What type of car do you have and.......

[Penfold]

I don't drive and hated any time behind the wheel while I was given lessons, some 32 years ago. I only took the lessons because the family kept on at me about the 'necessity' of being able to drive, even to the extent of my granddad paying for my lessons and test and offering to buy me a car if I passed. I failed and never tried again. I'm not into cars either but I do love watching 'Top Gear'.

[Joolz]

Have a Mondeo that moves us around.....

But my heart and soul are moved by..

[chillicamper]

Then a Subaru and now a Camry. When I was 20 I thought differently about cars. A car means freedom when you're young doesn't it. Now, I look after them because they are expensive, but that's as far as I think about it.

I've always lived in a place out in the country, so learning to drive and getting a car was most definitely freedom. I still live in a village whch has only a few shops and a petrol station, so for most things you have to drive to get them. The bus service is awful round here and there's no train apart from the Watercress Line which doesn't run full time ( http://www.watercressline.co.uk/Home ). So having a car is a necessity - I just don't see why necessity should be boring!

Mind you - I was always going to end up a petrol head. My first really vivid memory at the age of 4-5 is helpng my dad restore this 1936 Wolseley 14



Dad kept this for over 30 years and only recently sold it to make way for a 'newer' 1960s Wolseley 1500 (which I've already had the job of helping weld new inner wings/sub-frames in for th MOT). The old car was also my wedding car

I can also remember on the night before my 13th birthday staying up till 3am to help my dad remove, rebuild and refit the gearbox so that the car could be used the next day. I suppose with that upbringing, my view towards cars was always going to be biased

But my heart and soul are moved by..

Very cool Joolz

[majomull]

I have owned in the past: 1974 Chevy Nova, Dodge Omni GLH, 1992 Ford Ranger, 1999 Ford Ranger.
Currently Own- 2011 Nissan Sentra, and the 74 Nova. Ones for driving to work, and the others for driving around listening to George Thourogood in.

[Mycroft Vimes]

and we had to have normal cars.

Ahum...,that implies VW beetles are not normal cars?
Taking a bit of exception to that!
Having grown up in a succesion of VW beetles,which transported my mom & dad,two sisters,an Airedale-Terrier and me through my youth,they are quite normal to me...thank you very much...

My own carhistory,from first to present :
-Ford Taunus(last model),loved that thing.
-Ford Taunus(last model),^so got another.
-Ford Escort,piece of crap,lasted very shortly alas.
-Seat Ibiza,had that for quite long,nice little car.
-Opel Kadett station,needed another car pronto and that one was for sale in my neighbourhood for peanuts,drove it quite a while,even though it was way too big.
-Audi 80,vroom vroom.
-Volkswagen Passat,similar story to the Opel,only had it for a couple of weeks as i was about to take over the service i now run,which included a...
-Renault Kangoo,drove that in the ground to be replaced with my current and only car i bought brand spanking new...
-Renault Kangoo,mainly because of budgetary reasons and also largely for the easily replacing of the dividerinterior in the back(the cargospace is divided in three separate spaces.)

I'm a fan of Top Gear as well and i even have some of the cliche,manly reactions to things like the sound of the Veyron and such.
But on the whole i'm satisfied as long as it gets me from A to B.
Would i win the lottery(fingers crossed),i'd probably go for something quite eco-'friendly',since any new car will be luxurious enough for me.

Ps Love the bike!

[mark]

dodge caravan, 7 seater

with five adults and two greyhounds it is just big enough

[chillicamper]

and we had to have normal cars.

Ahum...,that implies VW beetles are not normal cars?
Taking a bit of exception to that!
Having grown up in a succesion of VW beetles,which transported my mom & dad,two sisters,a Airedale-Terrier and me through my youth,they are quite normal to me...thank you very much...

VW Beetles aren't normal cars.......they are utterly brilliant and a level above yer average Euro box. Unfortunately yer average normal Euro box has a boot that can take prams etc and 4 doors to make strapping the kids down a bit easier

However yer average Euro box does not make you smile stupidly whilst you drive - which always happens when I get in a VW bug or a bus Between me and my wife we've probably had a VW Beetle of camper for about 20 years

My whole car history is not so impressive

79 Renault 4 - with rolly suspension to rival the 2CV
72 VW Beetle
77 VW Golf Mk1 1.1 but with a Weber carb - yay
82 Peugeot 504 pickup - whilst I was self employed - tree surgery/forestry
86 Nissan D21 pickup
75 Renault 4 - as a cheap run around whilst I saved up for...
87 Subaru 1.8 4wd estate
89 Subara Legacy 2.2GX 4wd estate - quite fun for a modern car
96 Ford Mondeo
97 Audi A4 1.8
02 Skoda Octavia 1.9tdi
75 VW Type 2 camper (originally from Mexico and so called Jose)

[Alanz]

I have a Peugeot 205, It's not a bad car cheap on petrol, it's just just right for the amount of miles i do just to work and back , not that i'd buy anything more expensive what with the little darlings that play in the street near it and it's paid for

[Selkie]

I don't know how you guys can remember all the cars you had! I can barely remember what we have now - the black one and the green thing - let alone going back 20 odd years or more.

