Festival of the Unexceptional: ordinary old cars

RCO · Jul 31, 2017

hkmb said: ↑

.....

Our next-door neighbour had one of these - a Hillman Avenger. 50s and 60s cars had beautiful wood-and-metal dashboards. Cars from about 2000 on had nicely-sculpted, properly-designed plastic dashboards, with swoops and curves and careful ergonomics. But 70s and 80s designers of car interiors just didn't care.

Dad had one of these. It was great, apart from the rust. From the driver's seat, you could look through the windscreen and then through the rusted holes in the front wing to see the tire*.

Ours was a bottom-of-the-range (or near as dammit) one, so there were features it didn't have, which meant there were blank buttons on the dashboard for things we didn't have - fog lamps or something. Dad claimed that one of these was a magic button that he could use to control the traffic lights and turn them green. We'd always ask him to press it, and he would say no, and then wait a bit and say he'd do it now, and press the button, and magically the lights would turn green. It was many years later that my sister and I realised that he was just looking at the lights for the traffic crossing us, and would press the magic button when he saw those lights change to red. I've tried this on my kids, but they're not as gullible as we were.

We test-drove one of these (although it was badged as an Opel Kadett rather than a Vauxhall Astra, because we were sophisticated Europhiles), in exactly the same colour scheme, with the same wheels, when I was about 9, on a cold, rainy night in Blackpool. I remember it really vividly, which is weird. I don't think it had crossed my mind in the past 30 years or so, until I saw this picture. I think it was the wheels that triggered me, but now I remember it like it was yesterday. I can even smell it. We didn't buy it.

*STOP AUTOCORRECTING MY CORRECT SPELLING, AMERICAN IMPERIALIST PIG AUTOCORRECT DEVICE!!!!!!!!
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R O F L M A O!!!

Festival of the Unexceptional: ordinary old cars

RCO Senior Member

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Festival of the Unexceptional: ordinary old cars

RCO Senior Member