Cars: My Life On The Road

~ beetleypete

Strictly speaking, this is a ‘Thinking Aloud On a Sunday’ post, as I woke up imagining (or dreaming) that I was driving the first car I ever owned.
That prompted a search of my memory for the cars that have marked the stages of my life, and also made me realise I have very few (almost no) photos of me with them.

These photos are not of my own vehicles, and have been sourced online.
But I had the same models.

Six months before I was old enough to drive, my Dad came home with a car he had bought for me. He got a deal on it, and didn’t want to chance leaving it until I got my licence.
It was a 1963 Vauxhall Viva HA, and he bought it in 1968.
I thought it was the best thing ever, and on the day I passed my test, I drove it around Central London all afternoon.

(My one was light green)

Two years later, in 1971, I was working as a salesman for a record company. They replaced the vans we had been using with cars, hoping to improve their image.
I got a new Vauxhall Viva HB free of charge, as a company car. Of course, I didn’t own it, and had to give it back when I left.
But it always felt like ‘my car’.

I changed jobs, and was given another company car. This was what we call an ‘Estate Car’ here, known as a Station Wagon in America.
It was a Ford Cortina 1.6, and was really roomy.

(My one was a burgundy colour)

In December of 1973, I decided to add to my income by working part-time as a taxi driver. I couldn’t use the company car of course, so I bought a brand new car to use at weekends as a taxi. It was a Hillman Hunter 1725, and it took me over three years to pay it off. I enjoyed being a taxi driver, so I resigned from my job and did it full-time.

(Mine was dark green)

In 1976, I moved with my Mum to South-West London, where we bought a shop.
Although I didn’t make much money as a shopkeeper, I discovered that we could run a car through the business.
So in 1977, I traded in my old taxi for a 1974 Volvo.
It was a top-of the range model, the 164 TE, with a three-litre engine, an automatic gearbox, and a luxurious leather interior.
I loved that big white car.

As the Volvo got older, it started to cost a small fortune to run.
I had already joined the Ambulance Service by then, and didn’t have much disposable income.
I was using a motorcycle to commute to work, so in 1982, we bought one car to share between us.
It was a six-month old VW Golf. It was white, and dressed up to look like the GTi model in this photo.
Except our one was a cheaper ‘special edition’ that only had the 1300 cc engine.
In the autumn of 1984, the car was destroyed in a motorway accident that almost killed my first wife, and left me with broken fingers.
(She was driving at the time)

With the insurance money from the accident, I let my wife choose the replacement car, and I bought a better motorcycle.
She chose a two-tone Ford Capri 1.6, known as a ‘Cabaret Edition’. It was a pre-registered car that had never been owned, and we got a good deal as it was already one year old.
This was the exact colour of the one we had.

After a hard winter that year, I had decided that I had enough of motorcycles.
So I sold the one I had, and went out to buy a cheap used car for cash.
I came home with a Citroen GS Estate, in the same blue as this photo.
It was the most comfortable car I have ever owned.

When we split up in 1985, my wife kept the Ford. I was having numerous electrical problems with the Citroen by then and decided to change it.
I bought a recent Austin Metro, a very basic car that was cheap to run, with a small 1.0 litre engine. It was red, like the one in the photo.
But I hated that car with a vengeance. It had little power for motorway driving, and was very noisy too.

I still yearned for the ease of an automatic transmission, and a return to a quiet, comfortable car.
Then I found a good deal on a Fiat Regata 1.6 saloon. It was the top model, with an expensive radio/cassette player, a three-speed auto gearbox, and tinted windows.
I loved it.
But then I discovered why it was a good deal. It gave me nothing but trouble.
Electrical issues, bulbs blowing, and then a disastrous water leak. It had to go.

I swallowed my pride, and traded the Fiat in for another Citroen. The new Visa model. Low mileage, in red like the photo, and only the small 1,000cc engine.
But that turned out to be a good decision, as it was a great car.
I drove it across Belgium and France, and used it every day for work too.
I loved it, and it never once let me down.

