Citroen XM Forum

My first experience of driving a car was in a 1977 Citroen GS Club estate on an airfield. I then learnt to drive in a heap of a driving instructors Ford Escort Mk2 and my Fathers Citroen GSA Pallas, which I sometimes drove after passing my test.

The GSA was an early GS style dashboard one and the dealer's demonstrator, which has prompted me to look up the details.

Reg MJU 501W
Reg date 01/08 1980 (August 1st was new registration year date)

Vin number: GXYL0000YL7493

Only the 7493 GSA produced. I can't get the RP number, so can't give the manufacturing date.

My Father did something over 100,000 miles in the car and then gave it to my Sister who then neglected it, so it was soon diseased, in 1990. Shame...

What car memories do you have?

The first car I drove was a 1966 Mini 1000, HMW666E, with hydrolastic suspension. I drove it round the very rutted and potholed track that circles Salisbury Plain. Huge potholes and limited travel suspension were not a good combination. I raised my Fathers blood pressure by several points......my excuse was I was only 11!

The first car I legally drove was an orange 2CV6, PAA49P. I still have clear memories of practicing reversing it through a cone slalom on a local lorry training park that was not locked at night.

Rob

My Dad's 1935 Rover 10, in about 1964. He taught me to drive on it (crash box and plenty of double-declutching), although I took the test on my GF's father's Morris 1000.

Before passing the test, did a couple of solo naughty drives: 1947 Rover 16, and Vauxhall PA Cresta. Wicked days, the mid-'60s.

Saab 9000, flat nose grill. G reg.

Then I got the Saab bug. Always regret selling my 1980 Saab 99 turbo two door which I had fully restored.
Still have all the pics though.

The first car I properly drove at the age of 16 was a horrible Vauxhall Corsa around a military base. That's a terrible car to admit too and wish it was a GS like Will!
Then it was my driving instructors Honda Civic..bit of Vtech! Then I started in my parents Renault 21. Talk about chalk and fromage! And my instructors car then changed to a Mazda Demio. Totally unremarkable Japanese box.
I continued to drive the Renault once I passed my test until I went to uni. Then stopped driving for a bit, couldn't own a car in Coventry.

Pretty dire list of first car experiences really.. apart from the Renault which I have huge fond memories of.

My first Xm experience was in 2001 and in a black 3.0 V6 Auto. It was a meet your hero moment and fortunately it didn't disappoint.

Mine was in a 1955 A40 van which was nearly new at the time. It was parked in a garage at the back of the shop and just before I was old enough to get my license I learnt clutch control by driving it in and out of the garage on tickover, eventually without stalling it which made the rest of the learning experience much easier. I would recommend this approach to anyone learning now.

Peter

Same here Peter, i learnt to drive at about 10 in my dads Renault 18 estate, i used to have to go to work with him on Saturdays and (probably to keep me out of the way while they were trying to get the end of the day paperwork sorted out) he would chuck me the keys to bring the car round from the carpark, for a few weeks it would work its way round the building over a period of 20 minutes traveling a couple of feet between stalls but after half a dozen saturdays i became more proficient.

That man was nuts thinking about it, who lets a 10 year old who's never been behind the wheel drive there car unsupervised? iether that or i was a bloody annoying child........

My first car i owned was a gold Mk1 honda accord Hatch, i bought it for £10 with my first weeks paper round money at 12 years old and used to rally it around the wharf my father ran when he worked weekends (wouldnt get away with that now), i loved that car! had many more for the same purpose, maybe 17 including a black Volvo 340GT, lots of renault 5's, XR2, XR3i, Citroen XM, many Cortina's, Subaru and rovers. Great times, when you could walk into a scrap yard and they would sell you a car...

My first car i owned and drove on the public highway was a Pre facelift Mk2 Vauxhall Astra Merit S built up with scrapyard parts, i have a photo of it scanned somewhere from the day i finished it. Dad bought it for £30 from the local scrap yard for my birthday.
It always suffered with a little crank case pressure which would blow the dipstick out on the motorway at spead, those that know will realise the dipstick was positioned between the two branches of the exhaust manifold which would be sprayed with oil and the car would regularly catch fire, fondly remember being stuck in traffic in the blistering heat of the sun on the M6 with smoke pouring out from under the bonnet as it readied itself for another round of spontanious combustion, windows down and heater on full bore as it liked to overheat as well as people passing pulled alongside to tell me the car was on fire, such happy times, i toured the country in that car over about 2 years untill i sold it to a lad who wrapped it round a tree and done himself some serious damage.
scan0022 by Deanxm, on Flickr

D

My early driving experience was on motorbikes rather than cars, starting with my brothers 1967 Honda P50 moped, before eventually moving on to BSA Bantams and a B40 350 Star that I still have in my garage! I did not regularly drive or own a car until my mid-20s during post-grad studies in Leeds, partly due to cash and also my limited interest in four wheels, when I started with a series of cast offs from Dad, namely a Beetle 1302s, Lada Riva (blush) and Saab 900i. The first car I ever chose and bought myself was my first XM, a 1995 2.0i tct VSX, followed by a series of other mainly 2.0i turbo and 3.0 XM to the present. I also have fond memories of earlier family cars, including a mid 50s Rover 75/90, 1967 Renault 4, mid 1970s Datsun 120Y and 1974 Saab 96. With regards, Matthew T. PS. I attach photos of our family cars that I have shown before.

Here are some motorbike pictures, although only the Ducati 750 was mine. The three BSA that I still own are in a rather more used condition!! Regards, Matthew T.