My Dad Had One of Those - a photo on Flickriver

Here are the cars I remember we had when we were growing up -

1. Ford Zephyr: this was the one that my younger brother nearly fell out of when we were going around the roundabout by Mark Hall school in Essex, UK.
(cream and red and rust coloured)

2. Ford Consul Classic: dad bought this one off of Karina Wilson's dad, I think. We went to Spain in this one. And back again.
(black and rust coldoure)

3. Sunbeam Rapier: oddly closing rear windows.
(blue I think, probaby with rust hints)

4.Mini: stolen because it was green ,apparently. Dad parked it in London, came back to it, and there it wasn't. "I'll never buy a bloody green car again!", which, along with "tell them to piss off, Brenda", "I think I'll just go turn the potatoes over" and "man wasn't born to work" is one of dad's greatest lines.
(green...and rust)

5. Vauxhall Victor (not an estate as in this pic, but a saloon): I think dad got this from Jerry, the bloke from the end of the street. But I don't think we had it long.
(grey. May have had rust)

6: Wolseley 1800: dreadful thing. Dad was going to sue the seller under the trades descriptions act. Basically broken. 84 bhp!
(blue, like the car pictured here, but with rust)

7. Austin 1100 (actually the Wolseley version in this pic, but it's the same car really) : the same as an Austin/Morris/Wolseley/BL 1800, but smaller. Basil Fawlty beat up a red version of this car in the Gourmet Night episode of Fawlty Towers.
(black and rust)

8. Vauxhall Carlton: Dad's best ever car, with a mighty two litre motor, and plush velour upholstery. Sadly dad lost his job not long after buying the car, so it went back to the shop.
(metallic brown. Hard to spot rust)

9. Austin 1800: (84 bhp) exactly the same as the Wolseley, without the retired major moustache grille. Known as the 'land crab' because of it's squat crustacean-like looks. This was less troublesome than the Wolseley. My dad used to talk wistfully of the Austin 2200 which was a slightly elongated version of the 1800, and of course with the full 110 bhp, according to www.carfolio.com
(mustard yellow, probable rust)

10. Fiat 131 Mirafiori: wow, this was a company car, so no maintenace worries for dad, but it must have been a pain in the bum for the company dad worked for at the time - FIats were CRAP back then. They were actually built of old rust from scrapped cars.
(champagne yellow over rust - it was Italian, so rust was built in)

11. Fiat 125 Special: I was present when dad bought this car. On the lot, for the same money, was a Jaguar E-Type 2+2, but he wouldn't buy it. I was most disappointed. This car ended up sad, unloved and covered in spider webs in the garage at Poplar Avenue as dad had the company Fiat 131 by then.
(red. Rust, obviously.)

But come on - Fiat 125 vs. Jaguar E-Type? For the SAME MONEY?

We could have all squeezed in the back...

Trivia note of the day - FIAT sold the design of the FIAT 125 to the Polish, who built the Lada from it, out of pig-iron and bogies.

Taken on: June 20, 2006

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