[Closed] Top Gear

Blue 1.6 Sierra.

Fair play to CH for keeping that close to the 6R4 too.

My dad had a beige 1.6 Cortina estate.

It's a revelation and all the more welcome for the move away from the usual macho posturing.

Last Cortina my dad drove was a 1.6 MK3 in dog-pooh brown.

Ford escort mk3 metallic blue
Ford Sierra Mk2 red
Ford Focus mk1 maroon

Dad had a red Cortina estate, it was written off by a lorry running into it.
Next up was a VW Santana followed by a Vauxhall Carlton 😁

green Mk1 Escort estate here.
Really enjoyed that. Nice to see behind the façade of the celebrity a little bit. Is it wrong as a farmer to notice the specially laid track to the barn to cover the normal shite 🙂

The 6R4 was the same one they had on Car SOS the other day that Fuzz Townshend drove.

The last bit in Grizedale Forest, I know those roads and trails very well. The bit to the ferry was very staged - from the layby in Grizedale, it's about 5 miles and all signposted so for them to take the roads they did was very obviously a set-up. I mean, I'm not complaining, I know how it works. Just saying... 😉

I think the worst car my dad ever had was his Austin Princess. It apparently drove nice but you could watch it rust before your eyes.

Was a fantastic episode. Proper emotions with their dads cars.

My mum always did the driving, so not got a "dad's car" to remember. The one I remember was an Austin Allegro, the first brand new car they bought. Speedo died after a week.

Superb.

Dad - Ford Sierra.

Mum - Subaru Legacy, back in the McRae rally days. Cool AF

That was simply brilliant. I did have a chuckle at all the continuity errors in and around the north Lakes though

Many many Princesses. Leyland company cars so never long enough to rust. They were otherwise pretty good cars to be honest.

Regular ritual of removing polythene covers on the new seats and holding spanner inside the car whilst dad fitted rear seat belts.

Welshfarmer.... First thing I thought... canny farmers got a new road in exchange for borrowing his barn... funny program and glad lambo still producing utterly bonkers cars!

That road across Caldbeck common is part of a beautiful road bike loop from Keswick. Great family telly!

Good episode, really enjoyed it.

Doubt they were driving the rally stage though and if they were, there's no way CH in a 300bhp rwd escort was only 12s behind the Stig in a 380bhp 4wd group B 6R4 😂

My dad was a massive fan of bangernomics never had anything newish/exiting/worth much. Probs remember his 1989 Nissan Sunny saloon the most though, learned to drive in that car.

Great episode, good mix of daftness, nostalgia and cars. Looking forward to heading back to the Lakes!

Probably by chance, but my mum seemed to have cars that had notable rally connections

Mini
Metro
205
Legacy

Enjoyed that. My heart sank when I saw that the 3 classics were all in good nick and was expecting to see them trashed but no, they just had some fun in them without mindlessly damaging them. A nice change that.

Mum had a 2000E (!) Corsair at one stage. It was never driven anywhere slowly, I got a love of going fast from her. It did go wrong once in Yorkshire when she nearly killed the three of us (me, sister and mum) with a dodgy overtake. I think we ended up on a very wide grass verge while the other driver correctly had a go at her.

Oh and as we're into listing parent's cars:

Dad's:
Cavalier
Strada
126 Bis
Panda
Corsa
Corsa (again)

Mum's:
500 (the original)
126
127
Uno
Pony X2LS
Rover 213

Dad's were all new, mum's were all old or hand-me-downs from family.

First proper car I remember was a Hillman Avenger. Dad had a Morris 1000 before that which I have a vague memory of because he shut my fingers in the door.

It was the vinyl seats in a hot summer I remember most. Used to stick to them and have to peel my legs off them.

My heart sank when I saw that the 3 classics were all in good nick and was expecting to see them trashed but no, they just had some fun in them without mindlessly damaging them.

I was wondering where they'd sourced three such mint condition classic cars from. Guess they were privately owned collector's cars and they must have been under instruction to look after them. I enjoyed the Lake District roads, was up there during a lull in lockdown last summer and had a fantastic road ride on those northern lanes.

