Memories from cars, sound, smell, music..

[ringway]

At a recent car show I had the pleasure of sitting in a 1970 Vauxhall Ventora.

My grandfather owned one of these cars (his pride and joy, even with the carburetor problems) and sitting in the beautiful example brought back many memories from my childhood.



The car we had (reg no PED 888H) was darker blue than the image below but this picture shows a nice example of the model.

The smell of the interior (accentuated by the current hot weather) the "overdrive" switch on the gearstick, the Motorola push-button radio and the (then) sleek design brought it all back to me..

Gliding along to the seaside, a demonstration of how the overdrive switch worked and the rumble of the engine (3.3 litre, straight 6 - in those days!) We had the best of times..



So which cars, sounds, smells, music etc, evoke memories (good or bad) for you?

 

[Ted]

A few weeks ago I got into my w124, and just for a fleeting moment there was the 'new smell' I remember from when I worked in a Mercedes garage in the mid seventies.

It was lovely.

Edit: and that Ventora has rostyles. I seem to remember they had a sort of 'circular' type wheel cover? Or was tht the vx4/90?

Edit again: Nope, that was the Victor!

 

[corned]

My Grandfather had a silver Ford Corsair 2000E, with the black vinyl roof and black leather interior. I was 5 or 6 at the time, but I can still vividly remember the deeply-dished 3-spoke steering wheel and all those gauges and round eyeball fresh air vents. Also, those hubcaps which had the Ford logo and blue and red rings round them.

A bit like this:

Back then leather smelled of leather, unlike today.

 

[Mr E]

Music's the main memory trigger for me - doesn't matter whether I like them or not, but I can instantly recall events, people, activities. For example, loads of early 80's chart songs (which I detested at the time) link up with things at school (or school holidays).

Food and drink as well:

Vintage Veuve - Goodwood Revival with Mrs E
Cristal - Hotel Hermitage, November 2006, back from a hack in a Lambo
Pancakes & Maple Syrup - Banff, Jan 2000, with laddo in Jo Btfsplk's diner

I look the smell of old vinyl in cars....

 

[Ted]

Ford are romoured to be bringing out the new Ford Pubic.


Made fom old Corsairs.

 

[coupe deville]

i used to visit car auctions as a young boy with a car mad uncle and his 2 sons, i always made a beeline for the mk2 jags that were in the sale. even now when ever i can blag a sit in one i sit back and close my eyes and i'm 14 again. excuse me while i wipe away a tear,

 

[Tiff]

Every time I hear "Move any mountain" by the Shamen, it reminds me of being 17 years old in my Suzuki SC100, when the radiator hoses burst and scalded my leg,then filled the car with steam which in turn caused me to hit the banking then bail out.

Aftermarket glass sunroofs, also in the SC100. On the way to college,in the outside lane of the motorway,I decided to take a big swig of Irn Bru from a glass bottle. The bottle wedged itself in the sunroof surround,and jammed my head against the headrest. 80MPH in a tiny car,in the outside lane,whilst being trapped looking at the sky is no fun!!

Scrapyards. The car I always wanted to investigate in the scrappies was usually on the top of the pile,3 up. I remember being very interested in a Rover Sd1 3.5, just because I love the dashboards on them. I sat in it for a good while, then upon exiting,slipped,got my ankle caught in the seatbelt and dangled upside down for ages until my dad came to free me.

 

[Sonny Burnett]

hearing a strung out m111 under full acceleration takes me back and for some reason i can hear than noise anywhere it ...........haunts me

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Sybil's "The love I lost" was the first song I heard in my first car - a Vauxhall Nova 1.3 SR. Ash's "Girl from Mars" was the first song I heard in my second car - a Vauxhall Corsa 1.4 SRi 16v. Both songs take me back. I can't remember first songs in the rest though!!

The smell of vinyl sends me straight back to a Morris 1800 my parents had pretty much my entire childhood - it's was my grandads before. As does traffic-light air freshener!!

