Matt from the Tyre Kickers Podcast: My Dad's Citroens, playing in cars and driving a Milk float aged 10! S5E2

[00:00:00] at 10 unlicensed, uninsured and whatever on the road. Welcome to My Dads Car, enjoy! Welcome to My Dads Car, a podcast discussing our personal relationship with automotive nostalgia. And you know what? It doesn't even have to be about your dad's car. It can be your mum's, your grand's, your parents, guardians, or even a neighbour's. If it made an impression, let's talk about it. How are you doing Matt? I certainly can. Greetings. Wonderful.

[00:00:39] It's always a slight shock when it works. Oh yeah, we've had a few where they've not worked. We're like, oh this is gonna be tricky. So far so good. G'day. Hello there sir. How are you doing? Can you hear me? Yeah. Indeed, yeah. Wow. First time. I'm good, how are you? Yeah, very good. Very good. This is a little bit unnerving for me because we record our podcast blind. We don't look at each other while we're doing it. Oh really? Okay. Mainly because it can't be bothered to tidy up and we're doing it. But also it's an extra hassle. So we just normally find the quietest place in the house. In our

[00:01:09] in our respective houses because we do it remotely. And then we, yeah, we just don't worry about what we look like. And we just have to remember not to talk over each other quite so much. It's easier with eye contact actually. You can see when other people are going to say something. So maybe we should start doing that. But to be honest with Max, my co-presenter, just sometimes I just have to cut in to shut him up really because he goes off on one.

[00:01:28] I think, yeah, for us with guests as well, it's quite like we recorded obviously the video and I've got all the video for prosperity in case, yeah, we ever become like the Beatles and it will become the lost back catalogue of my dad's car podcast. But we've no intention of putting them out because yeah, people are in bedrooms and I've not done my hair and all these sort of things.

[00:01:47] Yeah, it's too much faff, isn't it? Too much extra hassle. And I think there's something intimate about listening to think something as well, because I was saying to someone in the week that people have said, oh, why don't you do on YouTube? I said, because there's

[00:01:56] something intimate about listening to that. When I'm listening to a podcast, I've got my headphones on and I may be doing something else or maybe sitting on a plane or a train, but it's just half an hour or 35 minutes, 40 minutes or whatever, just to lose yourself and concentrate on something and try not to look at a screen while you're doing it. Whereas with a YouTube thing, it's great, but you are looking at a screen. So you're not really, I think your mind's imagination is quite nice. I mean, we, on our podcast, we talk about a lot of, we tire kick a lot. That's hence the name of the podcast, but we look at a lot of cars and the classifieds and describe them and talk

[00:02:26] about them. Now that doesn't really make sense because the listener can't see them. But what we try and do is describe them. So you imagine them. Yeah. And I think your power of imagination is quite good sometimes. And then people say, well, you know what the links I want to look at the car as well. So I don't know. I just think, you know, I come from a radio background. It's like the intimacy of radio. It's really nice.

[00:02:44] Well, all the podcasts I listen to is when I'm working, I'm a gardener. So there are certain podcasts now that I associate with certain gardens, unfortunately. So if it's a garden, I don't particularly like, I always sort of think, ah,

[00:02:57] I don't want to listen to that one. It's a nice way to lose yourself in half an hour, isn't it?

[00:03:01] Absolutely. And distract yourself from everyday life, which is really nice.

[00:03:04] Yeah. Yeah. If you've got a podcast, which you know is kind of like, I don't know, around about the hour

[00:03:09] mark in length, it's always good when you get to the end of it because you think, oh, that's one hour ticked off.

[00:03:14] Yeah. Yeah. No, I agree.

[00:03:16] So, okay. We'll make a start.

[00:03:17] Well, I'm sort of, yeah, I know that's what I was slightly, because this is other thing that you do that we don't do is we sort of like faff about for a while and then hit go and then try and act professional.

[00:03:26] Whereas you go from the off, don't you? Which is all, it's a little bit unnerving.

[00:03:30] Yeah. What we found is if we record it, then at least we've got it. And I heavily edit stuff.

[00:03:35] Yeah.

[00:03:35] So we are, yeah, we're joined today by Matt from the Tar Kickers podcast. That'll be an edit straight away.

[00:03:41] That's easy for you to say.

[00:03:42] Yeah. So yeah, welcome along, Matt.

[00:03:45] Thank you. It's good to be here. I've just discovered your podcast while lying on a sun lounger in the Canary Islands.

[00:03:51] And I've really enjoyed it. I think nostalgia is, I think, one of the key bits of owning a classic car and listening to people sort of recount their earliest memories is really, it's kind of quite immersive because it does take you back, especially if they're of your era.

[00:04:05] You know, you had Steve on a couple of episodes ago and he was talking about the 80s and I could just see, I could see what he was talking about.

[00:04:12] Yeah.

[00:04:12] Yeah. Petrol stations, what they were like. You kind of forget what driving and motoring was like, even as up until even the 90s, you know, it was, it was quite free and liberal driving.

[00:04:22] You know, there weren't cameras and there weren't people sort of tutting at you as you filled up with fuel and that sort of stuff.

[00:04:27] It was just quite, you filled up and you paid cash and you drove off and nobody knew where you were.

[00:04:30] And you could just get in a car and fill up a car with petrol and just drive off.

[00:04:35] Now you sort of, you're, you're, you're, I don't know, it's just, it's a different world.

[00:04:37] So listening to people describing that world is, is really good.

[00:04:41] It's a really good angle for a podcast.

[00:04:43] I think it's something different.

[00:04:44] So I've been enjoying it.

[00:04:45] Wonderful.

[00:04:46] Great to hear.

[00:04:47] Yeah.

[00:04:48] Thank you.

[00:04:48] I listened to episode nine this morning.

[00:04:51] So yeah, thank you very much for our shout out.

[00:04:53] Sorry about that.

[00:04:54] Do you need some therapy now?

[00:04:55] Do you need help?

[00:04:57] No, no, it's good.

[00:04:58] And I also noticed we've got, so the latest one we've got out at the moment,

[00:05:02] a chap called Dave Carey from Garage of Awesome.

[00:05:04] And you gave him a shout out as well.

[00:05:06] So it looks like he's kind of come over to have a listen.

[00:05:08] He's in Australia.

[00:05:09] Yeah.

[00:05:09] Very enthusiastic.

[00:05:10] Yeah.

[00:05:11] Nice guy.

[00:05:11] He sent us some voice messages as well, which I said to my co-presenter, Mac.

[00:05:15] I thought it was some sort of booty call or something he was giving us,

[00:05:17] but he was describing cars.

[00:05:18] So I think we were all right.

[00:05:19] But yeah, any listener interaction is brilliant.

[00:05:21] And that's the nice thing about podcasts.

[00:05:23] I mean, I come from the world of radio and that's how me and Mac,

[00:05:26] the co-presenter of the podcast met years ago.

[00:05:28] We've been mates like 30 years and we met at Radio 1 in the newsroom.

[00:05:31] And the one thing that got us together, well, there's two things really.

[00:05:34] One, how much can we skive in this job?

[00:05:36] One, two, you know, the cars.

[00:05:38] We've always talked cars and we've chatted cars.

[00:05:40] But it's nice the interaction now with this podcast and social media together.

[00:05:44] Social media gets a bad rap for a lot of things.

[00:05:46] But one thing it can do is bring people together.

[00:05:48] And it's been interesting and eye-opening for me to see,

[00:05:51] since we started doing a podcast, and you'll have found this as well,

[00:05:54] how many people there are on Instagram talking about cars.

[00:05:58] Yeah.

[00:05:58] You can fill your timeline with just people talking about cars and every sort of cars,

[00:06:03] whatever niche you're into, whether it's classic cars, modified cars, whatever,

[00:06:06] you can find that little groove.

[00:06:07] I'm amazed how much classic car chat goes on on Instagram and how proud people are of their cars as well.

[00:06:13] So that's really good.

[00:06:13] And you get that interaction back, don't you?

[00:06:15] And I'm sure you guys do as well, from listeners and little snippets and that sort of stuff.

[00:06:19] So it's been really nice to see that.

[00:06:21] And I think that's one of the nice things about podcasts,

[00:06:22] because you do sort of broadcast that into the ether, don't you?

[00:06:25] And you imagine what your listeners like, but it's quite nice to see them and interact with them.

[00:06:28] Yeah, you're throwing something out there.

[00:06:30] And yeah, it's just a bit of an echo chamber, isn't it?

[00:06:32] Until someone has caught it and goes, I've got it.

[00:06:34] I've got it over here.

[00:06:35] Yeah, they've listened.

[00:06:36] And then kind of return something back saying they've enjoyed it.

[00:06:39] Yeah.

[00:06:45] Obviously, having listened to the last few episodes that I have, I've sort of tried to work out what my memory was.

[00:06:51] And I have got a really, really strong memory.

[00:06:54] And I had to check this with my parents.

[00:06:56] They're both still around.

[00:06:57] So I was able to check it, although they went, uh, did we have that car then?

[00:07:00] My mum had a green Mini, and it was one of the original Minis with the drawstring handles.

[00:07:06] And this is the memory.

[00:07:07] I remember sitting in that car.

[00:07:09] It was green on the outside, green on the inside.

[00:07:11] And it had the handles and playing with the handles.

[00:07:13] And I probably was about four.

[00:07:15] Back in the day, I don't know if you relate to this.

[00:07:17] As kids, you used to play in cars.

[00:07:19] You used to play in your parents' cars.

[00:07:21] And they were quite happy for you to do it.

[00:07:22] Mainly because there was no tech in them.

[00:07:24] I think you couldn't brake anything.

[00:07:25] It's not even take the handbrake off.

[00:07:26] You were normally all right.

[00:07:27] And we used to play in cars a lot.

[00:07:29] And I did.

[00:07:30] But that's my earliest memory.

[00:07:31] Kind of an original Mini.

[00:07:32] This would have been like the mid-70s.

[00:07:34] But I think the car was late 60s.

[00:07:35] It had the drawstring handles.

[00:07:37] It had a number plate stuck on the bonnet.

[00:07:40] And I do remember that personally.

[00:07:42] And I had to check them.

[00:07:43] I said, have you got a photo of this car?

[00:07:44] I said, no, we've got no photo of that car.

[00:07:46] So it is my memory of it.

[00:07:47] And they had it until my brother was born.

[00:07:49] He's like four years younger than me.

[00:07:51] And they had it just as he was born.

[00:07:53] And they got rid of it.

[00:07:54] Okay.

[00:07:54] So that's my first car memory of playing in that car.

[00:07:56] But the car that sticks with me was our first family car.

[00:07:59] And it was a pretty kooky one.

[00:08:01] While everybody else had Cortinas and British Leyland stuff,

[00:08:04] we had a Citroen GS Club.

[00:08:07] Okay.

[00:08:07] The one that rose up.

[00:08:08] Like a DS.

[00:08:09] You started it up and it rose up.

[00:08:11] So it was a bit of a strange one.

[00:08:12] And I asked my dad this earlier a couple of days ago.

[00:08:16] I said, you know, why did you buy it?

[00:08:17] And he said, I wanted something different.

[00:08:18] He said, I always loved the DS.

[00:08:20] I didn't want a British Leyland car.

[00:08:21] I didn't want something overheated.

[00:08:22] You know, he said, you speak to your friends.

[00:08:24] And they'd always be moaning about their cars and how, you know, useless they were.

[00:08:27] And he said, I like the DS.

[00:08:28] And I like the sort of enthusiastness of Citroens as well.

[00:08:32] So they went and bought this car in 1973, brand new, which was quite a big deal in those days.

[00:08:37] You didn't really buy cars brand new.

[00:08:40] And if you did, they were a lot of money and you put it on HP.

[00:08:43] And it was a big purchase.

[00:08:45] You know, you think now you could walk into a dealership now, can't you?

[00:08:48] And just slap a bit of money down and drive off an Audi.

[00:08:51] So especially to buy something foreign as well was quite a big thing.