But London traffic was driving me insane with so many gear changes, and I still hankered after an automatic.
I found a Ford Fiesta 1300 in black, with an early version of their CVT ‘Easydrive’ auto gearbox.
I had a lump in my throat as I waved goodbye to the Citroen.
I should have kept it.
The Fiesta gearbox was indeed smooth, and made life a lot easier for me.
Trouble was, the car still used the unreliable carburetor from the old model, and it constantly broke down.
I found myself taking the thing apart at the roadside on a rainy night in North London, and made the decision to get shot of it.

That went in part-exchange for a brand new Fiat Punto. That had a 1.4 engine, a 5-speed manual shift, and was very light and nippy in traffic.
Despite the issues with the earlier Fiat, this one proved to be really reliable, and I kept it for some time.

(Mine was green)

Then I moved away to the edge of North London, and had to start driving a longer distance into work.
I wanted a more powerful car, and one with an automatic gearbox too.
I discovered an American car that was being imported into the UK, the Chrysler Neon.
This had a powerful two-litre engine, a smooth auto gearbox, and very light power steering.
I found a dark green one for sale in a London dealership. It was out of my price range though.
So I arranged a deal where the Fiat went as the deposit, and I made low payments for 36 months.
At the end of the payment period, I had to pay a lump sum to own the car.
It was a very nice car indeed, though it used a frightening amount of petrol, with around 20 mpg at best.
I still had it when I moved back to Camden, and kept it until Julie moved in. With no need for two cars, and plans to move to Norfolk, it was sold to a friend for cash.

For three years, I used public transport to get to work, or walked. We had Julie’s car if we had to go further afield.
In March 2012, I moved up here, and we got Ollie. I wanted a car with plenty of room for the dog, and was determined to get one with an automatic gearbox too.
So I bought a low-mileage Vauxhall Zafira 1.9 turbo-diesel in silver, with a six-speed auto box. It was already five years old though.
It was the SRi Sport model, well-equipped, and with a huge area at the back for Ollie. It also had an option to use as a 7-seater.

I still have that car. It is now 12 years old, and starting to cost serious money to keep running.
But I do love it still, and have no plans to change it.

Let me know about some of your car memories, in the comments.

92 thoughts on “Cars: My Life On The Road”

  1. We bought my wife a ’95 Neon 5 speed off the showroom floor. There is an average in the states of 10k miles per year. I was told much later that the Neon was engineered to last 60,000 miles, just long enough for a 60 month low payment note. I take care of my cars and this one lasted 13 years with 235,000 miles on it and ran when I sold it. I heard the 60k story from a Dodge corporate mechanic when I took it in at about 160k for an oil change. He came out of the back asking if the mileage on the odometer was correct. I said No, it quit once and was out of commission for about 6 months before I found the fix for the entire dash. That’s when he told me it was impossible, it’s a 60 k car. But, and this is where the government needs to stay out of the car business, I used a product from Lucas Oil that was, like Slick 50, pretty much pure PTFE (Teflon). I’ve only used two automotive products in my life that did what they claimed – that old Lucas additive and Rain-X. Sorry, long winded🤣

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    1. Thanks for digging out this old post and adding your memories, Phil. My dad always used an upper-cyliner lubricant, called RedeX. I used it in my first car until I got company cars.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  2. Pingback: An Alphabet Of My Life: C | beetleypete

  3. Wow. Absolutely love this Pete! I will respond with my memories of the cars of my life. Be advised, it shall be a labor of love to get them sorted and tapped into text and photos.
    Cheers!

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  5. If you needed proof that there was no future for British car making then it was the Metro 🙂
    I still hanker for my old Saab 99 turbo (a classic now) Heated seats and windscreen, which curved around you, when the turbo kicked in I felt like a pilot 🙂
    Good to see some other classics in your collection, many of which we had as I grew up and a good few I managed to own when I worked at a garage at dabbled in car sales on the side.

