The classic Italian

Cars

Ask anyone what their favourite cars are and they are sure to include Ferrari in the list.  There are Porsche, Maserati, Lotus, Lancia, Alfa-Romeo, Astin Martin, Jaguar, Lamborghini etc. but, in my opinion, Ferrari tops the list.

 

Why is this?  Well the record speaks for itself.  Ferrari are successful, they win races and have done so as long as I can remember.  Their cars look great and, importantly, they make the complete car.  Unlike some marques who produce a body and buy an engine from someone else, Ferrari make both.

I’m not qualified to write about the history of Ferrari, you can read about it here if you are interested.  I can only say that it is my favourite marqu and always has been.

However, for ordinary mortals like myself, these cars remain dreams.  For us, more mundane cars are necessary.  I learned to drive in a Ford Zephyr in 1962.  I was taught by my cousin John who was a salesman.  As a salesman he needed a car to get around his customers and, cars being somewhat unreliable in those days, he often turned up in some unusual vehicles when the zephyr was unwell.  I remember two in particular, a Jowett Javelin and an old London taxi (with spoked wheels!).  The Jowett was a fast car for it’s time and I can recall seeing 90 MPH on the speedometer at times (those were the days when derestricted meant just that).  The taxi was a character, it’s maximum speed was around 42 MPH and John could drive it flat out just about everywhere!

After I passed my driving test I saved up for a car of my own.  I had fixed ideas about what I would like and these led me to the purchase of a Sunbeam Rapier.  This was a classy car for it’s time.  A two door sports saloon with a 1500 cc twin carburetor engine.  It could reach 95 MPH on the flat and, on one memorable occasion, an indicated 100 MPH down an incline.  Sadly, such speeds, coupled with my lack of experience, led to a high speed impact with a brick wall!  The wall survived, the Rapier didn’t.

This led to a bitter experience for me.  The Rapier was insured with the, now notorious, Fire, Auto & Marine insurance company.  The company went bust a week after my accident and I was left with a large debt and no car.

It took a while before I could purchase another car.  This was a sober Ford Cortina which served me well for a few years until a thief took a shine to it.  There was one amusing aside to this otherwise sad incident.  The theft was reported to the police who took a whole week to locate the car, parked 100 metres from the local police station!  Unfortunately the car had been stripped of useable parts and was a write-off.

My next car was a Ford Escort estate.  This was another utility vehicle which, while unexciting, served me well for many years.  Eventually I saved up enough money to buy a new car.  I chose a Nissan Sunny, mainly for it’s reputation for reliability.  The reputation was deserved, in twelve years it clocked up 175,000 miles before it needed a new clutch!  Even then it had passed to my son whose driving I blamed for the fault!

My next car was a Mazda 323F of 1992 vintage.  The car was given to me by my sister after my brother-in-law, John, died.  John was a fanatic about his cars and it’s a wonder the paint survived the relentless washings and polishings!  Sadly John was quite ill for a number of years so he did not get to drive the Mazda very much.  When it came to me it was ten years old and had just 14,000 miles on the clock!

I have to say the Mazda was the best car that I have owned up to that point.  It wasfast, held the road well and looked great.  I had been told that Mazda reliability is even better than Nissan’s and I have no reason to doubt it.

Sadly, one morning on the way to work, I hit a greasy patch on a fast bend.  Despite valiant attempts to correct the slide the car veered off the road, hit a tree and bounced back eventually coming to rest on it's side.  I survived but the car was a write-off.  A sad end to a really lovely car!

I now drive a Ford Focus Mk2 Zetec climate.  It's a great car with variable valve timing which allows me to drive sportily when I want to but returns up to 50 MPG if driven gently.