Sunday 14 September 2014

Cars I have owned.

I bought my first car when I was 18.  It was brand new and cost £3500, in today's terms about £8200 (see being an accountancy student helps me calculate these things).  It was a 1988 Citroen 2CV Dolly in Plums and Custard colours, I can even still remember the registration number, it was F604 UWK.

It had a mighty 602cc engine, was air cooled (like the Formula 1 cars, but that is where any similarity ends), the tyre iron doubled as a crank handle to start it if needed and it took me everywhere. 

I don't actually know how fast it went as the speedo stopped at 72mph and there were no such things as SatNavs to tell me, mind you it didn't have a cigarette lighter so I couldn't have plugged one in anyway.

One year I had gone on holiday to Wales with Mum, Dad and the dog and we had taken both mine and Dad's cars, we went out for the day and were having a quiet picnic by a lake when three cars came screaming over the bridge.  It was a group of Police Officers on a high speed driving course.  Dad spent the next 30 minutes taking them for rides around the car park in MY car!

I traded up after 3 years but I really, really wish I had kept hold of it, it was such a fun little car.


This isn't my car, but it is the same model and colourway.  I have checked on the DVLA website and it seems likely that the car was scrapped when it was only 10 years old which is such a shame.  However if it was still around, today it would cost more to tax than my current car which has a 1.9 lite engine.

My next car was a Peugeot 205 GL, this one was not brand new but about a year old.  It was a speedy little thing, but not the fun to drive that the Dolly was.


Mine was only a 3 door.

It was smashed into in a car park at a local park when I was working there, whilst it was in for repair I was loaned a Maestro which I thought was fantastic, not a sleek car by any means, but a good solid workhorse, so my next car....


Mine was newer than this being a K reg, but the shape hadn't changed much, if at all.

After this there was a succession of Ford Fiestas and Escorts (why are Ford cars named after porn magazines?)

The last new car I bought was a Ford Escort SI, 1.8 litre in silver with body kit, sports steering wheel and polished aluminium gear change knob.

It was beautiful.


Unfortunately a redundancy (number 1) meant that I couldn't afford to keep it.

Cue several years without a car.

Just as I was back on my feet and considering looking for a car I was made redundant again.

Now, after a couple years of being in a steady job I have been able to buy a car again.  It's the oldest car I have ever owned, but other than the 2CV which gave me my first taste of freedom and Independence, it is the one I appreciate most.


Yes it is old, yes it is dented, yes it is scratched.  But it is fully paid for and it is mine!  It was MOTd before I collected it and I have since had it serviced at a Fiat dealer just for peace of mind.  I hadn't intended to keep it long, it was just a first foray back into car ownership, but I love it!

How do you feel about your cars?

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