Family Cars and Vehicles I had in the UK before we moved to USA
Just a fun list of the cars my family had when I was growing up or I have owned since while I grew up in England. Thank you to the internet for letting me find these pictures if I have breached anyone's copyright just let me know and I will remove the picture immediately or give you credit.
1. Ford 8 - Black of course
I do not remember this one but my older brother told me my dad had it just before he moved to the house I grew up in. My 3 older siblings remember it affectionately as "Tubby".
2. Ford Pilot
This was the first car I remember my Dad had and it was old when he bought it Blue with blue leather seats. I remember being crammed in the back with my siblings. Never sure if it would make it up a steep hill or keep running for a family vacation. Also memories of getting up the street and having to drive back because Mum was not sure she had locked all the doors to the house. Pretty sure it came to a sticky end when my Mum drove it into a wall during a driving lesson. My Mum did not learn how to drive until quite late in life and about 5 driving tests later.
3. Vauxhall Victor
It was black and grey and looked a lot more modern. Dad bought it from my my best friend's dad 4 houses down the street. The battery was gone so we had to push it up his driveway to get it to our house.
4. Vauxhall Viva
My Dad loved car magazines and this was his first new car. More of a family car than the ones in the magazines but it did have nice lines.
5. Bicycles
The first bike I remember was a tricycle I used to ride it up and down the sidewalk "UK- Pavement" I am guessing from about the age of 3. I then had successively bigger pass me down bikes from my older siblings until probably around the age of 15 I bought a beautiful 27" Claud Butler racer from my brother it was all aluminum and very light. I would go on cycle holidays with a friend and we would explore the south of England and stay in youth hostels and drink in pubs" at age 15 underage in England the drinking age is 18 and smoke because we could. Even participated in an organized orienteering/scavenger hunt that included things like wearing a blindfold and trying to identify a sock filled with rice pudding hanging from a line. It was fun to be independent and take our own vacation without being with our families.
6. Moped
I used to cycle to high school but in England they let you have a moped at age 16. So as soon as I could I got a used moped. About that time the Japanese were dumping mopeds in the U.K market and they had figured out how to make them look like a motorcycle but go really fast names like Kawasaki etc. I could not afford one of those so I had something more like a moped your Mom would buy to go shopping. But it was freedom and motorized so it beat peddling. I even used to go on a solo vacation to the west of England and visit Cornwall and Devon. Some of that is steep country so on some hills you would have to give it some peddle assistance. At one point the peddle shaft broke but there was just enough shaft left that I was able to jam a plastic ruler under the chain guard and still use the motor. Eventually I got it welded but of course that did not hold so I ended up getting the Moped on a train to home and finally fixing it with a new shaft.
7. Motorcycle
As soon as I could at age 17 you were allowed a real motorbike. So I was able to get a used BSA Bantam 125 cc. Finally, a bit of power and a lot more freedom. I able to get to High school in quick time and would use the bike rain or shine. My first girlfriend would ride on the back and I would quite often eat two dinners one at my girlfriends after I dropped her off and another when I got home. Not bad! Eventually, her father decided he would rather I borrow his car when I took her out than use the motorbike. I could not believe my luck! I remember taking this bike on another solo vacation to the west country and right in the middle of a pelting rain storm it just stopped running. I pulled up under a bridge and I was so chuffed that I was able to diagnose the contact points had just gone lose and fix it in very short time with eyeballs for the gap setting. Several month later the engine blew and there was a magazine in England that was just a collection of classifieds called Exchange and Mart. It was great I used to buy it quite often. Anyway despite the vintage of this bike someone actually had a used engine for sale that presumably was all that was left of a crashed bike. An older brother who was also a motorcycle enthusiast drove me to North London to pick it up. And it worked. It was the easiest fix ever and I had a much newer engine than before to boot.
