Cars

People were so sexist in those days many women were quite happy to be driven by men where I was independant. I was referred to as a lesbian as I had short cropped hair and drove my own car. This was hurtful as I used to think that dressing up like a dollybird and going boozing on a weekend was so wasteful, whereas I could go wherever I liked, just chuck in a bottle water and some sarnies and I could be in Scotland in an hour or visit relatives in the south in aobut 6 hours, I had no restrictions.

I owned my first car in 1962 when I was just 19 - most unusual, especially for a female! It was a second-hand Ford Prefect bought for £50 with money borrowed from my grandmother, which I was supposed to pay back but never did as she died not long afterwards. There was no heating in those days, so it was freezing to drive in the winter, and, if the flip-up indicators didn't work you had to open the window and make the appropriate hand signal. Later cars I owned in my 20's were Ford Zodiac, Ford Zephyr 6 (with front bench seat and column gear change)and two-tone Ford Cortina. I loved big cars. When I was 25 I was working as a Hotel Receptionist - one of our wealthy guests had an American Ford Mustang and he actually let me drive it for a short way.

My summer job in 1965 was to work in my uncle's garage/petrol station. If people asked for four gallons, we'd ask, shall I top it up to make it £1?
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I passed my test in a Hillman imp as I've said before the brakes were dodgy and it had a hole in the floor where passengers could throw their flag ends. I crashed it and got a Ford corsair automatic. This had a dodgy starter, I had to get out, put a bit of bent wire into the starter,give it a push to start it run quickly into the driving seat before it stalled then drive off. It was all good fun in those days.the kids nowadays with their modern cars don't have this, with an EMS you can't poke around but boy its expensive. Give me a basic engine anyday

I passed my test in the early 80s, but didn't have a car of my own for 8 years (when I went back to work f/t and could afford one) - then I had a 2CV, which, like pp I adored - the way it leaned over when you went round a corner, the fact that the indicators didn't switch off automatically (means that I still turn them off...) the windows that flapped - air-conditioning - the heating that you could set to OFF or ON... And the dashboard - mounted gearstick that occasionally came off in your hand... The ultimate low-tech car - and about as safe as a tin can...!

I remember petrol at 50p a gallon. Passed test first time in a triumph 2000. Got caught doing 120mph in a triumph stag at age of 19. Luckily got off. Would die of shock if my kids did that now. I drive very steadily these days and am constantly appalled by standards on roads!

Took my test in a Ford Capri, the Probe of its day - a saloon bodged to look like a sports car, but it had a 2litre engine so the extra power was helpful. Then a succession of bangers - several Morris 1000s, a Fiat 600 (the de luxe version of the tiny Cinquecento), a Hillman Imp that was making funny noises, when I showed it to a mechanic he went pale, there was a split right across the bottom and it was only held together by the roof. Several 2CVs, my pal Wendy used to make the stripey cloth roofs to replace the originals that went rotten. Them were proper cars them was.

I passed my test in1963 in a mini. I drove my dad's Vauxhall consul with bench front seat and column gear change. When I passed my test I had to do part of it using hand signals and then I was told to use the indicators for the remainder. Cars were so unreliable and batteries needed to be charged frequently or the car wouldn't start. No seat belts and very few speed limits. No roundabouts, pedestrian crossings or traffic lights,. dual carriageways. When anything new appeared on the roads we got instructions on how to use it via public service announcements on black and white TV. How things have changed.

When I bought he Citroen C3 that I am currently driving DH was delighted by all the things it could do. I just looked through the manual and thought "Oh God, all those things to go wrong!"

My father's first car in the early 1930s was an Austin 7. GO 1211. There were no indicators so he had to put his arm out the window to indicate when he was turning. There was no boot just a rack on the back so we children had to keep looking out the back window to make sure the suitcases were still there. No heater so my father wore fur lined boots and we were wrapped in blankets. No windscreen wipers and the windscreen opened up. I don't remember him having to pass a driving test.

We saved baked bean cans to mend the exhaust in the 70's.

Lol @ the snapped suspenders anecdote
Was it those with the rubber button thingies or the metal snap fastener?
Both instruments of discomfort, if not actual torture!

I passed my test in 1967, it was a nightmare because my suspender belt snapped just as I was getting into the car at the centre. Every gear change meant my stockings descended further, and I was so worried about this I got cramp. Instructor suggested we stopped, and then suggested I go for a walk. Realising what would happen if I did, I claimed the cramp had gone, and struggled on. I was convinced I had failed, but to my aastonishment I had passed, perhaps because worry about how my driving was going was the last thing on my mind!