[00:08:54] So I remember that car.

[00:08:56] And to describe that car, it was a sky blue Citroen GS Club SPH 283M.

[00:09:02] It's funny what sticks with you, isn't it?

[00:09:04] Black vinyl seats, which you stuck to in the summer.

[00:09:06] You're like, they were always hot.

[00:09:09] Like unrolling a roll of gaffer tape, isn't it?

[00:09:11] To get your leg off the seat in the summer.

[00:09:13] Well, of course, in the back in the 70s, we were all wearing sort of, you know,

[00:09:16] it was like kids were dressed up in sort of almost vests, weren't they?

[00:09:19] Vests and shorts.

[00:09:19] And so you had a lot of exposed skin.

[00:09:21] And you're like, oh, it's like ripping a plaster off.

[00:09:24] Straight to the Burns unit.

[00:09:25] Yeah, exactly that.

[00:09:26] Yeah, especially if you got in it as well, you know, because in Britain,

[00:09:29] we're not very good with extremes of weather rather than cold or hot.

[00:09:32] No.

[00:09:32] So whereas you go to the continent and they have, you know, they'll put the foil out on

[00:09:36] the dashboard so the car doesn't get too hot.

[00:09:38] Not in Britain, of course.

[00:09:39] If it's summer, just let the car heat up like an oven and put your kids in it.

[00:09:43] But that car, very kooky.

[00:09:45] You could drive it on three wheels if it had a puncture.

[00:09:47] But again, I remember playing in that car.

[00:09:49] It had a handbrake in the middle of the dashboard.

[00:09:52] It had a single spoke steering wheel.

[00:09:54] It had nice Velia dials, which actually were the same.

[00:09:59] I think they're the same ones that were in a Ferrari Dino.

[00:10:01] And that's where the similarity ends completely.

[00:10:04] But in terms of memories of that, we used to go everywhere in that.

[00:10:07] We used to go on summer holidays.

[00:10:09] We used to go.

[00:10:10] We used to have family in Wales.

[00:10:11] We didn't go abroad a lot as a kid when I was a kid.

[00:10:14] So we used to go all over Britain, but mainly to go and see relatives.

[00:10:17] So down to the southwest or to Wales.

[00:10:19] I remember a long journey sitting in the back of that car looking out.

[00:10:23] And the one thing I was looking out at were other cars.

[00:10:26] And I'd always been into cars since a very, very young age.

[00:10:29] And I got to the point, and I must have been like eight sat in the back of the car,

[00:10:32] just looking at cars and guessing what they were from the edge of them,

[00:10:35] or the lights, or the bumper.

[00:10:36] Or you play a game because it was quite boring back in those days.

[00:10:39] You didn't have much to do, did you?

[00:10:40] So you'd play a game of, can I guess that car before I see the badge on the back?

[00:10:44] Yeah, yeah.

[00:10:44] And you'd sort of name the car.

[00:10:46] And we did have a range of quite terrible, but quite a lot of different cars back in those days.

[00:10:51] And they were very colourful, weren't they?

[00:10:52] Cars were colourful back in the day.

[00:10:54] You'd see a yellow thing.

[00:10:55] What is it?

[00:10:56] What is it?

[00:10:56] I can guess what it is.

[00:10:57] So yeah, a lot of memories.

[00:10:58] A lot of memories of that.

[00:10:59] A lot of memories of playing in that car as well.

[00:11:00] It had a Robasto sunroof that you wound, like in an MGB, wound it and it kind of went back.

[00:11:06] And it was a bit of an old car.

[00:11:08] You know, as a kid at school, you were known for that sort of strange car.

[00:11:11] And my mum, bless her, she's got a great sense of humour.

[00:11:14] You know when you're a difficult age, you know, when you're at secondary school and you don't want your mum dropping you off, do you?

[00:11:20] That's the last thing.

[00:11:21] It's like, can you drop round the corner?

[00:11:22] Can you just, I don't, I don't want anybody to see you.

[00:11:24] And we get it with our kids now.

[00:11:25] It's like, can you pick her up round the corner?

[00:11:27] My mum never drove, so it was never an option for me.

[00:11:30] Oh, okay.

[00:11:31] My mum used to drive everywhere.

[00:11:33] But she'd delight in dropping me off at school and kangarooing the clutch, you know, so that the car started jolting about.

[00:11:38] People go, oh, your car really is rubbish, isn't it?

[00:11:41] But looking back, it was an intelligent choice.

[00:11:43] And again, memories and thinking about this as smart memories.

[00:11:46] Now, we used to go on holiday to all sorts of places.

[00:11:48] One place, I remember we went to the Isle of Wight once.

[00:11:50] And the one thing you could do with the Citroen, and my dad said it was a pretty reliable car.

[00:11:54] It was an air-cooled car.

[00:11:54] That's what he wanted.

[00:11:55] He didn't want a water-cooled car that overheated all the time.

[00:11:58] He wanted an air-cooled car.

[00:12:00] I don't quite see the logic in that, but never mind.

[00:12:02] But the thing he said, the one problem that he did have with it is the battery ran flat a lot.

[00:12:05] But the one thing you could do with that car is hand-crank it.

[00:12:08] Okay.

[00:12:09] It was one of those cars that you could still hand-crank.

[00:12:11] Well, it was almost a 1,300 engine, so that's not like cranking an Austin 7.

[00:12:15] You know, you've got to put your back into it.

[00:12:17] And I remember it went flat as we were trying to leave a campsite in the Isle of Wight.

[00:12:21] Oh, no.

[00:12:22] And he tried to crank it.

[00:12:23] Now, obviously, you put yourself in that position.

[00:12:25] Your family's, you know, you've got kids moaning.

[00:12:27] You've probably got your wife moaning.

[00:12:29] You're stressed.

[00:12:30] You're tired.

[00:12:30] You've had a week where you just want to get going.

[00:12:32] Your car doesn't start.

[00:12:33] Which was quite a common thing back in the day, wasn't it?

[00:12:36] And people forget that.

[00:12:37] Your car often didn't start in the morning when you're trying to get back from somewhere.

[00:12:41] Yeah, yeah.

[00:12:41] Mainly because you left the lights on or the battery.

[00:12:43] It was just unreliable.

[00:12:45] Or the points or something.

[00:12:46] So he decided to crank start this car on the campsite.

[00:12:49] Put his back into it.

[00:12:50] And the crank handle snapped in two and whacked him in the face.

[00:12:53] Oh, God.

[00:12:54] And I heard language that I'd never heard at that point.

[00:12:56] I was still quite young.

[00:12:58] He had blood pouring down his face.

[00:13:00] The car still wasn't started.

[00:13:02] And in those days, I think, you know, people just didn't like...

[00:13:05] You did have the AA.

[00:13:06] But it wasn't like it is today.

[00:13:07] They won't, you know, hop out and do your tyre for you.

[00:13:09] If your car won't start, you'd be waiting there for a few hours.

[00:13:12] So that's a memory I have of that car of a swearing bother with half a crank handle in his fat.

[00:13:18] Doing a Basel 40 on the car because it wouldn't start.

[00:13:20] Bit of French language to go with a French car.

[00:13:23] Exactly that, yeah.

[00:13:24] I think it was more Anglo-Saxon language.

[00:13:28] The Mini, was that sort of Mr. Bean Green?

[00:13:30] Or was that different shade?

[00:13:33] No, it was more like a...

[00:13:35] I don't want to say pistachio.

[00:13:36] It was more like a sort of dusty, foresty green.

[00:13:39] Okay.

[00:13:39] As they were, I think, which is a kind of mini colour.

[00:13:41] I saw one, actually.

[00:13:42] I went to the Haynes Museum and they've got one sliced in half.

[00:13:45] And you stand next to it and it just literally comes into my waist.

[00:13:48] It's just...

[00:13:48] And you can see inside of it and it's such a small car.

[00:13:51] You forget, don't you?

[00:13:52] Until you see a Mini up close again, one of the original ones.

[00:13:54] And my wife used to have...

[00:13:56] She was saying that they had a Mini Clubman, one of the original Mini Clubmans.

[00:14:00] Four of them and a dog would go on holiday.

[00:14:02] In that with all their luggage.

[00:14:04] To Switzerland.

[00:14:05] Unbelievable.

[00:14:06] It's like, how the hell?

[00:14:07] I don't know if I could get down to shops in that now without needing a chiropractor.

[00:14:11] But no, it was different.

[00:14:12] I saw one of those actually in the flesh and it literally came up to my waist as well.

[00:14:15] And it's like, wow.

[00:14:16] I was behind one of those recently on the road.

[00:14:18] And I had the kids in the car at the time and I said to them,

[00:14:20] look at how small that car is.

[00:14:22] That's what things used to be like, because it just looked minute.

[00:14:25] It was so funny.

[00:14:25] Actually, we dropped into Manor Park Classics on the way back from Liverpool a few weeks ago.

[00:14:30] And my son got into a Mini and he's 13.

[00:14:33] He was absolutely the right size for it.

[00:14:35] I mean, we are all taller and bigger now than we were.

[00:14:38] But that's just what you had.

[00:14:39] I mean, even I've got a 60s classic car.

[00:14:41] I've got Sunbeam Alpine, which is one of the few 60s cars I can fit in at six foot three.

[00:14:46] But even then, it's got laughingly what's described as a back seat,

[00:14:50] which you could probably fit two guinea pigs on.

[00:14:52] But kids would roll around in that.

[00:14:54] I mean, that's the other thing about back in the day.

[00:14:55] I mean, talking about your dad's cars, often no seatbelts in the back.

[00:14:59] No.

[00:14:59] Often you were like four or five up in the back with all your mates going to a birthday party.

[00:15:04] I used to have an uncle who had a Volvo estate, which was a bit, you know, back in the day,

[00:15:08] you were doing well if you had a Volvo estate.

[00:15:10] And he had the seats in the back, which was fun to go in.

[00:15:13] Do you remember?

[00:15:14] Oh, in the boot?

[00:15:14] Yeah, they were backward-facing seats.

[00:15:16] Yeah, yeah.

[00:15:16] The vomit seats.

[00:15:18] Yeah.

[00:15:18] But, you know, being in the 80s, there's only two seats,

[00:15:21] but you can get five, six kids in the back of that boot.

[00:15:23] No problem at all.

[00:15:24] Slam it down.

[00:15:25] Sit still.

[00:15:25] Yeah.

[00:15:26] And I went to a car meet yesterday, and there was a Vauxhall Victor from the 60s,

[00:15:29] which had a bench seat in the front.

[00:15:30] And we were saying back in the day, you'd have been six up in that,

[00:15:33] going on holiday somewhere.

[00:15:34] We're towing a caravan.

[00:15:35] And there'd be probably a child in the middle,

[00:15:37] or bounced on a mom's lap or something.

[00:15:39] We had no seatbelt on.

[00:15:41] I mean, obviously, you know, we look at that in horror now,

[00:15:43] but it's just the way it was.

[00:15:44] And, you know, as long as you caught it when you crashed,

[00:15:47] you were normally all right.

[00:15:48] We still do it for buses, though, to be fair.

[00:15:50] You jump on a bus kind of around town,

[00:15:52] and kind of mom's got a kid on her lap or whatever.

[00:15:54] Effectively, that's kind of what we were doing.

[00:15:55] Obviously, buses are traveling 20 miles an hour and stop starting, aren't they?

[00:15:58] But that was a similar sort of theory back then, wasn't it?

[00:16:02] Yeah, I don't know what you think.

[00:16:03] Ram them in.

[00:16:03] Yeah, ram them in.

[00:16:04] But it was sort of kind of overcorrected, I think, a little bit.

[00:16:07] I think there's a little bit of danger.

[00:16:08] My boy, let's say, he's 13, and he comes out in the sunbeam,

[00:16:12] and he said his car smells of summer, mainly because it smells of petrol.

[00:16:16] But, you know, there's no airbags in it.