The smell of Fish & Chips lingering in a car, and the smell of Fish & Chips squeezed into a a brown paper bag also reminds me of holidays in the same Morris 1800.

Related but off topic, caravan gas reminds me of an old Sprite Major touring caravan we had as a child, and sterilised milk reminds me of my grandparents old Monza caravan.

 

[ringway]

Related but off topic, caravan gas reminds me of an old Sprite Major touring caravan we had as a child, and sterilised milk reminds me of my grandparents old Monza caravan.

Rarely around these days, but in winter the smell of the paraffin heater in the local hardware shop takes me back to the great days with with my old best friend Dave (sadly died at 18). There used to be one of these heaters at the foot of the stairs at their house.

Sterilised milk reminds me of my granparents, and about a year ago I started having it deliverd! Lovely in tea of coffee.

The song "The Summer Knows" takes me back to the Ventora. It was on the Motorola on the way to Blackpool one summers day, (just me and Grandad) possibly the first time I rode in the car.

 

[bifold]

The whine of the gearbox on a minx/vogue, brings back the 1960's for me,the hot vinyl seats in the summer,chicken wire and filler to repair the cills.string back driving gloves and collecting football tokens from the petrol garage,shots of oil in your petrol.

 

[corned]

Our first family car was a brand new 1.3 Morris Marina Super Deluxe in 1972. It had very dark blue vinyl seats, and I remember as a kid having to be very careful in summer to avoid stripping the skin off my back and legs with the extremely hot vinyl seats. The smell of the hot vinyl was as added warning sign!

 

[EDZ649]

My 124 still has that 'new' leather smell amazingly, especially when its been closed up all day when its warm.

 

[MOCAŠ]

My earliest motoring memory is that of being captivated by the ever-changing reflections of the trees on the bonnet of the car as we drove through Ashdown Forest on the way to drop my brother off at his prep school. I must have been about three or four at the time, and can even recall trying to recreate the effect when I got home by 'driving' round the garden in my pedal car.

 

[ringway]

The whine of the gearbox on a minx/vogue, brings back the 1960's for me,the hot vinyl seats in the summer,chicken wire and filler to repair the cills.string back driving gloves and collecting football tokens from the petrol garage,shots of oil in your petrol.

I remember the petrol station tokens. I collected the whole Shell "Man in flight" coins that were mounted in a presentation card. Some for sale on ebay here.

 

[ringway]

Music's the main memory trigger for me

Music is the main memory trigger for me also.

Marvin Gaye - Sexual Healing (I don't mean to be at all rude) takes me back to a wonderful time in my life. Vivid memories come flooding back when I hear that song. Happy days indeed.

 

[ringway]

Our first family car was a brand new 1.3 Morris Marina Super Deluxe in 1972. It had very dark blue vinyl seats, and I remember as a kid having to be very careful in summer to avoid stripping the skin off my back and legs with the extremely hot vinyl seats. The smell of the hot vinyl was as added warning sign!

My first vehicle was a Morris Marina Van JJO 823S. It wasn't that cool, but it was my first set of wheels aged 17 and I was well chuffed, AND it had aerodynamic exterior door handles.

Unfortunately, through mediocre engineering and my spirited driving as a young'un I'm sorry to say, I killed it.

 

[ringway]

My earliest motoring memory is that of being captivated by the ever-changing reflections of the trees on the bonnet of the car as we drove through Ashdown Forest on the way to drop my brother off at his prep school. I must have been about three or four at the time, and can even recall trying to recreate the effect when I got home by 'driving' round the garden in my pedal car.

There was a programme on Radio 4 a few years back about childhood memories. It was once widely believed that 3, years old was as far back as one could remember. However, the programme reported memory instances as early as 9, months old!

 

[WDB124066]

I remember my first hair cut, clearly!

 

[Ted]

I was picking blackcurrants yesterday.
Took me straight back to picking them as a child, and my mum's blackcurrant jam.