We had a 4-door Alfa Romeo Alfasud. It was dark blue with beige/orange interior and a battery that went flat as soon as you turned on an interior light.

Driving to my grandparents (I was about 5), my Dad did a risky overtake and my Mum was gripping the seat in terror. My Dad, quite relaxed, was like "it's all OK, I'm a good judge of distance". He then turned into my grandparents driveway and crashed into the garage wall. 😂

My dad had a cracking Cortina that was stolen when we went to panto at the Beck theatre in Hayes. Dad swears it was the best car he ever owned. He then got Sierra then Granada. Mum drove Fiesta

I agree about never asking for directions though. I’d rather drive round all night. Never, ever ask.

I think my dad's cars were 'different'...
He had a motorbike for years in India.

UK we had:

SIMCA 1100
Fiat Amigo camper (based on a 500...)
Austin Ambassador
Ford Sierra
A series of Citroen BX estates.

Lovely piece that, quite emotional.

Triumph Toledo..

Dad's cars, all company cars ...
BL Maxi
Metallic blue Mk3 Cortina
Beige Mk 4 Cortina
Red Mk 4 Cortina (Sport? - had black vinyl roof, alloys, front spots)
Green Mk 4 Cortina 2.3 V6 GLS (I think)
White Sierra Sapphire
Beige Vaxhall Cavalier (that I took to 113 mph on a local B road aged 18 ... WTF did I think I was doing?!).

Enjoyed my Mum's cars too.
Red Fiat 126 with roll top sunroof
Gold Renault 5 (which I wrote off, aged 17, dicking about in the snow)
Blue VW Polo Classic (which became my second car)

My first car was a white Mk1 Ford Fiesta, followed by the Polo, then a red Mk 3 Escort 1.6 GLS.

Memories ...

The trailers made me think "I'm not 14. Aahm ooot".

Harris has bought the 323 according to his insta, No surprise though he loves his old BMW's. The Cortina looked pretty tail happy for a 1.6!

Cortina estate 1.6l in white, Cortina estate 1.6GL in metallic brown with a vinyl roof, Cortina 2.0 Ghia in silver (vinyl roof, sunroof and power steering. It could do 60 in second and could power skid up to about 45mph. Those were the days.

Various transit vans that we were free to roll around in the back of "it was the 70's" first car was a green Hillman Avenger estate. He once got stopped by police because Yorkshire Ripper was thought to be driving a crappy green Avenger at the time.

Showing my age-my Dad’s first car was an Anglia 105e deluxe he bought new in 1960 the day he passed his driving test at 17.

That was a great show! Like a couple above, when I saw the cars revealed, I thought “no, surely they’re not going to rag the nuts off those!” But they treated them with respect, and with some real emotion about family.
When I was a kid, I went everywhere on the back of my dad’s Francis-Barnett motorbike, and when we finally got a car in 1967, a 1955 Hillman Minx, he died before we ever had much of a chance to go anywhere in it, and my mum sold it. 😢

My Dad had a Cortina 2000E in metallic blue, with the vinyl. It was stolen a total of 14 times and the last time burnt out.
I think at that time one in three Ford keys worked in any Cortina, so it was very easy to steal.

Is it wrong as a farmer to notice the specially laid track to the barn to cover the normal shite 🙂

And the hastily stacked bales outside to make some room in front of the doors😂

I liked that, nice change and some real emotion from the lads. Nice to see the relationship mature between them.

Flintoff's hair looked ridiculous in the 'studio' though!

Brilliant episode! Chris Harris was nearly in tears several times...

Anyway... My Dad had some pretty decent cars that I can remember...