[00:16:18] You've got what's laughingly called a crash pad on the dashboard,

[00:16:20] but I think it would leave an impression in your forehead.

[00:16:23] And, you know, I'm obviously driving this car, 1968,

[00:16:26] with a wheel that's made of metal and wood,

[00:16:29] which is going to leave a great big mark on my face.

[00:16:31] But I still drive it because I still want the enjoyment of doing that.

[00:16:33] I'll take the risk.

[00:16:34] It's like crossing the road, isn't it?

[00:16:36] You make the risk.

[00:16:37] You decide the risk yourself.

[00:16:38] Yeah, yeah.

[00:16:39] Yeah, definitely.

[00:16:40] What did your parents do?

[00:16:46] Everyone, start your engines and visit Birmingham's NEC

[00:16:50] from the 8th to the 10th of November.

[00:16:52] Yes, it's the UK's premier classic motor show.

[00:16:55] Imagine over 3,000 cars to feast your eyes on,

[00:16:58] not to mention a record 330 vehicle clubs

[00:17:01] and hundreds of exhibiting companies.

[00:17:04] Shop for everything classic.

[00:17:05] You can even buy a car,

[00:17:07] meet motoring celebrities,

[00:17:08] and experience all the action.

[00:17:10] Book your tickets at the NEC ClassicMotorshow.com

[00:17:13] and join our 40th celebrations.

[00:17:20] My dad was a landscape gardener by trade,

[00:17:23] so he, as well as the cars,

[00:17:25] he also had some interesting vans back in the day.

[00:17:29] And those, again, you know, you're thinking in the 70s,

[00:17:31] people just didn't walk in and get a transit on finance.

[00:17:34] They had to sort of be a bit more,

[00:17:36] you know, money was tight as well.

[00:17:37] Money was tight in the 70s and the 80s as well.

[00:17:40] People sort of forget that.

[00:17:41] But so he had a Bedford van, which he got.

[00:17:45] I think he said he bought it from the auctions

[00:17:46] with sliding doors.

[00:17:48] Do you remember the old Bedford vans?

[00:17:49] I think so.

[00:17:50] And again, you played in that one, you know,

[00:17:52] and all our mates would sort of jump in the back of it

[00:17:53] and, you know, sort of muck about in the van,

[00:17:55] don't take the handbrake off.

[00:17:56] Oh, take the handbrake off, put it back on quick.

[00:17:58] It's rolling down the drive.

[00:18:00] But it had a column gear shift and sliding doors.

[00:18:02] And back in those days,

[00:18:03] people would drive those things with the doors open

[00:18:05] and jump in and out of them

[00:18:06] because they were doing stuff.

[00:18:07] So he had that.

[00:18:08] He then went for a smaller van,

[00:18:09] which was an ex-GPO van,

[00:18:10] which was the full runner to British Telecom.

[00:18:13] Yeah.

[00:18:13] And you used to buy those at the auctions, I think.

[00:18:15] You used to get them cheap

[00:18:16] once they'd been sort of clapped out by the telecoms.

[00:18:19] And it's still, in a certain light,

[00:18:21] you could see where the stickers,

[00:18:22] the vinyls had been on the side.

[00:18:24] But he used to run around and those sort of things.

[00:18:25] So we had a family car

[00:18:26] and he had a car for work.

[00:18:28] My mom was a secretary in a primary school,

[00:18:30] which she did for a long, long time.

[00:18:33] And as I say, very confident driver.

[00:18:35] And she would drive everywhere.

[00:18:36] She wasn't phased about driving.

[00:18:38] Um, so we had those two parents who both did that

[00:18:40] and we're both into cars,

[00:18:42] but I was mad into cars

[00:18:43] and my parents could see that.

[00:18:44] And so I loved sort of mucking about in the van and stuff.

[00:18:48] So as a young kid,

[00:18:49] and I probably would have been about six,

[00:18:51] they built a car shed for me in the back out of parts.

[00:18:54] Now, do you remember that?

[00:18:56] I'm saying back in the day a lot.

[00:18:57] It makes me sound really old.

[00:18:58] I'm only 52.

[00:18:59] I was starting to sound like a good care home.

[00:19:01] Um, but in those days you could,

[00:19:03] and it was up until about probably 20 years ago.

[00:19:05] Do you remember you used to be able to go scrap yards

[00:19:07] and climb over the cars?

[00:19:08] Yeah, yeah.

[00:19:09] Yeah.

[00:19:09] If you wanted something,

[00:19:10] oh, I had a Fiat Uno as my first car.

[00:19:13] Terrible thing.

[00:19:14] Terrible thing.

[00:19:14] But I had to go and climb over some,

[00:19:16] I mean, you know,

[00:19:16] what a surprise it broke,

[00:19:18] you know, pretty much as soon as I had it.

[00:19:19] So I had to go and climb over cars

[00:19:20] to get an alternator out or something.

[00:19:23] But he went and bought me,

[00:19:24] um,

[00:19:24] the bits of a Bedford van.

[00:19:26] So I had the seat,

[00:19:27] I had the dashboard,

[00:19:27] I had the steering wheel,

[00:19:28] the column shifter,

[00:19:29] um,

[00:19:30] and a gearbox.

[00:19:31] And he put it all in a shed for me.

[00:19:33] Oh, right.

[00:19:33] So he made a car and then he stuck a registration plate.

[00:19:36] Thanks dad.

[00:19:37] It was really good,

[00:19:37] really good fun.

[00:19:38] And so I had,

[00:19:39] and it's a shed that me and my friends would hang out in,

[00:19:41] but it had a car in it.

[00:19:43] It had a car.

[00:19:44] Proper dashboard seat,

[00:19:46] gearbox,

[00:19:46] everything.

[00:19:46] I don't think you could probably buy those.

[00:19:48] Now you probably could on eBay,

[00:19:49] but probably want somebody want a lot of money for them.

[00:19:51] But,

[00:19:51] um,

[00:19:52] yeah,

[00:19:52] all that sort of stuff used to sit around quite a lot.

[00:19:54] Didn't it?

[00:19:54] Cars got scrapped and,

[00:19:55] uh,

[00:19:56] they didn't get scrapped.

[00:19:57] They got,

[00:19:57] they got kept going a lot,

[00:19:58] didn't they?

[00:20:03] Back in those days,

[00:20:04] you would have to keep them going.

[00:20:05] So you would use a recon gearbox or you'd even just use a second hand gearbox out of something

[00:20:09] just to keep it going.

[00:20:10] So yeah,

[00:20:10] I had a car shed.

[00:20:11] Just going back to scrap yards.

[00:20:13] I remember just going to scrap yards on occasion,

[00:20:15] it not even needing anything just to sort of have a look around.

[00:20:18] Cause it was just,

[00:20:19] it was good fun,

[00:20:20] wasn't it?

[00:20:20] Cause like you say,

[00:20:21] there would always just be something really,

[00:20:23] like say you went there and sort of early two thousands,

[00:20:25] there'd be stuff maybe from the eighties or seventies,

[00:20:27] just kicking around and just sort of nice to go and have a look.

[00:20:30] Yeah.

[00:20:31] You took your screwdriver,

[00:20:31] didn't you?

[00:20:32] And you're allowed to just crawl over the cars and then just unscrew stuff that you liked.

[00:20:35] Yeah.

[00:20:36] Which was,

[00:20:36] yeah.

[00:20:37] Again,

[00:20:38] it was like,

[00:20:38] Oh my God,

[00:20:38] people look at a horror.

[00:20:39] My God,

[00:20:40] you're climbing around cars stacked up on each other.

[00:20:41] But as far as I'm aware,

[00:20:43] I'm not aware of any friends who actually died in a scrapyard.

[00:20:45] Yeah.

[00:20:45] So I think it was probably all right.

[00:20:47] Now everything's a bit boring,

[00:20:48] isn't it?

[00:20:49] Everything's labeled and tagged and put on shelves and put on eBay,

[00:20:51] which is handy.

[00:20:52] Unfortunately,

[00:20:53] that culture of,

[00:20:54] uh,

[00:20:54] just taking a screwdriver has now sort of made its way over to people,

[00:20:57] just doing it to cars on driveways and streets,

[00:20:59] isn't it?

[00:21:01] Oh,

[00:21:02] take your exhaust.

[00:21:02] Yeah.

[00:21:03] Talking of nostalgia.

[00:21:04] I saw a picture from the seventies or eighties of somebody spray painting their car on a London

[00:21:08] street,

[00:21:09] you know,

[00:21:09] they just masked it off and they were sat there with a rattle can.

[00:21:14] But that was quite a common thing of seeing people under their cars on the road,

[00:21:17] wasn't it?

[00:21:18] You know,

[00:21:18] and that doesn't happen now.

[00:21:19] Yeah.

[00:21:19] We've had a couple of guests,

[00:21:20] haven't we,

[00:21:21] Andy,

[00:21:21] that,

[00:21:21] um,

[00:21:22] their dads have done a few sort of,

[00:21:24] uh,

[00:21:24] Lee Sibley's dad did his van,

[00:21:26] didn't he?

[00:21:26] At the side of the road,

[00:21:27] I think.

[00:21:27] Tin of paint and a brush.

[00:21:29] But I think that's the other thing you did as well.

[00:21:30] And I think that's one of the nice things about having a classic car.

[00:21:33] Nice.

[00:21:33] Is that right word?

[00:21:34] One of the,

[00:21:35] uh,

[00:21:36] elements of having a classic car is you do have to check your levels and stuff.

[00:21:39] You know,

[00:21:39] I went on a long drive a few weeks ago and I thought,

[00:21:42] actually I do need to,

[00:21:42] I know I've had this service,

[00:21:43] but I do need to just check.

[00:21:44] Oh,

[00:21:44] it was not,

[00:21:45] it dripped out.

[00:21:46] If you do do your oil,

[00:21:47] don't you do check?

[00:21:48] There's a coolant still there.

[00:21:49] Yeah.

[00:21:50] Um,

[00:21:50] and you just give the engine bail once over and you do check you've got fuel,

[00:21:54] which,

[00:21:55] you know,

[00:21:55] the modern car is pretty good at telling you what's,

[00:21:57] what's wrong,

[00:21:58] but a classic car won't tell you it's wrong until it's wrong.

[00:22:00] Do you both drive classic cars?

[00:22:02] I can't remember whether you do or you don't.

[00:22:03] I've got a nine four four.

[00:22:04] So 1986,

[00:22:05] nine four four.

[00:22:06] Oh,

[00:22:06] okay.

[00:22:07] I've had old VWs kind of prior to that.

[00:22:09] Okay.

[00:22:10] So you're no,

[00:22:10] you're no stranger to the hard shoulder then.

[00:22:12] Um,

[00:22:13] it doesn't touch wood.

[00:22:15] I've had the AA rescue me once.

[00:22:16] I had a water pipe,

[00:22:17] which split.

[00:22:18] It split right near the end.

[00:22:20] And I tried to kind of cut it down and put it back on again.

[00:22:22] It got me halfway home and then it split.

[00:22:25] And,

[00:22:25] um,

[00:22:26] yeah,

[00:22:26] we ended up getting rescued,

[00:22:27] but yeah,

[00:22:28] mystery noises,

[00:22:29] things like that.

[00:22:29] I've got a few of those.

[00:22:30] I always chuckle when people say,

[00:22:32] Oh,

[00:22:32] we're going to get one of those like really old camper vans.

[00:22:34] One of those really nice VW ones.

[00:22:36] And we're going to go down to Devon.

[00:22:37] You think,

[00:22:37] okay.

[00:22:38] Yeah.

[00:22:39] You're going to see the hard shoulder.

[00:22:40] Yeah.

[00:22:41] You know,

[00:22:42] near somewhere near Bracknell.

[00:22:43] It's a good luck with that.

[00:22:45] Very good at raspberry picking on the various bushes along the night away.

[00:22:49] Yeah,

[00:22:49] exactly that.

[00:22:50] That's my day job.

[00:22:51] So I work for a VW and Porsche parts company.