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    1. I always wanted a Saab Turbo. In London, the insurance for those was too much for my pocket then, as they were being nicked all the time. You’re right abut British Leyland, and the Metro. But I think the Austin Allegro had been the last nail in the coffin before then. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  6. Ah, you’ve brought back some memories, there, Pete. I remember that old Citroën well.

    My own car ownership journey isn’t terribly different to yours.

    Morris 1300 – ‘inherited’ from my dad when he got a company car.

    Vauxhall Viva HB – bought because I was a telephone engineer and the Post Office used Viva vans, so I could get parts ‘cheap.’

    Ford Cortina MKIII 1.6 XL -bought from a friend and possibly the best car I ever owned.

    Vauxhall Viva HA – I’d been without a car for some time and it was £50, but cost more than that in parts over the short time I had it. Just as well I was working in a motor factors at the time.

    Ford Capri – bought after I started working at C4. I’d always wanted a Capri from the day they came out.

    Ford Capri – again.

    Fiat Panda 750 – I fancied a new car and it was cheap. Deckchair – like seats and a tiny 750cc engine. I was the last I bought which didn’t have a built in radio.

    Fiat Uno – a much needed upgrade for trips to the south of France.

    Peugeot 306 – a great little car but with the heaviest clutch of any car I ever owned.

    Peugeot 307 – a slight upgrade from a 1.6 to a 1.8 engine.

    Peugeot 308 – my first automatic. I never went back to a manual car again. And as long as I live in London, I doubt that I will. It had automatic wipers which, if there were two spots of water on the screen would flap about as if trying to ward off a swarm of wasps, but when there was a deluge would remain stubbornly parked, refusing to get themselves wet.

    Ford Focus – automatic gearbox, but manual everything else (see above).

    Toyota Auris Hybrid – My current car; a great car for driving around London. I get diesel consumption, from a petrol engine.

    My next car? I don’t know. If there is a next car, it will probably be electric.

