All this talk about young,younger,youngest is interesting stuff...
No matter how much we may deny it,even to ourselves,the purchase choice of our
LBC's is often influenced by some childhood impression.
Maybe we want to experience the same car that our father had,like a 17 year
old friend of mine that had a rough Mk.2 Vitesse Covertible,sold on so he
could buy that metallic blue S-type Jaguar which he improved and sold on to
make way for that beautiful gold Mk.2 Jaguar which eventually made way for a
Stunning Lilac Jaguar E-type V12 Coupe,
all in the space of 6 years! His 17 year old sister,a petit girl,had as her
first car,a red P6 Rover 3500 Saloon,but had to sit on a thick foam cushion
just to see over the steering wheel. You know,there's something kinda sexy
about petit,pretty ladies in big powerful machines? ;->
Personally,I blame my father,who started with cars in the early '60s with a
majestic black Daimler DB18 Saloon,at that time,the British Royal family rode
exclusively in Daimlers and my mother got pretty good at that 'royal
wave',heck policemen even used to hold up traffic for us. Even from my
formative years,I recall the real wooden dash,the big glowing red & green
lights,the semaphore indicators,the horsehair in leather seats,the tall,(to
me),wheels and swept back wings with running lights on-top & the running
boards.
Many long journies back & forth to France,along the tree lined napolionic
french roads remain part of my past.,then in deference to his French birth,my
father bought a svelt little Silver Renault Caravelle back in '67,a sexy
little number,c/w rear disc brakes,alloy wheels,red leather interior and rear
mounted engine,with rorty italian exhaust boxes,oh boy how we loved that neat
little car,but it was fragile as well as light,and was unfortunately written
off in a nasty accident,from which both my parents walked away! That was
replaced by a much loved Rover 2000TC Saloon in Dragoon Red,a car we kept for
many a moon,capable of swallowing Autoroutes whole,and effortless 100 mph
cruising across the Continent,with strip speedo,rear inboard discs,10:1
compression,beige leather seats and alloy panels. Eventually it succumbed to
the vagaries of the British climate,and I found myself in my early teenage
years helping my father to restore that delightful car,that was a pleasure in
itself,with super construction & bolt-on panels.
Eventually that car got sandwiched in a slow traffic accident,between a
Hearse & a London Bus! Replaced in '78,with the Sapphire Blue '75 Triumph
2000TC,that I found for my father.,I was somewhat surprised that he followed
my advice at the age of 19 years! But luckily he did,and that incredibly
reliable family car stayed in the family for the next 12 years,perhaps I grew
to like the TRiumphs silky-smoooth six cylinder engine,because that's what
influenced me to buy my first car,a Signal-Red TRiumph Herald 1200 Conv' in
March '81. My father judged it as a sound decision,just as a good 'first car'
before I moved on to something better. (Needless to say,that same car is still
my daily driver after almost 17 years and 140,000 miles),although I also have
my Concours Vitesse Conv' which I built up from bits and pieces over the 13
year period June 84-April 97,and it kinda' finished,if you know what I mean.
Yup,I guess it's in the genes!
Happy Christmas everyone!
Leon
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