Saturday 19 April 2014

For the love of cars...

I was musing the other day that The Dukes of Hazzard TV series really has a lot to answer for.

For a start, it set an impossibly high standard in the wearing of short-shorts (thanks Daisy, played by Catherine Bach, no relation), but it also triggered my obsession with cars.

I was mad about the General Lee, which was a 1969 Dodge Charger, and the fact that Bo and Luke used to jump in through the (open) windows.

My brother and I even tried to replicate this with my Dad's Vauxhall Viva, but it just wasn't the same.

I also wanted a Jeep like Daisy's - it was so cool.  I eventually owned one, but an open top Jeep with our great British weather just isn't a great combo, sadly.

Come to think of it, TV series have long influenced my car desires.

Magnum's Ferrari, Knight Rider's Trans Am, Bergerac's Triumph, Morse's Jag, the Saab 900 Turbo from The Paradise Club (anyone else remember that?), the Audi Quattro from Ashes to Ashes, the list is probably endless, although I've never owned any of these vehicles.

I will confess to still watching Top Gear, although the terrible trio of Clarkson, May and Hammond do annoy me sometimes, particularly when they smash up cars seemingly for the fun of it.

But I do enjoy watching the star in the reasonably priced car, and would love to have a driving lesson from The Stig, but fear my lap time would be more akin to Terry Wogan's than Rowan Atkinson's!

I thought it was great that Chris Evans on Radio 2 was promoting a 'take your classic car to work day' on Friday 4th April.

There was an array of photos on his Twitter feed which listeners had sent in of the cars they were using.

My favourite was a Ford Capri.  I still regret not purchasing one I spied in Autotrader a few years ago, which was a beautiful John Player Special edition for a reasonably low price. 

I did think to myself that I hope whoever bought that Capri is looking after it and perhaps drove it to work that day.

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