Graham recently posted about the first few cars in his life. His memory is so much better than mine and his fondness for cars far outweighs mine but I do have very fond memories of the first car in my life, a 1948 Vauxhall, known as The Bomb. Not in the modern da bomb meaning.
Image courtesy of Vauxhall
I was about 18 and I'd got my driving licence the previous year driving a boyfriend's brand new dinky little mini minor, when one of my uncles gave us a big, old 1948 Vauxhall for my brothers to learn how to tinker with motors. We didn't even have a family car so it was quite a novelty. The boys didn't have licences so I was the only one to drive it. It couldn't have been more totally different to drive than the mini.
If I wanted to take it anywhere there would be a discussion on what they were tinkering with at the time. They did a lot of tinkering but usually not with anything important although it did occasionally break down at inopportune times. The main problem seemed to be when the car stopped so I dreaded traffic lights. Way back then they weren't on every corner, just very busy intersections, not the place you wanted to be stuck. My girlfriends and I got quite experienced at attracting attention of people to give us a push. I have an image stuck in my mind forever of a chubby Italian greengrocer in his white apron gesticulating wildly shouting, "Boys, boys, we need strong boys!" We were quite embarrassed when the 'boys' who stopped to help us turned out to be three that we knew.
"Boys, boys, we need strong boys!" became something of an anthem with us.
My father would forbid me to drive it at night if I wasn't going somewhere where I could stay the night. Most of the time even when it would start, the lights were dodgy. I got pulled over one night on a very busy road right out in front of the Brisbane General Hospital by a good looking young policeman to tell me my lights weren't on. By the time he walked around the front of the car I had pushed the light knob back in and pulled it back out again and wallah!! By the smile on his face I think he knew very well what I'd done but rather than warning me asked us where the party was. Ahh, those were the days!
On another occasion the horn came on as I was going around a corner in front of the local police station. I should have just kept going but no, I pulled over and lifted the bonnet to do what my brothers had told me to do if that happened. I'm pretty sure I was so flustered I just forgot what it was I was meant to do and the although the noise was horrible it was a while before a policeman came to investigate. These days I'm pretty sure the car would be deemed unroadworthy but the cop patiently listened to me venting my frustration about my useless brothers and how I was sure they had sabotaged the horn to cause me embarrassment. Then he gave me a kind pat on the shoulder and sent me on my way.
My girlfriends and I had such fun in that car and I think it's thanks to that car that I'm a confident driver. I think it may be responsible in some way for my developing adventurous nature. I can still hear my best friend laughing when something went wrong and I'd rant about my brothers until I ended up laughing too. I really should have appreciated my brothers more. Somehow they kept that old bomb going well past its use by date.
Wonderful post, Pauline. I loved that car. My (maternal) Uncle Eric worked for Vauxhall and originally had a 14 but then had this model - a Wyvern. I never had any real childhood adventures in it like I did in the 14 but it had great presence. Thanks for the memory.
ReplyDeleteLooking at it now I see it as a grand old car. Back then all I saw was an opportunity for some fun mixed with a bit of frustration. But it's the fun times I remember most.
DeleteIt is a great looking car, and wonderful to learn of your adventures with it. Might be fun to have a reliable old Vauxhall now, but not for super highways.
ReplyDeleteI'd feel very grand in a car like that these days but I think I might need to find that pot of gold to pay for the fuel.
DeleteQuite a car! I would love to drive it. Sounds like you had a good time with it.
ReplyDeleteOnce I got the hang of it it wasn't too hard too drive but the gear stick could be bothersome and it was a very heavy car. But, yes, Michelle, so much fun was had.
DeleteAh, a jalopy, a hoopdie, a clunker, a bucket of bolts. Those are cars for the poor and desperate or young and adventuresome. It sounds like several i have owned!
ReplyDeleteI hope you have some fond memories of the similar cars in your life messymimi. Hope you are well.
ReplyDeleteI was way behind the eight-ball when it came to getting my first car and license to drive.
ReplyDeleteThere never was a car in our little family unit during my childhood and teenage years. Any vehicles I was a party to were those that belonged to others.
The first car that was kind of mine was a VW Beetle when I was 21 years old. It was owned by my first husband...he'd bought the car long before we married. I couldn't drive...so he did all the driving, except for one night on our way back to Brisbane from Noosa Heads, when I took over the wheel. Turning a corner at Coolum Beach, I misjudged it...and went up over the gutter...and bent the axle. He took over the wheel...and we limped on to Brisbane! lol
Hi Lee, Other than The Bomb there wasn't another car in my family until after I was married and moved away. My father never drove The Bomb even to go to Sunday Mass, he always said he didn't have the time to waste. Hope your boyfriend/husband to be coped with the bent axle. I think The Bomb could have been called The Tank, it was pretty well indestructable. Oh, and these days you'd run up over a roundabout. There are dozens of them around Noosa!
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