[Will of Lancre]

Great idea for a thread, Chili.

My present motor is a 2007 Hyundai i30 - still going strong after nearly 100 000 miles. Korean cars don't even appear on Top Gear's Cool Wall, but I don't care as it has a 5-year warranty and does what I need for a lot less than cars that are cool. :p

Car history in reverse order:

2003-ish Lancia Lybra (if you have never heard of this, that is down to the demise of Lancia in the UK in the 1980s. They are still available here on the Continong ) It was a fun car, bought in a hurry when no. 1 son trashed...
2001 Nissan Primera
1999 Nissan Micra (automatic - looked like a dodgem, but didn't half shift if you put your foot down )
1994-ish Nissan Primera
1994 Rover 100 series
1993 Pontiac Trans Sport people carrier - like a bus, but useful with 3 small kids, which could not be said for...
1992 Saab 900 (sadly non-turbo)
1990 Mini
1987 Peugeot 309
1980-ish Mini
and at the dawn of time, when I first had my licence.
1964 Morris 1000 that was really my Dad's. Barely counted as a Classic when I was driving it (1975-77)

What on earth that says about me I don't know. Probably that I have survived the mid-life crisis represented by that Saab, and now buy cars that are like me - built for comfort rather than speed.

[huge_vermin]

I have a disco 300tdi as general transport....rural winters livving on a farm etc.

have had in the past:
mk2 polo 1000cc fox 4 speed (first car best 100 quid i ever spent)
fiesta 35 van 1.8 NA diesel - slowest thing i have ever owned but i couldnt kill it
Golf mk3 1.9 NA diesel probably the best all round car i have ever had.
Mini Clubman estate 1.0 petrol champagne beige (replacement limb colour)

current plaything:



built up myself from a bare frame.

[jaznbonnie]

I'm definately the A to B type person and currently own a Kia Spectra 5 as it had better gas mileage than the Ford F150 extended cab that we used to own. Have definately decided that the next car will be an automatic as driving a stick shift makes it difficult to drive and drink coffee at the same time. My dream car is the 1960 Corvette convertible in burgundy and cream. Love the pics Chilli!

[Catch-up]

I don't know how you guys can remember all the cars you had! I can barely remember what we have now - the black one and the green thing - let alone going back 20 odd years or more.

I'm with you! Sometimes the best I can do is, "that brown car I used to drive."

Joolz, nice bike!! They have an annual Blessing of the Bikes festival in Hell.

Jaz, my hubby is still mourning the loss of his big truck. He's driving a Ford Fusion right now. So, don't want him to get a look at your ride Mr. Soak - nice truck!

[Broccolee]

Chilli...
My dad used to have two garages.One to keep the car in and one to repair it.In the second one he had a pulley on the ceiling to take heavy parts,like gear boxes and engines,out.I have a picture of myself at age two,standing beside a massive engine with a bottle in one hand and sticking dandelion flowers in the various openings to make it look prettier.
My parents had an old Mini Transport they bought at a junk yard and refurbished it.Mum took out the old seats and reupholstered them while my dad repaired the works with self-adapted tools.
Once we got thirteen people in there.Ah yes,those were the times pre car seats for kids.

Then we has a blue and white striped Ford Transit with wooden benches for seats screwed to the sides in the back.I loved my dad going over potholes in that one.

Theeen...we had the fat Bertha,a german "field"grey VW camper like yours.The gears hooked and I remember my mum getting out of the car,sliding underneath to file the gears apart,then getting back in to carry on driving.

When we moved to Germany we bought an old Ford Mustang for 500 Marks because my Gran said the wheels were worth it alone.I could write my initials in the upholstery of the back seats just pressing my nails in it because it was so thin and brittle.(Needless to say,my dad loved me for that. )
Then we had a succesion of unintresting cars until my dad bought his new Mitsubishi Lancer.I didn´t like that one but I think it was more the fact that I wasn´t allowed to eat in that one,or be sick,and definitly no initials anywhere.

When I married and got my driving license I first drove a BMW 3 -lovely car.Then we had a Ford Scorpio-cruised through Scotland in that one,but didn´t love it.Then I got my first own car-a Renault Kangoo.I loved that car,but it was so expensive to repair.It was called Roo.
When it died I bought a Vauxhall Zafira.Thats the car I have now.

I drive it,it gets me places,and it´s reliable,but I don´t love it.It hasn´t got a name.When I don´t need a van anymore I dream of owning a real Mini Cooper-not the remade one- in racing green with Cooper stripes on the hood,the rootwood dashboard and a folding roof.It will be called Peppermint Patty.

I love cars,but they have to be the right ones.I also adore 4-wheel drives,but for town they´re too big and too expensive.
So what does that say about me?

[Sjoerd3000]

I quite like cars. But only 3 cars on my list

My first car was a red '91 Nissan Micra. After that I used my mother's Suzuki Alto ('97 or '98) for a while. And now I'm driving a 2002 Seat Arosa.