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    1. Thanks for your own history, Ian.
      If I didn’t have to worry about Ollie, I would probably get a Smart car now. 🙂
      Something very small, but still with an auto box.
      I hardly go anywhere, so it wouldn’t matter how big it was.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  7. What a great read! I love cars anyway, so it’s nice to read others car history! My first car was a Rover Metro, in Tahiti blue. I was so proud of it, especially as it was “Boy Racer Blue”, so I felt rather “cool” haha. When I moved to a different college I wanted something with 5 doors so my friends could get in easily, hastily I bought a Hyundai X2, which wasn’t too bad, but was nothing to look at nor much fun to drive (Although it was “faster” then my 1.1l Metro, being a 1.5l!) When I decided to undertake an engineering apprenticeship a couple of hundred miles from home, I decided to treat myself to a newer “more reliable” car. My dad was into Rovers and car auctions, so we went and picked a stunning bright red Rover 416i. Sadly, the headgasket blew on my second trip up to Coventry from Devon with my final few boxes of belongings on board! As luck would have it, someone with one eye had driven into me a few weeks before, and because of the value it was deemed a right off anyway, so I took the cash rather than having to beg for a repair. I bought a Volvo 480 ES. I LOVED it! It was odd looking, quirky, unique, rare, and had pop up headlights! She had people looking everywhere we went! I really got into Volvo 480s and joined the 480 club and before I knew it I wanted the highest spec model, the “GT”, so I got a loan and purchased a lovely GT! I had this for a couple of years, before decided to try a Ford, which I was persuaded to do so by my then boyfriend who was mad on them. I bought an XR3i and not long after I bought a scrap 2.0l Mondeo and put that engine into the XR3i! Then one day at work I overheard a colleague talking about selling their Jaguar XJ40, I went and spoke to the person who said he would be happy for me to just TAKE IT so long as I bought it back to its former glory! At this point I still had the 480 and the XR3i, so I sold the 480 to fund new parts on the XJ40, and once I had sorted out some issues and got it through an MOT, I sold the XR3i too. I had the XJ40 for a while (I was just 21/22 at this point!) and then I hankered after an XJS…so I bought that and sold the XJ40. The XJS was probably my favourite Jaguar, but I rushed into the sale, easily taken in by someone I thought I could trust, and a gorgeous bright red coupe, and I had to spend a lot of money on it. I rebuilt the engine (yes, myself!), did shed loads of welding, then the thermostat went and the cooling thermister starting playing up (it caused the engine to cut out suddenly, which happened one day on a blind bend as I was pulling into a turning) It upset me (what do they say about never meeting your heroes), and as it was a daily, I decided to cut my losses and sell on, perhaps getting something more modern and hopefully “reliable”…I bought an X-Type, as I was loving Jaguar ownership. On the test drive at the garage, the engine management light came on, I walked away. They then rang and said they had fixed the problem and would I be interested. I said yes, it was an excellent car otherwise, and better condition than any of the others i had looked at in my budget (I was still on an apprenticeship so money was tight!) Sadly a few weeks later, the EML came on again, I tested it myself and it said the coils needed replacing. I managed to get the garage to honour the work required (it was the V6, so 6 coil packs at around £100 a piece, plus labour! Ouch!), but I had lost faith in the car, and decided to try something different altogether. I made a shortlist of coupes I had always loved, and whilst not on the list, a colleague approached me saying would I be interested in his sons FTO? I looked into them, it was relatively nippy, good looking, and would be a good mix of fun and good MPG for my daily commuting. This car was an excellent vehicle and did me proud. I kept her even when I moved further away from work and had to buy my first dirty diseasal (an Ibiza FR) for my now very long drive to work. She became my weekender, and held a special place in my heart as this is how I met my husband, at an FTO car meet! The bottom dropped out of the FTO market and the car was sadly worth more in parts than as a vehicle so I ended up breaking her when I wanted to put some money aside for a faster weekend vehicle. I eventually got the money together to import a Nissan S15, I had hankered over a Skyline R33 GTR Le Mans but my boyfriend proposed so the savings went to the wedding! The things we do for love eh? Anyway, a bit like yourself, I got fed up of commuting in a manual (the M6 is mostly spent switching between neutral and 1st), so after 6 years of trusty service I sold the Ibiza and got another Jaguar, an X358 (XJ). That’s a lot of cars for just over 10 years of driving. Oh and I started doing my motorcycle licence around the time I got the FTO, so I have had 2 125cc motorcycles too, but I fell off practicing my Mod 1, fracturing my collar bone, it was a day before the Mod 1 test, so I did that despite the pain and the fact that my arm was meant to be in a sling, but by the time it was healed to do the second part, I had moved from the area and never pursued it. Sometimes I miss that, like on a hot day when its nice to get out on the bike, but with 2 small children and the way people drive these days, I consider it a blessing perhaps… I do apologise for rambling on, you shouldn’t have done a car post! :p

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    1. Ramble away, MBB. No problem.

      I am suitably impressed by your mechanical and engineering skills. I changed a head gasket once, but that was the high water mark of my technical ability with cars. other than becoming an expert at stripping down the hated VV carburettor in that Fiesta..
      I confess that I thought the Volvo ES to be a weird looking car, but I always wanted a Jaguar XJ6, or a Daimler Double-Six coupe. I couldn’t afford them though.

      One thing about your comment amazes me though.
      How did you EVER afford the insurance on such big-engined cars at that age? WOW. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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      1. Ahh the secret to insurance… I was fortunately insuring those vehicles in an era when women could get cheaper insurance! Before the big EU crackdown (2012?) Girls wanting more than a Fiat 500 could really take advantage of this, and being a petrolhead, I know I sure did. Much to the envy of all the lads on my engineering apprenticeship haha! By that time the gender quality issue hit, I was in modified cars so I was using specialist companies who could get better quotes for me than regular car users could get anyway! Prior to the crackdown, and somewhere still in my random collection of things that made me chuckle, is a printout for a Bentley Continental quote (6l, V12!) I think it came in at £1800, with Tesco Insurance, in around 2004. Obviously I was never going to be able to afford THAT, but it was back in my student days when I had nothing better to do than do silly quotes. Now, I hate insurance renewal time haha. How times change! 🙂

