A few days ago I realised it was exactly 42 years since I passed my driving test, some say the roads have never been the same since. Here are the cars, mishaps and highlights of my motoring.
It was in 1980 that I passed my driving test on my first attempt. I took the test in my Dad’s Austin Allegro, exactly like the above photo. It was a terrible car. It was like driving a lump of jelly, plus it was noisy, slow, had a square-ish steering wheel and had sticky plastic seats. Nevertheless I passed my test by the skin of my teeth.
The cars I’ve owned
1. Ford Escort – my first ever car, bought in about 1982. It was 9 years old and cost £175. Every time I drove it in the rain, the carpet by my feet got wet. It had extensive rust and so I quickly sold it.
2 and 3. Renault 12 – an odd car in some ways but actually quite nice to drive. It was a white saloon and I had a couple of mishaps in it, mostly due to poor maintenance and I think it eventually failed its MOT and had to go. I swapped it for a car radio (yes, really, a car radio). As I quite liked the Renault 12, I bought another and installed the radio. I was also lucky enough to find an estate version and it was quite a good car but I couldn’t really afford it, so I sold it for more than I bought it for.
I then went without a car for a few years, cycled everywhere, until I bought a real heap of junk….
4. Austen Montego 1.6 – badly made and unreliable. However it was quite a roomy car and had a radio cassette which by then was very important to me! Also it was an estate model, so quite practical and it looked quite a modern car at the time which I also liked. The car itself was a disaster, so I only had it for a year or so. During that time it had a new steering rack, several shock absorbers, an engine computer and I became expert at fitting exhaust manifold gaskets.
5. Volkswagen Golf 1.6 Mk2 – in some ways the very best car I ever had. It was a dark red with a beige interior. A really solid car, reliable and well made. Friends suggested I ought to buy a GTi model but they were quite pricey, had a flashy image and frequently stolen.
This car was special because I proposed to Rachel in it! I kept it for several years and only got rid of it when the clutch had worn out at about 175,000 miles. I now wish I had had the car repaired, it would have carried on for a long time and be very cost effective over the years.
6. Volkswagen Vento 2.0 – quite an understated car which seemed quite fast and I liked having electric windows, central locking and an electric sunroof. Again quite a well made car. It was just like a VW Golf except it had an enormous boot, or trunk for American readers. Various electrical problems led to us getting rid of it via eBay.
7. Saab 95 – the fastest, smoothest, flashiest, most expensive, thirstiest and luxurious car I have ever owned. Drove it to 185,000 miles having bought it with 60,000 miles on. It was the first automatic car for us and had climate control and a few other gizmos on. The turbo failed out of guarantee, followed by the automatic gearbox. £ouch. Every time Saab serviced the car it cost at least £500 and only averaged 28mpg. Although a nice car to drive, it was too unreliable and too expensive to run. It had to go.
8. Toyota Corolla 1.4 2001 – my Mum gave me this car and it was brilliant. It did seem very slow and boring compared to the Saab but so economical and almost as new as the day it was made. I drove it just over 100,000 miles without anything ever going wrong and sold it to our mechanic friend. We hear it is still in regular use.
9. Honda Jazz 1.4 2010 – a brilliant car which I still have. I bought it with only 11,000 miles on the clock and it still only has 85,000 all these years later. Although a bit on the flimsy side, it goes about 53 miles on a gallon of petrol and we tend to use it for short, local journeys. It has a clever seat design inside, handy for moving big pieces of furniture etc. It is bright socialist red, which I like.
10. Toyota Avensis 1.8 2007 – we still have this car, although I bought it when it was about 12 years old. It is now just over 110,000 miles and have only just replaced the original battery. The Toyota dealer, who supplied the replacement battery, didn’t seem that surprised when they discovered the original factory battery had lasted that long. Solid and heavy, well made, almost perfect reliability and we average 45mpg. A reasonably smooth, quiet ride, although a very boring grey car but it does the job very well indeed.
More numbers
Accidents / insurance claims – 1
Miles driven – probably over 1,000,000 miles
Foreign countries driven in – 2
Speeding fines, penalty points, other driving offences – 0
Parking tickets – lots
Lamp posts knocked over at Police Stations / Magistrates Courts – 1
Ah yes, my first car’s carpeting in the driver’s footwell used to get wet when I drove it in the rain too. Investigation (lifting the carpet) revealed a “drainage” (?) hole with an ineffective plastic plug. I never did understand this apparent feature.