman hunter, VW variant,
First of my memory was Beetles... always 2 knocking around. I remember EZW227 and EZW 234 being a pair in the mid-late 80s when I was a chap.
Renault 18 can't remember the reg
Nissan Bluebird in Australia circa 1990 - felt like a tank
Renault 5 back home 86 KE 13
Opel Kadett 88 L 467 - stolen twice
Then came the corollas
89 KE 1245 Beige DX
93 KE 1251 Grey XL
96 KE 2523 Maroon XL
99 KE 1303 Red bug eye (All of these were second hand from the same original owner traded into Fitzpatricks)
Then the Passat revolution
He's had 6 of those since 2003... I'll stop with the reg numbers now

He also still has a Yamaha 80 motorbike he bought new in 1969

I like the reg numbers, Passat were a great car very expensive and in the early days parts were shockingly expensive.

ToxicPaddy

Oh jeez, there were quite a few:

Cars:
Mini
Ford Capri
Ford Cortina (a few of them)
Opel Ascona
Opel Vectra
BMW 316i
BMW 318i

Vans:
Morris Minor Woody (wood panelling)
Ford Transit flat back
Toyota Hiace (a few of them)
Ford Transit (a few of them)

Fond memories of them.

The Ascona was the first one to have some modern conveniences such as electric windows which amazed me as a kid, couldn't get over how you could get windows to go up and down by pressing a button

berocca2016

Actually can remember all of the ones he had and has!

Ca. 1980 Mini
1984 Renault 9 taken home from the hospital in this!
1988 Renault 11 Diesel, can still remember the beige seats.
1992 Opel Kadett First new car, 1.7d still remember being frustrated at waiting on the glow pugs to warm up before we could go anywhere but it had a spoiler.
1994 Peugeot 405 Diesel, had air conditioning and a lovely strip of fake wood on the dashboard so seemed luxurious. Inset to the alloys were stolen twice.
1998 Mercedes C180, remote boot opening fascinated me.
2000 BMW 520, first experience of heated seats.
2001 Saab 93 Aero, absolutely bollocks hard ride.
1998 Alfa Spider, engine went twice.
2007 520d thought the Aux cable was the **** for my tunes out of the Ipod Nano.
2010 Volvo S80 1.6d absolutely awful yoke. No power at all.
2013 Audi A6 Estate, can now stream Spotify over the radio via Bluetooth.
2019 Fiat 124 Spider, even I find it hard to get in !

crosstownk

My Dad drove a taxi for 20 years so most were mid size 4 door saloons. Some details are sketchy.

Fiat 500/Bambino
Austin Cambridge
Ford Anglia
Ford Cortina Mk3 IBI 606
Hillman Hunter 535 JIK
Ford Granada Ghia 753 RIK
Datsun 160J 565 HZD
Nissan Laurel 2.0L
Nissan Laurel 2.4E SGL ZS 209
VW Passat 1.6L 89D37412
VW Golf Mk3 1.4 1996
VW Golf Mk4 1.4 1999
VW Passat 1.6 2002
Citroen C4 1.6 HDI 2007
Citroen C4 Picasso 2015
Citroen C4 Picasso 2018

berocca2016

CoBo55 wrote: »

I like the reg numbers, Passat were a great car very expensive and in the early days parts were shockingly expensive.

Fitzpatricks!! Can remember going in with my mam to look at a Starlet ca. 1998 just before the Yaris came out! Selling point was an airbag

bodonnell

Fiat 128
Renault 12TS
Renault 16TL
Ford Orion
Toyota Corolla
Renault 18TL
Renault 18GTL
Ford Sierra 1.6
Renault 9TL

Not sure the order is exactly right

mistersifter

no Ford Sierras mentioned.

edit: Or Toyota Carinas

CoBo55

GTL ooooh fancy!! Liked his aul Renault's didn't he?

CoBo55

mistersifter wrote: »

no Ford Sierras mentioned.

See previous post:pac:

mistersifter

CoBo55 wrote: »

See previous post:pac:

Good timing!

bodonnell

CoBo55 wrote: »

GTL ooooh fancy!! Liked his aul Renault's didn't he?

18 GTS would have been fancier !
His last 2 cars were Clios