At what age did you know that your parent was a "person"? At what age did you realize that your child was an "adult"?

[Dougie93]

Just now, Iceni warrior said:

The only thing my father ever competed at was motorsports.

Nothing too flashy, Autotests in his MG Midget or vintage rallying in his old 1937 Triumph Dolomite. That was mostly before I was born though when he was living the high life of the English colonialist in Singapore. 

I think the only sport we ever played together was table tennis but he couldn't do spin so I beat him every time unless I promised not to put spin on the ball. 

 

yep, my father was into that was well, also had a MG down in California

used to take me to the races, used to take me out on the back roads to teach me how to race

[Dougie93]

unlike me, my father was also a straight A student, got a scholarship to Berkeley, earned a Masters Degree

[Dougie93]

I redeemed my lack of scholastic excellence in being decorated

being awarded medals by the army was a big deal to him

college degrees were a dime a dozen, decorated veteran was unimpeachable

[Iceni warrior]

19 minutes ago, Dougie93 said:

yep, my father was into that was well, also had a MG down in California

used to take me to the races, used to take me out on the back roads to teach me how to race

Parallel lives. LOL

This was what his old Dolomite looked like. Not his but same year and model.

Used to do time trials on the track. Manually operated windscreen wipers in the Singapore monsoons. 

Some times he'd have to just stick his head out of the window because he couldn't wipe quickly enough to see where he was going and he needed both hands to drive the car. LOL.

What a life. Last days of Empire. Silk lined hand tailored cream dinner jacket to go to parties with the elites. His old silk smoking jacket with a golden Chinese dragon embroidered on it was my dressing gown as I was growing up.

Came back from Singapore on a luxury liner with the MG in the hold. Through the Suez canal then unloaded with the car in Italy to drive the rest of the way home. He'd managed to get a press pass to report on the Italian Grand Prix for a Singapore newspaper. Access all areas for Monza '64.

Then a tour through the Alps and home with Mum pregnant with me and my baby sister on her lap in the little 2 seater.

Bloody boomers had all the fun. LOL.

Edited June 20, 2021 by Iceni warrior

[Dougie93]

4 minutes ago, Iceni warrior said:

Parallel lives. LOL

my father had a white MG spider, like this one

[Dougie93]

9 minutes ago, Iceni warrior said:

Bloody boomers had all the fun. LOL.

my father was Silent Generation, born in 43'

my mother was the Boomer

[Dougie93]

it's actually my father's birthday tomorrow, 21 June 1943

[Iceni warrior]

6 minutes ago, Dougie93 said:

my father had a white MG spider, like this one

Nice. A little posher than Dad's little red MK II 950cc Midget.

Similar to this but with wire wheels.

[Iceni warrior]

4 minutes ago, Dougie93 said:

my father was Silent Generation, born in 43'

my mother was the Boomer

Ah, Dad was the same then born in '36. The year of the three Kings.

Mum was born in the Nottingham blitz in '40.

[Dougie93]

Just now, Iceni warrior said:

Nice. A little posher than Dad's little red MK II 950cc Midget.

Similar to this but with wire wheels.

my uncle had a Corvette tho

my father said the Corvette was too heavy, but I loved my uncles Corvette

 

[Iceni warrior]

1 minute ago, Dougie93 said:

my uncle had a Corvette tho

my father said the Corvette was too heavy, but I loved my uncles Corvette

 

Depends whether you want to go fast in a straight line or fast around the bends.

I'd go for the MG myself.

Much prettier car that could handle a corner at speed.

[Dougie93]

5 minutes ago, Iceni warrior said:

Ah, Dad was the same then born in '36. The year of the three Kings.

Mum was born in the Nottingham blitz in '40.

my father was born when his father was in England flying for the RAF

they were very different, my father was an extrovert, life of the party, always smoking & joking

my grandfather was a military pilot, calm, cool, collected, the quiet professional

Edited June 20, 2021 by Dougie93

[Dougie93]

Just now, Iceni warrior said:

Depends whether you want to go fast in a straight line or fast around the bends.

