Mum and Cars…
As Mothers’ Day gets closer a few more musings on Driving Mums Car as opposed to wanting to Drive Dads Car!
My Mum as already noted enjoyed driving and she was no slouch behind the wheel.Dad had a 1965 Mini Cooper S which was his commuting missile but very often he was persuaded to leave it at home so Mum could enjoy that authentic Paddy Hopkirk experience . This often involved driving through Sutton Park which was used for many years as one of the Sunday stages on the RAC Rally. Even in the 1960s, the speed limit in the park was 20mph but this was never enforced by the police and so many a budding rally driver, including Mrs Eunice Usher would emulate Hopkirk and Makinen much to the detriment of passenger comfort and safety.
Here we have two more low mileage beauties from the previous century in the form of a 1995 Vauxhall Corsa 1.4 Automatic 3 door and a 1998 Fiesta 1.2 5 door. The Corsa has had two owners and has 15,000 miles under its belt whilst the Fiesta is a one owner car showing 28,000. In a different era, both these could have been classic Mums ‘cars.
My driving impressions are that the Fiesta feels much more solid than the Corsa and also has more zip despite its smaller engine. Automatic transmission always seems to feel a bit odd in small cars and the Corsa has both a sports and an icy conditions button. The former seems to be permanently engaged as the light stays on but progress is still a bit lethargic.
Whether Mums’, Dads’ or someone else’s, cars like this make great starter classics.
The Corsa and the Fiesta have both been consigned to the history books and low mileage , low owner examples are very hard to find. Both these cars could we’re bought for three figure money and would provide fun and “different “ motoring in an age of quite dull and expensive modern offerings.
Of course , there is no Bluetooth or air conditioning , the fiesta has a glass sunroof with a manual winding handle, the Corsa just has a radio but the Fiesta has a radio/cassette.
Both Reg numbers OSH (USH?) and JRU (my initials) indicate that these cars were meant to come here and I think they are both real gems.
I would like to acknowledge the help,received from the ever enthusiastic Riley Smith in making sure that I got the details of these cars mainly correct and point out that any errors are mine!