[00:22:54] Um,

[00:22:55] so yeah,

[00:22:55] I kind of spend a lot of time around people who have got old Volkswagens.

[00:22:59] And yeah,

[00:23:00] I worked in sales doing that for quite a while.

[00:23:02] And you get calls from people who have their engines broken,

[00:23:05] like five miles from Dover.

[00:23:07] They can see the ferry and they're in a hard shoulder and the family are

[00:23:11] screaming and you've ruined their holiday.

[00:23:12] There's a sound you don't hear much these days,

[00:23:14] apart from classic car things,

[00:23:15] the sound of a beetle.

[00:23:16] They used to be quite a common thing.

[00:23:18] So hearing that air called engine,

[00:23:19] you know,

[00:23:20] racketing down the street was quite a common thing.

[00:23:22] Cause most towns had a few Beatles knocking about them.

[00:23:25] You know,

[00:23:25] somebody in the next street would always have a beetle and there's something about the

[00:23:28] sound of that engine,

[00:23:29] the noises it is.

[00:23:30] Um,

[00:23:31] it was very,

[00:23:31] uh,

[00:23:32] nostalgic,

[00:23:32] I think to hear what you don't hear,

[00:23:34] but it's nothing like a sound of an air called engine.

[00:23:36] It's just totally unique.

[00:23:37] Isn't it?

[00:23:37] I've seen a few old Beatles recently around my neck of the woods,

[00:23:40] strangely,

[00:23:41] just sort of coming out the woodwork.

[00:23:42] but yeah,

[00:23:43] I agree.

[00:23:44] It's a really nice sound.

[00:23:45] Isn't it?

[00:23:45] You do see and hear one.

[00:23:46] Yeah.

[00:23:47] And it's,

[00:23:47] it's nice.

[00:23:47] Well,

[00:23:47] there's the self ventilating Beatles as well.

[00:23:49] Cause you've got so much rust in them that,

[00:23:51] uh,

[00:23:51] the,

[00:23:51] the air flows through and cools the engine.

[00:23:53] That's how it works.

[00:23:54] Isn't it?

[00:23:54] Is that the mechanics of it?

[00:23:55] Yeah.

[00:23:56] Ish.

[00:23:57] Yeah.

[00:23:57] Ish.

[00:23:57] Okay.

[00:23:58] Obviously you've got hot and cold zones on the engine and,

[00:24:12] there was no battery.

[00:24:13] It just rusted.

[00:24:14] The tray had rusted.

[00:24:15] Pulling through.

[00:24:16] Battery had to be left somewhere on the motorway or an A road somewhere.

[00:24:21] Yeah.

[00:24:22] I think if I was going to get involved,

[00:24:23] I don't own a classic car for the record,

[00:24:25] but if I was going to get involved,

[00:24:26] I think a beetle would be something I would potentially look at as a

[00:24:29] candidate.

[00:24:30] Good headroom.

[00:24:31] Oh yeah.

[00:24:31] There's the two,

[00:24:32] isn't it?

[00:24:32] Which way do you go?

[00:24:33] Do you go for that classic sixties sort of slimline one or the,

[00:24:36] or the sort of fat,

[00:24:37] is it the super beetle of the seventies?

[00:24:39] The one that was with the big lights and stuff.

[00:24:41] I mean,

[00:24:42] both of those have got merits.

[00:24:43] Yeah.

[00:24:43] 1303 was the later one.

[00:24:45] So I had McPherson struts.

[00:24:46] It was effectively kind of the four runners of the golf really.

[00:24:49] So it handles a lot better.

[00:24:50] We sort of cheekily call them the fat lady at work,

[00:24:52] but yeah,

[00:24:54] they had the curved windscreen.

[00:24:55] Yeah.

[00:24:55] The earlier ones have got a flatter screen and a beam axle.

[00:24:58] So yeah,

[00:24:59] it is a mixture.

[00:25:00] I think they make people smile a beetle.

[00:25:02] I think there's nothing quite like them.

[00:25:04] I think the interior,

[00:25:05] I'm a big one on interiors.

[00:25:06] I'm about the design and beauty of a car more than just,

[00:25:09] you know,

[00:25:09] necessarily what's under the engine,

[00:25:10] but I think there's something about the interiors of a beetle.

[00:25:13] It's very,

[00:25:13] very unique.

[00:25:14] I like that dashboard.

[00:25:15] The dashboard's great.

[00:25:17] Yeah.

[00:25:17] And just the design's great as well.

[00:25:19] I think it just,

[00:25:20] it's a totally unique car.

[00:25:21] So it's a great classic car.

[00:25:22] I think it's one of those ones you have to buy with caution,

[00:25:24] don't you about the rust,

[00:25:24] but if you could find a good one or you've had one that's been restored,

[00:25:28] happy days.

[00:25:28] Yeah.

[00:25:29] There's plenty of unfinished projects,

[00:25:30] which could trip you up.

[00:25:32] If you didn't go checking stuff,

[00:25:34] but if you know your way around a welder and you've got plenty of time,

[00:25:37] you can still buy them quite cheaply.

[00:25:40] What do we need to ask you next?

[00:25:42] Any music from the journeys of your childhood?

[00:25:44] I'm a bit too young for the eight track.

[00:25:46] Eight track used to be in cars in the seventies,

[00:25:49] didn't it?

[00:25:49] And I think the problem with in-car entertainment in the seventies and eighties,

[00:25:52] that generally it was quite limited.

[00:25:53] And if you had something like an eight track or cassette,

[00:25:55] you tended to listen to the same stuff over and over again.

[00:25:57] I just,

[00:25:57] a memory just popped into my head of my mum's car.

[00:26:00] So,

[00:26:00] so after the Citroen GS,

[00:26:02] they stayed Citroen's,

[00:26:03] they got a BX,

[00:26:04] which is what I learned to drive in a BX,

[00:26:09] which were slightly strange things,

[00:26:11] but compared to the GS,

[00:26:12] it was like futuristic.

[00:26:14] Yeah.

[00:26:14] The first generation was probably a bit more kooky.

[00:26:16] Actually.

[00:26:17] I don't remember the original BXs.

[00:26:19] They didn't have stalks for indicators.

[00:26:20] They had this sort of these strange pods that had the indicators on the rocker switch.

[00:26:24] And you needed to learn.

[00:26:25] It was like flying a plane.

[00:26:26] You need to learn where everything is because it wasn't very logical.

[00:26:29] So they had that.

[00:26:30] But yeah,

[00:26:30] talking about in-car entertainment,

[00:26:31] that had a tape player in auto reverse.

[00:26:34] They have a flap to hide them.

[00:26:35] They did have a flap to hide the tape player.

[00:26:37] Cause obviously stealing the stereo was a,

[00:26:39] it was a sport back in the eighties and nineties.

[00:26:41] Nothing to see here.

[00:26:44] I remember we bought our first new car,

[00:26:46] which is a Volkswagen Polo,

[00:26:47] just skipping forward in 1998.

[00:26:50] And within a week,

[00:26:51] somebody had nicked the stereo outfit.

[00:26:52] The rotters.

[00:26:53] Factory fitted Sony probably in that,

[00:26:55] I think.

[00:26:56] Yeah,

[00:26:56] it was.

[00:26:57] It wasn't.

[00:26:57] It cost a fortune as well.

[00:26:58] They used to charge you like 300 pounds for it or something at the dealers.

[00:27:02] But yeah,

[00:27:02] no,

[00:27:02] in-car entertainment.

[00:27:03] So we had in that Citroën GS,

[00:27:05] there'd be a push button radio,

[00:27:06] which would have had medium wave and long wave on it.

[00:27:08] So you'd have been listening to radio one,

[00:27:10] wouldn't you on 275,

[00:27:11] 285.

[00:27:12] And then when the BX came,

[00:27:14] Hey,

[00:27:15] auto reverse that had on a cassette,

[00:27:18] which my mom asked me to tape her favorite song,

[00:27:22] which was John Denver,

[00:27:24] Annie song,

[00:27:25] which is a dreadful song.

[00:27:27] She said,

[00:27:28] can you put it on a cassette?

[00:27:29] So it plays continually.

[00:27:31] And I said,

[00:27:31] you are being serious.

[00:27:33] She said,

[00:27:33] yeah,

[00:27:33] I wanted to listen to it every day.

[00:27:35] And I want to list it all the way to work.

[00:27:37] And she had about 20 minute drive or something.

[00:27:38] Okay.

[00:27:38] It was almost like one of those cases,

[00:27:39] you know,

[00:27:40] when,

[00:27:40] you know,

[00:27:40] that woman got arrested once for playing Whitney Houston's,

[00:27:43] I will always love you a top volume in a flat on repeat,

[00:27:46] didn't she?

[00:27:46] And eventually the neighbor cracked and went and thumped the door down.

[00:27:49] So it wasn't like that.

[00:27:50] She was in the comfort of her own car.

[00:27:51] And I said,

[00:27:51] but mom,

[00:27:52] are you serious?

[00:27:52] You want to listen to this song,

[00:27:54] not passing judgment song,

[00:27:55] but you want to listen to it honestly,

[00:27:56] like back to back and then also reverse it back.

[00:27:58] Yeah.

[00:27:59] And she had that cassette in her car for about a year and literally,

[00:28:02] and when I borrowed the car,

[00:28:03] that was straight out.

[00:28:05] Put some music in.

[00:28:06] Yeah.

[00:28:06] So you had a cassette in that,

[00:28:08] but you didn't really,

[00:28:09] as a kid,

[00:28:09] you didn't have much choice about what was on the radio.

[00:28:11] I just,

[00:28:12] I don't have any strong memories about what we listened to in the driving down to

[00:28:14] Wales.

[00:28:15] It must've been something must've just been the radio.

[00:28:17] Um,

[00:28:18] but I can't think it certainly wasn't radio four.

[00:28:20] It was probably radio one.

[00:28:22] Yeah.

[00:28:22] Some people have memories of particular albums potentially,

[00:28:25] or kind of dad listened to football or cricket or whatever,

[00:28:28] but,

[00:28:28] um,

[00:28:29] no,

[00:28:29] no,

[00:28:29] no.

[00:28:29] Yeah.

[00:28:29] So my parents are sort of mildly into music.

[00:28:31] Well,

[00:28:31] it wasn't,

[00:28:32] it wasn't a big thing,

[00:28:33] but you just didn't have a lot.

[00:28:34] You didn't have a choice.

[00:28:35] Did you?

[00:28:35] Um,

[00:28:36] unless you were buying a very expensive car in the seventies,

[00:28:38] you didn't,

[00:28:38] you didn't get a tape player in it.

[00:28:40] What color was the BX?

[00:28:41] Uh,

[00:28:41] we had one in sort of a sick Brown color to start with.

[00:28:44] Um,

[00:28:45] I think they probably called it champagne.

[00:28:47] And then 1988 came around and hello,

[00:28:50] we got the facelift,

[00:28:52] um,

[00:28:52] which had stalks and was in bright red.

[00:28:54] Nice.

[00:28:55] And that rose up and down as well.

[00:28:56] And that's what I learned driving.

[00:28:58] I learned to drive in a Peugeot,

[00:28:59] actually Peugeot 307 rubbish,

[00:29:02] but it got me through the Dutch.

[00:29:03] It didn't get me through the test.

[00:29:04] I did my first test and that failed.

[00:29:06] And then I did my second test and my driving instructor said,

[00:29:09] Oh,

[00:29:09] it's in for service.

[00:29:10] You have to drive my weekend car.

[00:29:11] And I said,

[00:29:11] what's your weekend car?

[00:29:12] He said,

[00:29:12] it's an escort RS turbo and had a massive whale tail spoiler on the back.

[00:29:16] Never driven it in my life.

[00:29:17] Apart from my driving test.

[00:29:19] I didn't get out of third gear on the driving test.

[00:29:21] Cause this thing was sort of so hepped up that it wanted to go.

[00:29:24] I don't even remember those RS turbos back in the eighties.

