Our host this week Sayre asks :
I want to know your car history. What was your first car? Which was your favorite car? And what are you driving now - and why?
For a European girl I had my first car very early. As soon as I started to work in 1965 I also wanted to have a car and as I earned quite well and lived with my parents it wasn't difficult to save money and buy a used car. I found a Fiat 600 , in white just like the model below
It was a nice little car, although a little rusty underneath and when it rained I had my feet in water. That's why a boyfriend made a hole in the floor, closed it with a wine bottle cork and each time when it rained I took off the cork and the water went off through the hole. That was very practical. This little car drove me everywhere and I enjoyed my freedom. I was 22 and had already a car !
But I also had a boyfriend whom my father didn't like at all. He was an artist and of course not good enough. Therefore he propsed me a deal. I should give up my boyfriend and he would buy me a brand new Volkswagen instead.
I found the deal disgusting and didn't like blackmailing at all.Therefore I agreed to the car but kept my boyfriend unofficially. Father was very happy that I had split up, bought the new car and I was happy to drive around in it with my boyfriend. One year later we separated anyway, so everything was in order, the boyfriend had disappeared but fortunately I had the new car !
I kept my Volkswagen for 4 years and it was also the only car when I married Mr. G. But soon after we bought a bigger one and as we were working in the same street although not in the same company we didn't need two cars and we sold the Volkswagen.
Two years later we moved to Waterloo and there I really needed a car. There are no shops around where we live and also I needed it to drive our son to school and I to work.
I was looking for a used one, not expensive, because all our money had gone into the house building, and
I found the 2 CV ! This was the nicest car I ever had, it was so funny to drive. The clutch was completely different as in "normal" cars, the wheels high and thin which was very good when it snowed. The roof was out of fabric and when it was warm I opened it and the kids got up and waved to everybody. It was real fun. My car was grass green and I had put yellow duck stickers on it ! After the green one I bought this blue one, before they stopped producing it, otherwise I still would have a 2 CV !
After that I had boring traditional cars, for sometime a Nissan Micra and then I started with Opel Corsa.
The first one was black, I had no choice and I always thought I would ride in a funeral car. The second one was a terrible yellow and I was the only yellow Opel in whole Waterloo, so that everybody knew where I was.
Now I have a very boring color, but again I had no choice I bought the car brandnew but out of stock and I had to take what was there.
This is my car today, I am very satisfied with it, but there is nothing special to tell about it either.
I love the Volkswagen the best :) How fun this was to read :)
ReplyDeleteI love all the cars you have had. The 2CV looks so sweet.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!! Well, it's my first day spreading the comment cheer this year :)
ReplyDeleteYou sure have a fun car history! love that 2CV
Happy Monday!
First I love your new year header--great photos, especially of my main man Arthur. :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat a novel way to deal with a leaky car--no shortage of wine corks at that age, I'm sure? I too had boyfriend and Volkswagon experiences--one good, the other not so much!
The new car is very nice Gattina!!!
ReplyDeleteThat 2CV looks sweet! My first car was a Chevy Impala 1966. I got it in 1975. It was a terrible car, but at 16 I had my own car!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite car? The one I have now. My Cadillac Sedan DeVille! She is a real honey!
The 2cv looks like a fun car...I like your new one too! Happy FM Gattina
ReplyDeletewow, lots of stories with your car, i love your comment about the yellow car which you had and nobody else in town and everyone knows what you are up to :)
ReplyDeleteI love all those cute little European cars!
ReplyDeleteYour cars are interesting. The modern ones have a sameness about them. It seems years ago cars had character.
ReplyDeleteI had a couple of interesting ones.
I had an Austin when I went off to school. )Unusual for Canada)It had a little arm that went up in the post between the doors to give the directional signal. It also had overdrive which I thought was cool.
When I went to Boston to go to graduate school, we had (married now) a volkswagen Beetle. It suffered rust where the heater pipe was at your feet. It rusted right through the floor. I plugged the hole with newspaper. This worked fine until one day I drove through a puddle on the freeway and the newpaper flew up and hit me in the face and stuck to the ceiling. That Christmas we drove home to Toronto (12 hours) with no heater. We had an infant son. For several days he had a red face from all that cold air. Finally, I got a used volkswagen wagon, which I alway drove around in the summer with my canoe on top. Like Noah, I was prepared. Like with your yellow car, I could not hide. Once I crossed the border into Canada with a friend and her two children and I was stopped by the police on a pretext. Finally, he said they were looking for someone wanted by INTERPOL. To this day, I wonder if there were two volkswagans with a red canoe on top with two adults and three children crossing into Canada at 2:00 AM. Strange!
After that I mostly owned American pick up trucks.
Seems you made the right choice to get your Volkswagon! You are a smart girl! The 2CV looks so fun! I too drove a leaky car. Every time it rained, the water would collect around the floor board. Never would have thought to drill a hole in it!
ReplyDeleteExcept that when you picked it up they gave you a bottle of champagne in it!!! LOL!
ReplyDeleteYou have had some cute little cars, for sure!
You drove a James Bond car!!! Well, actually, it was a Bond girl's car, but still... "For Your Eyes Only" had a 2CV (yellow) in it.
ReplyDeleteOne of the guys at work is STILL driving a 1968 VW Bug! Great car if you can keep it running.
:-).
ReplyDeleteMy bike ... (MY bike :-)) will have to suffice for now.
But is quite beautiful (now that I´m thinking ... I´ll send you pictures of her (*) as well, as soon as I finally solve this thing of not being able to pass them from the camera to the PC (!)).
But a car would be nice as well ... any contributions will be welcome.
That was interesting reading.
ReplyDeleteNot that I am a car buff, but liked those oldies and the the barter with the boyfriend or rather car against boyfriend.
But the last line says it all.
Nothing much to say.......
I must say that you've had very personal kind of cars before this last one! Fun and even cute.... *giggles*
ReplyDeleteOooops, you just reminded me that we need to fix a tire on our car as soon as possible. It's leaking air. *sigh*