-Porsche 924 (he bought this apparently as a "practical" car with rear seats and a big boot for a pushchair!) when my mum told him she was expecting me!
-BMW E21 316
-Volvo 260GLT estate (think this was a work pool car, but he used to bring it home lots)
-BMW E28 528i... Possibly the coolest car he owned, and ALWAYS had a tin of sweets in the centre console, and usually had Tina Turner or Dire Straits cassette in the Blaupunkt stereo!
-Jaguar XJ6, the 2.9 not the 3.6... Worst car he ever owned he said, sold it after about 6 months from new!
-Audi 80 1.8L saloon... About all he could get his hands on quickly to replace the Jag, and infinitely better in every way he said!
-BMW E34 535i... 1988 car, one of the first in the country. His favourite car he ever owned he still says to this day, did 90k in it in 3 years and it never went wrong once!
-Merc 300E 24V... Great engine, awful 4spd Auto box, boring old man's car and my Dad was still in his 30's (just) and he hated it, but couldn't afford to exchange it for a while so had to stick with it until my mum sadly died and he inherited her E36 325i and sold it.
-BMW E34 540i... Special order "Avus" Blue that was only an M series colour, and a manual box... Great car! I remember sitting at a constant 155 (that's what they were limited to) on the German Autobahn on the way to Austria, with a purple Lamborghini Countach QV slowly overtaking us at near enough full chat vividly!

By the time he got rid of the 540i I was 17 and learning to drive myself, and with only a couple of notable exceptions his car history went seriously downhill from then on...

My Mum though... Don't remember all of her cars, but my Dad tells me that when he met her, she was earning a lot more money than he was and already had an MGC (she was a teacher, he was a trainee accountant), and I've seen photos of some of her Mini's she had when she was younger (PROPER original Cooper S included)... The cars she had whilst I was around though before she passed...

-Mk1 Fiesta
-Mk3 Escort
-Peugeot 205GTi 1.6 (had this from new, and it was sooooooooo cool!)
-BMW E30 318i
-BMW E36 325i

The memories! 👍🏻

Enjoyed that. My first car was a Mk1 Fiesta* so that was a nostalgia trip for me.

I was trying to work out what model it was; they mentioned 53 brake so that was the same engine as mine, the 1.1. The flirty little attempt at a rear wing / spoiler should imply a Sport or early XR2 I think, but the rest of the car didn't fit at all. Popular Plus with an aftermarket addition maybe?

(* - just off to change all my website security questions...)

Red Anglia, followed by a navy blue mark ii Ford Escort with black vinyl seats that melted the skin from your legs in the summer, followed by a 1.6 Ford Cortina in white with black vinyl roof. Unfortunately my dad's choice in cars then went way down hill with an Austin Montego 1.6. Hateful car. He's had Peugeots ever since. I miss having the job to push the Cortina away in the snow as a young boy.

My first car was a MK1 Escort given to me by my parents, Chocolate brown mostly hand painted. I couldn't wait to get rid of it, total shite.
Haven't got waves of rewritten history fueled nostalgia, so have no desire to own one again.

My first car was a 1981 fiesta complete pov spec, 950 engine, plastic seats so in summer it was like a sauna, winter freezing, no parcel tray, engine fan ran all the time.

But it was my first car and it didn't break down. I could just about keep up with the hgv s on the m6.

I guess it shows my dad’s age ( and mine) that his first car was a 1938 Austin 12, his second a 50’s Standard Vanguard and his third a Messerschmitt KR200. The first I remember being driven in was a Humber Hawk and then my favourite, a Rover P5. All, bar the Kr200, were at the end of their useful life shall we say, indeed the Rover had a spectacular big end failure on the Farnham bypass.
The reason he had to sell the Kr 200 was that he soon realised taking him, my mum and three children under two in it wasn’t really practical (!)
My mother’s first car was an early split screen Morris Minor

Best episode for ages, very emotional. Kryton Jnr said when CH said he wasn’t allowed to touch the buttons “just like me in your car Daddy” 😀

My dads cars:

Hillman Avenger
Citroen Ami 8
Hillman Imp
Morris’s Minor estate
Leland Sherpa van (he became a Scout Leader)
Escort Mk4
Pug 106 after we all left home.

Will never forget my dad getting his dream car, I was 10 yrs old, it was a brand new 1990 H reg Golf GTI mk2 in metallic black with BBS wheels.

We travelled on the train as a family from Penzance to Paddington to go & collect it from the dealership in W London!

Very unfortunately as a 90's hot hatch it was pretty highly sought after by thieves and it was stolen a few years later. Even now my dad gets abit misty eyed if that's mentioned. I do wonder where it ended up, we never heard anything of it ever again.

