If there’s one thing all drivers can remember it’s their first car. Ask any motorist of any age about their first set of wheels, and they’ll be able to tell you a story or two. After passing the dreaded driving test and scrimping and saving for months, buying your first car is a big occasion — and one that we’re here to celebrate. Because no matter how rusty, weather-beaten or unreliable your first car was, it’ll always have a place in your heart.
In homage to the old bangers of yesteryear, we asked five of our favourite bloggers to describe their first cars — rust, leaks, robberies and all.
Quick Links
- Dave – thedadventurer.com
- Mark Richards – bestdadicanbe.com
- Tim Atkinson – bringingupcharlie.co.uk
- Darren Coleshill – onedad3girls.com
- John Adams – dadbloguk.com
Dave — thedadventurer.com
“Despite being a hand-me-down from my mum, my first car was actually really decent. A few years old with low mileage, my Peugeot 206 was my driving companion during my early and mid-twenties. Life with the 206 wasn’t plain sailing though. It developed an embarrassing fault with the cooling fan which made it sound like a jet engine when it hit certain temperatures. More worryingly though, it also began to cut out randomly – the worst time being in the outside lane of the A40 at rush hour! All in all, a great first car…if you ignore the noise and breaking downs!”
Mark Richards — bestdadicanbe.com
“LYL was green. She was rusty. She was full of holes. And she was my reward for a summer spent calling bingo numbers. I proudly drove her back to university. A car: at last – Angie Miller would be powerless to resist me…
Autumn gave way to winter. At which point LYL’s heater stopped working. “It’s not very romantic,” Angie said as I took her out for a drive and wrapped her feet in newspaper. But there was worse to come. I drove through a puddle. A big one. Water came up through the hole in LYL’s floor and splattered Angie in the face.
The relationship didn’t last.
The love affair with LYL did though. Until I was seduced by an Escort…”
Tim Atkinson — bringingupcharlie.co.uk
“Cost £45. An Austin 1300 — not in the least bit sporty, but it was mine and it worked and was warm and dry (unlike my bike). I trawled local scrap yards and fitted a new handbrake, inertia reel seat belts (to replace the buckle straps it came with) and even Vanden Plas seats complete with little walnut trays for the rear passenger to place their… what on? Their sandwiches? Did people ever do that kind of thing in cars? Well if they’d travelled in mine they would have.”
Darren Coleshill – onedad3girls.com
“Cars, you either love them or hate them. Personally I love driving, it gives a sense of freedom well that’s if they do as they’re suppose too. My first car was a Renault Clio which was cheap to run but it had a very special fault, you see it had a sunroof that let in water. The issue was it didn’t pour in but collected itself so if you went around a corner either the driver or passenger got a little shower. We ended up putting silicone around the sunroof and carrying a set of towels in the car at all times.”
John Adams — dadbloguk.com
“My first car was a Volkswagen Derby. It was a saloon version of the Polo and I recall my stepfather bought it from a family friend for £30. I was 17 and carefree and went on all manner of adventures in that vehicle with my friends. Rock festivals, parties, visits to the seaside; that car did the lot. The photograph here was taken after it was broken into. It was an unfortunate experience, but my wonderful car bounced back. I have very fond memories of that Derby, very fond memories indeed.”
Reckon your first car could trump this lot? Don’t be shy — tell us all about it on Facebook or Twitter, and don’t hold back on the embarrassing details.