Early Cars
My first car was a Datsun (as they were in those days) Cherry II (USO 792S).
Only a 1 litre engine, but it was luxury. I was still at university at the
time (final year, so it must have been 1980), and I used to go home for the
weekend, have a driving lesson, drive back to uni on the Sunday with my father
and he'd drive the car back (in the UK all learner drivers must be accompanied
by a driver with a full license). For the final term we took two cars through
to Aberdeen, and I kept my car as my friend, Peter Mearns (Murns!) had just
passed his test and could now act as my co-driver. The first thing we did
in the new term was to drive back though to Fraserburgh to get some games
that I'd left behind. Pete sat reading the whole way back - he was happy enough
with my driving that he didn't feel he had to keep watching, which gave me
a lot of confidence.
I passed my driving test in June 1980, and in late summer I changed car
to a Triumph Dolomite 1300, DSE 83T, with overdrive. This was a better car
for going distances with a lot more room all round (heck, it even had a radio/cassette!),
but handled like a dog. I covered a lot of miles in that car going to SK musters
with the guys.
The most exciting thing that really happened was when at an SK muster the
gearbox went kaput, and I had to do the last few miles in 2nd. A new gearbox
was fitted and the car delivered back to me. The same day we went up to Inverness
for the weekend to see Jethro Tull and the rest of the Inverness mob. Just
coming out of Aberdeen I came out of overdrive and got this very large electric
shock through the steel spokes of the steering wheel. After the weekend it
went back to the garage where the mechanic assured me that you couldn't get
a large electric shock from a 12v system. Out we go for a quick test, him
driving, put it into overdrive, hold the steel spokes and flick the switch.
"OW, you b....! Yes, I see what you mean," was the mechanic's response! Ho,
ho!
By 1982 I was working, had money, and my thoughts once more turned to a
new vehicle. This time I went for a Vauxhall Astra 1300 EXP, a real up-market
move for me. I didn't have this car long as my employers had a job going in
Norway, so I sold it to my sister as it seemed pointless to keep a car I couldn't
use and my employers would hire a car for me when I came back for the weekends.
Little did I know that it was but a stepping stone to far greater things...
