My Rover.

The year was nineteen fifty seven,

I had a bob or two to spare,

So thought I'd buy a motor car,

To get out and get some air.

I fancied this black Rover car

Which I bought for fifty pounds.

With fourteen horse power in it

It's potential knew no bounds.

It had a clever gadget,

It could free wheel like a bike.

You powered it up to the top of the hill

And it would freewheel down just like.

This made it cheap on petrol,

But it sadly had to go.

Because we had our first born

Expensive as you'll know.

!936 Rover 14hp.

[soul-123]

Lovely car those were the days X

[Hidden in reply to soul-123]

Trouble was they would self-destruct so quickly if you didn't keep patching them up. The free-wheeling gadget that I liked so much became illegal because you had no breaking from the engine.

[sassy59]

Pete looked at the photo and had a nostalgic moment. His dad had a 1948 Rover and Pete remembers it well. Lovely car.

Thank you for the poetry Don. Love it. Xxx😘

[Hidden in reply to sassy59]

Thinking back, I think mine was a 1936 model, Pete's dad would have been a Rover 75. 😘

[sassy59 in reply to Hidden]

Spot on Don. Xx😘

[Jaybird19]

first car is always a thrill. L:iving in coventry so had to buy local. Triumph Herald.

[teenieleek in reply to Jaybird19]

A pal had a triumph herald, the floor rotted away so he replaced it with hardboard! No MOTs in 1969 ?

[Jaybird19 in reply to teenieleek]

Well that shows initiative !.

[SORRELHIPPO]

I remember my Grandpa's car, running boards and those round front headlamps, great car.

[Oshgosh]

Lovely picture

[Carnival567]

My father’s first car was a 1936 Morris 8 which he inherited in 1948 when his father died. I vividly remember having to walk up the occasional hill! He bought a Ford Consul in 195? because there wasn’t enough room for us all when my brother was born in 1951. My grandfather was a chauffeur and drove RollsRoyces.

[Johnsel]

Lovely car Don you must have been the envy of your neighbors. My first car when I passed my test as a teenager was a Ford 7 which I bought for £5 and it burnt so much oil that they was always a fog inside. Carole 🥴🤪😘

[Hidden in reply to Johnsel]

The envy was aimed more at the new cars which were once again being produced after the end of WW2 when none were produced. My old Rover was so heavy they could probably have built a couple of tanks with the metal used. My very first car was a 1929 Austin Chummy. The hood had long since rotted away and there were holes in the floor to let the rain out. I swapped my old typewriter for with the next door neighbour who wanted one for writing invoices for his new business. I went back to using pen and ink.

[Johnsel in reply to Hidden]

Those were the days Don. Your Austin reminded me of second car I shared with a girl friend. It was a Hillman Minx soft top. We bought it privately on a hot summers day so the top was down. We were so excited having a convertible did not think of checking the hood but next time it rained and we put it up it was all full holes just like your Austin Chummy! It also had a column change do you remember them. We have come a long way since those days haven’t we but how happy were we!! Carole 😘

[Hidden in reply to Johnsel]

We can still be happy, maybe a bit quieter now. 😂😘

[Mrbojangles]

Years ago when i was 18/19 a pal of mine was given an Austin Maxi as a company car.

I was so envious and used to beg him to allow me to accompany him on his daily sales trips.

Brown with a vinyl roof and an 8 track that played the Eagles.

Those were the days!

[rachelmi]

Wow 😮 a stunning car! 😊

[mikecom1]

Wow that's a beaut I had a smoky Rover 75 a 90 and lastly a 105r Wish I had them today class cars well constructed.

[Hidden in reply to mikecom1]

I agree, Rover just radiated stability, much loved by doctors, solicitors and the like. Lovely cars, perhaps a bit boring. 😏

[watergazer]

Lovely memories there Don x

[Hidden in reply to watergazer]

Back then cars were cherished objects, usually maintained by their proud owners. I'm ashamed to admit I have difficulty just opening the bonnet on mine now. 🙄

[PhilGM]

Lovely cars, thanks for the memory Don. My grandfather had a grey 1939 Rover 16 which my dad frequently drove, can still recall enjoying riding behind that long bonnet and chrome radiator cap!

[Ladyindistress79]

Back in the day my husbands ambition was to own a Rover. We had an Austin 1100. at the time. When the new Rover 2000 came out we bought one in powder blue with tan leather upholstery. I pushed that car all over England, the engine used to stall at traffic lights and right turns. We traded it in for a Hillman. Motto never buy a new model before the faults are ironed out.

[Hidden in reply to Ladyindistress79]

What a shame, I remember the Rover 2000 coming out, what a classy car it looked. I think it heralded the start of the crap car production era as far as British cars were concerned.

[Ladyindistress79]

You could well be right. I have to say my husbands first car when we were married was an MGB with soft top in British racing green. It nearly broke his heart when he had to grow up and change it for a family car when we had our first child.

[Hidden in reply to Ladyindistress79]

Now that I'm single again I keep having thoughts of a having a convertible, driving down the country lanes with the wind blowing through where my hair used to be. Up to now I've come to my senses before anything drastic happened. 🙄

[Ladyindistress79 in reply to Hidden]

Yes, I know what you mean. Now I would love to have a sports car but a(if I got in I’d never get out) and b( My three daughters would descend en masse.

[Woofly]

My Dad had one of those, and developed a life long passion for the Rover motor car, he belonged to the Rover Club, I think I have somewhere or another a Rover Membership Book! such memories.

[1968]

Love it, i love these back in the day photo's, filled with such memories.

[Sandyeggo]

Wow!

[Angelagone]

What I remember best from my childhood is the hours all men seemed to spend tinkering with the things! My father, when not at work seemed to live under the car.

[Hidden in reply to Angelagone]

Some of my best years were spent under a car. 😁

[Ladyindistress79]

My father spent every week end working on the car. That was his hobby. He would stand in the drive with the engine running and decide to take the engine apart as ,”it didn’t sound quite right,” which meant we would not be taken anywhere by car over the week end.