What makes and models of car (or other motor vehicles) did you have at home during childhood ?

[WildRosie]

From my time on, Dad had a Volvo 145 estate, then a 144 saloon, an Audi 100 then a Datsun Stanza. Both Volvos and the Audi were company cars but he bought the Datsun outright. Mum had a MK 3 Vauxhall Viva, an Austin Allegro, a Chrysler Alpine and, finally, a Fiat Strada. We were fortunate to be a two-car family (also necessary with seven children) but from the mid-80s we just had the one; a VW Golf and a variety of Fords at different times.

Dad's cars were, by and large, tough and reliable. Mum was less fortunate; she'd had enough of the All Aggro after six months and she got a brand new Alpine - whose gearbox failed the day after we got it home! Wot fun. Strada was a poorly-built rustbucket.

DH’s mum had a Polski Fiat that was written off by a Reliant Robin.

My grandparents had a Dolomite car. I remember it being very smooth and polished inside and very quiet.

My mum had a Ford Anglia, then a Hillman Minx, then I can't remember.

In order....
Rover 90
Rover 100
Rover 2000 (rustbucket)
Ford Cortina Mk 3
Morris Marina
Datsun 140J
Datsun 160B

In contrast, my 8 year old has been in our
Cadillac CTS
Mercedes E Class
Mercedes CLS

I'm 43 and we didn't own a car until I was about 11. Over the years we had various old bangers! An ancient, brown Ford Cortina (retro with non-retracting seatbelts and super bouncy seats!), an Escort MKII, an Escort Mark III, a Vauxhall Cavalier Saloon, and a metallic mint green Datsun Cherry!

My Datsun Cherry was a great car - apart from the bodywork that gently rotted.

It started every time though and never let me down (apart from when the alternator gave up and I had squeaky bum time on the M4 getting home in the dark).

Polski Fiat, aka FSO. I remember the adverts in the motoring magazines; the tagline was "You buy an FSO with more common sense than money." I don't think I have ever seen one but they had an appalling reputation - made Ladas seem classy.

Did anyone have a Morris Ital ? The bastard son of the Morris Marina was...something else. Reading about some of the dire vehicles on here makes me realise how fortunate my family was.

A Morris Oxford, then an NSU RO80, followed by an Opel Manta coupé (white with a black vinyl roof!).

I learned to drive in a Datsun Cherry so have fond memories of them!

Oh my god. Dad only had his moped licence, so it was a Honda moped for a while. God knows what possessed him, but he then bought a bright yellow Reliant Robin. Oh the shame when he picked me up from school!

He eventually passed his test and bought a Vauxhall Nova, which turned out to a cut and shut. He then owned a series of Rover 200s until he passed away.

My dad had company cars so a new car most years.

Can't remember many but the ones I do recall are.....
Ford Capri
Red Ford cortina
Ford Granada
Vauxhall vectra

Then I got my own car, a beige Mini with brown seats😎 I now have a brand new Mini Cooper s which I absolutely adore but nothing will ever have as much character as my little old Mini had.....

Dad had an Ital when I was small before he had his string of cavaliers. It was a company car. One of my earliest memories is waiting for the AA on the hard shoulder of the M4 after it had broken down yet again.

Dad
1970 brand new from the dealer Morris 1300 Traveller - memories of going on holiday (London to Cornwall) with the back seat down to make the boot larger to hold all the family camping gear (plus roof rack) with each of we three children in a 'nest' of the sleeping bags and pillows - no seatbelts!
Two Volvo (140?) Estates Blue and (thank goodness) DDad chose the Brown not banana yellow option.
Volvo 240 Saloon
Volvo 740
B Class Merc shared with DMum
Mum
Mini - memories of DDad teaching her, swiftly moved to a driving instructor. Must have had this for a while as I learned to drive in it, again many tears with DDad and same instructor as DMum.
Austin Allegro Sand colour - weren't they all?
Datsun Cherry
Renault Clio
B Class Merc

Great trip down memory lane.