Passed my test at 17, Dad was an inveterate car fixer and I had many a practice drive in his huge Morris. Column change and a bench seat. Flipping thing was so heavy to haul around and it took all my strength to stop it. I was working and i bought an old, old style Ford Anglia which Dad renovated for me. This was followed by a black A30. I loved that car, even though the stick out indicators needed a thump to get them to work. Of course both were aged and broke down regularly. In particular I became adept at holding up the exhaust to the bumper with wire when the bracket fell off. Also travelled on the M1 when it first opened, as a passenger in my parents' car. It was so, so quiet but such a relief to drive to our destination for Christmas in much less time. Seeing the M5 on Saturday I would much have preferred the traffic level of Christmas 1959! Think driving was much more fun back in the day, not so comfortable inside the car though. Those seats and suspension left a bit to be desired.

disgruntled I remember driving on the m1 when it opened! Well, I was a passenger in my first(official) boyfriends car, it was a triumph TR3a, powder blue, was a lovely day and we roared along with the top down. And then we roared all the way back
And yes, the m'way was pretty well empty.

In the same car, with the same boyfriend + our friends in a Morgan, we drove to Italy, going over the St.Bernard pass (tunnel not yet built). Boy! That morgan had zero suspension!

I learned to drive in the 70's. It cost £3.50 a lesson.
I had a wonderful Instructor who was extremely kind but strict.
He used to keep several bags of sweets in the car which he used to give to his Learners. One day, I struggled to do a reverse around a corner.
He told me after a couple of tries that if I did not get it right, then no sweet for me.
I tried once again and failed.
And yes, no sweet for me as he munched away on his.
Happy Days.

Our first car in 1967 was a dark blue Ford Anglia. It had lots of red patches all over it (I think it was called red oxide) that was used to cover up all the rust. Our local garage used to call it the VD special.

Petrol freebies! Yes crun, the only champagne flutes I possess are Esso freebies. Glasses more frequently used have all bitten the dust.

Yes great reading all these memories. My dad had a Hillman Imp and he took me up to the local disused airfield and showed me how to drive when I was about 15. My husband passed his test 6 months after we married in 1971 aged 17. We had an old mini which he'd had since he was 15 - he would drive up and down the back lane in it so to this day his reversing is brill We still had it when I went into labour with our first son but by then it was only doing 2 miles to the gallon so when my waters broke it was touch and go whether we'd make the trip to the other side of town in tome. We sold it just after he was born for £15 - sad day and we didn't have another for about 7 years. I didn't pass my test until 1979 and did a lot of practising in an old Anglia with holes in the floor.

Fab thread! Memory Lane. Does anyone remember how the old minis used to die whenever they went through a puddle? But I recently had a Smart car and there was something wrong with the timing - in the old days I'd have just pulled the choke out, but that wasn't an option. I remember going on the M1 when it first opened - it was empty and exciting. Now I avoid it.

I passed my test 1st time at age 17 in 1972 - hand signals were part of Driving Test then!!! 1st car was a Mini which I bought with an Insurance Policy which my Parents took out when I was born (old"penny policy") & a Bank Loan.

I've driven all sorts of cars, learnt to drive in a long wheelbase Land Rover before I started Driving Lessons. After I passed my test a family friend took me & my parents out for the day, made me drive & took me on the M6 at Preston less than a week after passing my test, I still dislike Motorway driving.

1st brand new car my late DH & I owned was 7 years ago when Government offered £2000 for scrapping an old car & buying a brand new one (my little car was 15 years old - offer we couldn't refuse). Traded that one in at just short of 3 years old (3 door) for another of same model but 5 door. Should see me out for my driving days.

Passed my test in 1965 bought a Morris 1100 no indicators, used hand signals, no safety belt, but I had one fitted on MY side, how bad was that, thankful for all the rules and regulations these days, and glad I took my test ages ago, have been a District Nurse for years, I bought a new car last year at 73, still going strong, the car and me!

I can remember filling my petrol tank up for a fiver!

Ah, the 2CV! Getting all nostalgic at the thought...

The first car I drove (living abroad at the time) was a fiat 500, the Topolino) . I was ace at double de clutching. Not so good at parking, cos as long as the nose was pointing in the approximate direction of the kerb, that was good enough

Fun days!

My first car was a mini van which cost £50. It was a mobile death trap. I still managed to get £40 for it when I traded it in 3 months later.