My father didn't have a car till I was about 15, then he became rather fanatical about 'buying British'. He had an 1100, which was ok, then a Marina, which wasn't, then an Allegro, oh God, then a Maestro, which spent longer being fixed than bring driven

The next time I saw him he had a Golf.

I do wonder if, in 20-30 years, our kids (collectively, I won’t be having any) will have the same nostalgia for cars that are available now, they just seem a bit soulless compared to those we grew up with.

Trying to remember my parents car history, went something like
Austin 1100
Maxi
Allegro
Metro
Maestro
Maestro
Escort
Colt
Civic
i30

Pretty sure I've managed to blank out a couple...

I vaguely remember my parents Ford Anglia, then it was a Renault 16 which I got spectacularly car sick in, then a Renault 12 which allegedly had less drag going backwards rather than forwards. I later had a Fiesta in that same colour, but mine was a 1300S which I ragged everywhere, and after rebuilding the engine with new bearings, rings and tweaked valves got it to a speedo alleged ton (though I expect that was only about 70 really, officer)

I do wonder if, in 20-30 years, our kids (collectively, I won’t be having any) will have the same nostalgia for cars that are available now, they just seem a bit soulless compared to those we grew up with.

Probably not. Maybe my daughter will remember family holidays sat in the middle seat on the middle row of the SMax, flanked be her grand parents with her feet up on the arm rest between the front seats.

Holidays are what I remember about my parents cars. Driving to Devon at 3:00am and having a picnic breakfast by the railway station at Star Cross before getting in to our chalet in Dawlish Warren.

I also remember them taking the chip pan with them and it being under the passenger seat full of solidified lard.

And the hateful Triumph 1500 TC breaking down on the way back from a wet week in South Wales and taking hours to be fixed before we could continue. My dad really wanted to love that car but it let him down so many times. It was absolute crap.

My dad's cars starting from my first memories in about 1972:

Silver Cortina Mk2
Orange Marina
White Triumph 1500 TC (jumk)
Red Cortina Mk4 (ace)
Blue Cavalier (dull)
Blue Opel Ascona (German import and I had the original plates in my room)
Blue Cavalier 1.8 LXi (The best and I was allowed to drive it)
Maroon Cavalier (new shape - dull)
Green Xantia (Cool)
Racing Green Rover 216 (I'd left home at this point)
Silver Corsa (a Corsa)
Blue Corsa (that he got a couple of weeks ago)

My Mum

Blue Fiat 126
Purple Fiat 127
Blue Fiat Uno
Red Fiat Uno (that I very nearly destroyed in a moment of stupidity by backing at speed across on unlit car park straight in to the tariff board for the pay and display, hitting it end on so it came through the back of the car like a knife)
Silver Astra
Blue Astra

I've probably missed a few out there.

Well neither of my parents drove. So my granda who lived around the corner from us, who worked for Ford, has a lot to answer for. I felt very emotional watching those pieces. He passed away late 2019 and he made me the petrolhead I am today. And a Ford man. He used to pretty much get a new one every year. Always got the new models. There isn't enough room for me to type out a list! A personal favourite was the Mk1 Focus when it launched. He went for the Ghia model as normal and it had the 2.0 Zetec lump in it, 125hp I think. I spent so much of my childhood in the car with him. I'd go round to his just to get a run to the shops and be in the car. I used to borrow his keys and go and pretend to drive the car in his driveway. In the early days I often flooded the engine in the days before fuel injection.

The stand out car story about him was that he was almost killed when hit by an Army 'pig' truck on his way home from work. We lived very near a flash point in Belfast and the Ford plant was in a nationalist area. He had a short drive home, maybe 5 minutes, into a loyalist area. There were a lot of patrols going on. Anyway, he never wore his seatbelt for the short journey. It was a green Capri. One day he was going through the corssroads and the Army pig went through a red light and hit him. The car was unrecognizable. He lost one of his ears which was later sowed back on and was told if he was wearing this seatbelt he would have been killed as the impact threw him into the passenger footwell and protected him. Needless to say, he always wore a seatbelt after that and he always told me to make sure I wore mine.

