After the excitement and maintenance of the 3-wheelers, it was a relief to turn 17 and be able to get that all-important extra wheel
The first was a grey 9-year-old Hillman Minx, which was christened The Tank due to its sheer solid unstoppableness! This is not mine, I have no photos of it but the one pictured above is exactly like it.
I paid a princely £40 for the Hillman Minx. It had a bench front seat so three people could ride in the front but a floor gear change so the person in the middle had to put up with me rubbing their leg every now and then. In the age of mini skirts this was sheer hell for the driver... I think I might buy one again... It was old enough to have no synchromesh on first gear and no server-assisted brakes. If you were going fast and had to stop quick you stood on the brakes, pulling at the steering wheel! After the 3-wheelers, this is the car that is remembered the most by old school friends
The next car was an absolute joy - a Zephyr 4 Mk III as used on TV's Z-Cars and, in its day, one of the most sought-after cars on the road.
It too had a bench seat, but this time with an American-style column gear change which I loved. The dashboard and interior were gorgeous and the horn was a silver ring set within the steering wheel.
It did guzzle petrol a bit but - hey! Look at my car!!! The main problem was that the corrosion under the bonnet got to be such that when the bonnet was lifted, on trying to shut it again the hinges, instead of closing, just bent the metal they were attached to. The bonnet closed ok at the front, but the rear, where the hinges were was still halfway up the windscreen...
We bartered it for having the drive tarmacked, but it had stood unused so long the brakes had seized solid and it pulled the bumper off the transit van the new owners tried to tow it away with. They abandoned it two streets away but we had a new drive...
To my great embarrassment the next car was a Czechoslovakian Skoda. Dad bought it for me because he needed help with the football coupon round (see the Teenager entry) and the wrecks I bought (even with his help) were not reliable enough. The L plate was for my brother Frank.
It was before the VW takeover of course, 1971 to be precise and the thing was horribly plastic tacky grot! My mate Barry Lord was really embarrassed at snapping off not one but two of the plastic door handles! And the plug leads used to melt on long journeys and would then fall off leaving the car running on three cylinders...
I ran it into the back of a lorry one night (accidentally I should point out) and wrote it off. Not one of my better nights; I still have a mark on my leg where it snapped off the metal tube that took the ignition key, but at least I was rid of the Skoda.
It was followed by a Mini, the basic 850 model which I absolutely loved. By 1973, when this photo was taken, I'd customised it a bit with yellow metalflake paint and an oversized reversing lamp that I couldn't switch on as it would have been illegal - apart from blinding everyone up to half a mile behind me...
I haven't any colour photos of the wing mirrors which were my pride and joy. This started out as a black and white photo and I've coloured it as best I could to match the actual car.
Unfortunately these custom additions attracted vandals like a flame attracts moths. The wing mirrors got ripped off and at one point we returned to it to find a gang had been dancing on the roof which was bent down and ruined. In the end it was resprayed to the original blue and sold through the auctions. We had it eight years.
By the time "Sapph" left us I was married and had a daughter. Future cars would have to reflect a more mature and responsible person...wouldn't they? Naaaaaaah!!!
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