[00:29:27] They were sort of like the modern ST or even worse.

[00:29:29] You started them and they're like,

[00:29:33] I've got to keep under 30 in this.

[00:29:35] I passed the test though.

[00:29:36] And had those little stubby indicators as well.

[00:29:38] Really stubby,

[00:29:39] weird indicators.

[00:29:40] Yeah.

[00:29:40] I've never been a big Ford fan each to their own,

[00:29:43] but it just never,

[00:29:43] I was never brought up on Ford.

[00:29:45] So I don't,

[00:29:45] I never got into them.

[00:29:46] It's a real test of the driving ability,

[00:29:48] isn't it?

[00:29:48] On the day of the test to say,

[00:29:50] you're not driving that car you've been learning in after all.

[00:29:53] Let's see how good you really are.

[00:29:54] Yeah.

[00:29:54] It was a bit more gung ho approaching the eighties.

[00:29:56] I was recounting the story the other day to somebody how,

[00:29:58] my driving instructor fancied himself as a bit of a ladies man.

[00:30:01] And I used to be doing my driving lessons and,

[00:30:03] you know,

[00:30:04] it'd be the summer.

[00:30:04] He'd have the windows down.

[00:30:05] He'd reach over,

[00:30:06] he'd beat the horn and wave at the girls.

[00:30:07] All right,

[00:30:08] girls,

[00:30:09] ladies,

[00:30:11] slightly creepy,

[00:30:12] but yeah.

[00:30:13] All right.

[00:30:13] It's not me doing it.

[00:30:14] It's him.

[00:30:16] Did he have a shell suit and a large medallion and cigar?

[00:30:20] Oh God.

[00:30:21] No,

[00:30:21] we're in Surrey.

[00:30:22] We didn't have shell suits.

[00:30:24] He probably had a Tash,

[00:30:25] Tash and a probably Pringle jumper.

[00:30:27] That's probably what he had on,

[00:30:29] but he fancied himself.

[00:30:29] I kind of got some memory of him being a bit more like Terry Thomas,

[00:30:32] you know,

[00:30:33] girls,

[00:30:34] ding dong.

[00:30:34] Yeah.

[00:30:35] You're not going to pull them in a Peugeot 307,

[00:30:37] mate.

[00:30:38] That's not going to happen.

[00:30:39] That's why he had the RS turbo.

[00:30:41] Carry on driving lessons.

[00:30:43] A little bit like that.

[00:30:44] Yeah.

[00:30:44] Do you recall any,

[00:30:45] any friends at school with cool cars?

[00:30:48] Yeah.

[00:30:48] And there's always,

[00:30:49] I think there's always a friend that has the cool cars and knows.

[00:30:52] I had a mate and I'm still in touch with him now.

[00:30:54] Tim,

[00:30:55] he always had alphas.

[00:30:56] He had alpha suits.

[00:30:58] And from the moment he passed his test,

[00:31:00] he had an alphasid.

[00:31:01] And I used to be able to drive that.

[00:31:02] And I,

[00:31:03] looking back,

[00:31:03] I wish I'd,

[00:31:03] I used to,

[00:31:04] I used to phone up a lot back in the days before I passed my tests,

[00:31:07] the insurance brokers,

[00:31:08] cause you have to give them a ring.

[00:31:09] Yeah.

[00:31:10] And I would go through,

[00:31:10] I'd literally try and find the hot hatches.

[00:31:12] And so I'd be funny.

[00:31:13] I'll go,

[00:31:13] uh,

[00:31:14] Lancia Delta.

[00:31:14] Yeah.

[00:31:15] How much?

[00:31:16] No,

[00:31:17] no,

[00:31:17] third party.

[00:31:17] I don't want the fire and the test.

[00:31:18] like cheapest.

[00:31:19] You can do it.

[00:31:20] Ah,

[00:31:21] 200.

[00:31:21] Okay.

[00:31:22] All right.

[00:31:22] And I'd phone about next week.

[00:31:23] He's like,

[00:31:23] alphasid,

[00:31:24] alphasid TI.

[00:31:25] How much is that?

[00:31:26] But I never got the money together to get one.

[00:31:28] However,

[00:31:28] he was a bit more organized.

[00:31:29] I think he worked through the summer or did something and pulled some money together.

[00:31:32] And he had a Brown original,

[00:31:34] like first generation alpha,

[00:31:36] which was great.

[00:31:37] And then he got himself some more money,

[00:31:39] got things together.

[00:31:40] He was very good with cars,

[00:31:41] very knowledgeable about cars.

[00:31:42] And he got himself one of the last ones.

[00:31:44] It was a 1984 red one,

[00:31:46] which he,

[00:31:47] he went through and sorted out.

[00:31:49] And that drove like a go-kart.

[00:31:51] That was super,

[00:31:52] super fun.

[00:31:53] Um,

[00:31:53] the only problem with it is I've got quite a big field,

[00:31:55] a size 12 feet.

[00:31:56] And if you've ever driven an alpha,

[00:31:57] especially of that era,

[00:31:59] they have like pencils for,

[00:32:00] um,

[00:32:01] pedals,

[00:32:01] which are very close together.

[00:32:02] So,

[00:32:03] which if you want to heal and toe,

[00:32:04] I suppose is fine.

[00:32:06] You don't even need to heal and toe to wiggle your foot.

[00:32:08] But if you've got big feet,

[00:32:09] you have to drive very,

[00:32:09] very small shoes.

[00:32:10] And it's also that Italian ape kind of driving position.

[00:32:13] But the alpha said,

[00:32:14] I said to me the other day,

[00:32:15] he said,

[00:32:15] I wish I'd kept it.

[00:32:16] He said,

[00:32:16] I chopped it in for a golf and I wish I'd kept it.

[00:32:18] And I've got vivid memories of that.

[00:32:19] It's a beautiful car.

[00:32:21] I said that.

[00:32:21] And I had a mate with a Veloce,

[00:32:23] uh,

[00:32:24] sprint,

[00:32:24] uh,

[00:32:25] which was his parents car,

[00:32:26] but he got the use of it.

[00:32:27] And that was great.

[00:32:28] Um,

[00:32:28] so I do remember lots of friends who had cars.

[00:32:31] I had rubbish cars.

[00:32:32] In fact,

[00:32:33] that same mate came with me to look up the first car I wanted to buy,

[00:32:35] which I mentioned earlier,

[00:32:36] which is a Fiat Uno.

[00:32:37] He said,

[00:32:38] do not buy that car.

[00:32:39] So,

[00:32:39] yeah,

[00:32:40] well,

[00:32:40] I quite like it.

[00:32:40] It's all right.

[00:32:41] We'll do the job.

[00:32:42] He said,

[00:32:42] look at it.

[00:32:42] It's a rust bucket.

[00:32:43] It's awful.

[00:32:44] What color?

[00:32:45] Oh,

[00:32:45] black,

[00:32:46] the black Uno.

[00:32:47] And it was cheap.

[00:32:48] Okay.

[00:32:48] But there was a slight problem with a passenger jaw in being that when you shut it,

[00:32:52] the actual seal,

[00:32:53] the skin had split and it was rusty,

[00:32:56] but I was blind to that.

[00:32:57] I was just blind.

[00:32:57] I thought it's cheap.

[00:32:58] I'll run it.

[00:32:58] And he was right.

[00:32:59] Absolutely.

[00:32:59] It's the biggest pile of rubbish I've ever owned,

[00:33:01] ever driven.

[00:33:02] It was unreliable.

[00:33:04] It was rusty.

[00:33:05] It was terrible.

[00:33:06] But you know,

[00:33:06] sometimes you buy these things with blind eyes and you learn over the years,

[00:33:09] don't you?

[00:33:09] Do you need to walk away?

[00:33:12] Um,

[00:33:12] yeah,

[00:33:12] but he had the cool cars.

[00:33:13] He had the cool cars.

[00:33:14] My friend had a Fiat Uno.

[00:33:16] It was his mum's.

[00:33:17] It was a red one.

[00:33:18] And it had what they called the fire engine.

[00:33:20] I don't know what it stood for.

[00:33:22] It was called the fire engine.

[00:33:23] And he painted the bumpers red.

[00:33:24] I say it was red.

[00:33:25] It was kind of an orangey red,

[00:33:26] but memories of that.

[00:33:28] We were driving around.

[00:33:28] It's a bit of a sort of wasteland down near us and,

[00:33:32] um,

[00:33:33] trying to go around as fast as we could.

[00:33:35] And if we were in the back,

[00:33:37] we'd open the opposite door to the corner to lean out a little bit,

[00:33:40] to level it out.

[00:33:41] Yeah.

[00:33:41] So that sounds familiar.

[00:33:42] And that just kind of sprung back into my mind.

[00:33:45] Yeah.

[00:33:46] Definitely not very safe.

[00:33:47] Let me see the program 999.

[00:33:49] That sounds like something from,

[00:33:50] uh,

[00:33:52] a sort of era.

[00:33:53] Teenage boys have fallen out of a car.

[00:33:55] Yeah.

[00:33:56] Michael Burke.

[00:33:57] Yeah.

[00:33:58] I think we had more sort of,

[00:33:59] um,

[00:34:00] controlled fun.

[00:34:00] You know,

[00:34:01] I mean,

[00:34:01] I think,

[00:34:01] I think back in the eighties,

[00:34:02] I remember a lot of,

[00:34:03] there was a lot less houses about so that you had more wasteland and stuff

[00:34:06] that you could donut a car around and stuff.

[00:34:08] I mean,

[00:34:08] now if I think where do you,

[00:34:09] I mean,

[00:34:10] I live in a town and I think,

[00:34:11] where do I,

[00:34:11] where would I go to sort of donut a car around?

[00:34:13] It's not,

[00:34:14] it's not a thought that comes to me every day,

[00:34:15] but you know,

[00:34:16] everywhere is sort of kind of built up now,

[00:34:18] isn't it?

[00:34:18] You know,

[00:34:19] even car parks have got too much stuff in them,

[00:34:20] haven't they?

[00:34:21] You know,

[00:34:21] car parks used to be just marked out and with a couple of street lamps and that

[00:34:25] sort of thing.

[00:34:25] Whereas now that,

[00:34:26] you know,

[00:34:27] they've just got stuff everywhere.

[00:34:28] Um,

[00:34:29] there was a lot more where I was brought up in Surrey.

[00:34:31] Um,

[00:34:32] there was a lot of army land and wasteland and that sort of stuff.

[00:34:35] So you could get your car up there and rag it around and,

[00:34:36] you know,

[00:34:37] didn't bother anybody,

[00:34:38] but it wasn't talking about learning to drive.

[00:34:40] That wasn't my first actual on-road experience.

[00:34:43] And again,

[00:34:43] this will horrify people who,

[00:34:45] who can't work around the eighties.

[00:34:46] When I was 10,

[00:34:47] I used to drive the milk.

[00:34:49] I used to help the milkman out on a Saturday.

[00:34:52] Um,

[00:34:52] and being interested in cars,

[00:34:53] I said,

[00:34:54] you know,

[00:34:54] can I have a drive?

[00:34:55] Uh,

[00:34:55] and he said,

[00:34:55] yeah,

[00:34:56] go on then.

[00:34:56] And so I drove it and he said,

[00:34:58] okay,

[00:34:58] seems to get the idea of it.

[00:35:00] And I think when you're into cars,

[00:35:01] you sort of understand the physics of it.

[00:35:03] Don't you?

[00:35:03] You,

[00:35:03] that was my first EV actually,

[00:35:05] that's my first EV driving at 10,

[00:35:08] unlicensed,

[00:35:08] uninsured and whatever on the road.

[00:35:10] And it was a Unigate milk float.

[00:35:11] So it was one of those rounds,

[00:35:13] three wheel of milk floats.

[00:35:14] And it was automatic.

[00:35:16] You know,

[00:35:16] you clunked it on and then you just,

[00:35:18] it was a sort of step automatic.

[00:35:19] You could feel it.

[00:35:21] Don't.