8. Triumph Vitesse
I had a Saturday job and I had been cycling, mopeding and motorcycling there since about age 13 so finally I was able to buy my first car. It was a beauty and just what I needed. I think it cost me 400 pds with a little over 50,000 miles on it. It was my first car and my first convertible. My aunt had paid for all of us to have driving lessons when we were 17 too, so we all knew how to drive about as soon as we legally could which was 17 in England. The insurance was expensive for a 17 year old so I had to pay monthly at about 13 pounds a month. Eventually, I had to let it go I think mainly because of the cost of the insurance but also maybe a little bit because it had a very small back seat.
9. Austin Allegro
This was my Mum's car after I had my first 17 year old car accident in her Viva. She would let me drive it sometimes if I promised to be extra careful. When 17 year old's drive cars before they have an accident they assume the other drivers know what they are doing. It is a wake up call when you find out at 17 that if you are going too fast round a blind narrow corner that the driver coming toward you might just stop and let you crash into them instead of pulling over nicely to one side.
10. Vauxhall Viva
Just like my Dads old Viva. My Dad had passed away when I was 13 so I am sure there was some nostalgia but I also liked the look of them. All the Vauxhalls had faulty gearbox designs so I think I must have changed the gearbox at least twice with a reconditioned one. One time someone rear ended me and hard to believe the gear shift just broke off in my hand. It was steel I am sure I could never have karate chopped it but I did not feel any the worse for wear. Another time I was leaving my Mum's house to go on vacation with the girlfriend and I am not more than 100 yards away and I cannot put the car into second gear. We did not stop. We took the whole weeks vacation with only first and fourth gear and about a week after we got back it finally stopped working in any gear. Good Times!
11. Truimph Spitfire
What a gorgeous car. I loved convertibles, even if the English weather was not that great. Just like the Triumph Vitesse the hood (UK" bonnet") opened up from the front so you had great access to the engine. I did not have to service this car very much but it had horrible cornering something about the rear suspension would make the wheels fold in if you went to fast. So one time I had to replace the rear panel after a car hit with an after market version that let you put the spare tire on the back. I sold it to a work colleague and I think he totaled it going too fast around a roundabout.
12. Austin Maxi
I guess I had more money and was working now so I actually bought the MAXI while I was fixing up the rear of the damaged spitfire. The MAXI was sold as a bed on wheels and the seats were supposed to fold down. Mine did not the front seats were securely locked up with a bolt through them but it had loads of room. Unfortunately the front CV joints were crap and the car would vibrate if you went over about 50 miles an hour. I do not remember keeping this car long and I cannot remember which I sold first this or the spitfire.
13. Vauxhaul Victor Estate
I still loved Vauxhaul's even though the gearboxes never lasted. I actually bought this one with a dent in the front wing, much to my wife's upset. Why because in England the license plate gave away the model year and this was an S plate which meant it was relatively newer than my previous cars. When I had to replace the gearbox on this one it was a lot heavier than the Viva gearboxes had been. I had the car on ramps and you would lie on your back under the car with the new gearbox housing balanced on your knees as you tried to line up the shaft and fit it in the engine. Not really fun, so I sold it soon after.
14. Peugeot 504
This was quite a comfortable and reliable used car we even took it on vacation to Europe and drove to Italy and back. I think I convinced my friends it had air conditioning but it didn't just a fast fan.
15. Ford Escort
My first company car. A common perk in the UK is your employer buys you a car because at that time they were so expensive new it was probably the only way dealers could sell a new car. My employer gave me this as an incentive to stay an extra 6 months as I was ready to move to the USA. It was formerly a pool car so it had not been assigned to any particular employee. It was really fast and I remember one trip to get a friend to the airport where I just might have exceed the speed limit to about 110mph. Fortunately we kept the Peugeot as well because this car was stolen out of the company garage, about a month before my 6 months was up. We did not live in the best area so actually think someone tailed me to work to steal it because the company garage had many much fancier cars than this.
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