This week’s topic is “Cars and Driving“. E.M’s Sunday Ramble this week is going to be a bit of a tricky one for me because I don’t drive. I had lessons and tried to get my licence a couple of times but didn’t persevere with it. I am not a well-coordinated person and I doubted my ability to anticipate what other drivers would do and take appropriate action. Maybe with today’s cars what have so many safety features, driver assist and self-parking things would have been different but I think it’s too late now. I would like the freedom of being able to drive myself places but I’ve lived a lifetime without so instead of answering these questions about myself I’m going to tell you about cars I’ve been associated with so to speak.

Here are the questions:

We all had a first car. What year, make, and model was your first car?

David did not learn to drive until he was thirty. Once he had his licence, we bought a 1982 or 83 Holden Camira. I’m not sure if those of you overseas are familiar with this 4-cylinder sedan, I think that many Holden cars were based on General Motors cars in the USA at that time. At the time we didn’t know that Camira’s had a very bad reputation mechanically. We were just happy to be able to go places independently. We kept it for about five years before trading it for a 1985 Holden Commodore Station Wagon which we kept until the mid to late 2000’s. Finally, we had a 2000 Hyundai Lantra Sportswagon which I sold after David died.

If you won the lottery, would you buy your dream car and what kind would it be? If you do not care to talk about cars, how would you spend your lottery money?

There are a lot of cars that I think are very beautiful but if I were a driver, I’d be picking one for practicality, comfort and economy. Basically, it would be something to get me from A to B in comfort. I don’t think dogs and groceries really belong in a Ferrari, a Porsche or a Jaguar and as much as I love to see vintage cars driving one for an everyday car is not practical.

Naomi is much more of a car buff than I am and last year she did buy her dream car. A Chrysler 300C. These cars are rarely sold in Australia now. She had to order it and it was built in a factory in Canada and shipped to Australia. The whole process took about six months. She loves the car and as it happens, I took some photos of it yesterday.

The Transporter (hauling other people and going from point A to point B), Gone in 60 Seconds (fast!), or Driving Miss Daisy (Slow)? (This would be examples of your driving style.)

Although I see myself as a Transporter, but mostly only transporting myself around the place if I could drive, I think I’d be more of a Driving Miss Daisy type. This is another reason I wouldn’t learn now. I’d be a menace to other drivers.

Which is your preference to drive on: Interstate, Freeways, or Back Roads?

As a passenger I always prefer the scenic route when travelling. I like to visit little towns along the way and savour the journey. I am practical though. If we’re doing a long journey where the destination is the goal, I’d choose a good road that is easier for the driver, not lots of twists and turns and stress. We don’t really have a lot of Interstate Highways in Australia. David and I drove from Melbourne to Canberra once years ago. We enjoyed the section from Melbourne to the border although it was not yet dual carriageway, the NSW section was and there was really nothing to see but the occasional roadhouse. Not very interesting.

Pick your favorite famous car on television.

Famous cars on television, hmm, there was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Herbie, the third Doctor Who had a vintage car called Betsy, Kitt from Knight Rider. I never liked Kitt, it was too much of a smartarse for me. I knew there were a lot more so I looked for a list. Whatever you want to find out on the internet somebody has already made a list. Here’s one. The trouble is that most of those listed were not from favourite films or TV shows of mine. I do like the James Bond 1963 Aston Martin Db but I don’t like the Bond character so don’t want to pick that. After a lot of thought I’d have to say my favourite famous car would have to be The Bluesmobile from the original Blues Brothers movie. That car was a big part of the story and I do love that film. I don’t know if the one pictured is the one from the movie but I understand that it was a 1974 Dodge Monaco.