Dads and their cars are a rich source of fond memories which, for those of us in our sixties, transport us back to simpler and less congested times.
My Dad was a colossal car enthusiast and the result for me is a wealth of car related memories from the 60’s through to the 80’s.
“Bolt-on Goodies”
Back in the 60’s, anyone interested in motor sport almost certainly paid regular trips to the “Car Accessory Shop” to make the car more sporty both in performance and appearance. My Father took this to extremes: his Singer Gazelle convertible had the front number plate stuck on the bonnet between two massive spot/fog lights which drained the battery far more effectively than they lit the road. The chrome hub caps were permanently removed and a big fog light was mounted on the bumper to aid high speed reversing – goodness knows why! A host of auxiliary instruments revealed useful information to the aspiring rally driver, such as Oil Temp, Manifold Vacuum, Compass and of course RPM. Mother had her own navigation lamp clipped to her side of the dashboard, which was never used!
Things got worse with the Ford Corsair: the only one I ever saw on wire wheels! This was not a performance enhancing extra as at 50mph, the steering column vibrated alarmingly and Mother got very cross. Again, the number plate was stuck on the bonnet to accommodate more of Joseph Lucas’ light providers. These had a detrimental effect on cooling and had to be removed in July and August. Again we had a raft of extra instruments and warning lights and a radio which provided more snap and crackle than pop!
The final car to receive the “Michael Usher” make over was his beloved Mini Cooper S which had bolt-on flared arches to protect it’s rather pretty Dunlop alloy wheels . It had most of my Dad’s other signal mods in the form of lights galore, a Wood and Picket dashboard and of course a wooden gear lever knob. Such was the appeal of this car that Mum also fell in love with it, so it was given some useful extras such as racing door mirrors and a heated rear window.
Rather strangely Dad also thought the “Michael Usher special editions” should be anonymous, so all the factory fitted badges were removed and fixed to the garage doors as a memento of motoring madness.
Of course, as a car-mad kid, I loved the visits to the Accessory Shop and the subsequent hours spent in the garage as Dad worked his wonder on the standard item. I was given the menial task of ensuring the chrome’s enduring shine whilst Dad fiddled about under the dashboard with a spaghetti of wires and connectors and his own particular brand of loud expletives when the fuses blew again.
“The Summer Holiday”
We did not take a foreign package holiday until 1975 and as a result car memories are very strongly associated to the annual two week pilgrimage to the South Coast… although trauma was often attached to the long, long journey there and back.
Things rarely started well as having promised to leave early, Dad often arrived home at 7pm to be confronted by a mountain of luggage in the garage which would clearly not fit in the car.
Mum would already be in a spin and having had dinner, Dad would grow ever more exasperated as he attempted to stow suitcases, windbrakes, buckets, spades, inflatable dinghy, toys, dog paraphernalia, butterfly nets, shrimping nets, camping stove, kettle – the list goes on.
Eventually, having discarded the most unessential items and with darkness descending, the car was declared ready and alarm clocks were set for a 5am departure.
The bleary-eyed family boarded the over-laden car and awaited the next drama which would be Dad’s rather eccentric quick route through the middle of Birmingham: the wire wheels wobbling on the Corsair, the hood leaking in torrential rain on the Singer Gazelle, and getting lost in Marlborough because Mum refused to look at the map.
More serious dramas included the horn sticking on (which Dad ignored for fifteen minutes until he gave in and pulled out the wire giving power), over-heating in hot weather, the vomit inducing smell of wet dog and petrol, fuel pumps which failed to pump, and most seriously a prop-shaft which became detached from the back axle leaving us stranded in Warwick.
I burst into tears and a long taxi ride home was a very quiet one as Dad sat in the front with Mum and two kids in the back. The car and luggage arrived home four days later!
The breakfast stop in a forest in Wiltshire was also a worrying affair – itt would have helped if Dad had changed the gas cylinder in the stove – so tea was only lukewarm and bacon was rather under-done. The dog made a bid for freedom in pursuit of a rabbit and we weren’t even half way there after three and a half hours.
Relive those memories…
Looking back, it’s often the little family mishaps, unexpected detours and memorable moments that make us smile the most. More often than not, those memories revolve around the family car – the one that carried us on holidays, school runs, weekend adventures and countless journeys together. If you’d like to help Dad relive those memories this Father’s Day, why not take a trip down memory lane? There’s a good chance the car he remembers so fondly is part of our driving fleet, giving him the opportunity to get back behind the wheel and reconnect with a cherished piece of his past.