Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

Brian M

Probably of no interest to anyone except myself! It is 50 years to the day since I passed my car driving test. I had my first driving lesson on my 17th birthday the previous November as soon as I got home from school. The instructor told me to apply for my test immediately as there was a six-week wait.
For the test, I used my mother’s 1965 Fiat 500, and was worried when the examiner allocated to my test was about 6ft 3inches tall. He was ok with the
car and fitted in quite well.
In the half century since then my motoring record book shows I have owned 35 cars, driven 335 different cars, vans, and even a few lorries with 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 12 cylinders. Fastest speeds – 146mph for a short time, and on another occasion 124 miles in one hour. I have covered approximately 1,155,000 miles including twice covering 1000 miles in a day. I have driven in 25 countries on 5 continents.
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Brian
1970 Volvo Amazon and 1978 Safari 15-4 Caravan
Classic Safari Forum: www.classicsafaris.co.uk

colwyn500 · Joined: 21 Oct 2012 Posts: 1745 Location: Nairn, Scotland

That's a brilliant list of achievements and some conscientious recording of them. The one of which i am most envious of is having passed your test in the 1965 Fiat 500. Wink

Rootes75 · Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2018 11:32 am Post subject:

35 cars owned in 50 years isn't bad either!
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Various Rootes Vehicles.

Rick · Site Admin Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 22807 Location: UK

My 30-yr milestone passed in December, I managed to forget until a few days' later - doh!!

RJ
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Rick - Admin
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badhuis · Joined: 20 Aug 2008 Posts: 1475 Location: Netherlands

Congratulations!
One question, seeing the vast number of cars you have driven and owned: why the current, long term choice for a Volvo Amazon? Was this always your dream car?

I have had the pleasure to drive several Amazons, 2 door, 4 door, Estate, GT version. Have put in Electric Power Steering in three cars, and an under dash air conditioning unit in another.
My experience/thoughts with Amazons is mixed. For: beautiful balanced design, sturdy, strong, reliable, cheap, still able and practical to use nowadays, easy to repair, plenty of spares / specialists. Against: too common still (here in the Netherlands), not any other real distinguishing feature other than being reliable, a bit boring to drive, nothing special in the roadholding / performance / mechanical departments.

A few weeks ago I spoke to a cross-continent-tours organizer at a show. From Europe through Russia to Beijing. Europe through the Middle East to Indonesia. Europe to South Africa. Across South America. His Amazon was used in all the trips he has ever organized - around 20 now which is a remarkable achievement.
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a car stops being fun when it becomes an investment

alastairq · Joined: 14 Oct 2016 Posts: 2131 Location: East Yorkshire

Once, when I was a bus driver [of the hairy-backsided variety...apparently]....some of my colleagues worked out how many passengers we each would have carried in our driving lifetimes, on the buses.

Based on the average number so of tickets cut [either, by ourselves, or our conductors]...and passes recorded....and the number of days each year worked....then, to be conservative, they halved the number arrived at.
For myself, with 25 years behind the wheel....the number was over 1.1 million people!
Obviously, not individuals, as some would ride several times a day...but. all the same, the numbers are huge...and not just for me, either. That number also assumed we never worked overtime, or double shifts....

More to the point, I, personally, never 'threw' or injured any passengers on my bus. Not for the want of trying......... Smile

Penguin45 · Joined: 28 Jul 2014 Posts: 384 Location: Padiham

BOB NEWHART - BUS DRIVER TRAINING. Very Happy

P45.
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'67 Wolseley MkI 18/85, '70 Austin MkII 1800 The Landcrab Forum.

emmerson · Joined: 30 Sep 2008 Posts: 1268 Location: South East Wales

Congratulations, Brian.
I've never kept a check on my mileage, but it would be quite phenominal, I think. I shall be 75 on Saturday, and as I passed my test only 3 days after my 17th birthday that means that I will have been driving for 58 years next Monday.
I didn't even realise I was that old!
In all the vehicles you've driven, which do you wish you'd kept?
In my case, I'm very happy with my current Range Rover lse, but I would rather like my 1968 Citroen DS23 Safari back again.
See you in Germany, perhaps?

Brian M · Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 10:35 am Post subject:

Brian M · Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 10:48 am Post subject:

[quote="badhuis"]Congratulations!
One question, seeing the vast number of cars you have driven and owned: why the current, long term choice for a Volvo Amazon? Was this always your dream car?

In the late 1990's I was involved with Classic Car Auction company and owned a series of Rovers, P6 - 3500, P6 - 2200, P4, and was actively seeking a new classic.

Every month I had the chance to try 30-40 different cars at the Auction and found that I couldn't use a sports car as a daily driver.

So I narrowed the list down to an Amazon or Triumph 2000. Tried several examples of each and found mine at Amazonian Cars in Suffolk. After a year of ownership I decided it was a keeper, and started to improve it. Hotter cam, twin SU's, suspension tweeks, to make it a more rewarding drive. A full leather interior from a S40 Volvo made the inside a much nicer place!

Comfortable and Sporty looking, reasonably economical, pulls my caravan very well. 16 years later I still enjoy tinkering with it, driving it on short and long journeys, and even just looking at it. I will keep it until I can no longer drive!
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Brian
1970 Volvo Amazon and 1978 Safari 15-4 Caravan
Classic Safari Forum: www.classicsafaris.co.uk