I miss him every day. I'm off to look at old Fords on Pistonheads.

I do wonder if, in 20-30 years, our kids (collectively, I won’t be having any) will have the same nostalgia for cars that are available now, they just seem a bit soulless compared to those we grew up with.

That's what make me sad about reducing emissions. We have an electric car - my Son isn't going to have great memories about being shuttled around in a milk float! I am an engineer - I get that it has to be done etc but that nostalgia about engines is something that will be missed!

Back to my Dad's cars:

Various Ford's (he worked for Ford so had lots of different ones)
B Reg Nissan Bluebird (think this cost about £2k because he let me hold the pile of cash and I remember thinking it was a lot of money!)
J Reg Volvo 440 - I learnt to drive in this and drive it around.
51 plate Peugeot 206
52 plate Volvo s40 - I ended up buying this off him 7 years ago and kept it running for another 3 years so we have some great family memories in this car with my son as well as my Dad using it!
Currently on a newer S40 I think - its about 8 years old anyway

First car we had that I remember was a Mk2 escort, it was metallic green with a black vinyl roof. I remember one night my dad got called out by work in the middle of winter but just as he was heading off we got another call from his work saying the job had been cancelled. I managed to run up the street in my pyjamas and wellies to catch him as I was faster than the car in a foot of snow.

The escort was followed by a red Chevette (this auto corrected to Corvette!) with plastic seats. Driving on holiday one year dad stopped at a lay by and we hear the F1 race at Silverstone, we were there for maybe 15 minutes and when I vent back into the car I nearly had the skin on the back of my legs removed by the boiling hot plastic seats.

A couple of Mk1 fiestas after the chevette and then a Mk3 escort followed by a Mk4 escort

I can remember precisely three of the cars my parents had prior to me getting my own:

Singer Vogue
Vauxhall Victor
Vauxhall Carleton

Since there was a good twelve years between the first two there must have been at least one other but nothing comes to mind though I do remember a car that had indicator bars for speed and revs rather than dials but no idea what it was. I learnt to drive in the Victor, a real beast. The car not me.

Those that I can remember:

BMW 2002
Escort RS2000 (S Reg)
Mk1 Golf GTi
Renault 19 (WTF?!)
Mk2 Golf GTi
BMW E12 M535i
205 1.6 GTi
A succession of Discoverys and Defenders

I was actually bored rigid by last night's show, but seems I'm in the minority!

I was actually bored rigid by last night’s show, but seems I’m in the minority!

It did go on a bit too long, the "sitting on each others laps like you would have done with your Dad" was a particular low point.

I liked the Lake District scenery though, even though some of the continuity especially around the race to the ferry was a bit glaring (to me anyway, knowing those roads very well).

Morris Oxford
Citroen Light15

they just seem a bit soulless compared to those we grew up with.

Soulless in the fact they work and start without fail, don't rust after 5 years, don't kill you as easily when you crash. Although I agree with what you are saying and my memories of sitting in the "boot" of a Vauxhall Viva estate and ending up sitting by the gear knob after rolling through the car in an emergency stop won't be forgotten.

Soulless in the fact they work and start without fail, don’t rust after 5 years, don’t kill you as easily when you crash.

Oh, obvs modern cars are better in every measurable way, but in being so passively brilliant, they become invisible, almost like white goods, unless you get something properly exciting, but even those won’t have an engine note in 10 years.

"I was actually bored rigid by last night’s show, but seems I’m in the minority!"

no me too.......

Cortina...........

Brilliant picture!

My family were never that big into cars, although I think my Dad has some nicer cars in his youth.

He was a black cabbie, so a lot of childhood memories involve going most places in his 'old' K Reg black cab - having to spray some cold start stuff down the big hose in cold weather & watching the engine shudder into life as a cloud of soot was ejected out of the back.
Going places in the summer & burning your legs on the black vinyl seats, as the inside of the cab approached the temperature of a hot oven!

My mum had a red Cortina, but a newer shaped version than that shown in the show. That got nicked from her work car park & my mum was quite upset by that. I think it was the first car she had owned that she really liked - all her previous cars had been hand me downs.

