Posted on by Cathy

Do you ever wonder…

Cars never played a part in my life until we came to Australia.  There was always a bus at the end of the road or you walked.  We (well The Golfer) did own a car…..which went with him to work so the option for me to use it wasn’t there.  Or the funds to buy another one just for me!

Andrew has just retired and did what many new retirees do,  bought a new car, trading his reasonably newish one for one higher of the ground (easier to get in and out of)  which made me think about one of the cars I owned back in the 1980/90s

Not new then, couldn’t afford a new one, but I treated it like a new one and it certainly was a well loved one.  Sleek and shiny, compact with everything close at hand (remember I’m only a little lady with short arms), a heater that worked (usually) certainly no aircon (unless you wound down the window) and a manual drive….none of this automatic stuff that’s the norm these days 😎

I loved my little Holden Gemini coupe that…..if I’m remembering rightly….no pictures were taken to remind me….looked like this white one….’cept it was coloured this exact shade of yellow.  Fairly low, with two doors and a detachable black louvre across that sloping back window, room for me and my parcels, it went like a bomb.  Or at least that’s what it sounded like before I had a new exhaust put in.

Then in 1994 The Golfer accepted a position interstate and treated me to a ‘brand new car’ – my first Lance(r).  Of course I couldn’t say ‘no thanks darling I’d rather drive my 20yr old one instead’ so he was accepted gratefully.  I will always remember Lance mark1 with fondness – I wrote about the day we said goodbye as a sort of tribute.

Yes I know a car’s a car, it’s just there to get me from A to B, safely and in reasonable comfort, such as is expected now in 2019

BUT I do wonder what happened to my little yellow bullet.  Was she looked after by the young lad who bought her from me all those years ago.  Would I be comfortable to drive her today- never mind be able to get into her 😎

What about you- do you have memories about previous cars…..share the good, the bad and the ugly if you dare….or care to remember 🚕🚗🚙

 

16 Replies to “Do you ever wonder…”

  1. Our first car was a five year old renault 4 known to us as Super Bug. We adored her. She was terrible really and cost us a fortune but she was our first car and still remains Number One car as far as we are concerned. We took her to Spain camping and everyone one of us plus other nice campers had tp push her to get her started. Those were the days.

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    1. Super Bug – I like that nickname! It’s lovely to look back at the good (and not so good) memories You painted a great picture of everyone pushing from behind to get her to go

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  2. You can inelegantly fall into a car seat but getting out can be more of a problem. I suppose we all have memories of a favourite car. R had a VW Beetle and that was a fun car.

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    1. Lol It’s the getting into some motors I find awkward Andrew. Yes I can sit sideways and twist round like on a lazy Susan but it’s getting my rear end onto the seat that can be a problem for me
      I’ve never been in a volksies – wonder what fun I missed out on ??

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  3. Leo had a Volga which he bought for a song at an auction in Belgium. Bought it back….had a garage change the wheel over, which was quite a performance, and then ran it on paraffin. You could hear it coming a couple of streets away.

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    1. I wonder if your Lancer and mine were the same. I loved mine. Five speed transmission, dual exhaust, turbo charged. Built by Chrysler. I had it more than 100,000 miles and gave it up only when I had to switch to a van for business. I gave it to my son in law, who drove it into the ground—at 230,000 miles.

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      1. Not quite the same Joanne. Mine was a very sedate motor, automatic gearbox, both back seats backs dropped forward to give loads of space as an extension of the boot,power steering, cruise control but not turbo charged. All the things my little Gemini didn’t have. The Golfer tells me Chrysler and Mitsubishi were ‘linked’ at one time – no idea about now.

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    2. I’ve never heard of a Volga Helen, sounds like a fun ride. Big or little – European so I’m assuming little. They used to run all sorts of things on Kero.

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  4. Wow! What a sporty little number your yellow car was. I drove an old 69 Holden for years and then got a not so old secondhand Ford Laser. I called it Lenny the Laser, my little brother called it Leonardo de Crappio 🙄. The same brother was happy to see both his adult kids take over ownership of Lenny when I bought Estelle the Excel.

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    1. Oh yes Maria my yellow bullet was sporty alright- old as it was I loved driving it.
      Funny how people kept cars for quite a while (as in many years). These days they seem to swap them at the drop of a hat

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  5. My first car was a Datsun 120y
    Four on the floor she was ten years old when I got her
    And she was lemon yellow!

    I bought her for $1500.00

    I loved that car

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    1. Funny how we develop ‘feelings’ for some of our belongings Angela. I never thought I’d miss a car but those two definitely made a big impression on me.

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  6. I didn’t learn to drive until I was in my early 40s when something I was trying to bring home on the bus, broke the camels back! Hubby was never around when that happened…and he didn’t like them much. But funny when I did master the driving, he was content to sit in the passengers seat …

    Morris 1100, followed by Mazda lime green hatchback, Mirage 3 door (which was stolen and wrecked) an interlude with a Ford Transit van (old-as) through to a (forget brand) but automatic saloon…which I drove into the ground due to repair costs.

    haven’t had a car since (poss 2002) and hubby alive but living elsewhere, a number of other things broke that camel’s back!

    but I think the most favourite car was my Dad’s Worsley which was imported from the UK, was unusual because it was the car the police used in UK. At one point in NZ, if you wanted a new car, you had to import it…So as a police car, it could be driven fast but my Dad and Mum weren’t those kind of people, everywhere they parked up, guys would appear wanting to look under the bonnet and say “Mr Miller if you ever want to sell it..I’m your man”. One of nephews inherited it and raced it of course in the ground…

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    1. Wow that was quite a collection of motors Cathy – I think your lime green rather than my bright yellow wins the ‘see them coming’ race.

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