Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Rick]

As it's fathers' day, is/was your dad a hands-on car enthusiast, tinkering away at the weekends under the bonnet of his car, or did he have zero interest in the subject?

Mine has always been in the former camp, which may explain a few things.

RJ
_________________
Rick - Admin
Home:https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk
Videos:https://www.youtube.com/user/oldclassiccarRJ/videos
OCC & classic car merchandise (Austin, Ford ++):
https://www.redbubble.com/people/OldClassicCar/shop

[Riley Blue]

My Dad wasn't interested in cars and never owned anything interesting except one. When my twin sisters were born in the mid-50s, he came home with a huge LHD Ford which he'd bought from an American airman who was going back to the States. It was vast and carried all five of us in great style and comfort with the pram across a luggage rack on the back. I've an idea it was pre-war but it might have been late '40s. I don't think Dad had it long and no photos exist.
All of his other cars were pretty 'average': Austin Seven, A40, Morris Traveller, Hillman Super Minx Estate, Simca, Marina Suntor, Vauxhall Nova.
_________________
David

1963 Riley 1.5
1965 Riley 1.5

[Ellis]

My father was a motorcycle fanatic in his younger days and used to ride them, so I have been told, at breakneck speeds. He had many ranging from a 1000cc Indian to Broughs and Vincents. All were bought as well used second hand examples.

His favourite cars were Austin Sevens and my mother informs me that he had a dozen or so at varying times between 1938 and 1951. He was a competent self taught mechanic and used to explain the differences between the different models to me. The last one he owned was an Austin "Big" Seven and a photo of it is shown below :

[img][/img]

I think that's where my enthusiasm for cars originates and the family's liking for Scottish Terriers which continues to this day.
As an aside one of our previous Scotties was a rare wheaten coloured one.
His name was Huw :


[img][/img]
_________________
Starting Handle Expert

1964 Jaguar Mark 2 3.4 litre
1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
2002 BMW M3 E46 Cabriolet

[peppiB]

Sadly I have no photos (went elsewhere on death of parents) but Father started off with bikes, then motor cycles and a model T Ford in the 20's and 30's. He was married in 1942 so the machinery went. It was 1956 before his next car, a 1938 Austin 10 Cambridge, then in 1959 a Series II Morris Minor. He always did his own work on them whether it was mechanical or electrical, and I was usually by his side

[DM]

Dad was definately a car/bike.boat enthuisiast.

Before I was born he was building a tuned / lowered austin 7 2 seater special.

Balanced engine, special cams , modified carb,modified head lowered chassis, stainless brake rods, (most of the work done after work at Aston Martin).
Then when he started a family it had an Austin Ruby body plonked on it from a scrap car from Walt Miles in Northampton

Later on when I was around I helped him repair many a car in the front garden.

Rebored a MK1 Cortina .

We put a complete front on a Hillman Avenger ( 6 month old with the front smashed over 18" to the near side).
Chassis rails , inner and outer wings , front panel and bonnet plus spray painted, all in the front garden.

The Avenger I towed him home in with an HA Vauxhall, all left hand turns for 7 miles except one roundabout which I could not avoid where the tyre was rubbing on the bodywork.
The biggest surprise was when we took measurements off a neighbours brand new Avenger and found out just how far out of square it was.

I lost count of the number of bikes he rebuilt, but do remember helping him marinise a 1500 GT Cortina engine that replaced a 1200cc side valve engine in an Albatross speedboat used for water skiing at Billing.

Dad took my girl friend at the time out in the boat on it's first test run, when she said it was fast he chucked the key to me.
Viv was not too happy when I had the boat skipping sideways over the water on a high speed turn.

[baconsdozen]

When I was a kid my dad had a BSA bantam. I was the envy of all my mates as I got to ride pillion every so often. My grandfather has a Sundeam which I now know was a S7 in an old wooden shed and it hadn't run for years,my dad started it up and it dropped through the floor. It only went down a foot or so and they got it back up again,I never found out what happened to it.
My dad bought me a Hudson motorcycle and rather than wait until I was old enough to ride it I took it out when he was at work. Our local bobby caught me and the old man confiscated the bike.
Dad was an engineer and always designing and making machinery,he invented a machine (something to do with book binding) when working at one firm and made a prototype,they marketed it but he never saw any money from it. I was for ever experimenting with old motorbike and car engines,any parts that needed modifying or repairing I could usually persuade him to take to work.
_________________
Thirty years selling imperial hand tools for old machinery(Now happily retired).

[kevin2306]

My dad always talks about the cars he had in the day, but from my recollection he wasn't particularly interested in them other than as a work horse.

kev

[roverdriver]

My father did not get his driving licence until he was over 50 (I was 12 at the time), and he bought a Morris Minor to use to go to work. However in his youth he worked nights at a petrol station (I think in Bedford) where he frequently re-fuelled Ford cars being driven bodyless from Manchester to London. That would have been in the early 1920's.
_________________
Dane- roverdriver but not a Viking.

[Rootes75]

My father, luckily for me, is and has always been interested in cars and lorries.
_________________
Various Rootes Vehicles.

[norustplease]

My father was a competent home mechanic, with some knowledge initially from his army years and latterly self taught.
I wouldn't say that he was a car enthusiast as such, but was a serial Volvo owner, with several 144's, 244's and 245's under his belt, by the time that he passed away.
_________________
1953 Citroen Traction
1964 Volvo PV544
1957 Austin A55 Mk 1
Boring Tucson SUV

[peter scott]

My father never had an interesting car but he did ride his big brother's bike. Yes, a Scott!

Peter



My mother also drove a bike although her own one was a humble Francis Barnet rather than this Ariel. That said she did drive the length of the country on it.



My father did have a boat and I do still have the Seagull Outboard but not the boat.



Peter
_________________
https://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[52classic]

The fondest memories of my dad were the times I spent with him in the garage working on his Ford 8 - Actually a 7Y for the anoraks - I must have been 5 or 6.

He liked cars but always considered them from an engineering standpoint having worked at the loco/carraige works in Caerphilly. He hated to buy anything if there was a prospect that he could make it! I remember that there always seemed to be a neighbor at the door with a couple of bits of something broken in their hands for him to fix.

He told a story from his merchant navy days during the war, that he and his best mate bought an Austin 7 from the dockside in Southampton and t learned to drive in it whilst getting home to South Wales. After his leave there were no takers for the car at the price they wanted so they dismantled the car and took it on board as 'engine room spares.' He says they used it in a number of foreign ports and eventually got a good price for it in India!

[Peter_L]

My Dad liked doing the minor jobs on the car (1953-1960's) at first under the detailed eye of our neighbour who was ex RAF and would check wheel nuts 3 times before being satisfied.

I would look on and later read and read and read mags like Car & Car Conversions, Practical Motorist. From simple decoke to full engine and then full car rebuilds I learnt along the way.

My Dad loved doing the detailed cleaning, such as removing tar spots and the crud which built up under the wheel arches. I also enjoy doing this even now, and a few times a year our modern is returned to showroom cleanliness, even down to picking the little rocks out of the tires.

[Ashley]

Lovely photos Peter Scott.

My dad was always a reluctant fancy car driver, but he did have a Rover 16 Sports in the late forties and a Healey 3000 in the late sixties. He always bought cheap sherry and crap cars while other family members and friends had some amazing exotica.

[peter scott]