[00:35:22] So you rode the throttle.

[00:35:23] So then you came off here much like an EV now,

[00:35:26] actually,

[00:35:26] you know,

[00:35:26] it's a regenerative breaking thing.

[00:35:28] So then he let me drive it.

[00:35:29] And then every week I drove a bit more.

[00:35:31] And then every Saturday I drove a bit more.

[00:35:34] Eventually I was driving the whole round.

[00:35:36] That's a 10 year old.

[00:35:37] And the one Christmas round,

[00:35:39] um,

[00:35:40] it used to be a tradition that the milk would pop in the house for a,

[00:35:43] for a little tipple.

[00:35:44] And so quite soon he was incapable of driving the milk float.

[00:35:47] So I finished the round off,

[00:35:48] but then he went in for another tipple and the poor boy had a heart attack.

[00:35:51] So he had to be carted off in a stretcher.

[00:35:53] So I finished the milk round off and I was about 10,

[00:35:55] 11.

[00:35:56] What sort of time?

[00:35:56] What shifts were you doing?

[00:35:57] Oh wait,

[00:35:58] so it was a Saturday job.

[00:35:59] Right.

[00:36:00] Cause I think my mom had said,

[00:36:01] Oh,

[00:36:01] you know,

[00:36:01] do you need any help on the milk?

[00:36:02] And he said,

[00:36:02] well yeah,

[00:36:03] I do actually.

[00:36:04] And then,

[00:36:04] you know,

[00:36:04] I sort of used to get up and help him on a Saturday.

[00:36:06] He picked me up,

[00:36:07] um,

[00:36:08] like the start of the round from my street and then I would help him out.

[00:36:12] And then he'd pay me with a bit of cash and you know,

[00:36:15] whatever sort of fizzy drinks I wanted off the milk float sort of thing.

[00:36:17] And a pop.

[00:36:18] Yeah.

[00:36:18] It was,

[00:36:19] oh God,

[00:36:19] it was a Corona,

[00:36:20] Corona pop.

[00:36:21] I think it was,

[00:36:22] they couldn't sell that now,

[00:36:22] could they?

[00:36:23] But anyway,

[00:36:24] he had this heart attack and he got carted off in the ambulance.

[00:36:26] I finished off the milk rounds,

[00:36:28] which I think they were sort of quite happy about it,

[00:36:30] but they just had to send someone out to pick the milk float out.

[00:36:32] Well,

[00:36:33] because obviously couldn't drive it.

[00:36:34] I was driving around a housing estate,

[00:36:35] you know,

[00:36:35] you weren't actually on the main,

[00:36:37] but so somebody came and picked the milk float up.

[00:36:39] And then it was literally,

[00:36:40] actually I don't remember any kind of big drama out of it.

[00:36:43] I think a guy just turned up and said,

[00:36:44] cheers mate.

[00:36:46] Do you need a lift home?

[00:36:47] Is your mum coming to get you?

[00:36:49] Yeah.

[00:36:49] All right.

[00:36:50] That's probably about 10,

[00:36:51] 11,

[00:36:51] 12 then.

[00:36:52] That's madness,

[00:36:52] isn't it?

[00:36:53] Like,

[00:36:53] yeah,

[00:36:53] there must be a requirement for some sort of license to drive it.

[00:36:57] And then insurance and all the rest,

[00:36:58] but that goes back to having seven people in the front of a car.

[00:37:01] Like that's the time,

[00:37:02] wasn't it?

[00:37:02] It didn't matter.

[00:37:03] I think even then it was probably way,

[00:37:05] way past the gray area.

[00:37:06] Can a 10 year old do my milk float for me?

[00:37:07] But just thinking about memories of cars,

[00:37:10] you also remember the cars on your street,

[00:37:12] don't you?

[00:37:12] And I remember my mate,

[00:37:14] everybody had quite average cars.

[00:37:16] You know,

[00:37:16] you had your British Leylands and you had your Fords and everybody growing up in the 80s.

[00:37:21] Every other dad had a Cortina,

[00:37:23] I think pretty much,

[00:37:24] unless they had a princess or something.

[00:37:26] I remember going in a princess and do remember.

[00:37:29] I was quite a polite kid,

[00:37:30] you know,

[00:37:31] I was brought up to be quite polite.

[00:37:32] So I didn't say this car is awful,

[00:37:33] but I do remember thinking this car is terrible with your velour seats and your wedgie.

[00:37:37] Wedgie front to it.

[00:37:39] But there was always a car on the street that was cool,

[00:37:42] wasn't there?

[00:37:43] Somebody had a cool car.

[00:37:44] Now my mate,

[00:37:45] his dad had a BMW 635 CSI,

[00:37:49] gray shark nose BMW with gray leather interior.

[00:37:53] And that was like,

[00:37:54] whoa,

[00:37:55] because that would have been a very expensive car back in the day.

[00:37:58] Yeah.

[00:37:58] Not even the price of it.

[00:37:59] It's just cool.

[00:38:00] It didn't look like anything else.

[00:38:02] They only had him as a kid.

[00:38:03] So obviously they just thought,

[00:38:04] should we have another kid or a decent car?

[00:38:05] So he decided that was a better way to go.

[00:38:09] Good call.

[00:38:10] Good call.

[00:38:10] Yeah,

[00:38:11] sure.

[00:38:11] Good call.

[00:38:11] That's a good call.

[00:38:12] So yeah,

[00:38:13] the rest went on a car,

[00:38:14] but I do remember that very,

[00:38:16] very distinctly that car.

[00:38:17] And I wouldn't say like turn me on to BMWs and maybe want one,

[00:38:20] but I just remember thinking that is the nuts.

[00:38:22] Um,

[00:38:23] in terms of other family cars,

[00:38:25] I remember,

[00:38:25] I remember all my family cars.

[00:38:27] I remember my aunt's car,

[00:38:28] she had a black Rano 14 and then had a escort gear in the late eighties.

[00:38:32] And that was,

[00:38:33] that was,

[00:38:34] I said,

[00:38:34] I'm not a big Ford fan,

[00:38:35] but that had all the stuff on it.

[00:38:36] Yeah.

[00:38:36] Yeah.

[00:38:37] The gear came with all the stuff,

[00:38:38] didn't it?

[00:38:39] Most people drove poverty spec,

[00:38:41] didn't they?

[00:38:42] Or they drove the one above poverty spec.

[00:38:43] You drove an L.

[00:38:44] The L.

[00:38:45] Yeah.

[00:38:46] LX.

[00:38:46] If you were doing well at work,

[00:38:48] you got the GL because you were able to spend a bit more money.

[00:38:51] And then there was the gear and then the gear X later,

[00:38:54] wasn't it?

[00:38:54] So we were referring to,

[00:38:55] I seem to remember my brother having an escort,

[00:38:57] which was an LX.

[00:38:59] I don't know what that was in the hierarchy,

[00:39:01] but,

[00:39:01] uh,

[00:39:01] I think that came on later.

[00:39:03] It made it L sound a bit more showbiz,

[00:39:04] didn't it?

[00:39:05] Remember it had wet carpets.

[00:39:06] That's all I remember about that.

[00:39:08] Oh,

[00:39:08] I once traded an Astro in,

[00:39:10] um,

[00:39:10] in the nineties,

[00:39:10] traded an Astro in,

[00:39:11] um,

[00:39:12] for might've been a Ford actually.

[00:39:14] And we went to lift the mats out because you were,

[00:39:16] oh,

[00:39:17] that the mats and it was wet under all the mats.

[00:39:20] It's usually like a heater matrix,

[00:39:22] isn't it?

[00:39:22] That sort of thing.

[00:39:23] Yes.

[00:39:23] So the mats went back in,

[00:39:25] they got left.

[00:39:26] We ran away quite quickly.

[00:39:28] Yeah.

[00:39:28] But I remember my uncle had a Volvo red Volvo estates.

[00:39:32] One of the nice Volvo estates.

[00:39:34] And again,

[00:39:34] they were quite pricey back in the day.

[00:39:35] So they had good cars,

[00:39:37] but I,

[00:39:37] I remember that this is really sad.

[00:39:39] I remember the door handles in those cars.

[00:39:41] Is that really odd?

[00:39:43] Yeah,

[00:39:43] it is.

[00:39:43] That's not right.

[00:39:44] On the Volvo estates,

[00:39:45] didn't the door handle?

[00:39:46] Kind of open like downwards rather than you put your hand in it and it was like a stuck

[00:39:50] up.

[00:39:51] It was like a seven 40 GL sort of.

[00:39:54] Yeah.

[00:39:54] Yeah.

[00:39:55] You reached into it and you pulled the,

[00:39:57] pulled the lever back in the door.

[00:39:59] And then that's what opened it.

[00:40:00] And they had,

[00:40:01] and this was a big thing.

[00:40:02] And now we take for granted.

[00:40:03] They always went nuts.

[00:40:04] If you didn't put your seatbelt on.

[00:40:06] Whereas in the eighties,

[00:40:07] people were a bit like,

[00:40:08] hmm,

[00:40:08] about seatbelts,

[00:40:09] weren't they?

[00:40:09] Like,

[00:40:09] well,

[00:40:10] I'm just going down the shops and put seatbelts on.

[00:40:11] And most cars obviously didn't send it,

[00:40:13] but the Volos would literally do what cars do now.

[00:40:15] You know,

[00:40:16] meep,

[00:40:16] meep,

[00:40:16] meep,

[00:40:17] meep.

[00:40:17] So you always had to put your seatbelts on and in the back as well,

[00:40:19] I think,

[00:40:20] because they were super safety conscious.

[00:40:22] Yeah.

[00:40:22] Very plush cloth inside those cars.

[00:40:25] Very plush cloth.

[00:40:26] Yeah.

[00:40:26] Massive headrests on those,

[00:40:28] I recall.

[00:40:28] They were quite hard headrests,

[00:40:29] weren't they?

[00:40:30] You'd probably have a bit of a headache if you did have to whiplash against them.

[00:40:33] Yeah.

[00:40:34] Yeah.

[00:40:34] Oh,

[00:40:34] they did like plastic ones with like almost a ladder rung.

[00:40:37] That's right.

[00:40:38] Yeah.

[00:40:38] And the one I remember had almost like a leather pad,

[00:40:40] which went into it.

[00:40:41] Just sat on top of it.

[00:40:42] I think this was quite a posh one as well,

[00:40:44] because it had the windscreen wipers on the lights as well.

[00:40:46] Ah,

[00:40:47] yeah,

[00:40:47] yeah.

[00:40:47] That was,

[00:40:48] that was your mark of whether your car was,

[00:40:50] was a bit posh or not,

[00:40:51] whether it had windscreen wipers going,

[00:40:52] you know,

[00:40:53] that's another level,

[00:40:54] isn't it?

[00:40:54] That's probably one of the first cars that had the headlamps that would come on all the time,

[00:40:58] wouldn't they?

[00:40:58] Or when you start up,

[00:40:59] I think that's because they're Swedish.

[00:41:01] Yeah.

[00:41:01] They always rode with lights on.

[00:41:02] Yeah.

[00:41:03] It's always dark in Sweden.

[00:41:04] Yeah.

[00:41:04] My friend,

[00:41:05] Steve,

[00:41:06] his parents had one.

[00:41:07] And when he passed his test,

[00:41:08] he used to poodle around in that and sort of ferry us around,

[00:41:11] which was quite amusing.

[00:41:12] And this huge Volvo.

[00:41:14] I always remember it being incredibly loud.

[00:41:16] I think it was like a two liter.

[00:41:17] And he used to absolutely thrash it.

[00:41:18] And he used to see this massive wagon being thrown around the village.

[00:41:22] It was quite funny looking back.

[00:41:23] And you think about,

[00:41:24] as I say,

[00:41:24] they used to make lots of noises telling you to do stuff,

[00:41:27] Volvos.

[00:41:28] But that was,

[00:41:28] we didn't realize at the time that was the shape of things to come in terms of cars bossing you about.

