Over 50 years of driving I've had the pleasure of driving a variety of vehicles. There was a time when I would think nothing of spending my weekends repairing cars that were hanging onto survival by the thinnest of metal. I still enjoy driving but the cars have become more reliable and faster.

<a href="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Morris_Minor_1000_1960.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-4814" src="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Morris_Minor_1000_1960-200x128.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="128" /></a>I bought my first car when I was at college - an ex police Morris Minor which had a dodgy clutch. I remember spending a Christmas break at my brother's house in Bedfordshire with the car rolled up on scaffolding boards and bricks whilst in freezing temperatures we removed the gearbox, replaced the clutch and thrust bearing. It was so cold our fingers stuck to the metal parts. Happy days! In the final months of college I had to wrestle it all the way to the scrap yard as the steering seized up and the wheel bearings rattled to bits.

<a href="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/morris-mini-van.jpg"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-4812" src="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/morris-mini-van.jpg" alt="" width="259" height="194" /></a>The replacement car was a Mini van that had more holes in the bodywork than a colander. The floor in the back of the van was becoming separated from the sides and had to be brazed together (the metal was too thin to weld) and the engine frequently overheated. I recall standing in a petrol station whilst it was being refueled and I scratched a bit of paint on the front wing only for my finger to go right through and get stuck. I filled the hole with a rubber grommet so it looked as though it had once been an aerial hole. It was a nightmare vehicle and didn't last long.

<a href="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Triumph-Herald.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-4816 alignleft" src="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Triumph-Herald-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a>We were both teaching so we could just afford the luxury of a Triumph Herald convertible.

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