I'd go for the MG myself.

Much prettier car that could handle a corner at speed.

the Corvette had kick, slammed me back into the seat, I loved that, girls love that too

[Iceni warrior]

2 minutes ago, Dougie93 said:

the Corvette had kick, slammed me back into the seat, I loved that, girls love that too

What was it George Best said when he was asked where all his money had gone?

''I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered.''

 

[Dougie93]

Just now, Iceni warrior said:

What was it George Best said when he was asked where all his money had gone?

''I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered.''

 

well, I've owned an Nissan GT-R

that blows anything my father or uncle ever drove away by orders of magnitude

[Dougie93]

like compared to my Gojira, my uncle's 1977 Corvette was a lawn mower

[Dougie93]

now my father in law has a Mustang GT right now, but he's a big Corvette fan too

he had one of the new Corvettes a few years ago, that was a radically different Corvette than 1977

that Corvette was more like a Ferrari

[Dougie93]

thing is, owning any of these types of cars in Ontario now is not worth it

first of all, the insurance is exorbitant

then the police just follow you around waiting to give you a ticket

and thirty over is "stunt driving" an indictable offence resulting in the seizure of your car

so the fun police of Canada made me give up hot rods altogether

if I go to Europe, I will get a luxury rental to drive on the Autobahn

it's really not worth having one of these cars without the Autobahn

[Iceni warrior]

16 minutes ago, Dougie93 said:

now my father in law has a Mustang GT right now, but he's a big Corvette fan too

he had one of the new Corvettes a few years ago, that was a radically different Corvette than 1977

that Corvette was more like a Ferrari

Meanwhile, the MG is just a badge on a hot saloon car or hatchback these days. 

Or worse still an SUV.

Edited June 20, 2021 by Iceni warrior

[Dougie93]

3 minutes ago, Iceni warrior said:

Meanwhile, the MG is just a badge on a hot saloon car or hatchback these days. 

Or worse still an SUV.

I don't even own a car right now, nor have I driven more than to the store and back in over a year

my wife's car is the shopping mobile

I guess I'll get a new car at some point, but I'm getting used to not going anywhere now, I don't actually have the urge

[Iceni warrior]

12 minutes ago, Dougie93 said:

thing is, owning any of these types of cars in Ontario now is not worth it

first of all, the insurance is exorbitant

then the police just follow you around waiting to give you a ticket

and thirty over is "stunt driving" an indictable offence resulting in the seizure of your car

so the fun police of Canada made me give up hot rods altogether

if I go to Europe, I will get a luxury rental to drive on the Autobahn

it's really not worth having one of these cars without the Autobahn

We're plagued by speed cameras over here.

The days of driving fast are over.

[Dougie93]

1 minute ago, Iceni warrior said:

We're plagued by speed cameras over here.

The days of driving fast are over.

I've become more real estate oriented anyways, I'd rather spend the money on appreciating assets

luxury cars are money pits

[Dougie93]

that's one thing my father was not into at all

making money & investing

he worked for the government all his life

made a decent salary, bought a house, but wasn't into luxury nor conspicuous wealth

he was a beatnik basically, not a hippie, but still a lefty

[Iceni warrior]

7 minutes ago, Dougie93 said:

that's one thing my father was not into at all

making money & investing

he worked for the government all his life

made a decent salary, bought a house, but wasn't into luxury nor conspicuous wealth

he was a beatnik basically, not a hippie, but still a lefty

My dad was a life long civil servant. 

Never really had spare money for investing but he got a nice government pension.

He retired at the age I am now and got nearly 20 years of retirement.

 

[Dougie93]

1 minute ago, Iceni warrior said:

My dad was a life long civil servant. 

Never really had spare money for investing but he got a nice government pension.

He retired at the age I am now and got nearly 20 years of retirement.

yeas, well,  one could afford to be that unconcerned in the midst of the post war American boom

but now it is a question of survival, if you don't have the money, you don't have any freedom at all

it's not that I am driven to make money for its own sake, Canada is just astronomically expensive now