When did you get your first car?

My first car was a 1954 Ford Popular the old 'sit up and beg' model which got such bad rap for being so unstable. I bought it in 1966 from the uncle of a friend at King's College Hospital. It cost me thirty pounds which I remember was a little windfall I had from my grandfather's estate. It had three gears and reverse, and no form of interior heating, which did become an issue during the winter!

I drove to college in it every day, often picking up friends along the way, and was one of the few people who had a car, so was in demand on social occasions. I had somewhat of a reputation for being lead footed andI have a vivid memory of Graeme Garden asking to be let out as I circumnavigated Hyde Park Corner - well known as being challenging to complete the lane changes required to get around successfully without having to have a second go at it.

It had quite a bit of character and I used to have the old fox fur which I bought at a rummage sale, lying along the back window, wearing a pair of John Lennon style glasses It was a bit unreliable, but fortunately I had my Dad and my brother to keep it going for me. I also became quite expert at tightening up the cylinder head gasket with a nail file when it started to make funny noises and stagger a bit. I drove it up to Edinburgh when I graduated and got my first job there.

It took us on many a jaunt. When Ieft Edinburgh I drove it back down the A1 loaded to the gunnels with all my stuff. Sadly it didn't make it back. It kept stalling and refusing to start every time I slowed down, and I ended up pulled off the road at a garage where I was able to phone my dad - no cell phones back then.

I slept in it until the next morning when Dad & my brother David arrived with a tow rope and we towed it ignominiously back to Beckenham. I left for Canada and have no idea of what happened to it after that, I imagine my brother fixed it up and sold it, I should ask him if he remembers.