Examinator, so now the truth starts to come out. You've lost your goody goody image now.

You in a Roller, I'd like to see that.

I've always admired the XK150S Jag. A lovely thing, & great engineering in it's time. But when I think of them I can't help but hear the sound of petrol, pouring into a tank, at a great rate.

Stopped me every time I thought about one, even when I could have afforded the purchase price.

Trying to keep this simply on a material level non-human level I would have to include my vegie patch, chooks, two cats and some well worn books that take up most of our lounge.

As for cars - I am not a car person but have fond memories of my very first car, an old Mazda Capella which broke down more times than I can count, but after the odd tweak here and there served out my uni days well.

My hubby loves cars and owned an old Porsche 911S 1968 model when I first met him, which oddly was the only thing I did not like about him thinking he was materialistic but it was only first impressions. I always preferred to go out with him in his work car because people would not stare at us - it was embarrassing made me feel like a showoff. We ended up never driving it much and ever-practical sold it for a deposit for a house. He is still into cars being a Ford man and being a great watcher of Top Gear loves Aston Martins, Jaguar early series XK, Mustangs, Cobras and Lamborghini and Zondas. Next car he says is going to be a 2005 GT Falcon.

All this rev-head talk takes me back... I've had more cars than I can remember over the years, but I've mostly hated them. Exceptions have been various VWs (including a wonderful old split-windscreen Kombi), a spiffy Humber Vogue that I wrote off while still in my teens, and a Triumph 2500 saloon. I had a really dumb sports car when I was 21 - it was one of those tiny little 600cc Honda coupes that the guy I bought it from had crammed a 1500cc Mazda motor into. It went really fast, but it handled like a dog and cops were always pulling me over just to have a look at it. I sold it to some other young idiot after I matured a little.

I have to say that by far the best car I've ever had is the one I have now. It's one of those late model dual cab 4WD diesel utes that city people love to hate - but it's absolutely perfect for what I do. It's brilliant off-road and for towing, is comfortable and great to drive on the highway, and has never let me down mechanically. Its only negative is that it's awful to drive in the city, but I do that so rarely it doesn't worry me. Mind you, I was in Brisbane a couple of weeks ago and I saw lots of them driving around the suburbs, invariably looking like the closest they'd been to the bush was their owner's front lawn.

It's a great car, but I have to say I don't actually 'love' it though.

CJM... for those city trips you need a Humber Hawk, and I happen to know someone with one for sale, two tone, and very regal.

Also, if anyone is longing for the days of the old Doctor's Rover, another mate here has a Rover 90 he's keen to offload, in an almost BRG shade of green.

Both offer a sedate style of unhurried motoring, and with a hat on the head, no one would be expecting you to speed, or be annoyed when driving at below-the-speed-limit.

Dear Examinator,

"It is a crime to write in rhyme
So many say that's true
But blessed with the curse of compulsive verse
What else can a rhymer do?"

Thanks for the compliment.
I do tend to write in rhyme more often
than not. I guess it's a left-over
from taking children's "Storytime"
sessions for so many years.

Plus, the fact that another "something"
that I love is writing. Mainly short stories.
I'm currently working on a short-story collection.

Hasbeen,
I've never claimed to being a goody goody, too many people can attest to the opposite.

All I ever wanted was a soft top "E" type untill I drove one. Sexy and then some but terrifying (for me) at speed.

XK120/150 were classics, but not good to drive with feet over size 6. Noisy and you feel every bump! both owned for a short period, too bloody expensive to fix.

I blew a fan belt in the XK120, impossible to fix when hot and without a lot of tools. 3 hrs waiting for it to cool down, sold it 3 weeks later.
Then because of my considered ways, another Jag club member helped me to acquire his 14mth old pristine Silver Roller.

What's more it only cost me about $1000 in today's money! And, I never paid reg, insurance or maintenance. Just petrol. I made a profit when he bought it back.

The joke was you couldn't drive it too far from Adelaide because the country petrol stations were too small. Not exactly cheap to run. Driving the Adelaide hills in the 70's in it was ....well interesting. Trust me, the novelty wore off quickly.

On the plus side, We are talking about the ultimate chick pick up wagon.
Rundle St, (main street of Adelaide) the girls waiting for late buses were subject to the Newcastle song drive by. Me, always well dressed, well spoken, ever ready to be helpful would stop and ask if the girls were okay and perhaps if going my way I might be able to give them a lift. Funny though, I always seem to live near them, where ever it was.

Bus stop destination signs helped.

All the other plebs with couldn't compete in their crowded, crappy rust buckets..

In those days the pick up lines were "what star sign are you?" and "what car do you drive?"....given I was a part time astrologer (true) at the time... interesting times! Heh heh (evil laugh again).

Paying for the subsequent dates *and* the petrol did pose a problem at times. Many lost opportunities. :-(