[00:41:33] I mean,

[00:41:33] now my daily car is really bossy.

[00:41:35] You know,

[00:41:35] it's beep.

[00:41:35] It's just,

[00:41:36] oh,

[00:41:36] you just want to switch it off.

[00:41:38] But in the old days,

[00:41:39] it's sort of cars didn't.

[00:41:41] And I wonder what it would like to be driving those cars.

[00:41:43] Because you had no idea what cars were doing most of the time.

[00:41:46] They're going to break down.

[00:41:47] The only thing you kept on,

[00:41:48] and this is driving a classic,

[00:41:49] takes you back to this.

[00:41:50] And I was explaining to my boy the other day,

[00:41:52] what all the gauges were.

[00:41:53] And I said,

[00:41:54] you need to watch this one.

[00:41:55] That's your temperature.

[00:41:56] You know,

[00:41:56] it feels quite your main one.

[00:41:57] Have I got enough?

[00:41:58] Is it working?

[00:41:59] And you were always a bit,

[00:42:00] the gauges were always fairly accurate,

[00:42:03] but not reliable.

[00:42:04] That's probably the best way to describe it.

[00:42:06] When you get into an old car,

[00:42:07] that says half a tank of fuel,

[00:42:09] but I'm sure it said half a tank of fuel when I drove it last time.

[00:42:11] So you're always a little bit suspicious.

[00:42:13] So you do that.

[00:42:13] But I was explaining to him,

[00:42:15] temperature,

[00:42:15] gauge,

[00:42:15] oil pressure.

[00:42:16] You watch both of those.

[00:42:17] Because if one of those starts going the wrong way,

[00:42:20] then you're going to be sitting on a hard shoulder.

[00:42:22] You've got trouble.

[00:42:23] Yeah.

[00:42:23] It is a different thing.

[00:42:25] In terms of like,

[00:42:26] just thinking about as well,

[00:42:27] back to cars,

[00:42:28] another memory of my aunt's cars and my relative's cars.

[00:42:31] My aunt's turned up once in one of the original Fiat 500s that she'd bought cheap secondhand in the 70s.

[00:42:37] And me being a car mad kid,

[00:42:39] I said,

[00:42:39] can I have a look?

[00:42:40] Can I sit in it?

[00:42:40] Can I whatever?

[00:42:41] She had to do a long drive back.

[00:42:42] And I said,

[00:42:42] is there anything you need to do?

[00:42:43] Do you need your windscreen wiper?

[00:42:44] Your washer fluid filled up?

[00:42:46] Yeah,

[00:42:46] I do actually.

[00:42:46] It's running a bit low.

[00:42:47] I'll do it.

[00:42:48] I'll do it.

[00:42:48] So I'll pop the bonnet and I'll put probably two liters of water in or a liter of water in.

[00:42:53] Would have been a gallon back in the day,

[00:42:54] wouldn't it?

[00:42:54] Thing was,

[00:42:55] it turned out I hadn't filled the washer fluid.

[00:42:56] I filled her brake fluid up with water.

[00:43:01] And apparently she had a little bit of problem stopping on the way back.

[00:43:06] Which the enthusiasm was there.

[00:43:08] Maybe the knowledge wasn't.

[00:43:09] And since then,

[00:43:10] I have checked,

[00:43:10] I think all the time whenever I filled washing fluid up that I'm actually filling the right

[00:43:13] thing up.

[00:43:14] But I think,

[00:43:15] you know,

[00:43:15] as a kid,

[00:43:15] you're very enthusiastic.

[00:43:17] And cars were much more visceral.

[00:43:21] And I think,

[00:43:22] just one more memory,

[00:43:23] if I can squeeze it in.

[00:43:24] I think,

[00:43:24] I remember my parents' car,

[00:43:26] but I would say,

[00:43:27] do you know what?

[00:43:27] My strongest memory of,

[00:43:29] of wow,

[00:43:30] a wow car.

[00:43:31] My parents had some friends who were quite,

[00:43:33] they must've been fairly well off.

[00:43:35] And we went round to their house and they had a Triumph Stag sat in the garage.

[00:43:39] Nice.

[00:43:40] Now it was sat in the garage.

[00:43:42] It was a second car,

[00:43:43] I think,

[00:43:43] or it was a weekend car.

[00:43:46] A toy.

[00:43:46] A toy.

[00:43:47] Yeah.

[00:43:47] So it was a really good condition.

[00:43:48] I remember when I can't,

[00:43:50] I must've been six again,

[00:43:51] six,

[00:43:51] seven or something,

[00:43:52] being allowed to sit in that car in the garage and just,

[00:43:55] you know,

[00:43:56] allowed to sort of take it all in.

[00:43:58] I've always wanted a stag ever since.

[00:44:00] And I've come close so many times to buying a stag.

[00:44:04] I've been scared off so many times to buy a stag.

[00:44:08] I've had so many moments where I've opened the bonnet on a stag and gone,

[00:44:10] Ooh,

[00:44:11] no thanks.

[00:44:12] I've heard so many horror stories about owning a stag,

[00:44:14] but I saw one yesterday actually.

[00:44:15] I went to a car meet yesterday and somebody turned up in a stag and just

[00:44:19] the center engine is great.

[00:44:21] But as a kid,

[00:44:22] I didn't realize how low rent the interior was,

[00:44:24] but I still remember it.

[00:44:25] Sitting in that garage because garages smelt of petrol.

[00:44:29] Do you remember that?

[00:44:30] The garages do smell the petrol.

[00:44:31] And when I park my classic car in a house,

[00:44:33] the kids do say,

[00:44:34] it's that smell.

[00:44:35] Yeah.

[00:44:35] Well,

[00:44:35] you're not really meant to smell it.

[00:44:36] It's supposed to not be there.

[00:44:38] But you don't notice that with modern cars.

[00:44:39] Cars don't really give off much of a scent,

[00:44:42] do they?

[00:44:42] I think petrol and damp bricks they smell of.

[00:44:45] Yeah.

[00:44:46] And there was always a bit of oil as well,

[00:44:48] wasn't there?

[00:44:48] Mixed into that.

[00:44:49] Cause it was dripping on the garage floor.

[00:44:51] But when the garage door went up,

[00:44:53] you got that smell.

[00:44:54] Yeah.

[00:44:54] The rush.

[00:44:55] It was like,

[00:44:56] oh,

[00:44:56] the classic car.

[00:44:57] Whereas I think if you park a modern car in a garage now,

[00:45:00] you don't get any real scent of anything.

[00:45:03] And so it's quite,

[00:45:04] it's quite an emotive thing.

[00:45:05] So that stag,

[00:45:05] I would have been sat in a garage smelling the fuel.

[00:45:08] It is a nice smell.

[00:45:09] Yeah.

[00:45:10] And it's one of those smells.

[00:45:11] Once you've smelt it.

[00:45:12] There's no getting away from it.

[00:45:13] It is a nice smell,

[00:45:14] isn't it?

[00:45:14] Yeah.

[00:45:15] Something about fresh petrol.

[00:45:16] Yeah.

[00:45:16] You had,

[00:45:17] you had a guest on a couple of episodes ago,

[00:45:18] Steve,

[00:45:18] who was talking about,

[00:45:19] well,

[00:45:20] Steve,

[00:45:20] wasn't it?

[00:45:20] He was talking about the eighties and petrol stations and working in a petrol

[00:45:23] station.

[00:45:23] And they used to smell of petrol.

[00:45:25] You know,

[00:45:26] now you go to a petrol station and she's changed a bit because people are

[00:45:28] filling up petrol more.

[00:45:29] So they've got that waft back.

[00:45:30] But for the last 10,

[00:45:31] 15 years,

[00:45:32] everybody's been filling up diesel,

[00:45:33] haven't they?

[00:45:33] So there was just spilled diesel.

[00:45:35] It was very nice.

[00:45:37] But petrol stations used to really smell the petrol.

[00:45:39] Garages used to smell of petrol.

[00:45:40] And cars used to smell of petrol as well.

[00:45:42] Men used to smell of petrol.

[00:45:44] Men used to smell of petrol.

[00:45:46] And I smell of petrol when I drive my old car as well.

[00:45:48] You know,

[00:45:48] sometimes I get in and...

[00:45:49] Nab a bit on your neck.

[00:45:51] Well,

[00:45:51] no,

[00:45:51] you sort of seem to carry it with you,

[00:45:52] especially with a convertible.

[00:45:54] It seems to sort of carry.

[00:45:55] And sometimes I come in and it's like,

[00:45:57] oh yeah,

[00:45:58] that's definitely 99.

[00:46:00] I genuinely smell of it a lot because my work equipment is petrol driven.

[00:46:05] So quite often it just fumes onto me.

[00:46:09] Yeah.

[00:46:09] Yeah.

[00:46:09] The petrol strimmer or something.

[00:46:11] That's the,

[00:46:11] that's proper.

[00:46:12] Exactly.

[00:46:13] Yeah.

[00:46:14] Almost like two stroke.

[00:46:15] There's a thing that,

[00:46:16] that doesn't happen anymore.

[00:46:17] You know,

[00:46:17] two stroke used to be a nice smell.

[00:46:19] Yeah.

[00:46:19] Oh,

[00:46:20] the smell of two strokes,

[00:46:21] especially at a race circuit.

[00:46:22] Yeah.

[00:46:23] Or even just,

[00:46:23] even just a scooter going down the road.

[00:46:25] Mr.

[00:46:25] Khan wouldn't like two stroke at all,

[00:46:26] would he?

[00:46:27] If he got a...

[00:46:27] No.

[00:46:28] He would tax that,

[00:46:29] wouldn't he?

[00:46:30] Burning petrol and oil at the same time.

[00:46:34] But there's a sound.

[00:46:35] We talked about the beetle not hearing beetles,

[00:46:36] but you don't hear that.

[00:46:37] Ding,

[00:46:38] ding,

[00:46:38] ding,

[00:46:38] ding,

[00:46:38] ding,

[00:46:39] ding,

[00:46:39] And you used to hear that quite a lot in town centers and stuff.

[00:46:41] You know,

[00:46:42] scooters went up to the lights.

[00:46:43] Right.

[00:46:43] Yeah.

[00:46:44] Yeah.

[00:46:44] And scramblers as well.

[00:46:45] Yeah.

[00:46:45] That's just noisy though,

[00:46:47] scramblers,

[00:46:47] aren't they?

[00:46:47] But yeah,

[00:46:48] no,

[00:46:48] the waft of a bit of petrol is nice.

[00:46:50] I do,

[00:46:51] I do like,

[00:46:51] it's one of the things I do like about cars.

[00:46:53] It's sort of a limit to it though.

[00:46:54] You don't want too much.

[00:46:55] It's a bit like aftershave,

[00:46:56] isn't it?

[00:46:56] Just a little bit,

[00:46:56] not too much.

[00:46:57] Yeah.

[00:46:57] We're not endorsing this.

[00:46:58] We're not suggesting you go around sort of petrol sniffing,

[00:47:01] sniffing old exhausts and stuff.

[00:47:03] Yeah.

[00:47:03] Well,

[00:47:03] yeah.

[00:47:04] And if you do go for E5,

[00:47:05] because it's got a bit of a stronger flavor to it.

[00:47:07] So yeah,

[00:47:07] this E10 stuff for the ethanol is not quite the same.

[00:47:10] Momentum 99 has got a nice sort of old fashioned petrol smell.

[00:47:14] I have to put the lead additive in when I fill up as well.

[00:47:16] So just to give it,

[00:47:18] just to give it some extra petrol smell.

[00:47:21] Cool.

[00:47:21] Thank you very much,

[00:47:22] Matt.

[00:47:22] I think it's a good place to wrap it up.

[00:47:24] Yeah.

[00:47:24] It's been really good fun to hear all your stories.

[00:47:26] Thank you.

[00:47:26] Cause it,

[00:47:27] you've got all those memories in there,

[00:47:28] but yeah,

[00:47:29] it just needs a little bit of prodding to get them out.

