Vehicles

Today, I will tell all who read every motor I have had.
First though, I must tell all how I hot my driving licence. I went out to Hong Kong and was allocated a Bedford QL tipper. As I could not drive I was given a driver who was in charge of a grading machine.
Well one winters day after heavy rain, I was summoned with my driver to take the tipper to a place where we were toget some aggregate to repair the mud slips. I was to drive and he was just to supervise. Well I did this journey many times and one day this officer got into the passenger seat I just carried on as usual and when I returned he just told me to keep well into the side, gave me a piece of paper which I was to give to Admin at my base. Thuis I did. When it was time for me to leave Hong Kong for home ready for demob, we were given a card and told to send it to Ministry of Transport and we would get our driving licence. Well I was demobed in 1957 but did not apply for my licence until1960. It duly came and so I went out and purchased my first vehicle. a Ford Thames Van 100E side valve only 3 forward gears. I was not really fit to drive and went in the country lanes for several weeks to get used to a small vehicle. I had that van I think for 4 years. In 1964 I bought a Ford Anglia, it was less than 3 years old. Incidentally when I purchased the Ford Thames van it was 2 years old. I liked the Anglia, unfortunately when I went into business, I had to sell the car toy raise funds. This was late 1968.
I was without transport for about 18 months. To be honest, I can't for the life of me remember what the make of the next vans were. What I can remember is the it was a C reg. the mileage was 10900 miles. The mileometer was broken. I remember buying a brand new van from the garage, they gave me a good price for the old van as it had done little mileage. This was October 1994. It was like the other van a 5cwt. Well in 1976, I began to make a little money so decided that a van was not really for me so I decided to purchase a Datsun 120y sunny. Nissan was originally called Datsun. Well this was an estate car. This being 1976 there were no rear wipers installed in any vehicle at that time. I used to get angry as I said it was more or less just like having a van, regarding the rear view mirror. So in September 1978 I went mad and bought a Toyota Celica Liftback. They were very stylish. The nearest thing to that was the Ford Capri. They were not as nippy as the Celica and had a box like shape. The Celica looked great. I kept the car for about 7 years and then gave it to an ex employee. I then purchased a Jaguar XJS Auto sports. The 6 ltr motor with the Coventry climax engine. Mind you, it was not new, it was about 3 years old. It was certainly the most prestigious car I ever owned. It was surprising just how many doors it opened. I had no idea as to the power a Jaguar had when it came to prestige.
It was very expensive to run, tyres were around £200 each. I had a twin exhaust fitted, another huge bill and when I had air conditioning on, the MPG was down to 10. Eventually I sold it privately and bought a Citroen AX.GT. this was in 1986. A very nippy car, it would do well over 100mph and zero to 60 was less than 10secs. I had that until I think 1992. I bought another AX but this was a diesel. I didn't get on really too well with it so in 1994 I traded it in for a Peugeot 206turbo diesel. The most efficient nippy car I ever had, It would do in excess of 65mpg and zero to 60 in less than 9 seconds. Unfortunately my Mother was getting worse, she had been disabled for many years and found it increasingly difficult to get in and out of my Peugeot. So in I think it was 1998, I let my Sister have my old car and I bought a Honda Civic. I never liked it from the start but my Mother found it a lot easier to get in and out of the car, so that was it. I was stuck with it for the time being. However in late 2000 my Mother took a sudden turn for the worse, she went into a home for a short time but to be honest, I knew she would never leave. It was then that I decided to buy a sports type car. I went and bought a Hyundai Coupe 2 ltr. It was not as nippy as some I have had, but very sporty looking. Unfortunately, I had to go into hospital about 9 months after I had the car. I had an operation. found that it was painful and difficult to get in and out of the car so I decided to go for what I knew would be easy to get in and out of. Another Peugeot. This time a Peugeot 207G.T 150. Thp I think it meant that it was 150 brake horse power, I had the car for almost 4 years and this year sold it and have now gone for a modest car. As I am in my mid 70s I do not want a nippy car again so I have a Vauxhall Corsa Ecoflex, start stop. It is supposed to be very economical. I will let all know what the MPG is when I fill up. I did fill up when I went to Grantham about 3 weeks ago and all I have done is about 140 miles and the fuel gauge is still over 3/4 full. It is supposed to do about 70 to the gallon. Mind you it wants to. It is diesel and diesel here is 147.9 p per ltr. Petrol is 140,9.
Easter is upon us, by the way, I am still in dispute with Vauxhall regarding my windscreen. So perhaps I will have a week end off correspondence with their customer assistance? It is not what I would ever call it.
Happy Easter Holidays to all. I guess it will be next week when I next visit my blog.