Our Volvo 144 was banana yellow too. There obviously wasn't much choice of colour back then. Our 145 was bottle green but I vaguely remember seeing a lot of turquoise Volvos of a similar vintage.

Mum's Allegro was 'sandy glow', with brown go faster stripes. Ridiculous.

The Morris Ital wasn't the only rehashed BL car. The Austin Princess was given a new sloping radiator grille and bigger headlights and renamed Ambassador. I don't know if it was an improvement over the Princess, or worse.

The gearbox on Mum's Fiat Strada was an absolute bitch. Changing gear was like hammering a square peg into a round hole, meaning a strong left arm was necessary. It was rusted to buggery in less than four years.

When I met DH he had a Morris Ital estate; brown: didn't show the rust. They are well consigned to obscurity.

This:

A40
Vauxhall Viva
Datsun
Datsun (bigger one)
Mum had a series of Minis (proper ones, not the BMW jobs)

Married in 86, so whilst we were going out with each other dh had a Rover SDI (3500)
MG Metro Turbo (I learnt to drive in that and we had it from new til 1994) It went like shit off a shovel, and I left the boy racer drivers standing at the traffic lights.
Saab 900 S16 (biggest boot ever)
Saab 9000 x3 (one was a Carlsson)
Discovery
Range Rover
Caterham 7 (boy toy)
Saab 95 estate
Saab 93 Sportswagon
MGCGT (boy toy, and maintenance project for dh)

Before they bought their own car my parents used to borrow my grandparent's Ford Popular to go on holiday. We used to drive (pre motorways) from SE London to Devon and it took practically all day.

The first car my parents bought was a Ford Anglia. My mother learnt to drive on it with driving lessons with an instructor . My sis and I used to go along too and spent the lessons sitting on the back seat.

Their next car was a 4 door Austin 1100. It was stolen and used as a get away car and a bank safe was put on the back seat. The police found it abandoned and returned it a couple of days later.

My father traded it in for a Fiat which was custard yellow. My sis and I were teenagers by then and found it so embarrassing we spent most journeys laying on the back seat trying not to be seen by anyone we knew (pre seat belts). My parents kindly humoured us.

After that came a serious of Citroens and finally a Mitsubishi.

Renault 21 and 25 and Ford Sierra Estate for sitting in the boot

Dad had a silver Vauxhall, can't remember the exact make.

My mum always favoured teeny cars, even though there were 3 of us kids to squeeze in the back and often several of our friends sitting on knees and 8n the boot.

She had a Yugo till I was about 6, then a Fiat 126, then a Fiat Cinquecento.

It was only when the 4th child came along that she upgraded to a people carrier.

The first car I remember my dad having was a dark green Cortina. Then a blue Morris 1100. An orange Marina then a white Marina Coupe.
Weekends were usually spent under the car

lwb Land Rovers. Triumph Heralds, Triumph 1500. Daimler Sovereign. Jaguar E Type. Jaguar Mk 2s. I think that's it. I was a child, it was the sixties/early seventies. My grandad had a Ford Zephyr (that's the first car I remember) and later a Saab. Around 1959 my dad a blue van... might have been a Ford.

I've been driving for 27 years but I've only had four cars in that time; a Rover Metro, two Ford Kas and my Citroen. My late uncle had an enormous green Ford Zephyr which ended its days by blowing up on his driveway. It wasn't even ten years old. He replaced it with a Landrover which my Dad borrowed to tow Mum's Alpine back to the dealers the day after the gearbox conked out. Another uncle had a Viva the same as Mum's (copycat), a pale blue Beetle with white seats then two Renault 12s in quick succession. I seem to remember the Renaults were pretty good cars and, like the Alpine, no bodywork issues.

Loads of them as my dad changed car frequently and liked cars he could tinker with.

Off the top of my head, a reliant regal, various fords - granada, cortina, consul, fiesta, escort, orion, Sierra... A chrysler sunbeam, Austin Princess, a scimitar and assorted vauxhalls...