My parents were Viva HB and HC owners. I seem to recall a couple of HC saloons, and an estate. I think it primed me to become a Vauxhall owner, which I remained - 1978 2-door Chevette saloon, a gap, Astra Mk2 estate, Carlton estates - until a truly awful experience with a ten-year-old Vectra broke my run.
I am convinced my parents bought a brand new 2-door Magnum, in copper/bronze with beige cloth seats. A hole had appeared in the carpet on the floor in the back. It had been caused by an anorak toggle that appeared to have been dropped in the car during the interior fitting at the factory. Obviously, with foot traffic of two kids, the toggle had caused the hole. It caused a most memorable altercation between my mother and the foreman of the main dealer.
"But you've had people in the back, madam."
"Of course I have. Where do you expect me to put the children? In the bl**dy boot?!"
That has definitely gone down in the family history.
And to drag the topic even further away from Telford, we found a Firenza in a local eatery car park a couple of years ago.
A Rare Bird by
Snaptophobic, on Flickr