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  8. Great post 🙂 We get a little autobiography from you 🙂 In addition, we get thoughts about the past, your life and last, but not least, pictures of those wonderful cars 🙂 So many you have posted here. Do you think that any of them would measure up in quality to today’s cars? 🙂 Anyway, keep up the great work as always 🙂

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    1. Thanks, John. The Volvo would definitely still be as good as most cars around today. But all the others would no doubt be regarded as ‘consistently unreliable’. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  9. I bought my first car when I was 18 for $400. It was a huge monster of a car, a yellow Plymouth VIP, maybe a 1967 though I can’t remember for sure. A gas guzzler for sure. Shortly thereafter we had the massive gas shortages where you had to wait in long lines at the gas pump and the price was sky high (for then.) What have I done I thought? I drove it a couple years then sold it to my brother. Still some good memories there! 🙂

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  11. I suspect cars do create memories for years and years, I never had any of the same cars as you – but drove a few at odd times.

    I still remember my first car – an Abarth. It was a kit car my step-brother had. The cheaper and less reliable Simca version and the engine died on my first long trip – up the A1. I went through various cars: an MG GT and a Land Rover in Canada; in the UK, a VW microbus – used as a mobile darkroom; BMW; a VW Polo, a Peugeot, a Honda Accord, and then a Subaru L series.

    It’s been Subarus ever since, even if they are uncommon in the UK – except in equestrian circles where I worked. Then an Impreza after the L series Legacy, then another Legacy before my health necessitated a Kia with Wheelchair Access in Wales. But here in the US my wife stayed true and we bought a 2016 Subaru Outback which we still have. Subarus are more widespread here.

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    1. The Subaru Impreza is very popular with ‘boy racers’ over here. It is even used by some Police Forces as a ‘pursuit car’ too. The 4X4 models and estate cars are frequently seen around Norfolk, but there are not that many dealerships these days. I remember them having the flat, ‘Boxer’ engines years ago, and one of my Ambulance colleagues had an early version (1990?) of the Outback which he loved.
      Thanks, Roland.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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      1. My second Legacy was bought second-hand in Norfolk – and my Impreza was a ‘boy-racer’ flashback. It was the 4×4 aspect that made Subarus popular in equestrian circles. And as a top rally car. I remember one horse show where the car park was a mudbath that foiled the Discos. Not the Subarus – or a Jaguar!!

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  12. I felt like we just had a history lesson about cars in old age😂😂 great post, Pete. The first car looked like the one Mr Bean rode in his show. 😂😂 I would love to see more posts like this. I have never ridden a car but might ride one soon.😜

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    1. You have never been in a car? Not even a taxi?
      Hard to believe, Suzan. Are you teasing me again? 🙂 🙂

      I think you must mean you have never driven a car. 🙂 🙂
      In fact, I am sure that’s what you mean. 🙂 🙂
      I hope you get to learn to drive soon, but I have seen the traffic in India on TV, so maybe not. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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      1. I have been in many cars but haven’t driven any. We used to own 3 cars in Africa. A delica, regius, and a pickup van for transporting goods. We had 3 motorcycles, well one was my tricycle 😂 the hero Honda CB shine and the local one from Africa. I used the hero Honda in my story too. I really meant I didn’t drive a car but you thought I am teasing you, 😂😂 that last line just made you sound like my father. He always goes like, “Suzie you need to learn driving soon but there is too much traffic here so maybe after you get married your husband will teach you but not me, honey.” There is a lot of traffic especially in the area I live in because it is the road that connects to 3 highways that go to 3 different places. The place is always packed with cars and bikes and rickshaws. Phew!! Hope i get married soon, i really want to learn how to drive. 😂😜😊✌

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  14. I love your powder blue Citroen! I bought my first car with my parents’ backing, a 1972 Maverick in pale yellow, six months before a got my license. It tormented me, sitting in the yard and I couldn’t take it out and show it off! I spent hours driving up and down my parents’ single lane driveway. The best thing about that was how good I became at backing up! lol

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  15. I loved your list. Many were names I have never heard of. I am not much of a car person. To me most are means of transportation only.
    I think this might make my blog topic for today.
    I love my current car and hopefully I shall have it for a very long time.

