Ground Control

Ford Popular

This was the first car that my father owned, the one pictured here is not the actual car, his was a light blue registration number 785 FEA. If I remember it had a 1200cc engine, 3 speed gearbox and the wipers ran off the vacuum produced by the engine. This meant that when you put your foot down and accelerated, the wipers slowed down almost to a standstill. I can remember very little else of the car other than a very long trip to Bristol in it. My father was not a very fast driver.

Ford Cortina Mark 1

This was his second car. Again, this is not the actual vehicle. His was dark blue registration number BYN 252B. A much more luxurious car with a 1200 CC engine, 4 speed gear box and 4 doors. This was the car that I first started to learn mechanics with, during it's life we replaced the brake pads, serviced it regularly, replaced brake cylinders, did many fibre glass repairs to the body and fitted seat belts. The car was killed when a motorist ran headlong into us in Gorseinon while we were stationary.

Hillman Avenger

My father's 3rd car, again this is not the actual car, his was a light metallic green registration number CWN 90K. 1500cc engine, Deluxe Model. The car was a joy to work on, and although they were prone to rust this one was pretty good due mainly to regular cleaning of mud from under the wheel arches, I eventually took over ownership of the car and it ended it's life in an inverted position in Grovesend with all passengers intact.

Datsun 120Y

His last car was a Datsun 120Y in what was  originally red. At the time, Datsun had not perfected paint and the colour faded and the body just generally rotted away. The car itself was quite comfortable to drive and well specified. I can remember hearing the sound of the petrol sloshing round in the tank behind the rear seats. The car lasted him many years and he eventually had to give up driving due to bad eyesight.