[00:47:31] If you could come back in about 20 years when I'm rocking in a,

[00:47:34] in a wingback chair in a care home and not really remembering what,

[00:47:36] who I am and what I'm doing and try and ask me these questions again,

[00:47:39] that'd be really good.

[00:47:40] If that's all right.

[00:47:42] It just might get the gray cells going.

[00:47:45] Just ask me about the milk float.

[00:47:46] The petrol sniffing probably would have gotten the better of you by then,

[00:47:49] Matt,

[00:47:49] I reckon.

[00:47:50] Well,

[00:47:50] it probably will.

[00:47:50] Yeah,

[00:47:51] probably will do.

[00:47:52] No,

[00:47:52] but thank you.

[00:47:52] That's been really fun.

[00:47:53] It's been nice to,

[00:47:53] it's nice to go back and it's quite nice.

[00:47:55] One of the things that's a side product.

[00:47:57] I was able to talk to my parents about cars as well.

[00:47:59] Cause you know,

[00:48:00] they're not massive car peoples,

[00:48:02] but my dad got quite excited about talking about buying that Citroen GS and

[00:48:06] why he bought it.

[00:48:07] And he said he always used to like the fact that when he took it to the

[00:48:10] garage,

[00:48:10] they were always really interested in fixing it in the right way.

[00:48:14] He said they were enthusiastic about it.

[00:48:16] The guy,

[00:48:16] one of the mechanics was a race driver for Citroen and they just were really

[00:48:20] nice and enthusiastic.

[00:48:21] So when he used to take his other cars elsewhere,

[00:48:23] they were a bit,

[00:48:23] I'll park it there mate.

[00:48:24] We'll get to it in a minute.

[00:48:25] So it got him excited about it.

[00:48:27] And it was quite nice to talk to them about their memories of cars as well.

[00:48:30] So it's been a good,

[00:48:30] it's been a good trip down memory lane.

[00:48:32] As old people like to do.

[00:48:33] Wonderful.

[00:48:34] So thank you for the invite.

[00:48:35] No,

[00:48:35] not a problem at all.

[00:48:36] Yeah.

[00:48:36] Thank you very much.

[00:48:37] And keep doing what you're doing.

[00:48:38] Best of luck with the tire kickers podcast.

[00:48:40] Thank you very much.

[00:48:41] Cheers.

[00:48:42] Cheers,

[00:48:42] Matt.

[00:48:42] Nice to meet you.

[00:48:43] Cheers guys.

[00:48:43] Yes.

[00:48:44] See you later.

[00:48:45] Cool.

[00:48:45] A long one,

[00:48:46] that one.

[00:48:46] Was it?

[00:48:47] What time is it?

[00:48:47] Oh yeah.

[00:48:48] That was a good,

[00:48:49] good chat,

[00:48:49] wasn't it?

[00:48:50] Enjoyed that.

[00:48:51] Yeah.

[00:48:51] Some good stories of mini in there.

[00:48:53] Citroen.

[00:48:54] Was it GS?

[00:48:55] And then some BX.

[00:48:56] Is it?

[00:48:56] You've lost the pound coin on the jar.

[00:48:58] Yeah.

[00:48:58] I don't know if you heard,

[00:48:59] I did drop a key into a glass.

[00:49:01] Oh no,

[00:49:02] it didn't come up.

[00:49:02] Oh,

[00:49:02] that's a shame.

[00:49:03] I'll drop it in now.

[00:49:04] See if you can hear this.

[00:49:05] I've just knocked the glass over now.

[00:49:08] Can you hear that?

[00:49:09] But yeah,

[00:49:10] good to have him on.

[00:49:11] His podcast is a good listen.

[00:49:13] And nice to see a few of our kind of previous guests interacting with them as well,

[00:49:17] getting on board and supporting that.

[00:49:18] Yeah,

[00:49:19] definitely.

[00:49:20] That's cool to see.

[00:49:22] BMW Sharknose 6 Series.

[00:49:23] I think they've come up a few times.

[00:49:25] Yeah,

[00:49:25] yeah.

[00:49:25] Pretty timeless.

[00:49:26] I think everyone's sort of in agreement.

[00:49:27] That's a cool car.

[00:49:28] Yeah,

[00:49:29] definitely.

[00:49:30] I remember those dropping sort of rock bottom prices at one point as well,

[00:49:33] you know,

[00:49:34] sort of five,

[00:49:35] six grand and amazing really to think that they get to that point,

[00:49:38] but they did.

[00:49:40] Indeed.

[00:49:41] Indeed.

[00:49:41] That's always quite nice when a parent or parents,

[00:49:45] they go for some more sort of,

[00:49:46] what should we say?

[00:49:47] Risky choices.

[00:49:48] The family car,

[00:49:49] sort of going French,

[00:49:51] completely goes against the grain,

[00:49:52] doesn't it really?

[00:49:53] In this country at that time.

[00:49:54] Yeah.

[00:49:55] Nice to make those,

[00:49:55] those choices.

[00:49:56] I think it's a bit like we've had some people on with Saab,

[00:49:58] haven't we?

[00:49:59] In their background,

[00:50:00] I guess maybe the Volvo was sort of a safe choice is a bit of a terrible pun,

[00:50:04] but that was kind of the thing,

[00:50:05] wasn't it?

[00:50:06] But yeah,

[00:50:06] Saab and Citroen was,

[00:50:08] yeah,

[00:50:08] a little bit more of a considered choice.

[00:50:10] You wouldn't just,

[00:50:10] you'd have to hunt out the dealership,

[00:50:12] wouldn't you,

[00:50:12] for a Citroen or for maybe a Renault or Saab.

[00:50:15] Yeah.

[00:50:15] Not just at the end of your street,

[00:50:17] whereas actually like every town had a Vauxhall dealership and a Ford

[00:50:20] dealership.

[00:50:20] Yeah.

[00:50:20] And a British Leyland or Rover or whatever.

[00:50:23] So yeah,

[00:50:24] you had to do a bit of work,

[00:50:25] I think if you wanted one of those.

[00:50:26] Yeah.

[00:50:27] That's a nice touch though,

[00:50:28] that the Citroen dealership,

[00:50:30] they're actually showing an interest in fixing the cars and that sort of

[00:50:33] thing.

[00:50:34] I don't know.

[00:50:34] I guess back in the day,

[00:50:35] they were just sort of,

[00:50:36] all the French stuff was seen as being a little bit like the build quality

[00:50:40] obviously is always sort of brought under the microscope,

[00:50:42] wasn't it?

[00:50:42] And I'm not too sure about reliability,

[00:50:44] that sort of thing,

[00:50:45] but I don't know.

[00:50:46] They did seem to be sort of tarnished,

[00:50:48] didn't they?

[00:50:49] By their reputation a little bit.

[00:50:50] It was a risky sort of thing to go for.

[00:50:53] Yeah.

[00:50:53] I wonder whether it was kind of the Citroen was maybe an arty choice or something

[00:50:57] like that,

[00:50:57] where you've got sort of Volkswagen was sort of associated with like a hippie

[00:51:00] movement perhaps,

[00:51:01] but maybe like the camper bands for sort of bands and things maybe.

[00:51:05] And then,

[00:51:06] yeah,

[00:51:06] you've got your Saab perhaps for the sort of engineer or the designer.

[00:51:10] Yeah.

[00:51:11] But when you look at that old Ford,

[00:51:12] I've never owned a Ford personally,

[00:51:14] but anyone that I know that has,

[00:51:17] they've never been particularly reliable from,

[00:51:19] from memory.

[00:51:19] So I just sort of think,

[00:51:21] you know,

[00:51:22] everyone was buying these Fords,

[00:51:23] but what,

[00:51:24] why?

[00:51:26] I guess it's convenience.

[00:51:28] It's like,

[00:51:28] yeah,

[00:51:28] I guess the corner shop of car purchases is at the bottom of your road.

[00:51:33] Yeah.

[00:51:33] Go and get one.

[00:51:34] And then if it's rubbish,

[00:51:35] you probably chop it in a couple of years and get another one and hope that

[00:51:37] one's a bit better.

[00:51:38] True.

[00:51:39] True.

[00:51:39] I guess of that time as well,

[00:51:41] that even if you bought a brand new car,

[00:51:42] like Matt was saying,

[00:51:43] it still wasn't massively reliable in the sixties or seventies.

[00:51:47] No.

[00:51:48] It just,

[00:51:49] yeah,

[00:51:49] it was one of those things,

[00:51:50] but things would go wrong with it.

[00:51:52] And just par for the course,

[00:51:53] whether you had an old one or a new one.

[00:51:55] And each time you got a new one,

[00:51:56] I guess it became a bit more reliable till we get to the point where now it's

[00:51:59] almost like just getting on an escalator or an elevator.

[00:52:02] It's yeah,

[00:52:03] it just takes you there.

[00:52:04] And unless you sort of get a puncture or something untoward,

[00:52:07] then yeah,

[00:52:07] you're going to get to where you're going.

[00:52:09] Yeah.

[00:52:09] I suppose back in the day,

[00:52:11] that's why if you could afford to make the jump to an Audi or a Mac or a BMW,

[00:52:16] you were sort of not guaranteed,

[00:52:19] but you were definitely in with more of a shout of not having issues mechanically.

[00:52:24] And,

[00:52:24] but obviously that came at a cost,

[00:52:25] didn't it?

[00:52:26] I think similarly with Japanese stuff,

[00:52:28] to be fair.

[00:52:28] Yeah,

[00:52:29] true.

[00:52:29] True.

[00:52:29] I think obviously,

[00:52:30] yeah.

[00:52:31] Toyota,

[00:52:32] Datsun or Nissan or whatever,

[00:52:34] Mitsubishi,

[00:52:34] et cetera,

[00:52:34] sort of built their reputation on that reliability.

[00:52:37] They were very plastic heavy,

[00:52:38] weren't they?

[00:52:39] Especially in that time.

[00:52:40] But yeah,

[00:52:41] my nan,

[00:52:41] for example,

[00:52:42] did a spate of Toyotas and yeah,

[00:52:44] I don't think they caused her any trouble.

[00:52:47] Yeah.

[00:52:47] They just kind of go on and on.

[00:52:48] It's funny how the elderly sort of got involved in the jack market,

[00:52:52] isn't it?

[00:52:53] It seemed to be a bit of a thing,

[00:52:54] I think like cherries and sunnies,

[00:52:57] all that sort of thing.

[00:52:58] Maybe they were all advertised between countdown.

[00:53:00] Maybe,

[00:53:01] yeah.

[00:53:01] Or 15 to one or Gardner's world or something.

[00:53:04] Yeah.

[00:53:05] Yeah.

[00:53:06] They came in this telegraph supplement.

[00:53:08] We'll have to get one.

[00:53:09] Werther's originals,

[00:53:11] Stan and Stairlifts,

[00:53:13] Toyota.

[00:53:14] Toyota.

[00:53:15] And then yeah,

[00:53:16] obviously they had a good salesman.

[00:53:17] They must've done them.

[00:53:18] Yeah.

[00:53:19] Let me get you a cup of tea.

[00:53:20] Come and sit down here with a biscuit.

[00:53:22] Put your feet up.

[00:53:23] Slippers.

[00:53:24] Yeah.

[00:53:25] Slippers as you enter the dealership.

[00:53:27] Yeah.

[00:53:27] Yeah.

[00:53:29] Yeah.

[00:53:30] Okie dokie.

[00:53:31] We'll,

[00:53:31] yeah,

[00:53:32] we'll wrap it up and on to the next one.

[00:53:35] Indeed.

[00:53:35] Thank you very much,

[00:53:35] John.

[00:53:36] Pleasure.

[00:53:36] And yeah,

[00:53:37] roll the credits.

[00:53:39] Thank you for listening to My Dance Cart.

[00:53:43] I hope you enjoyed the show.

[00:53:46] Please support us.

[00:53:49] Buy us a copy

[00:53:50] and subscribe.

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