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  16. A terrific post Pete! I have had a multitude of cars as well…some function, one a Mustang that felt a bit “sporty”, although that wasn’t really my thing…now, a Prius owner for life…50+ miles to the gallon and runs like a dream…

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  17. It is good I think to look back on cars one has owned over the years. I too have had quite a few cara from my first a 1934 Ford up to a brand new Toyata Verso. My last car was a beautifiul Turquise 1958 American Chevrolet convertible with a white hood. Where I lived at the time in Turkey, it was the most photographed car in town. Unfortunately, when I bought it, I put in in what I thought was my best Turkish friends name. To late I found he was a con man and lost not only my money, but my beautiful car as well. The money was bad enough, but the loss of my car even worse.

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    1. Mine was a ‘fake’ GTI, BOTW.
      It had everything the same, except the powerful engine. We didn’t really need that, living close to Central London. I did get to drive a friend’s real GTI and it was exciting to drive. Small wonder your Dad kept buying them. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  19. My first car was an automatic. It gave me endless trouble and couldn’t be “push” or “jump” started. I traded it in for a blue Citigolf which I drove for a long time. I have had a few other cars over the years, the worst being a Renault – they are not suited to South African dust. Now I drive an Audi Q3 which is fine for me. Safe, relatively high up, and copes with the many pot holes in our badly maintained roads.

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  21. “…the car was destroyed in a motorway accident that almost killed my first wife, and left me with broken fingers. (She was driving at the time) With the insurance money from the accident, I let my wife choose the replacement car, and I bought a better motorcycle.”

    Sorry, but I had to laugh aloud. Sounds like you no longer had any confidence being a passenger in a car with your wife at the wheel. And that you felt safer riding a motorcycle!

    By the way, my first car was a used 1968 VW Beetle. A red one with racing stripe decals…

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  24. Triumph Herald,Vauxhall Viva,a Volvo exactly the same as the one in your picture, a VW polo, Austin Maxi, an automatic fiat (can’t remember the marque) BMW 3 series, hitachi side door van hand painted in army DPM colours 🤣, 2 mini’s 3 Opel mantas, VW scirocco, fiat 500 (original style) Renault Clio, Vauxhall Astra, Vauxhall Corsa, Vauxhall vectra (company car) Ford Focus (company car) 2 Toyota RAV4’s, another Focus, and currently a Fiat 500 new version 😊

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  27. Goodness – so many cars! My first two cars were provided by the company. The first was a mini clubman estate followed by a Fiesta – no other details including engine size, colour or registration come to mind. In Pakistan I had a Suzuki van. Back home in 1996 I bought a secondhand Ford Escort Eclipse and that was followed by the secondhand Toyota Corolla I still drive. It’s red. It’s now 20 years old and starting to fall to bits but the engine still runs beautifully.

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    1. Thanks for your recollections, Mary. Passed my test in a driving-school mini. I really wanted to buy one, but I already had the Viva, and I was still at school. 🙂
      At least I got to drive into school a few times, and park next to the teachers’ cars.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  28. Being as you are BeetleyPete you really need to get a Beetle! No room for Ollie though. I have only owned 3 cars, a red Peugeot 309 which had a few problems and started costing me too much to keep on the road, a Corsa 1.4 which I loved. It was metallic yellow and made me happy every time I drove it. At 10 years old it was time for a change to a grown up car, my current VW Jetta. An automatic and the most comfortable car to drive especially long distances which we were when I bought it, going up to Shrewsbury from Surrey every month. Now 11 years old and parts are beginning to wear out.