After the Cortina it went:

Vauxhall Chevette
Volvo 340GLE this was almost new & was definitely a high-point, until someone t-boned it & wrote it off
The Volvo was hastily replaced by a Ford Orion LX
That was replaced by a 53 plate nearly new Focus 1.6 which my parents still own. They don't do many miles - I'm not even sure it's tipped over 100,000.

My uncles cars were always more memorable than ours.
One uncle is a driving instructor & we learnt to drive in his mkII Fiesta.
My other uncle was always a bit more of a show-off & I remember the day he turned up at my Nans house in a Sierra XR4. We were amazed - it was like some kind of spaceship to us.

Like Rob says above, I actually said a similar thing to my Wife last night about whether my daughter will have such vivid memories of childhood cars as we do.
Are we gonna get there without breaking down? That fuel rich smell & Dad fiddling about with the choke, boiling hot journeys down the motorway on holiday stuck doing 55mph so the car didn't overheat etc.
Now it's just get in, start the car & go. They generally 'just work' and it's less of a 'thing'. New cars on friend's driveways was a big deal. Neighbours coming out to look at the 'new' car and all that - now so many people swap their cars every 3 years & it's no longer such a big deal - it's almost an expected thing.

I'm not sure the reversing around the hay bales at full chat was particularly respectful of the old cars! Also, don't think the Cortina was in such good condition either. Looked like a horrible line of bubbly rust that had been sprayed over on the front edge of the bonnet in one close up shot. Dragged on a bit for me, anyway...

Renaut 5
Mini Metro
Mini Metro
Mk2 Vauxhall Astra
Successon of Vauxhall Astra company cars
Fiat Tipo, which I learned to drive in.

It would be interesting to see what Fazzini-junior-senior would say about my car list other than being Vauxhall heavy (but they are always cheaper than the equivalents and I don't have dosh for 'posh'):
89 Vauxhall Nova 1.2 Flair
93 Vauxhall Corsa Sri 16v
96 Honda Accord (best car I have ever owned and i miss it)
05 Vauxhall Vectra
08 Citroen C4 Grand Picasso a.k.a The Bus (kids named it)
06 Vauxhall Vectra
06 Vauxhall Vectra Estate
06 Kia Sorento (bought a caravan - kids names this one 'The Truck')
06 Vauxhall Vectra Estate 3.0cdti - bought as a stop-gap when the Kia died but kept it for 5 years til it died
14 Vauxhall Insignia Estate 4x4 - owned it 8 weeks - its been in the garage for 2 of them - it is going back for a refund soon. Shame - its lovely except it doesn't work 🙁

Tried watching the new (BBC) Top Gear but just couldn't get into it. Kind of like when a band changes their singer, but this time they changed everyone. Much prefer the original.

Liked that. As a local it was nice to see some other bits of Cumbria other than the usual Lakes. (Caldbeck, Frizington...)
Rode up to the Caldbeck masts a few times, its really nice around there.
Anyway ...Dads cars
Talbot Matra Rancho,
Volvo 240 GLT and then a Montego MG Turbo
After that he went all sensible and bought Mazda's

my first car was a Escort Mk1 1.3L. With a metal steering wheel.....

Best one in a years ..... better than most late Clarkson and gang !!

Simple reason ..... Authentic.....There's been too much contrived rubbish for too long.

As for cars, they were really my mum's, dad had vans for work.

Earliest memory was a lime green Capri with a black vinyl roof and the plastic "diffuser" over the back window.

And the highlight was getting a new Sierra when they first came out. I remember it turning heads as we drove down the road for the first couple of months. Chocolate brown with a gold go faster stripe down the side finishing in a mountain range type motif at the rear.

Happy days

Mini, followed by various cavaliers. So my first car was a mini. Good memories

And the highlight was getting a new Sierra when they first came out.

Yeah we had one of the early ones too - a 1.6GL in metallic deep red. YEF 77Y - my brother still has that plate on his motorbike.

