I suppose it would have been difficult getting through my early posts without being the typical bloke and talking about cars...
But...
Bear with me here please!!
I want to take a moment to talk about a recent episode I watched of the latest series of Top Gear on the BBC.
It's always been an eventful moment for me over the years. The start of a new series of a programme that's been around since I was just 3 years old.
It has changed a little bit since then though. When it started, Angela Rippon drove her Ford Capri up the M1 motorway and there were discussions around how safe the 70mph limit was, fuel efficiency and the introduction of seatbelts!
This recent episode was playful madness, stupidity and of course the new £2m+ Lamborghini Sian.
But then there was the point to this particular episode. The 3 presenters (Freddie Flintoff, Paddy McGuinness & Chris Harris) went down a very specific road of nostalgia.
This wasn't about their first cars, but about the cars they remember from growing up, their Dads cars!!
The emotion that ran through that programme was heartfelt and entertaining at the same time. Watching them as the producers provided them with the same cars they had explained were the cars that most reminded them of times with their Dads.
These were as follows:
Freddie - Fort Cortina
Paddy - Fort Fiesta
Chris - BMW 323i
I watched with excitement, the recent episode of an institution that's been with me my entire life, while feeling the huge amounts of emotions these cars bought the presenters and I couldn't help take a step back in my life and also wonder if my son will have these feelings when he's older.
I cannot pick that "one" car from my Dads motoring history because quite frankly, I remember bloody loads of them!
They ranged from my most hated ones which were a string of Citroen CX, through to the Cadillac Seville that sat on the drive taking up oodles of space, but that had "Auto Cruise"!
To any kid growing up in the 80's with "Knight Rider" on the telly, having your own car with auto cruise was going to make you the happiest kid in the world! (It was what the earlier American cars called cruise control) ((They might still do))
It was the Cadillac that brought me my moment. The time when my Dad let me sit on his lap while we cruised around the driveway. (At the time, we lived with my Uncle who had one of those massive driveways with plenty of space)
I was probably around 9 or 10 at the time and I remember it fondly. Unfortunately, one of the horrible memories I have of being that young kid in the family car is that my parents smoked. And back then, it was just the norm and not a problem, or anything to be frowned at. But I can remember that smell like it was yesterday. (They don't smoke any more!)
I have some amazing memories of sitting in my Dads car, be it the back or the front. We spent weeks driving around Europe for our holidays and I'll never forget those childhood moments.
It's amazing what a simple TV programme can do isn't it. I watched as these 3 guys re-lived their childhoods in their Dads cars, while then spending the next few hours picking out those memories for myself.
And I can't help wondering if my own son will have those thoughts when he's my age. I genuinely hope so because I get to spend many hours in the cars, just the two of us when I go and pick him up or drop him off from a weekend here with us. It's anything from a 4 - 6 hour round trip, so each time I get a good 2+ hours sitting with him either way. There are quiet moments while we listen to good tunes and I concentrate on a bit more traffic, but there are endless times of just chatting absolute shit about anything at all. It's those times I will personally remember fondly in my old age. And that I hope Connor remembers fondly when I'm gone.
I particularly hope he remembers how lucky he was at such a young age to be sat in a great big BMW 7, having a heated massage in the front seat! One of those luxuries I never thought I'd have, let alone provide my 12 year old son with!
And here's that thought...
What will my sons first car be like!?
When I was a teenager, all I wanted to do was to learn to drive. I couldn't wait until I turned 17 so I could get out there and be independent.
I woke up on my 17th birthday gutted because I wasn't home. I was on one of those European road trip holidays with Dad. Sorry Dad...I loved those holidays, but that moment was a gutter for me!
All I wanted to do was get home and meet my driving instructor.
Enter, Mr Tony Quine. (At least I think that's how you spell it)
Mum had arranged for the same guy who taught my elder brother Mark. (3 years prior)
He was a bit of a legend really. He took me out as soon as I was back from holiday and pulled up at the side of the road a mile or two from the house. He then pulled out the ring binder and started to show me exactly how a clutch worked and what happened in the gubbins of things when I pressed that particular pedal. It was genius. There were diagrams and descriptions that he ran through just to give me the basics of car mechanics before I sat there and started operating it with my own feet and hands. One of my first questions (which sounds bloody stupid now) was that I was unsure how I'd know how much to turn the wheel when going round corners and bends. He laughed. As he should have. And simply said "how do you know how much to do that on your bike"?
Good bloody point Tony!
The car was a Peugeot 205. One of the most popular cars back in '92.
Did I care what the car was? No. Because for the first time in my life, I felt that experience of being out on the road, and it was ME driving!!
Within just a few gear changes of pulling away for the first time, Tony simply stated that he would be putting me in for my test in no time at all as I had picked up the feel of driving immediately.
I actually believe that it was his 20 mins of description regarding how the car mechanically does what it does, that helped me instantly pick up the co-ordination you need to handle a manual mechanic car.
And I'm stating this piece because I now wonder what it will be like for Connor.
The likely scenario is the following, as it will be 2026 before he starts...
He won't have to turn a key to start an engine like I did.
He will push a button and most likely just start the electrics of a silent, non-mechanical car.
He won't experience gears as they don't exist in electric cars.
He won't experience the rawness of an engine, a clutch and a gear change.
Unfortunately for Connor, he will press a button to start, touch a button to select drive, and pull away silently.
I find this sad. Not that it will ever cause him any issues, because quite honestly, it's unlikely he'll ever need to get in a car that has an engine or gears. But it is a shame.
To add a point, he won't even get the fun experience of flappy paddles for those who know what I mean by that!
Here's the real difference...
My first car was a 1980 Ford Fiesta Mark 1. It was dark blue and had just 4 gears.
It didn't have:
Working wipers - a complete floor in the passenger footwell - A front right suspension coil - A working gate between neutral and reverse - A working stereo - Body work that was pure metal without fillers...
Did I care? Nope! Once again, it was mine. It was MY freedom.
I started my driving lessons as soon as I got back from that holiday in late August 1992. Just 10, 1-hour lessons later, and on my first attempt of a test, I passed with flying colours on the 16th December 1992.
On Christmas Day '92, my Mum and Stepdad handed me the keys to "Gonzo". I've no idea why I called it that, but it just came to mind and that was it.
I was dressed and on my girlfriends doorstep within minutes. I can still remember her mum stating that her daughter wasn't getting in that death trap.
She did!
For 4 months, I was gone. Out and about at every opportunity as I was the first of my group of friends to get a license and a car. I don't think I had a drink for the next 2 years! And back in those days, I could stick a fiver of fuel in it and drive around for at least 10 days. Having just looked it up, it was 40 pence per litre back then.
That is crazy...
And then it went for an MOT in April '93. It was taken off me and scrapped immediately. I was devastated but thanks to my Stepdad John, I was back on the road within days in my slightly newer (1984) Fiat Uno 45. Bright red and much cleaner/tidier than the Fiesta. Still with only 4 gears though....
Move on nearly 30 years and I have been very fortunate to have had over 40 cars. Some my own, some company, but nevertheless, I've had my fair share of driving experiences in all manner of brands, engines and gearboxes.
To end this, one of the last cars I had (the one before my current) was a Mercedes. A nice new one that I ordered the specific build of. Never again will I go back to Merc.
But that's another story....
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