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  29. Interesting selection of cars, Pete. Like you, I don’t think I have one photo of me with any of my cars: I always tended to be the one taking the pictures (sheer megalomania, of course). My first vehicle was a 1956 Ford Thames van, and I’ll never forget the registration: YJJ 913. It helped me move to Bristol to start my BA design course, but I thought it was time to get rid when someone told me they had seen sparks coming out of the exhaust! After working in the former East Germany for 6 months in ’93, I brought back my company car, a real oddity: a LHD VW Passat diesel automatic! The kids (who were quite young at the time) loved it, but my then wife hated it, especially when I overtook, for obvious reasons! My favourite car, which lasted until 2017, was a Volvo 850 estate, with so much space in the back, but it just became too expensive to repair & run, so it had to go: it had only done 160,000 miles, hardly run in! My low-milage Fiat Punto that I bought second-hand is my current car and I’m very happy with it, especially as it is pretty economical. Cheers, Jon.

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    1. Thanks for those memories, Jon. I visited East Germany earlier than that, and everyone seemed to have a Trabant or a Wartburg. 🙂
      Fiat seems to have got it right with the Punto and the 500. Their larger cars were always a disaster!
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  30. I lost count of the number of cars we had in the family, as my Ex never stayed in a job longer than 18 months and he got a different company car each time. I remember all mine and they all had names. The current one is Frankie.

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    1. I looked up that Catalina, GP. Impressive indeed. I always wanted an American car, and my first choice was the 1957 Chevy Bel-Air. Much later, I discovered they were importing the 1970 model Dodge Charger with right-hand drive. I went for a test drive, and adored it. But when I made enquiries about buying one, the insurance was as high as the monthly payments, because of my age. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  32. Oh, wow,I thought I had owned a few cars, but you trump me, Pete! Mind, I never had the variety you had…I started with a 1963 VW Beetle, already 20 years old, then Ford Fiestas, then drove BMW 3 series (5, I think) for 17 years, and back to VW now (Polo). Oh, and along with the BMs I had an AH Sprite for 20 years, which did loads of miles on the continent. Huge fun. I loved my rear wheel drive cars

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    1. Hi Pete – If you still know the registration numbers you can discover (to an extent) what happened to them after they left you by means of road tax and MoT records. The car tax records go back to the 1970s (I can see my 1972 mini van) and the MoT back to 2005 (I found my 1990 VW Polo) which when last tested in 2006 had 117,500 miles on the clock. I did a blog post giving more details in my May 2019 archive called “Every Car We’ve Owned”

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      1. I can actually remember some of them quite well, David.
        (Strange how such things stick in your head)
        The 1963 Viva was 344 DBK
        The Hillman Hunter was WHG 803M
        And the Volvo WYR 374N (I think)
        Not 100% about the Capri, but MGT 883Y comes to mind.
        The Citroen GS Estate was TCF 612S
        I will do that research one day. 🙂
        Best wishes, Pete.

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    2. I always wanted a Beetle, but never got around to one. And I never did own a sports car, though I got to drive quite a few, as a friend owned a used dealership in Wandsworth.
      I missed two cars off this list that I owned for a very short time. A 3000e Capri, and a Ford Zodiac Mk IV. I only had them briefly, mainly because insurance rates were rising at the time, and my age meant that they were too expensive to insure. I included the two company cars because they are good examples of cars that were very reliable at the time. I also had a Vauxhall Cavalier MK1 company car for a while, just before I joined the Ambulance service. But I kept the Volvo at the same time, and we had three cars parked outside the house!
      Best wishes, Pete.

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          2. That recent model had the 2.0 L petrol engine from the Passat, I believe. Water cooled, and in the front, so it wouldn’t sound anything like the old air-cooled rear engine. 🙂
            Best wishes, Pete.

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