Sunday 28 August 2011

My First Car ... What a Character She Was!


I didn't learn to drive until I was 38, and thrilled at being mobile, splashed out all of £250 on my first car.

As I handed over the money, I had no idea what a little monkey I'd just bought.

Oh the fun we had!

She'd stall herself in 1st gear so I had to keep revving the engine at traffic lights ... often inciting young lads waiting by our side to rev violently back and gesture for us to race.

And somehow she'd manage to work the driving seat loose so that when I was driving around corners it would suddenly jerk and shift 4" in either direction.

Then she'd shake all over and pretend she was going to fall to pieces whenever we went over 40mph.

Then there was the day when the traffic was particularly bad, and the rain torrential when she decided to throw the driver side wiper away.

And not forgetting her favourite.

Only letting me know we needed more petrol at the very last minute to make our journeys that little bit more exciting.

Aaah ... it was just one laugh after another.

I miss that little monkey!

43 comments:

jabblog said...

Funny to recall but not so amusing at the time:-)

jabblog said...

Now I can't remember whether I commented or not!!
Anyway, she sounds like fun - rather like a car I had.

Anonymous said...

I used to have a car like that too. The petrol gauge refused to work and there was a lot of guessing and assessing when it came to figuring out how much you had left in the tank. She was a character too - sometimes you had to jumpstart her. Those were the days. Haha.

mamahasspoken said...

Ah first cars are a wonderful memory. Mine was a hand-me-down that my brother drove before me. It had many of the same problems that you just wrote about. I think that's why I only drive new cars now.

Rek Sesh said...

She did give you some memories to laugh about later...enjoyable post...I am 37 and still haven't learned to drive, so I guess I can postpone for a year or so which will get my Brother hopping mad...cuz whenever I visit, he wishes he had someone to share the load of navigating the mean shopping streets...

That gentleman's lady said...

Aaaah! I remember having to learn stick shifts when I moved to the UK...


and the car I learned on would ONLY stall when there was a line behind me, never when the coast was clear.

I swear it planned that...

Linda at To Behold The Beauty said...

This was a fun read, Deborah. Would love to see a photograph of the little monkey. :)

Deborah said...

Thank you everso much everyone for your comments :o) xx
it seems I'm not the only one with first car memories! LOL

Elizabeth Grimes said...

Lol! I remember learning how to drive a stick, but that wasn't my first car.

Maude Lynn said...

Those first cars can really be an adventure!

Deborah said...

:o) Thanks for stopping by and your comments Elizabeth and Mama Zen x

Lydia said...

That is hilarious! Do you have a picture of her? What kind of car was she?

I thought I drove late, but you beat me at 38. But I did have a weird first car. It was a Chevy Monza (later determined to be too dangerous for the road) and was spray-painted a ghastly yellow. It had a bumpy matte finish, no shine, and looked like the piece of _____ that it was!

Misterio Vida said...

Hahaha. That was some monkey. We had a similar car and most of the time we had to leave it on the road :-Pmost of the time we had to leave it on the road :-P

Deborah said...

LOL ... Lydia and Muhhamad, thanks so much for your comments :o) x

No pictures Lydia, but she was a very old black Citreon ax ... I would have LOVED to have seen the chevy!! :o)

Brian Miller said...

my first car was a beat around truck that i pretty much ran into the ground...stopped on the side of the road and never moved again...

Deborah said...

:o) Thanks for stopping by Brian x

Al Penwasser said...

My first car was a 1978 Chevy Monza.
After two years, some guy smacked into my left rear quarter panel at a North Haven, Connecticut, Howard Johnsons.
We chased him down like Starsky and Hutch and got his insurance to pay for the damage.
I never got it fixed, though. The next month, I totaled the car in North Carolina.
That's okay.
I reenlisted in the Navy and bought a 1980 Chevy Monza. Which Bug-Eyed Ugly Woman got in the divorce settlement five years later.
Its engine blew up the following year.
Karma.
The End.

Deborah said...

Karma. The end. LOL ... Thanks for stopping by Al :o) x

Friko said...

Oops, I'd have maybe kept her for a pet, but driving her would have been impossible round here where the nearest garage is miles away and getting stuck in a field lane not much fun.

Deborah said...

A pet :o) hehe ... Thanks Friko x

Cynthia said...

The tales of your adventures are
funny and sweet, the way you think of your car.

Deborah said...

:o) Thank you Cynthia x

Al Penwasser said...

I think it would have been better if I spelled it, "Carma."

Deborah said...

oh very good Al! LOL

Sandra said...

NOthing says excitement like that arrow pointing at the empty gas tank!

Deborah said...

Exactly! LOL
Thanks for stopping by Sandra :o) x

Fresh Garden said...

This was a fun read, Deborah; and obviously, you have a great sense of humor. ;D

Deborah said...

Thank you Fresh Garden, and thank you for visiting :o) x

Rashmi said...

Thank you Deborah for your heartfelt comment on my blog....
Thisis really a wonderful write .she really sounds fun....

Deborah said...

Thank you Rashmi ... and I really am so happy for you x :o)

Paul Andrew Russell said...

LOL Deborah. My first few cars were like that. :-)

Thank you for the kind comments on my latest flash fiction piece.

Paul

Deborah said...

My pleasure Paul, I thought it was brilliant! Thanks for stopping by here :o) x

Rainbow said...

thank you for stopping by my other blog..I had the circles on my blog with frog backgrounds.

I am following you now under this one as I am on this blog more

Blessings
Rainbow

Deborah said...

Thankyou Rainbow, and blessings to you too x :o)

Rainbow said...

Just saying thank you for stopping by again :) I appreciate your support

Blessings
Rainbow

Deborah said...

My pleasure Rainbow x

Lydia said...

I had to laugh when I read your reply to my comment. I thought: Deborah may have liked to have seen the Chevy, but she would not have liked smelling it! The thing smoked so much that my sister and I traded daily who got the first shower to wash her hair when we got home from school! I smelled like I was in some oil refinery all day.

word veri is one ugly word: scrozedg!

Deborah said...

I think you've beat me on first car disasters Lydia! LOL :o)

W.C.Camp said...

It's funny we really don't love our cars especially while we own them. They are beasts of burden and we use them as such until they die. However, every car my wife and I have had we miss it for 'something' and think about them fondly like long lost loves? I can only hope my wife will extend this courtesy to ME as well! W.C.C.

Deborah said...

LOL ... Thanks for stopping by W.C.C :o) x

Unknown said...

The first car was always the most memorable one.
thanks for the reflections.

Unknown said...

You’ve got superb talent in creative writing,
Keep it up.

Please check out short story slam week 10 prompt today.

It is great to write and entertain our children,
Don’t you agree?

Give it a try,
Let your beautiful imagination fly.

Best.
Happy Autumn!
xoxox

Deborah said...

Thank you so much Bluebell and yes I do agree, I'll take a look :o) xx