I once nearly killed a young woman on a moped when driving it - she ended up under the front of the car with what I thought was blood all over her and the floor around her (it was after dark). It turned out the handlebar had pierced the radiator and it was coolant pouring out everywhere. Her head was lodged right up against a front wheel but fortunately I stopped just in time and she only had minor injuries.

Blue Triumph Herald
White Escort Mexico
Orange Morris Marina Coupe

I can remember sitting in the back of the Escort doing the ton along the A38 across Haldon. It is only fortuitous that I was not in the last one when the story ended 🙁

As I thought about my Dad's old BMW E12 M535i, I thought I'd have a hunt and see if there are any left and managed to find his actual car! At least, I'm 99% sure it was his - the reg changed when it was re-imported, but the description fits and having just spoken to him, he's pretty sure it was his.

Article

Fuzz Townshend drove.

Still can't get my head round that.
This is Fuzz

Vauxhall Viva estate

A fine car !! Especially in metallic gold. Passed my test in one, just like this

Harris has posted on Instagram that he has bought the 323i

The Fester is registered with the DVLA as being white, although the yellow really suits it. Excellent segment although a little understated for a series opener, i thought. Will be interesting to see more of the uk being showcased this season.

Best one in a years ….. better than most late Clarkson and gang !!

Agreed, really enjoyed that episode and am warming to the new bunch and watching the show for the first time in years.

Dad's car history was a Mini Clubman and a Mini van followed by a new Y reg Fiesta Popular Plus in pine green which was then replaced by a E reg red Escort which I later learned to drive in.

Mum had the cast off van, a rotten Morris Marina, the Fiesta (which she loved before it was written off), Metro, Viva, then some new cars from the 90's onwards.

Watched it these evening, thought it went just a tad, smidgeon over the reminiscing part.

And dad’s cars, he was/remains a petrol head but at 92 he’s slowed down a bit. Oldest recollection to current...

Jaguar v12 xjs
Then another in a slightly different shade.
Jaguar saloon, ex Birmingham city managers apparently.
Audi 100, the one with the much fanfared CD of 0.30 or so.
Audi GT coupe, 2.2 five cylinder, the first car of his I got to drive. Loved it.
Fiat Turbo
Toyota Supra, the daft one with the big wing.
Celica GT 4 turbo
Mitsubishi Evolution 8 (stolen while he put air in the tyres)
Hyundai Coupe
Then another, newer shape.
Toyota Yaris
Corsa
Audi A2 with dsg.

That’s not a bad history looking back. Evo was bloody nuts, Audi GT was just incredible to drive, not in a pull socks off, just soooo smooth.

Tried watching the new (BBC) Top Gear but just couldn’t get into it. Kind of like when a band changes their singer, but this time they changed everyone. Much prefer the original

for me, i much prefer the new band members but they still play the same old shite music!!

thats the first episode ive watched tbh, i was captivated by the scenery i recognised. and i quite like Freddie and Paddy being a Bolton lad, but scripted banter and contrived races just dont do it for me.

That was a brilliant episode some member berries, stunning scenery and just enough sillyness topped off with a ridiculous super car.

I don’t think my parents ever owned a Ford certainly none of those, I had W reg Fiesta 957cc popular though.

I enjoyed it. Decent segment on the dad cars. And yes, Chris Harris has posted on FB saying he's bought the BMW now - excellent.

I still remember my dad's succession of Capris before he finally got sensible and traded it for a Granada - F-reg shape before they gained that 'challenging' front end looks. Since then he's owned nothing of particular interest.

I wonder what my kids will think of my cars when they're older 🙂

Dad's earliest car I can remember is a bit strange because I can't remember going in it. It was a classic - and I distinctly remember sitting on the running board making a plasticine model. Only memory I have of being in it was when we went to a car show a decade later and we went out for a drive.

This is it (but it was in blue at the time)

Then Land Rover series IIa safari SWB. My sister and I would be scooped out of our beds in the early hours and onto the side facing seats to go on holidays.

Then Land Rover Defender 90 - about 14 years in total there!

He can be excused though - for much of that time he was in the traffic rozzers so was tootling about in Coopers, SD1 and his favourite a Range Rover with that magic light thingy on top.

The Land Rovers were all - frankly - shit. But some great memories.